Family reunion t-shirts

Last year, Quentin came up with a great idea for all the kids on his side of the family. He found several t-shirts on clearance at Wal-mart for me to do something with, so that they could all wear them during the reunion. Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was going to do until right before the trip. With Q's help, it all came together. We also didn't know how many children we would have in the home either, so I had to later buy t-shirts for A and Little S.

Here are a few of the shirts, beginning with Little S....

The phrase on the shirts, "I'm related to Dell Johnson" was all Q's idea. Dell is his dad, aka "Grandpa." Each shirt had an iron-on number on it, indicating their age.

This next one is Carson's, who is two years old:

I used Crayola's fabric markers to do all the writing. Each shirt had a different color on it. There are three girls, so all of them wore pink t-shirts. The boys' shirts were either white or gray, and they were all muscle shirts. There are seven kids all together, ranging from ten months to nine years old.

Here's A's t-shirt...(I picked hers up for a buck at the Dollar Tree--not bad, huh?)

This is Canon's shirt....

On the back of each shirt I wrote, "Johnson Family Reunion, 2011."

The kids all wore their shirts to a special dinner out. We received several compliments on them, too. My brother-in-law took several group pictures of the kids, but unfortunately, I'm not able to share them at this time to protect our foster daughters. Maybe some day....

So there you have it--a fun, inexpensive idea to do for your next family gathering.:)

Glenwood Caverns

One of the highlights of our family vacation was going to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.

We had fun during the cave tour....

Amazing, isn't it?

My niece, Annalina, and A had a great time climbing the rock wall. This is something A has been wanting to do for a long time, so we were glad she got to do it!:)

Here's a neat picture of the wall, with Annalina climbing it.

Q and A got to go on a roller coaster ride that overlooked the valley. They both said that they would definitely do it again if they could. There were other adventures there including a giant swing (too scary for me--check out the website to see this one!) and a maze. This is a neat place to take your family if you're looking for a Colorado adventure!:)

July fourth celebration

We returned from vacation a few days ago, and since then it has been busy getting back into the swing of things. I'm not blogging as much as before, but it's okay--Little S and A take up a lot of my time and I know it's an eternal investment. :)

So, I just wanted to share with you a few things from July fourth and from our vacation in the next few posts. First up: what we did to celebrate the holiday at our church....

We had a great Sunday School and church service. My father-in-law spoke about civil government and it was good! He got me thinking about some things. I had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem, too. It's one of my favorite songs to sing. Those who served in the military (or those who are serving currently) were honored. My brother-in-law was dressed in his "whites" and led us in prayer at the beginning of the service.

Then, we had a potluck full of lots of yummy food! A couple of days before, a few ladies, along with A and I decorated the reception hall. We bought some things at the Dollar Tree, including lanterns like this:

Hanging underneath were the tables covered with red and blue stars. We sponge-painted those onto paper using craft paint.

We also found these hanging stars that looked great mixed with the lanterns.

We placed these centerpieces on each table to finish the look. We didn't spend a whole lot of time and money doing this, but the end result looked great.

A and I also made this birthday cake for America. It was Q's idea to put the candles on. Our country is 235 years old!;0)

After the potluck, Q gave a devotional. Then, we cleaned up and finished packing for our Johnson Family reunion. Q's family was all there that Sunday morning for church and they helped us get packed up afterward. We had a busy weekend with work, the girls' family visits, etc., so it was great having them help us get on the road.

Next up...vacation! Stay tuned....

Little S and her curls

When people first meet Little S, they say things like,

"Look at those long eyelashes!"

"She's so teeny to be walking already."

"She's such a beautiful baby." (we hear this one A LOT--in fact, Q calls her "the show stopper" because every where we go, people stop to see her and sometimes a crowd will gather--seriously!)

And then my all-time favorite, (which was what I said the first time I saw her) is,

"Look at those curls!"

(A took this picture of her curls when she first came to live with us.)

Her curls are beautiful indeed, but it takes time and patience each day to take care of them. Regular detangling spray does not work on her African-American hair. I used a sample leave-in conditioner that my hair gal gave me (which worked well), but I don't want to pay a lot of money for a regular can. I've heard of a couple of other good conditioners that work well, especially for kids, but I'm waiting to try them as I've been using something I made myself (trying to save a little money, folks!). I googled "how to make your own leave-in conditioner, and more than a few popped on the screen. You basically mix four parts water with one part conditioner and shake it up. I actually added more conditioner to the spray bottle since Little S's hair is super curly and gets tangled very easily.

Here's what I've been doing, and so far it works:

Every morning, I spray Little S' hair with water (she's okay with this so far...)

Then, I spray the homemade leave-in conditioner in her hair (she's still okay, but I have to give her something to distract her with)

Finally, I take a wide-tooth comb to comb out her hair. Sometimes there will be a few hard tangles to deal with, and for Little S, this is hard to bear. There are many mornings that I'm literally chasing her around the room as she squirms away. I'm trying to figure out the best way to make her stay put because when she does, the process goes fairly quickly.

Little S will have gorgeous curls for the rest of her life (which we're all a bit envious of, right?):) When she's older she will learn to care for the curls God gave her. Hopefully, this homemade leave-in conditioner will continue to work for her.

Any thoughts or tips on what I could be doing better for this little one? I'd love to hear about it!:)

Home made strawberry ice cream

We've been harvesting quite a few strawberries lately and have had some to share, too. For a while, A has been wanting to make strawberry ice cream. This past Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to do this fun project together.

It was fun picking berries with her. We made sure that the ones we chose were bright and perfect (no bugs or holes in them!)

We filled part of a large bowl of varying sizes of these beauties...

We made the vanilla custard on the stove top, which we let cool for a bit before putting it in the refrigerator.

We washed the strawberries and took the stems off. We put them in the refrigerator to get cold. Then, we took turns smashing them with a fork.

Once the custard was cool, we began the churning process. We poured the smashed berries in and let my Kitchen Aid do the work. I have an ice cream mixer bowl that has special attachments and churns the ice cream beautifully.

When the churning was done, I put the ice cream in a container and put it in the freezer. After church, it had been about four hours, and it was still a little soft--but scrumptious nonetheless!

There's nothing like fresh homemade strawberry ice cream on a hot summer day....

So you want the recipe? This one came from a book called, Soda Fountain Classics, by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern.

You'll love this ice cream as much as we have this week!

Rich Strawberry Ice Cream

3 eggs, plus 2-3 yolks

4 cups milk or light cream (I like to do half of the amount with milk and the other half with cream)

1-1/4 cups sugar

Put the eggs and yolks in a bowl and beat until smooth. Heat the milk (or cream) and sugar in a saucepan to just below boiling. Gradually stir 1/2 cup of the hot liquid into the beaten eggs, then stir the mixture back into the saucepan. Stir over a gentle heat until the mixture thickens (stir in the same direction). do not let it boil or the custard will curdle. (Some people use a double boiler or a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water). When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from the heat, strain into a bowl or pitcher, cool, and chill. Before churning, add 1 cup mashed fresh strawberries. Churn (in batches if necessary) and freeze.

Makes about 6 cups.

T-shirt capes

This past spring, two of our nephews and one niece turned two years old. Since I painted t-shirts for Eli, Carson and Josie's first birthdays, I thought it would be fun to come up with another t-shirt creation this year, too.

After some thought, the t-shirt cape idea came to be. I'm sure there are different variations out there, but perhaps these pictures will inspire you to make these fun and simple t-shirts for the little ones in your life.

First up--Josie's t-shirt cape....

For each shirt, I cut out their monogram out of fabric that I also used for the cape. I first glued the letters with fabric glue, let it partially dry, then stitched them with the machine.

I also stitched this three-layered heart on the back that matched the polka-dots on the fabric.

Eli's shirt is next....

I was glad to find awesome plaid fabrics for both boys' shirts.

Because boys really like to be superheros, the lightning applique' on the back was perfect.

Last but not least is Carson's t-shirt...

And just like Eli's, the lightning bolt on the back really stands out!

Each cape was slightly longer than the length of the shirt. It was hemmed all the way around. Then, I stitched velcro to the top corners of each cape and at the shoulders of each shirt.

To help you see what these shirts look like in action, my sil, Abigail, sent me a couple of pictures of Carson wearing his.

Doesn't he look awesome with that hat on, too? (So cute!)

All three kids are having fun playing in their t-shirt capes. Perhaps this is something you can do for the young ones in your family. It's such a perfect time to do it, too! Summer is full of imaginative play!

Happy Sewing! :)

Fishing cupcakes

I hope all of you dads out there had a wonderful Father's Day. I'm thankful for my dad and all of the time he spent with us girls...teaching us about the Lord, taking us to fun places and being a huge support in our lives.

Remember those "mum" cupcakes A and I made for Mother's Day? Well, we decided to make something for the dads this year. I found these fishing cupcakes and knew this would be it (she gives a complete tutorial, so head on over there)! As Q and A love to go fishing together, I knew she would enjoy helping me and giving one to him, too.

Aren't they the cutest thing? Since we were in a hurry to get these done, I actually made the cupcakes myself, but then A helped with the frosting later. I even taught her how to pipe the frosting, and hers went to Q. It was really sweet. The fishing pole required using a needle, so I did that as well. But as always, A was right there watching me do it.:)

We took a plate over for the dads in our church. They all liked these very much. You'll just have to try them, too....perhaps for another celebration this summer! It would be nice for a get together at the lake with friends and family, or for a child's birthday party.

Have a great time creating these cupcakes that will be a hit at your next celebration.:)