End-of-Summer {field} Trips

Our summer is about to officially wrap up~can't believe fall is almost here! August has been crazy busy so far, but these last couple of weeks are (hopefully) going to be a little slower.

We had two short trips back-to-back at the beginning of this month ...which made me realize more than ever that my son is just not a very good traveler. But we survived. And even had some fun in the meantime ;)

Our first trip was to Indianapolis for a ministers conference. I didn't attend much of the conference, but I did get to hang out in a cozy hotel room downtown with my kiddos, eating some delicious pizza, and watching lots of the Food Network (a guilty hotel splurge since we don't have cable).

The kids and I also did a bit of walking around downtown while Vince was at the conference. Indy has a lovely downtown and I always enjoy visiting there!

So then we came home for a couple of days and turned around and headed back to the Cincinnati area. One of my childhood friends who lives in Alaska was in the lower 48 visiting family and friends, so we made plans to meet for the day at the Creation Museum. It was so much fun to see her! We haven't seen each other in person since before either of us was married. It was fun introducing our kids, too. We have daughters who are just 6 months apart in age and sons who are just 2 months apart in age.

Of course, we loved our visit to the Creation Museum--it was our 4th visit (if you count the debate) and they have awesome new exhibits every time we go! If you haven't been before, I highly recommend it. Oh--and this year all kids are {free}!

While in the Cincinnati area we were able to stay with some dear family friends who live nearby~Jack & Joy. And they were a true joy to stay with! Jack is one amazing cook and I think we gained 10 lbs while there...ha!

It seems like most everyone has started back to school or homeschool by now. We will be starting on September 2nd--the day after Labor Day is our tradition. We have already begun the school year's activities with our local homeschool group though and are enjoying that. I'm glad that I've still got a couple of weeks to get organized for school!

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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