Here it is!

Our somewhat organized family room. I put up bookcases along the back wall and got clear bins to put toys in. This way Gavin can find what he wants easily and the bins are easy for him to open, close and put away. So far it is working well. I also got clear shoe box bins to put books in organized by subject so they are easier for him to find too. The green bins are Austin's baby toys. You can see through them too but that way they are still separate.

Here are some pictures of Austin I took this morning.

Christmas Toys

Today Gavin cut up some food he got for Christmas (it has Velcro in the middle so you can 'cut' it - some in halves and some in quarters) and a grocery store he got for Christmas. He also got a little scale and was having fun weighing his food. So, we got to have a discussion on fraction basics, and on weight and measurement. At first he thought the bigger item would be heavier, but we talked about how the scale measure weight not size and then he had fun experimenting with it.

Gavin really wanted me to take that last picture for some reason. This is the second day in a row

he hasn't wanted to get dressed. Yesterday he spent all day in his pajamas until he took a bath and put on a new pair. Today he finally decided to get dressed around lunchtime. He is enjoying his vacation time I guess.

And, Austin played with some new toys too, I didn't get too many good pictures though. For some reason he always stops smiling before I can get the picture taken!

Christmas

Here are some pictures of Christmas Day at our house:

So the last two days we have been trying to get organized. We are moving the playroom downstairs and I've been getting storage containers for toys and shelves to put them on. I want to use the room we are using as a playroom now (which is technically the formal dining room) as a craft room for Gavin to do projects in and for me to scrapbook in. I'll take some pictures of the new space later this week hopefully!

One of the presents Gavin received for Christmas was a create your own monster truck. There are four monster trucks, paint and stickers. Gavin really wanted to do it yesterday, but I was really busy trying to organize things, so I told him we would do it today. He didn't forget and asked first thing this morning if he could paint his monster trucks.

The little boy who lives down the road came over as Gavin finished his painting and stayed for four hours so he's going to put on the stickers tomorrow. The good thing about that was Gavin was occupied so I got a lot done around the house while they were playing and Austin was napping.

Austin worked on his pincer grasp. He did a good job picking up his food but not even one of them actually made it into his mouth! That made the dogs very happy!

And, while I'm thinking about it, Jill had asked for the name of the lady who made Austin's shoes, here is her website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/poshprincesses

and Kim asked about the lady who made Gavin's football players, her website is: http://www.etsy.com/shop/fanciefannies

if someone could forward those on to them I would appreciate it!

More Jumperoo Video - so funny!

I know I'm at risk for overdoing the jumperoo videos, but this kid is cracking me up on this thing!

Mom and Dad make a gift for Gavin

This year for Christmas, Kristyn came up with a great idea for a gift for Gavin. She found some wooden football players on etsy.com, painted in KC Chiefs (my team) and Dallas Cowboys (her team) colors. She wanted me to cut a piece of plywood for her to paint like a football field for Gavin to use with these players. I decided to take it a step further, and the project you see detailed below ensued.

First I went to Home Depot and bought a 2 ft. X 2 ft. sheet of plywood. I cut it down to 24" X 14", and cut that in half.

Next, I took some boards I salvaged from an old flower planter that didn't survive the move, and cut pieces to form sides for each of the two pieces of plywood.

Once I had my two pieces of plywood and the boards to form the sides, I began assembling the project. I used brass escutchion nails and wood glue to fasten the boards.

The plan was to hinge the two sides together, so that when closed they would form a box to contain the football players. Because the boards from the planter were only a quarter inch thick, I had to fortify the hinge side of each box with a strip of plywood.

Once each side of the box was assembled, I marked the locations of the hinges, and chiseled out a place for them. I removed a little too much material, but it worked out pretty well. All holes were pre-drilled to avoid splitting the wood.

Once the hinges were in place, the project really started to take shape.

We had to have a way to latch the box shut when it was closed. My solution? I went to Hobby Lobby and paid $1.99 for a little pine box from China, just for the latch.

It was just the right size for this project, and closes the box tight.

Time to paint. Kristyn pretty much took over at this point. She painted the playing surface green, using paint left over from painting Gavin's bedroom. She painted the sides with blue paint, also from Gavin's room. The inside, she lined with brown felt, white lettering, cheerleaders, and footballs. This way, the paint on the football players doesn't get chipped.

I also made field goal posts, using some square dowel, and smaller round dowel. I cut the square dowel to length for the uprights, crossbar and support, then drilled a hole in the bottom of the support to seat the round dowel with glue. I assembled the goalposts, and drilled holes in the playing surface so the goal posts can be inserted.

Next, I taped the playing surface so Kristyn could paint on the yardlines and sidelines.

Finally, Kristyn painted numbers on the yardlines, and placed Dallas Cowboy markings at midfield and in the endzone. I think the finished product turned out great!

This project was a lot of fun. It is a great feeling to know that Gavin is going to receive a gift that Kristyn and I worked together to make, not just something bought at the store. This was cheap. I used scrap wood, a $7 piece of plywood, $2 for the latch, $2 for the hinges, $2 for the nails, paint that was left over from painting Gavin's room, and whatever Kristyn paid for the dowels, felt, and Cowboys decals. But even though we didn't spend much on it, I know Gavin will love it and it really is a gift Kristyn and I worked together to create.

Top Hats and Jumperoos

I got out the Jumperoo a few days ago and Austin enjoys it, but today, he figured out what to do with it!

And, yesterday Kaitlynn was over and she found Gavin's top hat. She wore it for quite a while and she had to hold it up or it fell over her eyes. This is a real top hat I found at an estate sale one day so it's big. Gavin likes it too! He thinks he's Abe Lincoln when he wears it.