You Don't See That Every Day

Sometimes something amazing happens once in a great while. Like Halley's Comet. I still remember my 7th grade teacher's excitement over this flying ball of gaseous rocks. The work in progress This past weekend I had amazing idea come to life. That is something that rarely happens. So, it wasn't quite as ethereal as Halley's Comet, or any comet really. But it was cool enough for the Mr and I to look at each other and go, Oh yeah. I'm glad we made this happen.  Back in November I began to anticipate the Christmas break. Two weeks to sleep in a little, and not run around so much. I know my kids like the break from school, but not necessarily the break from friends. As my mind was whirling with to-do lists, I came across a Facebook post from a relative who has a tradition of decorating graham cracker "gingerbread" houses each Thanksgiving break. A lightbulb began to glow in my mind. Why not get my kids and their friends together to do this?!...

November has been busy and fun! It's one of my favorite times of year. Not just because of the upcoming break from school or the feast we are planning, but because it is basketball season! One of the girls and I spent a Sunday afternoon making Christmas cards at my sister's house. It's one of my rare crafty times. The fall leaves are coming down in torrents, but they are so beautiful that I don't mind raking them up (or watching the kids rake them)   The girls and I made a little video for our Hawaiian friend, and for our Friends in Peru  - this is the road we drove down towards the school. It is just gorgeous in the fall! The video doesn't do it justice though, And our girl, the Chef, is playing basketball! The team has lost one game so far, out of 7. She has even scored a basket, and we have seen her skills improve in just the short time she has been playing. She played a couple of years on the Upward Basketball team, but the school team is a step abo...

In my corner of the world this week.... I made pillows. I had two leftover fleece, king sized pillow cases. Instead of spending mucho bucks for pillows, I bought some forms at the fabric store, made a casing with leftover fabric I have had for years, and now the kids have some big pillows to use for reading or watching TV. Feeling crafty and frugal. The girls held a lemonade stand fundraiser for two days this week. They are raising funds to help our friends get to Uganda on a missionary trip. They spent the past couple of days or weeks (?) making little crafty things - jewelry, cards, knitting items; then they set up a lemonade and cookie stand, along with their crafts, to sell to anyone who came by. They even put signs up around the neighborhood to advertise. I love their ingenuity and the fact that they didn't just ask me for money. They thought of this all on their own. I ran for the first time in over a week. Mornings have been just too busy! What!? This is summer, crazy ...

When I was a kid, Christmas Eve was a magical day, full of anticipation, and occasionally snowy fun. As an adult, and mom, it's just not quite the same. I was still fixing up presents and writing out cards this year on Christmas Eve. I had it in my mind to paint candles for a gift. But my attempts, my rough drafts, turned out horribly. So I knew that wouldn't work. Then my husband suggested melting them down and making a candle. So we did some Internet research and tried it. Using an old pot, some chop sticks, and (thankfully it was in the cupboard!) wicks, we tried our hand at candle-making. I wouldn't have made it too far in the pioneer days if my life depended on candles. We would have been the family in the dark. Thankfully, again, my husband came to my rescue. He actually got into the 'craft' more than I did, trying different colors, and forms. We melted a bunch of wax and crayons to make colors. The kids were in charge of peeling the crayon paper....

 Pre-Holiday weekend This girl got her braces off and is waiting for the retainer coming next week. I think it's safe to say she is thrilled to be able to eat popcorn again, and caramels, and gum.  I think those might show up on her wish list for Christmas. On Friday evening G and the Boy went to see The Hobbit movie. So the girls and I watched a movie at home and had craft time with my sister. We made ornaments. I got to color! That can be SO relaxing! And we used glitter-glue. Normally I hate glitter glue. When I taught 5 year old's, or 3 year old's at church, I was that teacher who hid the glitter-glue when it was craft time. But this time around, I kind of had fun with it. Maybe because I had older children and not as much chance of a mess. Although when Little K got a hold of the glitter glue tube ... I started twitching.     Ice cream was involved. As it should be. And this weekend the girls had their choir performances. They have been working o...

Last night my oldest girl and I went down to the church for a fun night out. We learned some new crafts and got some great ideas for Christmas gifts. Hopefully I'm not giving any secrets away here ... We started out singing Christmas carols, and then set to the work. All we used were simple household items and glue guns. First for our group was earrings. We picked out whichever buttons caught our fancy, glued them together and added the backing. So simple! After we had made a couple of those and burned our fingers enough times, we headed to the next demonstration - marshmallow pops. Many of you might have seen the cake pops craze going around the country. Well this is similar, but OH, so much easier. All that we used was a marshmallow, candy cane, and some sticky powdered sugar/ milk mixture. It will be perfect to put in hot chocolate this winter. After a short break time, my Girl and I headed to the next craft instead of the other food demo. We were short on time an...