Friday, November 2, 2018

Halloween 2018 - Steampunk Mad Hatter


This costume was dreamed up way back when Cyan had her steampunk mocktail birthday party and it has just gotten more and more elaborate.  I think she looks incredible!  We spent a good amount of time on that hat and creating the look.  We had some fun with it....











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Halloween 2018 - "One ring to rule them all..."


A friend recently told me that my costumes and photos tell a story.  Being a huge book nerd, this thrilled me, as I love stories and love telling them.  So here is our Halloween Costumes for 2018... Lord of the Rings style.



The Council of Elrond.  Logan was a human, and Luke a hobbit.  They enjoyed playing the part so much that they were in their costumes for days, and we watched all three LOTR movies while we had a bit of time off from school for the celebration of the Halloween holiday.


I made their cloaks out of beautiful anti-pill fleece and Luke's shirt and vest were completely out of linen.  Notice the stitching on the cloaks... that took me hours to do!  It was a preset on my machine and it was perfect touch for the elven cloaks from Lorien.







Logan's outfit was created from a thrifted leather vest for a grown man for my incredibly skinny kiddo.  His fur collar was from the costume section at JoAnn's clearance.  The Leaves of Lorien broaches and ring necklace, I bought from Amazon and they were the perfect touch to the outfits!
  



My favorite filter for this photo:


When Logan was tiny, maybe 2 months old, he started scowling at us.  And he hasn't really stopped since.  lol!  We started calling him "Little Man" and that stuck until even now.  I call him that daily.  So this picture, as I was editing it, kinda blew my mind.  My sweet boy, looking so grown up!  Very bittersweet!
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Tuesday, September 11, 2018

2018-2019 First day of school interviews


This is the best tradition!  On the first day of school I sit my kids down with some sweet treats and interview them about what they want to learn this school year.  I love their answers.  The inconsistency, and when they look at me like I am crazy when their answers haven't changed.  Sitting across the table from them, asking serious questions and writing down their every answer is one of those things that they and I both cherish.  


Luke - Second Grade

Favorites:
Color - Gold and crystal blue and that's it.  Oh!  And also green.
Food - Donuts and mac & cheese
Animal - Cheetahs and tigers and zebras and leopards.
Season - Hot so you can go in the pool and snow but that really means I like Christmas.
Music - Africa (Toto) and Minecraft Songs


What do you want to learn this year?
That God is helping us in our hearts.  And that's it.
I'm excited to learn swimming and I'm excited about piano.  I do iPad my school work but its educational so I'm ok with that.
I can't believe I can cross my eyes!  I didn't know that!  What does it look like when I cross my eyes?  Can you cross your eyes?


This isn't a mean question or anything but is the tooth fairy real or is it just you that gives me money?  Just wondering.


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Logan - Sixth Grade

Favorites:
Color - Purple
Food - Sushi, crab roll
Animal - Kitty Cat
Season - Summer - I can swim also its good for airsoft.
Music - Play with Fire by Sam Tinnesz 


What do you want to learn this year?
How to draw anime.  Cyan has tons of books but she won't let me use them.
How to swim really well.  We have classes until November or October?  And also to get a really nice airsoft gun with all the additions.


Boy Scout goals?
To get Star Scout.  I can probably do it b the time I am twelve.  I want to get Eagle when I am 15.  Not by the time I turn 12 to get Star Scout but while I am still 12.  I think I can do it and I don't want to be a teenager when I get it.


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Cyan - Twelfth Grade

Favorites:
Color - Rusty Orange
Food - anything potato
Animal - red panda, by far
Season - Late Spring - I love the plants and it's getting warm.  It's, like, the perfect temperature.


What do you want to learn this year?
I want to learn what degree I want and learn more about myself and stuff.  I want to know if God is calling me to do something or if my interests are just me.
I want to try to learn a little more science.  Because maybe I want to be a nurse and I really liked biology but I didn't really like chemistry.  So I want to figure that out.  


I want to learn even more about rabbits.  Like Prim is a really chill rabbit and she has really chill babies.  I want to have more babies like that on purpose.  So maybe meeting bunnies before I buy them and stuff, to see if their temperament would be good?

 
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Thursday, August 23, 2018

Nature Study - Baby Squirrels

Squirrels are one of the funnest things to watch in my yard.  We have four, one-hundred foot tall douglas fir trees and a huge maple, among other trees and a hazelnut stand in our back yard.  Which is a squirrel favorite this time of year because the hazelnuts are starting to ripen!
Recently, I was taking out the garbage when I saw a large squirrel with what looked like a pink mouse in her mouth.  I ran and got my camera and followed her from a distance.  Through my lens I saw that it was a baby!  Brand new from the total lack of fur.  She was taking it to our huge douglas fir tree in the front yard.  The kids and I sat and watched her for a while.  She brought two more babies over and one by one, and took them high up into the tree.

This morning, my daughter and I ran outside to what sounded like baby bunny screaming.  At the base of the fir tree was a healthy baby squirrel and two very interested cats.  We took the cats inside and watched as the mama squirrel came down the tree and picked the baby up and brought it back to the nest.  About 12 ft away we found two more babies.  One, sadly, had died from falling directly onto the paving stones when it fell from the nest.

The other baby was ok and as soon as we touched it, it started screaming.  So we placed it at the base of the tree, right where the first baby was and mama came right down and got it, even though we were standing about 5ft away.  
She came back down and watched as we checked on the dead baby and tried to see if there were any signs of life.  There wasn't.  The mama was agitated and chittering and watching us, so we laid the dead baby down at the foot of the tree and went inside.  When we came back out a few minutes later, the baby was gone.  I am guessing the mama brought it back up even though there was no hope of saving it.

We are all a little troubled by what may have knocked them out of the tree in the first place.  The nest is 30-40ft up.  It definitely wasn't our cats.
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Friday, August 3, 2018

Steampunk Mocktail party



This was the most rushed party I have ever put on.  Set in the one day off between three different camps, this party was set up in two days.  In the end, although it was rushed, it was a super fun party and the girls make it all worth it!


My daughter wanted to throw a 'mocktail' party... in other words, she wanted a cocktail party but with no alcohol.  We set it at 7pm, just like any cocktail party, and prepped all kinds of non-alcoholic fun!



The tables were set with gears and globes.  







The bar was decked to the nines with fun things to mix up.












We dipped glasses in gold sugar, found at JoAnn's in the cake decorating section, and froze grapes and blueberries on sticks to imitate the olives in martinis.

The gear inspired donut wall was also a huge hit.  I got the old fashioned cake donuts dipped in chocolate because they look kind of like gears, don't they?

 



The cake was painted in gold with chocolate ganache and shaved chocolate on top.  I made the cake topper out of gears from the table scatter decor.  I really love how it turned out!



The biggest hit at the party though, was of course the amazing costumes the girls put together to enjoy the evening in!





The guests are always the best part of any of my kids parties.  These kids have been coming to my children's parties for a decade now and they know we go all out, so they do too!  They spend time getting decked to the nines and come ready to enjoy themselves and I just try not to disappoint.  We spent a couple hours playing games, eating food, and creating amazing mixed drinks in their gold-gilded goblets while sharing funny stories of their summer adventures.  These are the best moments.  The moments brought with these beautiful young people, while enjoying an environment of fun and adventure.











It was a fantastic time, celebrating an amazing girl!

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