life in general

polyvinyl alcohol and such

Back when my kids were not babies (like last year) I decided that I would throw them "friend" birthday parties at age 5 or 6, nine, 12 or 13, and 16.  I'm all about coming up with a plan and sticking to it.  So far so good.  Conner had a birthday party at age 6 with an astronaut theme.  It was pretty cool.  This month he turns 9 and so his long desired wish of having another birthday party came true.  

I chose a Mad Scientist theme after seeing the cute ideas on Living Locurto's blog earlier this year. (You should check out her other party ideas.  She has a superhero party that sooo makes me wish Conner or Payton were turning 5 or 6 again).  Back to the party theme . . . If Conner had his way (and he expressed his plan to me many times) the party would consist of a nerf gun battle that lasted 2 hours, only pausing for cake and presents.

Here's how the non-nerf party went.

Invitations

I downloaded and printed the invites from Amy's blog.  Cute, easy, perfect!

Decor

I thought it would be appropriate to have a real scientist greet everyone at the door.

 

(Download Madscientist_door)

I decorated a few of the cupcakes and left the rest for the party attendees to finish off later.

 

I had fun with the rest of the table decor . . . a rack of test tubes, jar of eyeball candies, randomly placed miniature body parts (including a really icky, sticky tongue), skulls, and molecular models built by the kids.  Hang up some streamers and the two poseable skeletons we saved from Halloween and it all came together pretty well.

 

Party Starter

I've found that having an artsy/creative type activity is a great way to start things out.  And it gives the kids something to do immediately, while we wait for everyone to arrive.  

I set out gum drops and toothpicks and just let them go for it.  It was perfect!  Some of the boys got really creative and a couple of them brought their towers home with them.

 

The Experiments

Steve Spangler Science practically created this party for me.  I purchased everything from this website and used their science experiment index to get lots more ideas.  Here's what we did:

Tornado Tube

Lava Lamp in a test tube

Instant Snow

Atomic Slime - This is a great kit.  It comes with everything you need to make 24 batches of slime, including the take-home shaker cups.  

After a break for presents, decorating cupcakes, and eating ice cream we all put our jackets and shoes on and headed into the backyard for a little experiment involving Diet Coke and Mentos.

 

Goodie bags

Everybody went home with their lava lamp test tube, atomic slime, and instant snow.  Also some nerds, chocolate eyeballs, a test tube with peanut M&M's, and a rubbery body part.

 

Filler time

While waiting for parents to arrive the boys played Operation and busted out Conner's brand new Bakugan toys.

Conclusion

9 year old boys are noisy.  :)

I think the party was a success.  We did some cool things and the boys went home with a lot of fun stuff. Although, I'm looking forward to a few years from now when these sort of parties don't have to be sooo structured every single minute.  I spent my whole time setting out, cleaning up, setting out, cleaning up . . . go, go, go.  

Conner is already making plans for his next party a few years from now.  The theme?  A Nerf gun battle. 

mad scientists welcome here

Getting ready to welcome a gaggle of 9 year old boys into my house.  There will be slime, and test tubes, and body parts to garnish the cupcakes.  Trying to prep myself for 2 hours of mad scientist fun.  I still need to pull down my "Shannon" bin from the garage to get a hold of my chemistry goggles from college.  I knew there was a reason I held onto those.  That reminds me . . . I think I have a molecular model set in there too.  Score.

Off to practice my mad scientist laugh.

capturing 4

Back when my kids were babies I came up with a plan.  I decided that I would get nice, professional pictures of each of them at age 4, 8, 12, and 16.  Just as a way to capture them in that space in time.  I knew that at each of those ages they would have a different look, maybe a different level of self-confidence, and different quirks that, when put together as a whole would create a pretty comprehensive portrait of their childhood.

Last month it was Anna's turn.  I hired a photographer to come to our little town and follow us around main street.  Ducking into nooks and crannies, using the old buildings as a backdrop, Anna was a ham for the camera.  I decided this would also be a great opportunity for me to jump into a few shots and get some great mother-daughter pics.  Plus, I just turned 30 (a pretty big milestone) so I deserve some good pictures too!

Here are some of my favorites.  Set to a favorite song of my dad's.

Anna, age 4 from Shannon on Vimeo.

all hallows eve

the cast of characters

Harry Potter in his quidditch robe

Conner didn't think he should smile in his pictures because Harry Potter does not smile very much.  Ok.  I managed to get a little something out of him when I asked him to perform a spell on me.  And don't you love how he personalized his broom?

a Jedi.  No one specific.  Just a Jedi.  As long as you get to carry around a light saber who cares which Jedi you are.

Payton was still a bit puffy around the eyes from his sickies, but managed to do just fine on Halloween.

And our beautiful flower fairy.

When I told her that I was going to put just a little blush on her cheeks, you should have seen her eyes light up.  One of those, "I'm so excited and I can hardly believe it" looks.  She also got a light dusting of pink eye shadow and lip stick.

You've already seen my costume.  

But, wait until you see this.  The kids like to call him Taco.

 

He only speaks one word of spanish "si" and those burritos come in handy for bonking kids on the head when they forget to say thank you.

We got a fabulous family picture of us all in costume at the trunk-or-treat.  But I hesitate to share it here because, considering our busy schedule and the fact that it is the ONLY family picture we have of us this year, it might just make it's debut in our Christmas cards next month.  Plus, I'd be partially fulfilling Scott's dream of sending out cards that say "Feliz Navidad" and us all dressed in ponchos.  We will see.

halloween lunch

On the menu

• Mummies
• Skeleton fingers
• Spider Eggs
• Witches Brew with worm garnish and just a touch of blood
• and spooky carved apple heads

costume pictures coming soon . . . . 

blegh

That about sums up the last few days.  

The weather.  And the health of my children.  

The last 5 days I've been running an infirmary here.  Conner missed 3 days of school.  Payton missed 4.  Fevers hovering around 101 non-stop (and up to 103), achy bodies, chills, stuffy noses, coughing.  Lots of Disney Channel.  Lots of DVDs.  Blegh.

We've been pretty homebound, as shown by our dwindling food supplies up until yesterday afternoon.  Scott came home early and off to the store I ran.  

Other than taking temperatures and handing out doses of Tylenol and Motrin I've been staying busy with a few bigger projects and a few others thrown in just for fun.

Scott helped me make some cake pops for Halloween.  The Pioneer Woman had these on her blog last year and I thought they were so so cute.  How do you like the Mike Wazowski version?  And might I add that they were verrry tasty.  Mmm.

 

I had hundreds of little squares of construction paper left over from an art project at Cub Scout pack meeting this week.  I dumped everything into a tray, handed Payton and Anna a glue stick and said, "be creative!"

 

Payton loves art projects and definitely got into the mosaic medium.  I love what he created here.

 

Now should you ever assume that our days are filled with art projects, playful story time, heart shaped peanut butter & jelly sandwiches prepared in an immaculate kitchen, and a home that it always ready to welcome guests . . . .Let me widen the camera angle.

A dose of reality is good from time to time.

And . . . . . 

Today the boys and I made some posable skeletons -- always a fun Halloween project.  Tomorrow we'll finally get around to carving the pumpkins.  A little something called the flu got in the way of our plans for that one.

Here's hoping that everyone is healthy enough to trick-or-treat at a few houses tomorrow night!

how to tutu

This year for Halloween Anna is going to be a pink fairy.  Or, as she will specify:  "a pink fairy with not pink hair."  When we came up with this idea I browsed etsy for a while, drooling at all the beautiful tutus you can find there.  But after weighing the price tag ($20-$30) into my halloween costume budget I thought, "I could probably make one of these."

So I searched online and found a few basic tutorials and discovered it was oh so doable.

First, get your tulle.  I love love love these 6 inch spools from Papermart. They make this project so much easier than if you purchase tulle on a bolt from a fabric store . . . . no cutting your tulle into long strips and no worrying about getting your lines straight.  Six inches ends up being the perfect width for this project and at $1.89 for a 25 yard spool I call this a steal.  Plus, it's fun to keep several colors on hand to add a quick, pretty bow to gifts, neighbor treats, pretty much anything.

You'll need some elastic.  I used 1/2 inch for Anna's tutu and 1 inch for mine.  The 1/2 inch was easier to work with.  Measure your subject's waist and then trim a couple inches from that number.  This is essential as the elastic will stretch out as you are tying your tulle onto it.  Machine or hand stitch the ends of your elastic together.

Cut your tulle.  I cut my strips 32 inches long, but you can always go shorter, or longer.  Just keep in mind that your strips will be folded in half in the final project. 

Start tying.  This link has some good step by step photos.  They say that you shouldn't tighten your tulle until the end, but I like to do it as I go along.  Basically, just keep tying until the elastic is covered.  And make sure you are consistent in how you tie it on.  I had to remove a few, or 10, when I wasn't paying attention.

Embellish.  This is the optional (fun) step.  I tied on 2 strands of ribbon and hot glued a peony flower we had lying around the house.  And for fun I put a flower on her fairy wings as well to complete the "flower fairy" ensemble.

 (all dressed and ready for a ballet Halloween party)

Project details:

purchased 3 spools of tulle (and I didn't even use them up)

elastic from my sewing stash

flowers & ribbon on hand

Final cost of project:  $5.67

on a cold morning

a bit of paradise . . . . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

found

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember the story of a close family friend - Ben - who went missing almost 4 years ago.  (See here).  There was an exhaustive search by family and friends that followed for months (and really, never ended in the hearts of some) . . . . a memorial service on the one year anniversary of his disappearance . . . . and the story was featured on an episode of Living Essentials on BYUTV (on which my dad was interviewed).

Yesterday brought some answers. The car, and Ben, were found.  My dad, mom, Denver & Bree were there to witness the retrieval and be there for him.  My heart goes out to Ben's family and my dad, having to mourn the loss of a best friend once again.  But, now we know.  Ben is found.  

See the article here.

fab five

five of the latest things that bring a piece of happy to our days.

1.  A little birdie told me . . . . My sister-in-law has started up an etsy shop where she sells these adorable hair clips for little girls.  I need to get my hands on some more because they work great in Anna's hair.  Heidi, expect an order soon!

 

2.  Are leg warmers back? . . . . whether they're in or out, I am loving these crawler covers for Anna's little legs.  You can find them all over etsy right now and come in lots of cute patterns.  It's so fun to mix and match with her little play dresses.  And, when it's time for the potty, they're much easier to handle than hiking up a pair of tights.

3.  Mondays are for baking . . . at least that is the plan.  Anna and I have been making cupcakes and having quite a bit of fun at it. 

 

4.  Wednesdays are for GLEE . . . . Have you watched this show?  I so look forward to wednesday nights.  Scott and I settle in on the couch and bask in the musical fun.  Not to mention the ultra-quirky, entertaining characters.  Like, say,  . . . . Sue, coach of the Cheerios?  

5.  'Tis the season . . . . for vampire teeth.  Anna got these for apple bobbing at the ward harvest party on saturday and is still wearing them around the house.