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| Christmas tree outside the house with the lights off. |
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| And with the lights on... |
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| And finally, in the dollhouse! So pretty! |
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Christmas Tree for the Dollhouse!
I Love Christmas! And since I love it so much, I knew I had to have a Christmas tree for the dollhouse. After looking around a bit for a tree here in town and scouring the internet for ideas I finally found one at Michaels. It is made for a Christmas village and is a smidge tall but I love it! I bought the mini christmas lights with it as well. They were both on sale for 50% off, yay! I made the tree skirt from a piece of felt, it's not what I want permanently but it will get me by for this season. I also made the silver garland by stringing tiny clear seed beads onto a long piece of thread. I apologize for the pictures, I have not been able to figure out how to take good pictures of mini's yet.
Emmaline's Birthday Party!
On Sunday we celebrated Emmaline's 6th Birthday with a "princess-flower" party, Emmaline's choice. :-) It ended up being mostly princess but I did use some flowers to decorate.
Almost all of both my family and Mark's was able to come, as well as some friends so it was a large turnout. We turned the garage into a play area for the kids, which kept most of them contained. The first thing we did was face painting, I made some face paint earlier in the week and used it to paint a picture on one cheek of each of the kids that wanted it done. While I was working on one kids face the other kids colored pictures and played with some toys that I had out.
After we finished up with those activities we moved on to the cake. I made a Barbie doll cake, I found the idea on line and then made it from there. Emmaline loved it! I also made cupcakes, decorated with pink frosting and white flowers just like the barbie dress.
We finished up the party by opening Emmaline's gifts. She had such a good time and is already talking about next years party!
Almost all of both my family and Mark's was able to come, as well as some friends so it was a large turnout. We turned the garage into a play area for the kids, which kept most of them contained. The first thing we did was face painting, I made some face paint earlier in the week and used it to paint a picture on one cheek of each of the kids that wanted it done. While I was working on one kids face the other kids colored pictures and played with some toys that I had out.
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| Coloring sheets and crayons |
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| Face painting area |
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We finished up the party by opening Emmaline's gifts. She had such a good time and is already talking about next years party!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Kids Day
Sorry I didn't post last week, I had company over in the afternoon when I normally post so I elected not to put anything up.
We don't celebrate Halloween but instead do "kids day". We carve pumpkins, eat candy and play games. Here are some pics.
All the kids had a pumpkin which they helped clean out. Then they told Mark what they wanted on it and he drew it on the pumpkin and carved it for them.
Here are the finished pumpkins. From left to right: Elijah's - turtle, Emmaline's - person holding a flower, Josiah - airplane, Jeremiah - train, Micah - car.
Sorry to make this post so short but 3 of the kids are sick, throwing up, and I am also sick so I will need to get back to taking care of them and trying to take it easy myself.
We don't celebrate Halloween but instead do "kids day". We carve pumpkins, eat candy and play games. Here are some pics.
All the kids had a pumpkin which they helped clean out. Then they told Mark what they wanted on it and he drew it on the pumpkin and carved it for them.
Here are the finished pumpkins. From left to right: Elijah's - turtle, Emmaline's - person holding a flower, Josiah - airplane, Jeremiah - train, Micah - car.
Sorry to make this post so short but 3 of the kids are sick, throwing up, and I am also sick so I will need to get back to taking care of them and trying to take it easy myself.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Another Birthday Party!
On Sunday we celebrated my Dad's Birthday with my family at my parent's house. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and fun!
First Snow!!!
Last week we got our first snow! We got a couple of inches of very wet snow. The kids wanted to play outside but then once they realized how cold it was they wanted right back in the house. Ha!
Shop Move
This past weekend we spent 2 days moving Mark's shop to a new building. Our lease was up on our original shop so we looked around a bit and located a shop a bit closer to our house, with an office, and a big bathroom, and bigger area for working on cars, all for $400 LESS a month!
We had to move 6 cars from one shop to the other, 2 were running but not drivable, and the rest had to be pushed. It was quite a lot of work getting them from one place to the other. Then, of course, there was all the tools and miscellaneous stuff, (LOTS of miscellaneous stuff...). We stayed up till almost midnight 2 nights getting everything moved. I'm so glad it's all done, now we just have to get started on getting settled into the new shop... :-)
We had to move 6 cars from one shop to the other, 2 were running but not drivable, and the rest had to be pushed. It was quite a lot of work getting them from one place to the other. Then, of course, there was all the tools and miscellaneous stuff, (LOTS of miscellaneous stuff...). We stayed up till almost midnight 2 nights getting everything moved. I'm so glad it's all done, now we just have to get started on getting settled into the new shop... :-)
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| Our new shop |
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| Getting one of the cars moved in... |
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| And unpacking some of the miscellaneous stuff. The kids were a big help. :-) |
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Jeremiah's Birthday Party!
We celebrated Jeremiah's birthday this weekend! We kept the invite list small, only family, and only the grandparents and my brother ended up coming so it was a very small party. This was probably for the best as Jeremiah doesn't do as well with lots of people around.
The party theme was trains, Jeremiah is crazy about trains. I made a train cake for him, I thought it turned out well. The oreos didn't fit on the coal car so that is why I cut them up. And, yes, the train engine is leaning slightly. And I know that the caboose should have been red. So I'm not perfect. At least the kids were happy and didn't mention all the flaws. (Unlike some of the adults at the party...) :-(
Before everyone came over we opened Jeremiah's gifts from the family. Elijah, Emmaline, and Josiah had made or given some of their things to Jeremiah. So sweet! We gave Jeremiah a small car race type track. I'm not sure exactly what the correct word for them is but he loved it!
And before the party I thought I should get a picture of the big (or not so big :-)) birthday boy. What a cutie!
When everyone arrived for the party I had all the kids color pictures of trains. Then we went in the garage and played with balloons for a bit. First we put all the balloons in the center of a sheet and shook it till they all bounced out. We did that a few times, then let the kids just throw the balloons or whatever (Elijah popped a few, and Grandpa had fun rubbing balloons on kids' heads and sticking them to the wall!).
After the activities we headed up for cake! For anyone who notices that the smoke is gone, Micah ate it! I had to redo the whole front of the train between the first picture and the party.
All the kids sat in the kitchen to eat their food. And some adults too...
And finally, the fun part, gifts! Jeremiah had just 3 gifts but that was good, so he didn't get overwhelmed.
The gift from Grandma and Grandpa was HUGE! What could it be?!?
Yay! His very own trike!
Altogether it was a good day and most importantly, Jeremiah had fun. :-)
The party theme was trains, Jeremiah is crazy about trains. I made a train cake for him, I thought it turned out well. The oreos didn't fit on the coal car so that is why I cut them up. And, yes, the train engine is leaning slightly. And I know that the caboose should have been red. So I'm not perfect. At least the kids were happy and didn't mention all the flaws. (Unlike some of the adults at the party...) :-(
Before everyone came over we opened Jeremiah's gifts from the family. Elijah, Emmaline, and Josiah had made or given some of their things to Jeremiah. So sweet! We gave Jeremiah a small car race type track. I'm not sure exactly what the correct word for them is but he loved it!
And before the party I thought I should get a picture of the big (or not so big :-)) birthday boy. What a cutie!
When everyone arrived for the party I had all the kids color pictures of trains. Then we went in the garage and played with balloons for a bit. First we put all the balloons in the center of a sheet and shook it till they all bounced out. We did that a few times, then let the kids just throw the balloons or whatever (Elijah popped a few, and Grandpa had fun rubbing balloons on kids' heads and sticking them to the wall!).
After the activities we headed up for cake! For anyone who notices that the smoke is gone, Micah ate it! I had to redo the whole front of the train between the first picture and the party.
All the kids sat in the kitchen to eat their food. And some adults too...
And finally, the fun part, gifts! Jeremiah had just 3 gifts but that was good, so he didn't get overwhelmed.
The gift from Grandma and Grandpa was HUGE! What could it be?!?
Yay! His very own trike!
Altogether it was a good day and most importantly, Jeremiah had fun. :-)
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Kid Pics
Some pictures that I took of a few of the kids this week.
Micah. He came in from playing out back with the mark on his cheek and no one seemed to know what happened. (of course!)
Jeremiah. What a cutie!
Emmaline. I just had to get a picture of this! She looks so feminine with her hair up and then she has the gun in the holster on her hip! (play gun of course) You can tell she only has brothers!
Jeremiah had fun in the dirt!
Big sis and baby brother. Only baby brother isn't so little anymore!
All the kids are fighting off a cold, thus the runny noses in the pictures. Just so you don't think I never wipe my kids noses, they had all been wiped right before the pictures were taken. :-) And they are not normally so dirty either, that's why I took pictures is because they were dirty!
Micah. He came in from playing out back with the mark on his cheek and no one seemed to know what happened. (of course!)
Jeremiah. What a cutie!
Emmaline. I just had to get a picture of this! She looks so feminine with her hair up and then she has the gun in the holster on her hip! (play gun of course) You can tell she only has brothers!
Jeremiah had fun in the dirt!
Big sis and baby brother. Only baby brother isn't so little anymore!
All the kids are fighting off a cold, thus the runny noses in the pictures. Just so you don't think I never wipe my kids noses, they had all been wiped right before the pictures were taken. :-) And they are not normally so dirty either, that's why I took pictures is because they were dirty!
Dollhouse Trim and Porch
I was able to spend a bit of time on my dollhouse this past week. I stained the porch boards for the first floor porch and installed them. Here is a picture of it before:
And here is the picture with them installed. I stained the base and the boards, sanding in between coats, then glued them down with tacky glue. As you can see in this picture there is no trim on the corner of the house (the white edge of the wall), so that was my next step.
I cut the boards to the correct length for the trim, painted them with 2 coats of my trim paint, and glued them in place. I'm really pleased with how this all turned out and can't wait to get the rest of the trim up!
Here is how the dollhouse is looking right now. My goal is to have the front of the outside of the house done by Christmas and I just might make it!
And here is the picture with them installed. I stained the base and the boards, sanding in between coats, then glued them down with tacky glue. As you can see in this picture there is no trim on the corner of the house (the white edge of the wall), so that was my next step.
I cut the boards to the correct length for the trim, painted them with 2 coats of my trim paint, and glued them in place. I'm really pleased with how this all turned out and can't wait to get the rest of the trim up!
Here is how the dollhouse is looking right now. My goal is to have the front of the outside of the house done by Christmas and I just might make it!
Fall is here!
The weather has finally turned cooler and feels like fall! This is one of my favorite seasons, surpassed only by spring. I Love all the beautiful colors and how crisp the air feels after a hot summer.
We already went and got our pumpkins! I think they look so nice on the living room window seat, especially with the leaves on our big tree out front changing.
We bought 6 pumpkins this year, one for everyone but me. When we carve them I spend so much time doing everyone else's that there's no time for me to do one.
Our gorgeous tree out front! I like to leave all the leaves on the lawn, I think it looks more festive that way.
Here is our fall decoration by the front door. I don't do a lot of decorating, I think God has done a wonderful job without any help from me! :-)
We already went and got our pumpkins! I think they look so nice on the living room window seat, especially with the leaves on our big tree out front changing.
We bought 6 pumpkins this year, one for everyone but me. When we carve them I spend so much time doing everyone else's that there's no time for me to do one.
Our gorgeous tree out front! I like to leave all the leaves on the lawn, I think it looks more festive that way.
Here is our fall decoration by the front door. I don't do a lot of decorating, I think God has done a wonderful job without any help from me! :-)
