Space Rangers & Cowgirls

While we don't celebrate the *spooky* part of Halloween, we enjoy the *dressing up and getting candy* part:) My two little trick-or-treaters had so much fun, and so did I, walking around our neighborhood.

*Jessie* of Toy Story 2 fame

*Buzz Lightyear*, also of Toy Story 1 & 2 fame

As it turns out, we live in a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating, except for our particular street. Our house and one neighbor's house were the only ones with lights on. My mom came over to see the kiddos and then stay at our house to hand out candy--while we were out collecting more. Finally she called me on my cell phone and said, "I've given out all of your candy, all of your Twinkies, all of your fruit snacks and all of your apples! I can't find anything else to hand out!" I told her to turn the lights out:) LOL

Here *Jessie* (aka, The Princess) is holding our neighbor's dog, whom she plays with all the time. The dog was dressed as a ladybug. So cute!

And even though this picture is a little dark (it was dark outside), I just had to share it. This is *Buzz* (aka, Mr. B) protecting us with his laser light beam. LOL He was SO into his character. Instead of saying "trick or treat" at the doors he would "laser them" (yes, Vince attached a real red light to his sleeve). Then he started running and sliding in yards on his stomach and lasering whoever was there (complete with all the sound effects, at which he is quite good). It was hilarious!

I love my kids! They are awesome!

AND so is my husband! Gotta give him props for being such a great dad. Last week before he left on his first trip, he got their costumes completely ready to go. He made *Jessie's* chaps with duct tape. Then after deciding it would be more feasable to buy this *Buzz* costume rather than making our own or buying the more expensive one with wings, he built some wings himself, using foam core board and, yes, more duct tape. He also picked up some Crocs at a thrift store and covered them in yet more duct tape to make some matching shoes. We might be a little ghetto in our costume methods, but they sure do turn out cute!

Maybe I should get him to do some guest posts on costume how-to's.....

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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