Versus

There was a TV show on Fox called the Finder.  It was about this man who lived in the Florida Keys who could find anything you asked him to, even though sometimes it brought more than you bargained for.  The girls and I loved the show!  It starred Geoff Stults and the late Michael Clark Duncan.  It was cancelled shortly before Duncan passed.  We were sad to see only one season of this show.  It was quirky and fun.

One of the things they did in their down time was have discussions using a chalkboard.  The topics were presented in the vs. style-honor vs. duty, bravery vs. courage, Mozart vs. Bach, etc.  They had some lively discussions over these topics!

While the show was on, we began our own vs. board on the fridge.  We've done lots of topics, ranging from very simple to silly.  We haven't done any in-depth topics because we are still children!  And, we tend to just write our initials on the board by the one we vote on.  Here are some of our topics:

• waffles vs. pancakes
• tulips vs. roses
• cookies vs. brownies
• summer vs. winter
• soda vs. soda stream
• netflix vs. apple tv

It has been lots of fun and has started some great conversations.  I can't wait until the girls are a little bit older to do some harder ones.  This is what is up right now.

I personally like both, but I think I like Elsa a little bit better.  Even though she was the one who accidentally hurt her sister, she was also the one who saved her.  She also overcame her fears and learned to control her power.

What would be on your versus board?

The Crazy Train

Lots of people see the new year as a clean slate, a fresh start.  Time to make changes to how we approach everything.  I am no exception.  I'm not going to be like so many people that vow to exercise and diet. I am trying to do these things already.  This year I'm gonna stop the crazy train.

This school year has eaten my lunch--quite literally.  It has been very difficult for me on many levels.  Lots of responsibility, paperwork, and events I will not get into have made it probably the hardest year I've ever had.  I also feel like all the other places I've been and the classes I've taught has been getting me ready for this.  I feel very blessed to have a family who is supportive and patient and an amazing faculty that sticks with it everyday, with me.  This is the Crazy Train.

I am going to try my best to decrease the "crazy" in my life.  Some of it I have no control of whatsoever.  The other part of it, I most certainly can help it.  It will take some time to get things streamlined, but I know that I if I can get the paperwork easier, the Crazy Train will start slowing down into the station.  That is my resolution.

Forty is the New Thirty

In September, I hit it.  I wanted to hit it with a bang and all my friends, but frankly, I was way too tired!  So on September 30, 2013, I quietly turned forty.  Well, I guess I really can't say it was quiet.

The actual day fell on a Monday, so as a family we celebrated the weekend before.  Since I didn't have the giddy-up to host a party, my family just did whatever I wanted to do.  We started on Friday night with Macaroni Grill, including Italian soda,

 and a trip to the Guitar Center where I picked out my present:

a ukulele!!  I have wanted one for a long time, and so we just picked it out!  It was under $100, so I felt pretty good about spending it.  I have enjoyed messing around with it.  For the rest of the weekend we ran errands and hung out.  I didn't get to do everything I wanted to, which was mostly relaxing, vegging out at home and doing a little crafting, but it was good.  No school work done that weekend for the exception of the required.

On my actual birthday, I was quite honored.  I work with some wonderful people!  They snuck in getting the kids to sign a card for me, which they did right under my nose, and treated me with cupcakes, a gift certificate, and a big 'ol Dr. Pepper.  They spoil me rotten!  Then, at lunch, the entire 3rd and 4th grades sang Happy Birthday.  What a treat!  I was so surprised.  My sisters sent me flowers, balloons, and wax chips for the scentsy pot to school too.  It was wonderful.

When I got home, the girls made me a cake and I cracked open a bottle of Cupcake wine that I picked out.

 We stayed home and enjoyed being together.  It was a great way to begin my 40s.

The Bride of Frankenstein

So it's been a while.  School and life has happened!  Life is full and busy.  One of the highlights of the past few months was Halloween.  When I asked the girls what they wanted to be, Anna wanted to wear her red cape that she loves, so she was red riding hood.  Lauren, on the other hand, had big ideas.  She wanted to be the bride of Frankenstein!  The first thing I asked her was if she even knew what the Bride of Frankenstein was about.  She had no idea...none of us did!  So, for fall break, we found it on Netflix.  Here is a pic of Elsa Lanchester as the Bride.

In it's time, this movie was a horror flick.  It was completely tame compared to what is out there now.  The girls and I were quite surprised.  Part of it was funny even.  After we watched it, we figured out her costume.  We got some simple white fabric from Hobby Lobby and I made a tube skirt for her to wear.  Easy!  Now, the hair.  That was the hard part. We searched You Tube for tutorials, and there were many.  This is how we did it.

First, I curled her hair in ringlets.  I sprayed the fire out of them, hoping it would hold.  As curly as Lauren's hair is, it doesn't hold a curl when we do curl it.

After that, we took a cut coke bottle and bobby pinned it to the crown of her head.  I made it good and secure.

Oh and I forgot to mention that I put a hair net around the bottle before I put it on her head.  That way we could bobby pin hair to the bottle, which is the next step.  Leave down two pieces of hair (one on each side) for the white pieces.

Once we got the hair good and secure, we hair sprayed her hair black.  That was messy and stinky!

It took the entire can of black to cover those blond curls!  We then colored the two pieces left over white, which you couldn't tell very well they were white.  We pinned them up with the rest, and voila! The Bride of Frankenstein!

 

And, to top it off, we were in Petsmart the other day and found--wait for it--a Frankenstein costume just for Hagrid!!

It was the cutest Halloween costume we've done, except for this:

Ribbon Bulletin Board

This is something that I've wanted to try making for a long time.  I think these boards are beautiful, and they can be simple or fancy, and functional at the same time.  At the end of the school year, I had important papers (like checking out lists, etc.) that I needed to keep track of.  I had them in one spot, but there are eight other people who spend the day in the classroom with me, and they were accidentally lost.  I eventually found them in the recycle bin! (It sits right next to my desk.)  That is when I realized that I desperately needed a bulletin board-just for me for all those little papers I need.  What a good opportunity to make a ribbon board! So I did.

I absolutely love this fabric!! I originally bought it for curtains for the house in Woodward, but that just didn't happen.  Now I'm glad it didn't.  It gets to go to school with me now. Anyway--

Here are the materials:

Bulletin board

Batting

Fabric

Ribbon (I used grosgrain)

Upholstery tacks

Hammer

Staple gun

Tape measure

Pins

Hot glue gun

1. Cut the batting and fabric large enough to cover your board and wrap around the back for a finished edge.  I left the fabric a little bigger than the batting so I could fold it over the batting when attaching it to the board.  Use enough batting to give your board some puffiness when the ribbons are attached.  I think I used four layers.  This is the part I fumbled.  I didn't put enough batting in, and it wasn't padded enough.  I had to start over.

2.  Fold the fabric and batting around to the back edge and using the staple gun, staple it to the board.  I did one or two on each side so I could get the fabric tight and smooth on the front.  Once I did that, I went all the way around.  I left the corners for the end.  I trimmed the batting and fabric a little because it was super thick.  Then I folded the fabric like a present and stapled it.  The back turned out to look fairly neat.

3.  Figure out where you would like your ribbons.  I think I did mine a little differently, but I like how it turned out.  Make sure they are parallel with each other.  That was hard with this fabric, but I accomplished it!  Pin the ribbon down on each end until you get the upholstery tacks on.  Also, leave enough ribbon when you cut it to wrap around the back.

4.  Once the ribbons are pinned, gently tap in the upholstery tacks at the intersections of the ribbons.  Make sure the tacks are in straight lines vertically and horizontally.  Take out the pins.  Be careful that you don't hammer the tack all the way through the board.  I did this a couple of times.  This is when the padding will really start to look cool.  

5.  Take the ends of the ribbons and hot glue them to the back of the board.  I tucked mine under the fabric if I could. 

6.  Add your mounting hardware.  At this point, I added a ribbon to hang it from.  I think it might need a frame to go around it, so this is still a work in progress!

I was amazed at how easy this was. I will probably make one for the girls also.  They will be able to do a lot of this project on their own.  

Oh! Here's a little side note.  When you've got a cute board, you need cute tacks, right?  So I made some!  I had some large head thumbtacks and some of those glass beads on hand.  I drew flowers that matched my board with a sharpie on the head of the thumbtack, hot glued the bead on, and voila! Cute tacks!