181/365 – Thur. 6/30/11 :: Sax Session

Dropping Matthew off at his sax teacher’s house for his weekly lesson.

180/365 – Wed. 6/29/11 :: Wild Walker

We went for a walk around the park today. Kaylee decided to run crazily on her heels. Sore feet later made her realize that was probably not the best idea. ;)

179/365 – Tue. 6/28/11 :: Struggling Artist

We picked up some drawing books at the library today, and the kids couldn’t wait to try out some of the instructions. Kaylee got a little frustrated when things didn’t turn out the way she wanted them to. :b

Matthew was unfazed by the drawing or by Kaylee blaming him for her troubles.

178/365 – Mon. 6/27/11 :: Prototype Players

For his summer project this year Matthew decided he wanted to create his own fantasy board game. Kaylee and I were roped into helping him do his first mini test run.

Kaylee was very into it, as you can see. ;)  (That’s an ice cream cone pen she’s pretending to chomp. No, it didn’t have anything to do with the game.)

Matthew lost. LOL

177/365 – Sun. 6/26/11 :: Bedtime Blur

Matthew as he was getting ready for bed. Apparently on the run from Mark. :)

176/365 – Sat. 6/25/11 :: Polish Predicament

Kaylee was in the mood to do some shopping, so I took her over to Target for some girl time. After trying on several shirts, a couple of which she especially loved, and finding a really cool pillow she wanted for her room, in the end she decided to save her money and and just pick out a few shades of the most inexpensive nail polish they had. (Under $1 a bottle – what a deal!)  Then the only decision left was which colors to get. She ended up with Frosted Fuchsia, Caribbean Frost, and Bijou Blue. :)

174/365 – Thur. 6/23/11 :: X-Box Encampment

Got up this morning to find Matthew playing on the X-Box from the cover of the tent. Not sure what he was seeking shelter from. Maybe pesky little sisters? ;)

173/365 – Wed. 6/22/11 :: Random Matthew

Just a random shot of Matthew giving me a pseudo serious stare. ;)

172/365 – Tue. 6/21/11 :: The Bikes Are Back

Lees than a week later, and Kaylee has the bike thing down pretty well. :)

And Matthew has the proper helmet this time! :)

Go girl! :)

171/365 – Mon. 6/20/11 :: As the World Turns

We’ve had this interactive globe for quite a while. Normally, the kids don’t use it much, but it’s been sitting out in the family room for a few days, and it seems like one or both of them are playing with it every time I turn around.

170/365 – Sun. 6/19/11 :: Super Dad!

For Father’s Day the kids presented Mark with a magic trick, homemade cards, and a certificate for a free car wash! :)

168/365 – Fri. 6/17/11 :: Card Loan?

Matthew decided to set up near my desk and practice his magic. I have no idea whet the meaning of the debt statement on the card is, but it looks like a number I wouldn’t want to encounter on any real loan papers. LOL

167/365 – Thur. 6/16/11 :: Bespectacled

My new glasses finally arrived! Kaylee went with me to pick them up and was a bit disconcerted at the style change. She kept saying “You don’t look like my mom; you look like a teacher!!!” LOL 

It’s going to take me a while to get used to the progressive lenses. Right now I get dizzy when I turn my head too fast!

166.5/365 – Wed. 6/15/11 :: New Wheels!

Yep, it’s another post for today. It’s my blog, I make (and break) the rules. ;)  Excuse the funky color in some of these; it was nearly sunset, so I had to boost the exposure.

I ended up needing a nap after all the labor of Kaylee’s room, and during that time, Mark decided to take the kids out one more time to look for new bikes. They needed them desperately, since they’d outgrown their old ones to the point of knees banging on handlebars. We’d gone looking once before and hadn’t found anything, but this time they scored some affordable appropriate rides at Wal-Mart.

Kaylee still had her training wheels on the little bike. She hadn’t gotten enough time in on it to get the hang of it when she was smaller, and trying to learn when she was so much bigger would have required sending her to clown college. So this was her first time without the training wheels. She was nervous, but she did very well!

Matthew was pleased to find that his skills from last summer were still with him. :)

(We’d also gotten the kids new helmets, but Matthew mistakenly grabbed his old one without realizing. LOL)

166/365 – Wed. 6/15/11 :: The Bed Project – Phase 2

Stickers finally all off!  Time for the major dis-assembly.  This turned out to be a bit more difficult than anticipated, but Mark and I managed with only minor blood loss. We realized during the course of the day that our assistants were woefully under-educated in the filed of tool terminology, so as we were cleaning up and putting stuff away, Mark took the opportunity for some tool time lessons.

Several hours later… ta-da!  A “regular” big girl bed! :)

She now has all kinds of grand dreams for decorating her room, one of the first of which is replacing this Backyardigans comforter. LOL

165/365 – Tue. 6/14/11 :: The Bed Project – Phase 1

Kaylee got this bed at age 2. As she’s grown, it’s gotten to be more of a challenge for her to get in and out easily. I’d already removed the canopy fabric at the head end to give her a little more room, but it wasn’t enough. So, after planting the seed in her head a few months ago that it was getting to be time to convert it to a regular bed, she finally decided she was ready.

The first step was sorting through and relocating or donating all the stuff she had stored under the bed and slide – no easy task, since it was stuffed completely full. (I always forget to take “before” pictures!)

The next step was to remove the tower and the canopy frame.  Kaylee removed the last screw and post all by herself!

Next was a whole lot of sticker peeling, scraping, and cleaning, since we decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to store the pieces with the adhesive left on. (Who’s bright idea was it anyway to let her plaster her bed with stickers? Hint: it wasn’t me. :b) This was a tedious, time-consuming, finger-aching job, and would not be completed all in one day. To be continued…

164/365 – Mon. 6/13/11 :: Magnetically Mesmerized

Matthew, playing with some very strong magnets of Mark’s… another favorite non-toy that gets a lot of playtime around here. :)

163/365 – Sun. 6/12/11 :: ROTFL

ROTFL… Reading On The Floor… Lounging? (Yeah, I know it’s a stretch.)  There are those cushions again. They apparently make a good place to read as well. :)

(The timer? The kids are tracking their reading minutes for a book store summer reading program.)

162/365 – Sat. 6/11/11 :: Hooked On Flowers

More design crafting. I pulled out pieces from an ancient latch-hook rug kit that I never completed and grabbed a couple of jump rings I had on my desk (probably from auto service key tags) to put together some fun flowers for a kit I was working on. :)

161/365 – Fri. 6/10/11 :: Kaylee Sandwich

The couch cushions supply endless hours of entertainment. The kids go in spurts where they will play with them almost every day, using them as everything from forts to obstacle courses to horses to… um… giant slices of bread. Makes me wonder why we buy them any toys at all. ;)

160/365 – Thur. 6/9/11 :: Pencil Prize

Matthew had his first sax lesson of the summer today.  He was able to complete a lesson he hadn’t quite been able to finish at school and was awarded this cool saxophone-shaped pencil!

159/365 – Wed. 6/8/11 :: Watercolor Wednesday

I broke out the Kaylee’s leftover watercolor paints from school to do a set of papers for my shop.  Kaylee was mad because I ended up using almost all of her yellow. LOL

158/365 – Tue. 6/7/11 :: Home Stretch

A lazy first morning of summer break. I love the matching elbows. LOL

Breakfast on a weekday when it’s actually light out… what a concept! ;)

157/365 – Mon. 6/6/11 :: Freedom!

Such joyful disembarking can only mean one thing – school’s out for summer! :)

A weird calendar because of snow days this year meant that the kids’ final day of school was a half day… on a Monday.  Matthew didn’t even have to stay for the entire half; Mark was able to pick him up after his last “exam”, which due to the way the schedule fell was his band class, and the “exam” consisted of playing Guitar Hero. :b

156/365 – Sun. 6/5/11 :: Crafty Couture

Kaylee was bored, so I suggested she craft something. She ended up making this cool hat from streamers, pipe cleaners, a few beads, and a lot of scotch tape. ;)

155/365 – Sat. 6/4/11 :: Certified, Part 2

After missing last month’s Young Magicians Club meeting, Kaylee finally got her certificate!  (Presenting the certificate is Reade, Mark’s co-leader of the club.)

154/365 – Fri. 6/3/11 :: Tech Time

Matthew and Mark just chillin’ on a Friday evening with some X-Box and laptop time.

153/365 – Thur. 6/2/11 :: Dilated

About a year overdue for new glasses, I finally got to the point where I couldn’t handle not being able to read books and papers and such without bringing them right up to my nose, so off the eye doctor I went for an exam and a new prescription. Don’t I look cool in my disposable sunglasses? ;)

New glasses (my first bifocals – woo hoo!) should arrive in about a week.