Before school started, we decided to rearrange the girls' room, putting both beds together against one wall. As soon as we had everything arranged, I realized we needed some sort of coordinating art over the beds to bring it all together. Nicole suggested something with their initials, at which point I knew exactly what I wanted to do...
How I did it...
The frames are from IKEA... one can of white spray paint later, and we were on our way!
I used a rotary cutter w/ mat and the cardboard insert from the frame as my guide to cut the background fabric which came from my stash.
Putting the glass back in the frame after painting proved to be the most difficult part of the job. Who knew fitting an oval piece of glass into an oval frame had to be exactly right or it wouldn't work? I cut my finger, so be careful!
The letters were the most complicated part. There may have been an easier way to do this, but I had to use the resources available to me, so here's what I did: - I typed the letter into Word with the Parisian font (free download available here) - changed the page layout to .5" on all sides, with 11x14 paper size - changed the font size to 800 for the letter "N" - changed the font size to 1000 for the letter "c" (I used the lower case "c" in this font because I liked how it looked better than the capital option, but this made it smaller than the capital "N" so I had to compensate by using a larger font size) - held a piece of regular 8.5x11" typing paper up to my screen and gently traced a letter onto it with a pencil, then repeated with a new piece of paper for the other letter - cut each letter out as cleanly as possible with sharp scissors - turned each letter upside down on white cardstock, and lightly traced it (upside down so that trace marks won't be visible on the right side of the letter when finished) - carefully cut out the cardstock letters - done!
I attached the fabric to the cardboard insert, and then the letter to the fabric, using (gasp!) a glue stick. It worked, didn't make anything pucker, and allowed for easy repositioning. Then I put them in the frames, hung them, and called the girls to come see.
The squeals I received were worth the bandaided finger...
We spent a lovely afternoon at the zoo in Colorado Springs - the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We actually haven't been to a zoo in several years, and the girls enjoyed it immensely. So did the grown-ups. Until we the rain rolled in... then it was time to go!
March's theme for SPC is "The 7 Dwarfs" - any selfie that has to do with the names of the vertically-challenged septet of princess caretakers can be submitted.
I took the girls and one of their friends to a movie yesterday afternoon...
Ramona & Beezus!
All four of us really enjoyed it - Nicole & her friends burst from the theater door saying it was the best movie they had seen in a long time! Wow, now there's a good review.
I loved John Corbett as the dad, and the loving portrayal of a crazy, fun family. I was very pleased with the way the loveable character of Ramona was translated to screen.
After seeing it, I realized that technology was not really part of this family's lives - Beezus didn't have a cell phone with a texting plan (nor did her friends), there was no computer in the house, no big screen tv & game system in the living room. Refreshing... for once a movie not telling my kids "Everyone else does this all the time!"
Full of lots of laughs and a few tears along the way... I know I'll be picking this one up on DVD!
My big treat for the girls on this trip to Vegas was taking them to see The Lion King Musical! It is the big show at the hotel where we stayed, which made it easier to choose which show to see. There are so many great options to choose from in Vegas, but traveling between Strip hotels is somewhat of a pain with little people.
The other deciding factor was, interestingly, watching clips from the shows I was trying to decide from, on youtube, getting a better feel for how the girls would like it.
Here's one of the clips that helped me decide on The Lion King:
I did not show the girls the online clips, because I wanted them to be totally surprised. This paid off - their eyes were as big as saucers as they watched this opening live and in person, and they were captivated for the rest of the show.
Hands down the most creative, fun, enjoyable musical I've seen! If you ever have a chance to go for yourself, my review is - "Totally worth it!"
This month's Self Portrait Challenge is "Breaking All the Rules", things like don't drink out of the milk carton or never say never...
So here's my submission for the week:
Rule: Go to School.
For the record, the part of this rule that we're breaking is the "Go" part... as you can see, we're still doing school!
I've been homeschooling since my oldest (on the left) was 4, and she's now finishing 4th grade. I know this is the right choice for my family, even though it can be incredibly difficult from day to day.
Also, for the record, I have nothing against schools or teachers (my closest friend is a teacher), or against people who don't choose to homeschool. We all have different walks to walk.
Always check your kids' pockets after they've gone to a festival, before you do the laundry.
All this came out of one pair of shorts and was found floating around my dryer. The butterscotch candy had half-disappeared inside the wrapper.
So why is it they had to ask me to carry their stuff for them at the festival, anyway? Seems their pockets are plenty big, but it was mine that were bulging that night!
