Thankful

This is what Jeff and I are most thankful for.

Even though I have so many things to be thankful for…so many good things…I hope I can just be thankful in general, knowing that God's promise in Jeremiah 29:11 is true - that he has plans not to harm me, but to give me a hope and a future.  I can be thankful for that.  Because if God is planning something, I can know that it's a sure thing.  My thoughts are all running together as I'm writing this while very tired.  But, I am thankful as we approach Thanksgiving Day…and I hope it's a very special day for you and yours.

Backyard Pictures

I think I promised, a long time ago, to share pictures of where we live now.  The pictures have been a long time coming.  The other day, we got a little rain, and while the rain brought leaves down and made the yard a little messy, they brought the colors out, too, so I decided to share pictures.

Our backyard is small, but our kids love the fact that we have the pool.  (The pool scares me and I am super uptight about keeping the fence latched.  We fenced the pool right before we moved in.)

It gives us something fun to offer friends, and I'm thankful for that.

There's just a bit of grass next to the pool.

The footprint of our house has a little cut-out place that we use for an outdoor dining spot.  We use it a lot in the summer.

Here's a little garden spot that we haven't made into a garden yet.

We can see our outdoor table from our indoor table.

 Jeff spent a ton of time yesterday cleaning the front and backyard, raking and collecting leaves, etc.  It looked (and looks) great!  Today, though, lots more leaves had fallen and he was irritated that his work hadn't lasted long.  I told him that's how my hard work in the house was rewarded every single day.  I might possibly have used more words than that to explain myself.  He did a great job, though, and I appreciated him taking care of those details.  Now I need to go work on the inside of our house.

Gems from Benjamin

Benjamin is at that wonderful stage when funny things come out of his mouth all the time.  Here are just a few of the things he has said lately that have brought a smile to my face.

"Mama, wook at the beauuuutiful sunset God is painting!"

I pointed out to him that he and I were wearing stripes, and he told me that "Gwacie" was wearing
"poke-it dots."

"Don't touch my belly button, it's 'pivate.'"

He made a pretend telescope out of a tube and called it an "eye looker-outer."

And, he doesn't have braces like Jonathan, but he said, "Mama, I have peanut butter in my wires!"

Manifesto

We were listening to the radio in our superfast minivan, and Benjamin asked, as he always does, "What's that song called?"  I told him that it was called Manifesto.  Grace said, "Mama, instead of 'Manifesto,' I like 'Princess Presto' better."

Tissue Paper Art on Canvas

When Grace got this tissue paper in a gift from Doreen for her 4th birthday, I loved the bright, random dots, and knew that it needed to become something.  The question was...what???

(You can buy the tissue paper here.  I love it!)

When I ran across this idea on Pinterest, I had the answer to my question.  This is a cute piece of art, right?  And it's made of tissue paper on canvas.  The tutorial is here at in my own style.

The tutorial above explains almost everything, so I won't go through all the details again, but I'll share what I did.  Here's the almost-finished product.

I decided that I wanted to make three canvases for a big, blank wall in Grace's room.  I chose canvases that were 12" x 24" and 18" x 24". They were too big to be covered by a single sheet of tissue paper, so I trimmed around the circles in order to piece the different sheets together invisibly...or almost invisibly.  I could have overlapped them or just put them next to each other with the partial circles showing, but I'm uptight about that kind of thing and wanted the patterns to match.  Here's what it looked like with the first sheet laid down on the Mod Podge and canvas.

And here's how it looks pieced together with wet Mod Podge on top.  A little crinkly, but that's part of the charm of DIY, I guess!

The original tutorial includes directions for putting ribbon around the edges of the canvas, and I originally planned to do that, but I'm happy with how they look without ribbon, so I decided not to.

I'm not quite done yet, but here's how the canvases look now.  They go along with the polka dotty theme I have going in her room...and the paper lanterns that I never can get to hang quite right.

I think I'm going to put some kind of monogram on the canvases...maybe a big, pink, first initial on the center one...I'm not sure.  I need to find just the right font first.  I had a lot of fun making them, and they look pretty cute in her room while I figure out how to put on some sort of finishing touch.  Thanks again to in my own style for the idea!

The Latest Target

The creeping-crud-virus thing that seems to be making the rounds at our house has hit its third and smallest target.  He still manages to put a smirk on his face when he feels crummy.

Sometimes he just lays around, sucking his finger and rubbing his belly button.

 Sometimes he feels good enough to sit up and play with Grace.  They're stringing beads on pipe cleaners.  Not because I made them, but because they want to.  Fine motor skills practice is their activity of choice right now!

Traveling Lego Box...Two Different Ways

About a year and a half ago, I was inspired by a post on Pinterest to make traveling Lego boxes for my older kids.  I didn't say much about it at the time because the tutorial was already out there in the bloggy world, and it was so easy, I didn't think I needed to make much of it.  Recently, though I went back to the inspiring post for more information, and it was gone!  

We have gotten so much pleasure out of these boxes that I had to share how to make them.  They make a great gift for a boy or girl who likes Legos.

Here's the first method, which starts out with a wooden tissue box cover, used upside-down.  Originally, I found the boxes at Hobby Lobby for just a few dollars.  Now, I can only find them here, but I'm hoping they return to Hobby Lobby. 

 Here are directions for what I did:

Glue a piece of wood over the hole intended for the tissue.  I used these because they were easy.  Paint the box with acrylic craft paint.  (I know, this box is red, but the one up top is blue.  I've made more than one.  :)  )  Here's what the inside looks like.

Here's what the bottom looks like.

Here's what the top looks like.

Use regular utility scissors to cut a baseplate to size.  This box is perfect because it uses only half of a baseplate.  (You can use the other half on another box!)  Glue the baseplate onto the top of the sliding lid and make sure your lid will still slide onto the box. Weigh it down with books while it dries.

Here's the glue I used, which I found at Target.  It's not toxic or smelly, which is great since this project is for kids.

This part is optional, but I think it's the fun part.  Decorate the box however you like - stickers, letters, whatever - and stick seal your decorations with Mod Podge.  It's clear and durable when it's dry.  I like to put the kiddo's name on the box and "Traveling Legos" on the other side.

Here's the finished project!

It has been a hit every time I have given it as a gift.  Especially when I include some new Legos inside the box!

When I wanted to make another one of these and had a hard time finding the wooden tissue box, I was really disappointed.  But, I found a box that I think will work well in its own way.  I found it in different sizes at Hobby Lobby for just a few dollars.  I liked this medium-size the best because it uses half of a baseplate and seems to have the right amount of room to transport Legos.  (And my son tells me he likes this one with handles better than the old box without them.)

To make one of these, take off the hardware and paint with acrylic craft paint.  (I decided that taking the hardware off was easier than working around it.)

Use scissors to cut a baseplate in half, then trim the ends as needed.

Glue the baseplate down into the lid according to the glue's directions, and weigh it down while it dries.

Decorate the outside as you please and seal with Mod Podge.

Put the hardware back on, and...voila!

My son put a few Legos in the box before we gave it away so that you could see what it might look like in action.  The advantage of this box is that your creations can stay stuck to the baseplate even when you need to close the box and go.

And here's the original design that I loved so much.  The advantage of this one is that the lid stays put when you drop it.

And, here they are, side-by-side.

I hope these boxes will bring a little happiness to a Lego lover in your life!

Sick

I'm thankful to say that we don't get sick much around here.  I can't really remember the last time we all passed something around.  When we moved to our new town, we didn't catch all the new germs.  Even when Jonathan started school at the new school, we didn't get sick.  I was so very thankful.

Last Saturday night, Grace came down with some sort of cough/cold thing.  Much to my surprise, she was very sweet and patient about being sick.  At first.  Here she is being sweet.  

I re-read her the story of how her monkey was made just for her, and she fell in love with the monkey all over again.

Later, she got impatient and cantankerous, and I didn't take pictures of that.  She was sick for a full seven days.  For us, that's a long time to be sick.  We are spoiled.  And oh yeah, I got it on Wednesday.  I still have it.  I don't want to be sick for a week.  I don't want the boys to catch it.  I am so ready to stop feeling crummy.  But, I'm just doing my best to take care of myself and all of us so that our bodies can fight off the crud.

It gives me new appreciation for people who deal with chronic pain or illness, day in and day out.  It's humbling to know that it only takes a little, annoying cold to knock me down.  Very humbling.

It's Coming Along

For those who are far away and wonder what our house looks like inside...

Here's the current state of the playroom, with no kids in it.  I still have some work to do, and I won't list the things I need to do here, but here's how far I've gotten.

More about Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year.  We don't put a huge emphasis on it, but it was still a really fun time for the kids.

Their grandpa sent them some fun in the mail, and you can see by their expressions that they were delighted.

Grace read her card to herself.  I'm just a bit proud.

And this expression on Benjamin's face is my favorite that I've caught on camera in awhile.

Who could resist that cute face?  (And yes, he is still doing his job as resident two-year-old, being naughty and testing the limits.  We are assuring him that the limits are still there.  But, he is awfully cute in his disobedience!)

Grace is showing that her Baby Stella is dressed as a kitterina, too.

 We went to Todd and Corinne's for a fantastic Halloween party.  Corinne had lots of treats and fun prepared for the kids.  I didn't get good pictures that night, but believe me when I tell you it was super fun.  Here they are making some pumpkin faces while eating dinner.

That's my mom helping Darcy and Mary Ann with theirs.

More kid fun.

I didn't get a good picture of Charlotte and Benjamin, but had to include this to show how serious they were about eating their Jell-o and worms.

Jeff took our kids trick-or-treating, but Benjamin came home almost immediately to resume eating his Jell-o.

Corinne had made jars of slime for the kids, and the slime continues to delight the little people at our house, as you can see.

 Jonathan and a little buddy had a super fun time with the slime.  I don't have permission to put the buddy's face here on the blog yet - I haven't asked his mom - so just know that his face is expression happiness over the gross-ness of the green slime.  The fun of Halloween continues!