Ready for Halloween

My least favorite holiday has one redeeming feature - I get to be crafty and create costumes for the kids.  Normally it's a really last-minute creation, but this year I was finished on Friday.  

Andrew wanted to be Angry Bird - Black Bird Space.  We found the picture of the plush animal and I used it to make his costume.  

I think it turned out pretty well.  If I was to do it all over again, I would probably make the orange belly much bigger, but I didn't realize the size difference until everything was sewed on.  Andrew LOVES it.  He is so excited.  

Amanda will be a bride.  This was also a fun costume to make.  I found some dress fabric where I only had to make the back seam and add the ribbon straps.  Then, I found some lace to make her veil and sewed it on a headband.  It is much heavier than I expected, so we'll have to find a way to secure it to her head.  But, what bride doesn't have 100 bobby pins in her hair?

Scott is making his own costume.  He has put together a Spy Kit from ideas he got from his Eyewitness Spy Book.  Some of his gadgets he created with Legos.  Others he found when he raided the toy boxes.  The costume isn't very exciting, but the gadgets are.  I can't wait to see him in action.

Fun Friday Craft

In my Community Bible Study class, we are studying the book of Hebrews.  It's a weighty book.  Really good.  Really rich.  Really deep.  Really academic.

But, the kids' study is really good and really rich and really fun.  I teach the 1st-3rd grade kids and we are having a great time learning truths about Jesus.  

This week's study covered 2:10-3:6.  We spent our teaching time focused on 2:17, discussing how Jesus was made like us, fully human in every way.  He knows every joy and every sorrow that we experience.  

We tried to imagine what it would be like to teach someone how to swim without water.  You should have seen the kids demonstrating swimming strokes on the carpet in our room (but not diving!)  We realized that you could explain until you were blue in the face, but they wouldn't have a complete picture of swimming until they were in the water, partially weightless, and soaking wet.  In the same way, because Jesus was fully human, He has a complete picture of everything we experience.  It was a really fun truth to teach these kids.

But our craft time focused on 3:5-6 - Jesus is over God's house.  We gave the kids big pieces of paper and magazines so they could design their own houses.  They loved it and were still working diligently when their Moms came to pick them up.  

I thought Amanda would also love that craft, so we decided to spend our Fun Friday creating a home.  The best part was that all of the clippings came from this week's junk mail - Lowes, Publix, Kohl's, and Bed, Bath & Beyond all sent us ads this week.  Together, we were able to find pictures to make an entire house.   

I have to admit that I was really impressed with Amanda's cutting and gluing skills.  These are supplies that are kept on a high shelf, so she doesn't have much practice.  I guess I'm going to have to pull them down more often, because she proved herself very competent today!

Here is the finished product.  I want you to notice the "mom" in the pink shirt.  It was not my first choice for a Mom.  I was looking for someone more domestic, but Amanda stopped at her picture and said, "NO, this is IT!  She HAS to have heels." Where did she come up with that idea that Moms wear heels...certainly not from me.

Also, her kitchen has matching black appliances.  She was about to cut out a white dishwasher from our Lowe's ad, but realized that it needed to match the refrigerator that she already had.

The family in this house has already decorated for Christmas, but they are set to have a Halloween party, complete with a pumpkin cake and Capri Suns.  At one point Amanda asked if I thought she had enough food.
 

We hung it so it draped behind the couch, so she could use it for a Barbie backdrop.  I'm definitely doing this craft again.  Maybe next time we'll make a grocery store.  Or, we could create cabinets and closets to put food and clothes behind.  The possibilities are endless.  

Homework - all about me!

Amanda brought home her very first homework assignment.  She was so excited to have homework, just like her brothers.  I wonder when that excitement will wear off?  Probably when homework isn't as much fun as this assignment.

We were asked to decorate the paper doll to represent Amanda.  (She kept calling it the "human."  "I'm decorating my human.")

We decided to dress the doll in her favorite heart dress and give her a Merry doll to hold (also with the matching dress.)

The best part is that we used red glitter to match Amanda's glitter Dorothy shoes.  (The pink socks were Amanda's unique addition.)

She wore the outfit to school and brought Merry for just a few minutes to show her teachers.  I took Merry home and left the teachers with a very excited and slightly wild child.

Just as exciting was Andrew's "All About Me" homework.  He was instructed to decorate a poster with information about himself and include the paper plate for a face.  Andrew is very creative and loves crafts.  He was so excited when I gave him permission to sift through "Mama's" craft drawer for his supplies.  (That's the off-limits drawer of things that require supervision.)

After much discussion, he decided to add the arms and feet.  He included pictures of our family, our dog and him holding a Lego creation, as well as drawings of his favorite food (hot dogs).

But the most fun came when I pulled out the glitter pens.  He very carefully decorated every available white space.

The end result was beautiful.

Well, not quite home alone

Amanda set her babies up in their "school" behind Derrick's chair before she left for preschool today.  They are dressed and ready for the day.  Each has her bag.  I'm glad I'm not home alone. 

Home Alone

I've now been a parent for 8 years, 4 months and 24 days.

That's 3,068 days.

Or 73,608 hours.

And I can probably count on one hand the number of hours I've spent alone in my house.

Sure, I've spent many hours away from my kids, from the years spent working to vacations with Derrick to just an hour trip to the grocery store.  But I rarely get to spend time alone in my house.  The babysitter or grandparents or my husband always stay here so I can get away.  But not so often do they go away so I can stay here.

But today starts a new era for me.  It is Amanda's first day of preschool!

She was so excited that she wanted to leave as soon as she awoke this morning.  But first we had to take the brothers to school.  Then we ate breakfast.  Dressed.  Brushed our teeth and hair.  Dressed Merry and the other babies.  Got them ready for school.  Packed our backpack.  Took pictures at the house.  

Finally, it was time to go.  School starts at 9:00 and we were in the car rider line at 8:50.  As we left home, Amanda debated whether she wanted me to drop her off in car rider or take her inside.  She finally decided that she wanted to ride the bus!  I told her that she would have to wait for Kindergarten for that.  She settled for a drop off.

When we arrived, she jumped out of the car and flashed a big smile and wave before marching confidently to her classroom.  
 

I missed my little companion when I went to Aldi & Sams, but am really enjoying getting some tasks done at the house now.  It is so quiet.  But I know she is having a great time, and I look forward to her chatter at lunch as she recounts all of the activities of the day.  

Paper dolls

I've had fun today putting together paper dolls for my mother-on-law's birthday. Thanks to my friend's Cricut machine, they were easy and fun to make. I love a project that makes me smile while I work. This picture from when she was four sure makes me smile. And I love that she is holding a doll in the real picture. She has always loved dolls and that is what makes this paper doll party favor so special.

4th of July evening

Firework shows are always tricky to plan for.  You have to arrive early enough to stake out a spot, but if you arrive too early the kids get bored.  So this year, I thought we would have some fun with glow sticks.  

Here is my USA Cutie.  She picked out her own patriotic outfit for the big day.  The kids had a great time running around this great big field for a while. 

But when boredom hit and it was starting to get dark, I pulled out the glow sticks.  Boy, were they are hit!  We had a great time posing for pictures and creating new costumes.  

Finally, the show started.  I didn't get any pictures, but it was a great show.  And, as a bonus, we even were able to see two other area shows from where we sat.