October 22-24: Chicago!

Koen had been counting the days since August for when we could go to Henry's house!!!  He knew we'd be going after Tysen's birthday and told everyone he met about it.  We'd made plans to visit Auntie Lori, Uncle Steve, and Henry so that Lori and I could do a Premier Designs Jewelry Show together and we could spend some time hanging out with them.  Little did we know when we made these plans 2 months ago that we would be traveling to Chicago the Monday-Tuesday earlier in the week for Grandma Rinsema's visitation and funeral.  Two trips to Chicago in one week after not having been there since July (even before that for Seth and the boys) was a lot, but so worth it!

Koen and Tysen had a great time hanging out with Henry, playing will all of his toys, and reading all of his books.  They also enjoyed the fact that Henry's TV actually gets shows they like, such as Arthur and Micky Mouse (we don't have cable or a dish, nor do we get PBS with the digital box we have).  Koen was excited to have a slumber party in Henry's room, and Tysen was happy to have a slumber party in Mom and Dad's bed (although that wasn't the original plan...apparently the bed is more comfortable than the floor!?!).  Brielle did just fine on her own in the pack-n-play.  :)

The boys enjoyed breakfast out on Saturday morning while Lori and I had the jewelry show and Brielle napped (just an aside...Lori's show was so much fun and she earned A TON of FREE jewelry!!!)  We had thought about going to a Children's Museum in Naperville for the afternoon, but between a late lunch and nap times, plus an early closing time for the museum, we decided to try it another time.  So it was a relaxing afternoon for the group with movies for the adults after the kids were in bed. 

Sunday began with a wonderful worship service in their church.  Koen even went up front for the children's blessing and left with the kids for Children's Worship!!!  He's growing up so much, as last time we were there (a number of months ago) he refused to leave with Seth and ended up staying in church with us.  After a yummy lunch together and some football on TV, we left for home again...with the boys asking when we could come back.

October 15: Visiting Kaye's House

The boys having been wanting to visit my cousin Kaye's house for a long, long time!!!  She is so great about coming here to watch the kids for us, to hang out with me for the night, and to stop by to drop things off.  The kids, though, wanted to go see where she lives, especially after they heard she had cats!  They LOVE animals, and are fascinated with cats! 

Seth was off for the weekend to the Michigan high school state golf tournament with two of his golfers, so I thought this would be a perfect time to invade Kaye's for the night!  She graciously let us invite ourselves over to her apartment for pizza (for the kids) and Subway (for the adults) and to watch a movie.  Of course, the boys picked the movie, so we got in the Christmas mood watching The Polar Express.  They peered at her cats hiding under her bed and even got to meet the kitten Kaye had rescued -- Shelby was a bit more daring and had to investigate the newcomers. 

It was an enjoyable night out for all of us, and as we pulled away, Koen asked when we could come back to Kaye's house again.  :)

October 12: Flying Airplanes

I still wasn't feeling well at this point, but the boys wanted to do a project and these seemed do-able.  I'd purchased this kit on sale from Jo-Ann Fabrics a while back that included four Styrofoam airplanes to paint.  We used two and saved to for another day (the boys decision).  I also decided that we'd use our own washable paints rather than the paint they included. 

My work was minimal.  I put the planes together (which consisted of sliding the Styrofoam wings into the plane's body), gave each boy a paper plate with his choice of paint colors, a paint brush, cup of water, and away they went.  Both Koen and Ty were very serious about this paint job and it took probably 20 minutes to complete.  After giving the planes a day to dry, I added the plastic tip and the boys had their airplanes to fly.  They keep talking about trying to fly them outside, but whenever they think of it, the weather is uncooperative or it's dark.  Maybe someday...

October 8: Toby the Tram Engine Birthday Cake

Even though Tysen's birthday isn't until Oct. 18th we planned to celebrate it the 9th when Grandpa and Grandma Davies would be visiting from London, ON, for Koen's Grandfriend's Day at school. 



Thomas the Tank Engine



Last May -- Koen's 5th Birthday

And now a bit of a backstory...when Koen turned 5 last May I told him I'd make him a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake.  A friend told me she had a Thomas cake mold that I could use, but when she brought it over I saw that it was one where I was supposed to decorate it with "stars" of frosting and I just wasn't sure I was up for that.  I went online and found a Thomas cake design that I thought I'd be able to make and a fondant frosting recipe to use (Instructions for Thomas the Tank Engine Cake).  I'd never used fondant before (seriously...I'd never heard of it), but the recipe said it was as fun and easy to use a play-doh...I"m not sure that's the truth, but it worked. :)  Koen was THRILLED with his cake, and he and Ty began planning at that point what kind of cake I should make for Tysen's birthday...Percy, James, etc. 


Back to this month when suddenly Ty decided he wanted a Toby the Tank Engine cake instead of Percy or James.  I was very excited about that idea as Toby is probably the easiest shape to make!  Unfortunately, I was quite sick at the time I needed to make the cake for him.  Fortunately, Seth's mom was still in town and helped me out!  I would not have been able to do it without her, but I really wanted to make Ty's cake for his birthday party! 



Tysen's 3rd Birthday

I used a picture of Toby as a guide.  Working with fondant the second time was super simple.  I used some cocoa to make a brown color for Toby, we cut it into 1 inch strips and layered them to make the wooden slats.  With both Thomas and Toby, I used a tube of black frosting for outlining the face and adding details like the name.  (Notes:  To color the fondant, use gel food coloring; to get a black color, start with a brown -- like adding cocoa). 





Toby the Steam Tram -- (Sorry-I couldn't rotate the picture)



Though I feel like both of these cakes were a success, I think I'll take a break from fondant frosting for a while.  It's not the tastiest (though the recipe I've used and included is supposed to be better than most), so for Brielle's upcoming birthday, I'm hoping to return to the tradition of getting a yummy Costco cake for the celebrate!









Marshmallow Fondant
recipe from Recipezaar.com (now Food.com)
makes enough for one cake

16 oz. white mini-marshmallows

2-5 Tbs. water

2 lbs. powdered sugar

1/2 cup (plus) Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place it in an easy-to-reach area)

1. Melt marshmallows and 2 Tbs. of water in a microwave or double boiler.  Put the bowl in the microwave 30 second, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open and stir again, and continue doing this until it's melted.
2. It usually takes about 2 1/2 min. total (not as long in my experience).  Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.
3. Grease your hands GENEROUSLY - palms, backs and in-between your fingers, then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of the marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle.
4. Start kneading like you would bread dough.  You will immediately see why you have greased your hands.
5. Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage!  Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more.
6. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant is sticking.  If the mix is tearing easily, it is too dry, so add water (about 1/2 Tbs. at a time--then knead it in).  It usually takes about eight minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
7. It's best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar).  (Having done this both ways, I'd recommend using it right away.)
8. Prepare the fondant for staring by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap, and then put it in a re-sealable bag.  Squeeze out as much air as possible.
9. Marshmallow fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks. 
10. Notes I ran across while originally researching fondant:
1. Roll out black fondant on plastic wrap or wax paper so it doesn't stain your counter -- though I personally didn't have trouble with this.
2. If it gets too dry, sprinkle it with water.
3. If you did make the fondant ahead of time, microwave for 20 seconds before working with it.
4. Use shortening to thin the fondant after kneading.
5. Add cocoa for chocolate/brown fondant.  Do this when you add in the powdered sugar.







October 7: Paper Baskets

In trying to catch up from the last month, I won't have an entry for every day.  Due to illness and other circumstances, we didn't do a very good job of staying on schedule, but I will include what we were able to accomplish. 

On this particular day, I was beginning my bout of the flu, but Seth's parents were in town and Grandma Davies came to the rescue.  I had checked some craft idea books out of the library, and Koen had found one craft he wanted to make -- a paper basket.  (Of course, without thinking, I returned the book to the library so I don't even have the instructions or the name of the book to credit for the idea...oops).  The book was all about recycling materials when crafting.  I've been trying to check out some books about recycling, taking care of the earth, etc. when we go to the library so I can teach the boys more about these things.  They always help put our recycling out, but I'm not convinced they really know what that means. 

Koen and Grandma Davies set out to craft a paper basket.  This craft used newspaper (only one or two sheets, I believe) and after folding it in the directed fashion, you had an incredibly strong paper basket.  And it was strong!  The boys carried around multiple wooden Thomas trains in their baskets without the baskets breaking!  Koen took pride in decorating his basket by coloring it with markers, and Ty followed suit (even though Ty was outside playing, Grandma made a basket for him as well).  A month later, we still have both baskets in tact, though a few minor repairs have been made.

October 1: Fall Place Mat

The boys started collecting leaves every time we went outside, so I figured it was time to make an autumn placemat.  One idea I'd read online used clear contact paper to make the placemat, but I didn't have any of that at home, and I remembered making mats with waxed paper, so that's what we went with. 

Tysen carefully placed each chosen leaf on the waxed paper which I had laid on top of a towel (thinking ahead for using an iron!)  Prior to inviting Ty to make his new mat, I shaved some broken crayons so he could add some extra color to his mat.  He had fun spreading the crayon shavings around, although he wanted to cover the leaves with the shavings rather than put the color in the "blank" spaces.  Once he was finished designing his new mat, I placed the second piece of waxed paper over top, covered it with a towel and began ironing. 

Now, one thing that never even crossed my mind was that my towels were textured.  Using textured towels to help protect the waxed paper ended up texturing the waxed paper, so we ended up with a textured placemat.  A mistake that turned out to be kind of a cool feature! The crayon shavings didn't melt and spread as well because of the texture keeping it more in place, but it still turned out nicely.  Ty was happy with it!  We trimmed the edges to make it look nice and that was that. 



Ta-da!





September 30: Frog Hollow Park



Frog Hollow Park



Even though I'm posting this a month after we visited the park, the boys saw the pictures today and wanted to go back, so already you know it was a great visit!  I'd heard about this park from numerous sources and decided we should try it out.  Yes, we do have a park right down the road from our house, but sometimes a new environment with new toys is just plain exciting!!! 

Frog Hollow Park is hidden right around the bend from Metro Hospital just off M-6, so it was just a short drive.  The afternoon was a beautiful autumn day -- sunshine with a bit of a breeze.  We spent over an hour exploring and playing.  Despite its popularity it wasn't extremely busy, and it was easy to keep track of the kids even if they were in different spots of the park.  We'll wait until next spring, but we'll definitely be return visitors!



Brielle sat back and enjoyed the sunshine.




Our little monkeys...