Halloween family night

I have been so bad about taking pics & posting our family nights. I've gotta figure out how to categorize them too. Kem said it's easy, but I don't think so. If anyone wants to help me...I'd love it.

We had a fun time going through the dress up buckets & figuring out what everyone was going to wear. We ended up w/ a butterfly, a princess, Minnie Mouse, Popeye & a ballerina. I was supposed to be Olive Oyl, but didn't think anyone would know who I was since Popeye was out trick or treating.

Speaking of trick or treating... the family got invited to go on "the trailer" this year. It's full of parents, kids, a keg & candy..good times..good times.

Here's a pic of the family.


Next we carved pumpkins. Cyra chose Minnie Mouse.


Campbell chose Mickey Mouse.


I carved mine for Ross...Jack Skeleton.


Ross carved his for me. Even though he thinks emoticons are so high school..he made one for me.


For some reason, we didn't get an individual pic of Kenady's but here it is in a group shot.

School art projects

I have a HUGE bin full of my kids' art projects. I'm sure all of you do. I know you keep each & every scrap of paper that your kid has drawn / scribbled on right? I thought so.

Well, I only keep the top 10%...the creme de la creme...of the art projects.

But, I have a pet peeve when it comes to kid art projects.

You see, I used to teach an after school program to low income children. One day I planned a project where we were using different items to make a collage. Some of the items were feathers, bit of scrap paper, buttons, broken plastic toy bits, dried beans, peas, noodles...and much more.

The kids were all sitting around the table w/ their glue, paper & bowls of treaures to start their project. I walked around supervising. Helping little ones squeeze the bottle. Encouraging. Whatever.

Some kids were just dumping stuff on the paper. Some were drawing a pattern & being very precise. But there were 3 kids, 2 boys & a girl, all siblings. They were picking out the dried beans, dries peas & pasta. The kids were stuffing those specific items into their pockets.

I watched for a minute until it clicked. These kids were stealing only the food items. They were hungry.

I seized that moment to say "STOP". I explained that I just realized that maybe we should be using such a valuable resource, such as food, for art. We take food for granted in our country. And here I was gluing it down while 3 kids in my class were hungry.

I gathered up the last of the food items & carefully stuck them into the eldest boys' backpack. I didn't have to say anything. He knew, that I knew.

I will never use food as a craft project again. I also encourage my kids to say no when it comes to projects at school that use food items as craft supplies. When a craft project comes home that does use food, I simply tell my story to the teacher.

Whatcha think? Should food be allowed for craft projects at school or daycare?

Trunk or treating

We used to live in a small town & went to a church that skillfully protested trick or treating.

Our church rented a small fairground & filled it with fair type games. Darts & such. The prize for participating in each game was a candy or small toy. Everyone dressed up. It was a fun alternative to trick or treating. Too crowded, but fun for kids.

A neighboring church did trunk or treating. Their congregation would sign up to hand out candy from their trunks to kids in the community. They had a decorating contest to see who in the church could come up w/ the best themed trunk. One year my SIL did Christmas. Blow ups, lights the works. I didn't get to see it, but knowing her I'm sure it was amazing.

Here's my gripe about trunk or treating... isn't it just luring kids w/ candy to a stranger's car?

I know the intent is different. But the concept is the same. And in the mind of a 5 year old there is no difference.

I also question the lessons taught by going to ANY stranger's house asking for candy. We only visit people we know.

What do you all do on Halloween?

Family night

We have had several family nights since my last official family night post. Truth is, I'm working so hard on getting pics of the activities, food & kids...I wasn't enjoying myself.

This week's no different. It was Disney night, we were busy, I got no pics because I was busy enjoying myself.

Here what we did. For a centerpiece we had a mini suitcase w/ Disney stuff inside, stuffed characters around the house & food...lots of food.

We had Pizza Planet pizza, mickey & cars shaped pasta salad, deviled eggs w/ sliced olive mickey ears & our guests brought cupcakes & fruit salad.

We played Disney Scene it & told each other the things we're looking forward to the most about our upcoming trip.

Tiffany was so nice & brought the girls Disney themed notebooks & pens.

Tiffany works w/ hubs & is taking her family to Disney the week before we go. But, we overlap 1 day so we're hooking up at Chip & Dale's campfire singalong before they leave.

It's so much fun to share family night. And even w/ no pics, the kids will remember these for years!!

My kid likes to wipe herself

My littlest Campbell is awesome at using the potty. She has a Dora potty seat for inside the house & a Pooh Bear potty for in the car.

When we're out, I just open up the barn doors & she goes right there in the back of the Excursion. Like so:
he refuses to use "toilet papers" when we're out. Yuck.

At home, she uses her Dora potty. After she goes, she insists on only using "ONE SQUARE OF TOILET PAPERS!"

None of these pieces made the cut. It can't have a tad missing. It can be a tad bigger. It has to be JUST RIGHT!

If she doesn't go, she saves the "toilet papers" for later by tucking into her potty handle. I would say she's frugal because of that, but she just wasted 9 perfectly useful pieces of toilet paper...she BETTER save that usable one.

Grade school punishment

I just got back from Kenady's Kindergarten Orientation. What a joke. We sat through an hour of description of what they're going to teach.

Seriously. Aren't you going to teach counting to 100, basic phonics, responsibility, respectfulness, being a good friend & SIT DOWN & SHUT UP. I prefer the majority of the school year be that last lesson. Just kidding...relax.

The teacher also gave us a list of rewards & consequences. Here is that list:

Rewards are Praise, Postive note sent home, Gold slip reporting good behavior & prizes from the prize box (which the teacher says she rarely gives out). These are all fine & dandy. My middle daughter would love to get any of these & will work her fanny off to get them. My oldest is all about the prize box....the other stuff is child's play.

Consequences: My middle daughter would be crushed if any of these things below happened. My oldest who is a self proclaimed comedian will give Mrs. Teacher a run for her money. This kid is the cream of the crop in every subject & makes sure to correct her teachers when they are wrong. YES - she has caught them doling out incorrect information to the classroom. I received a phone call from the teacher, that's how I know. She was trying to punish Cyra w/a phone call home for pointing it out during class. I said "was Cyra correct, or were you correct? Was she disrepectful at all? No? so you were just embarassed?"

Here are the consequences
First time: verbal warning - Kenady would be crushed & sobbing if this happened. Tender little thing.
Second time: name on board - why does this scare kids? All it means is that your teacher A. remembers your name & B. she can spell it accurately.
Third time: time-out & note sent home - this would scare me. My Dad would have been irrate. But not at me, at the teacher. I could do no wrong in his eyes. This became a huge problem once high school hit & boys were in the picture.
Fourth time: sent to principal - Cyra would be upset at this point. It would take the biggest punishment to get her to even THINK about changing her behavior. And I only think she'd be upset at this point because she'd lose some serious perks.

I got sent to the office one time for wearing too short of a skirt & an off the shoulder blouse. My Mom (who worked at the school) was called in as well. Mom's answer "I think she looks GOOD"

How many times were you sent to the principal's office & what for?

Fetus Friday #3

Fetus Friday is a carnival hosted by Amy Beth to help her Roomie learn all she can before giving birth in a few months.

I have to admit that I'm not the normal Mom after I give birth. I don't rest when the baby is resting. My house looks amazingly clean. I prepare great meals. All of that is because I feel so much better after that thing is out!!! In fact I had Campbell at 5:43 in the morning, left the hospital at noon, & attended a church potluck that night at 6. Not normal, I know.

The reason is that I get extremely sick during my pregnancy. Can't go anywhere. Lose some weight. The first I lost 23 lbs, second I lost 18 lbs, third I lost 16. Of course I gain it back (plus) after baby is born. =(

If you feel more normal after your birth (and by normal I mean...hit by a train) please accept help from those who offer. BUT, be clear. A lot of good meaning people just want to come hold your baby. Truth is...YOU'LL want to hold your baby. Tell them what you need help with. Laundry, freezing meals, grocery shopping, mopping floors....anything at all. My Mom came for a week and did all of this for me. Even though I didn't NEED it...once she left...it was a huge blessing.

You'll want as much quality time w/ baby during those first few days. Don't feel like you have to let everyone hold him just because they offered help. BTW - some of this fear will ease with each subsequent birth. =)

Another thing people will do is grab baby's hand & kiss it.....YIKES. Babies put their fists in their mouth. Your baby could have just gotten herpes...seriously. When people come up to my baby, I'm quick to put my hand up & say "I prefer you touch her hair & not her hands. She likes to suck on her fists." Surprisingly kids are cool with this...adults are not. But I WILL NOT risk my baby getting something nasty because I was worried about hurting people's feelings. I am their only advocate.

Of course you could just put on those little mitten things too. But I always had girls & painted their nails so...I CAN'T DO MITTENS! Here are some pics of my middle girl Kenady:

My brother holding her at 2 weeks.
Her little puckered lips...Mmmm...kisses.
This girl has some great eyelashes.
And great hair.

School's starting

School is starting in 9 days! 9 days!

I remember my first full school year here. I went to Walmart w/ my oldest to get her list & buy what she needed. We searched at Walmart's list kiosk & our school's list is missing. Not one of the kiosk's had it. I asked a passerby & they told me that at Penn, we don't buy school supplies.

HOORAY! No school supplies? That'll save me about $30 for the year. Yippee.

Then I get a letter from her school. With a list of items that THEY will provide...for a HUGE fee.

Cyra's first year was $150. They have us buy new books every year!! Every year!! Where do the old books go? That's what I wanna know.

This year Cyra's school fee is around $165. Kenady's is $95. Imagine if you had 5 kids in school. That could put some people in a very bad way considering our area has lost over 1500 jobs in the past month.

The school will allow you to make no interest payments until February. But seriously...I do not want to get in the habit of financing ANYTHING. Not even interest free school supplies.

Anyone else out there have the same sort of school supply fiasco?

Fetus Friday #2

It's Fetus Friday again. We're helping Amy Beth's roomie learn all she can from us veteran moms. Cyra & her lovely baby Christina are helping me this week.

My second installment is going to be on burping your baby. Colic is a nasty, dirty, horrible, very bad thing. Most babies get colic from gas not being able to escape their little bellies. OK - let's let out a collective "Ohhh....poor little thing" ...ok good.

First, when feeding your babe stop every once or so to burp them. Sit them on your lap like so

Start at the bottom of the baby's back, putting pressure on him, rub up. You'll know if there's a burp in there, because you can actually FEEL the air. I can't explain what it feels like, but they sort of wiggle when you get to the spot that's full of air.

It also works well to hold them on your hip, facing out. You can support their little neck & get your other hand around to work it out. Although this position encourages spit up...at least the spit up is AWAY from you.

Laying baby on your legs works good to. Either straight up & down or sideways. Both work. Use the same rubbing motion. Start the bottom, rub up w/slight pressure. Repeat. This will usually put baby to sleep, especially if you bounce your knees slightly.
I know it seems like burping is a small issue. I can't tell you how many moms don't do it thoroughly & end up w/ some nasty colic.

Better out than in right?

Family night.

Last night's family night was so much fun. We invited Kem Meyer & Mark Meyer (along w/ their kiddos) over for the event.

We started off w/ some chips & pureed frog skin & frog guts (salsa & guaco). We drank pond scum (7up & sherbert).

For dinner we had frog legs (chick tenders) swamp sludge (green mashed potatoes & green gravy) & lilly pads (salad). Dessert was a scoop of green ice cream w/ junior mints & gummy lifesavers for eyes. Kem's daughter doesn't like ice cream so we also had sugar cookies...but she did end up eating the ice cream too. =)
For fun, we made origami jumping frogs. Where I was accused of rigging the instructions so mine would be the only one that jumped. THEY WERE WRONG!

Then the kids played a frog throwing game. I laid out 3 lilly pads about 8 feet away & they had to try & get the frogs ON the plate.
The kids ended the night w/ some pool splashing.

The cost for the night was a little more than normal, but I had been saving on previous nights to compensate. We were at about $32.

It was so much fun to share our family night w/ others. We'll have to do that more often!

Check out Heather's blog for more posts on Family night.

Hepatitis song

Does anyone remember that Public Service Announcement about Hepatitis that used to air in the early 80's?

It's been stuck in my head for weeks. I'm hoping by "singing" it on the blog, it will somehow stop.

Here goes

Hepatitis has some symptoms we should learn to recognize.
Like fever, feeling very tired & loss of appetite.
Your tummy hurts, you feel real sick, you will not eat a bite.
Your eyes sometimes turn yellow where they only should be white.

So wash your hands after going to the bathroom.
Wash your hands after changing babies too.
Cuz we don't wanna catch hepatitis.
And we don't want hepatitis to catch you
Who?
You!

There I feel better now. BTW - I tried to find this on video for you all, so you could get it stuck in YOUR head for weeks get the tune, but no such luck.

UPDATE: Big thanks to PSPam for forwarding this vid to me. At about 1 min 50 sec you will hear the best Public Service Announcement ever created. It's not the original (obviously), but you'll get the gist.

Birth plans Shmirth plans

Hooray! This is the first week in AmyBeth's Fetus Friday Carnival. Head over to her blog & read why we are all excited for this time in her life.

First I have to bring attention to my oldest daughter Cyra Lynn. She is 3 days old in this pic. She was born August 12, 1999 at 8:06 a.m. Weighing 6lb 7 oz & 18 3/4 in long. She had the most beautiful black hair...*sigh*

Here's my advice...First edition:

Everyone (over the last decade or so) feels like they MUST have a birth plan. That's the plan you have in place that describes in detail what you want to happen in the delivery process.

For example I have a friend who decided she MUST NOT use drugs. Another one who wanted Enya playing in the background while she was laboring. One who wanted a video camera "down there" documenting that beautiful thing they call birth.

I had my first labor planned in my head too. And then my water broke. It was "supposed" to happen while hubs was home and on a weekend so I could immediately go back to work on Monday morning. Yeah right. It happened on the toilet. Splash. Uh oh.

Then I was supposed to labor for a day while I waited for my parents to come from OR. Nope. I didn't labor at all. Not for 12 hours. Once it did start...I. HAD. 36. MINUTES. TO. PERFORM. That's right 36 minutes from first contraction to delivery.

I had planned to have an epidural, but 36 minutes isn't long enough. Dang it.

So my advice is...don't have such a rigid plan. God has one for you & for your little one. You really have no say in the matter. Roll w/ the punches.

The pain may not be so bad that you need drugs (mine wasn't). You may decide you don't want TIME magazine documenting every curse word or exorcist type outburst (oh yes, you'll have a few). And you may decide to watch Wheel of Fortune instead of listening to your mixtape of relaxing music. "Can I have a W Alex. For WHY ON EARTH DID I EVER GET MYSELF INTO THIS PREDICAMENT. FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY...MAKE IT STOP!?!"

My Mom told me..."The only thing predictable about labor & delivery...is that it's unpredictable." Amen.

No matter how your labor goes, at the end of the day (or 2, or 3, or 36 min) you still have a beautiful baby in your arms. God intended it that way...so you'll keep reproducing. And you will actually WANT to take care of that alien that somehow got your cheek bones.

Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class

Wall - E was such a great movie. Who else but Disney could keep kids occupied for an hour w/ only a handful of words? No one, that's who. I can't even do that w/ my own kids.

I love the idea of robots having feelings & wanting mates. I also love the awareness it brought to my kids. Buying all that "stuff" & then knowing it all has to go somewhere after it's lost its lustre (usually w/in 24 hours). I'm hoping I can use this story line next time they are begging for a new toy at Stuff Mart.

If you haven't seen it yet...GO NOW! It's really cute.

New Vacation Clothes

UPDATE: I've had so many requests for the pattern. Silly me, I forgot to link it. Here it is ladies. Can't wait to see what you all find!

We've had a vacation planned since last August. And through extraordinary circumstances, we're still able to go even through our financial stress.

The girls started asking last week if they were getting new vacation clothes. Sometimes I'll get them a new swimsuit, shorts or dress. I decided to try & see what I could get for $20, which was how much fun money I had to live off of for the month. We went to Goodwill for 1/2 off day, but nothing tickled their fancy. I remembered a pattern I saw once where you used a men's shirt to make a little girls' dress.

We headed to the men's section & found 6 shirts (2 each) and bought them all for $15.

I've gotten pictures of 5 of them. The baby wouldn't hold still for the 6th. Check 'em out.


This Hula one was the hardest. The yoke in the back was round instead of straight. I did a lot of piecing, but it turned out adorable. It was a men's XL.

This orange one was a men's L. So cute. And it's super soft.


Kenady is so tired of being a model. She probably had 4 fittings for the straps. Sorry kiddo.

Cyra about screamed when she saw this flaming shirt. We call it "Little House meets Nascar".

This one was a women's XL and had long sleeves. I ran out of elastic, but as you can see, I'm using the sleeves as knickers.

My hubby was proud of me for taking the time to give them something new and teach them how to reinvent something. I just do it to see that look on their face & to hear "Mom, is my dress clean yet? I want to wear it AGAIN today."

Family night.

I have a weekly budget of $10 for our family nights. That's supposed to cover any decor, extra food, games or gifts. We are having guests over for our family night in 2 weeks, so we're doing our best to save $ on the nights preceding it. So, last night we did camping night.


We started off with tacos in a bag (or walking tacos). You crunch up any flavor of corn chips in their single serving bag & then add tacos fixings. You can then eat it out of the bag w/a plastic fork and have NO DISHES. That's what I'm talkin' about.

We sang campfire songs that Cyra learned at camp & some I know from being a counselor for so many years & from being a Girl Scout leader. We sang Baby Shark, There was a Moose, Princess Pat, Tony Chestnut, Swing Low, OREO and many others.


The kids made ice cream in a bag. You put sugar, milk & vanilla in a small freezer bag. Then take rock salt & ice in a large freezer bag. Put the small one, in the large one & pass it around (shaking it) for 5 min. (you can also do this inside a coffee can & make it "kick the can" ice cream.)We topped it all off w/ smores.

It was a fun (less work) kinda night. I like those kind. All I had to buy was the chocolate bars ($2).


Let me know if you do a family night....I always need new ideas.

Family night.

This week's family night was much more serious than our usual ones. Our theme was "Family Board Meeting." And sorry, I was way too busy to snap pics. =(

After dinner we sat at our long table and had a "Caste your vision meeting" We talked about what our vision is for our family nights. We decided it's to make us closer & have fun with each other.

Next we did a "build each other up" game. Dad started by throwing a "stuffie" to someone he wanted to compliment. Then they threw it to someone THEY wanted to compliment. We probably went around the whole table at least 3 times. Dad made me cry w/ his compliment...it was so sweet. =)

Next we started creating our Family Mission Statement. Dr. Stephen Covey describes this as an important part of creating a strong Family . It will probably take us a few weeks to write, but here are our notes:

Money - be good stewards, tithe, no debt

Physical - excercise so we'll live a long life, feel good too, eat healthy, moderation

Intellectual - be willing to learn from each other, mentors, books, bible...take time to read.

Emotional - home is a safe place to talk about anything, honesty, trustworthy

Social - be a good neighbor, choose friends wisely, invest in quality friendships, show people the love of God

Family - once a year vacation (or staycation), when we're all at home we're spending time together(not at opposite ends of the house), we stand up for each other, kinds words to or about each other, show respect & have manners, respect & take care of our home & stuff, HAVE FUN.

The girls did a great job coming up w/ stuff that was important to them in our family. I was quite impressed. I have been waiting to do this until they could have more input.

When we're done writing the final draft, we'll have it printed & framed for our home. I'll post it then too!

Family night.

I was so surpised when Los twittered on Monday that they were having a Christmas themed Family night....THAT WAS MY IDEA FOR THIS WEEK! The girls had been talking about it for a week! Wed. was exactly 6 months until Christmas.

I decided to go ahead and do it anyway. And I'm so glad I did. We had a great time. First we put up our stockings that were filled with a few small treats. I LOVE our stockings. Grandma Wally taught me how to do them. They're 3-D and full of sequins & beads. So cute!

Next we made ornaments out of paint sticks. They turned out so cute. We even made a few extras.
The extra ornaments were personalized for our neighbors. We handed them out while we were out Christmas Caroling! They all had a HUGE smile on their faces seeing the girls at their door! Except poor Michelle who was out wrangling her 4 boys. We just sang to her in the street!


We came home and had a FULL ON Christmas dinner. I got a picture of the turkey & gravy...but we ate the rest too fast.


We followed it up by watching The Santa Claus 3 in the basement. I've been trying to keep track of how much I spend on these nights...Christmas night's total was JUST UNDER $4. I already had the food, it was just the small treats & the library movie rental. I already had the paint & hubby got the paint sticks from work!

If you do a family night, leave a comment...I'd love to check it out!!!

Family night.

This week I let the girls use their family night idea and do all the decorating.

They chose Disney princess night. =/ The table was decorated w/ my wedding shoes, and tons of princess figurines.
We had Chicken Cordon Bleu...their favorite...and sorta fancy. I served their dinner on dragon plates. You know, prince slays the dragon, saves the princess...
While I was cooking they built castles out of their Princess blocks.


After dinner we played plant the kiss on the frog prince. I won.


The girls love to dress up (except Campbell). Cyra was Jasmine, Kenady was Belle, then Ariel. ...and Campbell dressed up for the 1st time (w/ out screaming) as Minnie!