Wrap it up!

Today the boys are going to a birthday party.  I was busy and I figured they could handle wrapping the presents themselves and this is what they came up with...

Perhaps I'll need to invest in a little more paper if this is how it's going to be.  On the bright side, they did get the presents wrapped and a card made all by themselves.  It just took several yards of paper to get the job done.

Chris "the marathon" Barlow

Congratulations Barlow!  We are so proud of you!

Chris just finished his first marathon today.  That's over 26 miles!  26 miles!!!

This was his cheering crowd.  I don't think they could have been any prouder.  Way to go Chris!

Random Taylor News

Yesterday Rusty came in with a big gash on his leg.  It looked pretty nasty so I called the vet today.  He ended up needing stitches.  The poor little guy needed to be sedated and everything.

He is feeling pretty yucky.  It's funny how even a dog knows when to feel silly.  He is super embarassed about his cone of shame.  He has been moaping all night.

Little Miss Z all ready for bed.

Em.  This is the most serious face I could get out of him.  He is in spaz-o mode 24/7 these days.

Rugby would like you to see that he has a wiggly tooth.  Can you see it?  Right there-- yes, to the right-- uh huh.  It's definatly loose-- don't you think?

You can see his newest little tooth bud growing in right by that hole there.  He is pretty proud to be the lucky owner of a shiny new big kid tooth.

The Famous Bike Trail

It's been warm out the past few days and the kids are giddy to be playing outside without their coats on. One of their favorite things to do in the summer is draw bike paths for everyone to follow all along our driveway.

Yesterday it was Zoey who started the chalk frenzy.
They named the different paths for you guys. This is Magill Bridge.
Barlow Lake

Taylor Twirly

Heaton Bridge (sorry about the spelling Heatons... we're working on it)

Harline Break Area

They do this every couple of days (depending on the rain). I think they like you guys. If you are looking for an adventure, bike on over and take a crack at our awesome bike trail. We sure do miss you guys!

My Little Goober

Emerson came home from school with this sticker stuck to his shirt.

Ummm.... what should I be looking for? It's Goob-- maybe they should have clocked him harder to knock the silly out of him.

Happy St. Patty's 2010

In annual tradition, our school is having a green contest for St. Patty's. The kids really get into it.

If you notice Breckyn has collected everything green from around the house and adorned herself with it. Rugby made clovers and cut them out to tape to his pants. They were serious about winning for their classrooms.
We did some face painting too.

Z wanted a rainbow with a pot of gold and a lucky four leaf clover.

Breckyn only wanted green. I think she would have dyed her hair green if I let her.

The Irishman wanted some gold and of course lucky to complete his theme.

Happy St. Patty's everyone!

The Creativity Conference 2010

Last night was the annual Creativity Conference for the school. The kids were super jazzed about it. They had major ideas this year and they were excited to show them off.

Breckyn worked with her friend Ali again this year. They made fleece scarves of all different shapes and sizes. They did some braided and a few as dog toys. They even made matching ones for all of their friends.

Zoey and her friend Jade made a gingerbread town. They were very secretive about it until they did the big unveil.
Here it is in all of its glory. Jade and her mom made the rice krispy train and the girls assembled the gingerbread house and all of the peeps.

Let me tell you, it was quite the mess to clean up after they were all done. But oh, did they have fun. (one for the house... two for me... three more for me... one for the house...)

Rugs and Em teamed up (saving me another project) to make a Lego scene. They colored a poster with a road and some grass. Then they added all of their favorite Lego things with poster puddy. They worked hard on it for about a week before it was just right. I had to step in and omit a few bloody guys and swords-- but other than that, they did great.

They would disappear downstairs into the craft room making plans together. This morning they cleared the board and claimed the lots to start a new Lego world. These two cheese balls sure love their Legos.

New shirts for the Z-ster

I bought Zoey a really pretty light pink skirt for church a few weeks ago. When she picked it I thought it would be no problem to match a shirt with it because she owns so much pink. I was so wrong. I've looked high and low for the perfect shirt and I've come up with nothing. So I finally caved and decided to make one for her instead.

She adores the shirt that I made for myself that is similar to this. So I thought I'd make one for her too.
I made the pattern loop around to the back for more detail.

I also started sprucing up her summer wardrobe too. This is some scraps from an old sweater I had.

In other news, I love having a red head this time of year. He looks so cutie with all of the St. Patty's stuff they make at school. Go Irish!

Rugby's Art

I just love Rugby's art. He is so specific with his drawings. It is his personality on paper which is so cute to me.

This is one of his many super hero pictures.

This is another super hero picture. I love love love that he thinks super heroes are cool.
This is his all about me poster that he brought home from school yesterday. He told us all about the pictures and why he chose them. So lets see...

super heroes (he can't get enough of them)

cars (very manly)

Darth Vader (super scary)

snowman (it's snowy)

Volcano (cause who doesn't love a good volcano?)

Nemo (the only sissy thing he's got on there because he says everyone loves Nemo-- duh)

(and on the other side a huge biting shark) (cue, more violence)

Ahh, the inner brain of the Rugster. You gotta love that kid!

Crafts

Breckyn and I have been in a crafting mood. She is working on her latest project as an entry in this year's Creativity Conference.

She is making things out of fleece with her friend Allie. This is she and Rusty playing with her newly assembled braided dog tug.
They have also been making these braided scarves. It's something easy and fun that she can do all by herself. As you can see, she is pretty proud of it.
I've been trying to keep up with my sister Cheri which has been nearly impossible. She has a gift for artsy fartsy stuff.

I did this t-shirt with bleach and freezer paper. I also stitched the sleeves and neck line. It wasn't too hard just a little time consuming. This one is for Rugs. He is all about home made shirts.

I made this one for my Bacon man. Doesn't he make a hot hot model? He's all mine-- bacon and all ladies!

Dance Clinic 2010

The high school girls' dance team did a dance clinic for the elementary girls on Saturday. Zoey has been looking forward to it all week.

She was so excited to play with the big girls. They did work shops to learn a particular style of dance. They also had a dance off, lunch, and age group dance routines to learn. She had a blast. They sent her home with a t-shirt and a poster of all the dancers.

Here is Z bustin' a move after a morning of fun.

The pinewood derby finals

The post you've all been waiting for-- OK, maybe not but we sure were excited! The pinewood derby was yesterday and our family cleaned house.

This was Timmy's super amazing contraption for the no rules man derby. It had a dial for speed and everything.
Can you feel the testosterone coming of this bad boy!
The man car along side Em's little beauty.

Breckyn's car, Caleb's car and Chloe's car. They were smokin' fast.

Zoey's car (pink of course), Rugby's car and Timmy's BSA rules car.

Our brand new shiny track. She was a beauty.

All of the kids gathered around the bottom to cheer on their cars.

Here are the other cars in the man derby.

Here are a few of the BSA entries.

Lots of trophies... we took home several of these. Timmy cleaned house and so did our kids. It was a little embarrassing but quite satisfying for Mr. Taylor. Go team!

Plans are already in the works for next year's entries.

Here's a taste of the man derby. Way to go Timmy!