Christmas is in the Air

There has been much anticipation on the part of the kids this year as they take the card out of the advent calendar each day.  Ahren always wants the project to be a snack, but he's ok with a craft sometimes too :)  Here are some pics of what we've been doing.  Most projects came from Pinterest (where else?)

No Little Mess Glitter Ornaments.  Source HERE

Peppermint Candy Star.  Source: HERE

Hadnprint Christmas Tree.  Source HERE
This one makes my heart happy!

Candy Cane Pizza (with homemade dough!)  Source HERE

Marshmallow Snowman/Trees.  Can't find the original source.
Basically they ate half of the marshmallow and stuck the other half to the paper.  A craft AND a snack!

Salt Dough Ornaments.  Tons of tutorials out there.  We used 1 cup of salt, 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of water.

 This is one of my favorite events of the season.  Hot chocolate for Charity.  We set up a little table at the end of our driveway and many people stopped to buy a cup or even just donate some money to the cause.  So fun!

 These were our neighbor gifts this year.  Mini pumpkin muffins in an egg carton.  They were super fun to make and distribute!

Bottlecap snowman ornaments.  Source HERE

We also made Borax pipe cleaner Ornaments and went to Journey to Bethlehem, and some other things that I've probably forgotten already.

It's been a great December.   Only a few days left until Christmas is here!

The Kitchen

Last weekend I got the idea to paint my kitchen.  We've lived here 7 years now and I was ready for something new.  It was red, red.  I loved it.  But I was tired of it.  So, off to Home Depot we went.

See the multi-color square of glass tiles.  Thinking about it for a backsplash. 

The color I decided on is called Eminence.  Doesn't mean much does it?  It's a very pale blue.  It's very refreshing!  We also added handles and knobs to all the cabinets.  I didn't realize how much I was missing until we put them on - love them!

So much brighter! My wonderful husband helped me paint.  Afterwards I decided I wanted to do a backsplash.  The glass tile backsplash.  So, this weekend we bought the backsplash and set to work on Friday night.  The result?

Perfection!  I absolutely love my new brighter kitchen!    The curtains were found at a yard sale for $1/panel.  I hemmed them and love them!

And I love my husband for putting up with me and helping me with my projects when there are tons of other things he'd rather be doing :)  For taking our house that used to look like this:

and turning it into this:

So much has been done to this house to make it into our home!  Thank you, Tim!  

Art Camp: Day 2

For our second day of art camp, each kid built a birdhouse.  Tim made these little kits out of wood and pvc pipe and dowel rods.   They turned out great!

All the kids listening to teacher Tim!

Mr. Tim used the nail gun to put the roof on the house

The nail gun spit out some dust so Lydia was prepared

The assembling was admittedly a little tricky, so the adults helped.  What the kids really enjoyed was the painting!

Maria had a little help from Ms. Jodie (sorry this is so blurry, Jodie!)

Bailey stays true to her peace sign obsession :)

Putting on the finishing touches 

Welcome home little birdie!

The next two days of art camp have been rescheduled.  Can't wait to do baking and paper mache later this summer!

Art Camp: Day 1

We're embarking on a new adventure this week.  Art camp!  An idea that started with just our family having purposeful craft time every day and then having a gallery at the end of the week...to...inviting 3 other families and their kids to join us and learning from their craftiness.

So, Jen, Jodie and Missy agreed to host a morning of crafting for all of our kids at my house.  11 of them!  Today was painting with Jen.

We did drip painting, spin painting with a salad spinner, and bubble painting.

Popsicle break!

It was just a tad chaotic what with 9 kids under 7 and paint everywhere.  BUT, it was fun and the kids had a great time...I just didn't get many pictures.  It was fun to have something to look forward to this morning when Tim drove away to work.  I got to visit with two of my favorite people and be with my kids.  Can't wait for tomorrow: Birdhouses with Mr. Tim.

Missy-can't wait for your to join us on Thursday!

Wrestling season is over...and what we did to survive!

From Halloween until Valentine's Day, I'm basically a single parent.  A condition known to many wives as the 'coaching widow'.  Tim works 2+ jobs measuring up to 60+ hours/ week of teaching, coaching and scouting/film work.  After 10+ years of marriage, I'm getting more used to this, but it's never easy...especially with four kids.

Thankfully, my mother-in-law puts up with us and loves to grandmother these four kids.  And she's so good at it!  While her husband is coaching with mine, we work together to keep the kids healthy and from the house burning down.  Sometimes we venture out with the kids to watch dad and Pa coach, but most of the time it's late and/or far away and we choose to stay home and watch a movie together.

This past weekend was the state tournament and Tim was gone for four days.  Two kids came down with croup and my MIL stayed with us to help my sanity stay intact.  She brought a new project for the kids to work on.

 

 They have made all of these (plus a few more that we couldn't find for the picture) over the last 3 days.

 

 

 

 

Great fun and a good workout for their fine motor skills!  Some even glow in the dark!

I'm grateful that wrestling season is over for the year and that it is only a season.  Now daddy will be around more to help 'wrestle' the kids he has at home!  Without my MIL, I wouldn't have survived!  Thank you, Lou Ann :)