And the winner is....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations Sandra!!

Please contact me with your mailing address and the puppet of your choice from my shop! :)

Thankyou all so much for entering and for following me on this crafty journey!  

Forest schooling

I will forever be grateful for the times that we are able to get out of the house and go into nature for our day of schooling... The girls see it as a day "off" and probably nothing more than a fun field trip but what they don't realize is that they are always learning... and sometimes never so much as they do when they are able to be surrounded by nature...

We are part of a number of homeschool groups in our area, all offering something a bit different from the other. This particular group is more geared towards Tacoma/Seattle and rarely go in that direction but jump at the chance to go to anything in Olympia so the tour of a local mushroom farm was right up our alley! :)

Christian was GREAT with the kids and very patient with their questions or stories. I think in the end, he was very impressed with our group of kids and their knowledge of mushrooms too! I always love to just stand back and listen to homeschool kids talking and asking questions. Now, I'm not discrediting kids who are public schooled but there is just something about a group of homeschooled kids that tends to be amazing... This group of kids ranged from toddlers to probably 6th grade or so, and yet they were all learning side by side... standing out in the rainy woods of Washington state no less, and yet they all got along, were respectful and for the most part, all very interested in what what being said.

They started by sanitizing the table and all the little hands, then covering the table with straw and then adding the mushroom spores and mixing it up...

Next, the kids got to pack their own bags for having a mushroom growing kit to take home!

 

They filled the bags tightly with straw and then tied them up tight to suck the air out.

 When they were done, we got to tour the tents/greenhouses where they grow the mushrooms... the kids thought it was really cool (Ok so us adults did too!)

A definite hit of the tour was the Lions Mane mushroom! Isn't that just the coolest thing??? So, of course we had to get a kit to grow some of those at home!! The girls were just bubbly at the thought of having those at home. Some of the moms there said that they have cooked with them and that they are so yummy and have the consistancy of crab meat!! We can't wait to try it!!

I remember as a kid thinking that it must be so cool to be done with school and to know everything... little did I know just how much there is still to learn in this world!!! We are never done learning and I'm just so thankful that my girls don't have to dread school... most days they don't even realize we've done school, they just know that they love to learn... and isn't that what life is supposed to be about? 

Re-store treasure

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would walk in to our local Re-store to find a treasure like this!!

I have been wanting a new stand for our popcorn popper for some time. The one I had before was all open on the bottom and showed my mess of a cookbook collection and our newspapers for recycling... now is it all hidden away AND it has a drawer that is just perfect for out popcorn salts and my ever growing essential oil collection!! :)

WIN! WIN!

Sleepless nights

How does one spend their sleepless nights?

DH has been working crazy shifts so my sleep schedule has been messed up and I find that I am up late at night with nothing to do... oh sure, I could be cleaning, but what's the fun in that?! lol

So, instead of sleeping, I get creative! I just LOVE how this little egg turned out!! You can see my inspiration, our very large goldfish Gustaf in the background! :)

When life gives you holey jeans...

  .... make them into shorts and jean skirts!!

This summer was a trying time for finding shorts to fit my skinny girls! The shorts were either too big around the waist or too stinkin short  on their legs!! Now, I'm not a total prude but come on! Our girls don't need to be wearing shorts that barely cover their little rumps! lol So, we took to the pile of jeans that seem to be growing huge holes in the knees more and more every day.... I just cut them off above the knee and rolled them up a bit and wha la! We had new shorts that actually stayed up and the girls were thrilled...

The only problem with this solution was that now I had two perfectly good "legs" from the knee down left over! And it would be a sin to throw perfectly good fabric away right? :) So into the scrap pile they went! lol  I'm not sure when it first came to mind but I've been meaning to do something with them for weeks (ok months lol) now and just finally took them off the scrap pile the other day.



My girls were gifted these dolls from their Granny Annie and they have gradually been getting more and more into them. They love doing their hair, having tea parties and of course finding the perfect outfit to dress them up in! We just got the American Girl catalog the other day and they have been pouring over it for hours ever since! lol ( I remember doing the same thing as a kid) Unfortunately, the insane prices for these outfits have hindered how well these dolls get to dress and we've had to get creative on how to cloth them but still keep it fun for the girls.

Earlier in the spring, I used a baby blanket that I'd had given to us to create four matching night gowns for their sleep over....

 And we've been lucky enough to happen on to some in thrift stores too!  J is learning to sew and is asking for patterns for these dolls ( a great find at JoAnns when their patterns go on sale!) and now they each have matching jean skirts made with those left over jean legs! All I had to do was turn down the top, sew and add elastic! It was a win win for sure! I got something out of my scrap bin and the girls got new skirts for those dolls they love so much!! Who needs a $10 out fit from Walmart when we have our creative juices flowing!? :)

Creating Holiday Memories Giveaway

If you've been following me for very long at all, you know that I am pretty much consumed by my kids, my crafts and capturing both in pictures!  Having the right  camera to capture those special moments has a lot to do with the quality of the pictures you get so this giveaway really caught my attention!

 

 

Welcome to the Creating Holiday Memories Giveaway Event!

Hosted by Mom Blog Society

Special thanks to our lovely co-hosts Mom to Bed by 8, Shannon's View from Here, Sommerfugl Design, JadeLouise Designs and Health, Beauty, Children & Family!

The versatile and functional Fujifilm FinePix S4250 14MP Digital Camera gives a sensational shooting experience. The Fujinon lenses are used popularly in numerous situations including satellites in outer space, TV, film, surveillance and compact cameras. With the highly adept manufacture of Fujifilm, high precision optic and technology are provided for the best 24mm wide angle and 24x optical zoom. The lens elements used in the FinePix S4250 have been treated with multilayer Super EBC (Electron Beam Coating), the same process used for Fujinon broadcasting video lenses and large-format camera lenses acclaimed by professionals. Reducing ghosting and lens flare, the treatment promises clear image quality. The powered 24x zoom features smooth 42-step zoom control, giving you the ability to frame every shot with precision accuracy.

One lucky reader will receive an Fujifilm FinePix S4250 Digital Camera!

Giveaway ends October 28th at 11:59pm, open to US and Canadian residents, ages 18+. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

I hit 300 fans!!

At last count, it's actually at 333!! How cool is that?!

Awhile back I set the goal of 300 fans on my Facebook page and told everyone that I would do a giveaway for a free puppet of their choice from my shop and today we hit that goal!! :) Please feel free to enter this giveaway and tell your friends! US residents only (Unless you are willing to pay the difference in shipping.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway