Silent Sundays

Please join us for Silent Sundays - just click the above link!

Here are a few more "Views from Iraq" - a soldier's bunker or pod or whatever they are called!

Ah a REAL chair!!

Please join us for Silent Sundays - just click the above link!

Here is the 3rd set of Iraq pictures.

My brother building targets for shooting practice.
The targets he built.

More targets he built
My brother is the one shooting - at a target WAYYYYYY down that cliff.

Sunset in Iraq.

Craft Series #3

I think I have wasted enough time since my last craft post so here is a cute simple project to do for your little kiddos. My children are 3 and 1 and this was perfect for my 3 year old. I put the entire thing together in like 15 minutes and it kept him entertained all through the cooking of dinner and afterwards! So a kid kept entertained all evening - I think it is well worth it!

It is a Puppet Stage - Puppets included!

I will admit I took the shortcut route and simply went on Nick.com and printed out the Backyardigans puppets they had. They were about three inches tall and so you just had to print them out, cut them out and attach to any type of stick. They of course recommended Popsicle sticks but I was out of those so grabbed some straws. Anything a child can hold it up with will work! I even just taped the straw on instead of dragging out my glue gun and making a mess.

The stage simply consisted of a shoe box. You set the shoe box on it's side (throw the lid away) and on the bottom part cut a rectangle out from the edge. The picture is bad - but hopefully you can still see how I did it. (If not go to Nick.com and look up the Backyardigans puppets - it will explain how to do it too)

Then print out any background you want for your puppet adventure - beach, jungle, city, etc. Glue the background onto the inside of the box on all three sides.

You can also get creative and cut pieces of fabric to glue on the top edges of the stage to make curtains for the stage.

Now you can be as creative or as simple as you want. My child being 3 it wasn't worth much more effort because I knew it would be destroyed by the next day but if your kids are older and gentler they might enjoy being a little more extensive with the design. You can find any animal or people figure to print out or paint your own! Attach a Popsicle stick or anything that will work to hold the puppet with. you can even paint clothes or hats on your figures to match the background you chose. If you want to make a castle for a princess you can add glitter to your puppets or make her a crown! Just have fun with it!

Hope your kids enjoy their puppet stage!

Mom-preneur Shop-A-Thon

Okay after I posted yesterday I found the give-away that "Create" blog was referring to. And I have to make a post WITH the button. So let me try again.

Tip Junkie has compiled a list for Christmas Shopping of all hand made products by mommies! Please check it out!

You can also check out her home page to enter the daily give-away chances too!

Check these out!

I have been roaming around blog land quite a bit lately and found some GREAT sites! From some freebie blog designs to a Everything Christmas blog! I've listed a few here for your enjoyment:

1. Blogger Boutique - A blogger that designs beautiful feminine backgrounds! And she has some great freebies that you can add as a widget instead of having to change your whole blog!! The one I have currently is one of her designs. And she JUST came out with a cute Christmas one! Either click the link above or find her blinkie on my side bar!

2. Tip Junkie - She has compiled an IMPRESSIVE list of all mom-preneurs that hand make everything from handbags to baby bows and candles to jewelry galore! She has a link to every single one that has signed up and it is an effort to support mommies that are trying to make a little something extra. She has them categorized for quick shopping and there are GREAT gift ideas among them! So if you are thinking about getting any shopping done early here is a great chance!

3. Celebrating Christmas - This blog was started from a women's event at a church. They have a Saturday event, that they call "Holidays Fit For a King" that starts with breakfast and then breaks into several workshops all about holiday "stuff". the "stuff" is anything from recipes and meal planning to decorating and grand parenting! This event had become such a big thing that the ladies that led workshops were overwhelmed by the aftermath of the event - ladies wanting more or ladies who couldn't attend wanting to know what they presented etc. So she created a blog! Designated to everything Christmas! There are traditions, recipes, stories, books, decorating ideas, anything you could imagine and it will run throughout the holiday season. So check it out the posts will be daily and there are already a few up!

4. Cutest Blog on the Block - One more blog with awesome backgrounds! Again there are great freebies and they are also attached as a widget so no information is lost and you can keep the text and color options! There are feminine as well as masculine designs on this one. And last time I checked there was a wide variety of freebies - 22 designs in all! So if you need an update check them out!

Silent Sundays

Please join us for Silent Sundays!

Here are more pics from Iraq.

Craftiness Series #2

Okay I did promise I would share how I made my kid's Halloween costumes so this will be the 2nd post of my craftiness series!

The elements I used can be turned into almost anything you want and can also be used for other things than Halloween costumes. I will explain at the end.

Okay the first thing we did was the head. (I say we because I THOUGHT it would be fun to let me kids, 3 yr and 1 y., to help me paper mache and paint - not the best plan but THEY had fun) Here were the steps to making a paper mache dinosaur head:

1. Blow up a balloon. (I taped the bottom of mine to a plate so it would stay still on our table while I worked on it.)

2. Rip up pieces of newspaper and paper mache onto balloon. Since my son is young I didn't think he would go for a full over his entire face mask so we just did the top so it would sit on top of his head. There are several recipes for paper mache but the easiest and the one I used was simply liquid starch. Just pour some liquid starch into a paper bowl and start painting it on.

NOTE: Do only about 4 layers of paper and then do a layer of white computer paper so it easier to paint later.

3. Once dry crumple up two pieces of paper into balls and tape onto sides of mask for eyes. Then paper mache over them to create the eye sockets. Let dry. Once completely dry pop the balloon.

4. Once the balloon is out and it is dry, you may paint any color you want. I picked green but brown would be another common dinosaur color. Don't forget to paint the eyes and nostrils. NOTE: I almost forgot I also folded white paper into triangular points for teeth and just applied a little more liquid starch to attach on the inside of the mask.

5. Punch two holes on each side to tie a piece of string through so you can tie it under their chin.

Second component of the costume was the body. It was made out of a pillow case!

1. Take an old pillowcase and dye it the color desired (you may not need this step depending on the color of your pillowcase) Use hot water and don't forget to add the salt! Also make sure your washer and dryer are empty because you will have to wash them afterwards!

2. Then cut arm holes and a hole for their head - make sure it isn't too big because it needs to rest on his shoulders to stay up.

3. Then for mine because my son is very young I was able cut a slit up the middle of the bottom of the pillowcase and sew the edges to create legs. He was able to slip his entire body through the head hole at the top. If they won't be able to slip through the top you could always cut down the back of it and sew a zipper in or even simpler just attach a Velcro strip.

4. Other Options: You could also paint a tummy onto the front in a different color than the body. Such as if you did a green dinosaur a yellow tummy would be cute. Whatever color you will make the spikes would be the color for the tummy also.

The third part was the tail.

1. Take another pillowcase - dyed the same color as the body (dye both pillowcases at the same time - one box of dye is plenty for both)

2. Cut a tail out of the side of the pillowcase and flip inside out to simply sew up the other side leaving the large end of the tail open.

3. Flip the tail out covering your sewing and then fill the tail with stuffing. One big bag is only like 3 or 4 dollars at a craft store. NOTE: straighten out a wire clothes hanger and put through the tail before stuffing so you will be able to bend and shape tail later.

4. Once stuffed full sew up the end and then sew the entire tail onto back of pillowcase body.
For some reason it cut the bottom of my picture off when I rotated it around so sorry you don't have the full picture!

LAST STEP:

1. Cut out spikes from cardboard and paper mache with white computer paper. Once dry paint yellow or again any color you choose.

2. Super glue (yes you need it that strong if you want them to actually stay on) the spikes all the way down the tail and back of the body.

All DONE! After doing this I realized the possibilities are endless on costume ideas for animals. Probably monsters and anything else too for that matter. You could do a zebra - add ears to the mask, or a camel -add humps instead of spikes and shorten the tail etc... I made a bunny costume for my little girl, taking out the mask and purchasing bunny ears headband and by making a tail out of cotton balls and a hot glue gun.

So have fun creating your next Halloween or play costume for your child and let me know if you come up with other creative ideas to this costume!

A Distraction

So for a few days my "craft" series will be postponed. We lost a dear girl from our youth group, and it is actually the 2nd within two weeks - both seniors. The funeral is in a couple hours and beginning to be besides myself I needed a distraction. I saw a new post from Civilla's Cyber Cafe and it was just the distraction I needed. Here is a fun questionaire about your senior year in High School!

Fill this out about your SENIOR YEAR of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!! REPOST on your site with your answers.

1. Did you date someone from your school? No, I went on some dates but never "dated" anyone from my school

2. Did you marry someone from your high school? Nope

3. Did you car pool to school? By my senior year I drove myself - Ford Ranger pickup

4. What kind of car did you have? Oops I jumped ahead I guess, Ford Ranger single cab

5. What kind of car do you have now? A 2001 Chrysler

6. It's Friday night...where were you then? At a football or basketball game (ALWAYS) and once those seasons were over at a friends or more likely an extracurricular event such as FFA, or 4-H

7. Friday night...where are you now? Wow who knows youth event, church event or home with my family and enjoying a movie with my hubby after the kids go to sleep

8. What kind of job did you have in high school? I worked at an onio shed during a couple of summers and did a lil tutoring at the middle school but usually didn't have a job (did a lot of internships though as part of my class)

9. What kind of job do you do now? I am first and foremost a housewife and stay at home mom but I do put together our church newsletter every quarter.

10. Were you a party animal? Nope never went to one and never wanted to. My friends and I would go get a coke and wait till midnight and go "tag" our friends cars or play games we had GOOD fun!

11. Were you considered a flirt? Yep

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? nope

13. Were you a nerd? Well I was smart but well liked so I wasn't CALLED a nerd but fall under the category grade wise.

14. Did you get suspended or expelled? Nope

15. Can you sing the fight song? Oh absolutely HUGE sports fan remember?! Lots of spirit!

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? My senior year huh? I suppose Mr. Goodgame - he had a good way of relating the material to students (AP Biology teacher) and Mr. Borden my ag teacher

17. Where did you sit during lunch? We didn't have closed campus so me and my friends took turns going to each other's houses for lunch each day. If I wasn't with a friend i still would go to my house.

18. What was your school's full name? Deming High School

19. When did you graduate? 2004 - I know I'm young

20. What was your school mascot? Charlie the Wildcat! We were obviously the Wildcats and we had a wildcat character named Charlie! A picture from the back of my letterman jacket is attached!

This is from the outside of our auditorium (the word "Wildcats" is painted huge across the side of the building to the right of this picture - so no it's not missing.) But this is what our mascot looks like! I'm proud can you tell?

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Absolutely I LOVED the good old days!

22. Did you have fun at Prom? Who did you go with? Well okay I did not go to my senior prom because by then was dating Nick - my now husband so obviuosly I was quite serious and sadly the only guys I could go with didn't want just a "friendly" date so I opted out. But I went my sophmore year with a very good friend and then crush Jordan Morrow - blonde hair blue eyes and a basketball player! And my junior year I went to my friend's prom instead of ours over in Lovington NM with her friend - total blind date (this friend was COMPLETELY trustworthy). His name was Mickey and he wasa tennis player (I played tennis too so it was fun) Again blonde hair blue eyes and gorgeous guy. Both proms were incredibly FUN!

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? Not the one from Lovington but yes I still talk to Jordan, we are still good friends to this day.

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? Next...haven't even hit my first one yet! But yes I plan on going!

25. Do you still talk to people from school? Yep all the time! Not many from MY class but MANY from other classes!


Please leave a comment if you post on your own so I can go check it out!

My salute to pumpkins...Silent Sundays

One of my favorite blogs to visit, "Smellin Coffee", had a "Punkin" Post about all the ways she loved pumpkins during this time of year. Such as in her coffee (pumpkin spice creamer), in the aroma of the air (pumpkin scented candle), etc... So I needed something fun to do with the kids the other night and pumpkins flashed in my head (since I had previously read her blog) and thus pumpkin sugar cookies!!

Craftiness and just plain fun!

It seems as holidays are fast approaching and as the weather is cooling I have found myself doing more crafting, baking, and just interesting things with my kids! So I have decided I would like to do a short series on a few crafts/ideas/recipes I have tried lately - one being the Halloween costumes I promised I would explain.

So my first one is a short and simple idea (since I don't have much time) of which no credit can be given to myself. My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, gave me this idea when she was here a couple months ago. She was going into our bathroom and of course I started explaining away my bedroom because I am changing the decor but don't have the mula to do it all in one bang and so half our room is Americana and the other is more modern black and red color scheme. Those two don't exactly mix. I was saying something about my blue curtains and how it would be awhile before I could buy new ones and she said well do you not like these curtains or is it just the color. I had no clue where she was going with the question but said, "no the curtains are just fine but I need black." And she wisely responded, "Why don't you just dye them black instead of buying whole new curtains."

Talk about feeling stupid (not Elizabeth's point) but I just thought to myself, "Why didn't I think of that?!!" So Elizabeth you will be happy to know I have bought the dye and will be dyeing them tonight! I got some practice on my son's Halloween costume and am prepared to do an excellent job now!

So no step by step for this project but just an idea - if you are changing decor and are okay with something currently there but need a new color just buy a $2-$3 box of Dye at Hobby Lobby or Michaels and voila! New Curtains! or pillowcases, or whatever you desire!

I will give a couple tips before you start though in case you have never done dyeing before:
1. Make sure you have 30 minutes to sit or stand still and stir your mixture constantly!
2. Wear rubber gloves and an apron or clothes you do not care about (even when you are careful splashes do happen!)
3. Make sure your washer and dryer is empty because you will need to wash them when you are done.
4. If you are going from a dark to a light color buy the Color Out box and do that one first.
5. And don't forget the salt!!

Have fun!

Controversial Election Aftermath

Last night was no doubt a turning point for our country. The controversy among America however is whether it was a good or bad turning point. Now I am not on here to make my opinion, I actually wanted to address something else. This morning, November 5th, I received a couple text message forwards both saying the same thing: "If Obama wins the election we are going to wear black shirts tomorrow to mourn the death of our country..." And then of course the all familiar "pass this on to all your friends" bit at the end.

Now I looked at this astonished and thought okay that COULD be funny but it just isn't. I immediately prayed and said "God what do I do about this?" God reminded me of an interview someone told me about. (Sadly I do not remember who it was that said this and when interviewed. If you know of what I am talking about PLEASE let me know because I have been searching for it this afternoon and haven't found it yet!) The interviewer asked, "Do you think democracy will last in the U.S.? The man being interviewed replied, "there is no way it will last because democracy requires respect and respect in our country dwindles day by day."

Now don't quote me exactly, I am going off of memory which apparently isn't great since I can't remember who said it but that is what he said more or less - that democracy requires respect. Now this text message going around is the opposite of respect. McCain in his conceding speech asked all his supporters to get behind Obama and help him. So we are giving McCain a bad name claiming to be his supporters and we are also belittling ourselves by showing that we have no respect for those in authority over us. You may not be happy about who won the election but you do not go around wearing black sending a message that Obama being president has killed our nation!

God sets up everyone in authority - there were good and bad kings in the bible too - not all leaders are good. And we don't know yet whether Obama will be or not, but please be respectful. He is the leader of our country like it or not and deserves respect. If you are a christian you are called to show respect to EVERYONE - 1 Peter 2: 13-19. and just in case you are not able to go find your bible and read this right now here it is for you:

"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to the governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil;live as servants of God. Show respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

So if you have received this text message or maybe are even wearing a black shirt right now do me a favor, do not forward it and take the shirt off and put something else on. For we are to do good and be the example - not be the ones complaining and slandering and tearing down but building each other up.

So show some respect, please no matter what side you are on. Thank you.

A Wedding Dream Come True...

If anyone remember reading about my adventure to Tuscon Arizona and staying at the Westin for a friend's wedding I said I would post pictures from the wedding when I finally received them! It's been awhile but yes I just got them last night in the mail from my dad. They are only pictures from the reception since my dad didn't want to distract during the ceremony but I have ordered a couple pics from the photographer and man alive is this guy good! If you are into photography you MUST check out his website and his pictures!! He has won NUMEROUS national awards for photography. His name is Patrick Grimes and his business is of course "Patrick Grimes Photography". Just click on his name for his site and to view his work! You will not be disappointed I promise!

Table decorations at reception - and this was after dinner and dessert so imagine it with clean dishes, sparkling silverware and silk hot pink napkins folded neatly beside each plate! Outside the reception before everyone could come in they served cactus tea and water and some appetizers. There was a main table with the table numbers and every one's individual name cards of where they were to sit. I had saved mine to scrapbook but the hurried waiters took it up while I was dancing!!

The BEAUTIFUL Bride:
Bride and Groom Dancin' the night away...

This is me on the left with the bride and my best friend

since Jr. High (but known her my whole life), Jaci

Gary and Sandy - the parents of the Bride and practically

2nd parents to me! I love these two!

My mommy and Sandy - friends (but more like sisters)

Three Amigas:

Last Dance: "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours!!!

Silent Sundays

These are pictures of my brother on his first tour in Iraq back in 2004. He has already done a second tour since but I like these pictures of him. He is a medic in the U.S. Army currently attending P.A. school as a Sargent.

My brother is the one sleeping about to get water dumped on him. He worked in the medical tent and I believe this was the Physician of his tent.

Please join us for Silent Sundays!