June Recap

This past month has flown by.  I have been checking in periodically to read some of your blogs, but just haven't found the time to post.  So here is a massive dump about what June has been for the Kraft family.

Todd and I went to the MN Catholic Home Education Conference...without any children!  Madeline and Haley both took the babysitting certification class last summer and have been practicing up their skills over the winter.  They watched the children for two whole days and nothing burned down!!!  Seriously, they all did a great job and it is a huge milestone as parents to be able to have children old enough to babysit.  Whoo-hoo!

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you'll know that we've been trying to sell our home for the past 3+ years.  Our realtor advised us from the beginning that most clients require granite and hardwood in the kitchen of which our kitchen had neither.  We didn't want to put any money into the house that we were trying to sell, so we just left it.  Fast forward three years and we decided to take her advice.  We put in the granite and hardwood, painted accent walls throughout the house, and removed any personal and religious items from the home.  She staged the heck out of it and I must admit that it looks amazing! So far...no serious lookers.  But, it's only been re-listed for 15 days.  I'm hoping and praying to sell soon so that we can be moved by the fall and the start of the new school year.

Our kitchen before with linoleum flooring and laminate countertops.  Looks nice, right?

We let the kids take Sharpies to the flooring the night before the wood floor  installers got started.  They loved it and let their creativity flow!

The kitchen after with wood flooring and granite countertops - looking even better, yes?

Do you see all those pretty plates precariously placed throughout the kitchen?  

Because we re-listed the house and it is beautifully staged, I decided to take the children to North Dakota for a week.  It's tough to keep a house (full of breakable items that belong to your realtor!) looking clean and uncluttered with 7 children.  My mom and dad graciously agreed to let us take over their house for 8 days.  The entire trip went remarkably well.  Other than the fact that Peter whines and/or cries every minute that he's strapped into his car seat (did I mention that it is 8 hours of driving time?), the entire trip went off without a hitch!

I celebrated my birthday in Minot!

The kids got out golfing with Grandma Eileen a few times.

I took the kiddos to the indoor water park.  It was a ton of fun!

Todd rode the train and joined us on Saturday.  Here is surrounded by his adoring children on  Father's Day.

We came home for two days and celebrated Madeline's 13th birthday in the morning and headed out to Camp Lebanon in the afternoon.  We were there from Thursday evening until Sunday afternoon.  There were some crazy storms that passed through.  Two cabins had a massive tree uproot and fall on top of them!  Luckily, nobody was hurt.  We had a fabulous time and the children played and played.  Lillian and Peter had some weird virus over the weekend with high fevers and body and head aches.  Lillian slept the better part of two days and Peter cried a good portion of that time.  However, they are both back to normal and I am thankful that it was a short-lived illness!

Happy 13th Birthday Madeline!

Esther and Eleanor on the pontoon.

The big girls spent hours and hours in the lake.

Todd helping Eleanor with a sand art project at craft time.

Our next big undertaking is opening our home to 5 extra children for a week.  Our dear friends are heading down to Texas to visit her mother and asked if we'd take 5 of their 7 kiddos for the week.  The children are over the moon excited to have them!  It should be interesting with 12 kids for a week.  I'll let you know how it all goes!

And just like that, June is over.  It has finally heated up and feels like summer.  I know that July will fly by just as quickly. With so much going on, I know that I won't be posting much.  I decided to do periodic posts and spend more time just enjoying summer.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Going en pointe!

Madeline has been in some sort of dance since she was 4 years old.  Those early years were running, jumping, and mastering large motor skills.  Needless to say, she has progressed quite a bit in the past 8 years and has developed a real love for ballet. 

She just celebrated her 12th birthday last week.  Today we made a trip into St. Paul to The Grand Jete to get her sized for her first pair of toe shoes. She has been working towards this for quite some time and is so excited to get up on her toes!

Look at all the possibilities!  So many boxes of shoes...where do we begin?!

Luckily, we had a fabulous helper that worked with us for over an hour to find a good fit for our budding ballerina.

Then she had to try, re-try, and try on again to make sure she found the perfect pair of shoes.

Success!  With bag in hand, we head home.

A HUGE thank you to Grandma Pam who wandered around the streets of St. Paul with 5 of my children while Peter and I sat with Madeline during the great shoe hunt.  What a learning process! 

In a few weeks, Madeline will get together with her dance instructor to get started on her toes.  Although, after trying on all those shoes and being on her toes in the store today, she is realizing that it will take quite a while before her feet get used to that unnatural position.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

My Krafty Kids - 7 Quick Takes

We've been on "Baby Break" for 2 weeks now.  We are doing a bit of Math so that the children don't regress too much and at least an hour of reading time.  But that still leaves a lot of day time hours to fill.  All of the children are working on various projects.  We've got extra tables set up to accommodate three latch hook kits in the sun room.  The littles are cutting, pasting, and coloring up a storm...not to mention the hours of play-dough at the kitchen table. 

And then there's my Madeline.  She has really gotten into crocheting this past year.  Each trip to the library is spent browsing crochet books and magazines.  Her favorite Christmas gift this year was the Crochet-A-Day calendar that is full of projects for her to tackle.  I thought I'd share with you some of her most recent creations.

(1) Peter's Slippers

She made these in anticipation of his birth and we wondered whether or not his feet would really be that tiny.  They fit like a glove.

(2) Peter's Hammer

This is stuffed with fluff and crinkle material so that it is soft and makes a crinkle noise when squeezed.  She also put some jingle bells in the head of the hammer to make it a kind of rattle.  He's not all that interested in it yet, but I'm sure it will be a favorite toy in the near future!

(3) Peter's Hat and Cocoon

 

This was also made before he was born.  The hat is getting plenty of use, but the cocoon is more of a photo prop.  Adorable!

(4) Play Mice

I don't know if Peter will ever get to play with these, as his older sisters have claimed them.

(5) Hat...uh, make that a Basket

This pattern for a hat didn't work out as planned, so she made a handle and turned it into a basket.  She has plans of crocheting little animals for the little kids to give them for Easter.

(6) Roller Coaster Scarf

This scarf was made all in one day!  It's two shades of green, so it will be the perfect accessory to wear on St. Patrick's Day.

(7) Head Band with Bow

Madeline found this pattern on Wednesday and already has six crocheted in various colors.  I'll bring them along with me to the Hearts at Home Conference and see if they sell.  They are super cute, don't you think?!

I know I need to post about Peter's birth and post some newer photos.  It's coming.  Life has gotten busier with Peter's arrival and he loves to be held....and I love to hold him.  Babies just don't stay babies for long.  I am enjoying holding him and watching his siblings gush all over him.  Life is good!

I'm linking over to 7 Quick Takes - head on over to read more quick takes.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

What a Beautiful Brace Face!

Our Madeline got braces today!  She has been so excited to get them on and is really doing quite well with the discomfort.  I remember well the pain and sleepless nights that accompany braces and moving teeth to new locations, so I can sympathize with her.  She is the first in what appears to be a long line of Kraft children who will need orthodontic work.  I'm trying not to dwell on the price too much, but the end result of a healthy and beautiful smile.

One last photo before heading off to the orthodontist.

There they are!  I should have had her re-comb her hair after laying at the orthodontist office for 2 hours of "treatment", don't you think?!

We're hopeful that she'll adjust and be getting used to them over the Christmas weekend.  For now, it is smoothies, pudding, and soup...not a bad diet!

God Bless!

Heather :-)