Crafts, Projects and Everything Else

The kids attended an Encanto party and have had the fever for sure.  It's died down a bit, but they still break out costume pieces every now and again. Here Emily is representing 9 characters!

My mom has been sending art to the kids.  When Grace colored the picture, Juliet wanted to give her bunny ears.  I told them it kind of looked like Juliet was holding the picture and Grace was giving herself bunny ears, so they wanted to pose that way too. = )

Grae wanted a rainbow of scrunchies in her hair.  We had to use a bamboo skewer, and some anchor hair ties, but we got it to stand without her having to hold it!

In the mornings, when I turn around, I'm sometimes surprised to see Emily already "awake." It's just her mask most mornings though. = )

Grace and Juliet sewed some slime ranch characters.  Juliet sewed the baby.

And Grace sewed the mommy.

Grace bought some balloons from one thrift store or another and made a kitty head. 

Speaking of kitty heads, we found a kitty head cookie cutter for 50 cents!!! I was so excited, because Alice wanted one for a project (and I wasn't willing to spend the $7 on amazon.)

Homemade ice cream sandwiches.  You have to bake a cake, thaw the ice cream and refreeze it, cut it and then freeze it all together.

I had an inspiration to embroider and sew some gifts for an upcoming birthday party, but when I went to turn on my old computer (which had been Billy's old computer) it would not start. = (  I fought it for a day, and then asked Billy to look at it.  When he made no progress, it went to Sarah.  She's my final stop and when she said she couldn't get it working, I had to give it up.  

The reason the computer was so important was because of how old the software is.  When I tried installing it and running it on Billy's old computer it gave me all sorts of errors. = (

Sarah was able to locate an update for me, and after a couple of hours of uninstalling and reinstalling the software and updates, I was finally met with success!!  

I didn't turn anything off until I finished all of the embroidery I wanted to do, just in case something broke upon restart.  Beautiful, beautiful pieces ready to assemble and sew.

I was so happy to complete this project.  = )

A Few days later, I was looking at some of the strap that I had cut to shorten the shoulder bags, and was struck with inspiration to transform them into cord organizers!  They came out super cute, and I even sent one to Erin Elise when I finished hand sewing the buttons. 

Grace lost her front tooth on St. Patick's Day!

Grace, Juliet and Emily have all shown quite an interest in sewing, so I let them use my machine whenever I'm not in the midst of a project.

I've also started braiding some old clothes into the beginnings of a rag rug.  It's going to take a long time to collect enough rags at our current rate, but I am liking how it looks so far. = )

When Russia attacked Ukraine the only thing I "panic bought" was cocoa.  Giant ones, just in case, I really don't want to be out of chocolate. 

Grace and Juliet spent one evening making BFF necklaces for each other and smaller ones for their dolls.  It was very sweet. = )

I think that catches up my poor neglected blog, at least for the time being.

later days

Alice's 11th Birthday!

Today, Alice turned 11 years old!  I am still trying to wrap my head around it.

I do feel like I personally got lucky this year (yep, I said it) because Alice is home with me, and in Texas 5th grade is a part of elementary school, so I don't have to consider her a middle schooler*!

We took a few pictures last night, as her final night as a 10 year old!

And then new pictures this morning, as a brand new 11 year old!  She picked ice cream for breakfast, so that's what everyone got.

Opening up gifts before 'school.'  From us she got a cat hoodie, roblox gift cards, and Billy installed Sim 4 + cats and dogs on her computer. = )  She liked her cards from Avia and Emily, and prized her squishy cat from Avia all morning.

My amazing Alice, I'm so happy that we get to celebrate with you!  I hope that this year is your best one yet! = )  You are smart, and funny and weird and such a joy to be around.

*Of course, Emily, William, Grace and Juliet are thoughts for another day.

April 26th, 44th Day of Quarantine

Today's high was a slightly windy, sunny 62F.

After church, and seeing Emily in the kids' church video, Billy worked on a design for work, = ( and I got things ready for tomorrow.

I also made a temporary bottom for our front porch chest out of a board from the shed (it's too narrow, but it's long enough which is the more important of the two.  I had to get out the extension cord and some PPE and the jig saw.  I also measured and marked it, like a pro. lol

William came out with me to draw some sidewalk chalk art, since most of it has been washed away.

I was going to work on some craft projects on the porch, but it is still too cold.  So, I had to finish them inside.

Billy cooked up some barbeque chicken and hot dogs for a late lunch/early dinner.

William had a balloon that he played with all day long, until he popped it in the tub. = (

There was a plan for a parade for the leader of our Busy Mom's group that I didn't find out about until today, so I rushed through some of my chores so that I could go to.  I even made a sign to stick to my car!

but, our leader was too busy, and so we had to postpone the parade, which made it too late of a night for yours truly, so I had to pass. = (  Thankfully, I still got to zoom with the lovely ladies!

We are as ready as we can be for our first full week of learning.  In fact we got two emails outlining the week from the kids amazing teachers!  Here's to another (hopefully warmer) week at home!

later days

Lugnuts Game

Each year, Billy's company treats all of their employees to a baseball game in lieu of a company picnic.  

We arrived just before the gates opened, but were inside enjoying the activities quickly!

While we were eating a major storm system* passed through.  Poor Alice shut down.  A very sweet employee went out of her way to find Alice comfort in the form an ice pack.  There was no thunder or lightning just heavy winds and light rain.

Once we finished our meal, we went to stand in line for the balloon animals and face painting.

The night's theme was a tribute to ___________ and they even had a firebird drive around the field!

When we finished in the balloon line we stood in another line for face painting.

William's balloon snake was attacking me!

They uncovered the field and started to warm up.  This was about as much of the game as our children watched.

When everyone was finished, we stopped by a kiosk for a new hat for next year, and then headed home to wait for Emily.

It's always a fun time, even with a little bit of rain.

later days

*this system kept Avia, Coyt, Cali and Emily at the Detroit airport for 8 hours!

Oldsmobile Rally

On Friday, we walked down to the Small town, big Engine event.  They have scores of cars on display, mostly Oldsmobile, which is not my favorite, though I do enjoy a pretty Cutlass.  There are other cars too, off of the main drag.

A very shiny chrome bumper!

They had live music, face painting and balloon animals where they hold the farmer's market.  We left with some happy children.

We found a Texas car!  (I forgot to check the plates.)

Last year it was just Me and Grace.  It was nice to have everyone along this time (and we went down in the middle versus at the end, so there were more cars to see.)  No black impalas this year though.

later days