Halloween - an excuse in our house to dress up for fun and collect a little loot for no good reason. The kids' costumes reflect their personalities through and through this year.
A tiny Minnie Mouse...
She was SO happy to wear the costume that we borrowed (thank you, Jodi!!). I was actually very surprised. She left it on cheerily, but we did switch her ears out for her stocking hat Minnie ears later in the night!
An Indian...
Her costume was borrowed from awesome cousin Emma. I was sweating when she asked to be an Indian until I remembered Emma went through a Native American phase. Thanks, Emma!
Natalee broke her toe last night (we think) so she got to be pulled in the wagon at Trunk or Treat by Daddy. Minnie hitched a ride, too, of course.
A handsome, strong and studly firefighter...
He told me he couldn't smile, because he's a serious fireman.
By the power of persuasion he got Daddy and Papa Phil to put on their turn out gear, too.
It was a good Halloween. I did a "teal pumpkin project" trunk at our local trunk or treat and gave out a non food item. Overall, it went over well...a few puzzled looks from kids, but I gave out stickers so hopefully they'll enjoy them after they come down off the sugar!
Here's hoping you and yours found the child inside and had a little fun tonight!
Our homeschool co-op got canceled today due to sickness, resulting in tears from my two big kids. Days like this make me really put on my super mom cape to dig deep and find something out of the norm and fun for them to do to pass the time. Natalee asked for a "big art project" so I turned to my YouTube buddy, Mr. P., to find the perfect project.
I recently ordered chalk pastels for my crew, and we already had oil pastels, so, coupled with construction paper and glue we had everything we needed for these cute owl pieces. The only thing we didn't have was aerosol hairspray to seal the chalk pastels (I didn't know!) but Daddy is bringing us some home tonight.
We used Mr. P's videos, pausing and re-starting as we needed to.
I know I've said it before but I so appreciate his very simple and explicit way of explaining how to complete the project. He breaks it down so it's manageable and fun, messy and exciting for the kids!
I used 6"x6" squares of paper for the step 1 patterns. I love that he lightly taught the kids about cool and warm colors and had them choose 2 from one "family." Natalee chose warm and Xavier chose cool...totally opposite from what I thought they'd pick.
These squares became the body of the owl. We folded them in half, Mr. P. showed us how to draw two lines, and then we cut them symmetrically. Xavier asked for help drawing his lines but Natalee impressed me with her bravery - drawing her own lines proudly.
{Never to be forgotten...Dolly did some 'arting' too.}
Next we set our bodies aside and made eyes. I cut the paper for the kids' eyes a little short. Upon realizing my mistake I offered to do new ones for them but they were fine with what they had. My recommendation would be to make these strips a little wider across than your bodies and about a third of the height. Ours should have been about 2" wide by 7" in length. I made mine a bit bigger than the kids but still maybe a little short.
{mine}
Natalee went a little outside the box when designing her eyes, which resulted in hers being unique. Something I'm learning is to step out of their projects and let them really own them. I complimented her owl eyes and was impressed with her being willing to bend the directions given.
Using our oil pastels we chose a different color to compliment our cool/warm schemes and colored around the eyes. I obviously forgot to take pics of the kids'.
Setting our owls aside, we went to work on the background. This was fun for the kids (okay, me too)! Choosing two chalk pastels opposite the color family we'd used for our owls, we started to work filling our whole page with color. So, since Natalee had a warm owl, her background needed to be cool. Xavier and I were the opposite, needing warm backgrounds. As shown in the video (video part 2 above), we laid down some chalk pastel and then used our hands to rub it all over our paper. This was our first experience with chalk pastels and we loved it!
{all our new chalk pastels, ready and waiting!}
Are you taking pictures, Mama? CHEESE!
I didn't have any paper bags to make the trees (Lauren made me throw them all away when she helped clean my kitchen!!) so I grabbed brown construction paper. I drew the 'y's' for the kids since Mr. P didn't give instructions for that on the video. They cut them out and decided how to position them.
Our glue sticks didn't work very well, but I suppose it was because I hadn't sealed our chalk pastels yet? (We're too impatient to actually wait to finish when Dad gets home.) We used glue bottles, and when Mike brings the spray I'll just spray the whole page.
Next we positioned our owls. Then Natalee begged to put a mountain on hers, so I thought "why not?" Joining the "out of the box" crowd, I added a moon to mine, which the kids thought was super cool. They made their own moons, too...Natalee went with white, Xavier went with a blue moon. Like I said above...I stayed out of it and let them create.
Xavier, age 5
Natalee, age 6 3/4
Natalee also drew a smile on her owl.
boys are hard to take pictures of...
Mommy, age 29...obviously mine needed long eyelashes, too.
Here's hoping you're having some fun with your Friday. The only thing more fun than this would be having a baby but I don't think he's feeling it so art it is!
We did these start to finish because no one wanted to stop. Total they took us 95 minutes. Would love to see yours if you try them!!
Sweet Mia is 19 months old today. I thought today made 18 months so I'm all kinds of sad to realize she's closer to 2 than I actually thought!
She's saucy and sweet and sticking super duper close these last few days. I suppose she senses the change?
She's needed lots of hugs to get through each day. I think she whispers to baby "stay in there - I'm the baby!" when she's getting her hugs!
She's a huge fan of the musical the big kids are doing in co-op and likes to sing the song Being Me. Her voice is surprisingly sweet compared to the big personality she has!
Ameliya, we love you so much. We have no doubt you'll be an amazing big sister, so don't be anxious. We promise to not forget you tucked in the middle...you are one of our greatest treasures!
We are pleased as punch to announce that our family is continuing to grow! My baby sister, Lauren, and her husband, Lance, are expecting their first child next May. Our family is overjoyed!
To think, our Baby #4, who has a cousin, Adelyn, 4 1/2 months older than him, is also going to get one six months younger than him! We like life busy and jumping!
This year, I've gotten to be pregnant with two of my sisters. God surely blesses me...
I do have to say I look a might more put together at 3 months vs. the.end.
I sweetly invited my other sister, Andrea, to be part of our pregnancy parade but she declined, in not so many words. Ha! Her kids are in 6th and 8th grade and she's OUT of baby mode!
This sweet baby will make grandchild #7 for my parents...what a legacy!
