Snow Bling!

We did the easiest project this week for Friday's Book Project. It was so much fun! I did a mini science lesson with BFG with this book Why Does It Snow? which turned out to be a very good simple explanation for preschoolers.


And we followed it up with a craft: Making Our Own Snow Bling!
All you need is white glue, glitter of your choice, silicone mat (or waxed paper), and a whole lot of time. Oh, and a paper plate to shake the excess glitter onto if you are trying to keep the mess minimal, which is kind of an oxymoron when it comes to glitter.


Create snowflake designs on the silicone mat or waxed paper. Be sure to keep lines of glue thick and go back over any places that bead up and create unconnected lines. Cover with glitter. We used silver and white. Shake off the excess.

After the glue completely dries, it peels right off and you have the coolest snowflakes ever! It will take a long time to dry, but it is totally worth it. And, take my advice, wait for it to completely dry. I peeled up a couple before they were completely dry and the lines broke and messed them up. But after drying all the way, they pop right off.

We hung them up with silver thread. What kitchen doesn't need a little Snow Bling for the season?

Oh, and wouldn't these make good spider webs, too?

Have fun!

Mama Said

Epiphany

I had an epiphany the other day while doing the dishes. Two things I complain about the most are cleaning up the kitchen and never being alone. I always rush to clean the kitchen up as fast as I can to move on to the bigger and better things I want to be doing like just sitting down and having 5 minutes peace to look at a magazine or something, which never happens because I’m constantly attending to everyone’s needs.

While I was cleaning up some dishes after supper, I felt a God-whisper that said, “This is your time alone.” And I realized that while I’m cleaning the kitchen, I do have a break from being Mama. Rhett and BFG are usually having a well-satisfied moment in the living room and are playing together. Everyone is out of my hair and out of my way. I realized I have been complaining my way through a small gift of time that God gives me almost each and every day.

I began singing some hymns and thanking God and my mundane, tedious task became a quiet retreat for me. With a change in the way I looked at it (aka a change in my attitude), I was a lot happier doing something I dread doing each day.

I challenge you to look for some island of peace and calm in your day today and praise the Lord for it! It may surprise you! LOL!

Mama Said

Not Me! Monday

I found My Charming Kids recently and she hosts a Not Me Monday every week which is a tongue-in-cheek way to confess all the things you did wrong the week before. It is hilarious! If you have time and need a laugh, it’s definitely worth checking out.

So, here goes my confession for the last week or so:

I totally did NOT go to Target for the umpteenth time trying to get 75% deals. No way! I think that would mean I had some kind of shopping problem. And, of course, while we were there, I did NOT buy BFG an icee and popcorn for her lunch to keep her quiet so I could shop. What mom would do that? It was so unhealthy and BFG NEVER whines while I shop.

I absolutely did NOT buy 9 boxes of GoGurt just because I had 9 coupons and they were on sale! That would mean I was like a hoarder or something and it’s NOT like I let BFG eat about 4 GoGurts a day or anything. That would be over the top with all the high fructose corn syrup in them.

And, while we were at the library, BFG did NOT run up to me and loudly tell me to stay away from this particular little girl because she thought the girl had a cold and we didn’t want the germs. My child would NEVER do that ‘cause I absolutely am NOT a germaphobe. I’m NEVER terrified of catching the latest crud going around. I don’t EVER slather us up with anti-germ gel either.

Rhett totally did NOT use BFG’s brand new pink fuzzy slippers to put out a flaming ember from the fire that landed on our rug. He would NEVER do such a thing especially when there were three other pairs of shoes lying around on the floor because we NEVER have shoes lying around the floor. And the ember totally did NOT burn off some of the pink fluff. Oh, and BFG so did NOT cry and whine about it and demand a new pair of slippers. Our little angel who is NOT spoiled would NEVER do that.

We totally did NOT drag out the said angel to a state park to see a waterfall when it was 30 degrees outside either. And Rhett did NOT drag her down a hill that was not a trail to the waterfall and get her and her coat caught in a bramble bush. We would NEVER put our child in that dangerous situation.

Finally, I did NOT leave the TomTom on top of the car when we were leaving on our trip to the state park. And it did NOT fly off the top and land in the road. And I absolutely did NOT have to get out of the car and run 10 yards back to retrieve it.

Have a fab week NOT doing anything,

Mama Said

A Color of His Own Book Project

I did a quickie book project for BFG today for Sandy's Friday Book Project.

We used the book A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni, which is about a chameleon who is sad because he always changes color and doesn't have his own color like other animals do.

I rummaged through my old scrapbooking paper and cut pieces 5"x6". I cut a piece of cardstock 12.5"x 5.5" and folded in the middle to create the cover. I traced the chameleon from the book onto the cardstock cover (it was some really thin cardstock). Then I took a piece of acetate 4.5"x 5.5" and traced the chameleon with a permanent marker. (If you don't have any acetate paper (which is the old school transparency paper, then try a plastic report cover or any sturdy plastic--I'm thinking like from the packaging of a toy or something.)

I stacked all the scrapbooking papers inside the cover and stapled the edge.

I used double-sided sticky tape and placed an invitation sized envelope on the back. I folded the flap down inside of the envelope to create a pocket. Then I placed the acetate chameleon in the pocket.

After BFG and I read the story, she got to explore with the chameleon and make up her own story for him. I have to say our chameleon went to much more exciting places like when he jumped so high he looked like the sky . . .

Or when he went to the beach to live happily ever after.

For younger kids, this is a great way to explore colors. The chameleon can go all over the house trying to be blue in every room or leaping from red to red, etc.

But be careful, he can hide really well! I think later we will play hide-and-seek with the chameleon! That should keep BFG busy for awhile!

Have fun!

Mama Said

Four

Four Words of Mine:
"I HATE car carts!" (Seriously, they invented these to help mothers grocery shop. Please!)

Four Places We Went After Story Hour:
Pay the water bill, Office Depot, Target, and Kroger (um, only 4 too many)

Four--the number of breakdowns I almost had today

Four--the number of items Kroger was out of that I had coupons for. Ugh! I hate that!

Four--how many hours we visited my parents tonight

Four--the number of Tylenol I need (at least) to dull this crazy toothache that intensified today

Four--how many people I have coming to my stamping class on Saturday that I am totally not prepared for

Four Words From BFG:
"This was an accident!!!" as she holds up her hands in the car on the way home (past her bedtime) and shows me that each finger has been mummified with strands of her chewing gum.

Four--about how many seconds until I drop

My Final Four Words:
"NOT A GOOD DAY!!!"

Ten-4,
Mama Said

A New Respect

I totally have a new respect for an unexpected person. You know on Survivor there is that one person every season who tries to plead his/her case to be kept on the island by saying, "I'm the one who keeps the fire going." Well, boy howdy, that person should stay! I totally respect them now! I also have a new respect for when they have to make fire to break a tie. I'm usually rolling my eyes and saying this is ridiculous as they struggle and struggle to get a flame going. Not anymore!

I had no idea how hard a fire is! We've had a cold spell this past week. (For us Southerners, for it to be down to 9 degrees at night, we are just down right frozen and call off school and everything!) And we've had a fire in our fireplace for several nights and over the weekend. It is so much work!!! No wonder gas logs sell so well! After about 5 or 6 nights of fires, we are finally a little bit better. But those first couple of nights, it took us hours to get it going. Seriously, the second night we worked on the fire for over 3 hours trying to get it going and stay going. We finally looked it up on WikiHow and had some success. Isn't that pathetic?

On another subject (kind of), I had to show ya'll the difference in our fireplace from a year ago to today.

Before (when we bought the house)

After

Isn't that amazing? Sometimes I forget how far we've come on the house. Our living room was the worst room in the house and now it's our favorite. Oh, in the After picture, just envision an antique arched window hanging up there. Rhett is going to take one the original windows and reglaze and repaint it and hang it up there.

Stay warm!

Mama Said

Muffin Tin Monday: Snow Princess Party!

Our theme for Muffin Tin Monday was royalty. I just happened to have bought some muffin tin liners 75% off at Kroger that have snowflakes and polar bears on them and I kept thinking about my silver serving tray and Voila! A Snow Princess Party was born!


I didn't want to buy any special food to pull this off. Plus, it was very last minute! LOL! I collaborated with my sister and we pooled together every white food we could quickly put together quickly.

The foods I'm listing are in no special order. It would be too crazy since we had 1 muffin tin liner per food per each of the 3 kids (BFG, my niece and nephew).

Snow Princess Party Foods: white cotton candy, Laughing Cow Spreadable Cheese Wedge, Saltine crackers, Rice Chex cereal, macaroni noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese, popcorn, mini marshmallows, deviled eggs, white chocolate covered pretzels, bite-sized sugar cookies with blue ICE-ing and snowflake sprinkles, and Aurora Borealis Milkshakes (Neapolitan ice cream blended with milk topped with Redi-whip and crystal sugar sprinkles). Whew! I think that's all.

Okay, I went a little over the top for this one. But it did make for a fun party that kicked those winter blues! We had Snow Princess hats . . .


And a crown for the Snow Prince . . . (which as an almost 9 yr. old, he hated it and only kept it on for this photo)

We cut out paper snowflakes. I burned a Yankee candle that I thought was called Snow Angel, but realized later it was called Sparkling Angel. Oh, well. I found a Floamies snow castle I had bought 80% off last year after Christmas (See above pic of table decor.) and BFG had a blast decorating that and has been totally occupied with playing with it and her princess Polly Pockets for days. I even played a tape of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. See what I mean? I think I crossed the line into goofy!

We played Pin the Face on the Snowman, which turned out the be the hit of the party! It really was fun! My sister and I played too which just thrilled the kids. This game was super easy to free-hand cutting it out and to set up. I did use scrapbooking punches for the eyes and mouth, but you wouldn't have to. This pic was one of the better results. The kids got better at it the more they played.

We finished up with a mini art lesson and art project featuring Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day, which you can read more this project and see close up photos, here.

Thanks to Her Cup Overfloweth for giving the challenge! My family had a blast (or would that be blizzard)! Pop on over there and check out how everyone else interpreted the theme.

Mama Said

The Snowy Day Art Project

Friday I did a mini art lesson and art project with BFG and her two cousins. It was part of our Snow Princess Party. I used the book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. I talked to the kids about how he was the author and illustrator and had won a Caldecott Medal for his awesome artwork. I taught them about part of his method to create his artwork was collage. We looked at the book page by page and I pointed out each place where you could visibly tell he had cut out paper or cloth and used it in the collage (Peter's pajamas, his mother's dress, cotton for the clouds, etc.). I challenged them to use construction paper to create their own collages like The Snowy Day. I demonstrated how they could tear the paper or cut it and I made a tree with snow on it or something being careful to emphasize that their own collage did NOT have to look like mine.



I was so pleased with the results! They turned out better than I had hoped. BFG's is a little rough, but good for a four-year-old. And you can see that she grasped the concept of collage which was the point of the lesson. I think for her age and younger, it would be a good idea to already have various shapes and pieces already cut out to use.

BFG's Snowy Day (age 4)

Boy Wonder's Snowy Day (almost age 9)

Curly Sue's Snowy Day (age 7)

I was so impressed by hers!!! Look at how she pieced Peter together! And if you're familiar with the book, you'll recognize she was trying to recreate the scene where Peter is sitting out during the big boy's snowball fight. And I did not have the book opened to that page during the project! I am just amazed by her picture!

Stay warm and cozy,

Mama Said

One Year Ago Today . . .

was the first day I saw the house we now live in. Well, it's next door to my sister's. So, I'd seen it before. But last year, I came and looked inside to see if I wanted to buy it.








Yup, came by myself. No Rhett. I thought I'd check it out first and see if it was worth the hassle of dragging him out here. It was.



I never dreamed I'd live in a 130 yr old house much less in the country. But when I toured the place, it was like I had just found everything I'd ever wanted but never knew I did. It just felt like a homeplace.



It's funny reading back in my prayer journal at the time when we were making this huge decision. (I absolutely LOVE keeping a prayer journal just for this reason! I forget so much stuff! And you can look back and see prayers that were answered and your growth as a Christian.)



Anyway, I wanted the house so bad!!! I knew it would take tons of work, but I did not care. From the point I saw it, it was our home for me. Now, Rhett . . . uh . . . well . . . he liked the land. Seven and half acres in this area and at the price we got it was really slick. But ol' Rhett was bogged down last January with a new job and working on his Master's Degree. A ramshackle house was not what he wanted or needed.



In one of my journal entries I wrote:

"Rhett came home last night and said No on the house. I cried. I didn't even mean to. I just started crying."



I don't know how we decided. Of course, Rhett make the final call. But neither one of us wanted to be the one to really say Yes, Let's do it because it was so much risk.



Fast Forward One Year:

Now, I walk around the house and look at the work still left to do and think about all my stuff that's been in storage for 10+ months and I have no where to put when we get it out and guess what I do (or at least feel like doing) . . . CRY!!!!! Isn't that hilarious?



And, now, Rhett has researched the history of this house and land. He's researched the whole community. He does phone interviews with people. He drops in on elderly people and gets them to tell him everything they can remember about the house. All kinds of stuff. He's totally immersed in the house and the history that goes with it.



Don't get me wrong though. I am very happy here. And we both agree that the house just feels like home even if the bathroom tile crumbles every time we walk through and the paint is peeling off all the wood siding. This house just has a depth our other house didn't have. I just think of all the generations that have walked up and down the same steps I do each day. What were their lives like? What issues did they face? Were the simpler times really as golden as we think they must have been?



Plus, the longer our infertility continues, I am even happier we moved BFG next door to her cousins. They are so close she kind of gets that sibling feeling. At least they've got the arguing part down pat. :)


(Um, just in case it's not obvious, we don't live in a barn. The barn did come with our property though. I'm just not cool with posting my house on the web. Sorry!)
Mama Said

Target Again?????

Yes, I went back one more time trying to get toys on sale for 75% off.

The buzz on the net was that today was the day . . .

Well, I must live in a very progressive town because our Target had already cleared out almost ALL of the clearanced toys. They had empty shelves everywhere and every stock person rearranging and putting out new stuff.

Where the heck did it all go???

They did still have some 90% off Christmas stuff that I checked out.

My sister was with me.

We dove for these canisters of Archer Farms Toffee Almond Crunch Chocolate Covered Pretzel rods.

Yes, we took all six of them.

We were salivating just waiting to get to the car to bust them open, devour a couple, and stick one in each of the three kids' mouths for a few moments of blessed peace.

We make it to the check out.

Cashier: Un-unh. I can't sell you those.
Me: What? ( I thought they'd already been salvaged or something and Target is really weird about not selling stuff they've already salvage 'cause I guess they'd rather throw it away than get my 39 cents.)
Cashier: They've been recalled. This morning. I ain't allowed to sell you these. I ain't even gonna ring'em up 'cause then I'll have to call the manager and he gone to lunch.
Me: Are you kidding me?
Cashier: He done went back there to pull'em and they were gone. We knew somebody had'em.
The "lunching" manager walked up just then and verified that they were indeed recalled and they were relieved to find who had been walking around with them in their cart.

Of course it was us. Would it be anyone else?

Can you believe that? The one thing out of the whole rushing-to-get-ready-and-wrangling-three-kids-around-Target-and-I-skipped-storyhour-to-go trip that I was going to buy.
But I'm praising the Lord for that lady doing her job well. There's no telling what they were recalled for. At the very least, we probably avoided a tummy-ache and who knows what else.

Mama Said

A Target Tale

Remember me saying that I would have to restrain myself from after-Christmas shopping because of our outrageous gas bill?

Well, Rhett was totally not surprised by the bill and even shrugged his shoulders and he totally didn't care if I went after-Christmas shopping as long as I quit buying candy. So . . . There went any self-restraint I had.

Now, I did really try to not get more Christmas junk 'cause I have way too much of it already and am absolutely sick of trying to dig out mountains of Christmas stuff to put out each year. But when Target gets to 90% off, how can I not buy it? If you are someone who can pass on this kind of stuff, please tell me--How do you NOT buy it? There is just something about Target's after-Christmas sale that gets me. It's like my crac*-roc* or something. It calls my name. It tempts me. I'm just lured to the store. I cannot resist the urge!!!!! I guess part of it all the good stuff you can get that is labeled Christmas but it can be used anytime that you can get such good deal on. Like these awesome storage totes I got at 75% that are square and covered in a silky burgundy material with a damask print. I have seriously been looking for something like that to put on top of our armoire for months. So, for some of it, I didn't do too bad.

Ummmm . . . but some of what I bought was total junk. Do I really need Christmas slipper socks when the podiatrist says I'm not allowed to walk without shoes? Um . . . do I really need red tights with snowflakes on them? Or the red, green, and white argyle knee high socks with the fur-trimmed tops? I don't think so.

And, ya'll, I think God was even trying to stop me on my first trip. (Uh, yeah, I decline to say how many times I've been to Target in the past 5 days.) I had BFG with me and, ya'll, my IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) kicked in and I was hurting so bad. The first trip to the bathroom wasn't so bad. But once your IBS starts, it starts if ya know what I mean. So, by the time I needed a second trip to the bathroom, we had just made it to the far back corner of the store where the Christmas stuff is. I had to GO! I seriously thought I wasn't going to make it. I'm screaming at BFG the whole way trying to run with a cart while squinching. People are glaring at me for the stuff I'm saying to BFG. We ditched our cart and I had her tight by the upper arm trying to guide her to the bathroom. She was drinking an icee. I am speaking in a very ugly tone through clenched teeth "Come on! Mama's about to po*p on herself! We've got to go now!" Right as we get to the bathroom, she explains she was trying to drink her icee. And I'm whipping the door open as I scream, "You coulda stopped drinking your icee for two minutes and WALKED!" and a woman is walking out right at that moment and thought I was the world's worst mother. And I don't even want to know what the faces of the people in the bathroom looked like when we get in the stall and BFG states she has to go pe*-pe*. I was furious! I was seriously seconds from having an accident on myself. I screamed, "Are you kidding me? You really have to go. Well, you're just gonna hafta wait!" Of course, my mom-guilt kicked in and my cramps let up a little bit so I actually let her go first 'cause I knew I'd be awhile. Uh, she didn't have to go. Surprise, surprise! But she did do a good job of entertaining everyone by singing songs very loudly for 20 minutes while I did my business.

We left after that. I decided there was nothing in Target worth po*ping on myself for.

Mama Said

Ol' Mr. Guinea Hen

Yesterday was a sad day for us. We discovered that Ol' Mr. Guinea Hen had wondered out on the road and gotten hit by a car and passed away. BFG and I have just cried and cried over that ol' bird. He was just so special. He was the last of the flock that the previous owners had. The only one left by the time we bought the house. I am still tearing up just thinking about it. (BTW, this pic is not of our guinea. Whaah! I never got one!!!)

Oh, I know I complained about guinea poop on a daily basis and complained how he ate all the cat's food. But I loved that thing. I loved seeing him strut all over the yard acting goofy. I loved how he'd get to hollering if anything out of the ordinary happened. (Guinea Hens are super watchdogs!) I even loved how he'd wait at the door for us to come out in the morning. And how he'd fly up on the deck railing and talk to me esp. if he was mad about something. Like when we put the baby chicks in his house. He let me have it for weeks over that. And my favorite has to be how he would taunt my sister's dogs by getting right at the shock collar line. But then he was so stupid that he'd forget what he was doing and accidentally cross over going after a bug or something and the dogs would almost get him and he'd take off flying across the yard. They can fly really high, too.

So, you see, it was more than just a dumb ol' bird on our farm. He was part of our family. Even Rhett is sad. To help you understand, BFG's words on the situation were that it "ruined her heart and broke her Christmas." (And that was said while sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.)

I know we'll be fine and it could be way, way worse. We're just sad right now.

Sigh,

Mama Said

My Bah-Humbug Christmas!

Well, between all the mouse po*p and "musical pherafy", I really didn't have much time to post Christmas stuff. But it was probably just as well 'cause I was just one complaint after another. Are you surprised? Yeah, well, me either.

But, really this was a crappy Christmas. It was one of "those" Christmases. You know the ones. Yeah, where nothing is done when it should be, you're running around like a chicken with it's head cut off yet that can somehow miraculously scream at anything, anyone, and any animal that gets in its path. Yeah, that was me. Up late every night trying to cram stuff in even though when you calculate the hours in your head you know there is no possible way to get everything done. The kind of Christmas three years ago I swore I would never have again.

So, here I go again promising myself again that I will not let this happen next year. A nice, normal organized Christmas can be done by me believe it or not. And I much prefer it. But, to be honest, even when it's organized and things are on time and what-not, the whole hoopla still makes me mad.

I just want Christmas to be about celebrating Christ's birth, spending time with family eating food from treasured recipes, and sharing Jesus's love by sharing our wealth and blessings with others. Not all the over-the-top crap we have to do to "DO" Christmas. Not adults buying other adults crappy gifts they either don't want or could afford to go buy themselves. Not all the pushing, shoving, and selfishness at the stores. Not the hurry, hurry, hurry of the season. Not even Santa. Not family fighting over who gets to see who on which day and for how long. All of that part of Christmas is so meaningless. I absolutely abhor the feeling of relief I have on Christmas Day Night. That "whew! I pulled it off. It's over. I made it through another one." I actually crave for Rhett to tell me good job or thanks for pulling off Christmas. That's how I celebrate the birth of my Saviour? It doesn't even make sense. I ache inside to do things differently. But I don't know how to change things without causing a huge family rift. And I really hate to rock the boat when my grandmother is elderly, yet still very with it.

Anyway, it is over for this year and all can do is learn from this experience and move on. So, I share with ya'll what I've learned this Christmas.

• Do NOT take vacation the last week of November and come home in December. It takes a good week to prepare to leave, a week away, and a week to do laundry and unpack. That's 3 weeks of the season gone right there.
• If you even think about taking care of health problems you've been putting off, July is too late to start. You might as well start in January to be sure you will be done by Christmas.
• If you see a mouse in your house before you leave for the aforementioned vacation, bomb the house with poison when you are gone so that when you get back you are not too scared to be up alone after dark and you won't be cleaning mouse po*p out of your kitchen the Sat. before Christmas.
• Don't bother to spend the whole month of December telling your child the truth about Santa. 'Cause ya'll know her cousins are way smarter than you and will unravel everything you've taught in a couple of hours on Christmas eve. Oh, well. At least we can always say we never lied to her.
• If your child's birthday is in November, do NOT have her party in December. Dumb-da-dumb-dumb!
• When Amazon says "order now and have item tomorrow by noon", um . . . I don't think it means the free super saver shipping esp. since it showed up 10 days later instead of 2.
• If you are asked to bring a dish you've never made before to your in-laws, just go get your recipe off of http://www.allrecipes.com/ If 657 people say the recipe is good, it is. If 5 people say it is, don't chance it.
• And finally . . . whatever you do (if you don't do it already), you should add celebrating the Advent to your Christmas traditions. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just done to turn the focus on the Lord. We had the Advent candles and no wreath and the Jesse Tree symbols and no tree to put them on. And ya' know what? It still worked. BFG looked forward to our advent devotional every night. And Christmas Day morning, the first thing she wanted to do was to do our last devotional and put Baby Jesus in the manger of our nativity. She wanted to do that on her own without one word of asking to see her presents. And, bless her heart, it was cloudy on Christmas eve and she cried because she thought it was her only chance to see the star of Bethlehem and she was gonna miss it. So, maybe, just maybe, through all the chaos, we did something right this Christmas. (Well, does it still count if I spent the majority of each day in December screaming at her to leave me alone 'cause I had to get stuff done? I really hope so.)

Happy Blessed New Year, Ya'll!

Mama Said