dressed up

november may have been busy, but we definitely don't have any pictures to prove it. apparently, only two things mandated documentation. first, the elementary school our children go to has a huge parade every year to celebrate veterans day. it is called i love america day. each class is assigned a state and four students from each class are selected to represent the class in the parade.

this year, both of our children were selected to walk in the parade.

miller's class represented the state of idaho and he was a potato sack.

carter's class represented the state of michigan and she was a cheerleader.

then, the next week was american education week. the first day was favorite book character day. of course, my children do not miss a chance to dress up. 

they had a difficult time choosing who to dress up as, but once i told them it had to be something we already owned, it limited their list quite a bit. carter chose to be one of the ballerinas in miss lina's ballerinas and miller chose to be mouse from if you give a mouse a cookie.

it makes me happy that they like to dress up. it makes me happy that they love books. and, it makes me happy that they don't worry about whether or not anyone else at school will be dressed up. i hope they always make choices based on what they love and not what they fear. i hope.

staycation

fall break is known as staycation at our house. we consider it super convenient that in the middle of josh's busy season we all get a week off of school. this year was no different. josh's schedule was so crazy that it felt like we needed this break more than ever. it didn't help that miller would prefer if school wasn't five consecutive days in a row. so, as fall break approached, we began counting down the days and planning what we would do to enjoy them. 

we began by visiting the scarecrow exhibit at lichterman nature center.

while we were there, we decided to wander around some of the trails, too.

we were graciously treated to this event by meme and papaw who happened to have a membership to the center, so it was nice for everyone to be able to go at their own pace.

we also visited the corn maze with friends one night, but because most of the little ones were non-cooperative, this is the only picture. these two love to run through the maze and try to figure out the clues, but spencer had a tough time navigating it this year due to the uneven terrain after it rained.

and, a fall break favorite, the pumpkin patch . . .

 this year, we let each child pick two pumpkins, one to carve and one to paint.

 as usual, it took a lot of searching to find just the right one. spencer wasn't sure she wanted any of them.

 we had to make the rule that you had to be able to carry it yourself.

 miller found lots of pumpkins that he thought might be the one.

 rolling is not the same as carrying. we're just sayin'.

 oh, wait, i can take home this little pumpkin. it's so cute.

 spencer picked one. so we chose a second one for her because she would have been more sad if she didn't get to paint or have one carved.

 tiny pumpkins were popular at our house this year. that worked for me though . . . less to clean out.

 the biggest pumpkin we took home.

the first ever annual pumpkin patch picture where everyone is looking and no one is crying!

now, that is more like it!

a super hero halloween

josh said he was shocked when i agreed to purchasing three costumes this halloween. i was SHOCKED i paid that much for costumes. never again, people. well, let's say i don't plan on doing it again. we may have a new rule next year . . . it has to be something that can be made by mommy or created by stuff we already own. at least they looked cute. and, they loved them. what more could i ask for?

a crafty good time

um, let's just pretend it hasn't been two months since i blogged. let's also pretend that some incredibly rude and tiny person didn't anonymously correct my spelling in my last post. in fact, we will blame them for the reason it has so long since my last post. (even though it's not true and they don't deserve such credit.)

and, while we are pretending, i would like to pretend that my first baby is not already seven. seven. it is so hard to believe. and, as always, said birthday came on the heels of the first week of preschool. it was an insanely busy week of an insanely busy month that began with two children starting/returning to school. we talked about what she might want for her birthday party and her answers were . . .  not what i was expecting. most of them were expensive or ridiculous or random. i almost thought she didn't want to have a party. i threatened several times to not have a party at all to which she would baulk and roll her eyes and act like the world was ending. (seven, remember.) so, the week of her birthday we decided to wait and do her party the next week and we decided to make it small and something totally her--a crafting party with her closest friends. 

they started with a canvas. i painted an example for them. somehow we didn't take a single picture of the finished ones even though they turned out so cute!

as they arrived, the girls chose a paint color and got started.

once they finished painting, we set that project aside while the paint dried.

their next project is near to my heart because i made tons of them when i was in elementary school.

but this time, some incredibly smart person found an easier way to hold it. and, of course, i had to cute-n them up.

the girls chose the thread colors for their friendship bracelets from my old thread box from fourth grade. as you can tell, this was a difficult decision and took lots of careful thinking.

after tying a knot, we clippedit to the top of the clipboard and started knotting.

we, i mean the girls worked hard on this project off and on for the rest of the party.

snow white provided the occasional entertainment.

when the canvases dried, they cut the tree shape out of fabric scraps and mod podged them onto the canvas. then, i gave them a final coat of mod podge before setting them aside to dry. apparently, this is when josh went to get pizza and, therefore, we have no evidence of this step.

the final project was shrinky dinks! did you know you can buy shrinky dink paper at hob lob. then, the girls used sharpies to draw whatever they wanted . . . heart shaped pendants, miniature versions of their hands, and other tiny things.

not to be left out, miller made a super hero and then we shrunk him, too, because shrinking things is really fun.

and, spencer decided to make . . . something.

 

we finished up with the girls decorating their own cupcakes and carter opening her presents.

i think all the girls had fun making things and hanging out. and when they were all gone, one lingered a little longer to enjoy her cupcake.

scrappy leaf garland

i know this is totally random because i never posted it, so i will back date it and pretend like it is september for the next five minutes. pretend with me, please. 

i made this little leaf garland from fabric scraps and i thought i would make a quick tutorial just in case anyone else wanted to make one to. (hint: it helps if you post it during the appropriate season ;)

first, cut a leaf template from a random scrap of paper. then, cut two matching fabric leaves and one slightly smaller leaf from stabilizer for each leaf you plan to make.

next, sandwich a stabilizer leaf between each fabric leaf wrong sides together . . . like so.

then, using contrasting thread (if you choose), sew around the leaf about 1/4 inch from the edge and then part way up the center creating a leaf-like look.

your finished leaf should look like this.

next, i pinked the edges of my leaf for some interest, but it is totally not necessary.

 then, using my handy dandy crop-a-dile, i punched a hole about 3/8 inch from one pointed end.

finally, i strung twine through the end of each leaf and tied a knot randomly spacing as i went.

 isn't it pretty? i love scrappy projects!

lastly, find the perfect place to hang your scrappy leaf garland and admire it daily until christmas forces you to take it down.

the first day

it's so hard to believe we are sending another child off the kindergarten. but, he is so ready!

he picked out his backpack and lunchbox and all the fabrics for his nap mat. 

(speaking of the nap mat, at registration day, they only had a few left. he said they were unacceptable, and in his defense, they were unacceptable. his sister has a cool barbie nap mat from last year, so he thought for sure they would have something like super heroes or star wars. instead, they had clouds, bumble bees, and raggedy ann and andy. no, thank you. then, i mentioned i might be able to make it since it was just some straight lines. so, off we went to find the perfect supplies. while at the store, i inquired for some help with the type of backing i might need. as we talked about what i was trying to accomplish, the woman said, "you do sew, right?" to which miller responded, "my mom can sew anything! she's awesome!" and, from that moment on, no matter what stress this mat caused me, it would be made for him because well, i can sew anything, right.)

and, his big sister is super excited about another school year!

 i know most of you are shocked when i tell you we were running so late. like later than late. it is so much harder to get twice the amount of supplies to school the first day, not to mention five people including a toddler who demanded to walk all by herself which was only half bad because we were using the stroller to get the supplies to school. and, i am sure our lateness was not at all perpetuated by the child who asked for me to make her dress and then cried because the headband i surprised her with was the wrong shade of aqua. seriously.

 notice how big sister is carrying her brother's nap mat this year. do you remember that he carried her backpack last year? sometimes they are so sweet to each other it makes my heart hurt. other times we won't discuss.

 we took carter first. she acted like the seasoned pro from the get go.

 then, it was miller's turn. this is miller with his sweet teacher, miss grashot.

 miller wasn't the only one who thought he was going to kindergarten. he was very sweet to let her pretend for a minute.

with a little coercion, we were out the door and headed back home.

and then there was one . . .