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Friday, October 28, 2011

Not too scary

One of the blogs I follow makes the most A.MAZ.ING! costumes for her kids every year.

from make-it-and-love-it.com

I don’t.

I’ve never actually made a costume for my kids. Either someone has given one to us, or I bought it on clearance after the holiday.

Last year, she made THIS costume

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from make-it-and-love-it.com

I filled it away, hoping that I could be a pregnant skeleton this year.

Well, that’s not happening (grumble grumble stupid ovaries grumble!), so we did the next best thing.

Buddy gets the skeleton this year.

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For her husband, she put his favorite food in his belly. Buddy originally thought that was great, but then changed his mind and wanted it blank.

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The only problem I had was finding a solid black long sleeved t. Lots of navy. Lots of already decorated. No actual T’s. I did finally find some men’s shirts. So I took one of his shirts for a size guide, cut down the man’s shirt, and sewed it back together.

Some freezer paper, paint, and patience later and. . .

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Tada!

He LOVES it. It is a bit big, but will also fit him next year that way.

And his favorite part . . .

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It glows in the dark. I picked up a bottle of this

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at joann’s for $3. One very cramped hand later, we had a glow-in-the-dark skeleton boy.

Costume breakdown:

men’s t-shirt $6

thrifted pants $2

glow-in-the-dark paint $3

Freezer paper, white paint, brushes, ect: on hand

Total cost: $11

Girly-Lou gets a $10 garage sale queen costume:

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And ‘Lil, I think this year she gets to be a skunk.

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the little stinker!

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Fall decorating

. . . I’m just a little late on this one!

I’ve wanted to really decorate my house for fall for months weeks now.  I just haven’t gotten around to actually DOING it. Last week, however, I had a book club at my house. Finally, a reason to get my act together and make it look cute!

I had way too much fun getting everything ready.

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First off: food. Do you think I’d waste a good excuse to make super yummy food?

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Mmmm – you can almost taste these Oreo truffles!

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And a yummy pumpkin roll (thanks, Happy Mom for letting me borrow the plates and platters!)IMG_7411

I’ve wanted to do some kind of tray for my coffee table for quite a while. What’s stopped me, you ask?

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Oh yah. I have a 21 month old!  But I did pull one together fast: just a spray painted frame with some fun fabric (hooray for having supplies!), a candle,  SUPER easy wire pumpkins, and of course, dollar store silk leaves.

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I don’t have a mantle – but I do have my awesome sofa table.

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The runner is a $3 clearance scarf I found a few months ago. I don't get anything new this year for my table (well, except the pumpkins – you have to buy new mini pumpkins!). The dollar store leaves and pumpkins really make it look pulled together (something I’ve NEVER achieved before!)

This ghost I made 10 or so years ago – still looking good!

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Pretty candles make my life happy.

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And my adorable 2x4 creatures.

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I also have my tp pumpkins (made 6 or 7 years ago) up on my bookcase along with a leaf garland I’ve had for 8 or so years too.

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And that’s my room! Of course, Halloween is almost over, but still – it looks good for a bit anyway!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Who doesn't like a freebie?

I don't usually get into deals and such on this blog. But I'm excited about this one, and thought I'd clue you in on it too.

As most of you know, I LOVE digital scrapbooking. Today, the company that makes the software I use, is also giving away embossing card making kits - you just have to pay the $2.50 shipping.

Check it out HEREHERE

Monday, October 17, 2011

Alack! Alack!

A few days ago, I was busy cleaning. I brushed off my hands, and felt something stuck on my wedding ring.

I looked down, and saw what I thought was a hair wrapped around it

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It wasn’t a hair.

IT WAS BROKEN!!!!!

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How could my wedding ring be broken!  But it is, split right down the center.

Now we get to go find a jeweler and see how much to repair it. With gold prices as high as they are . . .it’s not going to be pretty!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The Weekend

*for the about 1% of my readers who don’t know, I’m a Mormon – which means I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Twice a year we have the opportunity to have a General Conference where we listen to talks given by our Prophets and Apostles. With the wonderful internet, this two day conference can now be watched in the comfort of our homes, instead of dragging our kids to 8 hours worth of church over two days.  This post is about my conference experience October 1 –2.

The time was about 11:12 (or 12 minutes into this 8 hours of religious instruction). I was alone – Hubby still flying, In-Laws still driving to come. Just me and my 3 children. In the past 12 minutes, my older two had already become bored with the 7 different activities I had planned, I had broken up 3 fights, changed a diaper, and was now carrying my 20 month old like a football up the stairs as she kicked and screamed at the top of her lungs.

 

Conference can be fun.

 

Fondly, I cast my mind back  a mere 7 years. Back to when I still sat every conference with my parent’s family, tieing quilts, my notebook close by ready to write down all my thoughts and feelings. Conference meant peace, instruction, time well spent in service and family.

That was not today.  As I lugged ‘Lil up the stairs, Girly-Lou still sobbing from the bite she received at her sisters mouth, those memories of conferences growing up overwhelmed me. Even with two younger sisters, I never remember MY mom dealing with screaming children. Even growing up with 20 or so nieces and nephews, I never remember MY sisters dealing with this many fights and sobs in conference.

“What am I doing wrong here?” I asked myself. “I’m sure my sisters broke up fights, but in spite of everything I do, my children are not happy. They haven’t grasped the joy that this weekend should be. Why? What more could I do? Is there a point of even trying anymore?”

And there, standing on that stair, I received one of the largest outpourings of the Spirit I have ever had.  I was overwhelmed with the sweet feeling, that today again brings tears to my eyes.  My sacrifice was acceptable before the Lord. It was important, these things I was trying to teach.  It was good that I tried to show my children how wonderful listening to the words of God is.  That eventually, they too would find conference an uplifting experience.  It may take years, but the seeds I was struggling so hard to plant, would eventually take root and grow, and my children would someday thank me, like I thank my Mom for showing me how to live and listen to the Spirit.

 

Being a Mom is tough work. There is SO much that MUST be learned at such a young age. There’s the regular stuff – how to get dressed and tie shoes and make beds and clean up after yourself. There’s the mental stuff – letters and numbers and how to be nice and manners. There’s the spiritual stuff – that you are loved by God, and the Atonement, and not to lie, and all of the wonderful things to remember.  The younger you teach ALL of these things, the better off your children will actually remember and believe them. It’s a lot.

But I had forgotten one important part. I wasn’t actually alone.  That these things were all important to their Heavenly Father too. And if they were important to Him, then He would help me if I would only ask.

So I did.

First, I gave up on ‘Lil. When she gets super ornery, the only thing to help is a big dose of Elmo. So, with her on a different floor of the house happily watching on the portable DVD player, the rest of us could actually hear what was being said. I paused the stream (love that feature!) and explained to my children, again, just why we were listening. Informed them that I had prepared activities for them, but if they didn’t like those activities it was up to THEM to keep themselves quietly entertained. I reminded them of our treat bowls (inspired by this post), and if they were not quiet enough to hear the words, they would not be able to pick anything out.

One hour later, when my in-laws arrived, they came to a fairly quiet house. My children were all paying attention (to their level), and I actually knew what was going on.

It was one of the best Conference weekends I’ve ever had.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Stick it.

Life has been a zoo around here. I've been working on an amazing thoughtful and profound post on my weekend.


Hopefully it'll be done before next April.

IN the mean time . . . Hubby is attempting to teach me how to drive a stick. We've done a grand total of 3 lessons so far. While I can drive it, please don't ask me to drive at an intersection with 4 other cars!

At one particularly horrible stuttering shift, I realized, every time the car jerked around as I yet again failed to smoothly release the clutch, 'Lil was in the back seat proclaiming "U-u-u-OH!".

Even my 20 month old knows I need more practice.
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