Monday, December 31, 2012

2012: Year in Review

2012 was a fun year at our house.
Here's a recap of my year:

January
Sophie lost her first TOOTH.


February
We LANDSCAPED (half of) our back yard.

March
Mary preferred to stay TINY for a bit.


April
We enjoyed the spring WEATHER.

May
A summer of SWIMMING began.

June
Mary learned her siblings can be kind of CRAZY.

July
We got to have a STAYCATION as a family.

August
Sophie started KINDERGARTEN.

September
We continued our wonderfully WET season.

October
Mary turned ONE with a little party.

November
We started the month at DISNEYLAND.


December
We had a good CHRISTMAS



And here's to 2013!
How was your year?


(visit my 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011 if you wish)

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Making a Dollhouse

Even though Santa brought Sophie and Mary the dollhouse, I thought I would let you know how his elves made it.

HOW TO MAKE A DOLLHOUSE
IN 12 EASY STEPS

First, find a bookshelf at a yard sale for $2. You might not know what you're going to do with it, but buy it anyway since it has a nice shape and it's made of solid wood.


 


















Second, realize one day that it is a good size for a dollhouse, and when flipped over, it would turn the awkward top drawers into convenient doll storage.

Third, find and purchase a dollhouse full of furniture on craigslist. Keep all the furniture and sell the empty dollhouse at your neighbor's garage sale the next weekend for the same price you bought it for.

Fourth, sand every last inch of that thing and fill in any cracks and holes with wood putty, and then give it a coat of primer.

Fifth, let it sit untouched for a month as other events of November and December fill your time.

Sixth, use your mad geometry skills to cut roof pieces out of MDF boards with a 45° angle seam along the top.

Seventh, (NOTE: this step is optional) as you build and assemble the triangle pieces that fit under the roof, forever trap and seal in a screw driver into the "attic" space.



Eighth, add 2 coats of white paint. Also, spray paint the drawer knobs and interiors with another color of your choice.









Ninth, use Mod Podge for the first time to "wallpaper" the back walls with scrapbook paper. At this point, you'll wish you had looked up hints on YouTube before trying it, but you'll still be happy with the results. When one room doesn't work out, paint it instead with the same colors as your own master bedroom.


 
Tenth, using samples from local hardware stores, glue down carpet, wood, and tile floors. If you're feeling especially lucky, cut those samples into rectangular tiles and subway tile the kitchen floor.


 













Eleventh, cut roof shingles into smaller shingles and staple them to the roof. Also, add castors to the bottom.
















Twelfth, add furniture, people, and your own personal touches such as miniature versions of family pictures or art you have around your house.




















 


Now stand back and admire your work!























 BEFORE                                             AFTER



So there you go! That's how they did it. How they got it down the chimney is their business.



Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmas 2012

 Here is what we woke up to Christmas morning

Santa gifts:















A dollhouse for Sophie (& Mary)






















A bouncy horse (donkey? llama?) for Mary



 


















And a Captain America costume,
shield, and action figure for Sam

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!

From our home to yours,
Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 21, 2012

How a Baby Wakes on a Roadtrip

 I took these on our trip back from California last month. This is how a baby wakes from a road trip nap, if you were wondering.





Sunday, November 25, 2012

Disney 2012

On the day of Halloween we piled in the car and headed for California. We got to our hotel at about 6pm, and before we even unpacked, we headed out to a local neighborhood, dressed the kids in their costumes, and let them go Trick-or-Treating.

Then the next morning we headed to Disneyland. Sophie brought a notebook and pen and got some autographs, including Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Minnie, Pluto, and Chip & Dale.


 

 We totally got photobombed by the Queen of Hearts.
She knew what she was doing too. It was awesome.



 Finding Nemo Submarine ride.
All three kids were fascinated.


And here are some ToonTown highlights. Sam loved any ride or toy with a steering wheel. That kid loves his cars.




 
 This is the ONLY picture I have with all 3 kids in it from the whole trip.


And speaking of cars, we got to go to the new CarsLand - it was so great! Far and away Sam's favorite ride was Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.

 




We were sad that he was too short to try the big Radiator Springs Racers. He would have loved it - we thought it was such a fun ride! And here's my favorite picture from the trip:
 
 Sam basically stood frozen like this for an entire minute.
"Oh me and Lightning? Yeah, we're best buds."

Sophie's favorite ride is still Tower of Terror, which my stomach only lets me go on once per vacation, and even that is pushing it. She probably went 5 times. She also really liked Big Thunder Mountain this time, but still very much does not enjoy Space Mountain (which was even scarier this time because it was decked out for Halloween - I don't blame her.).

We had a great time! Can't wait to go back in a few years!