2011 Halloween Outfit = 1950's Housewife

I promise to get back into my posts about my Story Time Gig books and crafts.

We were hit by two sequential bugs here, my mother came to visit in the middle of the last one (a nasty, hard hitting head cold) and then I had my last week at the library with our normal Preschool Story Time and an additional Thursday evening Elementary school Dress Up Party.

On Wednesday I was asked by the librarians if I had a costume because we adults were to dress up as well for the Thursday event.  AHHHHH!!!   We had just been to a huge thrift store in a neighboring town the day before. I could have easily picked up an outfit then but did not know to do so.

Ugg.  My brain quickly scanned outfits that I knew I had at home that would be appropriate for the lady leading the evening's events.  1) A very, very old sleeveless, fringe filled Indian Squaw dress (which seems so politically incorrect).  2) cat ears and tail to go with a black shirt and pants... of which I no longer have.  3) footed pj's that fit me.... these would be great but I didn't really want to show up for an event that I was in charge of as either a baby or a slob too lazy to get dressed.

So, I fed the children lunch after Wednesday's Story Time and I told them we would go on a car ride to find mommy a costume IF they RESTED OR NAPPED in the van on the way.  Much to my surprise THEY DID!  Although, there is nothing worse than waking kids up to go into a store after they have been asleep for only 20 minutes.  THEY DID GREAT THOUGH!!

My original mission was to latch onto AN AMAZING RENAISSANCE Lady in Waiting gown that I had seen in the window the day before.  It was STUNNING.  In highschool I had ALWAYS wanted to be one of the very fine Madrigal Singers and could never make the cut.  I just did not have the voice training and sight reading skills that those folks did.  I drooled over their every move and their amazing costumes.  THIS costume would have fit in perfectly....oh how I wanted it.

We got out of the van, went in the doors and walked straight up to the costume.  I asked was it for sale, would it fit me and what was the cost.  The first two answers made me giddy.  The third answer ($49.99) made me sick to my stomach.  :(

Plan B.... head to the costume department of the store.  This store dedicates a HUGE area JUST for Halloween stuff, most of it was new.   My boys saw a witches hat and thought I should be a witch (knowing how little they know about witches I did NOT take their opinion personally).  The hat alone was $9.99.  UGGG.   I REALLY DON'T GET OUT MUCH!   I kept that idea on the back burner.

We then walked down a long aisle of used costumes and other clothing that was pulled that would easily fall into the Halloween Dress Up category.   I began pulling anything that was possible.  I pulled black clothing, I pulled old dresses, I pulled an AMAZING, GORGEOUS FORMAL GOWN (black) that fit me like a dream.   I looked at the knee hi, high heel boots (witch outfit?).  Then we went off to the dressing room.  It was one of the smallest dressing rooms I have seen in a long time and I had all three kids with me.  I told them to make themselves skinny and hold the walls up.....................AND IT WORKED!   After sometime Abram decided that he wanted to look out below which worked out okay.

The pair of old-fashioned jeans fit perfectly (by that I mean they do not have an hour glass shaped thigh nor contain any spandex!), YAY for me!!  A hoodie fit great too.  That evening gown was dreamy.  Otto told me I looked like a princess.  I then started trying on the *other* clothes.  I was intrigued when a hand sewn blue dress fit as if it were made for me.  When I pulled it off the rack I didn't really know why.  I was thinking Marsha Brady.  When I saw it on me I thought perhaps with an apron I would look like a housewife from the 1950's.

So we went off to the shoe section where I asked a cute older lady to help me find shoes that looked like they would have been worn with the outfit.   She looked at me with a cute expression and chose my shoes.

I then asked a worker if they had aprons.  He led me to the right aisle and I started to look.  I grabbed an apron that seemed perfect to me, tied it onto the dress, hung it up with the shoes below and asked 3 nearby ladies (likely in their early 70's) if the outfit looked authentic enough.   I thought the one was about to faint, the other two crowed how perfect it was.  They then started giving me advice on my hair style and began arguing with each other over how I should do it.  LOL

I was very excited.

The next step was to go home and research how on earth to do my hair.

I learned much from youtube tutorials (links below).  I am always shocked at what you can learn from Youtube videos.  There are some ladies who are really, really good at vintage hairstyles.  I found out my hair is on the verge of being too long but I pulled Victory Rolls and Betty Bangs off anyway.

Here are my pictures:

(Yep, I had a little fun posing!)

No 1950's housewife costume is complete without the perfectly cut, powder sugar sprinkled brownies on wax paper, on a cut glass hostess plate!

With Princess Dora.

Here are those links to the YouTube videos that I mentioned above:
Aja's Beauty Corner at the VividMakeup's Channel helped me with Pincurling,another, and another.  I fell in love with Aja!  She seems so sweet, so genuine, so calm.  Her styling is perfect and while watching her I felt as if I could do this without blinking my eyes............then I tried it and realized that she's REALLY GOOD cause styling hair like this is REALLY HARD!!

Aja, taught me about my make up too, click here.  Yet, I must have thrown out the super light foundation I used to have and had to go without.  Oh well, likely no one would have noticed anyway. 

I just NOW saw this video and am now wishing that I had seen it the night of our costume party.  No matter how hard I tried I just could not get the back of my head to do what Aja did with hers.  I was WISHING that I had NOT combed out my curls from my hot rollers (*gasp* Yep....  my pin curls did not look great the morning of and I resorted to hot rollers.)  Anyway, this back roll would have helped the look even more.  Apparently, it's called a GIBSON ROLL.  Oh the things you can learn in the topic of Vintage Hairstyles!

This gal HERE helped me with VICTORY ROLLS (the side rolls on my head) and so did this cute blondie.  Of course, while I looked for those links I found this cute video.  She spends lots of time videoing her brushing and clipping, but you can skim through those sections.

Interim Story Time Lady: Week 1= Autumn Leaves

October 12th marked my very first Story Time Lady Experience at our local library.  (You can read more about this HERE.)

The previous librarian had sketched out several topics before she left.  When I looked at them I realized that I really needed to stick with most of these topics, after all the landscape only demonstrates the changing of leaf colors once a year!

So, before ALL the fall colors were on the ground I decided that October 12th we would read about the changing of seasons from summer into fall and then move into Autumn leaves.

I read 5 books and despite writing them down I can not seem to find my list.  I logged into the library account and it is not set up to view past reading history.  *sigh*  So, below are four books that I THINK I read.  I don't remember reading TWO Lois Ehlert books but know I like both of these books so I'll list them here anyway.

Book List

(click the link to view book on Amazon)

• It's Fall by Linda Glaser
• We're Going On A Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
• Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
• Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

After we read our books we went to the small child's table to work on our craft.

We made these super easy and quick bookmarks.

So, here is where you get to learn more about me.  I HAVE A THING FOR CONTACT PAPER.  My family is thankful we do not have a real laminating machine because if we did I would blow all our food budget on laminating supplies!!  :)   Second, I HATE, HATE, HATE thick bookmarks.  They don't stay in very well and they leave gaps in the binding of the book if they are left for too long.  *DISLIKE*  This bookmark is not much thicker than two sheets of paper.  Cardstock is actually thicker than these book marks!  *LOVE*  Third, fall leaves are my most favorite part of the year.  I love capturing them to admire later in the year (like when snow covers everything in sight).

Do It Yourself: How TO Make a Leaf Bookmark
1:   If I were at home with my own kiddos I would have us go on a leaf hunt.  However, since I was prepping this craft for preschoolers I did this step on my own the day before.  I went for a walk and searched for very small leaves.  The bookmarks were pre-cut to 8.5" x 2.25" so the leaves needed to not only be pretty but be pretty small.

2:  I precut the book mark pieces.  I cut a piece of contact paper and a piece of colored copy paper to the 8.5" x 2.25" size.  Why did I cut it to THAT size??  Umm,  because it looked okay and because I had several scraps that could be cut to that size without wasting much.  :)  Waste not, want not!

 3:  Now here's the step that says "I love to be kind and I love easy, crafts with little hassle."   I FOLDED A SMALL corner down on each piece of contact paper so that the moms would be able to more quickly pull the paper backing off!  :)  *wink*

4: I typed up the words "Happy Autumn 2011" in a small, easy to read font and printed it out.  I actually used the table function in a word processing program for this.  I made a table big enough to fit 20 of these and then created one cell that was exactly what I wanted, copied and pasted it to all the other cells.  Quick easy.  *Poof*  Prep work was done.

5:  AT STORY TIME assembly was super easy. 
a)  The children (and their adult) were given a piece of contact paper, a piece of colored paper, a "Happy Autumn" tag and they were able to choose 2-4 leaves. 
b)  The moms pulled off the paper backing and put the contact paper on the table with the sticky side facing up.
c)  The children (though confused) were guided to put the leaves pretty side DOWN and the "Happy Autumn" tag with the words DOWN onto the sticky.
d)  They then put the colored paper on top of the sticky contact paper and pressed it together.
e) Those who needed to then trimmed up the sides if they were put together crooked.   It's so nice to just fix the edges up with a scissor instead of stressing out over the two layers not going together perfectly!  (*easy*)

There ya have it.  Super easy.  Super Pretty.  Super Fast Leaf Craft.

Coming soon 
Week 2=Harvest Apples & Pumpkins
 (Where I show how crazy I really am and use paint with a hand print craft!)

Interim Story Time Lady Gig

If you have been around my blog for sometime you have heard me brag about how AWESOME the librarians are at my local library!!

I LOVE MY LIBRARIANS.

At the end of September our Children's Librarian notified us that she had found another position in a field she had previously worked.  We were sad to lose Miss Jenny.  

While the Head Librarian was talking to me (I hate saying "Head Librarian" as she is more of a friend to me than a librarian) she was a bit nervous about what might happen.  She nervously mentioned that perhaps the moms could read a book or two and skip the crafts or perhaps Story Time would have to just be canceled for a week or two while she interviewed and hired someone for the position.

GASP!!!! CANCEL STORY TIME!!!  CANCEL STORY TIME!!!  

YOU CAN'T CANCEL STORY TIME!!!

I have been attending Pre-school Story Time for six years now and have at least 2-3 more years to go before my wee ones are too old.  I KNOW FIRST HAND that Story Time is a time (and sometimes the ONLY time) when moms can sit in a comfy chair and sit back and not do anything.  It's a break.  Yeah, yeah, so sometimes we need to re-direct our children but it is a time to sit back and zone for 20 minutes.  The librarian reads about 5 picture books and then the children do a simple craft.  During craft time these moms (who are often not connected into the community whatsoever) get to know each other and start to grow friendships.

CANCEL STORY TIME!  YOU JUST CAN'T!

So, much to Hubby's HORROR, I told her she couldn't do that and told her I'd be happy to be the Story Time lady for as long as she needed me to.  She was worried and then I reminded her that I not only do this kind of thing at home frequently, as a homeschooler, but that I had a bachelors in Elementary Education!

She was thrilled.

I was suddenly nervous but VERY, VERY EXCITED.

I love teaching big groups (on occasion).  

My brain immediately began going CRAZY with potential Story Time themes.  Themes that were new for these kids.  I found myself working on Story Time instead of doing other things I needed to be doing.  I became obsessed. 

So, I am the Interim Story Time lady.  :)

The same day I volunteered for this position I emailed a friend of mine who has been job hunting.  It was a perfect fit.  She contacted the library right away, they interviewed her and within a very short time she was hired.  :)

It's super exciting to have another friend in the library.  However, I have teased her about taking my Story Time Lady Job!  :)

I love Story Time.

Over the next week I hope to share with you what books we have read and the crafts that we have done.  

Being the Story Time Lady in October actually left me feeling quite limited.  The previous librarian had already compiled a list of books and themes.  I have not stuck to her plans completely but there are some things that you just *HAVE* to cover when teaching pre-schoolers in the fall.  Things like Autumn, Falling Leaves, Apples, Pumpkins and Halloween.  Yep, that pretty much took over all my exciting new adventurous plans.  With my friend being hired so quickly the Head Librarian is letting me handle the October Story Time mornings as well as an evening Halloween program.  During this time my friend will be able to focus her attention mastering all the other tasks the librarians do.

In November the new Children's Librarian will take over, as she should, and my Story Time Lady days will be behind me.  OH I LOVE MY LIBRARY!  I LOVE this opportunity.  It has been VERY FUN but I will also enjoy my MOM-ZONE-TIME again once my gig is over.

Stay tuned and in the next few days as I walk you through our Story Time Adventures.

I Choose to Occupy Life - A promise and a rant

The recent "Occupy" events happening around the country have gotten under my skin.  My husband frequently chats with me about some co-workers who are really excited about these events.   I have had to "hide" a few friends from my FaceBook news feed because their every comment hits me like an entitled spoiled rich brat whining about not getting something that many people I know in real life don't actually have nor expect to gain.  

My emotional response to this lately has been to get angry at what they are demanding yet how much time and money they are putting into these events.  Please, can't you gather up that money and use it to clothe and feed the poor, hungry and cold.  Really?  Do you need to spend THOUSANDS+ of dollars making banners so that others *see* you?  Perhaps saving that money or wisely investing it might help you over come the travesty of losing your retirement in erroneous stock market investments. 

I guess I am just annoyed.  Annoyed that people are THIS angry over things that look like entitlements.  

I fall back to my pondering of CONTENTMENT.  I am so thankful that I can pull myself back to the true meaning of this word as often as I do.  I am so thankful I *get* what it means to be content even when life is far from easy.  And honestly, I wonder how quickly I would become ungrounded without the toil of the garden, the childcare, the homeschooling, the cooking from scratch, the volunteering.  If life were handed to me without all this physical work could I even remotely begin to be appreciative of what I have been given.  Of how God works miracles every single season in my life and in my year?  Even when I am slothful, neglectful and am in a slump God pulls through and provides so abundantly. 

Yep!  They have gotten under my skin and here is my response!

I CHOOSE LIFE!
--------------------------------------------------

I Choose to OCCUPY LIFE
I refuse to be a victim as there are still aspects of my own being and life that can be examined and tweaked to make this world, at least that which is directly around me, a better place.

I refuse to whine about how hard it is to "make it" in the world as I have been blessed beyond measure with some of the simplest blessings such as water, electricity, housing, food, heat, love....

I refuse to vilify those who seem to have easier lives as "ease" does not equate to "contentment" and exhausting physical labor grows one's character in humbleness, strength and appreciation for all that one has.

I refuse to demand others pay into my future as I have a healthy body and if I have not toiled to set up securities for myself and my loved ones with love, sweat and tears how dare I ask anyone else for a penny.

I refuse to blame others for the consequences that befall my errant choices. Why should others, both richer and poorer, bail me out of the loss I naively brought upon myself.

I refuse to buy into nor promote an attitude of entitlement as life IS NOT FAIR, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be. Good things sometimes do not come to those who wait. Those who play by the rules are not always rewarded and despite the USA being the "Home of the Free" we do NOT have the right to anything we dream, desire or imagine. Life is hard, gritty, exhausting, physically demanding and sometimes does not pay in "bling" but I will teach my children that the reward is the joy of knowing you have pulled up your bootstraps and have mustered on through the muck that life hands you without a complaint in your heart.

I refuse to jump on the bandwagon of those holding the popular view, the accepted view or even the LOUDEST view as the flock often is more blind than they act. Instead I will continue to live the hard worked life, taking pride in knowing that I have not whined my way through life at the expense of others but have toiled for my own food and provision and have focused on the guidance of the Sovereign who leads the way to rewards in heaven which are much better than anything down here on Earth.

I will not play the games of "the 99%," Instead I CHOOSE TO OCCUPY LIFE!

BEST Spelling Tiles E.V.E.R!!

My son is going to have the BEST spelling tiles EVER.

In the past I received these for free to review.  

 I thought they were GREAT.

Then, I purchased a new spelling program that promotes the usage of different color and letter combinations.  I could purchase some very thin tiles from the company with additional magnets to attach for a total of about $18. Yet, I'm picky.  I LIKE THICK MAGNETS and TILES.

So, I am making my own and I must say they are going to be the BEST SPELLING TILES EVER!!

Here is what I am up to:

A friend helped me with the letter combinations and the correct colors.  Each letter prints out on a 1 inch square.   

 I printed these sheets on white cardstock using colored ink.  I then laminated the top to make them more durable.  

I then cut them apart.

Now these are about as thick as the ones I could purchase, but that is not nearly thick enough for my clumsy fingers. So . . . 

I searched on line and found these lovely, smoothly cut 1 inch hardwood squares from Urban Homesteaders!  ($9.25/50)

I then found these thick 1 inch square magnets with adhesive backs at Tools2Parts for $2.99/24.

 I peeled the paper off of the magnet and stuck it onto one side of the wood. 

I then took some glue and glued my laminated printed letters onto the other side of the wood and....

POOF!!!

Are they not just super duper cool???

Perhaps I am just a super, duper crafty geek who no longer has time to do crafty things unless I call it *school prep*???   :)

That's okay, I can take it!

What crafty project have you done lately "in the name of school"??

And PS:  THANK YOU SUSAN FOR YOUR AMAZING HELP!!

(errrr.... assistance to my laziness)!!!!   :)  You are my hero!

The Farthest Away Mountain & Frog in the Hole

Today I NEEDED to desperately attend to the apples that were going bad.

When Otto asked to put in a book on tape I was thrilled.

He grabbed one that we have not listened to in a very long time:

The Farthest Away Mountain.

We enjoy this book of adventure and Fantasy.

One of the characters in the book is a frog named Croak who lives in The Living Pool which is located in a cabin in the meadow.  At lunchtime I was having a hard time figuring out what we would eat until the most obvious choice popped into my head: TOAD IN THE HOLE.

Toad in the Hole is a dish a friend taught us, although it has been around for a long time and goes by many names.

Toad in the Hole is a buttered piece of bread with a shape cut out of the middle with a cookie cutter.  These then go on the griddle, or skillet for those of you who are deprived, and then an egg is broken into the hole.  Here are some pictures.

Close up.   (And kindly ignore the blackened spots on my stove top that my 19 quart canner permanently scorched there.)

The flipside..... and of course NO MEAL IS COMPLETE without my very special ingredient: Carbon!

What easy and fun meals do you fix for your family?

Letter Reversals

Last year my oldest was having trouble with reversing a few of his letters and numbers.  This is very age appropriate for some children, is common and I am not concerned (please do not talk to me about learning disorders, I am well apprised and am not yet concerned).

I am a visual learner. For YEARS I have been searching for a specific poster or two that I could purchase.  I have not found the posters that are in my mind so I decided to make a smaller version  that might help him out visually.

Here is the top half of the sheet I threw together:

Here is the bottom half:

I will be cutting these apart by row and posting them up at his new school desk.  When he has completed an assignment I will be asking him to check his answers against the pictures. 

One little tool that I hope will help us out some.

Helllooo???? Where are you???

That is what my blog is asking me.

We've been busy around here.  First it was the tomato harvest (I have pictures to blog someday).  We had apples to harvest and some pears to can too.

Then the second week of September found me teaching my first (of many) botany class to homeschoolers.  I have 6 sixth-eighth graders and 18 fourth and fifth graders.  I was not fully prepared for 18 and what that actually LOOKS LIKE in reality.  My cap was 12 with permission to go a bit above that but 18!!!  YIKES!  I will manage but it will be a energy filled class for sure.  I will continue to teach them once a month for 65 minutes per group through the school year.

September 21st was greeted with my father-in-law coming to visit for 13 days.  He broke his leg in May and has been laid up ever since.  We thought about making the 12 hour drive down to pick him up and then again to take him home but then realized a round trip plane ticket was actually less expensive.  So, we flew him up.

My father-in-law's visit was nice.  He took the kids to play at a few parks in the area, he watched them while I cooked and tried to get my thermal curtains sewed.  While he was here doing child care I was able to get our school room up and running and we even did a week of school.  Otto suckered him into playing lots of games and teaching him how to play checkers and Abram frequently stole his crutches so he "could practice walking with a bum leg." Gracie loved to play with Papa as long as I was out of site.  She is such a mommy's girl that once I came into view she refused to hug, tickle or play with Papa..... silly girl.

While my father-in-law was here I cooked up a storm.  Hubby had taken a whole stretch off from work leaving him with 19 days off.  He fenced in most of our 10 acres during that time with woven wire fence so that we can expand our sheep flock.  It was hard work.... cutting paths through a thick wooded lot, carrying rolls of fencing that weighed 150 pounds a piece UP HILLS!!  He deserved some good food and both he and my father-in-law praised the good cooking but then grumbled at the weight they were putting on.  :)  

September 26 marked our first day of school and WOW is it crazy this year.  Last year Gracie wanted nothing to do with it and my famous words were "Abram... GO PLAY!!"  THIS YEAR....  those two littles are super excited about school and I am having my own transition period of how to keep them occupied while I try to teach Otto his second grade work.  Thankfully Otto's concentration has improved and his frustration with being interrupted is generally better.   Whew!   There are so many little activities that I can give the youngers but they only want to do them ONCE!  Ugg!  With time we will get things down but right now school is an intense, highly educational circus!  :)  

Well, I need to get back to life now.  Must figure out something to fix for lunch and then I need to tend to a stock pot full of wind-blown apples that are trying to go bad.  Should have dealt with them a week ago when Hubby brought them home but I've been a wee bit busy.   :)

Life is good, even when it seems stressful.

Oh, speaking of stressful.  If you could keep my father-in-law in your thoughts and prayers.  Friday September 28 we received an early morning phone call telling him that his house had burned to the ground while he was here.   It looks like a theft/arson case and he is meeting with insurance folks, police & fire chiefs this week.  He has a shed that is half garage and half hangout place where he can live while he figures out what to do next but nearly all that he had is now gone.

And if you are not dizzy yet from this blog post I am going to leave you with a photo I just took of our beautiful trees starting to change colors.  When my father-in-law arrived August 21 there were maybe 4 trees that were turning yellow.  Now I would say that about half of our trees have turned and the maples are showing their beautiful reds.  :)

Happy Autumn.