FLUBBER!

I keep seeing Flubber recipes on Pinterest, so Adelyn and I gave it a whirl this morning. This is definitely a repeater! It's kinda like play dough, but smooth and much less mess. 

Here's what you need: 

• Glue (4 oz bottle, although I probably had 3 ounces left in my bottle)
• Warm water (equal parts glue and water, so do the math)
• Borax- not sure of my measurements; I just kept adding a tablespoon until it was the consistency we wanted
• Food Coloring (optional)
• Tools for play (cookie cutters, scissors, plastic knife, etc)

As you can see, there's really no exact science to it, and I imagine it's pretty hard to mess up when making it. This is my kind of project!

Directions: 

1. Pour Glue in bowl

 2. Add warm water and food coloring. Mix well. Add Borax until it starts to form a more "solid" clump. I probably added 6 or 7 tablespoons (???). Keep stirring- it will go through several stages (runny -> stringy -> one big clump)

Voila- Flubber!!

Making it into stars and teddy bears

No lie...this is Adelyn's first attempt with scissors, and it was successful!! At the end of 2 year-old preschool, this box was not checked on her skills list, so I've been meaning to work with her on this. Flubber was perfect!

Rolling pin did NOT work

She made me a birthday cake

See? It's not sticky! Flubber also makes great accessories.

I read that it will keep for a couple of weeks as long as it's kept in a ziplock bag or airtight container. I will also let James experiment with it....hopefully he won't eat it!! :) 

14 months old

James is still not 100% walking. Someone told me that it's better for their spine and they'll have less back problems the longer they crawl AND they're better readers the longer they crawl....so we'll go with that train of thought! James can take lots of steps (walk across a room) and balance himself very well, but his preferred method is crawling. He's trying to say more words and is adding more animal sounds to his repertoire. He talks NONSTOP and has kind of a high pitched voice. It's really cute. He can point to his mouth and nose. He said "sandwich" clear as a bell the other day! James is still taking 2 naps per day and going to bed around 7:30 (sleeps until 7 am). He's about to start Play School on Wednesdays. We'll see what happens to that morning nap and hopefully his little friends will encourage him to walk all the time! 

Adelyn is doing great. Seth was out of town for 5 nights and she couldn't have been sweeter or more helpful. She's really growing up. She's about to begin 3 year old preschool 3 mornings each week. Her new thing is Polly Pocket. She earns money by doing various chores around the house and was able to buy two Polly Pockets. With quarters. Poor cashier. 

Finger painting....he wasn't super into this art project. He kept trying to crawl away (thus getting paint on the deck)

What kid doesn't love catching bubbles? 

He's figured out how to open the doors

See ya!

I took Adelyn to Sweet and Sassy for a haircut and remembered I bought her a Gltizy Glam MakeOver from Living Social. It was about to expire, so even though we were just going home for a nap afterwards, we did it

Adelyn right after she got her hair in a Princess Bun, eyeshadow and lipgloss applied, nails painted, a heart stenciled on her cheek, and her hair sprayed with glitter

Montana Summer Trip

We went on our annual summer trip to Montana (last week of August) with Seth's parents, Seth's aunt Martha, a babysitter Emma, and my niece and nephew. The cousins had a BLAST playing together 24/7. My only complaint about the trip was how James slept!! He either woke up for a couple hours around 2 a.m or woke up super early. I guess the time change plus more teeth coming in really impacted him? That stunk. We took an overnight trip to Great Falls for the MT State Fair and went to the rodeo. The kids got wristbands that allowed them to ride as many rides as they wanted. There was definitely good people watching! Seth, Emma, and I did a 13 mile hike (Grinnell Glacier- my 3rd time doing that one, but it just gets prettier and prettier). Other than that, we spent time with the kids enjoying all Montana has to offer. The weather couldn't have been better. 

Kids showing their muscles before we hiked down to the river. They pretended they were Dora and Diego the entire hike; complete with map, binoculars, and looking for volcanoes. 

Hike #1 to the Flathead River

Grandpa kept James while we hiked. Here's what we came back to. How sweet!

Melissa made these cowgirl/cowboy shirts for the kids. Love their matching hair and eye color! Emily (6), Adelyn (3), James (13 months), and Thomas (4)

Fair- Seth and Adelyn going down the Big Slide on burlap

James absolutely loved the train!

These race cars whipped the kids around. Watching them was hysterical!

Emily and Adelyn on the hot air balloon ride

James on the only ride he could ride....glad he liked it.

This ride went up about 10-15 feet in the air and dropped down fast. It took a little convincing to get Adelyn on it, but she was loving it (they're getting strapped in)

Rodeo! 

James promptly fell asleep in Mart Mart's arms

And woke up about an hour later with a huge blowout. Did you know rodeos do NOT have baby changing stations? Go figure.

James napping with Grandma

The hotel had a great kids' pool and huge waterslide (but none of them went down it)

Hiking with my husband is one my favorite dates

Swiftcurrent Lake

Grinnell Lake

Love Bear Grass!

Parts of the trail were "Proceed with Caution" and you had to really navigate around the ice

We made it to the Glacier!

Emma, me, and Seth

We saw a herd of Big Horn Sheep (8 total). This guy was hiking up to the trail!

Hike #2 to the Flathead River

 Boys will be boys. These two could throw rocks all day. Seth taught Thomas to skip rocks. I can't wait for James to get a little bigger so they can play more together.

Grandma with her grandkids

Mt Saint Nick

James helping with the laundry

A bed for Baby Sarah

For Adelyn's 3rd birthday, she got a Cabbage Patch Kid and named her Baby Sarah (Sarah Adelyn to be exact). She has been asking for a bed to lay her in ever since. We're trying to save money, so I keep putting her off. I was honestly about to decorate a cardboard box with  markers when I remembered I had this wine crate (from our wedding SEVEN years ago). PLEASE NOTE, I am NOT a crafty person, but just wanted to share this project I did, because they don't happen very often. This was super cheap, as I already had the crate, paper, Mod Podge, and foam brush. The only thing I bought was ribbon and decorative pieces. I spent about $10.

 I measured the paper and brushed the crate with Mod Podge to adhere the paper. 

The paper has 2 coats of Mod Podge

I let Adelyn choose the ribbon. It's not what I would have chosen, but this is also not for me. She loves sparkles and pink.  I call this Preschool Diva meets Shabby Chic

I thought it needed a little more pizazz so I added these "diamonds" to the corners

I used an old pillow, covered it with a pillowcase Adelyn made at VBS, and added the small pillow and blanket.

Shhh...Adelyn is putting Baby Sarah to sleep. I'd love to add rockers to the bottom.

The only problem with this project is now she wants a bed for her other babies. Oh great....I guess we better buy some more wine! :)

Proud Wife- I'm married to an Indy winner!

We had an exciting two days in Indianapolis! This was the first time Grand Am has ever raced at Indy, so I had to go. My mom kept this kids at our house. Indianapolis is a really neat city. We enjoyed dinner and ice cream downtown Thursday night and I got up early on Friday morning and walked around downtown with two friends. The race was pretty crazy- it went from blazing hot to pouring down rain. There were lots of cautions. Bimmerworld had an awesome pit strategy and made the right call with not putting rain tires on. Here's BW's article with more race details: 

http://www.bimmerworldracing.com/bimmerworld-scores-historic-1-2-victory-at-inaugural-indianapolis-motor-speedway-grand-am-race.html

The art of racing in the rain 

Getting interviewed by SPEED Channel after winning

Getting ready to kiss the infamous bricks

Kissing the bricks! 

Seth and Dan with their trophies

Bimmerworld in 1st and 2nd!

Seth with his parents

I am SO, SO glad I got to go this race!!