A Halloween Moral

 After weeks of chaining myself to my sewing machine and neglecting all other household duties, I finally finished this:

And this:

And was very excited to pull this out of a bag of hand-me-downs:

And we were all ready for a trip down the yellow brick road with Dorothy, Glinda, the Good Witch, and the not-so Cowardly Lion.

We had a blast at our church's HUGE Halloween Carnival and hung out with friends at a Halloween party the next night.  But then disaster struck...

Fabric paint for a craft and brand new homemade halloween costumes do NOT mix.

Maybe somewhere over the rainbow there's a land where no stain is permanent.  You think?

A Break for Me & a Treat for You

Summer has definitely kicked into high gear around here.  We've got ballet recitals, camping trips, VBS, and tons of other activities coming up, so I'll be pretty scarce around here for a few weeks.  I'm planning on being back in early July and I have a fun series planned on twaddle-free authors.  I'm pretty excited about it, so be sure to stay tuned!

To keep you and your kiddos entertained while I'm gone, I found some fabulous printable paper dolls that I though I'd share with you.  In fact I'm pretty sure I had this set of Gingham paper dolls when I was little.  I think I'm more excited about them than my girls are!  Paper dolls sadly seem to be coming a lost art, don't you think? 

Have a great summer and I'll be back in July!

Fund your Homeschool

Swagbucks is a service that I use regularly and love, and seems perfect for homeschoolers.  We're always searching things on the web, and we always need to add more books to our collection, right?

Swagbucks is primarily a search engine that randomly rewards you with points for your searches.  You can exchange these points for items in the Swag Store, such as Amazon gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, and others.  The $5 Amazon gift cards are the best deal for 450 Swagbucks.  You can use multiple gift cards towards a purchase.

My experience with Swagbucks has been great! I've been a member since last summer and have earned exactly $105 in gift cards in less than a year!  You can bank your cards in your Amazon account and they will never expire.  Instead of using Swagbucks for homeschooling supplies, I've decided to use Swagbucks as a Christmas fund.  Last year I was able to buy these, this, and this paid for entirely with Swagbucks!

I know it sounds too good to be true, but it's absolutely legitimate.  There is no cost involved, I haven't received spam from Swagbucks, and I've never had a problem with any of the gift cards I've ordered.  The search engine doesn't offer results that are as extensive as Google, but I almost always find what I'm looking for.  Search "Apples and Jammies" and it's on the first page.  Not too shabby!

I usually don't like to do "shameless plug" types of posts.  But I honestly do think Swagbucks is great and hope you will, too!

Disclaimer:  Referral links are included in this post.

Mother's Day

First there was this:

Then this was created at the secret meeting:

Which resulted in a wonderful breakfast in bed served with these lovelies from our garden:

Such a wonderful Mother's Day!

Peeps!

One of my favorite things about Easter is the Washington Posts's Peeps Diorama Contest, or Peeps Show.  There are some really great entries this year.  My absolute favorite is Goodnight Peep.

Now I have one daughter inspired to make her own diorama and one daughter who now knows the difference between diorama and diarrhea.  A very good thing, indeed.

April Fool's Fun

I was inspired by this to have a little April Fool's fun of my own.

For dinner I served frosted cupcakes which are actually muffin-shaped meatloaves with mashed potato "frosting".  By the way, this meatloaf recipe is absolutely terrific, even if you're not a big meatloaf fan.

And for dessert: mini-hamburgers, which are vanilla wafers, Oreo Fudge Cremes, green-tinted coconut, and yellow and red frosting.  Dessert made up for the disappointment of having meatloaf, when they thought they were having cupcakes! 

Can you tell we're on spring break and in the mood for goofing off?

Thank you, Arnold!

A few years ago, back when I was a classroom teacher, my school took part in the Governor's Reading Award Program.  Our students did a great job reading books, and we got some neato t-shirts.  Or so I thought. 

Now, I've been wearing this shirt for several years, and never ever noticed the spelling mistake!  Yes, the mistake on the Governor's Reading Award shirt.

Sigh.

Hi, I'd like to sign my students up for the Recognition of Irony Reading Program.  Thank you.

Ode to Middle Schoolers

I just got back from camp with our church's Middle School group. Now that I've caught up on some sleep and taken a good shower I wanted to share s little about it. We've been serving that group for the past three years now and it has been an amazing experience! Here's why:

1. It's fun!

Remember how much fun you had in your youth group? All the wacky games, hanging out with your friends, going to pool parties, playing broomball and going to camp, singing together? Well, I still get to do that pretty much every week!

2. They play an important role in the church.

If your church is like mine, middle schoolers play a HUGE role in the kid's Sunday School classes. They are willing servants and love to love your kids. And our kids love them right back and get to look up to them as role models.

3. Middle School volunteers are great people!

I love the kids, but the adults are pretty amazing, too. We've made some incredible friends through working with the youth that we would not have known otherwise. Anyone who can take part in a midnight pillow fight or pull a good prank (often involving bears) can't be all bad!

4. It's a great way to get to know people.

Not only do you get to know the middle schoolers, but their parents and siblings. If your church is on the larger side, this is an especially great way to connect with others.

5. It's amazing to watch them grow and mature.

A kid about to enter sixth grade is so different than a graduating eighth grader. It is great to see them become strong men and women of God. This is very often the time of their life when they take their faith as their own and start to get serious about God. It's great to watch that process and be a part of it!

6. Despite their reputation, middle schoolers are amazing!
Middle schoolers have a stigma that no other group in a church has to deal with. And to be honest, it's not completely undeserved. There are moments of drama, moodiness, conflict, and ingratitude, but there are so many more positive things that outweigh the negative. This week many of our kids got the faraway "bad cabins" with outside showers and bathrooms, but only a few times did I hear any complaints.

One of the girls in my cabin had a pretty stinky Monday. She was feeling homesick, and she lost all her money. After a good cry and a little prayer she was better, and that night when another girl was feeling homesick, she was first in line to comfort her.

7. There is a huge need!
Because of that stinkin' reputation, not too many adults are willing to commit their time to middle schoolers. And of course any parent is forbidden by their middle school child to participate in any activity. Ever. These kids need other adults besides parents and teachers to invest in them, spend time with them, guide them, and be their friend.