spaghetti shirts

Did you see this picture on my photo blog? I said I would write about what made these baby wipes so colorful. So here we go!

Instead of using bibs once the kids got out of the baby stage, at our house we use "spaghetti shirts" - just white undershirts that we keep in the kitchen to throw on when we're eating something that could get messy and it doesn't matter if the kids spill a multitude of foods on them.

And of course to me, a plain white t-shirt is just begging to be decorated! Last summer we decorated some with fireworks... like this:

This was from the familyfun.com website, here. Just take any variety of noodles, glue them to a piece of fun foam (I think they used cardboard in the actual website but we didn't have any.) and you have your very own noodle firework stamp!

This was a lot of fun and the shirts turned out pretty cute, but they have shrunk over time and my kids have grown (I wish they would stop that!! lol) so I decided it was high time to make some new spaghetti shirts!

I found another t-shirt idea also on the familyfun.com site here.

(The shirt she is wearing is one she made in preschool a couple years ago.)

First the girls took their pinky fingers and made yellow dots where ever they liked on their shirts. Then they chose different colors and used their thumbs to make the flower petals around the yellow middles.

Mr. Happy did some caterpillars and a spider and then just some happy dots. The girls thought the caterpillars were so cool they decided to add their own to their shirts also.

Here's how they turned out:

I added the green stems and leaves for them and the legs on the caterpillars and spider. Oh, and faces on them too...although you can't see that from these pics. Anyways, these turned out so happy and colorful! I love them.

We actually had two shirts each so the girls each did another one. Mr. H. was ready to go play so I will do another shirt for him later.

LMG just wanted to try doing many dots all over. LMS of course wanted to do something neatly organized...so she did a rainbow. Which I think is just adorable!! :)

chalk paint

I found this idea on Meg's blog a while back and have been waiting for a good opportunity to try it out. Last Friday was the day. It is so simple to make and a lot of fun to use! (And I have been working since Saturday to get all these pics uploaded! My internet has been slooow at uploading for some reason. Thankfully, tonight it was back at it's normal speed!)

All you need are as many bowls as you want colors. Me being the color girl that I am, I had to have six bowls and six colors. :) These bowls were from the $ store and I use them for camp, so I already had them on hand. Next you need one box of cornstarch for each bowl.

Next add drops of food coloring...as much as you want. You can always add more later...

And of course, everyone has to have a turn. :)

This recipe calls for equal parts water and cornstarch...but I totally guessed. I think I probably added a little more water than an equal amount. And that was ok. I suggest a whisk to stir with. That's what Meg did. Seemed like a good idea to me. It's a little hard to stir at first...but keep going till it's all mixed up.

Then move to the biggest part of the driveway...and paint away!! :)

Oh. Bathing suits are very helpful with this activity. I didn't have to stress about them getting their clothes messed up. And clean-up was easy.

Just a warning: if you let your kiddos help squeeze in the food coloring, their skin may turn interesting colors. Although, it could happen to you too - my thumb looked like it was covered in blood! Ha! However, once the color is mixed in and they start painting, none of the color stained their skin.

(And I just have to say that I love that his little hands and feet still look a little bit chubby and babyish. :)

It was so HOT this day that I even let everyone have a popsicle - before lunch! They thought this was spectacular. :)

When holding a popsicle in one hand and a paint brush in the other, be sure to pay attention to which hand you bring to your mouth to lick! LM Giggles can tell you...this chalk paint doesn't taste so good. It did make her giggle though... :}

Working on a masterpiece.

Their masterpiece. An ocean with a purple octopus, a couple mermaids, seaweed, and fish. The brushes were kinda big so the details were a little challenging....

Next I told them to try splattering the paint. This was a fun experience...although I had to dodge a few splatters so my camera wouldn't get "painted"! :)

Then they came up with a new idea...

And this led to....

But since it's just water and cornstarch...and they were in their swim suits, I didn't care a bit! And actually...although there are no pictures to prove it...I made a few footprints myself! :)

Finally it was time to clean up.

And since it was so hot outside, this version of cleaning up was very welcome!

So, go try some chalk paint yourself...and if you do, take some pictures and let me see!

a surprise

Today as I was making lunch and the kids were on the back porch, their dad kept walking by carrying the most interesting assortment of items. All he would tell them is that it was for a surprise. So they pondered upon what you get when you take black pipes, black plastic, and a fire hose?!

Finally, after Mr. Happy woke up from his nap a couple hours later, the surprise was ready...

a slip'n'slide!!

Seriously, only their dad would think to take a fire hose and pump water up from the river to spray onto the slip'n'slide! The kids LOVED it and LM Sunshine said, "This is the best day EVER!!!"

Ohmygoodness he is just SO STINKIN' CUTE!! :}

I love him.

They tried going down all kinds of different ways. Every way was the best. :) He is still so little though that after a while he got freezing cold so we ended up jumping in the pool for a while - that water was a lot warmer than the river water!

LM Giggles liked to go down with her hands in the air - like on a roller coaster! :)

Then they had to try it all together. They went super fast with all three on the raft!

We stayed in swimsuits all day today. Or, well, the kids did. There's just not much point in actually getting dressed since we tend to live in the water - in one form or another - all summer! :) More pics coming from this morning's activity.

chickabug

Just a quick little post. :) Check out this cute cute blog called chickabug! Heather has such cute ideas. I especially love the ones in for the bug garden theme! How fun and happy and spring/summer ish are all these ideas??? Makes me want to do a just because party. Just because. :} Go explore her blog - and watch for a familiar tutu mixed in with all the other cute garden theme ideas! ;)

10k in 20 days

So continuing the topic of adoption...

I briefly referred to Courtney's blog in my last post. Her story is amazing. So is her rockstar husband. ;) So are her children - all ten of them. God is using her as an active advocate for supporting families who are adopting - mostly she shares her heart and her stories. Some of her children are biological. Some are adopted. Each story brings glory to God in how that child came home.

Right now Courtney and her husband decided to do something for 26 very special families who are adopting. They are calling it 10k in 20 Days. The goal is to raise $10,000 in 20 days. One family's name will be randomly drawn and will receive a $5,000 donation towards their adoption fund. The rest of the money will be evenly split between the other 25 families.

All she is asking is that you give $5 or $10. Everyone has that much. That's one coffee from SB. One lunch at McD's. You know it's true. Five bucks is not much. But to that child who is waiting for a forever family - a mommy and daddy to tuck them in at night and give them goodnight kisses - it is a lot. It would bring them $5 closer to going home. HOME. Stop and think of what that word means to you. Safety. Comfort. Family. Security. Home. Now imagine you had never had any of that. How much more would the hope of that word mean to you?

Right now the little thermometer on her blog is stuck at $4,390. That's not even enough to give one family the $5,000, much less split the rest between 25 families! I challenge every one of you who reads my little blog to join me in helping push that number up - even just by $5. It would mean so much more than you will ever know. And if you do, you can even also be entered in a drawing to win some fabulous items! You can check out the list at the bottom of the page and read more about it when you click on this:

Will you take the challenge?

Oh yeah, and the Walser family I introduced to you in my previous post about the Hannah and Danielle tutus? They're one of the 26 families this will be helping! So cool! :)

And stay tuned because OH BOY do I have something to share with you. Not yet. But soon. :)

fire of my heart

I was recently reading through a couple old journals from back in high school and college (heavens, that makes me feel old!)...you know, when I actually would sit down and write with a pen on paper.... :-p Some of the entries cracked me up - everything is a drama in high school! Some entries still resonate with me today. One in particular, from 2002, caught my eye. Max Lucado is one of my favorite authors. God has given him an incredible gift of being able to make the smallest details of His word come alive. I had found a quote of his that I evidently wanted to remember and now I'm glad I wrote it down. Here it is:

The Fire of Your Heart

"My God, I want to do what You want. Your teachings are in my heart." Psalm 40:8

Want to know God's will for your life? Then answer this question: What ignites your heart? Forgotten orphans? Untouched nations? The inner city? The outer limits?

Heed the fire within!

Do you have a passion to sing? Then sing! Are you stirred to manage? Then manage! Do you ache for the ill? Then treat them! Do you hurt for the lost? Then teach them!

As a young man I felt the call to preach. Unsure if I was correct in my reading of God's will for me I sought the counsel of a minister I admired. His counsel still rings true. "Don't preach," he said, "unless you have to."

As I pondered his words I found my answer: "I have to. If I don't, the fire will consume me."

What is the fire that consumes you?

~ from The Great House of God

I love this. I have a few friends, some "real" and some "bloggy" who, like me, are becoming ever more passionate about the orphans in our world. I know there are other people who are becoming ever more convinced that we're crazy for talking about this all the time but this quote from Lucado reminded me that this is the fire that is in me - in us. Not only that, but it is a fire that He is stirring. So even though all this adoption/orphan stuff may get a little old at times, it is something that I have to keep coming back to. It is too important not to share about.

Now, of course, you knew there was more coming, right? :) There is. When I started my etsy shop last September, I had no idea how God would end up using it...and I'm still figuring that out today.

I knew I wanted to set aside some money to help my friend, Rebekah, with her adoption fund. After she God provided everything she needed, I started looking around for another family to help. There are SO. MANY. families who need financial help with the crazy high cost of an adoption - domestic or overseas. I have come across so many blogs telling their family's story of their own adoption journey. They all are trusting God to provide for their needs. And I wish I could do something to help every single one of them!

I have prayed often for God to show me the next family I could help through my etsy shop. I would pray as I read each blog, "Is this the family?" I knew I would just know when I found them. I had plenty of families to click on through the comments on one of my favorite blogs. This mom has several adopted children - 10 children in all - so lots of other adoptive families read her blog because she "gets it". I figured I would find a family through her blog most likely. I didn't. :) I was reading my other favorite blog - the colorful, happy, cheerful one that i just love. On Meg's blog she has a "happy things" list on the left side of her page. Everything on that list is worth clicking on! :) Mostly it's just-for-fun stuff. But one day I saw "great post on Africa", so I clicked on it. It took me to the blog of the Walser family in FL. After reading the post Meg had linked to and reading through their "background" section - who they are, what they do, why they are adopting, etc., I knew. It was them. I don't know how or why, but they were the next family.

So let me very briefly introduce them to you. (You'll have to go to their blog, Love with Abandon, to learn more about them!...and please do!) Joe and Rachel Walser have four biological children - twin boys, Nathan and Josh, 12; Hannah, 11; and Danielle, 9. Joe is a church planter, Rachel is a homeschool mom. They have lived several places - including Nebraska (and now my dad approves of them...! lol He grew up there and is a Huskers fan.) They are in the process of adopting a child age 0-4 (they don't know yet if it will be a boy or a girl) from Ethiopia.

How am I getting to help? Well, my original idea for my etsy shop was to design handmade cards. It's like a tiny scrapbook page - gives you a "scrapbooking fix" without having to get out everything! :) As an afterthought, I stuck up a few tutus that I had made for Little MIss Giggles' birthday photo shoot last September. I had them lying around and thought why not? Well. I have sold no cards and almost all tutus! God obviously had different plans for my shop and I love it! :) SO! I asked Hannah and Danielle to each design the colors for a tutu for me to list in my shop and 50% of all sales of those two tutus, plus 25% of all other sales will go directly to the Walser family and their adoption fund. And here is what they came up with:

the Danielle Tutu:

the Hannah Tutu:

I think they chose great colors and turned out so cute, don't you?? :) These tutus will be up in my shop with the money going to their family until God provides all their funds. After that they will remain in my shop with money being set aside to help another family with an adoption. So if you hear of anyone needing/wanting a fun tutu that will also be going towards bringing one small orphan home to a waiting mommy and daddy and four siblings who will smother them with love, spread the word about these tutus and Hannah and Danielle and their family!

I have more on the adoption topic...but I'll stop for tonight.... :)

mother's day crafts

Yes, this post is a little late...I'm having trouble finding time to post more often! Anyways here are the crafts we made for Mother's Day...

Painting! Out on the back porch was a perfect spot.

Decorating our flower pot.

LM Sunshine took this picture and the last one for me. I told her to be sure she could see her sister in it. She promised she could. Hmm...guess I forgot to specify her face! Lol!

The girls drew and cut out their own flowers, glued a cotton ball in the middle and we used pipe cleaners for stems. I made the boxes and they decorated them.

This is what Mr. Happy was painting in the first picture - little locket necklaces! They're made out of empty match boxes. I think they turned out so cute! They each picked their color paint...and paper...and decoration for the front. LM Giggles put her buttons so they looked like Mini Mouse...LM Sunshine wanted flowers on hers...and Mr. Happy dug through my button box for a l.o.n.g. time and found all the super cool buttons...then placed them all on the table and studied them to find just the perfect one that he thought mommy would like...it finally came down to three choices: an American flag, a teddy bear, and the one he ended up choosing - the heart. Y