The Books

We've been busy working on making props and set pieces for Beauty and the Beast. I've worked on making headpieces for the enchanted forks, knives, and spoons, pitchforks for the angry villagers, and lots of lots of cardstock book spines to create the look of a library in the beast's castle.

We had the kids submit some of their favorite book titles to be included on the book spines that we made. Nicholas was so excited to see the four books he submitted.

We also included books that incorporated the names of each of the cast members.  I didn't not work in this stage of the book cases but I did find Nicholas' book, "Nicholas' Cages" - a take on name of the actor Nicholas Cage.  So cute!

I haven't found Rachel's book yet.  There are tons of these "books" to look through but I'll find it.

Painting Doilies for Valentine's Day

Rachel loves all kinds of craft projects but especially those that involve painting.  For Valentine's Day I found some paper doilies and showed her how to paint over them to make a neat picture she could use for a Valentine's Day card.  I loved doing this with her because I used to love making these when I was little!

She chose a piece of plum colored card stock paper and then she chose some white paint.  She used some small pieces of tape underneath the paper doily to hold it in place on the paper.  

She used a sponge dabber to press the paint onto the cut-outs of the paper doily.  It is best to press straight down on the doily rather than paint side to side in order to best ensure that the paint does not seep under the paper.  You only want the paint to reach the paper where the cut-outs are.

Once she had covered the doily with paint, she decided to paint around the edge of the heart too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

King Cake!

Granddad sent us our annual authentic king cake for Mardi Gras.  We're sad that we can't be in Louisiana to experience Mardi Gras in person but this is the next best thing!

The Gambino's king cake is always delicious but it is also fun because the kids get to decorate it themselves.  It comes with all the icing and sugar crystals that you need.  First you smear the yummy icing all over the top of the cake.

Next you sprinkle the top with purple, green, and gold sugar crystals.  Sometimes it is hard to wait for it to get decorated before you dig in!  But be careful, king cakes traditionally have a little plastic baby inside.  The person who gets the baby in their slice of cake has to buy the next king cake!

Happy Mardi Gras (from Texas)!

Her Television Debut

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article for Kids Activities Blog on how to get gum out of hair.  The article included a picture of Rachel...with gum in her hair.

Recently the Dr. Oz Show contacted me to get permission to use Rachel's picture on the show.  Dr. Oz was putting together a show on the many uses for olive oil and one of those uses is to get gum out of hair.

Rachel was so excited to watch the show and see herself on TV!

Fortunately there has been no other instances with gum in her hair!

BB Gun Youth Night

Nicholas loves going to .22 Youth Night at our local gun range.  They close off a whole room of lanes just for kids to shoot .22 so it is quiet and fun for the kids.  

When Rachel turned 6, one of the first things she said she wanted to do was go to BB Gun Youth Night.  She had been wanting to go at other times but their minimum age for Youth Night is 6 years old.  

She has gone to almost every BB Gun Youth Night since she turned 6.  She rents a pink BB Gun, of course!

Stuart has done a great job of teaching both of our kids about gun safety as well as how to handle a gun.  They take it very seriously.

Rachel is pretty good at it too!  The pink dots on the black target are hers.