Everybody be safe and have fun!
St. Martin of Tours, pray for us!
St. Gianna Molla, pray for us!
Blessed Mother Teresa, pray for us!
Sincerely,
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Check these out
More All Saints/ Souls decoration ideas from Elena and Leslie. I have an idea to copy Elena's table idea using the old pages of a Saints Daily Planner but the banner might have to wait until next year!
Alice's Saintly Spoons are good for an all year round craft that would make a great display for All Saints Day.
Kristen and Suzanne have invited everyone over to The Virtual Kitchen for a fall feast. Lots of yummy recipes just in time for crisp, cool breezes and fuzzy, fleece jackets. Go check it out and bring some blank recipe cards.
Alice's Saintly Spoons are good for an all year round craft that would make a great display for All Saints Day.
Kristen and Suzanne have invited everyone over to The Virtual Kitchen for a fall feast. Lots of yummy recipes just in time for crisp, cool breezes and fuzzy, fleece jackets. Go check it out and bring some blank recipe cards.
Monday, October 29, 2007
All Souls Decoration
Each month, we have been trying to introduce the kids to new prayers and devotions. It started back in May with our May Crowning Devotion and continued into June with our nightly decade. July was the month of the the Precious Blood and we said this prayer that we found at Aussie Annie's lovely website. August, September and October have seen the continuation of the nightly decade (with a good amount of focus on all of the mysteries in rotation) which has become our weekly rosary. We say the beginning prayers of the rosary on Sunday, one decade each day of the week and then finish with the ending prayers on Saturday. Well, I would like to focus our prayers for November on the Holy Souls in Purgatory and had an idea to help us in that task.
I was the recipient of my grandmother's holy card stash when she passed away. Inside the homemade pouch were many holy cards, some poems, but also, the Funeral Mass cards of various friends and family members. She even had one from her own mother's funeral saved in a plastic bag, separate from all the others. Some are old and faded, some are written in Czech. The ones that can be read are for people I have never met. Anyway... I wanted to use these as our inspiration to remember the Holy Souls and to pray for them throughout the month of November.
First, I painted a square 36" dowel black to blend in with my fireplace mantle. Then I took 20 gauge bead wire and cut it into varying lengths. I twisted one end into a spiral formation and folded 1 inch of the other end in half. Using the smallest drill bit, I drilled semi-evenly spaced holes in the dowel and inserted the crimped end into the hole. My smallest bit made the wires a little wobbly; that's why I folded the ends. They ended up nice and snug. I used Grandma's funeral cards and added a few pictures of my own (Pope John Paul II, my papa's grave marker, Grandpa's obituary picture). Tea lights and a pretty garland really framed it well I think.I am posting this now on the off chance that someone might want to try it. All in all...it only took me about an hour to put together and that includes watching the paint dry. I realize that this wouldn't be so easy for someone not comfortable with power tools, but it really wasn't very complicated. You could even do everything in advance and let hubby drill the holes.
O gentlest heart of Jesus ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in purgatory, have mercy on the souls of Thy departed servants. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Spicy Sweet Potato Muffins
Since my kids are
pickydiscriminating eaters, the food we eat doesn't really change much throughout the year. The biggest factor when it comes to what I cook has more to do with the temperatures inside. When it gets cool enough to make me want to open my windows and turn my oven on, quick breads are the low cost, high return baked good of choice especially in a kid-friendly muffin version. They fit perfectly in a tiny little hand and are the ideal snack for a kid on the go. Since nothing says fall like sweet potatoes, here is one of my favorite fall muffin recipes:
Spicy Sweet Potato Muffins
2 Tbl. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
1 1/2 C. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/3 C. packed brown sugar
1 C. mashed cooked or canned sweet potatoes
3/4 C. buttermilk
1/4 C. vegetable oil
1 egg beaten
Preheat oven to 425. Grease 12 muffin cups. Combine 2 Tbl. brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. Sift flour, baking powder, remaining 1 tsp. cinnamon, salt, baking soda and allspice into large bowl. Stir in 1/3 C. brown sugar.
In medium bowl, combine sweet potatoes, buttermilk, egg and oil. Stir buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared cups, filling 2/3 ful. Sprinkle each muffin with 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon mixture. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 12.
*the muffins pictured above are not my muffins. I wanted to make some for this post, but I forgot to replace my muffin pan when it rusted out last spring. I told you I don't bake during the summer!
Spicy Sweet Potato Muffins
2 Tbl. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
1 1/2 C. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/3 C. packed brown sugar
1 C. mashed cooked or canned sweet potatoes
3/4 C. buttermilk
1/4 C. vegetable oil
1 egg beaten
Preheat oven to 425. Grease 12 muffin cups. Combine 2 Tbl. brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. Sift flour, baking powder, remaining 1 tsp. cinnamon, salt, baking soda and allspice into large bowl. Stir in 1/3 C. brown sugar.
In medium bowl, combine sweet potatoes, buttermilk, egg and oil. Stir buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared cups, filling 2/3 ful. Sprinkle each muffin with 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon mixture. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 12.
*the muffins pictured above are not my muffins. I wanted to make some for this post, but I forgot to replace my muffin pan when it rusted out last spring. I told you I don't bake during the summer!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Five Little Pumpkins
We were at the craft store the other day and all of the fall decorations were 50% off. Shopping in Texas is great because by the time the weather catches up to the retail seasons, everything is on sale!!!
So we saw these cute little pumpkins (which are probably just styrofoam balls with strips of orange raffia wrapped around them that you could make in 5 minutes, but hey... 50% off!!!) and the kids said, "Oh mommy! Can we please get some?" I said sure and even insisted that we should get five just like the song. It was at this point in our happy shopping experience that I realized I was the worst mother in the world.
"What song?"
"Oh you know... the 5 little pumpkins song."
Silence. Nothing but confused looks staring back at me from the faces of my four little pumpkins.
"Didn't I... teach... you... that song?" No. Oh, that's right...BECAUSE I AM THE WORST MOTHER IN THE WORLD!
So here it is and if the tune was a familiar one I would tell you what it is, but I have never heard it before except when my mom sang this little ditty.
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.So we saw these cute little pumpkins (which are probably just styrofoam balls with strips of orange raffia wrapped around them that you could make in 5 minutes, but hey... 50% off!!!) and the kids said, "Oh mommy! Can we please get some?" I said sure and even insisted that we should get five just like the song. It was at this point in our happy shopping experience that I realized I was the worst mother in the world.
"What song?"
"Oh you know... the 5 little pumpkins song."
Silence. Nothing but confused looks staring back at me from the faces of my four little pumpkins.
"Didn't I... teach... you... that song?" No. Oh, that's right...BECAUSE I AM THE WORST MOTHER IN THE WORLD!
So here it is and if the tune was a familiar one I would tell you what it is, but I have never heard it before except when my mom sang this little ditty.
The first one said, "Oh my its getting late!"
The second one said, "There's a chill in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run!"
The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"
"Woo" went the wind and out went the lights
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that in the original lyrics I learned the second pumpkin says, "There are witches in the air". Since witches are definitely considered "spooky" in my house and we stay away from all things spooky (see below), we changed it. Sorry Mom.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Halloween: Yes or No
A conversation (not a debate) at the 4Real Forum prompted me to think about how much I don't know about what life is like in other parts of the country. I admit, I was surprised at the number of people who participate in the usual celebrations of Halloween. I don't mean to imply any kind of judgment on my part regarding those who dress up and go trick-or-treating, just a mathematical assumption that the percentage would have been more 50/50 considering it is a Catholic forum. I was discussing this with a dear friend, how I thought the scales would have been more level, and as someone who has lived all over this big ol' country, she helped put it in perspective for me.
I have lived in Texas all my life. I spent equal time in Central Texas and South Texas until I came to North Texas for college. We lived in a very rural area until I was 8 and then pretty much stayed in the suburbs. Our first home in South Texas was located on an L-shaped cul-de-sac so it was very private and protected. That is where most of my Halloween memories come from. We were allowed to go trick-or-treating around the cul-de-sac and then only a few houses down the connecting street. I might not remember their names, but I can tell you who lived in just about every home we went to. If we didn't know who lived there, we didn't ring the bell.
My brother and I rarely had store bought costumes. We raided mom and dad's closet and put together creative outfits like a hobo, a punk bride (think Cyndi Lauper in a bride's dress), and a clown (gotta love Dad's old 70's ties). My parents really got into Halloween. My mom always dressed up to hand out the candy and my Dad tried to find ways to make our front courtyard even more spooky every year. He was also one of those Dads who would hide in the trees and scare people (usually not the little kids, mostly just the teenagers because he thought they deserved it).
When I think about my reasons for opting out of Halloween, I realized... it was to avoid people like my parents! OK. Not entirely, but kind of!
My kids have always hated anything with even a remotely spooky feel to it. Ghosts are called marshmallow men, black cats are just cute little kitties and skeletons... well, my kids still don't like skeletons. One time I bought The Professor some PJ's that had this super cool skateboard guy on the front. He brought them to me in a huff when he spotted a skull amidst the swirly designs and decorations. He was right! Back they went.
Shortcake has always been prone to nightmares. She is like her mama. Anything that she sees or hears after the 1pm hour has the potential to come back and haunt her before or during bedtime. My father made me watch Gladiator when he came to visit one night. He thought that since I had seen the Colosseum up close and personal, this movie would speak to me. Yeah... I heard it calling my name at 1 AM, 2 AM, 3AM....
The fact of the matter is that there might be some people today living in a neighborhood very much like the one I grew up in whose children are not terrified by decorations and who don't mind walking through smoke filled courtyards and getting a handful of candy from a green faced woman wearing a black pointy hat because they know that it is really Mrs. So-and-so who brought a ham over when great-grandpa George passed away. I remember what that was like and how much fun we thought it was (um...the candy part, not the grandpa George part). I am sad to say, that's not my street anymore and those kids I knew and had fun with have grown up into the man who answers his door wearing a real live giant snake around his neck or the person who walks around all day dressed as the Prince of Lies (not a little devil with horns on a headband... real horns affixed to his bald head with spirit gum and stage makeup)!
I like celebrating All Hallows Eve. We have a big party with all of the cousins invited. We play games and eat yummy food. We do carve pumpkins and roast the seeds, but we stick to silly faces or saintly symbols and my kids have never asked to do it otherwise. We dress up as saints or as the people under their patronage ( a chef for Saint Martha or a fireman for St. Florian). My kids play dress up all the time with their usual costumes. There is a cowgirl
notdoing her Math as I type right now. Batman and Spiderman frequently show up in my bathroom needing a wipe so they aren't missing out on anything. With a mama who studied theater, lets just say that our dress up box overfloweth! All. day. long.
I like not having to check my kids candy or worry about them walking in the street (our neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks). I like not having to worry about nightmares or being woken up by a little girl who is also suffering from them. I like not having to explain why some people celebrate Halloween (language warning) the way that they do. I like not having to fight the crowds of people who get trucked into a neighborhood just to get more and more and more free candy. I can afford a bag of Milky Ways, even two bags, and we can split them 6 ways.
But, unless you think I am some sort of Halloween Scrooge, I always put a bucket of candy on the porch with a sign. It reads... Party in Progress! Happy All Hallows Eve!
P.S. How do you celebrate and why?
I have lived in Texas all my life. I spent equal time in Central Texas and South Texas until I came to North Texas for college. We lived in a very rural area until I was 8 and then pretty much stayed in the suburbs. Our first home in South Texas was located on an L-shaped cul-de-sac so it was very private and protected. That is where most of my Halloween memories come from. We were allowed to go trick-or-treating around the cul-de-sac and then only a few houses down the connecting street. I might not remember their names, but I can tell you who lived in just about every home we went to. If we didn't know who lived there, we didn't ring the bell.
My brother and I rarely had store bought costumes. We raided mom and dad's closet and put together creative outfits like a hobo, a punk bride (think Cyndi Lauper in a bride's dress), and a clown (gotta love Dad's old 70's ties). My parents really got into Halloween. My mom always dressed up to hand out the candy and my Dad tried to find ways to make our front courtyard even more spooky every year. He was also one of those Dads who would hide in the trees and scare people (usually not the little kids, mostly just the teenagers because he thought they deserved it).
When I think about my reasons for opting out of Halloween, I realized... it was to avoid people like my parents! OK. Not entirely, but kind of!
My kids have always hated anything with even a remotely spooky feel to it. Ghosts are called marshmallow men, black cats are just cute little kitties and skeletons... well, my kids still don't like skeletons. One time I bought The Professor some PJ's that had this super cool skateboard guy on the front. He brought them to me in a huff when he spotted a skull amidst the swirly designs and decorations. He was right! Back they went.
Shortcake has always been prone to nightmares. She is like her mama. Anything that she sees or hears after the 1pm hour has the potential to come back and haunt her before or during bedtime. My father made me watch Gladiator when he came to visit one night. He thought that since I had seen the Colosseum up close and personal, this movie would speak to me. Yeah... I heard it calling my name at 1 AM, 2 AM, 3AM....
The fact of the matter is that there might be some people today living in a neighborhood very much like the one I grew up in whose children are not terrified by decorations and who don't mind walking through smoke filled courtyards and getting a handful of candy from a green faced woman wearing a black pointy hat because they know that it is really Mrs. So-and-so who brought a ham over when great-grandpa George passed away. I remember what that was like and how much fun we thought it was (um...the candy part, not the grandpa George part). I am sad to say, that's not my street anymore and those kids I knew and had fun with have grown up into the man who answers his door wearing a real live giant snake around his neck or the person who walks around all day dressed as the Prince of Lies (not a little devil with horns on a headband... real horns affixed to his bald head with spirit gum and stage makeup)!I like celebrating All Hallows Eve. We have a big party with all of the cousins invited. We play games and eat yummy food. We do carve pumpkins and roast the seeds, but we stick to silly faces or saintly symbols and my kids have never asked to do it otherwise. We dress up as saints or as the people under their patronage ( a chef for Saint Martha or a fireman for St. Florian). My kids play dress up all the time with their usual costumes. There is a cowgirl
I like not having to check my kids candy or worry about them walking in the street (our neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks). I like not having to worry about nightmares or being woken up by a little girl who is also suffering from them. I like not having to explain why some people celebrate Halloween (language warning) the way that they do. I like not having to fight the crowds of people who get trucked into a neighborhood just to get more and more and more free candy. I can afford a bag of Milky Ways, even two bags, and we can split them 6 ways.
But, unless you think I am some sort of Halloween Scrooge, I always put a bucket of candy on the porch with a sign. It reads... Party in Progress! Happy All Hallows Eve!
P.S. How do you celebrate and why?
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Climbing Mt. Laundry
Newscaster: What you're hearing right now is the voice of the doctor who's at Base Camp and who's doing physiological testing with Matilda.
Doc: Jane was sorting through and washing the winter clothes for her four children when the youngest one started throwing up. Because she was taking care of a sick toddler, Jane left her coffee sitting on the counter until it was too cold to drink. Who was Jane taking care of?
WM: She was caring for her toddler.
Doc: Two seconds. Who was the coffee for?
WM: For Jane.
Doc: That was also two seconds.
WM: ... (inaudible) I'm sorry. ... (sob).
Doc: As you probably realize you caught us at an extraordinary moment. We never expected that this live broadcast would come at the very moment that Matilda reached the summit. What we were doing up there is—we call it psychometrics or neuro-psychiatric testing to determine whether or not her brain has been affected at the summit.
Newscaster: She sounds like she's in good shape. But..what was that last response?
Doc: Well, Matilda, as are all of our climbers, are only human. And, you know, most people get to the top of this mountain and don't even realize they're there. Lack of oxygen, sleep, coffee...
WM: (whimper, whimper, sob)
Doc: Jane was sorting through and washing the winter clothes for her four children when the youngest one started throwing up. Because she was taking care of a sick toddler, Jane left her coffee sitting on the counter until it was too cold to drink. Who was Jane taking care of?
WM: She was caring for her toddler.
Doc: Two seconds. Who was the coffee for?
WM: For Jane.
Doc: That was also two seconds.
WM: ... (inaudible) I'm sorry. ... (sob).
Doc: As you probably realize you caught us at an extraordinary moment. We never expected that this live broadcast would come at the very moment that Matilda reached the summit. What we were doing up there is—we call it psychometrics or neuro-psychiatric testing to determine whether or not her brain has been affected at the summit.
Newscaster: She sounds like she's in good shape. But..what was that last response?
Doc: Well, Matilda, as are all of our climbers, are only human. And, you know, most people get to the top of this mountain and don't even realize they're there. Lack of oxygen, sleep, coffee...
WM: (whimper, whimper, sob)
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Creativi-tea!
Dawn's husband is a genius! (Scroll down in her post to see his tea drawer idea.) I will let her decide whether or not she informs him of that or decides to keep him humble.
Here is a peek at my tea drawer and it has been such a beautiful thing! Not having to climb on a step stool to reach the tea shelf means that I have been enjoying more tea instead of coffee lately (which is probably a good thing because even decaf coffee has some caffeine in it which is not good for those of us prone to panic attacks). I've even noticed the kids asking for tea more frequently, hence the two boxes of peppermint tea which is a favorite with 3 out of the 4 children in this house. Aslan Tea comes in second. It is actually called Madagascar Vanilla Red but the lion on the cover reminded them of Narnia, so... whoops... looks like I am out if it right now. I guess I better get some more. Um, Mr. Sun and Candlelight, please don't tell my husband about the second part of that great idea unless it is also with a wink and a smile! Thanks!
Here is a peek at my tea drawer and it has been such a beautiful thing! Not having to climb on a step stool to reach the tea shelf means that I have been enjoying more tea instead of coffee lately (which is probably a good thing because even decaf coffee has some caffeine in it which is not good for those of us prone to panic attacks). I've even noticed the kids asking for tea more frequently, hence the two boxes of peppermint tea which is a favorite with 3 out of the 4 children in this house. Aslan Tea comes in second. It is actually called Madagascar Vanilla Red but the lion on the cover reminded them of Narnia, so... whoops... looks like I am out if it right now. I guess I better get some more. Um, Mr. Sun and Candlelight, please don't tell my husband about the second part of that great idea unless it is also with a wink and a smile! Thanks!
Monday, October 22, 2007
FALL!!!
It's here! It's HERE! It's really, really here! I confess, I have been so jealous of all of you who live in parts north and northeast of here in your long sleeve shirts and with your beautifully colored trees. (No one even noticed the fact we were still wearing shorts to the park.) And while our trees here in Texas may never look that vibrant, at the very least the WEATHER could try to cooperate with the season! 90 degrees in October? UGH!But that is in the past (as in yesterday) and today it is in the 50's with lots of wet stuff falling from the skies. After the wet spring/early summer/late summer we had you would think we would be sick of it, but cold rain is sooooooo much nicer that hot, sticky rain and this rain is delightfully chilly. There is a definite nip in the air and I am feeling invigorated. Look out closets full of warm, woolly goodness. Here we come!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Nature Pics
From the nature trail...
This is the park that was mostly destroyed in a wild fire 2 summers ago. We have enjoyed watching it come back to life and searching for evidence of its tragic past.
Race you home!
(Yes, I know The Professor should be wearing a helmet too, but we didn't realize until we were heading out the door that the growth spurt that affected his pants by two sizes also affected his head! We will remedy that today.)
Wait for me!
This is the park that was mostly destroyed in a wild fire 2 summers ago. We have enjoyed watching it come back to life and searching for evidence of its tragic past.
Race you home!
(Yes, I know The Professor should be wearing a helmet too, but we didn't realize until we were heading out the door that the growth spurt that affected his pants by two sizes also affected his head! We will remedy that today.)
Wait for me!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Andiamo bambinis!
It's 64 degrees outside. The children have their scooters packed up in the car. A friendly old trail is beckoning us to come play. Nature awaits!
We are outta here!
We are outta here!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Blue Knights
If you have a Blue Knight at home then you might have heard of this month's craft project... The Arrow of God.
When we first moved into this house, The Professor was very interested in archery and, as luck would have it, there was an archery practice range just down the road. Unfortunately, they didn't offer lessons to anyone younger than 8 and by the time he turned 8, the place had closed. I think it is a gym now. Anyway, that first year we were here, he asked for a bow and arrow and received an excellent one for Christmas. St. Nick brought that one, but I found some just like it on Ebay. They were homemade, sponge-tipped arrows with a PVC pipe bow. Very nice and well made!
Since we signed up to be in charge of this month's craft, The Professor's set became the inspiration for the arrows we wanted our young knights to put in their quivers. Here is how we made them.
I tried to find rectangular sponges, but ended up with these curvy ones from the automotive care aisle. (The ones from the kitchen aisle smelled horrible!) Not being perfectly rectangular was no big deal; I took care of that with my handy dandy electric knife. If you didn't know that an electric knife is the absolute best way to cut sponge or foam, well... now you do!
Once I had it into a large block, I cut it into four equal pieces. Each piece was then cut in an X shape. I drew cut lines on the third piece just for an example and then the fourth piece up above is what you have after the slicing. Remove the side pieces and save for future art projects.
What you have left are the two hourglass pieces in the middle. Lay them flat so they make mountains and cut in half. Each sponge made 16 arrowheads. Using the points of my sharp pointy scissors, I cut an X shape into the bottom of one side, squeezed a large drop of glue into the hole and inserted the dowel. We used 18" x 5/16" oak dowels hoping that they would be sturdy enough to avoid snapping before the bows get made in March. We also cut notches into the bottom of the dowels and sanded down the ends in anticipation of their first flight.
Now the arrows are completely finished so what will the boys be doing? They will be making quivers out of Pringles cans, paper, ribbon and stickers. That is my mock up you see above (which BigBoy will probably confiscate). We made our own stickers but I am sure you could find some lovely ones at a local Catholic store. The paper was cut to fit a standard sized Pringles can and secured with glue and tape while ribbon gets stapled into the inside of the can. The boys will also be choosing a color code to draw on their arrows with marker. We plan to have them decorate their bows with the same color code so that they will always be able to match their arrows to their bows. (Also trying to help out those mamas who have more than one boy!) I know it sounds super easy, but this group is mostly littles who don't really have a lot of patience for crafting. There are also quite a few Dad's who have more patience than the boys but will assisting more than one young squire. I hope they find this easy enough to do and fun, too!
When we first moved into this house, The Professor was very interested in archery and, as luck would have it, there was an archery practice range just down the road. Unfortunately, they didn't offer lessons to anyone younger than 8 and by the time he turned 8, the place had closed. I think it is a gym now. Anyway, that first year we were here, he asked for a bow and arrow and received an excellent one for Christmas. St. Nick brought that one, but I found some just like it on Ebay. They were homemade, sponge-tipped arrows with a PVC pipe bow. Very nice and well made!
Since we signed up to be in charge of this month's craft, The Professor's set became the inspiration for the arrows we wanted our young knights to put in their quivers. Here is how we made them.
I tried to find rectangular sponges, but ended up with these curvy ones from the automotive care aisle. (The ones from the kitchen aisle smelled horrible!) Not being perfectly rectangular was no big deal; I took care of that with my handy dandy electric knife. If you didn't know that an electric knife is the absolute best way to cut sponge or foam, well... now you do!
Once I had it into a large block, I cut it into four equal pieces. Each piece was then cut in an X shape. I drew cut lines on the third piece just for an example and then the fourth piece up above is what you have after the slicing. Remove the side pieces and save for future art projects.
What you have left are the two hourglass pieces in the middle. Lay them flat so they make mountains and cut in half. Each sponge made 16 arrowheads. Using the points of my sharp pointy scissors, I cut an X shape into the bottom of one side, squeezed a large drop of glue into the hole and inserted the dowel. We used 18" x 5/16" oak dowels hoping that they would be sturdy enough to avoid snapping before the bows get made in March. We also cut notches into the bottom of the dowels and sanded down the ends in anticipation of their first flight.
Now the arrows are completely finished so what will the boys be doing? They will be making quivers out of Pringles cans, paper, ribbon and stickers. That is my mock up you see above (which BigBoy will probably confiscate). We made our own stickers but I am sure you could find some lovely ones at a local Catholic store. The paper was cut to fit a standard sized Pringles can and secured with glue and tape while ribbon gets stapled into the inside of the can. The boys will also be choosing a color code to draw on their arrows with marker. We plan to have them decorate their bows with the same color code so that they will always be able to match their arrows to their bows. (Also trying to help out those mamas who have more than one boy!) I know it sounds super easy, but this group is mostly littles who don't really have a lot of patience for crafting. There are also quite a few Dad's who have more patience than the boys but will assisting more than one young squire. I hope they find this easy enough to do and fun, too!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Elves, Fairies and Gnomes, OH MY!
A friend of mine (Hi there, Em!) told me about a wonderful little thing called Library Elf and remembering some other people who have had to pay off library fines in installments, or wait for Amnesty Day before daring to cross the threshold and face the steely stares of Madam Librarian, I thought I would introduce you in case you had never heard of this lovely little creature, as I hadn't (until Em).
It's soooooo easy! Elf can track multiple accounts, scampers around all over the country to pop into a number of participating libraries and...he requires nothing in exchange (tiny clothes, first born child, housekeeping)! Check it out and check out with impunity. Be free of the shameful shackles of overdue fines! Maybe your elf will look like Orlando Bloom. (I hope mine doesn't because that guy looks creepy as a blond!)
The fairies and gnomes are of Elizabeth's and Katherine's doing. Go check out their new blog, Serendipity, for some fun stories that my girls have been bugging me to read to them ever since I made the mistake of saying out loud, "A few of my Mommy Friends have made up some fairy stories...." Another day of school on the information super highway! It counts, right?
It's soooooo easy! Elf can track multiple accounts, scampers around all over the country to pop into a number of participating libraries and...he requires nothing in exchange (tiny clothes, first born child, housekeeping)! Check it out and check out with impunity. Be free of the shameful shackles of overdue fines! Maybe your elf will look like Orlando Bloom. (I hope mine doesn't because that guy looks creepy as a blond!)
The fairies and gnomes are of Elizabeth's and Katherine's doing. Go check out their new blog, Serendipity, for some fun stories that my girls have been bugging me to read to them ever since I made the mistake of saying out loud, "A few of my Mommy Friends have made up some fairy stories...." Another day of school on the information super highway! It counts, right?
Monday, October 15, 2007
Pencil Pouch
I have yet to make the pencil version of those crayon pouches I made a while ago, but I did whip up a couple of these the other day. You see, we are using Math-U-See this year (love it!) and Shortcake has to do a lot of coloring to match the color of the blocks. So we scoured our colored pencil box to find just the right shade for each block (9's were a doozy). I promised Shortcake that I would make a little holder for her math pencils so they wouldn't get swallowed up by the big, giant pencil box again. and of course, Sunshine wanted one just for fun. All those times people would ask me if they were twins when they were toddlers... I should have just said YES!
I made my own toggles, out of rolled up pieces of felt. Sunshine's were turned on their sides to look like roses and her clasp is a crocheted chain (about 10 stitches). The math symbols on Shortcake's were glued on and the clasp was made with a folded and stitched piece of felt. These were hand sewn only because I wanted the stitching to be an accent (and my sewing machine is buried under a mountain of "to-be-mendeds" right now). They took about 30 minutes to make and Sunshine probably could have sewn her own, but it was late. I might let her make one today just for fun since it looks like we are going to be stuck in the house watching the rain come down! Hope you are having an un-dreary Monday!
I made my own toggles, out of rolled up pieces of felt. Sunshine's were turned on their sides to look like roses and her clasp is a crocheted chain (about 10 stitches). The math symbols on Shortcake's were glued on and the clasp was made with a folded and stitched piece of felt. These were hand sewn only because I wanted the stitching to be an accent (and my sewing machine is buried under a mountain of "to-be-mendeds" right now). They took about 30 minutes to make and Sunshine probably could have sewn her own, but it was late. I might let her make one today just for fun since it looks like we are going to be stuck in the house watching the rain come down! Hope you are having an un-dreary Monday!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Godfather's Day
Sounds like some sort of strange marathon movie fest or a little known Hallmark holiday that you should rush right out and buy a gift for or at least a card which... come to think of it... Hallmark happens to carry plenty of! No. This is a day I am pretty sure only gets celebrated in our house. Today is the birthday of Sunshine and Shortcake's godfather. Um... godfathers that is. They have two separate godfathers who both happen to be born on October 13th. It's not like it's a prerequisite or anything for choosing godfathers around here, it just happened that way so... Happy Birthday Uncle Burke and Tio Eddie. May God bless you both on your special day. Our prayers are for you today.And that's an offer you just can't refuse!
Love,
Sunshine, Shortcake, the rest of the bunch and...
Friday, October 12, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)