Everything looks fancier on a canvas

I've decided that all artwork looks fancier on a canvas, and though canvas is more expensive than paper, sometimes you can catch them at a deal, and they aren't too bad.  I bought these at JoAnn's in a 2-pack, and they were 50% off.

We got out a bunch of paint colors and the only rules were that they couldn't paint any "real" pictures- you know recognizable.  It had to only be colors and shapes.  No white space.

I love them.  Now they are hanging in our entryway.

Medieval Fun Dress Up

Today we did the second project in our Kiwi Crate. The girls got to choose whether they wanted to make a princess hat or a knight's mask. No brainer.

This project had a high messy factor and a high parent involvement scale (their words, not mine).

The first step was to dye the play silk with a Kool Aid packet.  Abby kept talking about how good it smelled- it was Cherry.  :)












Then, while the dye set, we put the hats together. (I didn't take too many pictures. Sorry!)





And, once the silk was rinsed and dried, we put it all together...

Medieval Fun- Our first Kiwi Crate

A while back on Facebook, I posted about a new thing I heard about called Kiwi Crate that I signed the girls up for.  It sounded super cool and I was really excited about it.  Basically it's a monthly subscription and you get a themed crafty project (with all the supplies) to create.  BUT, you don't know the theme until it arrives.  (If you're interested in buying one-check the bottom of this blog entry for a $10 off link)

I didn't tell the girls anything about it.  Yesterday, this green box arrived in our mailbox and we didn't open it right away (because I knew then we'd have to DO it), and the suspense of not knowing what was in it drove Abby truly insane.

After lunch, we finally opened it, and this was what we first pulled out.  Scissors.  When you get your first ever Kiwi Crate, they send you scissors for all future projects.  Since I signed up for 1 crate + a sibling, I got 2 pairs.

And, now for the fun part.... our projects!  The theme is Medieval Fun.  

Our projects are "My Catapult" and "Medieval Dress Up"

We decided, based on time and such, that we would do the catapult first.  Again, I paid for 1 crate + a sibling so I got supplies for both of them.  Here are all the supplies that are part of the project:

Decorating their boxes:

The completed catapults:

Abby catapulting a pink pom pom.  They included a ping pong ball and assorted sizes of pom poms.  They also included lots of suggestions for challenges.  Abby tried lots of them.

Another cool part is that there are suggestions to take the theme farther on their site.  They suggested some pictures books that have the medieval theme, which I have already put on hold at the library.  We have plans to do the dress up activity later this week.

SO, I'm just sharing because I thought Kiwi Crate was cool.  If you are at all interested, use this link to sign up and it will give you $10 off.

Weekend Recap

School is out for summer!  Craziness.  Abby ended her first grade year with the annual running of her school's "Little 500," as I mentioned in my last post.  We went, of course, and it was fun.  They really do it up.

This first picture is the whole first grade with their cars.  We had the singing of the National Anthem, and they sang "Back Home Again in Indiana," followed by them blowing bubbles.  They then started their engines. 

We had a flyby by a military helicopter which was SUPER cool, and then it circled and LANDED right there in front of us!  It was awesome.  I wish I had video.

All the kids went out in heats to run, and then they had a final heat of the winners.  Here is Abby all lined up to run.  She didn't win, but I think she had fun.

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We then left her at school to finish her day (the race was in the morning and she had a full day).  When she got home, The girls and I had a girls only road trip to Grandma and Papaw's house.  Matt had a retreat for church all weekend, so he wouldn't didn't miss us.

While we were there, we visited a cool trampoline/playset place where the girls got to jump until their hearts were content.  It was actually a showroom for high end playsets and trampolines, but they sell play passes and host birthday parties.  My mom bought a pass for 6 visits on Groupon.  It was fun.  I even jumped with the girls for couple minutes and it didn't hurt my knee!

My sister kept trying to get a good picture of the three cousins and caught this keeper.  Hilarious.  Poor Jacob.  Just let me play, Mommy, and quit trying to take my picture!  

My goal for this week is to get the girls on a summer sleep schedule.  After waking up at 5:45 all school year, I need a break.  Last night I let them stay up to watch Dancing with the Stars and then we read for a few minutes.  They both slept until about 7:15!  I can do that!  I thought it would take longer than Tuesday with Lily.  Pray that my good luck continues!

Wordless Wednesday

Lily's Treasures

Wow. It's May.

So, wow.  It's May.  It's been a while, right?  :)  It turns out we've been staying pretty busy around here.  I've just not been very good at taking too many pictures and updating you all.  So, here is what we've been up too....

The girls have been staying busy with (and loving) gymnastics.  Last week, one of Abby's instructors asked us if we have considered competitive teams for her.  She said that Abby picks things up quickly and is very coachable.  She would be in a Level 2, which is very basic and age appropriate.  More serious competition doesn't start until Level 4.  Practices would increase to 2 a week and she would have 4 meets a year.  We are waiting for an "official" invitation.

We've also gotten some friend time in... but not enough.  I'm looking forward to summer because I know we'll get more in then.  The girls are good at cornering Lauren for a story when she's over.  In this picture, they are dressed like the characters.  I love it.

Abby had a field trip to a Honeybee Farm!  She got to bottle her own honey, and has been eating it like crazy.  Believe it or not this is her last week of school.  Lily is very excited and has been counting down the days.

The girls are in swim class one day a week right now also.  See?  I told you we've been busy!  They've been doing great.  Their only setback is neither of them likes water in their face, which by the way, is kind of  a necessity of swimming, as you know.  

When we aren't running, we are snuggling on the couch.  Reading, watching a movie, or something.  Recently we've watched Hugo, and last night the girls watched Gnomeo and Juliet.

Our backyard has become quite the nature wonderland.  We have a toad that Abby has named Freckles.  He's always in the same spot.  We also have a birdhouse that's been inhabited by a family of birds, AND those dumb bunnies are ever present.  They better not eat my flowers this year.

Abby's school has a huge event coming up on the last day of school for the entire first grade.  It is the 27th year that they've done it.  It's either called the Little 500 or the Mini 500, I say it wrong and get corrected by Abby every single time.  Anyway, the first graders all have to craft a car out of a cardboard box (that they will wear) and they have a race.  She had all kinds of plans drawn up and we did a pretty good job fulfilling most of them plus some.  We worked on it a bunch this weekend since it was due Monday.  We will be going on Friday to watch the race. 

Last night the girls and I finished a big part of a project we've been working on..... a quilt top!  I'm very excited.  We LOVE the fabric we used (Sherbet Pips and A Walk in the Woods both by Aneela Hoey).  I'll share more pictures when it is done. 

We also went to a trunk sale for leotards last night and scored some great deals for the girls.  They each got 2 new ones.  We were a little limited on color choices, you were lucky just to find something in your size, but they are beautiful, I think, and great deals!

I'm also staying busy with being one of the directors of our church's Vacation Bible School.  We are doing Sky, which is going to be cool, but still a lot of work and meetings.  I'm kind of bummed that I have to miss the girls gymnastics class tomorrow for a meeting actually. 

So, phew.  That's what we've been up to.  How have you been?