What to do during Christmas vacation, if you are 13

So 2Cool came in and said to me. "Mom, Look how manly I am"
I just laughed and took a picture to put on my blog.
Then I went up to the bathroom and found little hairs all over the counter, and sink in the bathroom and mentioned the mess, and he said to me.
"Yeah, I know, that is what you get when you have a manly man in the house". "Uncle Zeke will be so jealous."
Apparently he made it out of electrical tape and his sisters doll hair. I am sure she will be thrilled when she sees the condition of her doll.

The other thing you can do, is break your arm like his cousin Duckslayer.

I am so glad I am not 13 anymore!

Christmas, Busy?

Does anyone else feel totally overwhelmed by this time of year?

I have over 200 posts on my google reader and I don't see me getting to them anytime soon. Nothing has been wrapped yet.

Brief synopsis of craziness.....

Last week I made treats and locked them in my car to keep the kids out of them. sheesh!

I have been trying to teach him the song "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" we aren't quite there yet.

Little man was having a bad night that night so I let him climb in bed with me. He chatted on for a couple of hours. One of the cute things I need to record for posterity, he turned to me and said. " Mom, me and BigD are BFF's" I asked him if he knew what that was, he knew.

I hope they are always BFF's. (Grandma, that means best friends forever)

Sunday night I had the privilege of having my parents over for dinner. We had Tomato Pie and Bacon Wrapped Chicken, BTW Queen Goob, it was great!! Thanks for coming, it was really fun to have you.
That just takes us to Sunday I need to get some projects finished, so I will be back later.
The Tomato Pie recipe is from my great aunt. She is a amazing cook, I highly recommend trying it even though it sounds weird. Yummy!!!

TOMATO PIE

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake one 9-inch pie shell about 7 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees.

8 large Roma tomatoes (or enough to fill the crust), chopped
¼ cup onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup (plus) Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 cup mayonnaise

Sprinkle 1 cup Mozzarella cheese in bottom of partially baked crust. Mix tomatoes with onion and garlic and pout into crust. Mix Parmesan cheese and mayonnaise together and spread on top. Sprinkle with additional Mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is browned (about 25 minutes)

My love/hate relationship.

Last week my two cousins and I went shopping and it was lots of fun, thanks Amy and Tracy. Anyway we were looking at Christmas music and got into a discussion about certain songs, Christmas Shoes is a horrible song!!!! It should be banned from the radio waves. But that is just my opinion and, we all know what opinions are like.

Amy mentioned that I don't like the song "Mary did you know?" Now technically it is a pretty song and the message is a great one. I just have issues with some of the lines. These ones in particular.

~Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy Would save our sons and daughters?
~Did you know that your Baby Boy Has come to make you new;
~This Child that you delivered Will soon deliver you.
~Did you know that your Baby Boy Has walked where Angels trod?
~When you kiss your Little Baby, You kiss the Face of God!
~Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy Is Lord of all creation?
~Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy Will one day rule the nations?
~Did you know that your Baby Boy Is Heaven's Perfect Lamb?
~This sleeping Child you're holding Is the Great I Am! "

Here is the whole song for your listening enjoyment.

(Tracy, I was going to use the Kenny/Wynonna one but the videos were stupid and lame. Sorry)
Now, I know I am being anal, it is a doctrine issue for me.

Mary knew who her Son was. She knew He was the Savior, that He was God's son. She knew of his divinity!
Really that is my only issue. I find myself yelling at the radio, while crying, (It touches me, regardless of my doctrinal issues) saying "Yes, yes, you stupid people she knew"!

Please don't send me hate mail, it is a beautiful song and a heck of a lot more appropriate than other Christmas songs.

This on the other hand, this is one of my Favorites. I have no doctrinal issues with this one.

Turn it up, it really is a beautiful song!

Joseph (I Was Not His Father, He Was Mine) - Michael McLean

What are your favorites?
For some stupid reason the comment part isn't coming up, I don't know why.
Leave your comments on the next post down please, pretty please with sugar on top.

Question????

So I have a question for everyone. What age do you think children could go up skiing without adult supervision for the day?
Needless to say my hubby and I have different opinions, but I am not going to tell you which feels which way. Those who know me, I am sure you know.

Ornaments

Last night we finally found a night when we all would be home to put the ornaments on the tree. The kids had a great time! Except for 2Cool, he decided this year he is too old to do such silly things like putting the ornaments up. Am I the only mom having this issue? I have to admit I was a bit peeved.

Yes, my hubby is colorblind, hence the two colors of green he is wearing. We love him anyway, we just avoid being seen in public with him

It does look like Christmas threw-up on it but I am okay with that. In years past I would have moved them all to make them more evenly distributed, alas no ESO (Evenly Distributed Ornaments) this year.

Big D has put so many ornaments in this one spot you can't even tell how many. I thought it was hilarious!

Christmas Crafty?

Many of the blogs I visit have been sharing their favorite Christmas decor and projects I wanted to do the same. So here is a few.

I made the little tiny presents from scrap lumber and scrap ribbon. The other stuff all came from the second-hand store.


I have found the candle holders second-hand over the past few months and wanted cheap candles to go on them but, couldn't find what I wanted. I found these presents at the $ store. The nutcracker came from Germany, and is one of my favorite things to put up every year. Thanks Amy!

One of my favorite shelves. I want to find something fun to hang off the knobs. I just don't know what yet.

Next, every year I do a few of these nets to go over glass ornaments. It takes me about 6-7 hours to do one. This year the one I did is quite tight but, I don't want to start over. I think it looks like a fancy Barbie skirt before it is put over the bulb. I am going to experiment with some other designs this year, if they turn out, I will try to post pictures.

This is kind of what they look like finished. I still need to pull it tight with some thread.

Next I made a clock for my cousin Amy for her birthday. The pic below is halfway through the process. It started out an army green color. At this point I have Modge Podged some cute Christmas paper on it and added the little Christmas lights but it still needed something. So I emailed a pic to my friend Tausha for ideas to finish it.

Here is the finished product. I like how it turned out, in fact so much I almost didn't give it to her. But I like Amy more, so I decided to be giving. Thanks Taush for the help.

Also note the cute salt and pepper shakers from my Aunt Kathleen, Thanks. I love them.

Poky, hair combing tree.....

Tonight the kids and I put the lights on the tree. Needless to say it was loads of fun! Big D called it a poky, hair combing tree. It is so poky it drew blood on both 2Cool and I. Little man walked under it and said it combed his hair, hence the name.

Red read the story 3 trees to the little kids, and I swore at the tree.

2Cool did a great job with the lights. Hubby was at transformer training, and I think BigD is going to drive us all nuts if we don't get the tree totally up. So we went ahead without hubby.

Oh Christmas Tree

We finally went to get a tree today! As we are traveling up this bumpy dirt road to get to a saw mill to cut our own tree, the kids are all going " ahhhhh" and because it is bumpy it is all wavery sounding. Then 2 Cool pipes up and says, "We sound like a flock of sheep." It was funny because he was so right!


2 Cool had to point out all the snow. If you click on it you might see it.

I really wish it would snow hard!


The picture below is what we have had other years.
I think this might be 2004

Look closely, you can see us all piled in the back because, our van wouldn't make it up the mountain.
That is my brother Zeke standing behind the truck . Good Times!


Here we are just getting started! It was super sunny, almost to the point of annoying. It is just wrong to look for a Christmas tree in this weather.

We looked, and looked and Big D even pointed out a few he thought were perfect!
The tree is a bit Charlie Brownish, but we aren't looking for perfect, we go for the fun!































2Cool and Red cut the tree down, this is 2Cool.



Cutie helped her Dad load it in the trailer.


















Now I just need to get the lights and decor on the thing before Christmas is over.

Hippogriff?

This past weekend 2 Cool has decided he hates feet. He especially hates it if you put your feet on him. (yes, I will be using this as a form of torture motivation)

Anywho, back to the story, so on Monday after FHE he decides to put his feet on someone else (I can't remember which child now, that was Monday for goodness sake. Do you really expect me to remember anything that long?) So at the point where the other child is screaming and telling him to get his feet off him. Red turns to him and says, "2Cool, you are a hippogriff!" at which point 2Cool explains to him that the word he was looking for is, Hypocrite. Snort!

Christmas band concert!

Last night 2 Cool had his Christmas band concert. The really cool thing is he and his cousin who goes to a different school have the same teacher.

2 Cool and Duck Slayer

Now about this teacher, he is awesome!!!! He may not be the most technically correct teacher, (I wouldn't know if he was) but these 2 boys love band, and think it is the most awesome thing in the world. This teacher is cool and has taught them to love music, he has taught them to love playing the hard song, and working at it until it is right.



















I was expressing to my nephew, lets call him "Duck Slayer" that I was going to write a thank-you note to their teacher, and started to tell him why, when he piped in and said " because he is so freakin awesome" then I said, "Well because," and he interrupted and said, " because he is so freakin awesome!" Those are the words from a shy, average student about this teacher.
I love their teacher for teaching these boys to love and cherish music! There is no greater gift a teacher can give, than to teach kids to learn to love learning. Especially music in my opinion, music can move you in ways nothing else can and can get you through life anytime, anywhere.

"Thanks Band Teacher man, you are so freakin' awesome!"

Shopping/Black Friday

I am just going to state now that shopping isn't my thing. I would much rather make gifts, than join the crowds. Especially on Black Friday!

Maybe working Black Friday for 10 years at KB Toys is part of the reason. I lived through the Tickle Me Elmo craze, the XBox Debacle, the Tamagotchi weirdness, and all the other idiocy from 1994 to 2004. I remember people sliding under the gate as it was rising, I remember people having screaming contests over stupid toys! Mental blockage in this instance it is a good thing. I can't remember all the mayhem because, I choose to block it out.

Thanksgiving?

Here is my thankful post......
~ (If you are male don't read this one any further, move down to the next squiggly line) I am so thankful I could have my second period for the month, just in time for the holiday. Yay Me! ( I have offered to donate my uterus to science, because I am done with it, but so far, no takers.)
On the positive side, without this fun time, I wouldn't be able to have had my wonderful children. I never have had to struggle with getting pregnant, in fact quite the opposite.

~ Speaking of kids, I am grateful for them. What else could possibly be more important than refereeing fights, screaming bribing them to help get the house clean, and answering the door 10,000,000 times, because their friends have nothing else better to do than ring it?
Seriously I do love them and they have their cute moments. Red always asks " Mom, how was your day?" Which reminds me to be kinder, and listen to him about his day. Big D always gives the sloppiest, loudest kisses, they make me laugh and brighten my mood.


~ I am thankful for the opportunity to cook the turkey, without which there would have been less entertainment for 2 Cool. I mean come on, how fun is it to watch a turkeys neck come out of it's keister. He found it quite entertaining, a little like an alien being born.

~ Family Drama, without which holidays would be way too boring!
I am grateful for all my family. They are always supportive and willing to help. Seriously.

~ My vacuum, what would I do if I could just pull the thing out and clean my house? If I didn't have to take the whole thing apart and find out why it isn't doing it's job every other time, where would I learn to mechanical, or to tape the proper philips head screwdriver to the side of it. Which does no good, because my kids think it is there so they can find it when they need it. That way they can use it to take other things apart, so they can loose it and get to hone their sleuthing skills by looking for it for hours, so I can vacuum again.


~ I am grateful for what little hair I have left. I have lost over half of my hair in the last month. It is a steroid/testosterone thing. What I can't figure out is, why can't my body be thin and my hair be thick, instead of the other way around. Maybe it is because of the next thing ?

~ Dark chocolate milky way and Diet Coke. Without it I am sure I would have beaten some child by now. I am also glad for good lids at the Chevron. Otherwise, when I dropped my Diet Coke on my seat it would have been really wet!

~The ladies at the Dentists office today, (no, I didn't make the appointment today, Hubbster did.) Without them, the appointment would have been awful. (4 out of the 5 kids with cavities) They are great to visit with, and all around fun ladies.

~ I am grateful for my dishwasher. We have lived in many places without a working one. Or without one at all. My mom still doesn't have one. Now if I could only teach the rest of my family that "Automatic" doesn't mean it loads and unloads itself. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who grasps this concept.

In all honesty, and all snarkiness aside, I do have so much to be grateful for. I have a roof over my head, my hubby has a good job, I have a husband who works hard and loves his kids. We have food on our table, and clothes on our backs. We have good friends and family who make our journey through life much easier.

Guess what, guess what?

Guess what?
I made a new friend at school today!
Yep I did! Her name is Jen.
I went over to help with the thanksgiving feast the 1st grade was having, and I got to meet one of my new bloggy friends. I was so excited to meet her , she is adorable and we are going with a big group of mutual friends to see twilight on Friday! What a lucky girl am I?
BTW Jen you made my day! ( and my hubby thinks I am hard to please.)

Shrinky dink fun!!!

For Thanksgiving day we have put together activities to keep the kids busy. One that I came up with is Shrinky Dinks. Now, some of you youngies won't have a clue what I am talking about. It is way fun! See how cute my turkey and little leaves are. I know I am super corny!


I went here to get directions. I would suggest doing that.

But I wanted to try it out, to find out what works best. This is what I have found so far.

~ Trace your design on one side with a permanent marker. (I used a sharpie)
~ Then sand the other side with 150 grit sand paper, (you could use finer I am sure) Then I colored the sanded side in with colored pencils.
When you put them in the oven, they start out flat, then curl up, and when they go flat again they are done. It only takes a couple of minutes, so watch them.

Tree of Thanksgiving

To thank the Lord in all things is not merely a courtesy, it is a commandment as binding upon us as any other commandment. ~ Marion G. Romney

Monday night last week, we talked about being thankful, for all things. In advance I cut a limb off a tree, and die-cut some leaves, and hooked ribbon to them, so they could be tied to the tree. Each of the kids has had to put one thing on the leaves every day this week. We have actually run out of leaves and I need to cut more. They have had a good time with it and I have enjoyed seeing what the appreciate. It is a quick inexpensive activity that I hope to repeat in future years. The limb is just stuck in a bunch of old pinto beans, I poured in an urn I had around.


The twins were arguing this morning about who was the oldest, Big D kept telling Little Man that he was the oldest and Little Man was getting quite upset. It is a bit confusing because Big D is about 5 inches taller, but he is a few minutes younger. It made me giggle, I am sure this is not the last conversation we will have on the subject.


While cleaning his room this morning I could hear Big D singing, I couldn't tell what he was saying. He just kept repeating it over and over. It was "Cross-eyed Armadillo." Just imagine that sung at the top of his lungs, to some made up tune, over, and over. I was giggling, until I started to loose my mind and had to ask him to quit singing.

Did you know, according to Big D

~ Pepperoni pizza is for boys, not pepperoni pizza is for girls.

~ You can't get ready for school until the sun is up, and the moon is down.

Idea?

Here is what I need, easy dinner recipes... I don't just want to cruise the net looking for good things because, let's face it all recipes you find, aren't always good! So I want tried and true recipes.

So I have a plan, I want yours, find a couple of your families favorites, here are the requirements.
~Around 5 or 6 ingredients ( stuff you have around)
~quick and easy, or crock pot friendly
~Healthy (not desserts)
~Kid friendly (please no brussel sprouts or spam)
~Keep the price low.
Leave the recipe as a comment, I will make it into a book and send you a copy! So the more the merrier. Let people know and hopefully we can have a whole bunch of great dinner ideas.

Parenting.....

I was reading Kellan's post about how we are different with our first child, as opposed to our fourth or fifth. It reminded me of a story about Red.

About 6 years ago, (the twins were about 1, Red about 4) the kids were playing in the bedroom and I heard a tremendous crash. I did not budge from what I was doing, ( Red was, and is, prone to crashes,) Then I heard 2Cool calling Reds name frantically. "Red, Red, Red...." I go running in there just as Red starts to come to. He had been up playing on the top shelf in his closet and fell and knocked himself out cold. I did call the doctor, and took him in for a CAT scan, all was well.

I have mentioned I am not graceful. As a teenager, I playing at a neighbors and jumped off a curb into what I thought was a puddle, black ice. Down I went, I started to walk home ( I can't remember if I was crying or not) my mom came around the corner in our big blue van. I told her I broke my arm. She said " let me get dinner fixed and then I will take you to the doctor". SHE FIXED DINNER BEFORE TAKING ME! I broke it right above the growth plate.

Although I was the oldest, she had 4 kids and I am sure, she was unsure, whether I had broken it or not. Being a parent, now I understand why. I had, and about a 6 weeks later broke my leg too. But that is a story, for another post.

Boys, Boys, Boys.....

Boys are weird!!!


Let me explain about the new skills that have manifested themselves at my house. Yesterday after the lying incident, Red had to show me a new skill he learned from his friend Matt. He takes a bendy straw and puts one part in his mouth, bends the straw, the other end under his naked arm pit and blows! Lovely sounds! Needless to say all the kids, including my daughter had to play an armpit farting symphony for me! I mentioned they might want to practice a song for thanksgiving entertainment. I am sure my mom and grandma will be thrilled.

Then Red came to me and said, " Mom, I am going to burp the biggest burp ever." when I inquired," Why?" he told me he swallowed a whole bunch of air!

Skills, I tell you skills, they are in plentiful supply at our house.

Die........T.

So I have put myself on a diet. My hubby informed me on Sunday he likes it when I am thinner.
I am trying not to eat any sugar, and only lean meats and veggies. One day down.... so many to go. I feel hungry all the time!! I hope that abates soon. Wish me luck!

Why I am not the favored mom in the neighborhood.

Picture this, a haggard overweight, mom trying to get their kids to do homework...... One is missing, Red is no where to be found. She calls for him several times, and knows her voice can be heard 2 blocks away. (No comments about bellaring women please.) No response. So she leaves the other 4 children at home and goes to try and find him. She first stops at the neighbors where a bunch of kids are playing on the tramp, the girls haven't seen him. Down the street, she knocks on the door, someone peeks through the blinds and she hears in a loud whisper, " It's your mom." the door opens and the mom inquired whether Red was there. The neighbor boy then tells her some convoluted story about Red going down the block with someone. The mom thinks to herself, maybe I heard wrong, this neighbor child wouldn't lie right to my face. She looks a while longer and returns home. 20 minutes later 2 Cool appears with Red. Mom asks Red to tell the truth about where he was, he lies to her face. Then 2 Cool is questioned as to where he found Red, mom is informed that he was at the boy's house. Red is informed that he is grounded for 3 days. One for not being where he was supposed to be, (We have a rule that I need to know where they are and who they are with always.) two for lying to her. He is also told he is not allowed to play with that boy anymore. Which is sad because up to this point I quite liked him.
Then the boy has the audacity to show up at my house to ask Red a question. I tell the boy I don't like to be lied to, and that I heard them through the door.
I am sure this is over the top, I generally do things to the extreme. I am not going to talk to the parents, because I have already handled the situation.
What would you do? Am I being unreasonable about the kid lying to me? Or about my son being deceitful and not following the basic family rules that we have gone over at least 100,000,000,000,000 times.
Yes, I know my kids are going to need therapy.

May be it is me.....

I find this situation to be different, tell me what you think.
My hubby's 72ish grandmother just got remarried, to a man she has only been dating for a couple of weeks.
No, that isn't the part I think is different.
The part I think is different is the fact that she didn't tell any of her kids until after the fact. Hmmmmm, different.
Maybe it is just me.

Out of the mouth of babes.

Big D tells me I have big armpits and a big butt.
Now, I would like to delude myself into thinking this is just because I am an adult and he is a tiny boy. (Those who know him know, the kid has no butt whatsoever.)
I know it isn't just the difference between child and adult bodies, I do have a big butt! Armpits......I am guessing they are pretty normal in size.

Cutie tells me I have a lot of grey hairs, "Why do you have grey hairs mom?" I explained to her about melatonin. Why should I admit is because I am almost 40?

Both of these things bring me to a quote in a book I am reading. (Extra points if you know which one.)
"Oh, but there's such a difference between saying a thing yourself and hearing other people say it. You may know a thing is so, but you can't help hoping other people don't quite think it is."
What in your life is there that you know is true but hope others don't see in you?

Canning again?

My SIL Amanda, and my mom cutting up the meat.

So my mom, both SIL, and I spent the day at my SIL Amanda's house canning venison today. Now before you all say ewww! It is really good. My SIL house will not be the same for a while, canning is messy.

Meat cooked and ready to go in the bottles. Look at the cool steam!

I personally don't think it tastes gamey at all. The nice thing is, it is very lean and helps make a really quick meal. After it is done you can just open the bottles and use it right away. My grandma who taught at the College of Family Life at USU for years, she is who taught my mom how to do it. Here is a picture of my grandma my cousin found on the Internet one day. I am not sure what class she is teaching in this photo.

Anyone who has any experience with venison, you know you have to cook it aaaallll dddddaaaayyyyy lllloooonnnnngggg, so that it is tender enough to eat. Canning it is time consuming at first, but is a huge time saver in the end.

My dad both brothers and an uncle all got a deer this year so something had to be done with the meat. If you think the men in your life might want to hear about it go here. If you want to know how to do it, e-mail me and I will give you the instructions. I don't want to bore you with the details here.

Here it is in the jars before adding broth to pressure can it for an hour and 15 minutes. (we live in higher altitude so it has to be cooked longer.)

Quote of the Day!

"Sufficient unto the day is one baby. As long as you are in your right mind, don't you ever pray for twins. Twins amount to a permanent riot." ~Mark Twain

This is from Debra's blog. Thanks for the quote. I think this applies to anyone with more than one kid.

Weekend woes........

Saturday, not a great day for me. The hubby was working overtime and I was home with the kids. I had assigned each of them chores and was yelling asking, them ever so nicely to get their jobs done.

Cutie's job was to clean the upstairs bathroom, at one point I went up there and she was no where to be found. Mount Everest had been built in the toilet out of toilet paper and then the remainder of the roll was used to decorate the bathroom. I don't actually know which one of the little turkeys kids did it and at this point I don't care.
Later, I heard a panicked voice coming from the bathroom "Go get mom, go get mom the toilet is flowing, MOM, MOM, it is flowing, it is flowing" As I came up the stairs, I was met by little Man who was completely naked (he was supposed to be taking a bath) I can hear water gushing and gushing onto the floor. To make the water flowing extra fun it makes the plaster fall out of the ceiling in the family room. Good times!!
I was cleaning the family room when the hot chocolate table fell on my head. Don't ask, it involved moving the furniture around. Needless to say standing said coffee table on it's end, and expecting it not to fall on your head is asking far too much.
Then Sunday hubby had his mandatory, voluntary training, which he has had every second Sunday for 4 years, and will have for one more. By the end of church all by myself with the kids I was done.

Let me just put it this way, it was a long weekend.

The thing to do.

For some reason these days it seems popular to talk about the new president-elect of the United States. So I have decided to get on that bandwagon, and share my thoughts.

Now I didn't vote for Obama, that being said I wasn't that thrilled to vote for McCain. McCain is squirrely, and I don't agree with everything Obama stands for.

But...... we as a nation need to stand together. That does not mean you can't stand up for your rights, or that you have to agree with everything. What does need to happen is we need to be united. Treat others with respect, and respect their opinions.

Doesn't the pledge say "One Nation under God, indivisible"? As a nation working together, we cannot be divided and crushed under the hammer of oppression, if we have a common goal. Don't ask me what that goal should be, I didn't throw my hat in the ring for a reason.

Maybe:

~ To be kinder to all people.

~ To do an honest days work, for an honest day's pay.

~ To live by the fundamental principals this nation was founded upon, instead of climbing our way to the top, not caring who we trample on along the way.

We need to work together, remember God and how richly he has blessed our lives, and try to make the lives of others better. Only then will we be truly happy.
What do you think should be our common goal? How can we be more united?

No Duh!

While I was sick and taking steroids, the doctor gave me Ambien for the insomnia caused by the steroids.

Now you have to know some thing about me, I never sleep well. I have a hard time falling asleep and if I wake up in the middle of the night for any reason, it takes me a couple of hours to go back to sleep.

I am a worrier, a stresser. I worry about the things I have to do, the economy, the things I have said and shouldn't have.You name it I worry and stress over it. Yes, even things that more than likely would never happen. I also dream a lot, and vividly which wakes me up from nightmares.

So occasionally I take the pills even now, (I try not to take them every night) I sleep well, fall asleep with in an hour of going to bed, and if I wake up, I can usually fall asleep within minutes.

So last night I pulled out a new prescription bottle, and on the bottle in the warnings it said:

May cause drowsiness.

Thank-you Captain Obvious!

I am so glad that they warned me so I didn't take some, and go on a road trip.

Hot lead!

Did you know that graphite (pencil lead) starts on fire when it comes in contact with 120 volts? Who would have thunk it?

(Yes this is the actual picture from the project)

Science Fair

2 Cool has a science fair project due in two weeks and we haven't even started.

Now in my day that would have been fine, you could do the whole thing 2 days before. (sorry mom, I now realize how stressful that really was.You always did an amazing job!)
But now they have to make a power point slides and send them to their teacher at random intervals during the process. Yikes!!

My son has chosen to do it on, the voltage carried by different metals. I can't help him with this, this is his dad's department. Hubby has been working overtime so we can buy crazy things like grocery's and clothes for the kiddos. I know, we are so extravagant.

So needless to say, I hope we get it done on time, and he does well. He says his science teacher doesn't like him and picks on him in class.

How do you know how much of that to believe?

My son takes after his mother, and has difficulty not talking in class. So I tend to think the teacher would just like him to, shut his cake hole, and pay attention. He is a great kid and a good friend, but not always student of the year. (Even though he will tell you I expect him to be.)

He and I both want this project to be amazing and blow the teacher away!

2 weeks, is it possible?

Red wants to do one again this year, he doesn't have to do one, but enjoys it. Last years was on cleaning pennies. (Really, you need to check it out!) This year we are thinking about testing flame retardant material. Should be fun. I am so glad his isn't due until January.

P.S. I voted today. No lines and way easy, I didn't vote a straight ticket, that is all I will say.

How much do my kids love Halloween?

Rocker Red, Isn't it great the things you can do to hair with Aqua Net?

I spray painted the designs on his pants.

Little Man, lost the hat he was supposed to be wearing. But he had a fun night anyway. 2 Cool, he wanted to be something scary, I am not really into that kind of thing, but here is the finished product. Flour and water paste was applied to his face and allowed to dry. My dad used to do this when I was little.

Friday Night on the way home from my SIL the conversation,

Big D: "Mom can I sleep with my candy?"

Mom: "No sweetie you can't."

Big D: " But mom I love it."

6:20 am. Saturday morning while I was up taking lots of drugs for my headache.

Red: (Hair poking up, and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes) "Mom, can I have my candy now?"

Me:" No Red, later"

Here is Big D in his upside-down refrigerator costume. He only wore it about 5 minutes and it took me all day to make on Thursday. I knew that would probably be the case, so I had a back-up, which he wore on Thursday to school and to the primary party Tuesday night. Hence the pumpkin costume.

Cutie in her 80's rocker costume.

The skirt she is wearing I wore back in the 80's , for Halloween, my mom made it.

Her sweatshirt was one we had around here I spray painted the word and stars on it.

Notice the pumpkins we carved Monday night. It has been so hot here they just couldn't take it.

Rednecks are us 2

It is colder than a witches tit in a brass bra.

I am sure my mom is cringing and, disowning me right at this moment for sharing that. Many of us in my family have really said this. I am telling you it is a wonder we have more than one tooth between all of us, myself included.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Lyn this one is for you. Sorry it is so long

My SIL Lyn wanted me to post the pics from the paper. I guess some of them wouldn't pull up.

My sister made this wolf costume from grey sweats and fake fur and fake nails. She is so clever.

Punk rocker costume, old pants, old sweatshirt. Belt and under shirt bought at second and store. My boots and spray paint to decorate pants. See Joy spray paint can have so many uses. Wait until you see what clothes I painted with it this year.
Spray paint works great on old clothes to change the look.and is cheaper than buying dye.

Red is wearing his Sunday clothes, the cape is a second hand purchase for about $2. The skeleton costume is made from a pair of black sweats and sticky felt I drew the bones on and cut them out and stuck them on. I think I bought the hat for this costume, but it has now been used for 4 different costumes. The sweats will be used this year for the 4th time, they also work great for a black cat.
I recommend buying capes when you see them for a good price during the year. They are your best costume asset. I bought the twins matching orange sweatshirts, and then used black sticky felt for the faces. Quick and easy!

Sticky felt is also a must and can be purchased at fabric and craft stores.

I bought a remnant of the glittery fabric and used it for both costumes. Mine is just thrown over my shoulders, and belted. I just quickly sewed a piece of elastic in Cutie's and recycled a skirt of mine by making it smaller for her. Green tights bought at the dollar store. Hats borrowed. Remnant fabric is a little like oops paint, a steal of a deal.

I got this Idea from Family fun. Hand-me-down suit jacket a pair of old jeans cut up. I bought the shirt for a $1 or $2. Boots out of his closet, rope for a belt. His head is made out of an upside-down milk jug spray painted green, with a piece of sticky black felt for the hair. (you could also use fake fur. The felt was cheaper and, I am all about cheap. I used silver pipe cleaners to make the stitches and the bolts are just out of what we had here.

I love Family Fun for costume ideas.

The hobbit costume was made out of remnant fabric for the cape and bottom scarf. An old shirt of mine a pair of pants used for a pirate costume, a vest from the 80's of mine and fur drawn on his feet.

I am pretty sure this is the same shirt and pants from above an old scarf that I am pretty sure belongs to my sister. An eye patch and hook bought at the $ store.

Dobie the house elf, he loved this costume. I bought a couple pairs of thick socks for about 50 cents to $1 and used some out of my drawer. He is wearing thermals we already had and a pillowcase. I literally undid the seam in two places at the bottom and tied it on his shoulders. The hat was used before in a mummy costume and I sewed felt on for ears and ties. It was great because he could get as dirty as he wanted and it went with the costume.

Superman was made with shorts bought second hand, PJ bottoms we had, a cape my mom made for my little brother 15 years ago, and felt that I glued together and attached to his shirt.

Here is Harry, Ron and Neville, they are wearing their Sunday clothes graduation robes bought second hand and borrowed. The wands were made by 2 cool just for the 7th book release.