6 Day Weekend

Well the kids went to school exactly 1 day this week - 1 day out of 5!!!  Now I know what you're thinking, "Those Texans just don't know how to handle snow."  Unh uh.  We handle snow just fine.  It's sleet and ice that really slow us down.  Monday night ice started falling from the sky.  Trust me it was really loud on the windows. By Tuesday morning there was a nice thick layer of ice on everything, and no one wants to drive in that.

I didn't really take any pictures of the ice, because well, it was just roads with ice.  I do have a video of Ryder doing some skating on it though.



The temperatures stayed around 0 degrees (wind chill factored in here) so the ice wasn't able to melt.  So the kids got to stay home on Wednesday and Thursday as well.  We were able to enjoy lots of family time together - board games, puzzles, TV, Wii, baking and some crafts.  Harrison, Melanie, and Ryder put together these little wooden craft kits that I had picked up for $1 each the week before.  My thought at the time was that I'd just stash them away for a rainy day or next summer when the kids are bored.  As fortune would have it, we got to use them much earlier than that.

These little kits were awesome.  As I mentioned before only $1 each, and they included all the wood, paint, glue, paintbrush, sandpaper and rubberbands needed to complete the project!  I think the boys can get some scouting achievements signed off for this too :)

Then Thursday night and Friday we got SNOW.  Probably a good 4-6 inches.  And it stuck.  In fact it's still here.  Unheard of!

Here is a picture from early Friday morning.

And snow or not, poor little Blossom still had to go outside to, well, you know. . . She got icy in the process.

Blossom's mad because her paws are cold!

The fun part is that snow is waaaaaaay more fun than ice! You can go sledding.

Or eat the snow (only pure white fresh snow please).

Or if you're me, you can slip and fall.  I know, cool huh.

The neighbor kids had been begging me to sled the ditch with them.  We all know how that would've turned out.  I kindly declined, and so today I can still say I have never broken a bone!

It's also quite beautiful to see our lake almost completely frozen over.

So as we enter our 5th day of isolation in our home, we are grateful for this little window of time where we could just relax and spend time together.  We are also grateful for food storage, and that I had just purchased milk, eggs, and fresh produce on Monday night!

Thanks for a wonderful break Mother Nature!



UPDATE:  Of course all good things must come to an end. . .

Nicole's Sweet 16 Party

Party Invitation

Nicole is turning 16 this week - yikes how did that happen?!?! I've had in my mind that she can get her driver's license soon, but until her little brothers reminded me I'd forgotten that she can also DATE now! Help us all!

Somehow she talked me into throwing a party for her. Getting me to throw a party is like pulling teeth. Actually, I know from experience that pulling teeth is easier :)

So, she and a friend came up with having an "animal print theme" and they left the rest up to me.

Here is a picture of the cake I made for the party.  Click here to read more about how I made the cake.

Then with all of those teenagers, I knew we would need some food.  So here are some pictures of the tablescape I did:

Custom Water Bottles

Veggie Tray and "Cheetah-Toes"

Eclairs

Chex Mix

Peanuts

6 pounds of gummy bears
One guest ate 3 pounds of these himself - SERIOUSLY!

Frosted Animal Cookies

And then I posted this sign - don't know if anyone but me got it.

There were games to play.  I came up with several, but was told by my soon to be 16 year old that only one was cool enough.  Here is my "cool game" called Take a WILD Guess.  It was basically a list of 10 questions about Nicole to see who knew her best.

There were prizes for the winners, and eventually everyone just passed the basket around and picked something out.

This game is one that Nicole and her friends wanted to play.  Not sure exactly what it's called or how you play it, but they seemed to have fun.

Then she blew out her candles.

Look, the inside of the cake has zebra stripes too!

And opened her gifts

It turned out to be a really fun party.  She invited the kids from her early morning seminary class - all freshmen and sophomores, so there were about 25 kids there.

I am so glad she had fun - and that she only turns sweet 16 once!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE!!!!!!!

Goody Bags

Every year I get at least one chance to make the goody bag for Nicole's volleyball team.  Basically it just means we're providing snacks for the girls to eat before their match, so they'll have lots of energy and WIN!

Last year I got to do the bags for their game on Homecoming Day, so I made these bags with little mini mums attached.

That was fun.  So this year I decided to make a fabric gift bag to put all their stuff in.  Here are the bags all sewed up and lined up.  I just love the volleyball ribbon I found for the handles!

Here's a peek at what was inside.  I'm pretty sure no one went hungry!  By the way, those Butterfinger Snackerz are delicious :)

What's inside

The girls must have had plenty of energy, because they beat their opponent easily.

Now the rest of this is just a tutorial to follow if you want to make a fabric gift bag.

How to Make a Fabric Gift/Goody Bag

You'll need:

1/3 yd. of 44" fabric per bag
12" x 22" piece of coordinating felt per bag
2 feet of ribbon for handle
2 feet of ribbon for ties
pinking shears for cutting top edge
coordinating thread
sewing machine

1/2" seam allowance is used for all seams

1.  First cut your fabric and felt rectangles.  I cut my 44" wide fabric into 12" strips with my rotary cutter, then cut them in half to make my 12" x 22" rectangles.  For my bags I used one black, one print, and one felt rectangle for a coordinating effect.

2.  Next I made a "fabric sandwich" layering fabric, felt, fabric together.  The felt should be against the wrong side of the fabrics so that the outside of the sandwich is the outside of your fabrics.











3.  Then with the layers pinned together I measured and cut the sandwich in half to make one front and one back piece.













4.  I flipped one piece over so that the finished bag would have a different fabric on the front and on the back.













5.  Cut the top edge of each piece with pinking shears, and pin handles and ties in place.  I just laid a yard stick on each piece and placed a handle at 4" and 8" with the tie pinned at 6".











6.  Stitch across the top of each piece to lock handle and ties in place.














7.  Pin and sew front and back pieces right sides together along 3 edges (2 sides and base).













8.  To create the bag base open bottom seam out flat to create a diamond shape as shown.  Draw a line where the triangle is 2.5" across.  Pin and sew across line.











9.  It should look like this.















10.  Turn right side out and there you have it!  Fill with your choice of goodies or gifts :)