Walkin' in Memphis

This past weekend I took a little overnight trip to Memphis with four of the ladies who work with me in the youth department at church. It was strictly all play and no work! It's been a long time since I've done anything like that. Since none of us had ever really spent any time in Memphis before, we were totally the dorky tourists. It was quite funny! First off, we hit Beale Street which is famous for its jazz music.

at Hard Rock Cafe on Beale Street (I'm in pink)

We had fun checking out the rock star stuff at HRC and then strolling down the street a little. It was mostly just a lot of free-flowing beer (which is not my scene at all) and some trashy tourists shops. There was some great live music going in lots of little spots though and some cool music history. But when we saw the horse and carriage rides, we had to do that. It was so much fun! Our driver took us all over the downtown area for some great sights. Along with some awesome historical sights we even saw the building that Tom Cruise jumped out of in The Firm. We ended the evening looking like drowned rats though as we got caught in a downpour just after our sightseeing tour. The next morning I was somehow coerced into going to Graceland (a place I've never had any interest in). I consented since we weren't actually going inside--just up to the gates for some photo opps. Of course, I had to have my moment at the gates of Graceland, too.

Rockin' with Elvis at Graceland

And then I had to ham it up with Elvis at the souvenir shop.

You ain't nothin' but a hound dawg, baby!!

One of our requirements was to eat at someplace *famous* while there. The only thing we came up with was Neely's. You know, the BBQ folks that Paula Deen "discovered" and now they have their own Food Network show. Well, their BBQ is pretty delicious!!

the combo platter at Neely's--I swear I split it with my friend!!

Then we walked off our lunch at the mall. It was just an over-all great weekend! We laughed our sides out--at each other, of course. They teased me for being everybody's mom: "don't you dare throw that gum on the street, find a trash can!!"

We're looking forward to another *Girls Outing* very soon!!

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

Fun With 4th of July Crafts: Part 3

I love my new patriotic front door wreath!! I had fun putting this together, although I must admit this is more of an adult craft than one for kiddos. I was inspired by this article in Family Fun magazine. I didn't have quite everything I needed for this one, but all I had to purchase was a few sheets of scrapbook paper and some double-sided tape. Then all I had to gather up were some scissors, regular Scotch tape, a ruler and some cardboard. First I cut four (5"x 6") pieces of each paper. Then by placing a piece of double-sided tape on one of the short ends of the papers, I rolled them into cones, pressing the seams together well. Then I cut a 10" circle out of cardboard and began to stick the cones on it. I used another piece of double-sided tape to stick the cones on, arranging them in a circular pattern. Next I used regular Scotch tape to attach them on the back to the back of the cardboard. After getting all the cones on, I was ready for my centerpiece. He...

my blessed life

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