Craft Time...

For this week's craft time, the girls and I made a Friendly Ghost Flag.

You will need:

1 white trash bag

Scissors

Acrylic paint

Flat marbles

Super glue

Yarn or twine string (what we use to hold bales of hay together)

Cut 2 fairly large triangles near the top and edge of the bag...

Cut triangles out of the bottom of the bag to create a jagged effect...

Paint the eyes, nose, mouth, bow tie, buttons, etc.  I recommend using acrylic indoor/outdoor paint.  We only had black and B refused to paint each item black, so she used washable.  It didn't last very long.

I also super glued the flat marbles to the bottom of the trash bag for some added weight.  The instructions said craft glue, but I used super glue because I knew they wouldn't stick with craft glue.  It gets very windy around here.  I don't recommend letting your child use the super glue.  They may glue their fingers together or may decide to pick their nose and have it on their hands and you can guess the outcome of that one!  Just had to throw that disclaimer in their.


Now enlist someone to hang the ghost from the tree.
I enlisted Brad on a day he wanted to hurry up and eat lunch then get back to the field.
He stomped around for a bit.  Then I told him if he ever wanted me to cook for him again he better get on that ladder and hang that ghost from the tree.  He did it!;0)

It was pretty windy on the day he hung it from the tree so I had to wait til evening to snap a picture.  You can see why I recommend using indoor/outdoor paint!

Happy Tuesday!

Fungus...

This mushroom is growing in our yard...

I am now going to let your imaginations soar!

Happy Monday everyone.  I hope your week is off to a great start!

A Note...

B gave me this note this morning before school...

" Dear Mom I love you and Martin and Jenna and Colt and Tuff."

Martin, Jenna, and Colt are her kittens that she keeps at Grandma Colleen's and Papaw Tom's.  Tuff is our dog who likes to eat cats and that is why our kittens stay at the grandparents. 

This little note made my heart melt.

She gave it to me after she told me that "sally"  told "suzie"  that she didn't like her. That made "suzie" cry.  So B gave "suzie" a hug because she "likes everyone at her school".

I think we are passing this whole parenthood thing...so far!

Craft Time...

I finally got back in the saddle with Craft Time.  Once school started things got a little busier.

B asked me the other night, "Why don't we make crafts anymore?" 

I was glad that she missed them, but that question made me feel horrible.  Guilt is a huge part of a mom's job and I don't handle it well.  So, I decided that every week from now until Halloween we will make at least one craft which means that I also decided to do one Craft Time post a week from now until Halloween! 

Are you excited?

I thought you would be!

Our first Halloween craft was Egg Carton Spiders.  These were super easy.  The worst part was waiting for the paint to dry.  Someone needs to invent paint that dries in 60 seconds.  They make nail polish that dries in 60 seconds.  Why not paint?

Anywho...cut as many sections as you need from the egg carton and paint them.  You were supposed to use black, but it isn't fun following directions so I let the girls pick which color(s) they wanted.  Mel, of course, picked orange.  B, of course, picked pink and blue.

Allow the spider body to dry then poke a hole in both sides with a pencil.

Shove four pipe cleaners in one side and out the other.

Bend the legs... 

Glue or draw on the eyes... 

Ta Da... 

 Ta Da... 

        

Fashionable and Warm Thanks to Carhartt...

The Farmwives were recently given the opportunity to pick out one item of our choice from Carhartt's women's line.  I chose a hooded sweatshirt in sherbet because pink may be one of my favorite colors.  You can view the sweatshirt here.

It is perfect to wear on a cool fall morning.  This particular morning it was downright chilly while waiting for B's school bus.  You can tell by her face that she is freezing!....

I wore it the other evening while picking the last of my tomatoes out of the garden... 

and while mowing one chilly Saturday afternoon... 

I also wore it while coaching my soccer team.  Our game was at 8 AM and the temperature was a very chilly 36 degrees... 

It kept me warm and cozy without the bulkiness of a jacket.

I also wore it on our annual "Country Cruise" on our RTV with our good friends.  It didn't disappoint then either.

 Carhartt didn't start making a women's line until 2006 so before then I chose to wear the boy's/men's line.

In the photo below I am wearing a green Carhartt jacket that I have had since high school!  It has lasted 10+ years and is still in fabulous condition!  I am also wearing a cute Carhartt hat that I purchased last year and love!  B even snatches it from me sometimes!

Would you like to win a Carhartt of your own??  Visit http://www.therealfarmwivesofamerica.com/ to sign up for their giveaway!

Carhartt did provide me with this product to review but the thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

Tough Little Teacher...

B has changed a lot since she started Kindergarten.  I think she is just growing up and learning how to act appropriately, but it's kind of tough on me.  She is more quiet and reserved.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't typically mind that, but sometimes I feel like something is bugging her.  I ask her what is wrong.  She replies no.

She's a changin'.

One of her new favorite things to do is play school.  She is always the teacher...

The other night she gave Brad and me our assignments.

This was my paper complete with a check and a star.  No Xs...

This is Brad's paper complete with a star and check also, but look at all those Xs...

                                                 

Someone didn't listen to directions! 

Note To Self: Slow Down!...

This past Spring I realized that time was going by way too fast.  I am a stay-at-home mom yet I still felt like I wasn't spending enough time with the girls.  I was feeling an enormous amount of guilt.  I think it was B's preschool graduation that finally got me thinking about this.  I knew that in the fall she would be starting kindergarten and long gone are the days of all three of us being home together.  Long gone are the days when we can just pack up and go somewhere if we wanted.  Our summers are so crazy busy with yard work and the garden and then I tried to cram the photography thing on top of that. I was always stressed. 

Brad and I made the decision 5 1/2 years ago for me to stay at home so I could be there for our kids yet I was cheating them.  My patience was always thin.  I was always thinking of something else I should be doing (housework, yard work, canning, editing photos etc.)  instead of devoting my time to them.  The littlest thing would "set me off".  I didn't feel like I was a good mom.   I realized that I needed to slow down and savor every poopy diaper and temper tantrum that I could.  So, some "thing" had to give and that "thing" was my photography. 

I didn't want to give it up completely so Brad and I decided that, during the summer, I would only take pictures of family and close friends.  I was worried that I hadn't made the right decision.  I was worried that people would think of me as someone who doesn't "stick to anything". (I worry a lot in case you haven't noticed), but as Brad ALWAYS  tells me, I stopped worrying about what other people were thinking and only worried about myself and my family. 

This was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made!  This was the best summer with the girls yet and I hope we can have many more like this one!

One of my sessions this summer was with these two cutie pies.

Their parents are our friends and I am so glad I got to capture these moments for them.

T...

Their personalities remind me a lot of my girls'.

  

K...

Can you tell who the "jokester" is in the family?;0)... 

Every once in a while I have the opportunity to babysit them.  I use the term babysit lightly because they keep my girls entertained! 

They have the best sense of humor.  Brad loves to joke around so he gets along with them also.  He will say something at lunch and B will usually say, "Dad, seriously!"  T & K just laugh!

Love this photo!...