Ornament Class Update!

Sarah and Becca just left with their finished ornaments! I think they did a great!. It being Sarah's first mixed media ornament she did an amazing job. I hope she had a good experience to write about for her paper.

Sarah didn't know that a requirement for this project was to cut her finger nails to stubs before she came. I never have a problem with ribbon, jump rings, or small gems because I have no nails... (I hope I don't get points deducted for that on the paper...)

Becca's lil' man is so cute! Can't wait to see him on her tree... (sigh...)

Look at Sarah's! Wow... Barbara, aren't you impressed? If you want to help me get more brownie points on the paper, leave a comment and tell Sarah what a great job she did! :)

Mixed Media Ornament Class

Becca and Sarah are coming over on Friday for a Mixed Media Ornament class. Sarah has a paper to write for school about learning something new. Since she isn't crafty she wanted us to teach her something that she can make for a Christmas present. Becca wanted to learn a little about mixed media too. So, here is mine. What do you think?

An Apple a Day

Today we made apple-pie with small tart tins. I have had these tins (for years) that I bought at an estate sale. This is the first time I have used them! I love it. They are so cute. Maybe not filling but totally cute!

1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

8 medium sized apples (a medium apple = about 1 cup)

2 tablespoons margarine

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Peel, core and slice the apples. Try to keep the size of the slices even.
Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl.
Stir in apples.
Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.
Dot with margarine.
Cover with top crust leaf.

Ethan's First Fort

I couldn't help taking these pictures of Ethan in his new fort that Dave built for him. We call it a "tent" since he knows what that is and signs it in ASL. He crawls in with a book and his milk cup and just sits and talks inside.

One Bright Spot Update

Can I just say that our designer for One Bright Spot is AMAZING! If you would like to check out her Etsy store here's the link (http://www.thompsondesigns.etsy.com/) It's great to look at what she can do.

She just sent us the design for our blog ad. What do you think? Becca and I have been working hard the last few days trying to get product done to sell soon. We will keep you updated on when our grand-opening will be.

A Relaxing Weekend

This weekend was very relaxing. We had Becca and Josh over Friday night for dinner. Dave made an amazing dinner and even impressed Josh. (Josh has eaten at some really great places so that is a compliment if he says Dave "out did himself"). Becca said to take a picture and so I got the camera out. We were all laughing but Josh says that Becca takes pictures of food all the time. It did look good... Well, if no one else appreciates the picture I know Kati will. Becca helped clean up so that we could try and get some stuff done for One Bright Spot. We didn't get a lot accomplished - no surprise there! Ha!

Ethan in the kitchen, helping out!

It does look good, doesn't it?

For those who have been to our house have noticed that all of our furniture is used or hand-me-downs from parents. When we got married Dave's parents found new chairs and a sofa at a garage sale and gave us theirs. Well, anyone that has sat in our recliner has known what it's like! It leans back and it feels like it's going to either collapse or get ready to launch you into space! It cracked me up when I heard Dave in the family room sitting down in the chair. The picture below I am sure will make you laugh!

Thank you Mr. Magic Eraser!

Today started with banging on the door to the bathroom while I was in the shower. It was a different kind of banging - more like scraping. When I opened the door I found Ethan with a crayon coloring! I always keep the crayons up so that he can't get into. One must of been under the sofa and missed getting put away.

I followed the trail of crayon into the open kitchen drawer.
Then, to the kitchen floor.

To the fireplace floor tile.

To the masterpiece in the living room. There was crayon on the side tables, windows, and windowsill. I heard that Magic Eraser removes crayon and so it does! I love you Magic Eraser!

One Bright Spot

Some of you might have heard that Becca and I are going to open an Etsy shop (all things handmade) online soon. We had a great etsy artist design our banner. Go to www.onebrightspot.etsy.com to check it out! I can tell you how much I love it!

Trying to Keep the Lil' Guy Busy

Ok, I am so not one of those "ditto" parent/teachers. I mean give me a hands-on activity any day! But, when Dave came home last month with a phonics preschool set of workbooks, CD, and DVD I thanked him. I mean he was totally thinking of Ethan. But, come on he is 18 months old. So, I put it on the shelf.

Well, this week Ethan has kept me going! He surprises me every minute of the day. As a teacher I know that "boys are wired different than girls." I also know that "school was made for girls and not for boys." I also have experienced the "boys are more active" scenario. But it is different when you have an active boy ALL DAY LONG! I mean come on! On some days it was great to send the kids home at 11:30am... and there were a few times I would go back to my classroom and collapse on the floor. Wake up call! Moms don't get time to even make it to the floor to sit down let alone collapse.

The problem is that I would be expecting Ethan to play like an 18 month old. I honestly think that he was born late and I really have a 2 1/2 year old. All he wants to do is read letters, color with crayons, read numbers, read colors, and throw a ball here and there. I have to get over it and realize that Ethan needs more. So, I am trying all of these activities to keep Ethan busy.

I actually pulled the phonics books off the shelf and we are on letter C. Look how he found the "c" and colored it in himself. Crazy!

We played a game that he made up for his alphabet blocks - but I used numbers on apples. I asked him "Where is the 3?" He looks at my hand using ASL and he finds the number. He usually points at the right apple, yells the number, and claps for himself.

Apple Week (new pictures added)

This week Ethan and I are having "Apple Week." We are doing several projects with apples and I will continue to post the final projects. This morning I woke up before the little guy and picked apples from our apple tree.

When he woke up he saw all the goodness in the sink and asked for a piece. I love his reaction!

I began washing the apples and he had to wash his piece too!

We did an experiment called "Smiley Apples" by cutting a face in the apple. I hung it by a string. We will watch the face shrink in the next few weeks. I love how he pointed out where the apple's eyes, mouth, and nose were.

He helped put the cut up apples in the crockpot to make applesauce.

He painted with half an apple to make an "apple star." We took the seeds from the apple to save for the next craft.

It's hard to believe that he made this by himself!