TreasuresInTerraCotta

Several years ago we discovered a trick for great Halloween photos....take the photos on a different day!  The day before Halloween almost always yields better light, less stress and better pictures.  Yesterday we carved pumpkins, so while the camera was out two of the boys dressed up for pictures!          The quintessential pumpkin, That boy is pretty happy about his pumpkin.    And that is a happy pumpkin.   A fierce Jedi! (I was still sewing bits and pieces this afternoon!) A "cute and nice dragon" per the dragon himself. An awesome soccer player! (A costume I didn't have to make, assemble or think about. Hooray!) Tonight we had a hearty soup dinner and then walked all over the neighborhood trick-or-treating.  And this year we discovered our second great Halloween trick...give them their first treat and make it a water bottle!  Especiall...

I had a couple hours to myself on Friday and on Saturday so I set to work "setting" the table for Easter lunch.  I shamelessly stole decorating tips and printables from Emily over at Jones Design Company and created two adorable tables. On Friday I set out with a list in hand and purchased a few new items, like extra napkins and a dozen long stemmed water glasses and two new salad plates, but most of the stuff I had on hand.  I ironed the napkins and assembled the printables into tents. On Saturday evening I pulled out the table cloths, plates, glasses, and silverware.  Not to mention a few candy decorations, some ribbon and fresh flowers.  I only had to re-examine Emily's blog two or three times! Here is the more elegant looking table in blue and white. Here is the fresh and fun table in teal, light blue and light green with mismatched salad plates and a twin sheet acting as a tablecloth. The tables were right next to each other, but they are...

Last New Year's  we were very ambitious, the house was clean, Christmas had been put away, the tree had been redecorated, and we made homemade pizza to celebrate the ringing in of the New Year. This year I was undecorating the tree when my sister's family arrived, we quickly hung some jokes on the tree for the kids and we grilled hamburgers and had chips.  And then we watched Star Wars (Episode 4 and Episode 5, if you must know.) During a movie intermission the older kids told knock-knock jokes and punny jokes and the dads laughed appropriately.  And as an added festivity, we let the kids plant donut seeds. Two years ago on Christmas Eve my brother-in-law imported Magic Donut Seeds from his Uncle in Iowa. They only grow on the magical eve of Christmas and that first year we fertilized them with powdered sugar and, miracle of miracles, we got powdered sugar donuts! Last year we experimented with cocoa powder fertilizer and, yep, they grow into chocolate ...

December always seems to fly by without much time to upload pictures, sit in front of a computer or compose a complete sentence. Here are some snap shots highlighting a few of our December activities. Homemade Fruit Cake.  I love that stuff! The cousins ran in a 1 mile Jingle Trail Run.   Everyone has bells on their shoes and running the race is so happy! On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! After the kids race we cheered on the adults in the 5K.   Uncle Fran was the only runner this year, but the kids cheered him on from the infield.   Andrew and Calvin discovered how to make these tin can lanterns.   What could be better for a boy than a tin can, a nail and a hammer.   We did some water/volume experiments for school. All the boys helped make sugar cookie cut outs. Grandma and Grandpa came over and decorated with us. Kids doing decorating...heavy on the frosting...heavy on the sprinkles...Aweso...

Just a quick note to say Happy St. Nicholas Day! We love St. Nicholas Day! We celebrate it a bit differently each year, but it is still so refreshing, even after almost 10 years.  It helps us to focus on giving instead of getting.  It helps us find ways to serve.  It helps by focusing our gift-giving to our kids on a day other than Christmas.  By default it also requires that shopping be finished by December 6 (more-or-less), which frees up a lot of my mental energy that tends to ruminate on "What are we going to get for...?" It's also super fun to leave shoes outside doors and watch the Veggie Tales St. Nicholas story.  And my boys love leaving St. Nicholas gifts.  In years past we have left little packages on the doorsteps of friends.  In the spirit of St. Nicholas we leave gifts in secret (except when mama's would be creaped out by anonymous gifts with their children's names).  This year we're doing something different.  We wil...

We took a much needed pumpkin carving break in the middle of morning homeschool.   My kids would have nothing to do with sticking their hands into the pumpkin goo.  After I cut the lid out, Calvin did all the face carving.  He's an Indian pretending that he has a bow and arrow.  Calvin made his vest, he decorated his headband and I sewed fringe onto some sweat pants. Fireman Andrew ready for work.  At your service!  The crazy before the candy! I took no pictures of the 2 year old.  No pictures of the whole family.  No pictures of all the cousins.  It was not a good year for picture taking.  On the other had we had homemade soup, homemade bread, and Ceasar salad for dinner.  My brother-in-law made it down from Phoenix for the dress-up fun.  And we had a new family with their daughter join us for the dinner and trick-or-treating.  It was a good year for friends and family.