The Ohio State Fair

We spent the weekend at the Ohio State Fair. Going to the fair is one of my favorite summer activities. I look forward to it every spring, in eager anticipation. I loved the fair before I had kids, dragged along hubby[who was only boyfriend at the time] several times each year. Now that we have kids, I have a few more people, chanting with me, YAY the fair! While Daddy rolls his eyes and groans. Just like my little brother hates the zoo, Daddy hates going to the fair. He quotes the same reasons, the heat, the walking... I just don't understand! Who hates these thing? Every year we win and go 1-3 times, despite his protest for just ONCE this year. Look at all the fun we had! How could you not want to go back, say today? Hmmm, Dad?

A friendly 7 day old cow wanting to play! He was so cute!

Feeding Goats and a yak [yay] at the petting zoo. Look, they are both smiling!

The happiest baby is the world!

The kids--we fill out the whole board this year with the kids only.


Yellow submarine...nothing to do with the "fair" but so fun!

Baby Unicorn hanging out in the Moby wrap with mama-he slept most of the trip. This year marks his first year at the fair. [and yes, I may enjoy feeding the animals more than my kids-haha]

Fashion Design

The kids did some fashion design with old fabric scraps the other day. It was fun to see how creative they were. Each child definitely has their own style and idea's! Mr. {D} was all about incorporating skulls into his clothing. Miss {M} wanted her to be pretty and frilly. It makes me smile, how she always draws her girls with bog, rosy pink cheeks.

Something quick, easy and fun to try with the kids when they are bored. For smaller kids you can even draw the people yourself and have little ones glue strips of fabric to the paper.

Sunshine

We spent the last few days soaking up some sunshine. The weather has been beautiful and we needed a little break to enjoy it while it lasts. The fall months are incredibly busy for us each year with many birthday's, fall harvest, craft shows, making all the inventory to take to those craft shows, and now add homeschooling to the mix. We are gearing up to be extra, extra busy this fall season due to a few extra shows we are planning on applying to. I'm a fan of a simplier, more relaxed schedule, so my nerves start to get frazzled just thinking about it.

Yesterday was an impromptu trip to the Zoo. My baby brother[yeah he's 18, but will always be called this!] & his girlfriend called and said he was headed to our house. He lives 2+ hours away, so trips from family are treasured events! The bigger kids finished up school for the day just as the arrived. We had a great day both relaxing, fun and informational. {D} & {M} drew pictures of 4 animals while we were there and had to learn a new fact about them.

Summer

With the end of the summer drawing near, I find myself a little sad this year. It's totally abnormal for me! Usually, I cannot wait for the fresh, crispness of Fall to arrive. [my favorite season of all!] I'd trade scarves & snuggly hats for bathing suits anytime [especially after my post-baby body!] The cool breezes, falling leaves, pumpkins and harvest=wonderful!

This year things are different. Things will never be the same again. Why, you ask??
{D} is starting school! The end of summer has suddenly taken on new meaning. Suddenly it's sounding so very "official". It's not really going to change too much, as we have decided to homeschool, at least for the next few years, but the sentiment is there. The kids are growing up, and things are changing. Normal people welcome change, I run away kicking & screaming. On one hand, I'm super excited, on the other I want my babies to stay....well babies.

We have our curriculum together, notebooks and pencils have been purchased. Mama has a surprise set of book bags in the works for both {D} & {M}. All I need is the strength to let my babies grow up.

Any homeschooling pro's have tips for me?

Etsykids

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http://modernhandmadechild.com/index.html

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New Products

We spend the weekend soaking up some sunshine on Saturday. I've had a huge pile of new stuff here, just needing to be photographed. So we packed up the Kunklebaby inventory and headed to the park.

I love shooting outside, and it occurred to me that there are only a few more months that we will be able. Winters consist of me trying to get enough sunshine through the windows. Ohio winters are so dreary, it's hard to get any good pictures at all.

Lucky for us, summer is still here, it was a beautiful day and the models were in great spirits. A few romps through the grassy park, many roses smelled, and even a game of chase with a curious squirrel.

::Hello Turtle, XL Toddler Bib::

:: New Japanimation Girls Skirt. Love this skirt and the cool pose!::

::Doing his best Sid Vicious impression-haha, just kidding. This is his "model" expression::

Garden Wish Flags

Lately I have been really inspired by Tibetan Prayer Flags. They seem to wander into my mind at the strangest of times recently. I enjoy reading the Maya Made blog and she made some for her family garden.

We had been talking about a few different things to spruce up the garden, and I knew this would be it. We had to put up a large piece of lattice to block the dog from the garden. We tried several other things last year and with a dog that jumps and Bowie would just charge anything....this was our final solution! It works great, but it's ugly.

I used upcycled sheets cut into squares and had the children decorate them with fabric markers. There is a flag for rain, sun, growing, no bugs and some flower ones. After each square was completed, they were sewn together with a strip of bias tape. Quick, fun and meaningful to both the kids and parents!

I love looking out the window and watching the children's artwork dance in the breeze. Whenever I am in a grumpy mood I stare at them and realize how much I have to be joyful about. I love the creativity and love that is always present in our home.

Presents for Daddy

Over the weekend, my lovely husband turned 30!! He was totally not into his birthday this year. Hitting 30 was a milestone, he would have rather skipped-haha.

I tried to make it special by making all his gifts. The kids made these cool pen holders for him. They are always asking what he has on his desk at work and if he thinks about them while gone. It was a super easy, fun project! The base is empty soup cans that would have gone into the recycle bin. They use a very small amount of fabric and you could even use repurposed fabric with great results and minimal $!

I found the tutorial while browsing through flick a few months back. My children had been playing in the room with me. They happened to look over my shoulder an see the pen holders. {M} immediately said, "I wanna make that for Daddy!! Pleeeease."

So we started saving cans, much to the dismay of family and my husband. He asked several times, "Just how many cans do you think you guys need...to...make stuff?"
He was excited about the finished product when he saw them.
Want to make your own? Check out the easy tutorial "here".

Happy Birthday Mike!! May the next year hold great things for you!