tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33458819954956997502024-03-12T03:00:12.407-05:00A Day of Wonderswon-der n. 1. rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience 2. a feeling of doubt or uncertainty
won-der v. 1. to be in a state of wonder: MARVEL 2. to feel curiosity or doubtAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.comBlogger315125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-68257770373558501432012-11-06T16:38:00.004-06:002012-11-06T16:38:27.618-06:00Thanksgiving Pillow: BLESSED<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JlmbfOBuwCcpn9AwIsxVLxmbw-MQErIHUuzcD7GZ9anj5DEQ_jofMqK4b4sC6a18rT6xiSJLke9jhOYHcoJRnGAoEgKoRZ8uFxrzm1OGr6TeCtxrnu0RqfOd-bbXpllyUR7RLCT55s-U/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JlmbfOBuwCcpn9AwIsxVLxmbw-MQErIHUuzcD7GZ9anj5DEQ_jofMqK4b4sC6a18rT6xiSJLke9jhOYHcoJRnGAoEgKoRZ8uFxrzm1OGr6TeCtxrnu0RqfOd-bbXpllyUR7RLCT55s-U/s320/027.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I just listed this pillow in my Etsy shop, right in time for Thanksgiving! It would be a great hostess gift for Thanksgiving as well as a wonderful keepsake for you to pull out each November, reminding you to count your blessings. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/114241066/thanksgiving-pillow-blessed-fall-pillow"> CLICK HERE</a> to purchase!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-35189573308445104332012-10-25T22:53:00.003-05:002012-10-25T22:53:29.457-05:00New blog for doll loversHello, everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I've launched a new
blog just for doll lovers. If you loved dolls as a child, love dolls
as an adult, collect dolls and/or create things for dolls, this blog is
right up your alley. I'll feature interviews with doll lovers young and
old. YOU could be featured on the blog!! If you have a great
childhood memory about dolls, let me know. I'd love to have you
participate. The more the merrier. The new blog is called "Never Too
Old For Dolls" and can be found<a href="http://never2old4dolls.blogspot.com/"> HERE</a>. Go check it out!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-32068364849621859722011-07-10T10:01:00.002-05:002011-07-10T10:01:50.984-05:00I haven't disappeared!!Hi! Is anybody still out there? Just checking in. I apologize for being absent for so long. Lots of changes have been in the works for me and my family. In May, I finished my final year of teaching at the Montessori school where I was both head teacher and director. I am finally pursuing a long-held dream of mine to be a homeschool mama to my two sons. I am super-excited about this new adventure. To bring in a bit of extra income this fall, I will be teaching private piano lessons and offering Kindermusik classes from my home studio. I've been busy designing and creating two new blogs to document all these goings-on. You can read about my new studio by visiting <a href="http://walnuthillstudio.blogspot.com/">Walnut Hill Studio</a>. And.....you can read all about my homeschooling adventures by visiting <a href="http://walnuthillhomeschool.blogspot.com/">Walnut Hill Homeschool.</a> With so much new happening, it made sense to me to document everything at a new place in cyberspace. So.......I'm not sure how much I'll be posting over here. I may still pop in to tell you about various non-homeschool-related events and activities. Maybe I'll save this space for a place to share my cooking and crafting, since I still hope to do lots of that. By the way, I've recently discovered Pinterest. Oh, my word! Pure awesomeness. I think this link will take you to <a href="http://pinterest.com/walnutmama/">my Pinterest page</a> where you can see all the stunning visual inspiration I've found online. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-64375289593319000482011-04-11T22:52:00.006-05:002011-04-11T23:06:32.513-05:00Chickens in my bathroom (again!)Yep, I really do have four chickens in my bathroom again. I decided to get some new baby chicks this year so we could double our "flock" and have more eggs. We have four full-grown hens and today the boys and I went to our local Bomgaar's and bought four more "girls". By this fall, we should be in the organic, farm-fresh egg business. My sons are old enough now to be more involved in caring for the chickens and gathering the eggs. They can profit from their efforts by selling the eggs to friends and family. It is so fun to raise chickens from chick-hood. They are so cute. I sat in the bathroom and watched them for a long time tonight. At this age, they fall asleep very easily. When they sleep they completely sack out and almost look dead. Sometimes they will be standing up and their eyes will drift closed, then their head droops down, finally their legs collapse and they are sound asleep. I watched one tonight who was getting drowsy right by the water bottle. Her head would start falling until her beak dipped into the water. Then she would startle awake, raise her head to swallow, then quickly fall right back to sleep. It was so cute. For you poultry-minded folks, we got two <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameraucana">Ameraucanas</a> (they will lay bluish eggs, which should be fun), one White Rock and one White Leghorn. The Ameraucanas are the darker ones, and the White Rock and White Leghorn are the yellow ones. The White Rock will lay brown eggs, and the white leghorn white eggs. They should be laying by September. PS: For those of you who are wondering, the chicks in the bathroom are in a Rubbermaid tub with a vented lid. They are not in my bathtub!! PPS: I apologize (to myself as much as to anyone who reads this blog) for not posting more often. Hopefully that will change after the school year ends. PPPS: Some exciting news which I have not yet shared online.............this fall I am finally going to be...........a homeschool mama!! Yay!! I am very excited. I've wanted to do this for 10 years (I've been a mom for about 10 years) and am finally taking the plunge! I will document this journey on a new blog which I will start posting on sometime near the end of May. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWUOrwkzth8HOb8XxqxIXkIFy-BImQZlq17kPzTZJD1-Lw_6ffUH4c_0eSUkFBkY6yBE2uFNzjyRdr5YYoCz6k3KmFvhVvlnifruyy9Ueupm_ObNXGRBIXdw_Kph28se_fvMIIrN-sKTu/s1600/009.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594540332105751298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWUOrwkzth8HOb8XxqxIXkIFy-BImQZlq17kPzTZJD1-Lw_6ffUH4c_0eSUkFBkY6yBE2uFNzjyRdr5YYoCz6k3KmFvhVvlnifruyy9Ueupm_ObNXGRBIXdw_Kph28se_fvMIIrN-sKTu/s320/009.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUODmrRXqP5M_1LRC58filQOrF14V4NJJIIbrD3XqGFHrQq8jE4yZaLS3ojOVs7Xy0C5wW2IL4DJHxIjwCChSDGUXkKAPawxSsHpE-y23SJT3bgZ8OG-LmagxDAlIupZ3mL4L_JlvorsWN/s1600/002.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594540326723345554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUODmrRXqP5M_1LRC58filQOrF14V4NJJIIbrD3XqGFHrQq8jE4yZaLS3ojOVs7Xy0C5wW2IL4DJHxIjwCChSDGUXkKAPawxSsHpE-y23SJT3bgZ8OG-LmagxDAlIupZ3mL4L_JlvorsWN/s320/002.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ0fwTdCLPSei-geupVmV4p-aKElbUGsoFeh0CMaX2cuLlbXMUZDRVD-0ueeiIAsNr5tsq0is1oUQEFdKHbJqkFmTb0iW9K_sQ-IYfrPya1D_ISNd38q-EBJguP_-U44VlSJh6RziiXd3/s1600/005.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594540319681701042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ0fwTdCLPSei-geupVmV4p-aKElbUGsoFeh0CMaX2cuLlbXMUZDRVD-0ueeiIAsNr5tsq0is1oUQEFdKHbJqkFmTb0iW9K_sQ-IYfrPya1D_ISNd38q-EBJguP_-U44VlSJh6RziiXd3/s320/005.JPG" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpImOwGwPK1-L3kG6hDwyMxdvPB0eCmu7YkwP2fyrKSuy3hcxJc7N5kjossarv4UoCiFyVk1Zc5t4RB2aLZKKk2-oVJhyphenhyphen85tsUox3d0fd_at5lAgQek4wf0s5BOznT2BzkvzzKBjAmxyt/s1600/004.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594540316536026066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpImOwGwPK1-L3kG6hDwyMxdvPB0eCmu7YkwP2fyrKSuy3hcxJc7N5kjossarv4UoCiFyVk1Zc5t4RB2aLZKKk2-oVJhyphenhyphen85tsUox3d0fd_at5lAgQek4wf0s5BOznT2BzkvzzKBjAmxyt/s320/004.JPG" /></a> <br /><div></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-48569691999671931632011-02-22T22:24:00.007-06:002011-02-22T22:59:45.361-06:00Here's why my son isn't getting a Nintendo DS anytime soonMy children do not have the latest in popular entertainment and video devices. While we don't live under a rock and my boys do watch TV, we have not yet jumped on the bandwagon of digital gadgetry in our household. Yes, my laptop is my BFF. However, I am not on Facebook or Twitter. I don't know how to text (I know that is VERY lame...........I just haven't needed to learn yet), and my phone is a Motorola Tracfone which I buy minutes for when my minutes run out. It doesn't even have one of those cool little keyboards that slides out. Usually I just use it to call DH with an item to add to the grocery list. (Yes, he does our grocery shopping. I am very blessed.) And believe me...........if someone walked up to me today and offered me one of those really cool phones that does everything, I would not hesitate to accept. <br /><br />So..........before I go any further, please know that in no way do I judge others for their relationships to digital devices. Nor I am opposed to or "against" the use of said devices. To be honest, we just haven't purchased some of these gadgets because as of yet no one in our family has felt a pressing need to have them. It doesn't make sense to us to buy something for our children that they are not asking for. That would be like introducing an ice cream sundae to a child who consistently and contentedly eats a variety of healthy foods. If they're happy eating healthy, why mess with it, right? Likewise, if my children are happy and occupied with books and toys that don't beep or light up, why mess with it?<br /><br />Recently, however, my youngest son (he's 5 1/2) has been telling me he REALLY wants a Nintendo DS. I have explained to him that these cost a lot of money and that he will have to really save his money (which he earns by keeping his room clean) if he wants to buy one. The chances of him saving up enough to buy one are slim to none; money kind of burns a hole in his pocket and is usually used to buy more LEGO sets. And I love it when he buys LEGO sets because they are hands-on, open-ended, constructive and will get lots of play time in our household.<br /><br />Today, however, something occurred that pretty much convinced me that none of MY hard-earned cash is going to buy him a DS anytime soon. There's a bit of a backstory here. Today (Tuesday) was a no-school day for me and my sons. We also had the day off on Monday for President's Day. On Monday I took the boys to a local museum where they were having President's Day activities for families. I also bought the boys lunch at the museum. My youngest son had an orange cream soda to drink. It came in a glass bottle. He didn't drink it all, but when I asked the restaurant employee if they recycled the glass bottles, she said no. I am a pretty dedicated recycler, so I took the bottles into the restroom, dumped the remaining soda out, rinsed the bottles and hauled them around in my huge purse the rest of the afternoon. My youngest son was very excited that we were saving his bottle. He said he was going to make something with it when we got home.<br /><br />Fast forward to this morning. I decided to clean out the junk drawer in our kitchen. While doing this project, I had the contents of the drawer spread out on our table. My youngest son spotted a round metal lid that was missing its handle. He asked if he could have it. Knowing there was a good chance I had no use for the lid, I agreed. A little while later I was sweeping the floor. My broom dislodged a circular piece of heavy wire from beneath our couch. My youngest son spotted it in the pile of pet hair and dirt just before I swept it into a dustpan. He asked if he could have it. I agreed, but cautioned him to be careful with it. <br /><br />Later in the morning I rounded up the boys to go to work with me. They often accompany me when I have to get things ready in my preschool classroom. As we headed out the door I noticed that my youngest son was planning to bring the empty glass soda bottle, the metal lid and the ring of wire along. Not wanting to deal with that, I urged him to leave them behind. He persisted, telling me he was going to make something with them. I gave in. We went to my school. While I busied myself with the tasks I needed to accomplish, my youngest son played with the bottle, lid and wire. He showed me all the different things he could do with them. At one point, he used them as a catapult to roll a globe from my classroom across the floor. Another time he showed me how the curved wire could be used like a hook to pick up the lid. <br /><br />Much later in the afternoon, the boys and I had to stop at my parents' house to pick something up. Again, my youngest son insisted on bringing his bottle, lid and wire with him. My mom greeted us at the door and remarked about the strange assortment of items my little guy was carrying. I told her that he had occupied himself with these three items for much of the day. The boys played at my parents house for about an hour while I went back to work. Although he played with other things, I know my son continued to enjoy his trio of "junky" treasures at their house as well. <br /><br />At one point today he told me he wants to collect lots of bottles so he can make lots of things with them. It reminded me of his Valentine's party at school last week. I had brought juice boxes for the children. Instead of throwing his juice box away when he was finished, my son asked to bring it home. He wanted to make a boat out of it. <br /><br />So........now you know why he isn't getting a Nintendo DS anytime soon. Who needs a fancy video game when you can be happily entertained for hours with a bottle, a discarded lid, and a piece of wire? Why mess with a good thing?<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyqOpzWGC6ycVmAi50z0RA98jssvJrk335JcHaV6RBfcGbv-0u8oiwmhAYEvtSh1rVZTnV2izPpGvNxmHkp2ANrrLfhqLNTg18raAyTTTM1cK5U1fCBPZKUnuUjvgSygFYB8gsqGkOCTIO/s1600/012.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576736414874362066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyqOpzWGC6ycVmAi50z0RA98jssvJrk335JcHaV6RBfcGbv-0u8oiwmhAYEvtSh1rVZTnV2izPpGvNxmHkp2ANrrLfhqLNTg18raAyTTTM1cK5U1fCBPZKUnuUjvgSygFYB8gsqGkOCTIO/s320/012.JPG" /></a><br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-8672741935618928972011-02-12T21:43:00.007-06:002011-02-12T21:56:29.528-06:00Giveaway Winner!<div>I used the random number generator to choose a winner for the <a href="http://adayofwonders.blogspot.com/2011/02/reshaping-it-all-book-giveaway.html">Candace Cameron Bure book giveaway</a>. </div><br /><br /><div></div><div>The random number was #34, posted by LT: "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! I struggle with both spiritual and physical fitness. I could definitely benefit from a book like this, plus...Candace Cameron Bure is one of my role models."</div><br /><br /><div>Congratulations, LT! Please email me at <a href="mailto:directress@live.com">directress@live.com</a> with your snail mail address and I'll pop it in the mail to you. </div><br /><br /><div>Thanks to everyone for playing! Best of luck to you on your fitness goals. I am plugging away with my exercise and better eating goals. I used to drink 3 diet sodas every day. Now I am only having a few each week and I'm gradually learning to drink lots more water. I have found that I much prefer cold water to water right from the tap, so I've started keeping a large glass in the frig at all times so I can grab it and drink. I'm also keeping a water bottle in the frig at my work so I drink more water throughout the day. In addition, I'm doing a treadmill workout (using this beginner's running program) about 3 times per week and I'm doing exercise DVDs on the other days, about 3 times per week as well. I have found that exercise DVDs are a great and inexpensive way to fit fitness into a busy schedule since you don't have to go anywhere or be anywhere at a specific time. If you haven't already done so, head over to <a href="http://collagevideo.com/">Collage Video</a>. This website features only fitness videos. You can preview every single one of their DVDs right on the website because each title has a short video clip. You can also read the reviews written by other women who have tried the videos. In addition, you can usually find videos here for much less than anywhere else and the selection can't be beat! I recently ordered 4 new DVDs to put into my weekly rotation. Yesterday I did <a href="http://www.collagevideo.com/workout-video/ellen-barretts-skinny-sculpt-5808">Skinny Sculpt with Ellen Barrett</a>. I totally loved this workout and still feel a little sore today! The great thing about this DVD is that it is not a strenuous high-impact aerobic workout, yet you still really feel toned and strengthened at the end. I highly recommend it and it has great reviews over at Collage. </div><div> </div><div> </div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 284px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573017605713470738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifhadTeoi0omRLcHclJLXrzP_Gwhyphenhyphenf08TQQNp5lPSf_R0tgFKNoqkrips76DiasRUYkv0xeLh7yQ5nB8gUOoHk6zWtIR8hI2kMbOTxJfM7shYHv1ijAA0e7gsHpH2Or37HwguAPDIv-h_n/s320/skinny+sculpt.jpg" /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-799045921561931692011-02-07T15:53:00.001-06:002011-02-07T15:54:24.978-06:00If you read nothing else today..................read <a href="http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/02/where-the-happiness-is/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HolyExperience+%28Holy+Experience%29&utm_content=Google+Reader">THIS</a>. You won't regret it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-70620807759007843782011-02-05T17:52:00.006-06:002011-02-05T18:05:27.225-06:00Reshaping It All Book Giveaway<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWNH3omwelW77EvhYqok2pr5N3WLCPK3mBDBBVq0O3ycdoJ8sR7KkuIDnbjFouhCs9As7rPlJmoeW0fIMlcVR5n3CGh34-SrSEZUiB11xhv8Hu5wv_fqNJ4WXkCtwe-GbAECbzB7SUHuK/s1600/reshaping+it+all.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 185px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 278px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570357908957156978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWNH3omwelW77EvhYqok2pr5N3WLCPK3mBDBBVq0O3ycdoJ8sR7KkuIDnbjFouhCs9As7rPlJmoeW0fIMlcVR5n3CGh34-SrSEZUiB11xhv8Hu5wv_fqNJ4WXkCtwe-GbAECbzB7SUHuK/s320/reshaping+it+all.jpg" /></a><br /><div>I can't believe how rarely I am making it over to this space to write posts. Hopefully I will find the time and motivation to write more over here soon. Anyway, a few weeks ago I became aware of this book, written by <a href="http://www.candacecameronbure.net/">Candace Cameron Bure </a>(of <em>Full House</em> fame for those of you who are old enough, also the sister of Kirk Cameron) and <a href="http://www.darleneschacht.net/">Darlene Schacht</a>. At the time I read a review of the book our MOPS group was going to have a speaker about fitness and health. On a whim I decided to email Darlene to ask if she would send me a copy to give away at our MOPS meeting. Being the gracious and generous woman she is, she sent me THREE copies: one for MOPS, one to keep and one to give away on this blog. </div><div> </div><div>I read my copy cover to cover in one day. There is a lot of good stuff in this book. What I loved most about it was its focus on the need for spiritual as well as physical fitness. There are many Scripture references in this book which I found to be helpful and thought-provoking. There is also a lot of practical advice and encouragement for living a healthier life. I have already implemented some of the suggestions in this book and have seen results. I have dropped a few pounds already and have started exercising again after a three-month hiatus. Candace and Darlene truly gave me the encouragement and motivation I needed to get back into a healthy lifestyle. Some of the great advice tips I've used so far include: being mindful of how much I am eating (I tend to eat extra servings of food I really love), being mindful of when and why I am eating (I also had gotten into a habit of snacking after my boys were in bed which was adding a lot of calories to my overall consumption each day), and drinking more water. I am a diet soda fiend, so I am still working on this one. </div><div> </div><div>Candace has included several of her favorite healthy recipes in the book. The first week after I read the book I tried (and liked) several of these recipes. </div><div> </div><div>All in all, I whole-heartedly recommend this book. I do not have a lot of weight to lose (hopefully another 5 pounds.....), but I still found it very useful. I am planning to give my "keep" copy to our local library so others can enjoy it. </div><div> </div><div>If you would like to win your very own copy of this book, leave a comment on this post telling what you struggle with most when it comes to either physical or spiritual fitness. I'll keep the giveaway open until Friday, February 11th. Then I'll choose a winner randomly from the comments.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-18973492219981796732010-12-30T19:14:00.007-06:002010-12-30T19:37:17.097-06:00Christmas PajamasThis year I made homemade pajamas for the boys to open and wear on Christmas Eve just like I've done the past two years. I ordered the Michael Miller mitten flannel a few months ago, but of course, waited until a few days before Christmas to actually make the pajama pants. They really don't take very long. I think it took me less than 2 hours to make both sets of pants. I had a heck of a time finding plain colored long sleeve t-shirts in any of my local craft stores this year. So I ended up ordering shirts online from <a href="http://www.jiffyshirts.com/">Jiffy Shirts</a>. They were pretty reasonably priced even with shipping and arrived VERY quickly, within two days of my online order. I freezer-paper-stenciled the mittens on the shirt to match the mitten flannel of the pants. I bought enough extra flannel to make myself a matching pair of pj pants, but haven't sewn those yet. I will also have to order myself a t-shirt from Jiffy shirts to match. While I'm at it, I'll probably order a few shirts to paint for Valentine's Day. I'm thinking of doing homemade pjs for that as a surprise. We'll see...........<br /><br /><br />Below are photos of the pajamas. My boys knew they were getting these, but didn't know the "theme" this year. My little boy had fun guessing what he thought they would be............his main guess was "presents", but he was WRONG!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKhkY-ItJjV4HUOIUVNjKnkgh9m-EQO3RWZHhkMg4kEdWknp2BJ7HRCX4h-JhTHPtec2MXt4enxNevucKKU7Nqr_6TIhILxryYMUlKZmJhI9n8pIqwyE6yr5rO8KLPNFYsYyrmYdkDasX/s1600/042.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556648904153197874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKhkY-ItJjV4HUOIUVNjKnkgh9m-EQO3RWZHhkMg4kEdWknp2BJ7HRCX4h-JhTHPtec2MXt4enxNevucKKU7Nqr_6TIhILxryYMUlKZmJhI9n8pIqwyE6yr5rO8KLPNFYsYyrmYdkDasX/s320/042.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFE7H8mkzyZJHZfQSBCbpewkSDaZgwwaWHK4hVcvRTi5rdv1N830bzBL-Nd29QLZPjkuSqxESBvYLEU3akwZN6DfVajyrTLyzzAaBBsPi5YmUHpvtSog7r_2eDJ3YzAVYYK8_GYXRdIBdX/s1600/043.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556648894135973298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFE7H8mkzyZJHZfQSBCbpewkSDaZgwwaWHK4hVcvRTi5rdv1N830bzBL-Nd29QLZPjkuSqxESBvYLEU3akwZN6DfVajyrTLyzzAaBBsPi5YmUHpvtSog7r_2eDJ3YzAVYYK8_GYXRdIBdX/s320/043.JPG" /></a><br /><br />In case you are interested............I just ordered <a href="http://www.thefabricdeli.com/Springs-Holiday-Inspirations-F6739_p_3527.html">THIS FABRIC</a> for next year's pajamas and I'm headed over to Jiffy Shirts to order the t-shirts for Valentine's and next Christmas too!<br /><br /></div><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-83478339038432037502010-12-05T23:12:00.005-06:002010-12-05T23:32:03.250-06:00Storybook Christmas TreeThis year the boys and I decorated a tree for our local county historical museum's Festival of Trees. Last year for Advent, we read several Christmas story books and made ornaments to go with them. You can see the posts about the books and links to the ornament directions by clicking on "Christmas book activities 2009" on the sidebar of the blog. Since we already had the ornaments made, it was pretty easy to decorate the tree. I bought a white tree at Dollar General for $20, which I thought was a great price. I had also bought some red and tree ornaments from my favorite local thrift store. I made a chain garland with alternating red and green pipe cleaner circles. And I sewed some little Christmas bunting garland too. I used green tulle and red pipe cleaners for the topper. To illustrate the fact that our ornaments correlate with stories, I scanned the covers of all the books and made laminated ornaments out of the scanned images. Then I hung the "book" ornaments next to the ones we made to go with each book.<br /><br /><div align="center">The full-length tree is shown below.</div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpSBfNqTmMvOIm0cOonUYq_MEhLiV0XxLYi0lfOvuDgpS8B4y0ELC0GcpvVXCj6RkwcdYWCycPFDDXS7fZ0ZZ9r2ryJsOqiqUD3Ua-_PUkSzkdqzk4o8LUQwUUbDfQ9Zj5wwfoyQP0Ul4/s1600/010.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547434724864561026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpSBfNqTmMvOIm0cOonUYq_MEhLiV0XxLYi0lfOvuDgpS8B4y0ELC0GcpvVXCj6RkwcdYWCycPFDDXS7fZ0ZZ9r2ryJsOqiqUD3Ua-_PUkSzkdqzk4o8LUQwUUbDfQ9Zj5wwfoyQP0Ul4/s320/010.JPG" /></a> Close-up of the topper............<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsNkbdmJ2oA_370WXSTBMAS63TAWpFEtJPdGUIewWpDxDl9WRWgr-VrqC5y7jmKNx3tYXEJo8dkV9iTT7HGtxPpAT7Xna4A8NWyMUMc7tCDj899YcV3rvB2aNtcZofxzq6wjewv8A18yB/s1600/011.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547434715487999506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsNkbdmJ2oA_370WXSTBMAS63TAWpFEtJPdGUIewWpDxDl9WRWgr-VrqC5y7jmKNx3tYXEJo8dkV9iTT7HGtxPpAT7Xna4A8NWyMUMc7tCDj899YcV3rvB2aNtcZofxzq6wjewv8A18yB/s320/011.JPG" /></a> Cinnamon gingerbread ornaments............<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fgV7ST8d3B0KiCkalylbd7JkpWjd6dL7qpPfTFbNujAkL7MkzAwjdnavROD6bFBleOCZHkfrc1lMsEkqHu0X2-h3dq2oMOqHuHfO1K4MHrSq72zlDJMbstdSObNXHmH0UpZ3T3FGpLcL/s1600/012.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547434711380239650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fgV7ST8d3B0KiCkalylbd7JkpWjd6dL7qpPfTFbNujAkL7MkzAwjdnavROD6bFBleOCZHkfrc1lMsEkqHu0X2-h3dq2oMOqHuHfO1K4MHrSq72zlDJMbstdSObNXHmH0UpZ3T3FGpLcL/s320/012.JPG" /></a><br />Green pinecone trees.............<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdX09xjyem7yt0BGvhZCheTwJwv7OUOlQW2K47OHHUXVTacT8A_QjWfQVT8lg3y1XNSou-iKPs4Cwqpz_1N5dausuaUDrrz9ZKrdBKSqwM0ZiV9rlRiT1SarNk6VPQ8p7dL2u8A-RHq07a/s1600/013.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547434701008609570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdX09xjyem7yt0BGvhZCheTwJwv7OUOlQW2K47OHHUXVTacT8A_QjWfQVT8lg3y1XNSou-iKPs4Cwqpz_1N5dausuaUDrrz9ZKrdBKSqwM0ZiV9rlRiT1SarNk6VPQ8p7dL2u8A-RHq07a/s320/013.JPG" /></a><br />Pipe-cleaner trees...........<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApGGaNgu-aBiu_YGonMXcT-UbeCBSjVOXUC6_NFohz4JpTTuSuVCfB3t6f4II5GN6Z36aLKFCrSDCgJCRYXaI-GyiXhFowWRAH8n2xDQIgXYP29MFKYaEuCgqa8UWNf6k6V_ZnI5PsQNH/s1600/014.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547434295242784530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApGGaNgu-aBiu_YGonMXcT-UbeCBSjVOXUC6_NFohz4JpTTuSuVCfB3t6f4II5GN6Z36aLKFCrSDCgJCRYXaI-GyiXhFowWRAH8n2xDQIgXYP29MFKYaEuCgqa8UWNf6k6V_ZnI5PsQNH/s320/014.JPG" /></a><br />Popsicle stick snowmen (these are my favorite ornaments)............<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UZjiT2_j2jss8i8xTaQEQ7vrVEagKlARCExUO4M7sNR7icfdyZAGfmoB8AsyRi1lVgYlglAfMsub8Y40CYxEo41nbSNJysKTGF8-PbRCEgE5I1uMWJ9kfMEt23SqPk-OvAH7fOOOFVx1/s1600/015.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547434287329228898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UZjiT2_j2jss8i8xTaQEQ7vrVEagKlARCExUO4M7sNR7icfdyZAGfmoB8AsyRi1lVgYlglAfMsub8Y40CYxEo41nbSNJysKTGF8-PbRCEgE5I1uMWJ9kfMEt23SqPk-OvAH7fOOOFVx1/s320/015.JPG" /></a><br />Craft foam Rudolphs............<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvvfr4uhRvyq-6Yt61onJLE9eafr097p2h4xQF2KQP4Efvn5FaBsFOFCsIMG1TzCcSC_eYq4EePz5zg2YEyyy5aLZCs0gJ82W16LBhCBYxVDR9442geDD-OEOXbQYG7zXZn21HMwBVDJbQ/s1600/016.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547434280438642498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvvfr4uhRvyq-6Yt61onJLE9eafr097p2h4xQF2KQP4Efvn5FaBsFOFCsIMG1TzCcSC_eYq4EePz5zg2YEyyy5aLZCs0gJ82W16LBhCBYxVDR9442geDD-OEOXbQYG7zXZn21HMwBVDJbQ/s320/016.JPG" /></a><br />Felt poinsettias on juice can lids.............<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2F3PwXm_BqcManSfRMrhEt3gQPlHA47di65YeyTIFCoQ3XNtGZ7Wr8ToYJCv8c9KsIGcsHOhx3m6R9SBpzQTRTqjCkg2Hcil3vm6t5F73HBpZGt_G7bt3DcDmp5C11WPLoVYQldqE1EXv/s1600/017.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547434272497448418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2F3PwXm_BqcManSfRMrhEt3gQPlHA47di65YeyTIFCoQ3XNtGZ7Wr8ToYJCv8c9KsIGcsHOhx3m6R9SBpzQTRTqjCkg2Hcil3vm6t5F73HBpZGt_G7bt3DcDmp5C11WPLoVYQldqE1EXv/s320/017.JPG" /></a><br />Craft foam "J" is for Jesus candy canes.........<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmxrjODjQ4RQGS5Iew8ZPDgrxvq8q0E6LMmIle-7ocVowyqAJL4kYWTW1XSbuNLM8TUd2AFbMZaC6BBatwIKEAI-2h5cPdrOl7wuqcM6B0fMsDtDyPAEEGOImgr8zN9ovNn42zxRtDt_G/s1600/018.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547434267796232914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmxrjODjQ4RQGS5Iew8ZPDgrxvq8q0E6LMmIle-7ocVowyqAJL4kYWTW1XSbuNLM8TUd2AFbMZaC6BBatwIKEAI-2h5cPdrOl7wuqcM6B0fMsDtDyPAEEGOImgr8zN9ovNn42zxRtDt_G/s320/018.JPG" /></a><br />Felt Santa hats............<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpjjn4KeS1f86Jt1UnnxcU7vT8GQH6Gk4j5tobNjso2QPQ3fqhYcyIRA8hUmXzF1qrgy1xWXPMnHloo-LxqZdOUF_NJmfm36arXhVWXj-jOSaOMVTEDhfvnrYjYDaVH5seNCKGilHT-UQ/s1600/019.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547433654633317938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpjjn4KeS1f86Jt1UnnxcU7vT8GQH6Gk4j5tobNjso2QPQ3fqhYcyIRA8hUmXzF1qrgy1xWXPMnHloo-LxqZdOUF_NJmfm36arXhVWXj-jOSaOMVTEDhfvnrYjYDaVH5seNCKGilHT-UQ/s320/019.JPG" /></a><br />Glittery gold popsicle stars..........<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsiVYWD5lLyLidJ6JamEhAfkGCoQDVJryQ7pRsKoxlibFGJAUfI5yT_5GuBhgX1nfQhzm0e3vljb0Uo3un4V-yJeLdn0mQvEqCDcJepXxP9T_NcFXDxosjeYCzHA_TCVmWDeig2ihYUkzU/s1600/020.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547433644762444130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsiVYWD5lLyLidJ6JamEhAfkGCoQDVJryQ7pRsKoxlibFGJAUfI5yT_5GuBhgX1nfQhzm0e3vljb0Uo3un4V-yJeLdn0mQvEqCDcJepXxP9T_NcFXDxosjeYCzHA_TCVmWDeig2ihYUkzU/s320/020.JPG" /></a><br />Clear "snowflake" ornaments..........<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0yleAnmJWWL0YEe06FAT3no9xnwM4I7gnCvEQa2ak-lHgHwsbCJYB3lxQ_fAiY77ofUHVV5ub3soDkSTvzcQXxUFeoArTNMiOkV5dzMHDMY-jrgaPP97GZEJhnmjvOoByRcusSawTeKDS/s1600/021.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547433639832092754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0yleAnmJWWL0YEe06FAT3no9xnwM4I7gnCvEQa2ak-lHgHwsbCJYB3lxQ_fAiY77ofUHVV5ub3soDkSTvzcQXxUFeoArTNMiOkV5dzMHDMY-jrgaPP97GZEJhnmjvOoByRcusSawTeKDS/s320/021.JPG" /></a><br /><div>We placed the actual storybooks around the bottom of the tree.<br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJctC3RB98kf1F1_c_VP7vh6jfQT5QVaIxGVn4dRLP1TTmfETEBbV8aNoKwoCgGV_KO-TiszDQMjIEfC0eJmBLtq8BETZMReWovRsiAdh8sV2g_FiMB9l6W-xwc-3r8Z3aWKdHqVAFZvi/s1600/024.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547433622032083042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJctC3RB98kf1F1_c_VP7vh6jfQT5QVaIxGVn4dRLP1TTmfETEBbV8aNoKwoCgGV_KO-TiszDQMjIEfC0eJmBLtq8BETZMReWovRsiAdh8sV2g_FiMB9l6W-xwc-3r8Z3aWKdHqVAFZvi/s320/024.JPG" /></a><br /><div align="left">I'm not sure if we'll decorate a tree every year, but it sure was fun this year. I already have an idea for next year's tree brewing though! I need to start working on ornaments now because the ones I have in mind are hand-sewn from felt. They are REALLY cute!</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">We have been to the museum twice to see all the other trees and to vote for our favorites. You can vote for your favorite in the Youth and Adult categories. It cracked me up that my sons picked other favorite trees in the Youth category instead of voting for their own tree! (I totally voted for our tree both times, in case you were wondering!)</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-32679497419902880412010-11-14T20:58:00.005-06:002010-11-14T21:12:39.862-06:00Turkey Handprint TrivetsToday I decided to try an idea that was brewing in my head. I cleaned my craft room yesterday because there has been some craftiness taking place in that space and it was a mess. When I was cleaning I discovered two white ceramic tiles that I had bought a few months back. I originally had a hand-print Christmas tree trivet in mind. However, when I tried it with acrylic paint on the ceramic tile (from Home Depot) the paint didn't adhere well. So I washed the tile clean and it ended up piled under a bunch of other stuff until yesterday. I needed an idea for my MOPS group blog post, so I decided to do hand-print turkeys using scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. I think they turned out really, really cute.<br /><br /><br /><br />Below you can see most of the supplies used. I traced the boys' hands on the wrong side of some scrapbook paper and cut them out. Instead of doing each "feather" in a different paper, I decided to use a brown plaid paper I really liked for the whole tail. I used my star punch to make feet and a beak (I cut off a star point for the beak) and my heart punch (cut in half) for the wattle. I used a regular size hole punch to punch out an eye. The photo shows everything laid out on the tile before I Mod-Podged it. That's why it looks kind of crooked.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGWYBG3H6tYrNbbHXwj_4iRA8AWdq38cz3KjbOqcZGkZWoyzkptvFk-3of2ByA39f3yTCYt2vwRWjFnZuA7s05PBYVTRbYQO2qBVBT4nohkPiWroMHOrNVoFXZrXayMC-w7QxoN4UMvv5/s1600/024.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539605915772108882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGWYBG3H6tYrNbbHXwj_4iRA8AWdq38cz3KjbOqcZGkZWoyzkptvFk-3of2ByA39f3yTCYt2vwRWjFnZuA7s05PBYVTRbYQO2qBVBT4nohkPiWroMHOrNVoFXZrXayMC-w7QxoN4UMvv5/s320/024.JPG" /></a><br /><br />The first step was to spread a thin layer of Mod Podge all over the clean, dry tile with a foam brush. Then I laid out the paper pieces and brushed another layer of Mod Podge over the top. After that coat was dry I added stickers to spell each boy's name and the year. Then I put another 2 coats of Mod Podge over the top again to really adhere the stickers. The photo below shows one tile which is mostly dry and the other one still wet. If you try this and have never used Mod Podge, don't worry, it dries clear.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVL3Dsnszk7JXPdfLOZTFDsEaeEQDN4wEH00w6kLDvRLZ8pjie7tvBdGptKpMCn4s7O4Dh7jRZBxhjsHU3SYFzlI7terYzTxJUrRofL1Y2tK34oX9AA0REqMtCPcO5rHv-32uNmaPh74Hw/s1600/025.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539605907039664962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVL3Dsnszk7JXPdfLOZTFDsEaeEQDN4wEH00w6kLDvRLZ8pjie7tvBdGptKpMCn4s7O4Dh7jRZBxhjsHU3SYFzlI7terYzTxJUrRofL1Y2tK34oX9AA0REqMtCPcO5rHv-32uNmaPh74Hw/s320/025.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div>I think these turned out SOOOOO cute. I am so happy with them. I will add little felt circles (like the kind you put under furniture) to the back corners. I think I'll also pick up some little plate easels at Hobby Lobby and display these on a shelf in an upright position. They will be fun to pull out each year. I was barely able to fit my 9 year olds' hand on one, so I'm glad I did it this year. He might be too big next year to do this!<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjDcV9dtpfeM_59Bh7-ZXjpekWKWBA1h1cBeBZ3nrZ2aTRE7FWEF0JbhMKjnSwjezizD99WQnOd7tvivGPdB6q4VLgqDv1CUgKfqx5-vd1k26Fhi2s-ROcGx29HMevd6a0xJn70pgeb0x/s1600/027.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539605900309774706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjDcV9dtpfeM_59Bh7-ZXjpekWKWBA1h1cBeBZ3nrZ2aTRE7FWEF0JbhMKjnSwjezizD99WQnOd7tvivGPdB6q4VLgqDv1CUgKfqx5-vd1k26Fhi2s-ROcGx29HMevd6a0xJn70pgeb0x/s320/027.JPG" /></a><br />The photo below shows last year's Thanksgiving hand-print craft. I used fabric paint to do "hand turkeys" of each boy and freezer paper stencilled the words in the middle. The pillow is made out of burlap. <a href="http://adayofwonders.blogspot.com/2009/11/give-thanks-pillow.html">CLICK HERE</a> for a link to the post describing this project.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7BcbYtlaNbvTOTviLy9bz2nJ0wfPEtfxQ8j1gsnbCHAlTf_cfqkQOt9YHvhGbWPIND5IohWKt0aQ1kbONBErJTxC4Y1vuurQ5flpnTHz_FRu51qpH5yPMIzUrQ9FrmtDiNgysC4YPigx5/s1600/029.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539605886018864706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7BcbYtlaNbvTOTviLy9bz2nJ0wfPEtfxQ8j1gsnbCHAlTf_cfqkQOt9YHvhGbWPIND5IohWKt0aQ1kbONBErJTxC4Y1vuurQ5flpnTHz_FRu51qpH5yPMIzUrQ9FrmtDiNgysC4YPigx5/s320/029.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-3004302206468362262010-11-07T19:53:00.005-06:002010-11-07T20:07:26.694-06:00Cute Turkey CandleholdersHello! If any of you are still reading this blog, I apologize for being AWOL for so long. This has been a really hectic fall for our family and for me especially. I took on some extra commitments that are filling a lot of my time. I was just thinking recently that I miss making stuff and posting about it. Today I am sharing a turkey craft that I did with my youngest son on Sunday. I found the idea for this craft on the Family Fun website.<a href="http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/glowbird-674658/"> CLICK HERE</a> for a link to the actual craft. I changed a few things from the one on FF. I did not have wooden beads so I used brown pom-poms for the head of the turkey. I used yellow cardstock for the beaks and red felt for the wattles and googly eyes for the eyes. <br /><br />My little 5 year old took the photo below of me cutting some tissue paper into squares. I thought he did a great job, so I wanted to include it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZ3Dng9lSQncCUm8qwcptlwkzHjD8JonJdxuCMz5eGv-V4BYfpUjWOBoSR9rShoCmjbdr7DVsKV9NmK4QZtpww4coEL1AwbaRWjVLAhezDBlqrWzO3nH4OE-91YvG6QpgEm7Qa2A2S7Jp/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536992035771386530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZ3Dng9lSQncCUm8qwcptlwkzHjD8JonJdxuCMz5eGv-V4BYfpUjWOBoSR9rShoCmjbdr7DVsKV9NmK4QZtpww4coEL1AwbaRWjVLAhezDBlqrWzO3nH4OE-91YvG6QpgEm7Qa2A2S7Jp/s320/001.JPG" /></a><br />Here are the supplies needed. I bought the clear glass votive holders at Dollar Tree for $1 each. We made five turkeys so we can give them to a few people at our family Thanksgiving dinner. We will keep one for our family, of course! You also need Mod Podge, a foam brush, and tissue paper in fall colors. If you are a local reader of the blog, I found a package of fall-colored tissue paper at Kally's General Store. LOVE that store! <br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5UQvGRJyz2vrz15FPN-OYCfNB-x2zayFu49a00-F15waEc_P1ugSLlKDU7phvZc5F74XEexxQEr4qNEtmSNueJC3XKyg15JuqX8wLe0-LLfMOxZ0pjuqvPb-yhSsyXPA1vcyxeAF3WJl/s1600/006.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536992032746922386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5UQvGRJyz2vrz15FPN-OYCfNB-x2zayFu49a00-F15waEc_P1ugSLlKDU7phvZc5F74XEexxQEr4qNEtmSNueJC3XKyg15JuqX8wLe0-LLfMOxZ0pjuqvPb-yhSsyXPA1vcyxeAF3WJl/s320/006.JPG" /></a><br />I spread a layer of Mod Podge onto the sides and bottom of the votive holder using the foam brush and then my little guy adhered the tissue squares all over it. <br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_TVA8OqqQEQWzDNTBEK8OMrHsI21oBq9lUhcsUSVfd8NOK3Xt8DG_Rc5oaj5Ai6s2PakduLg5s7Rn11v7hcR6hYFoZN69ByfjsWlXPd6VUNkTCZ05nDG57BWPJLl0BBX0hqNOfbsKm2z/s1600/008.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536992024047016274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_TVA8OqqQEQWzDNTBEK8OMrHsI21oBq9lUhcsUSVfd8NOK3Xt8DG_Rc5oaj5Ai6s2PakduLg5s7Rn11v7hcR6hYFoZN69ByfjsWlXPd6VUNkTCZ05nDG57BWPJLl0BBX0hqNOfbsKm2z/s320/008.JPG" /></a><br />Then I covered the whole thing with another layer of Mod Podge and let it dry.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jVwvL9Fg5M9pHkpQ4BnsIQOvpJ7ayvIqbc9yTvwdFg38889dR4O9ge9yGfnlRxcJSYLw8XMeVl9r9sY4_kPCG4voNFFDZlctKCvmuOwNgrirm8etm-CREjmNPqDCBNIOgXLQt1jvPq-Y/s1600/009.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536992018153398146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jVwvL9Fg5M9pHkpQ4BnsIQOvpJ7ayvIqbc9yTvwdFg38889dR4O9ge9yGfnlRxcJSYLw8XMeVl9r9sY4_kPCG4voNFFDZlctKCvmuOwNgrirm8etm-CREjmNPqDCBNIOgXLQt1jvPq-Y/s320/009.JPG" /></a><br />The final step was adding a pom-pom head, cardstock beak, googly eyes, and a felt wattle using a hot glue gun. Tissue paper strips folded in half and twisted at the bottom were then hot-glued to the back of the votive holder to make a tail. It is hard to tell in the photo, but I put a battery-operated candle inside. It looks really pretty when it's glowing. These are so fun and easy to make. Wouldn't Grandma love to receive one of these on Thanksgiving day........especially if it was handmade by her precious grandchidlren? Of course she would! So go do it!<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHPK9kpibShq4hLYQjn3jSPdGfLhs3OP0Cnnun0mgS3kO7KhGqey3BpWNJ-d9migj-qU6YpdQzpO8Xc26BbBPzGsclffVVvlytD6uRnSvuzdpjZSLcckz9KKupunlgT30j2L8JK5f2u2ai/s1600/017.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536992010278204098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHPK9kpibShq4hLYQjn3jSPdGfLhs3OP0Cnnun0mgS3kO7KhGqey3BpWNJ-d9migj-qU6YpdQzpO8Xc26BbBPzGsclffVVvlytD6uRnSvuzdpjZSLcckz9KKupunlgT30j2L8JK5f2u2ai/s320/017.JPG" /></a> </div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-67115783234240336942010-09-19T19:46:00.005-05:002010-09-19T19:58:10.176-05:00Fall Craft Idea: String a Leaf GarlandI can't believe I haven't posted here for over a month. Needless to say, the beginning of the new school year has been VERY busy for me. Today I wanted to write a quick post to share an idea to do with your children this fall. <br /><br />First, go to Dollar General (or your local dollar store) and buy a package or two of fall silk leaves. Unless you are planning to make a HUGE garland, one package should be plenty.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcclkLoa5GAc0UtI-Qv5nb0BfNsKR1061FC9g7mb11vmx41VwUGFBOOKaPoR3DvvX-4YBjy50SQGfHg_N7vYaf2a_jk5itQA2dA2KM4rf5I1cePctt4q3bYSUvjKOuvg7Qy-AYlz-Nyi4/s1600/101_0383.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518791347401194210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcclkLoa5GAc0UtI-Qv5nb0BfNsKR1061FC9g7mb11vmx41VwUGFBOOKaPoR3DvvX-4YBjy50SQGfHg_N7vYaf2a_jk5itQA2dA2KM4rf5I1cePctt4q3bYSUvjKOuvg7Qy-AYlz-Nyi4/s320/101_0383.jpg" /></a><br />Now get some pretty fall ribbon and cut it to the length you want for your garland. If you are doing this with young children, I would recommend using only a 2-3 foot length. If you are making a garland that you will hang up you can skip the next step. However, I wanted to make one as a stringing activity to put in my Montessori classroom. Since it would be used over and over by many children, I folded over the ends of my ribbon and sewed a button over the fold. This will make it sturdier for little hands to string and will prevent the end of the ribbon from fraying.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-RVQn6zYXjTovjq4JrkajEb8TkH7rpYJuJbLG1qRh-6iG5bXrgJIBpA59OJ92j42YC2681wUeNQd_D7a_9xqhEr-e_cMMjvHCEfBJoZqpUne1CLSgwyLQm1Xim73qP0j0UQYkJGNcZrJ/s1600/101_0386.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518791341729430466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-RVQn6zYXjTovjq4JrkajEb8TkH7rpYJuJbLG1qRh-6iG5bXrgJIBpA59OJ92j42YC2681wUeNQd_D7a_9xqhEr-e_cMMjvHCEfBJoZqpUne1CLSgwyLQm1Xim73qP0j0UQYkJGNcZrJ/s320/101_0386.jpg" /></a><br />Next, fold your leaves in half and cut a slit in the middle as shown below.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx856A1enDgJdfyHySLX8RZyiFQkcJB6rZ7AVvEKdcxq2ACoSkUnPJcAotUGhQ4vIQ5S76Gi15f-FIvl2qOAqhwES4lWmjC5n_217V991ajOyHgl2hN1BqTx12D0N3r20urrF6jRr6Kjry/s1600/101_0387.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518791331179499010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx856A1enDgJdfyHySLX8RZyiFQkcJB6rZ7AVvEKdcxq2ACoSkUnPJcAotUGhQ4vIQ5S76Gi15f-FIvl2qOAqhwES4lWmjC5n_217V991ajOyHgl2hN1BqTx12D0N3r20urrF6jRr6Kjry/s320/101_0387.jpg" /></a> </div><div>Give your child the ribbon and a pile of leaves and let them string the leaves onto the ribbon. This is great for developing their fine motor skills. <br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGVdsHkEoWihE5z-znji4uqTiolKdixe2ctxK0AmNjfLXQeaA_LH9XXdNJV0yuMZXEj2WFF1crv2yCAw9qBGNYHkveEFSY3EGL3EDes2VBR_jsiT_6uJWvDhmBxQ55yAtTL4ZG312RZ23A/s1600/101_0388.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518791321611378322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGVdsHkEoWihE5z-znji4uqTiolKdixe2ctxK0AmNjfLXQeaA_LH9XXdNJV0yuMZXEj2WFF1crv2yCAw9qBGNYHkveEFSY3EGL3EDes2VBR_jsiT_6uJWvDhmBxQ55yAtTL4ZG312RZ23A/s320/101_0388.jpg" /></a> </div><div>My five-year-old loved stringing the leaves onto the ribbon. He wanted to hang it up right away. The one in the photos is the one I'll use in my preschool classroom. However, we have a TON of leaves left over so I will have him make another one that we can hang up to decorate our home for fall.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4f0kxBr9epQpRj6LAMr1qe8iVTP8q9EWTtEMQifVD_z0EctDcJhi7t6NVMkMebNiRph8J99225571ZKnDXN4kwx-sqww8V_ccqtnf7wencHfe3uuN-dCww_0_4aowBVhJgVq2PJ180bX4/s1600/101_0385.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518790971476115522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4f0kxBr9epQpRj6LAMr1qe8iVTP8q9EWTtEMQifVD_z0EctDcJhi7t6NVMkMebNiRph8J99225571ZKnDXN4kwx-sqww8V_ccqtnf7wencHfe3uuN-dCww_0_4aowBVhJgVq2PJ180bX4/s320/101_0385.jpg" /></a></div><div> </div><div>This gives you an idea of what the garland looks like with the leaves on it. So pretty for fall!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusrA9JHKalq4QJ9j6UJCwus0XEQkzpHpc46mfZjJp85Ev_ZJV0YAJqEX7sl5PaygmyeqkcoGskcR56K310AYrIGfoYQ6gkpCpEYjqxEfdsMhe1b6xHcO9Ni1VbTyDJ4IaP3ghFjo5cG8g/s1600/101_0390.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518790794975517058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusrA9JHKalq4QJ9j6UJCwus0XEQkzpHpc46mfZjJp85Ev_ZJV0YAJqEX7sl5PaygmyeqkcoGskcR56K310AYrIGfoYQ6gkpCpEYjqxEfdsMhe1b6xHcO9Ni1VbTyDJ4IaP3ghFjo5cG8g/s320/101_0390.jpg" /></a> </div><div>Happy Fall, Y'all! (I know it isn't officially fall yet, but fall is in the air here in the Midwest and I LOVE IT!!)</div><div> </div><div>I'll try to drop in here again soon and update everyone on what we've been up to.</div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-29342566259895149882010-08-12T06:00:00.003-05:002010-08-12T22:22:21.299-05:00Buzzin' About BeesThis past Saturday the boys and I went to a local nature center that we belong to for a special program all about honeybees. We were able to take a little hike in the prairie and one of the bee-keepers came out to show us a frame from one of the hives. It was covered with bees! I have long wanted to convince DH to let us get a hive for our property so we could harvest the honey. So far he has not given me the thumbs up. One cool thing is that the nature center has started a bee conservation program where people can call them up if they have honeybees in their wall or in a tree on their property and the bee conservation guy (like the guy below.....in fact it probably IS the guy below!) will come and rescue the bees. Then they are taken back to the hives at the nature center and (hopefully) they will start up a new hive. Isn't that cool? We learned a lot about honeybees and how important they are and how their numbers are declining. I do think our family is pretty busy this fall, but maybe I can learn more over the winter and talk DH into adding bees to the "farmstead" next summer. After all, they can't be more work than chickens and we added chickens last year.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ2MCxveE_St6TqHS0cQymfR4Z3ZNxivPYTQvpyOtByzMNISUVph27VS45DA63aYXToWqlmbmfw4tjOwaJjCSkano30kYdTXT7kwbyiC7O161Jdeyo5eENMZMnLLvtykJP9bzMS-Dq14_9/s1600/101_0011.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504332739408055858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ2MCxveE_St6TqHS0cQymfR4Z3ZNxivPYTQvpyOtByzMNISUVph27VS45DA63aYXToWqlmbmfw4tjOwaJjCSkano30kYdTXT7kwbyiC7O161Jdeyo5eENMZMnLLvtykJP9bzMS-Dq14_9/s320/101_0011.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Here's a close-up of the honey frame. The bees had been "smoked" before he took the frame out so they were calm and not being aggressive.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_GjDGeLeID-c3ekJaRm0rI7Yh6rllwxN1otKbbRpY0iAmGuKsWkN4M_08V97zWrYF4nBinTyTahxiJpxBcOMXX1H4two5u4-yK_NOWmoIlPFthgxltfjvXeb_KBz1DtvK3Mrh9A8-wJM/s1600/101_0012.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504332729564088386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_GjDGeLeID-c3ekJaRm0rI7Yh6rllwxN1otKbbRpY0iAmGuKsWkN4M_08V97zWrYF4nBinTyTahxiJpxBcOMXX1H4two5u4-yK_NOWmoIlPFthgxltfjvXeb_KBz1DtvK3Mrh9A8-wJM/s320/101_0012.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Here are some pretty black-eyed Susan flowers that were in the prairie.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmMIdQY3LcpQLng5oCmQblLRRIz1qzVLPpFssQucGFSQ3h-xz7GRnipxNSu4K2zkTk5USJJLKJf5-9gAgVRrtKSWOJVMW3d9gl25-4LaUv4xawfodyKtdCnqYzLf1kUbBk4JktMIVwfgkw/s1600/101_0009.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504332726255416546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmMIdQY3LcpQLng5oCmQblLRRIz1qzVLPpFssQucGFSQ3h-xz7GRnipxNSu4K2zkTk5USJJLKJf5-9gAgVRrtKSWOJVMW3d9gl25-4LaUv4xawfodyKtdCnqYzLf1kUbBk4JktMIVwfgkw/s320/101_0009.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>If any of you reading this raise honeybees, I would LOVE to hear from you about your experience so leave me a comment, 'kay?<br /><br /><div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-79600585057519508482010-08-10T23:39:00.004-05:002010-08-10T23:53:38.251-05:00Meet my new BFF.................the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eureka-313A-Enviro-Hard-Surface-Steamer/dp/B001LYFBHG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1281501725&sr=8-1">Eureka Enviro Steamer</a>. I am officially in LOVE. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZTltZxBcDIr_ffEzlGnyG2ymxen45_VBL9gFhpgB68LgZNQ2kvREQKSmkh73NdUIap-_QEelr0IvaOVM3xcWXuketIqVogDaCoGawj7lqoFtZdxTdBDVdIkke-UPkwWvD9T9NqrEzcbV/s1600/11Q89pR6u8L__SL500_AA300_.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 300px; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504008367153824866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZTltZxBcDIr_ffEzlGnyG2ymxen45_VBL9gFhpgB68LgZNQ2kvREQKSmkh73NdUIap-_QEelr0IvaOVM3xcWXuketIqVogDaCoGawj7lqoFtZdxTdBDVdIkke-UPkwWvD9T9NqrEzcbV/s320/11Q89pR6u8L__SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Let me tell you how this relationship began. A few weeks ago I was running on the treadmill and watching an infomercial (I know........) about the Shark Vac & Steam (or Steam & Vac). I was instantly intrigued by the idea of cleaning my hard-surface floors using only water and not chemicals. I have wood laminate floors over the majority of our main living space and vinyl tile in a large area downstairs. I had previously cleaned my hard surfaces using a Swiffer with an old washcloth and spraying all-purpose cleaner on the floor. While that system was working okay I never felt the floors were truly clean. So......after my little informercial incident I did a little steam experiment. I boiled some water in a glass measuring cup in my microwave. Then I poured it into a plastic spray bottle and squirted it onto my floor and wiped it up with my Swiffer and washcloth. It worked brilliantly.........even my youngest son commented that the floor felt very smooth under his cute little bare feet. There was a problem, however. I did not anticipate how beastly HOT a plastic spray bottle is with boiling water in it. I had to hold it with a hot pad to be able to squirt it and it eventually caused the spray bottle (which obviously was not designed to spray BOILING WATER) to malfunction. Still, this little experiment convinced me to take the plunge and buy a steam mop. I did quite a bit of research on Amazon before deciding on the Eureka Enviro Steam. I just got it today and immediately ripped the box open and cleaned my whole upstairs and, later, the downstairs. This baby even gets the gunk up. If you come to a sticky spot you just hold the mop over that spot for....no less than 8 and no more than 15 seconds.....and the gunk pretty much comes right up. I can't say enough for this product. It is probably one of the best investments I've made in cleaning supplies. And now I don't have to buy floor cleaner anymore which will also save a ton of money.<br /><br />Do you see how the camera flash reflected on the GLEAMING tile in the photo below?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3opTuBYw7A32oMnE1_V86ee2ZovrnHFZ6nfRiMXsC9zAqhghRZ7AykW9wTpIfNAzG7fi6O5V1nsZ6HCfSqARqfcUFN65c7rGx51nLLHzMmzjum3M-kePhUECG_CPx0lUhxxM_lu4t6Sf/s1600/101_0031.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504007844256380130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3opTuBYw7A32oMnE1_V86ee2ZovrnHFZ6nfRiMXsC9zAqhghRZ7AykW9wTpIfNAzG7fi6O5V1nsZ6HCfSqARqfcUFN65c7rGx51nLLHzMmzjum3M-kePhUECG_CPx0lUhxxM_lu4t6Sf/s320/101_0031.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Oh, I love you, Eureka Enviro Steamer!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipH49GKhyphenhyphennGc7gEr_p6SBR6TWSgo11CE4pWzlUqrzlenjk9zMGGFrSHT10Csattef_oAW5vGQrbIglnI0EiuitJwDAOA_SytVr5SV81OmTbrY3rV1iVM4sK1ZVozqU4D7WJiaAwDf6O9UA/s1600/101_0032.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504007836942457506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipH49GKhyphenhyphennGc7gEr_p6SBR6TWSgo11CE4pWzlUqrzlenjk9zMGGFrSHT10Csattef_oAW5vGQrbIglnI0EiuitJwDAOA_SytVr5SV81OmTbrY3rV1iVM4sK1ZVozqU4D7WJiaAwDf6O9UA/s320/101_0032.jpg" /></a><br /><br />This is what the pad looked like after cleaning the vinyl tile in my basement. Yuck! These can be tossed in the wash but have to be air-dried so they don't shrink. I would love to hear from you if you have had good luck with a steam mop. <br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtdEDWuorCUz7JpIX6fUbW3J_68eASoBBb-khFLul8u1o6iEtGl3YoqsTcvgf0JFYcZM3hixxt3g32t8E5a4xaKk6YCRiF2UVDmmDZ6TtTp-hGkzDVY8jWuyHwtv80yM0K_uT7Wxhj-qIF/s1600/101_0037.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504007828918863490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtdEDWuorCUz7JpIX6fUbW3J_68eASoBBb-khFLul8u1o6iEtGl3YoqsTcvgf0JFYcZM3hixxt3g32t8E5a4xaKk6YCRiF2UVDmmDZ6TtTp-hGkzDVY8jWuyHwtv80yM0K_uT7Wxhj-qIF/s320/101_0037.jpg" /></a><br /><div> </div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-69241965320484913362010-08-02T00:01:00.001-05:002010-08-02T00:01:02.095-05:00County Fair 2010This year the boys made some projects to take to our county fair. The fair, like most fairs, is a 4-H fair but also has an Open Class division where anyone can enter exhibits. I was a 4-Her from 8th grade through 12th grade and I can honestly say that of all the things I participated in as a young person, 4-H was the most life-changing and positive. I cannot say enough about how awesome 4-H is. And it's not just for kids on farms or kids who have livestock. There is SO much more. Anyway..........I definitely hope my two boys want to be involved in 4-H. You can't join until 4th grade and my oldest son is just starting third this fall. I wanted the boys to get a feel for what the fair is all about and entering projects in Open Class was a great introduction.<br /><br />Both boys worked on an embroidery project which I turned into pillows. My youngest son embroidered a football on a square of burlap. I just drew a football shape with a pencil and he followed the line, going up and down with his needle and thread. He just turned 5 a few months ago and I didn't think he would be ready yet for a traditional backstitch. Below you can see two photos of his pillow.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0clOMVsQP9H4lPw3ZUs4x6hEMud87jrEXJM6EVvBUOf3NFJX7VoYE1T_JRJ9JiNbh3vux7fwfFza-5Z72Fv9_3CHaJl4AC6BbOjIDxHg0QBnjQcd96pfOhJ2sCSK2N_U06oXA6-pjsDBK/s1600/100_9962.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497188416311966194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0clOMVsQP9H4lPw3ZUs4x6hEMud87jrEXJM6EVvBUOf3NFJX7VoYE1T_JRJ9JiNbh3vux7fwfFza-5Z72Fv9_3CHaJl4AC6BbOjIDxHg0QBnjQcd96pfOhJ2sCSK2N_U06oXA6-pjsDBK/s320/100_9962.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />Up close............he did a really good job considering I didn't help him at all and it was his first sewing project ever.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemxjop2J1VKJeUY4swRsavCpl_A6Yz4UOBnifu4WOVNiXZ2CeV7wubDVjVRQFc7KXCOcMvwNTzftJ5O3MG80aNFEiCD1v9p82vR0NNAgyr5jUmO3ayf0nfUdxucXPowGQ_D9KmeC0DI0K/s1600/100_9964.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497188403278199938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemxjop2J1VKJeUY4swRsavCpl_A6Yz4UOBnifu4WOVNiXZ2CeV7wubDVjVRQFc7KXCOcMvwNTzftJ5O3MG80aNFEiCD1v9p82vR0NNAgyr5jUmO3ayf0nfUdxucXPowGQ_D9KmeC0DI0K/s320/100_9964.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />My older son embroidered a monkey. I showed him an Ed Emberly drawing book and had him choose an animal to draw on paper. I then transferred his drawing onto a piece of burlap and taught him to embroider on the lines. I helped a little bit on the corners and tight curves, but he did most of it independently. His pillow received a Purple Ribbon in its class which was a fun surprise.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYwlh7ulagRQu0Vz3jRZ4SU_7TkBGo8QN0kaV1ZRjlsKYFDC9W7F8dl3tqDBvyYxDyt6SgKpv7tKGXn_UCY12a0O_WUm2WkEP-iiEiI1Xifsbmka0neNBC5D-xJZOSNBHO5r27Pp4Oe1U/s1600/100_9965.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497188394084648610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYwlh7ulagRQu0Vz3jRZ4SU_7TkBGo8QN0kaV1ZRjlsKYFDC9W7F8dl3tqDBvyYxDyt6SgKpv7tKGXn_UCY12a0O_WUm2WkEP-iiEiI1Xifsbmka0neNBC5D-xJZOSNBHO5r27Pp4Oe1U/s320/100_9965.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QlV_oa9JjPkp5RMdFfDuL4L-uzm3VDbByuFHPcCQe67Alr3dfPERJAdJwB6Z6amdJ1Bms4PZXpdpwNKoVNR01towxYPpBSAOlbWeRPE48Qbon53q4r3-U2DShH2ZNCAva0S1PkPquMxi/s1600/100_9966.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497188381474080290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QlV_oa9JjPkp5RMdFfDuL4L-uzm3VDbByuFHPcCQe67Alr3dfPERJAdJwB6Z6amdJ1Bms4PZXpdpwNKoVNR01towxYPpBSAOlbWeRPE48Qbon53q4r3-U2DShH2ZNCAva0S1PkPquMxi/s320/100_9966.jpg" /></a><br /><br />He also did an art project...........a crayon drawing of a hen and chicks. I got the idea for this project from a blog I have grown to LOVE so much...........<a href="http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/">Art Projects for Kids</a>. Be sure to go check out this blog. It is written by an art teacher and has great projects that you could do with your children at home. I am thinking about choosing a few projects to do with the boys for them to give as Christmas gifts. Truly great stuff over there.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCAo6BPZERNSu3GNyCmsiQl54lvkt5a-K9DmwQMIS4lrnp7V5h4l_SEdTwT_iMQy1jOThl2rMyCL-vEj_YdSF4EOFu7bL-4HmnyH-NXcjdpAY2bZPojz8HZpBDSHcG4-SPketD7o5RWz2/s1600/100_9968.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497188374962019266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCAo6BPZERNSu3GNyCmsiQl54lvkt5a-K9DmwQMIS4lrnp7V5h4l_SEdTwT_iMQy1jOThl2rMyCL-vEj_YdSF4EOFu7bL-4HmnyH-NXcjdpAY2bZPojz8HZpBDSHcG4-SPketD7o5RWz2/s320/100_9968.jpg" /></a><br /><br />In addition to these projects the boys entered their fireworks t-shirts that we made for Fourth of July. They also each entered a plate of 10 green beans from our garden and a marigold flower from our gardens. AND..........they each entered a dozen eggs from our chickens........blue ribbon eggs I might add. :0) They were so excited to see their ribbons and to bring them home on the last day of the fair. Each ribbon also has a premium associated with it so they each got a check to cash as well. We will definitely be doing this again next year. If you think your child would love doing this, consider saving some of their art projects from school this year and contact your local county extension office to find out about the Open Class division in your county. In our fair the Open Class division has classes for collections and even Lego constructions, something that my little guy was TOTALLY into looking at this year. He is already talking about what lego sculpture he wants to take next year. All good country fun!<br /><div> </div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-42307823477142575892010-08-01T00:01:00.000-05:002010-08-01T00:01:00.241-05:00Fourth of July funTo make up for the absence of any fun mommy-inspired creativity in June I tried to make up for it by pulling together a few projects for the Fourth of July. We invited a few friends over on Friday, July 2nd for a little swimming party. Before the kids swam they made firecracker crowns. I forgot to take a finished photo but below you can see how they are made. The directions and idea were from Family Fun. <a href="http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/crowning-glory-674251/">CLICK HERE</a>. Basically you just need tape, straws and pipe-cleaners. They turned out so cute!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ196zc6ECS65Ke4Xeoyu71MgPfDITXwEmxxJbB5kly2UyFQj0f8kv-nnAZJp65CtejZ2e4gQ8EYPnR-2-dKMPLOzdcF2ACPDa41YLn2nh0-riAdgCIRE7l-SygvEKGoozvHHjq3uk-96R/s1600/100_9881.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497174262488038338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ196zc6ECS65Ke4Xeoyu71MgPfDITXwEmxxJbB5kly2UyFQj0f8kv-nnAZJp65CtejZ2e4gQ8EYPnR-2-dKMPLOzdcF2ACPDa41YLn2nh0-riAdgCIRE7l-SygvEKGoozvHHjq3uk-96R/s320/100_9881.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />I also got creative in the kitchen and made red, white and blue cupcakes. I found the flag picks at my fave thrift store, of course! To do the cupcakes you just divide your white cake batter into 3 bowls and color one bowl blue and one red. Then you glop the batter into the cupcake liners, color on top of color. Once they are baked they are red, white and blue inside. Totally easy and also fun to bite into! Again, I forgot to take a picture of one cut apart, but in the photo below you can see the layers of color pretty well. We also had strawberries dipped in white candy melts on the bottom with the ends dipped in blue sugar. You can just barely see them in the bottom right corner of the photo.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjUpa0f36AG2rYBNErF3LbjsoTGqT0eELkMxc573ZBC0LBIhYVSTHOJFZz5nGve8P62Vj667KxCIJyCqW3kb-4FqK_RV0b8Q0st2qb5ayajktW_ZbXpDDECBdAX1pAxGWBhCwtjqQorSQb/s1600/100_9888.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497174137126882258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjUpa0f36AG2rYBNErF3LbjsoTGqT0eELkMxc573ZBC0LBIhYVSTHOJFZz5nGve8P62Vj667KxCIJyCqW3kb-4FqK_RV0b8Q0st2qb5ayajktW_ZbXpDDECBdAX1pAxGWBhCwtjqQorSQb/s320/100_9888.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />The most visually stunning part of our feast, however, was the layered Jell-O I made. These turned out SO awesome. I didn't know if I could actually make something that looks this fancy but it was very easy. It takes several hours since you have to let the layers set before adding the next layer. But if you have time and plan ahead it's very easy to do. <a href="http://kidsparties.about.com/od/foodanddrink/r/FourthofJulyJello.htm">CLICK HERE</a> for the recipe I used.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirG-RZRnT-flBtt8eT4DLPh0hmF9tvfC6ikKQ2zyfSHLqOs6m4UbFHdHwTVU2ZoSG5S-jry2NL_Fd2ZZyDXj6rhX-bSvBwGor5xGUkoHrsTsIFBuRPxr3vf06f34o3Dh-P55Zuxd9kdvnb/s1600/100_9889.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497174128703543394" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirG-RZRnT-flBtt8eT4DLPh0hmF9tvfC6ikKQ2zyfSHLqOs6m4UbFHdHwTVU2ZoSG5S-jry2NL_Fd2ZZyDXj6rhX-bSvBwGor5xGUkoHrsTsIFBuRPxr3vf06f34o3Dh-P55Zuxd9kdvnb/s320/100_9889.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />Each year for the past few years I have helped the boys make special Fourth of July t-shirts. This year we made fireworks shirts. The idea and directions can be found on the Family Fun website. <a href="http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/fireworks-shirt-661910/">CLICK HERE</a>. Again..........so easy with a great result.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwk4uFInBrQiqxRqed3TgMqdMHDrWxWlryujRPtFX6O7psLhE7g8iNolOun3AxKbAAl2GnVxtzY0XkVZxqwtO3-drC6z4NleEJ1z_vPbken0nFYA4AvkY3L_yfRPeAliyZrB081ixJN4_/s1600/100_9892.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497174117832114786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwk4uFInBrQiqxRqed3TgMqdMHDrWxWlryujRPtFX6O7psLhE7g8iNolOun3AxKbAAl2GnVxtzY0XkVZxqwtO3-drC6z4NleEJ1z_vPbken0nFYA4AvkY3L_yfRPeAliyZrB081ixJN4_/s320/100_9892.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Our friend, Bob, visited us for the Fourth of July. DH grilled out burgers and brats and my parents came over. Grandma brought a pump-action rocket set which was a real hit with everyone. It was especially exciting when Bob launched a rocket across our lawn with a lit sparkler stuck into the end of it! We won't forget that anytime soon. Luckily we did not have reason to call the fire department. We also had our annual baseball game on the front lawn. It was a good way to spend a special day.<br /><br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-29497477204815966442010-07-31T00:01:00.000-05:002010-07-31T00:01:01.014-05:00Big Ol' BugsEarlier this summer the boys and I took advantage of a special event at a local Nature Center. My parents had bought us a membership this year and we have enjoyed attending some special members-only events. This event was all about insects. There is a temporary exhibit of huge wooden insect sculptures in the woods. On the day we went the boys each got a map and we hiked out and found all the insects. They also got backpacks and were able to fill them with tons of buggy goodies. There was also a great spread of catered food, much of it "bug"-themed. It was wonderful to spend some time together outside. We are excited for another members-only event in August about bees.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMoaWlugRb1upaP7r4_sTpDVl3k-W810xX_LZzB6j3klLS9y99oQE-D7yB5Erb-BhWqNf1eCt11nOrBg4xZ27BT7MTsbgoAQmduJSzSUyQ3UCcb7Y1Gcupmi9wbbdq2cgoOBZz5vjF4X_/s1600/100_9860.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497169415597968962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMoaWlugRb1upaP7r4_sTpDVl3k-W810xX_LZzB6j3klLS9y99oQE-D7yB5Erb-BhWqNf1eCt11nOrBg4xZ27BT7MTsbgoAQmduJSzSUyQ3UCcb7Y1Gcupmi9wbbdq2cgoOBZz5vjF4X_/s320/100_9860.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJGDF_SHkveNLpIzVExJvlluWPP30mxSqGvLVqymZ-9ejjDuThDRfbr4JgvQ0ESG8Nf0FGpDozEpTnVewEt4Iw3VgU_b6srFsNqdtkflX6JBTabvLSb5NjuNOvw-6eD_bseFy4URBH9PJ/s1600/100_9867.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497169409540660610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJGDF_SHkveNLpIzVExJvlluWPP30mxSqGvLVqymZ-9ejjDuThDRfbr4JgvQ0ESG8Nf0FGpDozEpTnVewEt4Iw3VgU_b6srFsNqdtkflX6JBTabvLSb5NjuNOvw-6eD_bseFy4URBH9PJ/s320/100_9867.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTekl8MVkDkC89a-aKuekyD_qZoVS9el0UPwKegVwtvrNHOV_paZcoz1_HOJBwzLKLpzn9vh-xJf8-C_P8G7L0tdWVyXnfEImw0OT0dYQXsA57NwZL-s-tdRaWpjoIihgeBuKTK-Q8AVS/s1600/100_9872.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497169395950434562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTekl8MVkDkC89a-aKuekyD_qZoVS9el0UPwKegVwtvrNHOV_paZcoz1_HOJBwzLKLpzn9vh-xJf8-C_P8G7L0tdWVyXnfEImw0OT0dYQXsA57NwZL-s-tdRaWpjoIihgeBuKTK-Q8AVS/s320/100_9872.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-85404943852106280492010-07-30T00:01:00.000-05:002010-07-30T00:01:00.600-05:00Father's Day SurpriseFor Father's Day I surprised DH (and the boys) by planning a 30 minute plane ride. A nearby airport had a special deal going on that made it pretty reasonable. DH only knew he had to set aside a few hours but didn't have any idea what we were doing. He and the boys had a great time. The pilot flew over our house and hometown. The boys were excited to see their pool in the backyard with a raft still floating in it. My little guy also thought he saw our chickens out in the yard. I am glad they had fun. I would have joined them but the plane would only take 3 passengers. Maybe next time.............<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZfIOL5mnJyEBcyo_5fvlU7Y5Dxv7_MCrrXbywGqqz5wnPHaKqg7856_8kkDxZzapMA2-BM7hcXWqxU45NxkUlZYlZjr0kLkkX4Ja-RgewH5qqqhqleM-Wy6JXrX9JG2tR-RLH5ZXUOic/s1600/100_9849.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497168047144109650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZfIOL5mnJyEBcyo_5fvlU7Y5Dxv7_MCrrXbywGqqz5wnPHaKqg7856_8kkDxZzapMA2-BM7hcXWqxU45NxkUlZYlZjr0kLkkX4Ja-RgewH5qqqhqleM-Wy6JXrX9JG2tR-RLH5ZXUOic/s320/100_9849.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbXRe4DDCwnxJrcvumiHAM5XVi_pn9wxwYEQVKYJP6fmkKSNszCmoPwimuFZuPR45kn2tZzcQLguBTB5MCSJ1Gs2Ex6r2morf60yh2RqmEbhyphenhyphenpsXDC58SQrPSmj0Gj0lhz7mZJdPWVGieY/s1600/100_9854.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497168043876172066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbXRe4DDCwnxJrcvumiHAM5XVi_pn9wxwYEQVKYJP6fmkKSNszCmoPwimuFZuPR45kn2tZzcQLguBTB5MCSJ1Gs2Ex6r2morf60yh2RqmEbhyphenhyphenpsXDC58SQrPSmj0Gj0lhz7mZJdPWVGieY/s320/100_9854.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-18587540848409585632010-07-29T00:01:00.000-05:002010-07-29T00:01:00.483-05:00Summer VacationIn June we took a road trip to Michigan to see our niece graduate from high school. This was the longest car trip we've ever attempted with kids and it went really well. We had invested in a dual-screen car DVD player which helped a lot. We also broke up the 12 hour trip over two days. On the way out we stopped in Chicago and went to the Field Museum to see Sue (the t-rex) and all the other great exhibits. What a fantastic museum! We loved it. Sue and the story behind her are really amazing.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE0qeUBaZ0jKSvpKEAIlyuHWSV8IOBVLcviiZP-aMMFtGyLJ559fgHlDmeP4fFMfWAiDwYjaOz0XBRwGW9zyYfwgcnZ6leYdGM63AcVGm1xzezq18v0Vn7jqExdZnWlh0hp6KrC1Cduf7H/s1600/100_9749.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497165526777767650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE0qeUBaZ0jKSvpKEAIlyuHWSV8IOBVLcviiZP-aMMFtGyLJ559fgHlDmeP4fFMfWAiDwYjaOz0XBRwGW9zyYfwgcnZ6leYdGM63AcVGm1xzezq18v0Vn7jqExdZnWlh0hp6KrC1Cduf7H/s320/100_9749.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />On the way back we stopped at a beach on Lake Michigan so the boys could play in the sand and water. They loved it!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PKdvraeo40Km9C1ab8C5OdlJovx9BryoSfB3N89zIT45oBjrq-B8eLqUAZ_jLNVjJvMLM9xjcCfW6uo3w5RWQ8oJIasCGJLfTcAbmc_N7C9DkZw_9EIejdKW3VPjGPJizcP_iAUNcqzj/s1600/100_9812.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497165516180702722" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PKdvraeo40Km9C1ab8C5OdlJovx9BryoSfB3N89zIT45oBjrq-B8eLqUAZ_jLNVjJvMLM9xjcCfW6uo3w5RWQ8oJIasCGJLfTcAbmc_N7C9DkZw_9EIejdKW3VPjGPJizcP_iAUNcqzj/s320/100_9812.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQYYYMlLnH70miXH1t1GN4Jxd-Ei3UyZwbc5aPd0ZpLFR_mWUDZZ0zf6DTGnTk55mQVFq0tFrzbZvPGc4kEtDyFzy6PXxn74GMuk8XIfENq9cVM2Ba01Mh6Ftl4P9dVkX5keOT6HhwpGK/s1600/100_9830.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497165507504495762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQYYYMlLnH70miXH1t1GN4Jxd-Ei3UyZwbc5aPd0ZpLFR_mWUDZZ0zf6DTGnTk55mQVFq0tFrzbZvPGc4kEtDyFzy6PXxn74GMuk8XIfENq9cVM2Ba01Mh6Ftl4P9dVkX5keOT6HhwpGK/s320/100_9830.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXuDCDWr75h5n4m-ZOyW67iU-MFneUOMQvHFVrMgjFJMLnBjgBMePMqfCIJCDH9L6QO5bWx0fonOtYXnOcqKyb6i1g-pXNSVNw9qLE7tcy6zEoj6RRaQNLBS4GXjmwvQEUUL6Onu7mMKae/s1600/100_9832.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497165501344505154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXuDCDWr75h5n4m-ZOyW67iU-MFneUOMQvHFVrMgjFJMLnBjgBMePMqfCIJCDH9L6QO5bWx0fonOtYXnOcqKyb6i1g-pXNSVNw9qLE7tcy6zEoj6RRaQNLBS4GXjmwvQEUUL6Onu7mMKae/s320/100_9832.jpg" /></a><br /><br />We are thinking now that we may be brave enough to try some longer road trips in the future. Now that the boys are older (almost 9 and 5) it is much easier. I'd love any great road trip ideas any of you have to share. So post a comment with your words of wisdom.<br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-6496485779520887332010-07-28T00:01:00.000-05:002010-07-28T00:01:00.714-05:00Memorial Day 5 Mile RunA big accomplishment for me this spring was completing my first road race. On Memorial Day I ran a 5 mile race. It is the first race I've ever done (not counting the 3-legged races I got stuck doing in every elementary track meet) and my goal was just to finish. I am happy to say I ran every step of the race. It was a pretty hilly course, but I really paced myself well and ran pretty comfortably the whole time. I had never run that far before the race but I believed I could and so I did. I have found that running takes more mental strength than physical strength. When your body tells you it wants to quit you just have to be mentally tough and tell it to "Shut up and keep going." That's what has worked well for me, anyway.<br /><br /><br /><br />Thanks, Justin, for taking the photo shown below. It is nice to have some action shots of my first race. I have continued my running throughout the summer although I've moved back inside to the treadmill these last few weeks because it has been SO hot and humid. I am hoping to do a few races this fall. My two boys also ran their first race on Memorial Day, completing the 1/4 mile Fun Run. So we all have matching t-shirts and can look back and say we all ran our first race on the same day.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoH_9rWzVAirar3Y20gNlpT3gficy6gcscK4iSeGA-_GPAs1t6QJVNbYT_lviAMoXqlIG3_zgxocqHfp7Yk2VekqAZCOF9GAGrj0yNxlyLOQ2MI9bAb-07Yhcdrds_YW8RwOohARo0wz-R/s1600/IMG_1458.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497162685770696594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoH_9rWzVAirar3Y20gNlpT3gficy6gcscK4iSeGA-_GPAs1t6QJVNbYT_lviAMoXqlIG3_zgxocqHfp7Yk2VekqAZCOF9GAGrj0yNxlyLOQ2MI9bAb-07Yhcdrds_YW8RwOohARo0wz-R/s320/IMG_1458.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-52500205364890225602010-07-27T00:01:00.000-05:002010-07-27T00:01:01.515-05:00Au revoir, Arthur!In other chicken news of the year, we regretfully had to part ways with our rooster, Arthur, in May. As you can see, he had grown up to be a fine and beautiful rooster. However, he became very aggressive this spring with my husband and the boys. It got to the point where no one (except me) could go into the chicken yard without being attacked by him. It was a real dilemma because neither DH or I wanted to end his life, but the boys couldn't even go outside and enjoy the hens because of Arthur. So........a friend of ours ended up taking him off our hands because his rooster had been killed by a fox and he wanted another one. On Mother's Day we loaded Arthur up and took him to his new home. He was happy there for a few weeks, but ultimately fell prey to the same fox that took his predecessor. We'll always remember Arthur fondly. But it's been nice to just have our four friendly hens and not have to worry about rooster attacks.<br /><br /><br /><br />In the photo below Arthur is trying to attack DH's shoe. (DH tried so hard to make friends with Arthur but Arthur was having none of it. I guess in Arthur's mind there could only be one rooster in the flock. Since Arthur never attacked me I joked that he thought of me as one of his "girls.")<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidio0Oqko0t4WWETzsq1KbO7cjb4iBtTeIugzAc4ioEi3dr0-Vz8MU0sKmeDS3XrZ2E-XSOhJ0dLqYBeM5f9YgWJGBZmTGp7eJtxXoA22eqmoQKqMztKNgzs2qVLTxg2pETnAWSYisydKb/s1600/May+3,+2010+018.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497159738152348066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidio0Oqko0t4WWETzsq1KbO7cjb4iBtTeIugzAc4ioEi3dr0-Vz8MU0sKmeDS3XrZ2E-XSOhJ0dLqYBeM5f9YgWJGBZmTGp7eJtxXoA22eqmoQKqMztKNgzs2qVLTxg2pETnAWSYisydKb/s320/May+3,+2010+018.jpg" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-31603085558577655372010-07-26T00:01:00.000-05:002010-07-26T00:01:01.485-05:00Incubating EggsAnother exciting event in early May was incubating eggs in my Montessori preschool classroom. My assistant, Miss Melissa, loaned us her egg incubator and I brought several fertilized eggs from our flock and another assistant, Miss Carla, brought some fertilized bantam eggs from her flock. I think we had about 19 eggs in all and if I remember correctly 11 hatched. Below you can see them in the incubator. It was awesome to actually be able to see them hatch. So amazing! The Xs on the shells are so I knew which side was which. The eggs have to be turned about 3 times a day and marking them helps keep track of that.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHOPy9FMYsDQRMNZR1aeuJuOzVsNKTfTkxAXG8UcBb8uW8lXaufVCgNLaSWuexEgSauTmxqPvjG2_DBNElP5lsgXIFO7K2ELZCWUkFN9BHQ1MM2vQu_7ZMM1Z77QShJW27I8ZX21aIv2J/s1600/May+8,+2010+027.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497158142684465346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHOPy9FMYsDQRMNZR1aeuJuOzVsNKTfTkxAXG8UcBb8uW8lXaufVCgNLaSWuexEgSauTmxqPvjG2_DBNElP5lsgXIFO7K2ELZCWUkFN9BHQ1MM2vQu_7ZMM1Z77QShJW27I8ZX21aIv2J/s320/May+8,+2010+027.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />The babies stayed in the incubator for a few hours to dry off.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggh6chb-D260GIglFOh_cY3V4aamarqwjnD1k49MMNHlppMcDR7kpkNCWM0L2x4jrrRgz2XD1LpKtqrAGPNgdkOD4wpkLRmfD5k-QOMSb6y2SRsbAaUmp_RVH36WfqhwFJTzknZKFLf5KG/s1600/May+8,+2010+006.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497158164228178114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggh6chb-D260GIglFOh_cY3V4aamarqwjnD1k49MMNHlppMcDR7kpkNCWM0L2x4jrrRgz2XD1LpKtqrAGPNgdkOD4wpkLRmfD5k-QOMSb6y2SRsbAaUmp_RVH36WfqhwFJTzknZKFLf5KG/s320/May+8,+2010+006.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Then they were moved into a tub in my office with a heat lamp. They stayed at school for a few days so all the children could hold them and look at them. Then they moved to Miss Carla's house where they have made their permanent home.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCQExJg9t5Qx-Jo8MbQNCkRbT0t77RmalRXVU40PZEG1Y_9_KoGFZ5nWCm00dKI5ZhcbDUVB2BrpaMCLu43AYFYNpQTuTY8UFaKf6SnsAR0vDBPd6g2cz4IliRdECa-FdfpTgRa7ZGMXc/s1600/May+8,+2010+005.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497158151825939746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCQExJg9t5Qx-Jo8MbQNCkRbT0t77RmalRXVU40PZEG1Y_9_KoGFZ5nWCm00dKI5ZhcbDUVB2BrpaMCLu43AYFYNpQTuTY8UFaKf6SnsAR0vDBPd6g2cz4IliRdECa-FdfpTgRa7ZGMXc/s320/May+8,+2010+005.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-90928348491659048182010-07-25T00:01:00.000-05:002010-07-25T00:01:00.502-05:00Coleman Montana 8I did get a tent for Mother's Day. I love it! It is the Coleman Montana 8. It is HUGE. It's "footprint" (isn't that cool that I know the technical "tenty" term for it) is 16 feet by 7 feet. I think it's about 7 feet high in the center too. We have not yet camped anywhere other than our own backyard in it. Maybe we never will. We have 2 acres and DH and I think our backyard is better than any campsite we could find. No annoying ding-dongs camping 15 feet away and easy access to the bathroom and anything you forgot to bring!! Our oldest son overheard me saying that our backyard was better than any campground and was quick to point out that our backyard does not have a.) a lake or b.) hiking trails. True that. However, we could always drive to the lake or hiking trails then come home at the end of the day!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5w6i9sjo9DbvnpI7yUDJHRK9X6CEKN7cTCuBeogpAUeImEwK7t2R0wcobiBRcbKwcIAAZqIWIJ-F5dNLwe8fn91rmRlk0DjybSzVajd4me6iE6ze9PWANoYumktfPAZ-l_gPKqb2pc9u-/s1600/May+8,+2010+043.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497155902522640578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5w6i9sjo9DbvnpI7yUDJHRK9X6CEKN7cTCuBeogpAUeImEwK7t2R0wcobiBRcbKwcIAAZqIWIJ-F5dNLwe8fn91rmRlk0DjybSzVajd4me6iE6ze9PWANoYumktfPAZ-l_gPKqb2pc9u-/s320/May+8,+2010+043.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Here's a photo from inside. You can see how spacious it is. We can fit a queen-sized air mattress on each end with room for at least another 1 or 2 in the middle. I bought a patio rug that is intended for use outside RVs to put in the bottom so the floor is kind of carpeted. I haven't "glamped" it up any more than that, however.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuF_O36CtVIz6LSanz_48l87TP-mqzP7tq8IKv3wloq1MOPCv7EKDOZJHHR_950ooNJYQWvpx9aIiLOl3KonymgvclItD8kGaDBWJGHlETIG74q33Q5y7dF73il27hOlKVigGXuxMq6lvP/s1600/May+8,+2010+046.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497155897655720530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuF_O36CtVIz6LSanz_48l87TP-mqzP7tq8IKv3wloq1MOPCv7EKDOZJHHR_950ooNJYQWvpx9aIiLOl3KonymgvclItD8kGaDBWJGHlETIG74q33Q5y7dF73il27hOlKVigGXuxMq6lvP/s320/May+8,+2010+046.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Another great feature is the hinged door. Genius! You insert some poles into the door so it can be opened and closed just like any other door instead of having to zip and unzip. Love it!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO-35kvGrFKhLqXubOPRw17GHxfr5nU2wVVEH-HzIJHkQxj3c57siGFOPaTwYbYMC47lVD4-VsrnzMs0ctLe1tj86bkoeqganyqBWCsMVXC6jZHLmIptVcpCK8hI2xa4oH8zGWbJ9WmV7O/s1600/May+8,+2010+047.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497155885049855826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO-35kvGrFKhLqXubOPRw17GHxfr5nU2wVVEH-HzIJHkQxj3c57siGFOPaTwYbYMC47lVD4-VsrnzMs0ctLe1tj86bkoeqganyqBWCsMVXC6jZHLmIptVcpCK8hI2xa4oH8zGWbJ9WmV7O/s320/May+8,+2010+047.jpg" /></a><br /><br />I'll post more about our camping adventures when they happen.<br /><br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3345881995495699750.post-56845320134949692472010-07-23T14:53:00.008-05:002010-07-24T08:30:50.543-05:00Update on Square Foot Garden!Many of you have been wondering about our success with the square-foot gardening method I wrote about in April. I am happy to say that we are having great luck. Below you can see a photo I just took in July after adding the vertical frames. For those of you who will wonder, the vertical frames were VERY easy to construct. We used some pieces of rebar and pounded them into the ground on the sides of the raised beds. I had 3/4 inch electrical conduit cut into 5 foot lengths (for the sides) and 4 foot lengths (for the tops) at Home Depot. The conduit was less than $2 per 10 foot length, very inexpensive. The corners are held together with connectors that can also be found in the electrical area of a hardware store. Those babies were over $4 apiece so that drove up the cost a bit. Luckily we won't ever have to build these again. They easily slip onto the rebar and can be slipped off and stored inside for the winter if needed. I used nylon garden mesh attached with zip ties for the netting. I couldn't find this large sized mesh locally and had to <a href="http://www.burpee.com/gardening-supplies/garden-growers/supports-ties-and-fences/garden-trellis-prod001220.html?_requestid=246535">order it from Burpee</a>. I have a ton left over. The zip ties were in the electrical section of Home Depot.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRR2kn3kx1nCog8ThS63LhgSHMmMXaImtlbQrTkPRQ_c_5mZnBltCA9Uo96tO4xEADulgeWeBMy0t6v_QZeRlQuHoPws5QAEoXGjpaXXIFW0oZ3bTkm4sV5LiVmR6kIjEmEedc6BfkqbCb/s1600/100_9946.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497193298622862482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRR2kn3kx1nCog8ThS63LhgSHMmMXaImtlbQrTkPRQ_c_5mZnBltCA9Uo96tO4xEADulgeWeBMy0t6v_QZeRlQuHoPws5QAEoXGjpaXXIFW0oZ3bTkm4sV5LiVmR6kIjEmEedc6BfkqbCb/s320/100_9946.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />So far we have harvested broccoli (from plants), peas (from seed), green beans (from seed), onions (from sets), basil (from seed) and carrots (from seed). We have MANY green tomatoes on the vine and I am practically drooling over how awesome they will taste. We also have strawberries, cucumbers, mini pumpkins, gourds, radishes, and peppers planted. (And asparagus and lemon balm. The lemon balm is overtaking my youngest son's garden.) I am planning to move the strawberries to their own bed this fall and add more. You can see them taking over the front of the garden closest to the front in the photo above. We also planted marigolds, zinnias and four-o-clocks from seed. The zinnias did not do very well......only one grew. The marigolds are taking over my oldest son's bed......you can see them in the back left garden. I will probably plant a smaller variety next year.<br /><br /><br />Here is what I've learned: I will probably not do broccoli next year. We did have good luck with it and got several heads. However, the last head I brought in had a chubby green worm in it. I knew broccoli was prone to worms, but it really grossed me out. Also, I didn't realize how big each individual broccoli plant grows. The leaf-span was probably almost 2 feet which meant they were overshadowing the little pepper plants that were trying to grow nearby. We may try lettuce from seed again this fall when it cools off. I didn't have any luck with lettuce this spring. However, I was using old seed so that may have been the problem. The peas were SO good right from the garden..........I will definitely do them again and plant more next time. Below are a few photos I snapped recently.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQVZZ9yY-UamIhPNW5bs5nO1kroQtk8q-qinpvV9ZGwJZNCzZNfyQcJqTOqga6b-_WARPNVIYA4yG3BaFOw5EOZouk3pDic4ngGDWkuhyphenhyphenuI_twmT6oYKcAVlWRh0f3en5h3r2LW9QuGc2/s1600/100_9947.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497193286462611778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQVZZ9yY-UamIhPNW5bs5nO1kroQtk8q-qinpvV9ZGwJZNCzZNfyQcJqTOqga6b-_WARPNVIYA4yG3BaFOw5EOZouk3pDic4ngGDWkuhyphenhyphenuI_twmT6oYKcAVlWRh0f3en5h3r2LW9QuGc2/s320/100_9947.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Roma tomatoes............cannot WAIT to eat these!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9pKCAAblYGYKpWvtuyaDRb3NdtcIpYBUd6UeECPkdEUC34-CbW_rO41Cxbzk4-UQsUrN0ba29Wjv3J70xSkBpJcc6SdyEwRZryE0Vj0-JaEZ_t0UEvy65CNe4AhG-ZproNIJQIjsBeOt/s1600/100_9948.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497193281099336402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9pKCAAblYGYKpWvtuyaDRb3NdtcIpYBUd6UeECPkdEUC34-CbW_rO41Cxbzk4-UQsUrN0ba29Wjv3J70xSkBpJcc6SdyEwRZryE0Vj0-JaEZ_t0UEvy65CNe4AhG-ZproNIJQIjsBeOt/s320/100_9948.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Marigold.........my boys took marigolds very similar to this one to the fair this year.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUiEOlg45A_OzV-zOE_aCcIorVpoS29-ZuvHAhdQ3avmh6vdko0Cfpkc7gvdDuRCinzZ2nB3PnQYV_1LjkShGdnrH2x0nX7jRE1kmVIW6j-lVRCBHbV37yjhPcpLamTu54Rzb4NrH9_M3M/s1600/100_9951.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497193270417112562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUiEOlg45A_OzV-zOE_aCcIorVpoS29-ZuvHAhdQ3avmh6vdko0Cfpkc7gvdDuRCinzZ2nB3PnQYV_1LjkShGdnrH2x0nX7jRE1kmVIW6j-lVRCBHbV37yjhPcpLamTu54Rzb4NrH9_M3M/s320/100_9951.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Basil...........we had some of this in a pasta dish this week. It was awesome to go out and pick it right from the garden. It took 2 plantings of seed for me to get it to take off though. Not sure why.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4I9rjcxe4ydk0wFZPB3D0RkkXVy-YEpXGId_a_WGBOEigyYb06FCWLbj6u4KiuoFjKA-rS4nfM11keSgaFYdpus8raBE0N0gnAj2FXANywPWSXgYIGErOfu1Rz24gdehceaD-P-NanVK/s1600/100_9955.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497193259209257266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4I9rjcxe4ydk0wFZPB3D0RkkXVy-YEpXGId_a_WGBOEigyYb06FCWLbj6u4KiuoFjKA-rS4nfM11keSgaFYdpus8raBE0N0gnAj2FXANywPWSXgYIGErOfu1Rz24gdehceaD-P-NanVK/s320/100_9955.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Our green beans grew really well. I may even pull them now that they're mostly harvested and try for a second crop yet this year. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>One last comment...........my main reason for choosing this way of gardening was so I wouldn't have much weeding to do and I have to say that the weeding is VERY minimal. It's so easy to stay on top of it. I would love to add more beds for next year. I am planning to at least add a big bed of just strawberries. That will free up space in the other beds so I may not add any more vegetable beds until I go another year to see what grows well here. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04613078997839810912noreply@blogger.com0