Kansas!

I'm starting this post with a recent project because I'm submitting it to another crafting website:

Zoe and I made these flowers from an egg carton to bring to Grandma this weekend...I was so happy with how they came out, especially since I'm always looking for ways to use egg cartons.  I painted the vase on the inside after seeing it on a blog called Lilla-A.  We used the entire carton...the cups were made into the flowers and we cut up the rest into little pieces to fill the vase (also threw in some pieces of colored tissue paper).  After cutting and painting the cups the way we wanted, I poked holes in the bottoms with a thumbtack and strung pipe cleaners through those holes and a button.  Think I'll have to make more for our house!

We had a great time visitng Nathan's side of the family in Kansas this weekend.  Zoe and I finally got to see Grandma and Peepaw's house there, and Nathan's sister Kristen and her family made the trek from Oklahoma, along with GG and Grandad.  It was so wonderful to spend a quiet weekend catching up and introducing everyone to little Owen!

The drive there and back was 8 hours, and I have to say it was pretty luxurious considering the age of our two kids.  Whenever we fly with them, (although they are really, really well behaved) I always find myself staring at the people without kids, wondering if they know how great they have it.  I can never get over the craziness that sitting on an airplane reading a magazine can seem like such a luxury to me, but it really does.  SO, since Owen hardly made a peep (literally--we were never quite sure if he was awake and quiet or asleep) and Zoe (aside from the first hour or so where she asked us if we were "in Kansas yet" about 50 million times) calmly watched movies, and Nathan drove (bless him), I READ (on my new Kindle, thanks to Sandi).  I read and read and read and read and read!!!  The most relaxing 8 hours in a row I've spent in months!  The actual drive itself is immensely boring (not counting the miles of signs for some mysterious destination that boasts "5-LEGGED COW!!"), which is why I'm so thankful that Nathan drove...Western Kansas is nothing more than flat farmland and I caught myself imagining getting caught in a tornado quite a few times (I have a bit of a phobia, I admit).  At one point, we tried playing "I Spy" with Zoe, and we all had a really hard time coming up with things to spy.  Zoe, not surprisingly had the funniest:  "I spy......sumpiiiing....green with branches!" and "I spy sumpiiiiiiiiiiiing.......BRIDGE-Y!"

Thanks for having us, Gary and Sandi!  Thanks for making the trip Flarvey's and Stith's!  We miss you already!