Autumn Oak Leaves Pixie Hat - Made from Grandma's Sweaters

A couple of months ago, I spotted some cute pixie hats on Pinterest. I pinned this autumn oak leaves hat, which links to an Etsy sewing pattern that costs $6. The pattern is for two sizes: 9-18 months and 18-36 months.

The pattern doesn't really explain how much fabric you need. I went to Jo-Ann and ordered blindly! I got 1.5 yards of cotton fabric for the lining of the hat, and I ended up using about half of that for three hats. I ordered the smallest amount I could (1/8 yard) of felt for each of the three colors of felt I used. The fabric came to $8, and I had a lot left over. The most expensive item was the embroidery thread I bought for $8. I only got one color instead of two because it was expensive! I used that to stitch on the leaves and acorn. Finally, she lists "wool" as an item needed for the braids on the hat. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to get, so I just ended up using some straw-colored yarn I had. The main part of the hat was made from upcycled sweaters, so I ended up spending $16 on materials for 3 hats and $6 on the pattern.

A small hat for Hazel:
                                                                                             

A small hat for Paisley:

My mother-in-law, Colleen, gave me a few wool sweaters of hers, one that was her mom's when Colleen was a baby, and one that was her mother-in-law's. We worked hard to try to get the sweaters to felt. We put them in her laundry sink and added boiling water. We mashed them with a wooden spoon, and then we ran them through her dryer a couple times. They didn't felt! I tried at my parents' house because they have an older washer and dryer. She'd heard those work better for felting. It seemed to do the trick for some of the sweaters! Three of them felted, but two did not. I was able to get one hat from each of the three felted sweaters. Two of them shrunk so small that I could just barely get a small hat from each. One stayed large enough to get the larger size hat made for Jo. Oliver and Joanna have a new baby cousin, Paisley, so we decided she should get the small hat made from Great Grandma Jackie's sweater. I sent the other to my cousin for her little girl.

Here's Joanna in her autumn oak leaves pixie hat:

I think the hats are so stinking cute! I am not much of a seamstress at all, so I think anyone who has worked with a sewing pattern before would be able to make this hat. I hat a tough time with the first one, figuring out how to flip it and where to stitch in the braided pulls. After that, the others were easy!

Challah for Rosh Hashanah!

We're not Jewish, but I couldn't help but ogle all of the beautiful foods people were posting online last weekend for Rosh Hashanah. I decided to try to make our own challah! I love baking, and I have the best baking assistant ever--my 3 year old! Unfortunately, we haven't done well with bread. I don't know if it is us or our altitude (5,280 ft), but my breads always come out either too dense or too cake-like.

On Allrecipes.com, I found a recipe for high altitude challah. It came out beautifully. The recipe recommended braiding the bread with 3 or 4 strands, but we ended up braiding it with 5. I looked up a video on YouTube to braid our challah. Yum! We ate it with a little butter a couple hours after we took it out of the oven, and, the next day, we used it to make toast for breakfast.

                                         

Summer Bucket List Update: Taking the Train Downtown

I took the kids on the light rail. We went downtown to visit my dad for lunch! Oliver has recently developed a strong interest and love for trains, and he watches Thomas the Train almost every day when Jo takes her nap. I knew he would love taking the light rail, but I worried he would expect something a little more like Thomas the Train and be disappointed in the commuter train. So, the night before, I told him about our plans to ride the train. I also explained that it wouldn't be like Thomas. This would be a train that had lots of cars to hold people.

The next morning, Oliver chatted endlessly about the train. I reminded him a few times that it wouldn't be like Thomas. I was worried he was getting his hopes up. After what probably seemed like ages to Oliver, we finally left to catch the train and take it downtown. It cost me $8 to have a 6 hour ticket for the light rail. Thankfully, Oliver and Jo were both free because they're under 5! As we waited for the train, Oliver kept telling me what to expect. "Remember, Mom. This is a real train. It's not Thomas." 

This kid is going to totally flip out when he finds out we have tickets to ride Thomas the Train at the train museum in a few weeks. I'm pretty sure it will be the greatest day of his life. At any rate, he was so enthusiastic when the light rail train pulled up! It is as ordinary as can be, but Oliver was thrilled! He quickly learned about all the stops the train would make, and he'd announce to the other passengers when the train was stopping. He also explained, "We have to stop so people can get off, and other people have to get on the train." He memorized all the noises and dings and sound effects on the train. The half hour ride downtown flew by!

We caught my dad as he walked to meet us at the train. He took us on a little tour of his hotel, The Grand Hyatt. I've seen it many times and have stayed there a few times, but I haven't been there since its recent renovation. It's gorgeous! The whole lobby area has been redone in natural wood. Oliver was mostly interested in the elevators. We rode them all over the place! We checked out the pool and a couple of the ballrooms and meeting rooms. In one ballroom, all of these elegant glass decorations were hanging from the ceiling. There had to be 1,000+ of these things. I laughed as I imagined my dad hanging them. I love my dad, but he isn't the most patient person when it comes to repetitive, tedious work. I asked him if he'd broken any, and he answered, "A few. Then, a few days later, a bride threw her bouquet and broke a bunch more." Thankfully, he saved have back-ups ;-)

After touring the hotel and riding the elevators a number of times, we stopped for lunch at the Hyatt's Starbucks. That's one of Oliver and Jo's favorite places!

We loved our lunch downtown. It's something we'll have to be sure to do again soon. It also completed another item on our summer bucket list! We have less than two weeks to go, and there is still so much to do!

 Watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.
* Bake a berry stars & stripes cake with Oliver.
* Run through the sprinklers.
* Go to a splash park.
* Play in the "creek" at the Children's Mordecai Gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Watch our first parade.
* Ride the outdoor train at Belleview Park.
* Visit a petting zoo.
* Take the kids for a swim.
* Have a real outdoor picnic on the grass with a picnic basket.
* Watch a sunrise.
* Go for a hike in the mountains.
* Go on a road trip.
* Go out for an ice cream cone, and eat it outside!
* Make our own ice cream, and let Oliver choose the flavor.
* Pick and eat vegetables out of the garden we're growing at Grandma Judy's house.
* Eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle George's house.
* Throw water balloons.
* Go tent camping overnight.
* Look at stars in the sky.
* Visit Andrew at work for lunch.
* Take the train downtown to visit Grandpa Larry for lunch.
* Go to the Fireman's Museum.
* Use sidewalk chalk.
* Blow bubbles.
* Take Father's Day photos with the letters that spell out "DAD" again.

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 95: Toddler Spray Paint

Don't forget that the monster hat giveaway ends later today (9/7/13)!

I decided to take the kids outside to try to recreate an activity I found from kiwicrate.com. She had her little boy spray large sheets of paper with a spray bottle that she filled with water and Koolaid. We don't have Koolaid, but we have food dye. My husband cleaned out a spray bottle for us to use, and we filled it with water and red food coloring. It reminded me a lot of the time I took Oliver out to spray the snow in the winter. That activity didn't go very well because he wasn't interested in spraying the snow. I wondered how painting paper would be.

We didn't have large butcher paper on hand, so we used computer paper, which I weighed down with some pine cones. Joanna wanted to play with the pine cones.

Oliver did a really great job spraying and enjoyed the activity. Jo was interested but couldn't spray by herself. She tried really hard, though. Oh, and that is a name tag on Oliver because we tried to attend a nature class up at Lookout Mountain today. It didn't go very well, but he liked the name tag!

Oliver kept spraying and spraying! I turned over the sheets so he could spray them again. We switched colors from red to orange because he wanted more colors.

He was interested in trying to spray the pine cones.

Joanna wanted to spray the pine cones, too, but she couldn't get the spray bottle to work.

From my experience with the kids, this is a really fun activity for kids who aren't toddlers. I could see Oliver having a really good time if I gave him lots of bottles filled with different colors. Joanna thought the whole thing looked fun, but she couldn't really do it herself. Although the website recommended this activity for kids 2+, I think it's better for 3+ or 4+. As a toddler activity, I give it a D+. The "plus" is because Jo was interested and was kept busy with trying to work the spray bottle.

Pros: Easy to set up, good for hot days, outdoors.

Cons: Can stain, difficult for toddlers, doesn't last long (unless you have a lot of paper to use, I suppose!)

Mother & Daughter, 29 Years Apart

I took this image of Jo a couple of weeks ago at Belleview Park. As soon as I looked at it on my camera, it reminded me of a picture of me when I was about her age. This past weekend, I finally took the time to do an image comparison. The one of the left is me at 19 months old and the one on the right is Joanna at 21 months old.

Giveaway: Monster Hats

Roar! That's what Jo says when she wears the cute little monster hat that I made her. I've been busy making these crochet monster hats all month! I saw these on Pinterest and just had to buy the pattern on Etsy to make some of my own. If any of my readers crochet, you can find the pattern on Etsy here for $4.99 from Emie Grace Creations. Some of the ones I made are for family, and some will be favors for the kids' birthday party at the end of October. Two are for my blog readers! Read below to learn how to enter to win one.

This is my cheesiest monster:

Here's my little ham wearing her monster hat and her Day of the Dead (Dia de Muertos) dress.

This giveaway is open to anyone with a mailing address in the US (I'm not mailing out of country; sorry!). Just leave a comment below with your email address, as well as your first choice in hat and your second choice in hat.

You can enter from now until this Saturday, September 7, at 9pm MST. I will use a random number generator to choose two separate winners. I'll email the winners sometime Saturday night, and the winners will have until Tuesday, September 10, at 10am MST to get back to me with a mailing address. If I don't hear from the winners by then, I'll choose an alternate winner. I will ship out the hats snail mail sometime that same week to get them to the winners in time for fall!

Here are the hats I have for the winners to choose from (size description is below). The pink one doesn't have a face yet (oops!), but it will be finished by tomorrow.

I have the following colors and sizes of hats for the winners to choose from (please indicate your first choice, and then your second choice in case the first winner picks the same one):

1 purple hat that fits babies approximately 6-12 months old

1 silver hat that fits babies approximately 6-12 months old

1 green toddler hat (fits toddlers approximately 12 months through 2T)

1 pink toddler hat (fits toddlers approximately 12 months through 2T)

1 yellow little kid hat (fits kids approximate 3-4 years old)

1 red little kid hat (fits kids approximately 3-4 years old)

To have an extra entry, follow me with Google Friend Connect (you'll find it on the right-hand side) and leave a second comment letting me know you're a GFC follower.

Good luck to all who enter, and two winners will receive an email from me on Saturday!

Colorado Hikes: Roxsborough State Park

Happy Labor Day weekend! Andrew's up in the mountains with some friends, and my aunt and uncle are in town from Iowa. We decided to check out Roxborough. I'd actually never been there before, even though it's a popular day hike.

The day was perfect for hiking. We have had the craziest weather for Colorado, and I love it. It was overcast and cloudy, as it has been for much of this past month. It made for cooler temperatures and good hiking weather. I don't recommend doing this hike with kids on a hot, sunny day because there was no shade. It wasn't a problem at all for us today!

Unless you have a state parks pass, the entrance fee is $7. I didn't even think of that when I agreed to go with my family. Thankfully, my dad offered to buy our entrance fee! My mom brought her jogging stroller along. What would I do without my parents?

The main trail that we took (the Fountain Valley Trail) is mostly flat. We accessed it from the visitor's center. As we walked, there were a few lookout points to hike up to. We chose to do those, and they weren't all that easy with little kids. I wouldn't have been able to do those parts with the kids myself.

After the first part of the hike, we switched and put Oliver in the stroller. I carried Jo almost the rest of the way! At one point, my mom tried to relieve me, but Jo wasn't having it.

We left the stroller behind to hike up to Lyons Overlook. Oliver hiked up there himself! It was beautiful.

There was sand near the overlook that the kids played in. Oliver declared that it was brown sugar.

We didn't do the full loop. My dad helped me get the kids back to the visitor's center after Lyons Overlook. The visitor's center was air conditioned, and the kids got to color and relax. It was nice. They had a board on the wall that marked all the animals people have reported seeing and on what days. There have been a lot of black bear sightings recently! In July, there were a lot of mountain lion sightings, so definitely don't let any little kids wander off.

Summer Bucket List Update

We've crossed a few more items off of our summer bucket list! Last weekend, we took the kids for a swim at the local rec center. Jo was in heaven! She loved the walk-in pool with the splash features. We also went and visited Andrew at work for lunch (photo above). Finally, we didn't make it to Bonnie and George's house, but they came out this way to visit us and brought us some of their home grown tomatoes.

I'm starting to worry we won't get everything done by the end of summer! I'm giving myself until the literal last day of summer (September 21) to try to get everything done. We shall see!

* Watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.
* Bake a berry stars & stripes cake with Oliver.
* Run through the sprinklers.
* Go to a splash park.
* Play in the "creek" at the Children's Mordecai Gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
* Watch our first parade.
* Ride the outdoor train at Belleview Park.
* Visit a petting zoo.
* Take the kids for a swim.
* Have a real outdoor picnic on the grass with a picnic basket.
* Watch a sunrise.
* Go for a hike in the mountains.
* Go on a road trip.
* Go out for an ice cream cone, and eat it outside!
* Make our own ice cream, and let Oliver choose the flavor.
* Pick and eat vegetables out of the garden we're growing at Grandma Judy's house.
* Eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle George's house.
* Throw water balloons.
* Go tent camping overnight.
* Look at stars in the sky.
* Visit Andrew at work for lunch.
* Take the train downtown to visit Grandpa Larry for lunch.
* Go to the Fireman's Museum.
* Use sidewalk chalk.
* Blow bubbles.
* Take Father's Day photos with the letters that spell out "DAD" again.

Baby Steps in Potty Training

Joanna is making definite progress with her potty training, but it is a long process. She now actively tries to pee when we put her on the potty. I took a tip I read online, and we now set a potty timer every 10 minutes once it is close to when she needs to go. Oliver loves setting the potty timer!

She still has lots of accidents. It's as if she realizes she is supposed to be on the potty but doesn't understand she's not supposed to pee everywhere else! All I do is tell her pee-pee is supposed to go in the potty. After an accident, I'll put her back on the potty, and she will usually squeeze out a little more and cheer.

So, we are still having regular accidents but also more regular successes! I'd say she has two accidents a day and two successful potty attempts a day. She is most definitely not trained yet, but it's good to see progress. We'll just keep it up and hope she continues progressing. It's been almost two weeks now!

Oliver's Cooking Show: Strawberry Popsicles

We're still trying to get everything back in order from spending all spring and summer updating and selling our house. I'm finally getting around to posting the 5th episode of Oliver's Cooking Show, which I filmed back in May! Here he is making simple strawberry popsicles.