Happy Halloween!

We don't do the whole trick or treating thing, but what kid doesn't enjoy dressing up? In the spirit of frugality (and recycling), I came across an idea for a curly wig that the kids could make. Check them out! Aren't they cute?


They were really easy to make. We started out with a plastic grocery bag. Cut off the handles and bottom seam of the bag. Cut down the side seams to use only one side of the bag (depending upon how large the child's head is), and while holding down the bag on their head, tape a circle all around their head beginning at the forehead and angling back just over their ears and an inch or two above the base of their skull. Once you have the circle complete, begin filling in the entire center of that circle, making sure to keep it snug on the child's head so that it will hold it's shape. The directions I had said to use masking tape, but I had more packing tape, so that's what I used--it worked fine. Here's what it should look like after you tape it completely.


Remove the "hat" from the child's head and trim off the excess bag. The directions said to use newspapers or other "curl-able" paper, so I used some old CVS ads for extra color. I cut them into 1/2 inch to 1 inch strips using my cutting board and left the fold intact so that it would open up to a longer strip. You can use a closed pair of scissors to curl the strips.


Attach the curls starting at the bottom edge of the "hat" and working up to the crown by using either double-sided tape (or create your own by rolling the tape into itself). Here are the girls "hard at work" on their wigs. =) They really enjoyed themselves and really love their creations.

Fall craft ideas from Highlights

This scarecrow is absolutely adorable, and kids would love to make one! If you wanted to make it more "outdoor-friendly," you could use yardstick-type sticks in place of the paper tubes, use some rafia in place of the yarn, use felt or some other stiff fabric (or a real hat) in place of the paper hat and use a plastic or styrofoam plate instead of the paper plate.



This pie-tin decoration reminds me of some things that my dad has made. He's really good at woodworking and has made many, many things for my mother and us kids over the years. He made a cabinet for my mom that has the tin-punched panels in the door. Here's a picture of it in the background from the post I did about the girls' sewing project.



This twirler looks super easy to make and actually reminds me of something you might make for the 4th of July or something, but maybe if you use fall-colored ribbons or attached some fall leaves (real or silk), it would look more fall-like.



This pumpkin-patch ring toss game is a really neat way to reuse those water bottles that we occasionally accumulate. We usually recycle the bottles, but if you held on to a few of them, I bet your kids would really enjoy this game. We would have to come up with another idea for the rings, because I don't think we would ever have 8-10 plastic coffee can lids. If you don't either, maybe you know someone who drinks coffee that would be willing to give you the lids when they finish the canister. I have some from when I used to drink coffee, but I use them for storage. We put the kids markers in one, some decorative scissors in another one, etc. I got that idea from my mom. She's so smart! =)



This Jack-o'-Lantern looks really cute and seems very easy to make. Since we don't drink soda, we would probably use an aluminum food can or maybe some glass jars. If you use varying sizes and heights, you could do a cute little grouping of them. Remember, pumpkins aren't all the same size and shape. =)



These bead rings are another great way to recycle some things that you may ordinarily discard. Plus, it's jewelry, and what little girl doesn't LOVE to make jewelry? =) The only thing I might try differently than what the instructions tell you to do is to twist the wire ends together (once all the beads are on and it's the size I want) and then try to work the wire ends back through a couple of the beads so that you don't have to worry about the end scratching or using unsightly tape on the back side. Does that make sense? One wire will go in one direction and the other wire will go in the other direction. The only problem would be if the holes in the beads aren't large enough to hold two widths of wire.

Here's the complete list of all 12 of this month's craft ideas. I'm sure you'll be able to find something that your child will enjoy. =)

Were you wondering? Well, I'll tell you anyway...

My goodness, I cannot believe that it's been almost a week since I posted last, but to be quite honest, not much has happened around here. Jason loves his new job and is already doing great--Praise the Lord! We don't see as much of him during the day since he's busy with appointments, but he doesn't have to work late nights with this job, so that's great! There were many nights that I didn't see him until midnight when he was working for Sears, so the kids really enjoy being able to tell their daddy "good night" at bedtime instead of at 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. =)

Today is the first day that all 3 girls have felt up to getting up off of the couch. Yesterday was quite miserable for Sydney. She started complaining of her ear hurting, and I just knew for sure she would end up with an ear infection (she's notorious for that). I put some over-the-counter ear drops in her ear, gave her some ibuprofen and told her to go to sleep. After much crying and moaning, she finally was able to go to sleep, and BOY did she sleep! She fell asleep in the 2 o'clock hour, and I had to wake her up close to 6 o'clock so she could eat something before she needed to go to bed.

Just about the only thing I enjoy about my kids being sick is the fact that they become much more cuddly. Alyx took this picture of Sydney resting on my lap. Isn't she precious? =)


Poor thing! She ran a fever for several days, and in this picture she woke up from a nap drenched in sweat. She's attempting a half smile--what a sweetie. It looks like she had been crying, but I think her eyes were just watering. She looks pitiful nonetheless.


Thank you for those of you who prayed for them. They seem to be doing much better today. They still have their coughs and sniffles, but I haven't heard any complaints about earaches and they've been up playing around, so they must be feeling somewhat better. =) I've been popping the vitamin C like crazy in an effort to keep myself from getting sick. My throat has been sore for several days, and I just CAN'T get sick! Please pray that it will just clear up so that we can get out of this house. I'm going a little stir-crazy! =}

We're still alive...barely

I'm beginning to get a little bit concerned about the coming cool weather and the sickness that it inevitably brings. My girls seem to be catching everything that's going around. This is the third time in the last 2 months that they have been sick. Sydney is running fever again, and they have that deep, painful-sounding cough. I hear that other people in the church have the same thing, so I guess that's probably where they caught it.

This has served as a reminder that I need to teach them (again) about germs and the importance of washing hands and keeping their hands out of and away from their mouths. You would think that once they get past the baby/toddler phase of putting everything in their mouths, you wouldn't have to stay after them quite so much, but I have caught them so many times just this week sticking one or two fingers in their mouths. Ewww, gross! I can't stand it!

Do you think they could be doing it on purpose? They know that when they are sick, we don't do school, and they get to lay around and watch movies. Surely they aren't that smart, yet! =)

Oh, well...this too shall pass. Please pray that they get better soon. I think I'm going to go work on some crocheting. I recently started Sydney's Tooth Fairy Pillow, because we anticipate her losing her first tooth in the next few months. We're enjoying "Toy Story" right now, so...."To infinity and beyond!" =)

Hand Shadow Puppets

When I was a kid, I loved shadow puppets. I remember all the common ones going around...the eagle, the dog, the bunny, etc. This puppet show would have blown me away! It's pretty amazing--this guy is definitely talented. How in the world he was able to do "Satchmo" is beyond me...



This video clip was included on the "Homeschool Freebie of the Day" website because Tuesday's "freebie" is an ebook of hand shadows. Be sure you check it out tomorrow, if you want to download it. My kids loved the video, so I'm sure they will love to attempt some puppets of their own.

God is amazing!

We are just dumb ol' sheep, but we have a loving shepherd who loves and understands our human nature. Is it just my personality, or does everyone stuggle with waiting on the Lord and understanding His timing? I think as humans we have become increasingly impatient and want things done "our way right away". (Do we all aspire to be burger flippers at Burger King? "Ding! Fries are done! Ding! Fries are done!" Have you heard that parody? So funny!)

Yesterday, God revealed Himself to us in a very real way. Our prayer for the last month has been that God would bring the perfect job to Jason, and that God would not allow any job to accept Jason unless it was God's perfect will. Jason applied for this job on a whim. The company is only a few miles from our house, plus Jason knows fences inside and out and knew he could do the work. There were some concerns discussed before he decided to call them the other day, but we decided to just leave it in God's hands and if He didn't want that job for Jason then it wouldn't work out.

When Jason met with the owner last night, the owner looked at him and said, "I've met you before." He proceeded to tell Jason that when he first started his company 4 years ago, he was "shopping" the competition and requested a fence estimate from Danielle Fence. Who do you think the salesman was that "just so happened" to meet with him? It was Jason! (Okay, that was obvious.) He said that Jason's presentation that day was really impressive, and he could tell that Jason knew what he was talking about.

Later in the interview last night, the owner told Jason the story of what happened the day Jason sent in his resume. When the resume came off of the fax, the guy (who Jason would describe as a sales manager) took it and was walking through the hallway of the office. He met the owner in the hallway and said, "I just got a resume from a guy who used to work at Danielle Fence." The owner asked what his name was, and the other guy said, "Jason Downs." The owner immediately said, "Get him in here now!"

Wow! Isn't it amazing to watch God work? He had that all planned out 4 years ago! During the last 6 months to a year, we've questioned many things, like...why things turned so sour all of a sudden at Danielle Fence and why God led Jason to Sears just to make us feel like we were stranded with no income. The thing is, Jason probably would not have made the decision to move to another fence company while he was at Danielle Fence (for loyalty reasons), and if life had been "peachy keen" while he was working for Sears, he would not have felt the need to look for another job.

After interviewing for 2 hours and 40 minutes last night, the guys told Jason that they would let him know by noon today whether or not they would want to bring him on. Jason felt pretty sure that they would hire him, but we still continued to pray that if it wasn't God's will for him to work there, then we didn't want them to offer it to him.

Today, just a little before noon, Jason got the phone call, and they did offer him the job. Yay! Jason was asked how soon he could start, and Jason was able to tell them he could start Monday morning. Once again...another work of God. Sears is planning a computer training for Monday through Wednesday for their salesmen, so there are no appointments scheduled for those days (as well as NO PAY!). He verified with his manager at Sears that it was okay for him to start on Monday, and it is.

Praise the Lord! We are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for all of your prayers. We really appreciate the love and concern that has been shown to us in the last few weeks.

Update on Jason's job situation

So far, Jason has interviewed for 2 jobs and has applied for over 50. Times are becoming desperate, so he called up a local, reputable fence company, since that is something that he really knows. This is kind of funny, so I'll share the story...

When he called, he asked to speak with the hiring manager. The man who answered asked how he could help Jason. Jason asked if they were currently hiring, and the guy said that they really weren't, but he could send in his resume to be kept on file. Jason said, "Well, I have sales experience. Does that help?" The guy responded, "Yeah, sales is good. We're just not looking for anyone right now." Then in desperation, Jason said, "I worked for Danielle Fence for 3 1/2 years..." The guy said, "Oh, well, send in your resume, and I'm sure someone will be calling you." Jason immediately faxed over his resume, and he was getting a phone call within 5 minutes! LOL!!!

The guy that called him talked to Jason for about 20 minutes and set up an interview for today at 4:30pm. He seems to think that Jason will be a perfect fit for them, because Jason loves to do residential appointments and the other salesmen don't---they prefer the commercial side. I don't know if I shared this before or if you already knew this, but one of the main reasons Jason left Danielle Fence is because they made him move to the commercial side and wouldn't let him move back to the residential side. The commercial side was just too slow, and the sales just weren't there. The guy told Jason that he could almost guarantee him 5 appointments a day! Wow! That's more than he's getting in a week right now with Sears...He's lucky if he gets 1 a week!

Anyway...If you could pray for Jason (again) that the interview will go well and that if it's God's will he will get the position, we would appreciate it. We'll keep you updated...

Catching up on Pictures (part 2)

Here are some pictures of the girls at our house during the last couple of weeks...

As I'm sure you already know, my girls LOVE to read! Here is Sydney curled up with her teddy bear and one of her favorite books--a treasury of Curious George stories.

One of the girls' favorite things to do outside is to ride their bikes. Here's Larissa...

Alyx has decided that she loves to wear one of my old hats and has worn it just about every day since I gave it to her she took it from me. =)

Jason was helping Sydney air up the tires on her bike.

Here are some flowers that are still blooming in my yard.

After riding bikes, we like to go to the backyard to play Frisbee, jump rope or catch bugs. Here's Larissa throwing the Frisbee.

Sydney loves to jump rope.

Larissa is the bug catcher. Here she's trying to get a dragonfly.

Here's a dragonfly down by the water.

Look what I got, Sydney!

Wanna hold it?

Here it is...

Can you believe I'm holding this, Mommy?

Here's Alyx catching the Frisbee.

She really gets into it.

This was Larissa's "Big Catch."

Catching up on Pictures (Part 1)

The last couple of weeks feel like a blur, and I just realized the other day that it's been a while since I've shared pictures of the kids. Not a lot has been going on, but there have been some fun things worth taking a picture of and worth sharing. =) I will have to split them up into different posts, because (well, I'll just be honest) I take a lot of pictures and don't have the time to weed through all of them and work up one post all in one sitting. I want to feel like I've accomplished something, you know? So, here goes...

As you know, we visited my parents about 2 1/2 weeks ago for Jason's 4-day weekend. It was a nice relaxing time, and, of course, we didn't want to leave. =) We sat around and played games a lot. This picture was not intentional, but right as I picked up my camera to take a picture, Richard brought a handful of M&M's to his mouth...Busted!! Love you, Richard! =)


The kids even enjoyed playing games together...


The kids always enjoy seeing their cousins and look forward to pestering their "Uncle Retardo." Okay, I must explain...My brother-in-law's name is Richard, and as a joke we started calling him "Ricardo." At the time, Sydney was struggling with saying any "c" or "k" sounds and would pronounce them as a "t." As a result, when she said "Uncle Ricardo," it came out as "Uncle Retardo." Well, Richard loved that! He's a good sport, you know. Here are some shots of the kids with Richard. He was growing some facial hair, so Larissa was rubbing on his chin in the last picture.



My camera has a night vision setting, and Richard wanted to see how it worked. We turned off the lights, and here is his best "Deer in the Headlights" pose.


The girls (and Jason) love to go swimming in the cousins' pool. Sydney is a little timid when it comes to the water, so she sticks to the steps or occasionally floats on a raft. She also enjoyed "shooting" everyone with the water gun from the outside of the pool. Everyone enjoyed throwing (or pegging, if you're Jason) the balls and having a water gun war. The girls also enjoyed piggy-back rides on Jason.









My niece, Sarah, cracked me up when she came up out of the water one time and started quoting (in her most noble voice), "Fourscore and seven years ago..."


And what would a day in the pool be without a good cannonball? This one was thanks to my nephew, Tavish. He was trying to peg his twin sister, Sarah, who is on the right side of the picture.


Here's the whole group. Aren't they cute? =) They all had lots of fun.


The day was quite overcast, so after a couple of hours in the pool, Larissa and Sydney were so cold that their lips began to turn bluish purple. Poor things!



We also had fun in Granny's yard. The girls love to pick flowers (usually of the weed variety) and collect pine cones, and Jason (of course) had to try to peg the girls with the pine cones. He's so nice! (Still a boy at heart!) =)



I had to snap some more pictures of some flowers and critters that I didn't get the last time we were there. Mom has some very interesting things growing in her yard. The most interesting of all, though, has to be the starfish flower. Notice on the picture with the bird that there is also a dragonfly on the top of the branch. Enjoy!