Wid Kids

multitudes on monday

2012-01-30T05:12:00.000-08:00

this weekend was nice, it seemed like maybe what normal people do on the weekend, enjoy each other, running a few errands, but mostly, no plans! it seems like our weekends are usually as busy as the rest of the week and it that just wears us all out. this past weekend was a nice break from the hustle and bustle.

so i continue my list:

13- thankful for slow weekends to enjoy my family

14- that dave and i got to work on a project together. i love working with him.

15- for protecting raelyn when she fell from a very high spot this weekend

16- for friends who show me what trusting in the lord and his plans is all about

17- thats some plans are coming together for dave and i to take a trip together

18- pancakes for breakfast sunday morning (that i didn't have to make or clean up)

19- thankful that baby slept through the night even though she was running a slight fever

20- for garrets continued progress in school

21- for raelyns ease with school

i pinned it, i did it - birthday parties

2012-01-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

DINOSAUR SNOW GLOBES:

i didn't get many pictures of the kids making these at the party so brenna and i made another one yesterday to show you what to do.
what you need:

- plastic toy of choice

- confetti

- sequins

- glitter

- water

- glycerin (or baby oil...i used the glycerin but baby oil would be less expensive and i found some sites that said that worked fine.)

- jar with a lid (think about using what you might already have, babyfood jar, spice jar, ect. since i didn't have enough of the same type of jar for the party i found these jars at Hobby Lobby. i got them for a dollar each since all their glass wear was 50% off... bonus!)

- glue to seal your lid (not pictured) I used a two part epoxy you can find at the craft store or walmart.

what you do:

1. Add your toy, glitter, confetti, sequins. the glitter floats the best since it is the lightest.
2. Add your glycerin (this is what will make your sparkly things float) i filled my jars about 1/3 full with the glycerin.
3. Fill the jar the rest of the way with regular water.

4. Seal your lid. i used a two part epoxy that i found at Hobby Lobby. you don't want your little ones removing the lid and having everything spill out.
5. Shake and enjoy :)

click here to see where i got this great idea from.

dinosaur rocks

2012-01-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

or eggs, or fossils... what ever you want to call them.

they were fun, they were easy and they were inexpensive to make.

here's what you need:

1 cup of dirt

1/2 cup of sand

1/2 cup of used coffee grounds

1 1/4 cups of flour

3/4 cup of salt

plastic dinosaurs

water

(you don't have to look hard for sand or dirt, just go in your backyard. mine was full of leaves and sticks and i just think it added to the effect)

FYI: i doubled this recipe and it made enough to make 12 rocks.

and this is what you do:

1. Mix together dirt, sand, coffee grounds, flour and salt.

2. Slowly stir in water until you get a dough like texture.

3. Mold the dough around each of the plastic dinosaurs.

4. Let it air dry for a few days or place in the oven at 200 degrees for about 2 hours, flipping once after one hour. ( I did mine in the oven and they turned out great!)

during the party we gave each child a rock, a small block of wood and a wooden skewer. they used the block like a hammer and the skewer like a chisel. i was pleased with how long it took them to get into them. the perfect about of time, not to hard and not to easy.

of course i found this idea on Pinterest. Yeah for pinterest!

dinosaur birthday party

2012-01-24T09:30:00.001-08:00

oh man, the party was so much fun. we just had a small group so we were able to do lots of fun projects. raelyn had three girl friends from school, two boy friends from church and her brother and sisters at her party. hard to get a picture of everyone, below is the best i got :)

i set up our sun room for the party. it was a rainy day and this room gave us the most amount of natural light. we had four tables set up with burlap on the tables then i got some of that crunchy paper you fill gift baskets with and plastic dinosaurs we had already to decorate the tables.

for the activities we made a volcano with play dough and then decorated it with rocks and trimmings from our bushes outside to make it look like an actual landscape. they did a great job. it looked really cool. more details on how i made the play dough and how we erupted the volcano coming soon.

i LOVED seeing raelyn have a good time with her friends!

we also dug for dinosaur bones
we made snow globes
and ate like dinosaurs (carnivores and herbivores)
more details on the projects coming soon. they were all really easy and inexpensive. i can't wait to share them with you. also.... there were a few pinterest fails that happened this time around, not everything turned out as perfect as i had hoped, BUT we all still had a good time and i could laugh it off :) it's good to laugh at yourself often.

multitude on mondays

2012-01-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

im gonna try something new again, since i can't seem to keep up with posting all the things I'm thankful for at the end of each post i will try to do it here on Mondays. the book that inspired me start listing the things I'm thankful for is called One Thousand Gifts and you can click on the image above to take you to the authors blog. it is really inspiring.... so often i find myself in a place of self pity or just feeling down, i know this is the complete opposite of what God wants from his children. he has promised us that he has our best interest in mind and that all things he sends our way are for our good and his glory, and by being thankful for the big things and the little things it keeps me always aware of what He is doing in my life and the world around me.

so i begin my list for 2012:

1- sunshine today

2- temps in the 60's in january

3- garrets fantastic week of school last week

4- really fun birthday party for my 6 year old this weekend.

5- amazing husband that helped so much with the party

6- making progress on my goals at the gym

7- healthy kids at the moment

8- finding some books i have enjoyed reading

9- raelyns toothless smile

10- jori loving her daddy

11- garret getting third place in the pine wood derby again this year

12- brenna beating me in a fun new game twice today

6 year old portraits

2012-01-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

yesterday after school i did a really quick photoshoot with my six year old! it was freezing so we moved fast :) but i just can't get enough of these pictures. they all show a different side to her little personality and i love it. click on the photos so see them larger.

"mom, its freezing!"

"cold, cold, cold"
love her little hands.
warmer and happier :)

being silly :)

dancing
looking beautiful... take my breath away
playful

you made me a very happy momma taking some photos with me. you were a trooper. i love you so much.... "never lettin' go"

i pinned it, i did it - birthday parties

2012-01-19T09:16:00.001-08:00

DINOSAUR INVITATION

pinterest is so fun. i am still amazed at what all comes up when i do a search for something. raelyn said she wanted a dinosaur birthday party, and with Pinterest's help i was able to fill an entire board with lots of fun decorating and activity ideas for her party.

here are the invitations i came up with after a little "pin"spiration.

here is the original invite that i thought was so cute.

her party is this saturday. I'm really looking forward to it. it is just going to be a small number of kids (mostly my own :) so we are going to do some fun projects and crafts. can't wait to share it all.

happy pinning!

six years ago, today

2012-01-18T04:38:00.000-08:00

january 18th, our first daughter was born. she was over a week late! that little booger was snuggled up in there. i tried lots of different things to get her here earlier but Gods timing was perfect. we did not know ahead of time if she was a boy or girl. i remember the midwife saying as she walked out of the room that the heart rate was good and strong and a little on the fast side. i tried to think back on all i read, and thought i remember faster meaning girl. dave said all along that it was a girl. i didn't really have a feeling one way or another. i delivered her naturally and with no pain meds. the nurse said, "dad, you were right, it's a girl!", but soon after she was born i had a problem with my bleeding. i had lost a lot of blood. so while they took care of me, they took raelyn to the nursery. once i was feeling better i wanted her back in my arms so badly. she was a beautiful chubby baby with lots of dark hair. it is so hard to believe that was 6 years ago....

and now, six years later, she is anything but chubby and has thin straight hair just like her momma. but she sure still loves to curl up in our laps, almost as small as when she was born :) she promises her daddy that she will still sit in his lap all balled up even when she is 30 :) she is out with her daddy right now eating a special breakfast of donuts and chocolate milk to celebrate this great day.

this morning, i re-read the post i wrote for her birthday last year and it brings back so many memories and she is still just as precious to us.

raelyn you are just thriving in kindergarten and learning is a breeze for you. i pray this will continue and that you will grow not only in academic wisdom but of the wisdom of your heavenly father that loves you so much, that he gave his life for you. we are so proud of the young lady you are becoming and are honored to have you be part of our family. love you lots rae rae!

i pinned it, i did it - kids crafts

2012-01-12T06:31:00.000-08:00

TOILET PAPER ROLL OWLS:

(from left to right: first two are brennas, orange one is mine, next two are raelyns and the last two are garrets)

these were super easy and fun for the kids. i collected toilet paper rolls for a little while. honestly didn't take to long to get this many. with 6 people in the house we go through a lot of toilet paper.

what you need:

toilet paper rolls

paint and paint brushes

markers

what you do:

1.fold the top two edges of the roll into each other, this forms the ears of the owl, you can tape or glue them in place at this point if you want. we did not. they seemed to stay in position just being folded

2. paint your owls a solid color

3. when paint is dry, use a marker to draw on the features of the owl

- i let the kids use a sharpie marker for this step. they LOVED using the Sharpies and thought that was the best part. normally the Sharpies are for mommy only :)

i love how they turned out. the kids loved creating them and they we stuck them all over our christmas tree. they would be a fun project any time of the year though.

here is my original pin:

ww

2012-01-11T04:48:00.001-08:00

she loves puzzles

2012-01-09T10:34:00.001-08:00

she loves doing puzzles and is really good at it too. i got a new camera just before christmas. it was a great before the holiday sale. i love that i can crank my ISO way down and get better pictures inside in not great lighting..... and i love watching my little brenna work things out. she is growing so fast! i keep telling her to stop, she keeps telling me she is at least going to grow until she is eight :) funny girl.

a GREEN and BLUE christmas

2012-01-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

yep thats right! a BRIGHT BLUE and GREEN christmas is sunny warm florida! can you tell i loved every second of being in Florida for christmas? here are a few of my favorite things about our trip... in no particular order.

being all together to get a family photos
beautiful dresses that gram made for the girls for christmas eve service at church

a trip on the tri-rail to Bass Pro Shops and than a lovely dinner

a special lunch with just the girls...mom, me, nicole, kenzie, brenna, raelyn and jori
sister timeAMAZING worship at our old church Spanish River. wow i miss it.
singing silent night with lit candles...a christmas eve tradition
reading a good book on the back porch in sandals
papa p's annual christmas lunch down at the shop
spending time with my sister and brothers.... when did they become so much bigger than me
enjoying a meal outside on the back porch
having to combine two tables because our family is so big :)
the hand made place cards, made by garret, on the table
having grandma and aunt margaret healthy enough to spend another christmas with us
eating delicious wild turkey that my hunter of a husband shot with a BOW and ARROW... he's amazing
trying out some new wines
watching my guys work together on fun projects
having my brenna boo curl up in my lap on christmas morning
being barefoot and in short sleeves with amazing green foliage all around
watching mom and dad open i pads they got each other, not knowing they had gotten them for each other :)
watching jori spend time with her uncle logan... she was planted by him all christmas morning
mom and dad GIGANTIC tree
a pile o presents... I'm not gonna lie, my parents spoil us bad, it is nice to be the recipients of their generosity
so many people in one room, you can barely see the carpet
spending time with scott and nicole
seeing GiGi smile watching the kids play at her house on christmas eve
VERNORS ginger ale.... can't have a meal at GiGis without vernors

keeping the tradition going of having christmas eve dinner at grandma and aunt margarets house
watching the kids play her piano
special memories being made
making donuts with gram and papa p one morning
wow... thats a lot of favorites... i have a few more that aren't even photographed.

- we ate at our favorite mexican restaurant down by dads shop

- pedicures with all the big girls, a special treat from mom

- swimming at miss Dianes pool

- running with my bro and sister in law

- playing card games

i could keep going I'm sure.... after typing up this list, i have so much to be thankful for. God is so good, we are blessed. thanks mom and dad for opening our house for our big family. we sure do take over when we come, but we love every minute. wish we could do it more often.

hope you all had a lovely christmas filled with "favorite things" as well.

Pre-Christmas celebration

2012-01-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

since we were going to be in Florida for Christmas we had an early christmas eve and christmas here in TN with Dave's parents.

"christmas eve" we let the kids stay up a little later than usual and we made yummy chocolate covered pretzels for gifts for our family and friends. the kids did great. they are getting so big!.
then dave and i stayed up way to late wrapping all out gifts for the kids. i hadn't wrapped anything yet and we wanted to give them the gifts from us before we headed to Fl.
grandma kay and grandpa george came over in the morning and watched the kids open their gifts.
the girls got horses of course, and garret got some bey blades
and jori LOVED reading her book next to grandpa.

i tried out this great pinterest recipe. egg casserole in the crock pot! it was yummy! try it out.

click here to get back to her blog

Christmas at the Wid house

2012-01-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

yeah well.... its january 5th and I'm just blogging about christmas. thats ok, i still wanted to share. sorry for pictures being smaller than usual. i think blogger changed something and the way i was making my photos larger is now making them very pixelated, so if you want to see them larger for now just click on the photo and it will enlarge it.

so this is what our home looks like during the Christmas season.

does any one know anybody that knits stockings like these above? we have one for all of our family but jori. saves aunt made them for us and she passed away before jori was born. i would love to get one made for her that matched all or ours.
our pretty little tree. this is not a fantastic picture of my tree skirt, but it is my most favorite part of my tree. my mom made it for me and i just love it. the colors and fabrics are just perfect. i enjoy getting it out every year. thanks so much mom! you are so talented.

his gift

2011-12-13T09:24:00.001-08:00

an even bigger surprise than the party was, was his gift.... dave has been wanting a jeep his entire life and as his birthday drew closer, he kept declaring that he was going to have a mid-life crisis and buy a jeep. i of course thought this was ridiculous.... one, you can't declare you are going to have a mid-life crisis, it just kind of happens and two, a jeep would be the most impractical car for our family to own.

after i thought about it more and more, i started talking to dad about maybe trying to get one and surprise him with it. he works harder than anyone i know and loves to give people extravagant gifts, so i thought i was time to turn the tables on him and blow him away.

well.... only with Gods direction and timing, dad and i found a 1983 jeep c7... fully restored and in amazing condition. it was about an hour from our house. when dad and mom were here in november he went and checked it out and we got. the guy we bought it from was a christian and so nice. he gave us a great deal on it.

when it came time for me to give it to him, i wanted the kids to help me. so wrapped up some clues and handed them to him one by one. the first being a bottle of touch up paint and the last being a toy jeep with a key attached to it. he didn't know whether to get excited or not.

i told him it was for real and he needed to go outside and check it out.

it has a few kinks we are trying to work out but i think it is going to be an awesome treat for my MOST awesome hubby. i can't wait to go on date night with him in the jeep.

Happy Birthday to the best part of me. You complete me, truly. I wouldn't be who i am without you. We all love you so much.

the widmaiers

2011-12-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

while Dave's brother and family were in town for thanks giving we snuck away for a quick photo shoot. check the rest of the photos out here.

Dave's 40th SURPRISE birthday party

2011-12-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

part of the reason i was so behind on blogging is because i was getting ready for a big surprise party for dave's 40th birthday. we had a great time. people traveled from far and near and really surprised him. we had an 80's themed party for him in the dining hall out at the camp.

i hung pictures in all the windows, decorated with tables full of junk he has saved. he is a pack rat for sure! or maybe just sentimental.

i tired to find a dress that was similar to this prom dates dress. i found this beauty at a thrift store for 2.50. it was a light teal and i dyed it to try to match it to the color of his dates dress. it turned out pretty good and REALLY funny.
more photos over at the dessert table. we had warm, gooey brownie with every kind of mint topping you could think of.... Daves favorite.
centerpieces for the tables.
almost everyone came dressed up. it was a blast.

some great friends of ours from florida made the trip up and then hung out with us for the weekend. we had a really wonderful time with them. ryan and kristin, thanks SO much. we enjoyed every minute.

more about Daves big gift coming next :)

Christmas Parade 2011

2011-12-12T09:52:00.000-08:00

the first sunday in December was the greeneville christmas parade. since garret is a scout he was a part of the parade for the last two years. Dave's truck and trailer are also part of the parade :)

this year the girls and i rode with dave in the truck. it was a fun day and again, amazing weather! last year it was FREEZING!!

who are we???? pack 93!!!!

thanksgiving 2011 with the wids

2011-12-12T09:35:00.001-08:00

I'm having trouble making my pics big... maybe i forgot how to do it, it has been so long since i have blogged :) above is a pic of the whole crew at thanksgiving. i will try to name everyone for you...back row: debbies children, meghan,katie, hunter, sydney, george and kay, ryan (debbie's adopted son) debbie. middle row: bonnie with jori in lap, dave, brenna, raelyn, sam, steve katie with ruthie in lap, jessie (debbies foster boy) front row: garret and jake.

thats a big crew! i hope i will have 11+ grandchildren one day :) the weather in east tennessee was just amazing for thanksgiving this year. it was great because when the house got to crowded with all those people in it, we could just send the kids outside. they played on the basket ball court, we took a family horse back ride, built and launched rockets, and built ginger bread houses. oh and of course we ate a lovely meal. katie and i even got to sneak away for a little while and do some black friday shopping.

the boys playing in grand pops "man cave"

snuggles with grandpa

we had a great thanksgiving. lots to be thankful for!

going way back

2011-12-12T09:17:00.001-08:00

i have quite a bit of catching up to do here. i figured i would start with one to make you laugh... this is us trying to get a family photo with the self timer and an 18 month old who really just wanted to explore....i just had to share this blooper. my own family was by far my hardest photo shoot yet :)i did get some cute ones in there though too.

more coming later.

thankful for:

this crazy bunch i'm so blessed to call my family

beautiful weather lately

healthy kids

a husband that is the most amazing gift i could ask for

i pinned it, i did it - recipes

2011-11-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

while mom, dad and kenzie were in town i decided to try out some new Pinterest recipes. The first is called Angel Chicken. i had heard from a friend who tried it that it was awesome, and the bonus is that you cook it in the CROCK POT. i LOVE my crock pot so i had to give it a try. you can click here to go to the original recipe. she has it written out with lots of pictures and details so I'm just gonna have you go to her site. as always though, i improvised a little. because i didn't already have cooking wine, i used chicken broth instead and we served it with angel hair pasta instead of rice. still very yummy. the whole family loved it. you gotta try it!

next up was dessert. i wanted to try something a little different and special since we were celebrating Logans birthday. i had seen these caramel corn bars that Mrs. Baker pinned and knew we had to try them. it was a good thing there were a lot of people around to help eat it because it was so rich.

to be honest i had mixed feelings about it. i didn't care for the "soggy" popcorn. after you put the caramel all over the top the popcorn gets a bit soggy or gooey. i think i am going to try it again but just substitute rice crispies for the popcorn. i will have to let you know how it turns out. might try it for thanksgiving while we are with a bunch of family to eat it all up. here is the link the original recipe.... i just love pinterest and sharing our ideas. Mrs. Baker, have you tried this one yet?

yellow belt in the house

2011-11-15T07:50:00.001-08:00

we have an official yellow belt living in our house! garret and his buddy sam started karate lessons about two months ago. they have really enjoyed it and it is a great activity for garret. he can still move and get lots of exercise but it is in a very controlled and quiet environment. we have been so proud of his progress so far. last night garret and sam tested for their next belt. they had to perform their Kata (a series of moves) and then perform the different kinds of kicks, punches and blocks they have learned so far. they both did great and were presented with their yellow belts! garret we are so proud of you. you practiced hard and built up your confidence and did an awesome job. keep up the great work buddy. we love you!

i pinned it, i did it- give thanks banner

2011-11-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

i found these awesome marble leaves on Pinterest and had to try them out. a few weeks ago the kids had a few days off school and we got the craft supplies out and made our "give thanks" banner with this fun marble technique. you can go to the original post here.

what you need:

shaving cream

paint

card stock

scrapbooking letters

squeegee (i used a piece of card board)

what you do:

1.) i squirted a big glob of shaving cream into some of my baking pans (lined with aluminum foil, for easy clean up)

2.) add some squirts of paint in whatever colors you like. we used fall colors.

3.) carefully swirl the paint (we used straws) without mixing it all together. you want it to just look swirled.

4.) lay a piece of card stock onto the paint and shaving cream mixture. press down a little making sure all the paper is covered with the mixture.
5.) carefully peel the paper back
7.) squeegee the mixture back off the paper.
8.) sit back and admire your work and let the paint dry.
9.) while the papers were drying we went outside and collected leaves the shapes we wanted to cute our leaves out as.
10.) trace your leaf and then cut it out.

11.) after we had all the leaves we needed for our saying, i got a piece of fabric that i ripped into a very thin string. you could also use ribbon if you have some already.

12.) then i used my sewing machine and sewed each of the paper leaves onto the fabric. i just did them one by one, i never cut the thread, just one long continuous stitch. i would sew one leave on and then put the next leave on the fabric and just keep on sewing until i was done with all of my leaves. (sorry no pictures of this part)

13.) then i glued my scrapbooking letters on our leaves and hung for us all to enjoy.

photos to share

2011-11-09T09:15:00.000-08:00

i have two new photo shoots to share with you over at my {bwid} photography site. check them out. one is of my niece and her girlfriends

and the other of my little sis.

Greeneville Women's Club Bazaar

2011-11-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

last week was a really busy week, but really fun week. mom, dad and kenzie arrived in TN late on wednesday afternoon. they came up to help with my big craft show and for dad to attend a board meeting at the camp. we had a yummy dinner of bbq pork sandwiches and sweet potato tots.

the guys played twister
the girls crafted.... and then we crafted some more. all day thursday and friday we worked on making lots more product for the big women's bazaar on saturday and sunday.
thursday night we had a wonderful dinner of angel chicken, a yummy recipe i found on pinterst.
and we celebrated my brother logan's birthday. his dessert was also brought to you by pinterst. i will share both recipes later in the week.

friday night dad and dave headed to camp, mom and i headed to set up for the sale and kenzie was in charge of the kiddos. she was a great help these past few days.
so here is what our space looked like after set up friday night. we came back early saturday morning with a rug to make the space feel cozy. i don't have any pictures of it :( i can't believe i don't even really have great pics at all. these were just taken with my iPhone.

and here we are saturday morning getting ready to welcome the hundreds of shoppers. i have to say it was a very mixed crowd though. i think some people come looking for the same thing each year and just pretty much cruised right on past us. others loved our stuff. i can't complain though, we did well and had a good time.
we were on the second floor and this is a picture of what it looked like down below us. lots of vendors and lots of people.

i met this really cute and sweet team called Blue Bird Studios that was along the same lines as our stuff. they have a blog too, you will need to check them out.

so i think i might do one more this weekend. it will just be on saturday and for just a few hours. looking forward to seeing old faces and meeting new friends. big thanks to all our friends that supported us by stopping by the booth or by sending sweet encouragement on Facebook. i read them all to mom and she felt loved too :)

if by chance you missed me at the first two sales and you live in greeneville, come see me at Doak Elementary school this saturday.

halloween 2011

2011-11-01T10:20:00.001-07:00

the last week or so has been full of making costumes, carving pumpkins, going to the schools Halloween Halls fun night, pre school parties and last but not least trick or treating last night.

i love halloween, always have always will. i still dressed up all the way up through high school :) fun memories. i don't dress up anymore but i love dressing my kids up. above is brenna trying out her blue macaw costume from the movie RIO. both girls wanted to be birds. i think they turned out so cute and they loved wearing them.

the above photo is one of jori at brennas little preschool party.. i just love that little face :)
we enjoyed halloween halls at Doak Elementarty, where garret and raelyn go, with some fun friends.
raelyn and brenna posing with raelyns kindergarten teacher
time to carve pumpkins!

they look so awesome... garrets, raelyns, brennas and jori's

all dressed up and excited about trick or treating!

jori was a cowgirl. she wore the boots that my little brother wore when he was a kid. so fun!

we meet up with family and friends and went trick or treating in a great neighborhood. here are the three boys in their ninja costumes. they had a blast.

so there is the very quick recap of our halloween. hope you got lots of candy and had a great time too.

{RE} Done

2011-10-31T04:46:00.000-07:00

i have a friend who sells Premerie Jewelry. each year she puts together a little sale and asks other "vendors" if they would like to join her and be a part of it. i said yes this year after being inspired by so many Pinterest ideas. i also knew of another very large sale in greeneville and i thought if i was going to make enough for one, i might as well go all out and do the big one as well.

this past weekend was my first show. i have named my booth {RE}Done, because everything is redone, remade from recycled items. here is a what my space looked like. my hubby is SO talented. he came up with the set up and it is all something i can do on my own to set up and take down.

i had yarn wreaths with tshirt flowers and cereal box leaves

i made cards from cereal boxes and fabric scraps
chicken wire frames that you can use as a memo board, hair bow holder, a place for recipes or christmas cards...the options are endless
i made a few fall and christmas buntings
chalk boards from old thrifted frames, repainted.
up cycled serving platters made from candle holders and vintage plates... also some of the smaller ones are great place for your watch and jewelry on your night stand or in the bathroom.

upcycled tshirt scarfs! i just love these and how each one is so different.

shelves made from pallets. these are great for book, plates, picture frames, wine bottles... whatever you like to display.

my biggest sellers this past weekend were the chicken wire frames and the tshirt scarves.... the big sale is coming up this weekend! so i need to get myself off this computer and get to work. so excited for the things that sold and hope to sell lots more this next weekend.

i pinned it, i did it- birthday edition

2011-10-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

these sweet cupcakes from pinterest are what inspired brennas 4th birthday party. we call her "B" all the time so i thought it was fitting and it also looked pimple enough to do on top of halloween costumes and preparing for the crafts sales these next two weekends. i have to say, i thought they were going to be super easy and no big deal... not the case. these babies were destined to melt and be dropped from the get go. before i get into the gory details of the cupcakes i will share some photos of the party.

my version of the the bee cupcakes
the table before they all toppled over :)
bee piñata made from a ballon and paper mache... you can read about how to do it here, when we made a piñata for easter one year.
the piñata was almost a disaster as well as it fell apart before i even painted it. i waited until the last minute and didn't have enough layers on it. however, somehow it turned out perfect. it was strong enough that everyone got to swing at it three times and it even looked cute :) this was brennas one request for her party so i was determined to make it happen , even if i was up way to late "making it happen".
we did bumble bee crafts... here is a link to the original idea.
we sang happy birthday
she blew out her candles
we had a silly string fight :)

she opened gifts
was super excited about her pink horse. :)

even with the cupcakes melting all over the place and then tipping over, we had a great time.

TRIAL and ERROR beehive cupcakes:

i tired to be prepared ahead of time (a little) and get the cupcakes done the night before the party. i tinted some white icing to give it a golden yellow look, then i made my own pastry bag out of a sandwich bag and piped the yellow icing in a circle onto the cupcakes. it was pretty simple, but not as pretty as the tall original photo. i tired to find out how they made their bees and it seemed like everywhere i looked i was coming up with gum paste or fondant and i didn't want to get that involved in making them. i thought yellow jelly beans and black icing would work. since halloween is right around the corner, i was able to buy a little tube of black icing. i was still stumped on the wings and then i remembered we had some saltwater taffy in the cabinet. so i went to work squeezing out tiny black stripes on tiny yellow jelly beans, then i pinched out white wings from the taffy and carefully added them to the bees. after the bees were complete, i oh so gently placed them on the "hives". not hard but very time consuming. i had to make about 20 bees. i went to bed feeling pretty accomplished but when i woke up in the morning i found my hives sunk down and the bees wings completely melted away. not sure why this happened but the taffy just pretty much slid right off the bee and down the hive. i had to come up with another idea. i had a roll of crate paper for decorating and just took a little piece of it, folded it into wings and stuck it to the melted taffy. worked perfect! i was thankful. i was about ready to take all the bees off and just add sprinkles to the cupcakes, which would have been completely fine if the paper wings didn't stick but i was glad they did.

then it came time to bring them all outside and set the table. on the way out the door, my assistant carriers, my husband and brother, each dropped a cupcake! it was a beautiful sunny day and about 20 minutes after everyone was here the cupcakes were melting so badly. then right before we were going to sing happy birthday, garret knocked an entire plate of them down. like i said, they were destained to be a mess. hey, all is well, we found the best looking one, stuck some candles in it and sang. after all they still tasted good :)

so thats my story for this week. moral of the story... pay a professional to make bee hive cupcakes for you if you want them. :)

thankful for:

a husband that can keep me laughing when things seem to be falling apart

a little girl that is full of life and personality

friends that help us celebrate milestones in our children's lives

God filling my head with ideas of ways to fix problems

beautiful weather for the outdoor party

ww- party time

2011-10-26T05:14:00.001-07:00

more party pictures coming soon

birthday girl

2011-10-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

last friday was brenna's birthday. she got a great package in the mail from gram, papa p and kenzie, filled with lots of fun things and brand new dress from gram. i had about 20 minutes before we were going to have dinner as a family for her birthday and i wanted to grab a few four year old photos of her. i knew she would not be as cooperative as raelyn was when she was four and i did a "photo shoot" with her. but i still wanted to try. she did good. with the little time we had, i think i got some shots that really represent who she is and her little personality. to see more click here.

she's four today!

2011-10-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

i have a hard time even comprehending this really. how did it happen? this last year has FLOWN by. i remember as a kid, feeling like the time went so slow, but my parents always commenting on how fast it was going. i think the older i get the faster it seems to fly by.

i have very vivid memories of going into labor and my delivery with my brenna. it was a truly amazing experience and one that i will treasure for a long time. the lord helped me deliver brenna drug free and with control. those memories of that morning are so crystal clear to me. however, many other memories are not so clear. it is hard to believe i started this blog when brenna about about six months old. i love looking back on some of the posts and rereading them and looking at the pictures... one of the benefits of the blog. it is great record keeping. i am my family historian. i like that! but just counting on my memory of events would be terrible as i have a really hard time remembering things the older i get as well.

i wanted to share a few photos of our sweet girl growing up:

her first birthday

brenna is TWO

now she's three

i just can't believe how much more grown up she looks now this year. she has always had such cute chubby baby cheeks and they are starting to disappear and are begin replaced with a big girl face. brenna makes us laugh all the time and knows just how to do it. she is by far our "funny" child. she also is very determined. she wants to be a big kid so badly and do all the things her brother and sister do. she gives the most incredible smile when she is proud of herself about something. i just love it. she beams. she loves going to AWANAS and learning the verses in her Cubbies book. she loves to color and pretend to write notes to people. she loves to play horses and will ask you all day long to go up stairs and play horsies with her. she is strong, but a little clumsy. she is still a thumb sucker.

brenna, we love you so much. you makes us smile and laugh all the time and bring sunshine to our days. we are so proud of you.

looking forward to celebrating all weekend with you little girlie. love ya lots!

thursdays...i pinned it, i did it

2011-10-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

YOU and ME frame:

the picture above is my original pin from interest. click here to take you to the crafty lady's blog with the great idea in the first place. I'm just the copy cat :)

Here is what mine turned out like. As usual, i did things a little differently than above. I painted my words on a piece of masonite. I think she used letter she bought from a store. Great both ways. I love it so much, might make one for myself.

What you need, to do it the Wid Kids way:

old frame- i got mine for .50 cents from thrift store with no glass in it.

paint for the frame- i used a light blue and then antiqued it with a watered down dark brown paint

paint for the wording- white

masonite cute to size- have a really handy hubby for that

print out of your letters

paint brushes

What to do:

1.) paint and antique the frame - to antique my frame all i did was water down some dark brown paint and quickly went over my DRY blue paint. let it sit for just a few minutes soaking down into the cracks of the frame. then take an old towel and quickly wipe some of the antique wash back off. you want to leave it in the cracks. pretty simple! and i just love this look.

2.) i picked a font and designed what i wanted it to say in photoshop then i printed it out.

3.) using another trick i learned from interest, i printed the words in REVERSE and then laid them on my masonite and used a wet sponge to transfer the words onto my board. i can not paint fonts that pretty free hand. this was a great little trick. it didn't completely transfer but it did enough for me to trace back around it with a pencil.

4.) paint your letters with white paint

5.) after this step o felt it looked a little to "crisp" for the look i was going for so i just took a DRY brush with just a little paint on it and rubbed it all over the masonite. i went a little darker in the corners but purposely went over the letters a little too so tone them down some.

and now your finished!

i feel like I'm not very good at tutorials. does that all make sense? if you want to do this project and have a question, just leave it in the comments. i'll get back to you.

lynnsey and aaron...18 days

2011-10-18T08:47:00.001-07:00

check out more pics of lynnsey and aaron.... only 18 days til Wedding time. love you guys!

make sure to come back thursday and see my "i pinned it, i did it" wedding gift i made for them.

cool!

2011-10-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

look at what i came across today.... my "command center" featured on Babble for a post about kids chore charts. so fun!

you can check out all the cool ideas here.

thursdays...i pinned it, i did it

2011-10-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

todays "pinned it, did it" was a fun kids fall project that we did on their day off of school. i think i am really going to love having some of these "pins" for this winter when we have some snow days, I'm sure.

so anyways, we made these pumpkin pictures. below is the picture from my original pin. you can click here to follow it back to the original website.

what you will need to get started:

-CLEAR elmers glue

-black construction paper

-oil pastels or artist chalk (raelyn had some that came in an artist kit she already had) I'm sure you can use regular sidewalk chalk but colors won't be as vibrant.

1.) start by drawing your pumpkin on the black paper with a pencil. use contour lines to show that the pumpkin is round. we added grass, a moon, and a curly vine.

2.) next take your clear glue and trace over your pencil lines. garret (8) and raelyn (5) did their own glue lines and did a really good job. i helped brenna (4) with hers.
the above picture is of brennas pumpkin. she did a really great job drawing it out.

3.) the next part is the difficult part..... you have to WAIT for the glue to dry. this took most of the day for us actually. so just let the kids know in advance that it takes a while for the glue to dry. might even be better as a two day project.
4.) once glue is dry, use your oil pastels or chalk to color in your picture. we worked on blending colors by smudging the colors with our fingers.

above: garrets finished masterpiece

above: raelyns finished masterpiece.

brenna was napping while we finished ours so she didn't get to color hers in yet. but i can't wait to see she she comes up with.

i love how they turned out. the kids had a great time doing them. maybe ill frame them and pull them out each fall.

thankful for:

little fingers all shades of blue and orange

for kids that love to do projects... makes my heart happy

seeing a sense of accomplishment on their faces

a girl after my own heart

2011-10-12T01:39:00.000-07:00

it must run in the family... mom loves shoes, i love shoes, kenzie loves shoes and now jori loves shoes. whenever we are in her room she goes to her shoes and her books. equally important things :) she brings me shoes and sits in my lap until i put them on her. usually not matching.

when dave and i got married i got rid of a TON of shoes. he teased me all the time about all the shoes i had. well recently it seems i am slowly building my shoe"collection" back up. just last week i got two new pairs thanks to the new GoodWill that opened up. yeah! for shoes, yeah! for bargains.

thankful for:

little things that make me remember my family

jori making me laugh

good bargains

hand me downs

a camera that allows me to freeze all these little images in time

camping old forge

2011-10-10T17:27:00.001-07:00

the kids had a few days off this week so we planned a camping trip before the weather got to freezing cold. the friends of ours that we went on our summer vacation with, joined us as well.

the men were doing most of the planning. and i was having a hard time finding a sitter for jori, so i was just going to come for dinner sunday night and then head home with the baby. well my niece came to the rescue and stayed with jori sunday night at our house so i could go too.
this was the drive up to the campsite. so pretty as the leaves are starting to change.
this is just PART of the stuff we brought. A LOT of stuff for one night, thats for sure.
above is our campsite. perfect for two families, 4 tents, 5 children, lots and lots of blankets, yummy food, fun times around the campfire, and a awesome creek right behind it.
the kids looking for crayfish. they actually caught one and ate it! dave said he would cook it up if they all took a bite. it was pretty small so by the time they cleaned it and cooked just the little tale they all got a bite about the size of a pea. they were troopers to try it :)
there is this cool little natural swimming hole right there as well. too cold to swim in now but probably an awesome place to cool off in the summer.
we had a great spread of food while there. burgers, dogs, corn for dinner. cooked banana splits (slice a banana down the middle, fill with chocolate chips and marshmallows, wrap in foil and cook in the warm coals.... SO yummy!) and smores for dessert, and for breakfast we had a feast of homestyle hash brown potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes! breakfast is my favorite meal and this tasted so good.
reading time with mr. chad.
not a great picture, but a big step in garret growing up. dave gave him the pocket knife that used to be saves, that used to be his dads. the thing is so dull but still good enough to carve sticks and feel important. we are so proud of him and how responsible he was with it.

i have to say there was not a lot of sleep happening for me that night. maybe about 2 hours total. but it was a fun time and I'm glad my kids have a memory of me camping with them as well. dave has taken them a few times but i have never stayed with them overnight.

today we planned on heading to the knoxville zoo but it was raining this morning so we decided to go to the library, get some books and a movie, make some cookies and do a fall art project. i will share the project with you later this week. hope you all had a wonderful columbus day.

thankful for:

new movies at our little library

changing plans and the kids being ok with it

supplies already at home to do a fun project

enjoying an awesome campsite with my family

being able to attending a bridal shower for lynnsey

the rain, even though it changed our plans

just a saturday in the back yard

2011-10-10T09:28:00.001-07:00

the weather was AMAZING this past weekend. cool in the morning and evening but warm and sunny during the day. we spent most of our saturday outside... playing, working, learning.
we felt it was time to take raelyns training wheels off, she wasn't so sure it was time, but brenna thought it was a great idea. garret helped her take a lap around the yard.
we had a picnic lunch outside (you can still see jori's lunch all over her face) and jumped on the trampoline.

raelyn did take a try at the bike with daddy's help

brenna almost got it!. just look at that proud smile on her face.
a laid in the grass with baby kitty in my lap. anyone want a kitten. we are trying to get rid of 4 more kittens!
my handsome guy looking all grown up
just talking together on the tree fort
you can see it on her face...sweet joy of us just spending time together.

thankful for:

weekends spent in the back yard

our amazing backyard we have to enjoy

getting work done together as a family

eating a picnic lunch

making banana smoothies

watching my girls try new things

beautiful lady

2011-10-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

growing up my friends and i would get all dressed up and do home made "Glamor Shots". Glamor Shots was a place in the mall where you could go and they would do your makeup and hair and you had outfits to choose from, then they would photograph you and make you feel super pretty. i have always struggled with self esteem, but looking at my Glamor Shots photos, i always felt pretty. they always did a great job of telling you that you looked great and just really boosted my self esteem. so sometimes, my fiends and i would make our own homemade glamor shots. i enjoyed making someone else feel the way i felt at the real studio. i wish i had some photos easily accessible to show you. they are pretty funny now, but we sure enjoyed doing it.

one of my goals, when i do a photo shoot is to make the lady in the photos feel good about themselves. almost every shoot i do, the women are hesitant and say they don't care for photos of themselves. i hate this for them, as i know exact ally how they feel, BUT when i take their photo, my goal is to change this! i want them to look at the photos and feel beautiful, if it is a family shoot, i want them to be able to see how important they are to their families.

i had a blast last weekend playing "glamor shots" shots again with my friend kara. she is beautiful! i hope she sees it in these pics.

check out more of this REALLY FUN shoot here.

thankful for:

FRIDAY

for date night with my hubby and friends last night

meds to make my little baby feel better

a house and bed to sleep in, even if i didn't get much sleep last night

amazing weather

getting out of the house peacefully this morning with the kids (not always the case)

thursdays...i pinned it, i did it

2011-10-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

diy silver polish

while getting ready for my craft sale i have been on the search for diamonds in the rough. i found a few silver pieces at a consignment shop for a buck. they were in pretty bad shape but they were cheep so i thought i would give this a try. the recipe is simple and you probably have all you need already in the house. here's what you do:

To polish silver: Wash items, then place on aluminum foil in the bottom of a pot. Add a baking-soda solution (¼ cup soda, a few teaspoons salt, 1 quart boiling water) and cover for a few seconds. The result? A chemical reaction that gets the black off the gravy boat.

click here for the original link.

my pieces were large platters so they didn't fit in a pot, i used a baking dish and had to do the process a few times rotating the platter each time. two of the pieces had rust marks and the rust even started eating away at the silver. this process did nothing to take the rust off. however on my piece that was just tarnished it worked GREAT. totally worth a shot if you have silver that needs polishing.

also i LOVE this wall display

so I don't mind to much that one of my pieces still has the old patina on it. i will be on the look out for a few more. maybe i can hang them on my kitchen wall.

ww...favorite book

2011-10-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

another inspiring momma

2011-10-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

one of my best friends from high school, found out recently that the life she is carrying inside her will not live for long after delivery. the condition is called anencephaly. just typing these words brings tears to my eyes again. my heart is so heavy for my friend. after reading One Thousand Gifts a while back i try my best to look at all situations knowing that God is in complete control of them and will use EVERY situation to bring glory to himself if we allow that to happen. my friend Leah and her husband ARE allowing that to happen. already, they have ministered to my own heart and i know they will be touching many more with their story. a story of grace, and love and peace that only our heavenly father can give. it is something that just blows my mind. please read her blog. she is an amazing writer, so honest and also funny. please also keep her and her family in your prayers during this time.

thankful for:

friends that have a strength from the lord that ministers to my own heart

the GOOD i KNOW he will bring from leah and onans story

it warming back up just a hair

garrets teacher continuing to be such a blessing to us

free bedroom makeover

2011-10-03T09:19:00.003-07:00

it is so hard to believe that it is OCTOBER! the new year will be here before we know it. this time of year always seems to fly by for me.

i wanted to share my FREE master bedroom switch up. not really a make over, just switching some things i already had around to give our room a slightly new feel. i love to change things up in our house and for the past few years i have switched out the bedding in our room. for six months i use my spring and summer stuff and for 6 months i use my fall and winter stuff.

the top picture is of the room done up for fall and winter and the bottom is of how it looked for the spring and summer. all my bedding coordinates with each other so just switch a few things around, same pillows just they are two sided, same throw but it is also two sided. the shames on the bed in the spring really go with the comforter i use in the fall and vice versa.

it is really hard to get a good picture of the color of our walls. it is more of a gray than is shows in any of these pictures and each one even seems to have a different tint. originally when we built the addition i wanted to do our room in grays and yellows, but i knew i already had these two comforters that i loved and i didn't have the budget to buy all new bedding. when i found the throw bellow i fell in love and it had grey, yellow and brown in it so i could still use the bedding i have had for years.
and a bonus was that it was reversible. i love things that have a double duty. my favorite pillow on the bed is reversible too. one side is plaid the other is the embroidered flowers.

do you switch things around to tend to love what you have and leave it? maybe my artsy brain gets tired of looking at the same thing.

thankful for:

a huge consignment sale that is going on in greeneville this week

cooler breezes

a relaxing and fun photo shoot with a friend this weekend

new couples attending our sunday school class

a warm house

inspiring momma...

2011-09-30T04:42:00.001-07:00

i want to share a blog with you today from a friend i met through MOPS. her name is courtney, she is a wife, mother of 4, and has a heart seeking out the lords will in her life. she is preparing to leave on a missions trip to africa, with an organization called Sweet Sleep, in about a month. i would love for you to read her story. truly inspiring. please join me in praying for her trip and if you can, support her financially too. i know God is doing great things through her. alright enough of my own words.... click here for courtneys blog.

thursdays...i pinned it, i did it

2011-09-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

this past week, brenna and i did a little craft together. the kids LOVE to do "projects" and i found this cute one on pinterest. click on the picture to see other fun kid crafts i have pinned.

clothespin horses/zebras

what you need:

corrugated cardboard

three clothespins

yarn

paint

hot glue gun

first i cut out the shape of the body then brenna did all the painting. we didn't have black paint so her zebra became very colorful. i love it even better than black and white.

after all the pieces dried, we clipped the legs onto the cardboard. we did not glue them because we wanted to be able to position them differently. then i glued the head to the body and glued the yarn on for the mane and tail.

raelyn was at school while we made them, but she has enjoyed playing with them as well.

i love how this art teacher took this idea and ran with it in the classroom. so fun.

thankful for:

mrs. marshall loving my son like he is her own

people that have journeyed before me

baby kittens that don't have to be bottle fed any longer

our church starting up an AWANA's program and that the girls love it so much

ww: she's a pretty good shot

2011-09-28T08:21:00.001-07:00

psalm 18:32-36

2011-09-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

he is my strength! my devos were a great reminder to me this morning. i wanted to share. when i write it down, type it out, retell it, it helps ingrain it into my sometimes shallow head.

³² It is God who arms me with strength
and keeps my way secure.
³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You make your saving help my shield,
and your right hand sustains me;
your help has made me great.
³⁶ You provide a broad path for my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.

some days i feel like my ankles are giving way and i'm about to fall. lately i have been feeling so much weight about raising FOUR children. about molding their hearts most importantly and their minds. what an enormous sometimes scary job. the awesome thing is that i don't have to do it on my own. i don't have to climb this mountain or fight this fight (which lets be honest here, sometimes raising kids can feel like a mountain or fight) on my own. the LORD is my strength, he will help me every step of the way. i just need to REMEMBER this and call on his help.

thank you lord for giving me a broad path to follow and helping me to pull back my bow as i raise my kiddos. (side note: it is archery season here in TN and dave and the kids have been practicing in the back yard. pulling back the bow and hitting the target is no easy feet. I'm so glad the lord gave this visual gal that little picture this week) thank you for gifting them to us. thank you for never intending for me to do it alone.

some where along the way i stopped listing the things I'm thankful for. after reading the book 1000 gifts i felt challenged to do so. fall is right around the corner, most people love fall. i actually have a had a hard time with fall in the past. not even really letting myself enjoy it because i knew winter would be here soon. i have florida blood still and don't enjoy the winter yet. so as these seasons are changing i need to be intentional on thanking my LORD for all the things he does and gives, big and little, hard and easy, they are all from him.

thankful for:

Gods word that spoke so clear to me today

having the windows open

three out of four kids in school and a napping baby gave me time to clean the shower

friends to share meals with

for teachers who genuinely care for my kids and love them...more than i could ask for

Gods promise that he will guide me and give my just what i need to love and raise our children

baby coming soon...

2011-09-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

to see more photos from this maternity session click here.

i pinned it, i did it

2011-09-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

so sorry friends.... if you know anything about me or have been coming to my blog very often, you know i will probably have many typos or spelling errors.... last night i just realized my "I pinned it, I did it" title was wrong.... so from now on it will hopefully be right. sorry. forgive me, and now i will state my disclaimer..... if you read this blog, you will always find some sort of grammatical error i am sure. forgive me, I'm only a mom with very little time to blog let alone proof read :) have a good weekend... i finished my book. i hope that the little greeneville theater will still have the help out. i heard you cry a lot. i like to cry at movies. looking forward to it.

thursdays...i pinned it, it did it!

2011-09-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

double crunch honey garlic pork chops.

ok so here's my take on the recipe... it tasted delicious but it was a little more time consuming than what i am used to doing for a regular nights dinner prep with 4 kids all needing something different, homework and regular house keep up. maybe for some of you that wont be a problem at all. i def would recommend at least trying it to see if you like it. i also had a kitchen FULL of dirty dishes after this one. oh well like i said it did taste really good. maybe i will do it again for a special occasion.

ps... sorry not a lot of blogging happening this week. the stomach bug has still be going through our house. the strangest bug ever. dave was sick most of last week and it finally got me this week. i was hoping to come out victorious against the bug but i guess not. however i have had lots of time to sit in my bed (besides running to the toilet in a mad dash) to read The Help. i started it this summer and just never got enough time to really dig into it. well, i'm almost done now and hope that i can still catch it in the theaters when i feel better. have any of you read it?

thursdays...i pinned it, it did it!

2011-09-14T08:01:00.001-07:00

upcycled tshirt scarf/necklace

this is what i did with the rest of the tshirt from yesterday. i am just loving these! in fact i have made about 13 of them. i am going to do two craft sales this year, the end of october and beginning of november. im focusing on making new things from old things... and this project was just perfect for that.

here is my original pin and a link on how to make your own. i have seen different ways to do this. i do mine a little different from this tutorial. i cut my strips all the way through instead of leaving them hooked together at the one end. so easy and such a fun unique way to dress up an outfit.

so go have some fun. make a scarf or head band and let me know if you did.

upcycled head band

2011-09-14T07:39:00.001-07:00

all you need...

old tshirt

scissors

then if you want you can add a cute homemade rosette as well.
all i did was cut the sleeve off a womans shirt. i say woman's because the sleeve size was just right for joris little head. lay the sleeve flat and cut a strip the width you want. you can usually get about two headbands from each sleeve. its that easy... no sewing. then you just slip it on a cutie little head and smile at how easy that was. i added a little fabric scrap rosette to jori's with a safety pin so i can use it where ever i want. there are tutorials for fabric rosettes all over the internet and they are super easy as well. click on the link above for just one way... i use hot glue instead of fabric glue.

one thing i need to say is i have not come up with a solution for the babies stretching them out to much. if you pull on the tshirt material to much it becomes all stretched out and will no longer stay on babies head. but hey you were gonna just get rid of the shirt anyway right? if you know of a way to solve the stretched out to much problem let me know.

jori 13 months

2011-09-13T10:02:00.001-07:00

holy moly... as i write this jori is just a week away from being 14 months! so we will do a little catching up.

jori did a lot of growing up from 12 months to 13 months... more so in the personality department then actual physical growing. she seems pretty tiny to me but we just had a check up yesterday and she was 22 lbs and in the 75% for weight so i guess she is not that tiny, maybe just seems that way because the other kids are growing like weeds.... we went to a place called Fun Expedition last week and the kids wanted to do the bumper cars. earlier this summer, realyn wasnt tall enough, but just last week she was! man, they grown fast.

jori is becoming more and more playful and silly. i love to see this little side of her.

she loves her daddy most of all!

she loves to play with the big kid toys and not her own, or pull all the granola bars out of the cabinet. not sure why, but she likes those best.

she says "hi" to everyone that says hi to her.

she has 8 teeth.

she is mostly weened from the bottle. i still give her her morning milk in a bottle. she like it better that way.

she is a pretty good eater.

she battles with constipation :(

she loves her blanket, i dont let her carry it around during the day but as soon as she gets it in her crib she snuggles right up with it.

she still uses a paci at bed time, still trying to keep her from sucking her thumb.

she loves to read books.

she LOVES shoes and socks. she will find a lone sock on the floor and bring it over to me to put on her foot. so funny.

she loves to walk and be independent.

she loves to be outside and take it all in.

she loves dakota and our cats.

she LOVES it when the big kids pay attention to her and play with her. she seems to be really fond of garret right now.

she is content to sit in her high chair and watch a little tv. the other girls never did this, although garret did at this age.

one not so lovely thing is she can throw a full on temper tantrum. if you pull her away from something she wants she will fall to the floor and lay flat out. not a ton of screaming but def a protest. not sure how to handle this with her being so small. the other kids never really had temper tantrums like this, especially this young. praying for wisdom on this one.

finally a picture of her cute little teeth. i think that wraps it up. dont you just love her cute headband. i'll tell you about it tomorrow.

great weekend

2011-09-12T07:40:00.001-07:00

this past weekend was a good one. felt like a normal one. we seem so busy sometimes and our weekends just seem to slip away with us each doing different things. this weekend was the annual Warrensburg Yard sale! warrensburg road takes us out to camp and each year the weekend after labor day, all the houses and businesses on this road do a HUGE yard sale. miles and miles of yard sales! now these are windy country roads so we throw the kids in the back of the pickup truck and drive slow til we spot something we want to check out closer. we gave the kids a few bucks to spend and headed on a treasure hunt. i was so excited this year because i was looking for a few specific things. i am going to do two craft sales this fall and was looking for a few pieces to help with display and to create fun new things out of old forgotten things.

thursday and friday before the sale, the kids werent feeling to well. we had the stomach bug pass through our house. determined as dave and i were we still took them all on our little adventure. while we were out garret got sick twice, and we had an emergency port-o-potty visit but nothing could put a damper on my day. even sick kids. ha, they were troopers that is for sure. we probably owe them some ice cream or something :)

i got some great finds and was thrilled with the prices i got it all for as well. i wish i had a picture of what warrensburg looks like during this weekend. it is the best! old country yard sales.

sunday the kids and i all stayed home to make sure we werent going to get anybody else at church. all the kids seemed to be doing much better and by the afternoon we took advantage of an AWESOME day and went for a little hike with some friends. we stopped at subway and got some dinner to eat up on top of the mountain.

this was the first time jori used the hiking pack. remember how little she was when we took her on this hike last time?
we made it to the top!
look at that view. what a clear beautiful day.

the lighting was great for a few quick pics of the kids.

hope you all had a wonderful weekend too.

thursdays...i pinned it, it did it! DOUBLE FEATURE!!!

2011-09-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

side walk chalk paint! this idea was all over pinterest in the summer time. here is link to my original pin... it is so fun and so easy. perfect for the cooler days and nights ahead. you probably already have everything you need right in your pantry.

muffin pan or small cups

cornstarch

food coloring

and water

-mix equal parts cornstarch with water...i mixed 2 tbls cornstarch with 2 tbls water. this was the perfect amount for the muffin pan.

-then you add your food coloring. as many drops and combinations as you want til you get your desired colors.

- stir up the mix... if the mix is hard to stir it means you need to add a little more water. add small amounts of water until you get the right consistency. trying to think of a consistency to tell you what to aim for..... um maybe like half & half?

- then take it outside and have a blast. we used old craft paint brushes and let the kids "paint" all over the concrete. it doesnt matter if they make a mess. it all washes off super easy.

fun colors

jori even liked it :)

AND.... i made something totally yummy, my kids even liked it. our friend had given us a ton of zucchini fresh from their garden. i had them sitting in the kitchen for weeks thinking i was going to make some zucchini bread with them. but, im not much of a baker. so they just sat there.

then i found these YUMMY looking zucchini cakes and even had all the ingredient at home to try them as well. they were so good. i was pretty proud of myself for making something so "fancy". ha ha probably not so fancy to most people, but it took a few extra steps than what im used to for just a side dish. however, it was pretty easy and quick. they are on this weeks menu to have them again with dinner friday night. you got to try them out. click here for the full recipe and a much better looking picture of the delicious cakes.

wordless wednesday

2011-09-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

baby summer

2011-09-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

check out sweet baby summer on the b wid blog. oh how i miss my "babies" being babies.

brewer family

2011-09-02T06:16:00.000-07:00

another sweet family on the b wid blog. check them out.

thursdays...i pinned it, it did it!

2011-09-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

so my goal is that each thursday i will post a blog called "i pinned it, i did it!" if you have ventured onto Pinterest at all, you might be addicted to it like me and so many others i know.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes.

(i took that description directly from my friend Leah's Blog, who is also going to share her projects she has pinned. you need to check out her blog and sweet little family. click here for Leah's Blog.)

since i had so many lovely things pinned on my boards i thought i better start doing some of them. time to stop looking at all the pretty things and make some of my own. i will share crafts and recipes i have done.

so today i am going to share a little home decorating idea i found.

click here to see the original idea. if you are not familiar with pinterest, you can click on any pin (picture) and it will take you to where it originated from, so you can see how to do it yourself.

so here is my take on it :)

i scored these awesome old bicycle baskets at an antique store and just fell in love with them. didnt know for sure what i would do with them. i used one on my Command Center wall you can see here, and the other was just waiting to be used for something creative. i loved this idea of using garden wall baskets for storing toys and books and thought i could use my other bicycle basket. love how it turned out. so easy, just hammered a nail in the wall. and cost me nothing because i already had the basket. isnt it cute?

happy pinning AND DOING!!

hope and a future

2011-08-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

not really quite sure where to even begin. my heart is so full of emotions right now. about a week and a half ago i found out that the vice principal at the kids school was being moved to a head principal position at another county school. the principal there was having health issues and had to resign unexpectedly. i was very sad when i found out this news. Mrs. McCoy had become my friend this past year while we had had our struggles with garret. i felt like maybe all that we went through last year was so that i could have met Mrs. McCoy. i have so much respect for her. she was a great vice principal, so personable, so caring and a heart for the lord that just drew me to her.

so jump up to today, garret comes flying in the car with a HUGE smile on his face. he tells me, " you know how mrs. mccoy got moved to a new school, well mrs. sunshine (his third grade teacher) is going to be the new vice principal, AND mrs. Marshall (his second grade teacher) is going to be my new third grade teacher." at this point i am crying like a baby. he kind of gives me a funny look and i realize i need to tell him im crying because im happy! i reach over the seat and give him a huge hug. GOD IS SO GOOD! i tell him this through my tears and then i call dave, mom, and my good friend. i could have called everyone one on my contact list, i was so excited. Mrs. Marshall was garrets second grade teacher for the second half of the year. you can read all about her awesomeness here. :)

although i had been asking God lots of whys lately i feel i got my answer today. and it had been there all along, right in his word in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. "

his plans are better than mine, when i get sad because things aren't turning out like i had planned he has something already in the details and this time around his plans have just blown me away. i will still miss Mrs. McCoy but i know that this is a good move for her and Gods plans are just the same for her. to proser her and give her hope and a future.

looks like we are destined to be VOLS fans after all.

LORD, thank you so much for your amazing hand in our life. I felt it so clearly today. You are all i need, you are an amazing God.

bwid photography

2011-08-29T04:33:00.000-07:00

i cant believe it has been over a week since i blogged last. :( time to catch up again. i did a photo shoot this weekend. it is up on the bwid blog. check it out.

hope to be back soon. im thinking of a new weekly blog post i want to do called "i pinned it, i did it" where i share some of the ideas that i have pinned on pinterest with you all. what do you think?

comparing...

2011-08-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

oh man, how often do i find myself comparing my life with someone else's. it's such a bad place to be. i think the blog world can sometime be this place for me. a place where i compare myself to other moms: crafty moms (wish i had the time or money to do what she does), artistic moms (wish i had her talent. she is such an amazing artist), homeschooling moms (does it mean i dont love my kids as much because i dont homeschool them), moms who love the lord (oh i wish i had the grace and peace this mom displays as she walks through trials), cool bloggers (wow they have a TON of followers), stylish moms (they have the coolest clothes and hair).

the lord himself goes before you and will be with you: he will never leave you or forsake you. do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. deueronomy 31:8

now dont get me wrong, there have been many times i feel blessed by reading another blog, there are so many talented christian moms out there with great blogs... the problem lies within myself, when i start comparing myself with them. when i become discontent with who and where i am, with what i have done.

cast all your anxiety on God because he cares for you. 1 peter 5:7

i know the Lord does not want me in the place, so i dig into the word and pray that the lord shows me what to change and what im doing ok with. so that i am right where he wants ME to be.

when i called, you answered me lord; you made me bold and stouthearted. psalm 138:3

i think i have been struggling with this more than usual as it has been back to school time and i read how SO many ladies are homeschooling now. many of my personal friends have decided to homeschool. i totally respect them and they have amazing families and smart, social, God loving children.... so then i feel guilty for not doing the same. i called mom the other day, just pouring my heart out to her, feeling like not a good mom because i sent my kids to school.... she had great words for me.... she said, "bon, do you feel like the lord is telling you to homeschool or are you comparing yourself?"

at this time in my life, i feel it is the lords will for our kids to go to school. now that a few days have passed and i have spent more time in prayer about it, i feel very confident in that decision...... the issue here in this post is not about homeschooling or not, it is about me learning to not compare myself to others and then feel discouraged by the comparison. it is about doing what the lord has planned out for me to do, and doing it with joy and peace and contentment.

do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. hebrews 10:35-36

so here i am slowly learning that each of us are different, given different talents, interests, and loves and my job as Bonnie Widmaier is to do those things that the lord has already built into me to bring him glory.

i hope that no one ever leaves my blog comparing themselves and feeling discouraged. believe me it is not all fun birthday cakes and crafts all the time here at our house. we are real, my kids disobey, i raise my voice to often, i spend to much time on the computer.... you get the point. the awesome thing is, is i dont have to be perfect and i dont have to do it on my own. that is the beauty of what my Lord has done for me. he shows me grace and forgiveness.

Lord forgive me for comparing myself. hold me right where you want me to be.

the lord tends his flock like a shepherd: he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. isaiah 40:11

wordless wednesday- watching the rain

2011-08-17T07:59:00.001-07:00

brenna took this last one :)

lego party for garret

2011-08-15T17:53:00.001-07:00

we kept garrets party much simpler than jori's. he just invited a few boys from his school, they played outside, the built legos, they ate cake and just played together.
i made the lego head cake. it is just three layers of cake from a small sized cake pan, i used the left over batter to make a few cupcakes. so to make the top of lego mans head i just cut a cupcake in half. i used food coloring to make the yellow icing and then tried my best to get it all smooth. not perfect but good enough. then i melted down some chocolate for the smiley face. after the chocolate was melted, i got out some wax paper and i just took a spoonful of chocolate and tried to make equal size eyes and a smile. after getting the shapes i liked on the wax paper i put it in the fridge for a few minutes and it was hard again. i did it about three times before i got the eyes the right size. also i had to let the smile harden back up again around a bowl so that it would match the contour of the lego mans head. does that make sense. feeling like im making it sound harder than it was.
the boys entertained themselves outside in the tree fort, flying back and forth on the zip line and jumping on the trampoline.
then we came inside and we gave each of the boys a little lego set that built a car. dave and i helped the build their cars if they got stuck. they really enjoyed this. i love watching their little minds and hands work to build things. i loved legos when i was a kid too. brings back memories.

after all the cars were built we raced them! the stairs going up to the second floor of the addition have this perfectly built in "slide" or in this case, race track.
they raced them for a long time and then dave set up legos at the bottom of the track they tried to hit and knock over, like bowling. many times the cars would fall off the track and the cars would burst back into about 50 pieces and we would all search high and low for the itty bitty head lights, but they sure had a ball.
then it was time for presents.... you can tell when your kids are growing up when the kid opening presents isnt being mobbed by the rest of the party to see what they got :)
and then it was time for cake AND DR. PEPPER. we hardly ever let the kids drink soda, especially soda with caffeine, but somewhere, somehow he tried dr. pepper and decided it was his favorite. he very much enjoyed this special treat :)
wow, i just cant believe how grown up he is getting. i loved hearing the boys play upstairs together. i know garret enjoyed having some boys in the house, that is for sure.

we love you garret, happy birthday!

alright, i think i am officially partied out.

2,920 days old

2011-08-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

in other words he is the BIG EIGHT years old. oh my sweet, strong, smart, active, loud, adventurous boy. we are so proud of you and who you are becoming. we pray for you daily that the savior that is in your heart will shine out and be a light to the people around you, that the holy spirit that is with you will guide you in making right choices, and that feel and know the love of your family every second of every day. you make me so tired and so happy all at the same time. i guess that is what a mothers love is all about. i can so vividly remember holding you for the first time. you were just absolute perfection, the most beautiful baby i had ever seen. your dad and i were completely crazy about you... and we still are today. keep up the good work. we can't wait to see Gods plan for your life. remember to love Him with all your heart and seek after him and he will lead you to great things. guess what?............................love you. love, mom and dad

and they're off

2011-08-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

just like that, like a blink of the eye and have two strong, healthy, excited kids walking to school... TOGETHER. together is the best part. garret and raelyn are so excited to be going to the same school and seeing each other during the day. i love that garret is just as excited as raelyn is that they will get to go to the same school. last wednesday was the first day of KINDERGARTEN for raelyn. she was SO excited. she has been counting down the days since her last day of preschool.....in her little mind it has been a REALLY long summer.
garret is now a 3RD GRADER! wow that seems so old. i have to admit though i was way more nervous about garret starting 3rd grade than i was about raelyn starting kindergarten. after the rough start we had last year my heart has just been so heavy for him. i just keep praying. i heard once... "pray until you no longer feel anxious" so i have been on my knees for my son a lot the last couple of days. garrets teachers name is Mrs. SUNSHINE! no joke. how can you go wrong with a name a like that. i think she will be a great match for garret... and just keep praying.

i let brenna take a few pictures with my camera the day before and she had the settings all messed up. i didnt have time to change them all back so the pics are blurry, but i kind of like how they show the action, excitement, motion and hurry of the morning.
walking to the car!
i parked and walked the kids into the school for their first day.
raelyn walking into her classroom. her teachers name is Miss. Amanda and she says she loves her already.
she is cute and young and i have only heard great things about her.

wow... such a big change in our family to have two children in school. we love Doak Elementary and the staff there and feel blessed to have our children in a school where we know the administration love the Lord. cant say that about to many public schools. no school will be perfect but we feel blessed to have them at Doak right now.

party: the rest of the details

2011-08-11T06:39:00.001-07:00

the dessert table. i love just one little candle on the cake. sweet.
marshmallow pops, also sweet. this is super easy to do. you get the meltable chocolate, melt it in microwave, i added some pink food coloring (but it made the chocolate a little harder to use), put stick in marshmallow, dip marshmallow in chocolate and then dip in sprinkles. brenna helped me with this project, it is that easy. they sure do add fun and color to the party and for cheep.
dollar store amazingness.... these straws are actually the inspiration for the whole party. when i saw them at the dollar store i fell in love and so the orange and pink flamingo party was born. i didnt want to go the luau route so i needed to be selective on what all i got from the dollar store.
i made each of the girls a flamingo shirt using printable iron-on paper. you can get it at any office supply store. you print your image right on the paper from the computer, in my case it was the flamingo, then you just iron it on. i ironed it on to another colorful fabric and then used Wonder Under (the lazy woman's way to applique) to "glue" it to the shirts. have you ever tried this stuff? i love it.
we had build your own cold cuts sandwich with lots of toppings to choose from, dill pasta salad, watermelon and cool jello salad, the perfect kind of summer dinner.

singing happy birthday to our girl
brennas flamingo shirt. also in this picture you can see the party favors. super easy again.. a cup of strawberry applesauce, a cup of baby oranges, some smarties and an orange pack of chiclets gum. i am a big fan of party favors that will actually be used or eaten instead of just junkie toys. food always seems to be a winner :)

so thats it... and in just 2 days we get to do it all over again for garrets 8th birthday. nothing quite as fancy, but a party to celebrate our awesome son. he wants to have a lego party so i have been searching pinterest for lego party ideas. so many fun things. trying to keep it small this time around though.

hope you enjoyed. we sure did.

party : water fun

2011-08-10T09:16:00.001-07:00

because it has been so hot here i wanted to have lots of water activities to keep all the kids cool. we got the little pool for jori for her birthday and filled it full of water guns and an awesome inflatable flamingo from the Dollar Store. i love that place. they actually had lots of little flamingo things i used for the party.

we had a slip and slide hooked up
did a water ballon toss ( i love jori walking right through the middle of it) obviously the games were all for the big kids :)
i also made these fun sponge balls. i found them here. they were fun to throw at each other and jori had fun splashing around with them in the pool too. i think i am going to bring them inside and use them in the bath tub. dont want all those sponges to go to waist.
we also had the water wall set up that the kids and i had made earlier in the week. it was a much cooler night and we enjoyed ever bit of it and the cooler breeze that came with it.

orange and pink flamingo party: invites and cake

2011-08-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

i am going to do the birthday party in a few posts because i have lots of pictures and i little projects i did that i want to share. this post is all about the invitations and cake. i created the invitations in photoshop and then just jazzed them up a bit with scrapbook paper and buttons. i have not scrapped in awhile so this was fun for me to play with paper again. :)
i found some cakes on pinterest that were my inspiration for the cake. i just loved the ruffle and the color fade.

the ruffle was super easy. i just cut about a 12 in piece of fabric and then very quickly took a needle and thread and did a very loose running stitch and then just gathered the fabric to make the ruffle. way easier than getting out the sewing machine like in the tutorial i found.

actually making mine wasnt that hard. i used two white cake box mixes, split the batter and added food coloring to make the colored layered cake on the inside. then for the outside i just quartered my frosting and added food coloring again to make my different colors. it was pretty easy to frost as i just followed the lines of the layers of the actual cake. i started with the bottom layer and worked my way up.
jori enjoyed her cake again. love that messy frosting face just soaking up all the action going on around her.

and a pic of our fam after the party. we all had a really fun time.

water wall

2011-08-08T08:42:00.001-07:00

ok folks... last week was tough here at the wid household. i didnt have anything planned out and things fell apart. kids were fighting with each other, they were bored, i became addicted to pinterest, and everything went downhill. we had had such a good summer and it all came crashing down last week it seems. i was searching my brain for fun things for the kids to do and we did a few art projects (i will show a little later) but i also found this idea on pinterest.

a water wall! we dug through our recycling bucket, got some big scissors, an old piece of wood, some screws and a screwdriver.

we cut holes in the jugs and buckets and then screwed them to the wood to make a little fountain for the water to trickle down through.

they helped with all the steps, even jori. we had to pull screws out of her mouth and take the scissors away from her just a few times. :)

so here it is.... the kids had fun playing with it and watching where the water would go. if you add a collection bucket at the bottom they can just keep playing and playing. it has been really hot here so this helped us stay cool too.

here is the link i found to make your own water wall....

joris camp birthday celebration

2011-08-05T12:29:00.001-07:00

found the cord for my phone. here are some pictures of joris CAMP celebration. not many people get 100+ people singing happy birthday to them on their first birthday. she sure did love her cupcake too. ate every bit.

her party is this weekend. i might have gotten a little carried away. i just love having parties and i just love celebrating my kids. check back next week for the pics.

confidence

2011-08-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36 (NIV)

i have always struggled with confidence. always talking myself out of doing something or trying something because i think i will fail at it or concerned about what others will think. as i read this devotion today, the Lord was really speaking to me. check it out. it is so good.

Lord, I want to become a woman with a confident heart in Christ. Will you help me recognize when I throw away my confidence, and remind me to throw away my insecurities instead? I want to persevere in Your truth so that when I have done Your will, I will receive what You have promised. When doubt or insecurity tells me I can’t do something, I will remember that all things are possible to her who believes. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

jori is ONE!

2011-08-02T11:50:00.001-07:00

cant believe it is now AUGUST and im just getting to posting some one year old pictures of JORI. we celebrated her life on July 20th. one revolution around the sun, a year of so many firsts, and Lord willing many more to come.

remember this little 4 day old baby girl? i hardly do. the time has gone by so fast. faster with each child i think. she has been such a joy.

and here she is in all her one year old glory! so beautifully chubby, amazingly sweet, curiously adventurous and energetically mobile.
one year milestones: she started walking the day of her birthday
drinks from sippy cup and enjoys all the same foods that the rest of the family does.
fully weened by 11 months, i was sad about this but also relieved. it seemed as though one less pressure was on me. makes me sad to think she will most likely be the last baby i ever nurse.
(lol... she was not happy with me that i wouldnt stop and help her get the grass off her toes)

she finally does not give me such a hard time when i lay her down to change her diaper or clothes. (bout time girl) she actually helps me get her clothes on now. she takes two great naps still every day and dives into bed at night around 7:30. all the wid kids did the dive into the crib at night. i love that she is following suit with her brother and sisters.
she has 7 teeth now
she loves to be with the big kids and be into whatever they are doing. she loves to snuggle her blanket, still takes a paci and every once in awhile sneaks in her thumb. when you say "kiss" she leans in for one instead of giving you one. cuteness.
she copies some of their sounds, says da da great and knows who da da is. say hi, ki ka (kitty cat) ni ni (night night) but only says momma when she is tired.
she loves to play with her books and i am trying to be more intentional on reading with her and to her. i have not done a very good job of this with her, but she is loving it now so it makes it enjoyable for me as well.
i love the little wobbly walking pose here.

we have not had her official party yet. that is coming up this weekend. we did bring cupcakes out to camp one night so we could celebrate with daddy on her actual birthday. she LOVED the cupcake, probably more than any of the other kids. she smashed her face right in and just kept eating til it was all gone. poo, cant find the cord for my phone to upload the pictures of that night. will try to get them up soon.

gram is here

2011-07-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

the following week gram and papa p came up. dad helped out at the camp for the week, which was also mackenzies camp week, and mom stayed the kids and i. it was a whirlwind of a week as i had also committed to doing VBS. at the time i didnt realize it was the same time mom would be here.

everything worked out though and mom was able to stay home with jori in the mornings while i did VBS with the big kids. i loved that mom and jori had some special time together and that she was able to get a good morning nap in each day. when we would come home she was just so happy. i know it was because she got some one on one time and just soaked it all up.

gram spent some time with garret reading to him from an airplane book. he sure soaked up the special time too.

gram did lots of fun things with the kids but i never got my camera out for any of the other things. i just enjoyed having her here as well. on wednesday i got a sitter and i left all 4 kids at home so mom and i could have some time after vbs. it was a lovely afternoon of eating girly foods, shopping at craft stores and book stores and shoe stores. all the places i would have a hard time going to with the kids.

thanks for all your help last week mom. your the best. we all love and miss you. wish you lived around the corner and we could see you everyday.

animal week

2011-07-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

its time to get back to posting about all the fun we have been having doing "school" this summer here at home. the week after cooking week (look back a few weeks if you are interested in some really yummy and fun to make recipes) was ANIMAL week.

on monday we headed to the library as usual. i told the kids they could pick which ever animal they wanted to learn about. i pointed them in the direction of the animal books and helped them pick. they could each pic two books about the animal they wanted to learn about. kenzie was with us too, so she picked out some books as well.

Brenna picked elephants, raelyn picked snakes, garret picked scorpions, and kenzie picked fireflies. oh well that only one of the pics was really an animal. :)

when we got home we drew names to see which order we would go in to learn about the animals.

tuesday was brennas day so we learned about elephants. i wrote some questions on our chalk board and they had to listen for the answers as we read. the questions were: where does it live? what does it eat? what does it look like? and any fun facts they wanted to add. after reading and learning lots of cool things about elephants i had a little coloring sheet.

wednesday was kenzies day so we learned about fireflies. we read books and answered all the same questions. we made our own fireflies out of construction paper and added glow sticks. i told the kids we could stay up late and catch fireflies that night. they were so excited. since it doesnt get dark here until almost 9 i had them all cleaned up and in their jammies and then we just waited for it to get dark so we could see the first firefly.

the kids had a great time and so did kenzie and i. none of us had ever caught fireflies before. they are super easy to catch but hard to keep in the jar. they all kept wanting to fly right back out. dont blame them :)

after they all said goodnight to the bugs we let them go. i dont normally do things like that. especially when im so tired and ready for bed myself by 9 oclock, but i am so glad we did. the kids still talk about it.

thursday we learned about scorpions. we read our books, answered our questions, and did a coloring sheet.

friday daddy came and surprised the kids and took them out to camp for the day. so we didnt get to learn about snakes but i dont think they minded. they loved spending time with their dad. this also gave kenzie and i a special day to just hang out. jori and i took her out to lunch at a place she kept wanting to go to while she was here and then we went to a few stores and did a little shopping. it was a really nice time for the three :) of us. good sister bonding time!

so that was our animal week. our kids sure do love animals and insects and all of gods creation. i love being able to tell them who created all the things they love to learn about and watch and discover.

long view ranch

2011-07-28T13:01:00.001-07:00

most of you who read this know that Dave and i moved to east tennessee about 7 years ago to help run a christian camp his parents started. the camp is called Long View Ranch. each summer we host week long camps where kids from all over can come and play paintball, ride horses, learn archery, go mountain biking, go waterskiing, tube the river, do crafts in the workshop and most importantly learn about God and the plan he has for each of the kids lives. His eternal plan for them. Long View wants to give kids "a camp experience that lasts for the long view of eternity."

doesn't that sound amazing! it is! the goal is to give the kids the best, most energetic, fun experience with the activities and in doing so, gain their attention and respect as we share the gospel with them. some kids have never heard the good news about what the Lord has done for them and are hearing it all for the first time. others come from christian homes and learn how to put their faith into action while they are here.

doesnt that sound amazing? it is! the food is just as awesome as all the fun activities they get to do. each meal is home cooked to perfection loaded with butter and sugar and there is always a dessert served after each meal, even lunch. if you spend any amount of time at long view you are sure to go home with your shorts fitting a little snugger.
doesnt that sound amazing? it is!
but it is also one of the hardest times for our family.... dont get me wrong it is an amazing place where God is always working and shaping his people. however it means really long days for both dave and i. really long days that are spent APART from each other. before we had children we were able to serve at long view together, but as our family started growing that became harder and harder and it was evident that i needed to be home with the kids and dave needed to be at camp full time.

camp is about 30 minutes from our house. dave gets up super early and goes to bed super late so he just stays out at the camp. even if he came home at night the kids would all be in bed. we all miss each other terribly! we are in the final countdown of when we all get to be together again. just friday and saturday and then we get our daddy back. YIPPIE!!

this year has not been as hard as years past. the kids are getting older and i tried to be diligent to have things planned to do to keep all the kids and myself sane. i know the lord has been with me every single day that dave and i have been apart. single parenting is so hard. i am so blessed to not have to do it on a regular basis. i also had mackenzies help this year too and we all really enjoyed that.

so camp is awesome but it is also a really hard time. we are almost through though and i thank the lord for what he has done both at the camp this year and even here at the widmaier house.

Long View also does custom retreats for any size group. you get to pick what you want to do, how long you want to stay and what will work best with your budget. any group is welcome, if you are a boy scout, mother/ daughter group, father/ son group, school field trip, whatever we would love to have you out at long view. you can click on the link in the first paragraph to take you to our website.

beyblades

2011-07-28T12:55:00.001-07:00

the boy cousins enjoyed playing BeyBlades while we were together on the 4th of july. it is a spinning top game. some yells let it rip and you pull your top off a special string. the last top still spinning wins. it was fun watching the boys have a good time together. even the big boys (the dads) played.

thankful for

cousins

the cool rain

fun games

yells of laughter and victory

watching dave and steve have a good time with their boys

vbs week

2011-07-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

this week i am teaching a second grade class at our church for VBS. i have not taught in years and really felt the lord tugging on my heart to do so. VBS is really not my thing. i get a little nervous, a get really tired. excuses, excuses...today is the day we present the gospel, the way to become a christian to these kids. i am nervous. i want to be able to answer their questions, i dont want to mess it up, i want to present it clearly, i want my heart and their heart ready to deliver the good news and hear the good news.

this morning i got up and read a devo from the Proverbs 31 website. it was just what i needed. isnt is awesome how God speaks to us. He gives us just what we need when we need it. i hope you will read this too and be blessed by it today.

click here for the devotion.

friday menu

2011-07-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

breakfast: banana cinnamon french toast

lunch: turkey bacon wafflewiches

dinner: meatball subs and apple sauce

so yummy. the loved all the steps to making french toast. dont think we have ever made it at home together so it was their first time seeing being part of the process.
this was my FAVORITE lunch. these were so good. we got all the stuff to make some more again.
we also made the frozen apple slushies. again they were a hit! i plan on making these again while my mom is here. i think she will really enjoy them as well.

for dinner we made meatball subs and had apple sauce. easy dinner, that is for sure. the meatballs were just frozen ones and we dumped them in sauce while they warmed up.

as the kids were going to bed last friday they were so excited to see what we were going to make for breakfast.... i was happy to say CEREAL :) but i was more happy that enjoyed cooking week so much. at first when i said we were going to have a week all about cooking, garret asked why. i told him learning to cook was just as important as learning anything else.

thankful that he Lord has given me so much patience and energy to do this "school" thing with the kids this summer. summer is tough for me. it is hard when dave is fully involved with camp. every year in the past i have dreaded this time of year. only by gods grace i feel like i am actually surviving this year, and not only that but thriving as well. thank you sweet jesus. i couldnt do it without you.

thursdays menu

2011-07-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

breakfast: pancakes

lunch: quesadilla faces

dinner: broccoli cheese soup and fish sticks

all three kids helped with the pancake making, pouring, and flipping.
lunch was quesadillas with veggies and fruit where they could create their own funny face. they learned how to wash, peel and slice their veggies. they loved peeling the carrots.
dinner was broccoli cheese soup. i was surprised by this choice. they all helped cut the broccoli and onions and took turns stirring and adding ingredients on the stove. we also cooked up some fish sticks in the oven.

since the recipe only made two servings i bumped everything up a bit and changed a few things around but this is what i kind of followed. sorry i never follow a recipe completely. dave laughs at me.

they all LOVED this dinner. raelyn declared it the "BEST dinner she had ever had in her whole entire life!"

for dessert we had pudding cones: another hit. we used fresh wild blackberries from out at the camp. so yummy.

my kids enjoying their veggies

creativity making things fun to eat and try

watching them learn and grow as we cook together

hearing the joy in their voices when they announce their cooking is wonderful and that we should open a wid kids restaurant called "Wids Place"

wednesdays menu

2011-07-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

breakfast: scrambled eggs

lunch: monster sandwiches

dinner: mini stuffed meat loafs

scrambled eggs in a jar- garret did all the egg cracking, they went right into a jar, then we added some milk and salt and pepper, we shook it up and poured it into the pan. he cooked them up and did a great job. i had to keep reminding myself that he can do this and just let him do it. he did awesome. i was proud. he was proud. and we all loved eating them.

lunch was so yummy... monster sandwiches. they are like little pizza pockets with funny faces on them. kids loved making them and eating them.

dinner was a special one. we picked all of dads favorite things to eat and made it all just for him. this was going to be daves last night of eating at home for about 4 weeks while camp is going on full time.

we had mini meat loaf stuffed with cheese, corn on the cob, onion rings and a toss salad. the kids assisted with all parts of the dinner. garret even put his hands in the meat and made the meat loafs.

a yummy day for sure.

a wonderful kitchen to cook in

fun new recipes to try

a great family dinner with dad

fresh corn on the cob

cooking week

2011-07-11T11:21:00.001-07:00

this past week was COOKING week at the wids. monday we were still celebrating the 4th with family so on tuesday we went to the library and got some kids cook books and some books about cooking before there was electricity. the above cookbook was a gift from mom last summer. it was by far our favorite.

tuesday the kids looked through our books and decided what we wanted to make for breakfast lunch and dinner for the rest of the week.

they learned about making a menu and garret helped me write our a shopping list.

going grocery shopping is my least favorite thing to do, especially with the kids but i knew this was all part of the process of cooking. i wanted to teach them the importance of having a list and shopping and paying for our food. kenzie was awesome and stayed home with the two littlest and i took the bigger to the store. it wasnt as bad i had thought :)

i will share our menu here, sometimes that is the hardest part for me. coming up with something to cook.

tuesday was a pretty simple day:

breakfast: cold cereal- garret poured the milk for everyone

lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches- they each used a knife and made their own sandwiches. even brenna. she was so proud and they all did a really great job

dinner: chicken in the crock pot with rice and carrots

the rest of our yummy week coming up soon.

thankful for:

a husband that works so hard so we can afford our groceries

fun cookbooks with lots of pictures

kids that loved learning how to cook

kenzies extra helping hands

watching my kids try new things and being proud of themselves

time with cousins

our independence

the soldiers that did fight and are still fighting for our freedom

camp staff and campers

friends that god placed in my life

the feeling of peace that has only come from god, that i can actually "survive" this summer with dave being at camp full time. never felt this way before in the summer. SO thankful. God is good.

the whole gang

2011-07-05T13:09:00.001-07:00

this was the whole gang that celebrated the 4th together... well i guess not the whole gang, this picture doesnt include dave and i, steve and katie, or debbie..... we had a total of 22 people all together for two days. fun times. loud times. unforgettable times.
this picture is of all the grandkids... minus meghan who is at basic training in south carolina. we are so proud of her and thought of her often this past weekend.

4th of july 2011

2011-07-05T12:52:00.001-07:00

celebration on the 3rd...

daves brother and family decided to come for a quick visit before camp hit full swing. they live in nashville so it wasnt to far of a drive. they arrived on the 3rd. we enjoyed a great picnic dinner and then headed to the pond to go fishing.

there were enough polls for all the kids to fish. daves brother has three kids all about the same ages as our kids to the cousins had a great time fishing together.

grandma kay with the two littlest cousins... jori and ruthie
brennas big catch! a bass.... brenna makes me smile to big. she put her thumb right in that fishes mouth and held on to it. growing up i was the only one out of me and my brothers that would hold a fish! thats my girl. :)
after fishing we laid jori down and headed out to the basketball court at the camp and lit off some fireworks. we started with sparklers. i always loved the forth of july as a kid. loved the sparklers and fireworks.
this is the first time in many years that we have not had a camp group here on the 4th. so that means this was the first time in many years that we got to celebrate the 4th with daddy. that made my heart happy. i love doing things with the kids that i loved from when i was a kid.

dave went crazy buying fireworks so we had quite a show. in east tn you can buy all kinds of crazy big fireworks. we all had a great time. garret loved picking out fireworks with dave and then having him there to light them off together. garret was so busy that night i didnt get a pic of him, but he sure did enjoy himself.

flying with daddy

2011-07-05T12:30:00.001-07:00

dave is a pilot. he earned his private pilots license a few years back and really enjoys renting a plane from time to time and enjoying the view. it had been a really long time since he had flown and was really missing it.

list past week, he had some time before camp got crazy to take the plane up for a little while. he took all the kids, garret, raelyn, brenna and mackenzie with him.
they were only flying about 45 minutes but got to see our house and the camp. below is a picture of our house with the trampoline in the backyard. pretty cool.
im always a bit nervous while he flies but he is a great pilot. i also know these are the kind of things the kids will remember for a long time.

math week in review

2011-07-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

last week was MATH week here at the wid kids summer school. the kids decided it was not near as fun as science week, but i still think we had a good time. i didnt want to just focus on addition/subtraction and math facts so i tried to come up with some fun things they would like to do that had to do with math.

monday we went to the library again and exchanged our science books for our math books.

we came home and we talked about SYMMETRY-

we found symmetry in the alphabet, in shapes, in designs, in people and in nature.

i printed out some pictures of butterflies for them to color and we went outside and found leaves that had symmetry.

tuesday we learned about measuring:

we read a fun book and then i gave each of them a ruler and a tape measure. then i made a "measure- treasure hunt" and they had to go around the house measuring the lengths of items around the house. we talked about how they could find 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch on the ruler and made sure they were measuring things exactly. we talked about how important it is for daddy when he is building, to make sure he measures things exactly.

tuesday evening we picked up gram and kenzie from the airport :)

wednesday we learned about time:

gram and kenzie helped us make a giant clock and wrote down what we did each hour of the day. we talked about am and pm, minute hand and hour hand, and played a game with the clock we made. garret has been learning about time so he can pretty much tell time now all on his own.

thursday we learned about fractions:

kenzie helped teach the lesson. she said fractions were her favorite so i let her take over :)

in order to reinforce fractions we read a book and made our own pizzas!

the pic above cracks me up... i gave them some work sheets to work on too. dont they look excited ! ha ha .... oh well. they really werent grumpy, just looks like it in this picture.
it was the first time i had ever made a pizza crust. we bought a packaged mix and it turned out so yummy. the kids had a blast smoothing out their own crust.
yummy pizzas already to be cut into pieces and learn about fractions again... and then of course eat!
Friday we learned about money and how to earn it:

we learned what each coin was worth and read some books about how to earn money. we talked about saving, spending and tithing the money we earned. we painted piggy banks.
and we set up a table in the front yard to sell fresh eggs from our chickens, lemonade and cookies we made. we didnt have many customers as we are on a pretty busy road. hard for people to stop. but the kids had a great time and we did have a few customers. we even got to talk about what to do if your business isnt doing well. :) a teachable moment.
we had to take gram back to the airport on thursday but we got to KEEP mackenzie with us. she will be us until her week of camp which starts on the 17th. she has been a great help so far and the kids just love having her here. i am really enjoying her being here as well.

science week: WIND and BUBBLES

2011-06-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

friday we learned about WIND. i got some ideas from this site.

we learned that wind is just air that is moving.

wind is caused by cool air and warm air trading places.

we read a fun book called Feel the Wind.

we learned how hot air rises and that is how hot air balloons work

and then we made some bubbles so we could see the wind for ourselves.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BUBBLE SOLUTION:

10 cups of water (some people use distilled water, we did not)

1 cup of NON ULTRA dish soap

1/2 cup of light corn syrup

there are tons of different concoctions out there. just find one that you think you like best. i picked this one since it seemed most simple and had ingredients that i could get easily. i thought it worked great.

we also read a book all about bubbles and gave us great ideas on how to make bubble blowers with things around the house.

Plastic Bottle bubble blower:

all you need is an empty plastic water bottle

a pair of scissors

all you do is cut the bottom off the bottle and then cut little slits around the edge and fold bend them outward. side note...chipped nail polish = sad. not sure why i even paint my fingers nails, it never lasts longer than 6 hours.

dip bottle in bubble solution and blow away. see how big you can get your bubble before it pops.
also since the bubbles dont normally release from the bottle, after you blow your hot air in (while bubble is still on end of bottle) move the bottle over to your cheek and you can feel the bubble push all your hot air back out. garret thought this was so cool.

Straw Bubble Blower:

all you need is a straw

cut it in the same way as the water bottle, dip and blow. this makes lots of really fun little bubbles.

TIP!!! if you have younger children, make sure they remember to blow out and NOT suck up. brenna can tell you that she learned that lesson from experience.

A GIANT bubble making wand:

two dowels about 14 inches long ( really they can just be sticks in the yard or whatever you can find.)

some COTTON string- i found mine in the laundry section by the clothes lines at Family Dollar

2 eye hooks to screw into the ends of your dowels (or you can just tie it on)

i am going to share this link where they give you many more details on how to make this wand. i always seem to "just make it work with what i have." but i know some people like real specific instructions. there are many, many links to this as well. but this is the one i (kind of) followed.
it takes some practice but we ended up making some really GIANT bubbles. garret was a pro by the end of the day and really loved this project.

dave and i had a blast making these too. we made them all weekend.

if any of you try it. let me know what you think! this was a great end to our science week. hope you enjoyed.

TIPS:

bubbles last longer on warmer humid days

less wind is actually better

dont give up... try, try again

science week: CLOUDS

2011-06-27T12:55:00.001-07:00

thursday we talked about clouds. we watched you tube videos on clouds, learned the different names and characteristics of the kinds of clouds, drew pictures and then even MADE A CLOUD in a jar.

supplies for the cloud in a jar experiment:

glass jar

warm water

matches

ice

paper towels

black paper

flashlight

tape

im not going to type out the instructions. you can just follow the link at the top or bottom of this page.

quick review of the cloud types:

cirrus- high in the sky look like horse wispy horse tails

cumulus- middle height clouds, big and fluffy

stratus- very low in the sky, gray sheet like clouds

nimbus- rain clouds

after the cloud formed in the jar, you can remove the ice and paper towels from the top and watch the cloud float right out. we did a couple of these as the kids really loved watching it.

we also learned about the water cycle and drew out diagrams of it. garret and raelyn did a really nice job with their water cycle diagrams. wish i had take a picture to show you. any how, again, i am amazed at how much they are remembering. of course they loved the experiment and would recommend this one for kids at least 5. since garret was even a little older i had him do the part with the matches. you can click here to follow the instructions on how to make a cloud in a jar.

it had rained a bunch here this week so it was cool how it all got tied into our own weather here in greeneville.

thankful for

the internet to find cool projects

just being amazed at the creation of our world, our god is awesome!

watching my kids enjoying learning and not even realizing they are doing it

feeling like i am accomplishing something

the rain to water our dead grass

science week: SUN and MOON

2011-06-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

wednesday we learned about the SUN and MOON. first we learned that the sun is the center of the solar system and that the earth and all the planets rotate around it. a neat way to show this happening is by watching shadows move.

we took a stick, a rock and piece of string.

we tied the string around the rock and the other end of the string around the stick.

we found a soft spot in the ground and stuck our sticks down into the earth so it would stand on its own.

then we looked for where the stick was casting a shadow.

you used your string and rock to follow the shadow line.

we then placed a little marker where the shadow was.

an hour later we check again, and what do you know.... the shadow moved!

we we moved our sting line and placed another marker.

(this is pretty much the same idea as a sun dial, so on our markers we wrote the time of day.)

these photos of our yard are so sad, but that was where it was easiest to put our sticks into the ground.

it was really fun the next day we came out and checked our shadows and could tell what time it was by where the shadows were in comparison to our markers. this was a great way to show the kids that the earth is always moving.

next we learned about the MOON. i had a really fun book we read and we learned that the moon rotates around the earth just like the earth does the sun. the way we can see that this is true is by the phases of the moon and how each night you see a little more or little less of the moon. we went into a dark room with a ball and flashlight to test this out for ourselves :)

one person held the flashlight, they were the sun.

one person held a ball (like a basketball or soccer ball) over their head, the person holding the ball was earth and the ball was the moon.

the "earth" starts with its back to the "sun" and you can see that the whole ball is lit up, like a full moon. then the person slowly turned to the left until he was sideways with the "sun". then you could only see one half of the moon. the "earth" kept rotating until they were facing the "sun" then they couldnt see any of the moon. it was like a new moon.... and so on.

does that make sense? im tired and feeling like that was really wordy and not very clear. we did it a couple of times and it really started clicking with the kids.

we also learned fun facts about the moon and sun and wrote them down on flash cards as well.