Crafts & Creations Archives

Veteran’s Day & a Special Visit

November 11, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

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Today we wanted to share a personal story with you.

For all of the years Michael and I have gone to our parish, we have always just pew-hopped. Even as our family grew, there was never one spot where we always sat. Not even a side of the church. But in recent months, it somehow just happened. We all filed into a pew, in a particular spot one day, and it just ‘felt right’. We’ve sat right there every week for Sunday mass, ever since.

The spot happened to be right behind ‘Mr. Bill’, as we’ve come to call him. Mr. Bill is the absolute sweetest old man, you could ever want to meet. And dapper as they come. Every Sunday morning, at the last mass of the day, he has shown up, looking his personal best. Well groomed, in a suit, and sporting a charming bow tie. He drives himself there, and most everywhere else. That is impressive, (if not a little worrisome), at the age of 96 years old. NINETY SIX! A veteran of World War II.

He may be the reason we have been drawn back to that spot each week. When he is there first, we sit right behind him. If he comes in after wards, he sits right in front of us. He always greets us and the children so sincerely. He’s the picture of what we hope to be in our elder years. Kind, compassionate, and very obviously deeply faithful and loyal to the Lord. We can often hear him mumbling all parts of the mass, including the priest’s parts. He is immersed completely in such a humbling way, I often can’t help but just watch him. And I’ve done so without having taking advantage of a moment; always wondering what week we will come in, and he won’t be there in that pew in front of us. Not that week, or ever again. I think all of us have have thought about that time, that is inevitable. And the sadness was so deep already, just at the thought of him not being there. His presence of being right in front of us, week in and week out, is as expected as the pew itself.

Wouldn’t you know…..I was sure I noticed he was slowing down over the weeks. He was slower, and seemed to be more out of breath. With each passing week, it was apparent he was indeed having health issues. One week, in noticing the kids were holding rosary beads, he said to one of them, “Say one of those for me.” I felt the tears immediately spring to my eyes as he said those words. Knowing he was quietly suffering. Struggling. But never complaining. The kids did pray for him too….we all have many times. He is spoken fondly of among us as a family, often because he was brought up by the kids, who he has clearly had an impact on as well. We just adore him.

In the next week or so, he started showing up with an oxygen tank. If you only saw the effort he went through to make it to that pew, for mass. As if he NEEDED to come, to hear the gospel. To witness the consecration. To receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

Then the week came when he wasn’t there. Nor the next week. We learned he had fallen quite ill, as we suspected was happening in weeks prior. This past Sunday, we learned he was in a rehab care facility just out of town. And that he also had no one to really advocate for him in any way. Another kind parishioner we’ve come to know and love, filled us in on his state of health, which had not been good when she last went to see him a few days prior. He was lonely, we heard, and wanted to just go home.

Naturally today, on this Veteran’s Day, we thought of all veterans who have served our country – in peace or war. Those who lived to tell their stories, and those who didn’t. Those we know, or knew, and those we don’t. The little ones learned just what Veteran’s Day was all about, and why we remember and pay tribute to these men and women on this day. And we talked about Mr. Bill, who had been on our minds more than ever, all weekend. We decided we wanted to do something about it.

The kids all made him a special card of their own, with a special message. They really put their hearts into their work; planning it all out, and trying to do their best. For Mr. Bill.

Michael decided he was going to see Mr. Bill today at the rehab center, to sit and have a nice long visit with him, and deliver these cards from the kids.

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Michael did just that. As it turned out, Mr. Bill was being discharged today. He was doing better! Well enough to go home at least. He was all packed and ready to go when Michael got there – just waiting for his ride. So they sat and chatted for a good while. Two women were driving him home, and Michael decided to follow them and help get Mr. Bill into his house safely, and be sure he was all settled.

When Michael got home, he was full of the stories and tidbits Mr. Bill had shared with him. Interestingly enough, the branch of service Mr. Bill is a veteran of is the Air Force.

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He was also very happy to be home, and said someone was planning to pick him up and bring him to mass this Sunday, and that he looked forward to seeing us there. We sure look forward to seeing him there, too! To see him back in that pew, will be a blessing each and every time more, that he is. To see him smile, to shake his warm, unbelievably soft-skinned hand at peace time, and to see him so prayerfully celebrate the mass with every bit of his amazing and inspiring faith.

So Happy Veteran’s Day, Mr. Bill. Thank you, and all veterans, for your service to our country.

And thank YOU, for stopping by again. Lots of exciting blog plans coming up, so please come again soon!

Rare Birds at the Park – Kids Made Paper Bird Costumes

October 28, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

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Each of our kids are pretty creative in their own rights. Definitely different styles, ideas, and interests, but we would consider them all quite creative. And equally messy in their creating. : ) Not to digress already, but our ‘school room’ serves many, many purposes. It’s the most used room in our home. And it is there that the children create the most. Sometimes alone. Sometimes together. But either way, the mess is always BIG. My family can tell you that there are daily lessons (or lectures….whatever you want to call it), about cleaning up after our creating! But that one’s not sinking in as much as Mama would like. They are off to share their creation, and the mess they left behind is quickly forgotten. Or more likely, it was never acknowledged at all!

I will never give up on teaching them to clean up their unbelievable messes, born in the process of their creating. But I’d rather the mess, than they ever quit following their creative hearts. Creating is a big part of their world. Their days. Their childhood life. And it’s one of those things that solidifies one of our purposes in home schooling them. We want them to have OODLES of time, to do with as they wish. To have enough free time they MUST fill on their own, that they hear the whispers of their heart. Their passions calling them. The voice of God. And they’re good at it already!! I love to see what they choose to do–to see their imaginations hard at work, kicked into high gear— to see their own inner joy coming out, having found on their own, what makes them happy, as they pass their gift of time.

So with all of that being said, our boy {J} is definitely a unique, creative one. He is just different in his process, I guess. He is not spontaneous in his creating. He’s a real, thorough planner (and thinker). Often times, he tells me how he had this, or that, idea, while lying in bed waiting to fall asleep at night, and deciding what he was going to do in the morning. And trust us….we know when he gets up with a mission! He is in that school room, getting right to work on what he had planned. Immediately. There is no time to waste. No time to get dressed, wash up, or even eat breakfast. He’s busy. And he needs to ‘just finish’ what he was making. Which could be quite awhile!! I love to just watch him at times. Especially the cute things he does with his tongue when he is very focused.

And so we come to the focus of this particular post … one of his grand and clever ideas. He had decided to make himself the wings and mask, of a blue jay. Blue jays are around all day long in our yard bird sanctuary – and they do demand our attention. So it was no surprise he chose the blue jay. What did surprise us, was the effort involved to make such a ‘costume’ once we saw what he had done. He taped multiple pieces of paper together, to make each wing, and used a paper plate for the face. I have reason to believe he even got out the bird identification book, to be sure of what their ‘mask’ looks like.

Now,…..had we known what he was doing, we could have offered larger paper, or cardboard, and maybe some paint, to create this bird costume. But, this creation was done before we knew what he was doing. Honestly…when he came out, showing me what he made, I must have had my mouth wide open. I was impressed, to think that a 6 year old boy would come up with this idea, and be so inspired to follow through with so much work, to make it a reality. He even made handles on the inside of the wings, for his hands.

{J} – The Blue Jay

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It wasn’t long (maybe….3 seconds?), before the other little kids wanted their own bird costumes, too. {J} was happy to help instruct, and lend a hand here and there, but he wasn’t doing it for them!! It even took them a few days to get the coloring complete, with some requests from their big sister to help them color too. It IS a LOT of paper to cover! But eventually, they got them done. Now, they may have not wanted these bird outfits quite as much as {J} did, but at least he didn’t have something they didn’t have now! And in the end, they all were pretty proud birds.
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{O}-The Cardinal

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{S} – The Goldfinch

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So….after having these wings and masks all over the house (and not necessarily together, as the sets they should be), I knew it was time to do something real with them. So the other day, we took them to the park, where they could really have space, to spread their wings and fly. And that they did.

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They never quite got off the ground. In fact, the ground beneath their claws was squishing and squashing all over the place. Apparently from a recent irrigation treatment. So, it wasn’t long before we flew back to our nest. But it was fun while it lasted, and at least I got my photos!

Oh, I meant to mention that we often joke with {J}, that he’ll probably have his own show someday. Perhaps called {J}’s Craft Show. He just smiles, as if it may just be what he is planning. One thing is for sure – He’s already got 2 booked guests; his sisters, who have every intention of coming on his show. And little does he know, his Mama sure does, too.

Getting Creative with Pumpkins

September 29, 2008 By Laura 3 Comments

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On Sunday after mass, we went and picked up our pumpkins, having planned to paint some for our home decor. It’s such a wonderful and inspiring time of year, and we were really looking forward to this project.

The kids worked together on this white pumpkin, below. The polka dot theme was inspired by September’s issue of Better Home and Gardens. The circles were embossed with an plunger-type apple corer. While the directions instructed to insert the completely cored out pieces from other colored pumpkins into other colored pumpkin’s holes, (which is a great idea), we opted to just just partially carve a circle, and paint it in. We didn’t have enough different colored pumpkins to do the other way anyway. The kids all worked on this one together.

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And it came out great! So fun and whimsical!!

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I was really excited about a design idea I saw in a magazine last year. That particular project suggested using paper doilies as a template. After going to 3-4 stores that were out of doilies completely, or didn’t carry them, I came up with Plan B….have my husband cut some designs out of vinyl, and use those as a template! : ) Seemed like a great idea, but applying a flat piece of sticky vinyl to a very round pumpkin, was a challenge and 1/2, to say the very least.

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I had intended on painting it with some black acrylic I bought, until we tried some gouache markers we had. They colored in like a dream…the coverage was unbelievably perfect, fast and easy.

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I thought this big pumpkin was my own to work on, but soon had begging helpers who got to work with me too. It seemed you couldn’t really make a mistake, so I let them join in. I was anxious to peel off the vinyl template anyway, so the more hands, the better.

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But I got too excited, too soon. When we peeled off the template, it had really bled (a lot!) underneath the edges of the vinyl. What a mess. While the designs look pretty dang nice in the end, I can’t tell you how much cleaning up I had to do on the first big pumpkin. (The one we are painting in above.) I mostly used the edge of an x-acto blade, but also some wet q-tips and a pencil eraser for the light smudges left. Talk about tedious work. But it was worth it to me. : )

Just 2 pumpkins took so much longer than I had expected, so after the kids went to bed, my husband and I got to work on the other big one, with acrylic paint and a sponge brush this time. It went pretty easy still, and came out much cleaner. Some cleaning up to do still, but not nearly as much. Then we did the little ones, and I was sad when I turned around and realized we did the last pumpkin! I wanted to do more!! I just LOVE them. and can’t decide exactly where to put the 6 we did around our home, because I want them everywhere, in every room!

Below are all of the ones we did. We may do more if we have time this month. If not, this is a project worth doing again next year.

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Today, the colors of Fall we have seen so far, continued to inspire everyone…..

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We’ve only just begun to enjoy our harvest festivities! We have so many places we want to go, plans and ideas for creating, crafting and baking, and can only hope we manage to get them all in! We don’t want to miss a moment of the joy this season brings.

Thanks for dropping in. Come by again soon. : )

Paper Creations

September 18, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

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The kids had some fun making paper creations, inspired by an idea they saw in a magazine we get. I’m guessing many, many families get the Family Fun Magazine. We do too, and it’s always an exciting day when an issue shows up in our mailbox. I love how I can leave it around for the kids to pick up and read or flip through, without worry of what is lurking in the pages that they may come across. And they get right into it. Usually, the only influence that comes from the pages are inspiration and eagerness to try some new craft, with plans to put their own creative style into it, or some crazy snack, intending to re-invent the recipe and make it even healthier, or safer in our case, if it has peanuts or peanut butter. More times than not, it kicks my kids crafty-side into high gear. They LOVE to plan projects, parties, menus….you name it. I love that they have so much time to invest in creating, and planning, at their free- will!

I recall this past Sunday, as we we all climbing into the van after picking up some lumber (and {A’s} snake, unbeknownst to us, was breaking free at home), the kids were discussing how now they wanted to go here or there. But {J} piped in….”Not me! I just want to go home so I can make my bird!” Home, is where we did go. {J} wasted no time throwing off his shoes and getting RIGHT to work, gathering together most of the materials he needed, and following the directions on page 143 very carefully. “I need that thing of paper clips in the laundry room” he shouted through the house, over and over. He didn’t even much care when we all realized the snake was on the loose…somewhere in our home.

The great thing is….once his cool bird was done, {S} and {O} also wanted to make some. Soon they got busy too, and it was a project we helped them finish on Monday morning, before school, no less. The birds were quite a fancy flock when they were done. Some even had nests to settle into!

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I’d have liked all of these paper bird creations to stay and sit so pretty on my windowsill in the sunroom, as they are at the very beginning of this post. But of course they didn’t….for even a 1/2 hour. I have seen them flying through the room, in the little hand of an upstretched little arm. I have seen them perched on the school counters, watching us do our school work. I have seen them all over the place, and not always necessarily where they should be.

{A} was apparently inspired from the same issue, too, days before, and had been crafting in her room. She emerged from her room with a pretty little handful of the Technicolor Acorns, with plans, she said, to make LOTS more. They are just SO cute! They’re a perfect addition to our seasonal altar table this Autumn.

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She also made these fancy paper stars, which will also end up being some special touch to something or other.

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Years ago, I used to think “Well why would we make that? What will we do with it after? It’ll just be more stuff around”. But now, it’s that very kind of stuff around, here and there, that puts the smiles in my heart. Because my children found a desire within themselves, to create it. They put their heart and soul into it. I see these things that were made with their imaginative minds, and marker covered, glue-sticky little hands, and I have flash-backs in my mind for days, of seeing them create them….with their tongue sticking out as the try so hard to cut on the lines….or asking for “just one more piece of paper, please” because they messed up and want to start again. It’s their undeniable need to create, and their determination to make their masterpiece just the way they want it, that makes these things so valuable in the end. And trust me….they truly treasure what they work hard at making. At least for a good little while. These little creations, whatever they may be, are part of their days, for many days. The pride they carry at having made this or that, themselves, is priceless. So now, when I see the scraps of paper all over the floor under the table, or the paint that got ON the table, once again, I just have to take it in with appreciation for a moment. After all, it’s evidence that creativity was hard at work, once again, in our home. And THEN I tell them to come clean it up : )

While they are still enjoying the September issue of Family Fun, I have confiscated the October issue that just came in the mail. Not only do I think it may, possibly need a little pre-approval this Halloween month, but I am hoping for some inspiration myself, before the pages are tattered and worn, and marked with post-it notes, inspiring little people once again.

A Day Worth Celebrating!! – Our Triplets Turn 6!

September 3, 2008 By Laura 1 Comment

This past Sunday was a very special day in our family; it was half of our family’s birthday!! Our triplets ‘babies’ turned 6!

As I probably mentioned in our oldest daughter’s birthday post a couple of months ago, birthdays are celebrated in a big but different way, in our family. Basically, no one works or has school, and we spend the day together, discussing and celebrating our loved one’s life in the ways that feel right to us. Every family is different, as we all well know. For us, annual parties with piles of presents never sat well with us. It just wasn’t what we wanted to do every year, as much as we LOVE to plan celebrations. It just seemed to us that the presents become the focus of the gathering — especially for children, who are still learning/being taught what matters most in life. I think that perspective became all the more important to us to really try to implement in our children, when we arrived at a child’s birthday party some years ago. When we got there, and came walking up the driveway, the birthday child started to coming to meet us, and I personally was initially very impressed with such manners, to greet their guests like that. But then the first words the child said to us were, “Where’s my present?“. We had one of course, but that kind of stuck with us, and gave us a new determination with how we wanted to try things differently, and try to redirect to the most meaningful parts of the day. Granted, teaching such values is a constant work in progress, but the kids seem to be pretty focused most time on the true meaning and purpose of Christmas, birthdays, and the like. We do give and accept gifts, as you’ll see in this post, too. But as a family, we really do focus most on our traditions and time together, thankfully, than the gifts. Although those are always pretty exciting too, huh? They are more like bonuses.

With that being said, I know some of you have been chomping-at-the bit (for different reasons I imagine), and checking many times a day (we’re flattered!) for this birthday report, with all of the sorted details and photos……so here it is:

J, O and S’s birthday was really beautiful. Really. I’m still flying with glee from it, to tell you the truth. Just an emotional, exciting and FUN day, that created such memories! Weather-wise, it was beautiful, but the whole day was as wonderful as we had hoped and planned it would be. It started on our bed. They always ask to hear the stories of when we were expecting, and all of the crazy things that happened while they were all crowded in there together. But as we tell stories, they are always watching the clock, waiting for those official minutes of the morning when they were actually born. We purposely skip the whole labor part, as that is a horrifying and terrifying story, that even I prefer to forget (but can’t seem to). So we skip right to the moments of joy!

Next the little bedheads, still in their boxers and t-shirts, which we call pajamas, headed to the table to wait for their (our family’s) traditional birthday breakfast.

We have pancakes often enough, but they are just extra special on birthdays.

They usually prefer strawberry yogurt with their pancakes, instead of syrup. But this day they chose syrup, so that gave me reason enough to let them have their first surprise of the day;

Electric (well battery powered) toothbrushes. I could tell by their expressions that they weren’t sure how excited they should be about this first surprise. Then I heard one of them suggest that they go try them out right away………..

It might have been the longest they have ever brushed!! They came out with great BIG smiles, and I swear their teeth were whiter! We’ve heard lots of extra and longer buzzing in the bathroom in the past 2 days. Let’s hope the thrill of it sticks around. : )

Then the phone rang, and it was their Papa (my father)….who sang Happy Birthday to them over the speaker phone. (He could have/should have been a country star, just so you know. He has a great voice, loves to sing, and self taught himself guitar and harmonica….which he can really jam on and often entertains us. The kids LOVE it.)

Once we were all ready, we headed to Mass. It happened to be Sunday, and {A} was THRILLED that she was scheduled to serve on yet another special occasion to her. But what a beautiful way, anyway, to start this special day. The trio’s Daddy and I loved going to Mass on their birthday, and having such an opportunity in that way, to give thanks to our Heavenly Father, for the gift of these children He has given us. They could very easily have been ‘taken back’ to Heaven, on more occasions than we care to remember, while in utero or the NICU. I personally begged and pleaded while on bedrest, and admittedly ‘made a deal’ with God, to keep these babies in an earthly way. He granted my (our) constant prayers I presented with him throughout our expecting these babies, both through my 6 months on bedrest as well as when they were in the NICU initially. I am keeping my promise to Him, in return, and will until the end of time. My gratitude is present in my heart every day I live, with every breathe I breathe. So at mass, as I gave thanks once again, the emotions just kept on coming. How many ways can you be thankful for such beautiful and healthy children, who didn’t have great odds in having such a life??

After Mass and some brief ‘hang-out- time with our friend Fr. Bob, who presided at this mass (see? perfect!), we headed home to change and grab lunch. Because…..we needed to head out to the big surprise of the day!!

Color Me Mine,….an AWESOME and FUN pottery painting place. The kids just could not figure out what they wanted to do all together for their birthday this year, so their Daddy and I came up with something we were SURE they would love doing. They walked into this place with wide eyes, and ‘wonder’ written all over their faces. Once we explained to them what we were doing, the 4 kids all chose a plate to paint (well, except {J}, who initially really wanted to paint a piggy bank,,,,but being the Mama, knew he would be sad later when everyone was eating off of the special plate they made…so I talked him into what I knew he would ultimately be happy with.).

They could paint it and design it anyway they chose. I have to tell you…2 of them were insisting they needed to use a butterfly ‘for Meme’. That is my mother, who passed away. (As if the day wasn’t emotional enough.) They see butterflies as her spirit visiting them, and reminding them that she loves them and is still here, as many people see butterflies representing their own loved and lost ones, I guess.

Figuring out what they wanted to do, and getting set up was the hardest part. But once they got going, they felt really settled and were as happy as clams to get to work!

The photos in this post are just a handful of the ton of photos I took on this day. Truth be told, I always have a hard time choosing which photos to post in the blog. Any photos of our kids are my favorites, and any from THIS particular day was especially special. But I did my best to narrow them down. Who minds?

{A} decided on a couple of ‘add-ons’ to adhere to the sides of her very personality-evident plate:

{O} really wanted a job at this place. Once she was done working on her plate, she was washing everyone in the place’s brushes and sponges. lol

Their father and I were very busy the whole time, helping them get more paint or showing them how to do whatever, and I was taking all the photos I could as well. But there was one thing I wanted to do before they closed shop………a family hand-print plate. We managed to get it done, and my husband hand-lettered our names under all the prints, all the way around. THAT will be a treasure of mine for a long time to come. Well…forever!!

Of course, all of the pieces you have seen are very ‘undone’. We are very excited to pick them up in about a week! Once they have been glazed and kilned, the color will all be ‘popped’ and they are going to be just beautiful!! It’s just another somethin’ to look forward to! (For you too…since I’ll take photos and put them on the blog, I am sure.)

After we scrubbed up and left Color Me Mine, still kind of covered in paint, and with smiles seemingly painted on too, we left STARVING!! It was time to go out to dinner, and 2 of the kids wanted to go to the 99. 2 others wanted to go to a seafood place. {S} wanted baked scrod, and {O} wanted fried shrimp. We figured out that we could probably get both of those things at the 99 anyway…so that’s where we went. What a LOVELY and enjoyable dinner together. We just laughed (hysterically at times) and chatted over a nice meal. {S} did indeed order baked scrod, with broccoli (yay!) and apple sauce. {O} could have ordered fried shrimp, but changed her mind to chicken tenders. The other 2 ordered burgers. Anyhoo…..here was a nice birthday celebration bonus. Our (excellent) waitress came to out table, and let us know that 2 of the kids meals were free (for the purchase of each adult meal), because the Red Sox won the night before!! SERIOUSLY??!! (Not that the Red Sox won….lol, but about the free meals because they did.) Well……. OK!!! I guess that’s the deal they offer. We love that. : )

On the way home, balloons were on the urgent agenda. The birthday trio REALLY wanted them. So we stopped on the way home to get them, and somehow that experience was pretty fun too!! They were allowed to choose their ribbon color too, so they were thrilled. Then the cashier, who was one of those people who had never seen/known triplets before, was an especially (puzzling) hoot. We were cracking up on the way out.

Once we got home, we still had a few things to do. A couple more surprises, and the ‘coffee cake’ they specifically requested (for months) for their birthday cake. There was also sweet message on the machine for them; a quite amusing ‘Happy Birthday’ duet and message from their grandparents. We listened to that a few times. : )

Their big sister, {A}, is just the sweetest big sister when it comes to their birthday. She starts planning weeks in advance. Once her birthday is over, anyway. She really works at figuring out just what she wants to get them, and insist on using her own money. she makes pretty good money for a kid, as she enjoys being our business assistants here and there, and we like to compensate her when she does. She saves most of it, and spends a little. So as their birthday approaches, she asks us to drive her to the places she needs to go, and we do. So she was pretty excited, as she always is, to give them their gifts. She always knows just what they’ll flip over:

{J} loves penguins, and puppets……..

Not too long ago, the kids Papa came down for their pre-birthday visit, and gave the kids a gift. He gave {O} a purse, which I thought was perfect. She’s so into girls things. In accepting the gift, {O} amusingly said in her sweet and grateful little tone “Well thank you, Papa! I don’t know what I have to put it in it, but it’s nice! Thank you.’ {A} remembered that, and got her plenty of purse things to put in it……

Last year, {A} bought {S} a blue hummer toy. He LOVED it…had it every moment of the day. Until one day it rolled off the table and broke. (A few times, actually….and we fixed it over and over). Eventually it was just done, from playing with it, and it dropping so many times. So he really wanted another one, and said so a LOT! Do YOU think he looks happy?…….

Then we had one more surprise for them, before cake.

They have been using an educationally based computer program called Jump Start. They’ve been using the 1st grade one for over a year, and seemed like they needed something more challenging, so we got them the next level up. Mind you, this isn’t a school thing we give them. It’s something they like to do in their spare time, outside of our formal school time, for FUN. It’s all parts of writing, reading, math, science, social studies, thinking skills, music and art. So….”sure kids! You can play with that for awhile!” They are getting a refurbished laptop of their own that is fast enough, because {A} needs hers for science and history/geography. (Here is {O} below using the program the next day.

The next day we realized there was some mail and books that came for them that we forgot to give them the (late) night before. Not to mention the pile of thoughtful cards they got more in the mail that day. They were all very sweet/funny, and they even got some handmade cards that were very appreciated by them. They also appreciate the phone calls they received with birthday wishes over a few days time.

So that was our wonderful day, in a nutshell, believe it or not. : ) Although I am (very) excited to share our always exciting first day of (home) school with you, (oh my goodness…the abundance of photos I took), I wanted to share this day first. I will be blogging about our unexpected first day of school soon, somewhere in between the work I have, school and everything else important. I need to go through and process the photos before then too.

Thanks for reading all about this big day in our family! We appreciate the visitors, as we share, and record our daily family life we are so blessed with.

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