FINALS ARE OVER!!

Hey we made it and we are still alive! I just finished my German final and I am actually sitting typing in my hubbies lab! I just found out that instead of leaving at 5 pm we should be able to leave within the hour! What a sweet guy, he actually packed us for the trip (this is a FIRST). So there won't be any new posts for a few days, we'll be busy playing with cousins. Have a wonderful weekend!

More Bow Ideas

Ok a friend just sent me this link, it also has a billion tutorials on how to make cute bows!

http://bowdesigns.50webs.com/index.html

I can't wait to try out some of these!

VIRUS ALERT

I recieved a responce to one of my recent posts, almost imediatly after I had posted it It went like this:

Fenrisar has left a new comment on your post "Baby Girl Headbands" :

See Please Here:

I went to see what the comment was, and got a bad feeling, I think this may be a way for viruses to infect computers. So anyways, please be aware of this. Be Careful!!!

Cute Kids

This is Miles, Kelsey, Chandler and Lydia, four small friends of Benjamin and Ehre.

Aren't they cute?!

Cute Kids

This is Milo, Kelsey and Lydia, three small friends of Benjamin and Ehre. Aren't the cute?!

Baby Girl Headbands

Materials:
Knee Highs, the legs of bay girls tights, or women’s nylons or Trouser socks. You can get the little egg shell knee highs at Wal-Mart for about 33cents and they are great for very little babies or their Trouser socks are a good deal as well and have a “higher” quality look in the fabric. The only limitation with the knee highs and trouser socks is the length. If you are trying to fit a bigger head sometimes nylons or tights are better to use. And it is hard to find the pink color unless you go with little girls tights.

Flowers. Hobby Lobby usually has the best selection and a lot of time s you can get them 50% off. Look for colors you want as well as flowers that look like they could lay somewhat flat. Another tip is to take a Hawaiian Lai and use the petals from it. You can combine lots of different colors which make for a great deal.

Glue Gun
Needle and Thread
Wire cutter or scissors
Jewels you can find these in the bead/jewelry section of Hobby Lobby. They have lots of different sizes, shapes and colors.

Instructions:
Take your knee highs or tights and glue or stitch the ends together.
cut or pull the flower of the stem as close to the petals as possible. The petals may come apart but that’s okay.

Take each petal and glue it one at a time onto the headband over the part where you attached the ends.

Take a jewel or the original idle of the flower and glue it to the center of the flower petals.

Curly Clips

Materials
¼ inch grosgrain ribbon in different colors
chop sticks (you can get a 50 pack at Wal-Mart) or wooden dowels
Two silver alligator clips (you can buy a pack of 100/$5 at Sally’s Beauty Supply)
Spray starch (like you would use to iron a men’s dress shirt_
Needle and Thread
Glue Gun

Instructions:
Take your grosgrain ribbon (you can use other kinds but this kind works the best) and wrap it around the whole length of the dowel (or chopstick) making sure to NOT overlap the ribbon, and then cut it off. Use the alligator clips at each end of the dowel to hold the ribbon down.

Take the dowel with the ribbon and alligator clips on it and hold it over a kitchen sink and spray all sides with the spray starch. Place the dowel on a cookie sheet (note: do not remove the ribbon from the dowel OR the clips holding the ribbon down, just place the whole thing on the cookie sheet.)

Repeat steps above with anther dowel for as many ribbons as you would like.
Bake at 250 for about 10 minutes. Keep in mind that it is best to cook the ribbon very soon after spraying it with starch.

Remove from oven and let sit until cool enough to handle and then remove the ribbon.Cut the ribbon to the length you would like it to be on your clip (it seems shorter like the shorter the piece the better it looks)

Use 6-8 pieces of ribbon (cut to the same length) and layer on eon top of another. Put a couple of stitches through the center.
Separate the pieces of ribbon they way you like and then using a glue gun attach the ribbon to your clip or headband.

Little Girls Hair Bows

Materials:
Ribbon in any width you like
Needle and Thread
Piece of Cardboard cut to the width you would like the bow to be. Usually 3-5 inches with the center cut out to allow for stitching.
Alligator clips
Glue gun

Instructions:
Take your ribbon and wrap it around and down the cardboard using the clips to attach it to the cardboard at the top and bottom. Wrapping it 3 times around to make a 2 loop bow. Make sure

to leave some extra end hanging off the cardboard on the top and bottom.

Stitch through the center of the ribbon using about 2 stitches per “row” of ribbon.

-Remove the needle and slide the cardboard out from the middle of the ribbon.

-Lay the ribbon down and make sure the thread is even on both sides.

-Start to tie the thread into a knot but hold down the sides of the ribbon so that the bow can begin cinching. Make sure the sides of the bow do not fold over themselves. Pull tighter until the bow completely cinches. Have someone (toddler fingers work great for this) put their finger down in the middle to hold the bow together while you tie the knot on the side and then repeat on the other side.

-Use a lighter to barely singe the end s of the ribbon to keep them from fraying, or use fray check.

-Glue on to an alligator clip and its ready to wear!

Examples of Finished Bows:

These were sooo easy to make, really anyone could do this! I figure that each bow costs less than 50 cents but retail in the store for upt to $5 a pair! Ehre is really excited about these bows, they hang in the bathroom and this morning she INSISTED that she wore the green ones!

Summer Camping Trip HOPEFULLY!!!

There are 12 new posts on the Maas family website! Happy Reading!

We love and miss you all, just to make you all jealous. It looks like Katrina, Alice (hopefully) and I are planning a big camping trip WITHOUT YOU to Mammoth Cave National park. We're not sure when we would go we've only just started on plans, but if it does happen its going to be the best camp out we've had in years!

So currently anyone and everyone is invited...you just have to proved your own transportation!

This week

Well this weeks email update was pretty lazy, here it is...

Well I was going to write a lot but I just updated our blog with about 5+ (12 actually) posts... so this week I am going to ask that you check out our blogsite. Its even better than the weekly email becuase it has PICTURES!!!

We love and miss you all have a great week, pray for all of us taking finals!


Jeff, Ann, Ehre and Benjamin

Mouse Trap

....do you remember this game?.... My little sister Christy got this as a Christmas gift a long time ago, and well I've not seen it since. But we found it a few months ago, and tonight we cracked it open with some friends. IT was a blast! The treat for the evening was SMORES....cooked in the kitchen over the stove! What a fun evening!

konked out

Well what did you expect would happen when you take kids on a walk in the PJ's at 6pm? This was definitely the result I was hoping for.

Dump Truck

Last summer we purchased a plastic swimming pool for the kids, it was a great idea, if we had been living in UT. Because it was made of small plastic we had a problem with mold growing in it...YUCK...and had to toss it. This year we weren't sure what we were going to do. We didn't want a hard plastic one because friends have mentioned that the break easily...well thanks to Craigs list we didn't have think long. We found this dump truck. Its a toy and 2 wading pools, just perfect!

Little Ice Cream Cones

This would be on my list of one of the best things ever invented. We found these at the grocery store the other day 60/$2.00. They hold about a scoop, and the kids love them, especially Benjamin....as you can tell they can be messy, but hey that's why we send them outside.

Happy Hallow Walk

Well we tracked it, if you walk from our house to Happy Hallow and back its 5 miles. So I've set a goal to walk it 3x a week. There are a few awesome perks about this walk. 1. There is an awesome playground at the park. 2. A field for soccer 3. Lots of squirles and birds to listen to 4. The trail into the park reminds us of UTAH. 5. Typically I don't have to walk it alone, I am finding friends willing to enjoy this with me. Happy Trails! But you have to watch out...Ehre gave little Madeline a rock to play with, we didn't even notice till Ehre told us that Madeline was chewing on it!

Outdoor Fun

Well, its warm enough that the kids are begging to always be outside. We spend a good chuck of the day playing in the back yard. Ben and Ehre struggle over who gets the tricycle, even though Ben can't "ride" it its still a fun toy.

Outdoor Fun

Well, its warm enought that the kids are begging to always be outside. We spend a good chuck of the day playing in the back yard. Ben and Ehre struggle over who gets the tricycle, even though Ben can't "ride" it its still a fun toy.

Stepdad

Meet Benjamin's Step dad.... his name is Mark. We had invited Mark and his family over for games and a treat, and Benjamin was being grumpy. He wasn't happy with me, and started crying. He wasn't happy with Jeff, and kept on crying...and abandoned us for Mark. As soon as Mark placed him in his lap, he stopped crying, layed back and just relaxed. How cute is that?! This isn't the first time that this has happened, I think Benjamin would prefer Mark over us any day, go figure. I think that its because Mark's wonderful wife, watches the kids 2x week when I am in class, and often Mark is there part of the time....I guess its ok though. Today in Nursery, Elsie would only hang out with Jeff and Benjamin. This was especially nice because it meant that Mark could attend Priesthood! So we're trading kids, can't be that bad as long as everyone is happy right?!

Going to Prom?

Nope, just church. I had so much fun getting the kids ready this morning. Ehre wanted her hair up, and we had just taken the curlers out. By the time we were done, her hair was so cute. She wanted a ribbon so then we added a ribbon, plus a dress and a cute smile...she should have gone to Prom! Ben was so cute in his Sunday vest and tie, he was all smiles. Some Sunday mornings are crazy, and some are like this. Personally I'll take these peacefully, relaxing, smooth days.

Season's First Sunburn

We decided to go and play in the Park. This specific one is especially fun because its next to Julie's house. Tamri and I had a blast with the kids, and it was even more fun when Julie joined us with her boys. I put sunblock on the kids, especially Ben's head, but didn't think that I would need it. Well it was 78' that day and after 1 hour I had a sunburn on my neck, taught me a lesson. Some of us are slow learners. The weather has been really nice and after all the rain, we really do appreciate it, especially since humidity hasn't kicked in ....yet.