A Mod Podge Recipe

Take a healthy amount of mod podge, plus one foam paintbrush...
Tear up some old sheet music...
And a chunky cardboard letter (M is for Maggie and Music)...
Cover liberally with mod podge, add sheet music and viola...

So Fluffy

I've had a few people ask for a picture of Max to see just how fluffy he is (after his bath), so here you go. Hair, hair everywhere.

He's Nine!!

Happy Birthday to my best birthday present EVER!! When Jake arrived on my golden birthday nine years ago, I had no idea what a ton of fun this kid would be. I hope the next nine years are as wonderful as the last nine have been. Love you, buddy!!

Crafts! Crafts! Crafts!

We've been busy "crafting" at our house lately. Our fall project was fabric pumpkins, that were super easy and quick. We made dozens and gave them away - Mags and I decided it was better than watching tv all night (although, there are times...)




Some garage-sale clear glass ornaments have turned into works of art with a little craft paint (just pull the top off the ornament, squirt paint in, swirl it around and then turn it upside down to dry overnight; repeat as many times as you want to mix the colors!)




Up next, the "yarn ball & ornament wreath." It's actually quite large - bigger than it looks in pictures; about 2-feet in diameter. Mags and a friend helped wrap all the yarn around the foam centers; I manned the hot glue gun. Jake said, "Mom, are you using hot glue again?" "Yes..." He goes to the cupboard, gets a glass, fills it with ice and hands it to me. "For when you burn your fingers," he says before he walks away to play. :)






Our latest project has been class cake stands. Also super easy and quick, not to mention cheap!! I went to the thrift store, bought interesting goblets, vases and glass plates; glued them together and viola! They will also be given away (except for a couple of favorites).





Up next, mod-podge, sheet music and cardboard letters. I'll post pictures when that project is over!

I love projects, and have decided I need a little time before I tackle another big one in our house (bathroom re-do and new kitchen countertops are on the list...), so smaller crafts it is. And the bonus is, the kids get to help; we give them away and everyone wins!

Beautiful Music

The hospital foundation recently hosted it's annual "Holiday Festival," an event that I've been involved with in the past. This year, I decided to take a break from that committee, so we just got to attend this year. Every year is a different theme - this year's was "Wonderland Ball" and was a take on Alice in Wonderland. Very cool. (And I have no pictures to prove it...)

The Friday night event is a dinner and auction; Saturday is a table-setting fair with a luncheon and different vendors set up shop so people can get a jump-start on their Christmas shopping. They also have live entertainment, some of which Little Miss Maggie-Do provided. She played piano (brilliantly, I might add) and looked fabulous doing it. (She even had everything memorized.)



If you saw our Halloween costumes this year, you may see a theme that we have going...

Grandma came to watch; and Daddy and Jake even braved the "girly" crowd to see her play. Way to go, Mags!

How do you give a cat a bath? Very carefully...

Fluffy old Max didn't smell so good when we got home from Arizona, so...we threw him in the tub.

There is nothing quite like giving a cat a bath. I would not recommend it. But, he smells really good now, and his hair is silky smooth (thanks to the Pantene). I hope I never have to do that again.

Right in the Middle of Someday

The past few years, there have been so many things I have wanted to do...and I would think, "Someday I'll get to that."

Someday I will spend more time with my kids.

Someday I will be able to take long walks with my husband.

Someday I will be able to do more for my friends.

Well, recently I realized that I am right in the middle of my someday. I decided it was time to slow down...I stepped down from a few committees, quit my (very) part-time job and started saying "no" a little more often to things that I may have normally felt obligated to do.

I am a stay-at-home mom (& wife) for a reason. And so, this year, I am doing that. I am staying home. I am spending more time with my kids, taking long walks with my husband and doing more for my friends. And I am loving it.

I love the time that Scott and I can spend on his days off. I love the fact that when Jake asks if I want to play Yahtzee, I say "sure" because I don't feel pulled in 40 other directions and have 200 other things to do. I love the crafts that Maggie and I spend time on. I love when the kids want to have a "rubbing" contest (they want me to judge who gives better back rubs...it's one of the best games I have ever made up, for obvious reasons!!) I love it that I can call up a friend and say "let me help...I'm free Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week!"

So, this year, I am going to decorate for Christmas like never before. I am going to snuggle with my kids and watch movies on the couch. I am going to plan dates with my husband. Heck, I might even help him build the igloo this year, depending on the weather, of course. And I am going to enjoy my life, because it's a good life. And I love it.

BOO

Meet Ms. Zebra and the scary Clone Trooper. (He lost the mask for the trick-or-treating part...it made him dizzy. I tried it on; no one in their right mind could wear that thing and see...clearly whoever designed it did not try it out!!)
We had to add a black cat for that Halloween touch

The Great Pumpkin Caper

We recently had the annual pumpkin carving event at our house. Each member of the family got in on it.


Really big pumpkins call for some hefty tools - BIG knives, a drill...you understand.

And then, if you get really into it, you may have to lose your shirt. (Only if you're a boy who is 8.)

The end result was, well, the end result. Take a peek...

All About Jake

Jake had a busy few weeks recently...He was named "Student of the Month" for his third grade class (way to go, buddy!!)
And he had his first swim meet of the season.

He swam the 50-meter backstroke and got 3rd; he got 4th in the 50-meter freestyle. It was a blast.
Aunt Becky and Uncle Brad drove up for the meet. We had a great time cheering on the Stingrays. And Maggie promises that she will swim in the next meet.

Hee-Hee

A few pictures I found on my computer recently. These two crack me up!

Maggie's Birthday Bash

Maggie decided that instead of a "friend" birthday party this year, she would rather go to the MOA (Mall of America for you non-Minnesotans) and do "Build-A-Bear." We told her she could pick one friend; she chose her cousin. The entire O'Rourke clan met us there and we had a wonderful birthday lunch at Rainforest Cafe and then the girls went to Build-A-Bear while the boys braved the rides.
Ava picked a beautiful pink bear with a fabulous rainbow fairy costume. Mags decided on a kitty (at Build-A-BEAR, who knew?) and dressed her in a beautiful ice skating costume. It was a wonderful time - they got to put the hearts in the animals (sounds a little gross...) and then watch the stuffing go in. And then, it was on to the rides for the girls.
Jake, Scott and Uncle Andy bravely got on the upside-down roller coaster. Made me sick just looking up at the thing. While we watched, Aunt Sara said, "That looks like fun..." So...
She and Jake got on after Jake's first ride was done. They had a screaming good time!

Holy Harvest, Batman

After I was asked to be the decorating committee (I did not leave out the word "on," I was asked to be the entire committee) for a women's conference at our church, I decided since it was in October, and I didn't really have a budget, that I'd plan ahead and plant some stuff. So plant some stuff, I did. Mom and Dad and Dan were gracious enough to let me use some space on the farm, and Mom and I planted gourds, mini pumpkins, giant pumpkins, sorgum (probably spelled wrong, don't care) and Indian corn. It got sprayed, nearly died, but survived to produce a whopping harvest. Except the corn, but oh well.

Mom and I planted in May and harvested in September. It was like a treasure hunt...digging through all the vines to find the little gourds within. We had a lot of fun. (Thanks for all your help, Mom.) I left the giant pumpkins and picked those a few weeks later (thanks, Dad, for carrying those behemoths to the truck!!)

When it was all said and done, the back of Scott's truck was stuffed with our harvest...tons of sorgum and five rubbermaid tubs full of gourds.

After I got home and unloaded, the kids help me wash all of the gourds and then we moved them all into the living room. (I have a very understanding husband, by the way...it was days before we could walk in the living room other than through the little pathway winding around the gourds...) The kids had fun playing with them - created gourd families and gourd towers...very entertaining.




While I was waiting for all of the gourds to grow, I shopped garage sales and second-hand stores for baskets (about 60 total) which I spray-painted chocolate brown (2 coats) and then filled those with gourds and sorgum. I also had about 20 vases and 20 mason jars that I filled with weeds (beautiful weeds, but weeds, nonetheless...they were VERY cheap...I cut them out of a ditch). And of course, I forgot to take pictures of the event. But, I hauled some of it home after I sold a bunch of it at the event, so you get the idea.





Dad also let me whack down some of his field corn to make corn shocks (although, being the Iowa boy that he is, I had to go into the field, not cut on the edges, so it wouldn't show...) I added a little foof that Mom and I found at Crafts Direct. Great store, in St. Cloud - it's like my mother ship, calling me home. Come visit sometime, I'll take you there. And give you some gourds to take home!