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...

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 ...

For the first time the boys submitted entries for the County Fair!    Andrew did a "directed drawing" of a bird with fanciful patterns in Sharpie on water color paper.  Then he painted it with water colors.  It is in the top left. Calvin took some photos at the zoo.  It's on the right. The frames were high on a wall behind a fence because there were some ancient home models on the left.  So I couldn't get a photo of the boys with their entires, nor could I actually take a very good picture of them.     Here is the actual photo taken by Calvin.  I am having issues with my camera, so the actual 5x7 was not as clear as I hoped it would be, but he still received a blue ribbon.  Monday we ventured to the fair.  Behind them are their painted rocks.  Calvin painted a rectangular rock blue with buttons and nobs to look like a video game controller.  He received a bl...

I don't know why these pictures give me such joy, but those boys are funny with the camera.

Except for the books, that was poor planning on my part! Strawberries planted yesterday.  Basil planted on Monday.   But here's what it looks like when there is a little snow in the desert. He was cold and grumpy.  Perhaps because he didn't want to wear pants and had wet mittens.  We're not really outfitted for cold here in Sunny Arizona.  But that's ok because in two days it will be sunny and warm.    A little hot apple cider will make everything better.    This boy enjoys it all!

We took advantage of the crazy 20 degree low last night and made some ice sculptures. We've done this before , but we made the ice in the freezer and then hung them outside for the cold weather.  Last night it was cold enough to freeze solid outside.  We started with a muffin tin and dipped a length of string in each hole. And we used an old jello mold to make a wreath.    And we did a little experiment with water and salt water. This morning everything was frozen solid so we hung up our ice garland.  Isn't it pretty in the sun! Calvin tied up the wreath.  And we hung it on the fence. It's not snowy, just cold.  So we've been staying home and staying indoors with a few trips outside in the afternoon when the sun is shining and it is 40 degrees. Do you have any favorite cold weather activities?

And if you come visit the house with all the muddy boys, you just might get a little muddy...even if you are a dainty girl.