Fun With Friends

My great Indianian friend is down here in the South for a visit with her folks and she and her kids (minus 1) graced me with their presence today.  We tried to get a picture of the kids together - but the little guy on the left, as well as my camera, wouldn't cooperate.

We tried to get them to repeat funny phrases and make silly faces, but the kid wouldn't budge and turn his frown upside down.

As the old saying goes... if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - so the other kids did their best shoulder slump and pout.

Guess what!  Getting pictures of just my BFF and me by ourselves wasn't any easier.  Out of all of the twenty plus pics, my favorite on was way out of focus.

This is her daughter (who my kids think look like Selena Gomez) and my 3rd son.  My husband and I used to teach these two in Sunday School when they were 2 years old.  One of them, and I won't tell who, was afraid to go potty because of the blue water in the toilets at church.  Remember that, F?

While we were inside in the AC chatting, one of my boys and one of hers were outside building a jet.  I wasn't sure if giving a 6 and 7 year old a hammer and some nails was smart, but they did a great job and nobody got hurt.  We were told that John was the pilot while right hand man was the co-pilot.

Finally, for Sharan's viewing pleasure, my wall in my den with some sticks and sewn birds on it.  My birds fall off a lot, and I've been planning for months to sew them on the branches with clear thread.  However, my friend recommended clips (why didn't I think of that).  I think I'll go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow and buy some to hot glue to my favorite little birdies in my home.

Family Fun

My folks were out of town over Easter and Mother's Day; so we got together with them a few Sundays ago and had so much fun.

I wanted to post the below picture of my son for my Mother - he looks a lot like pictures of my Dad as a boy.

My sister brought her Cornhole game and I got to play for the first time.  Believe it or not, but my five year old was much better than me.  I guess I should have tried throwing two handed like she did.

My kids LOVE hanging out with the family, and how sweet is it to see a 16 year old boy (Valera called this one "Big Boy" in his sweet Ukrainian accent) giving his little cousin?

Here is my oldest son, Nathan, with his Great-Grandfather, Nathan.

Faux Tie Dye Shirts

My daughter's Pre-K class made tie dye shirts at the end of the year and they turned out so cute, that I wanted to make some with my kids.  However, since I am lazy and it is a several step process, I decided to look for an easy way to make a tie dyed looking shirt.  I found what I was looking for when I found a method called Punk Rock Tie Dye.  I would be nice and put a link - but there is a virus on my computer and I can't use google or YouTube without getting on a spam site.  If you'd like more information, though, just google it or there is a 1 minute video on YouTube showing what to do.

On the video I found, they used spray paint to give a tie dye effect.  I wasn't sure how that would wash up, or if it would be stiff; so I used a spray on fabric dye I found at Hobby Lobby called Simply Spray.

This was such a fun and simple project that the kids literally didn't need any help doing.  I showed them once how to twirl the shirt up; and then they took off with it.

I love how each shirt looked so different based on the colors they used and how much they twisted the shirt.

The only problem with the Simply Spray was - these shirts faded A LOT!  The colors kind of bleed and none of the lines look as crisp now as they did on the first day.  I did wait the 72 hours to wash like the directions said; however - I did not pre-wash the shirts and I probably should have.