Cupid's Cuties

This year, I decided to host a little Valentine's Day party with some of our friends. Since Valentine's Day was on a Friday we got to enjoy our party on the actual day. We invited the Tims and Mashburns over for a homeschool Valentine's Day  party.

Miss Jess brought an extra visitor so we had 20 students total. The kids decorated boxes (the Mashburn kiddos get bonus points for the best boxes) and selected valentines. I talked to my kids and all the boys wanted to give out food related valentines. LOL

I was a bit of a lazy mom and didn't fill out the "to" portion of the cards. Since I have more non-readers that readers, I thought that would make things simpler for them. It proved to be a real time saver, and I'll continue to be lazy in the future.

The younger kids didn't really grasp the concept of giving out cards. In fact, a few tears were shed at the thought of giving away their sack of goodies. However, when the delivery of cards was complete there were lots of happy campers! I heard several discussions of having a party next year and schemers trying to develop a plan to pass out cards for lots of holidays. LOL

Candyce made handmade valentines that were super cute. Even though she gave my 8 children whistles, we're still friends. Haha! This little girl couldn't quite figure out what she was doing wrong. Unfortunately for me, her older siblings helped her out.

We're Having a Party

My wonderful children were so excited about having a new sibling that they wanted to throw a party. So at 38 and a half weeks, we had a baby party.

The kids got some help from Nana and planned the whole thing. Madisyn made a pink cake all on her own and shopped for decorations.

Since it was for our 8th child, they invited family and Mr. Mark and Mrs. Janet. We had a great time eating the wonderful stew that Nana made and Madisyn's cake was fantastic.

Baby Felicity even received diapers and a few new outfits. I love how excited our children have always been to welcome a new family member.

Tie Dye Take 2

One of our absolute favorite things to do is have friends over, especially the Mashburn and Tims families. Back in the late summer the kids and I tie dyed shirts. It was so much fun that we wanted to do it again. After looking at our blog pictures about our experience, our friends thought it sounded like fun as well so we decided to have a tie dye party and decorate shirts together! I was hoping to make our dying experience into a great Christmas party but I found myself greatly lacking in the energy department and 37 weeks pregnant. We had a great time and there's always next year for a party!

Getting the tables out was a much better plan than dying shirts while sitting on the ground (not to mention that I've grown quite a bit since then and would have found myself stuck there!).

I also recommend that mom put on gloves before mixing colors or touching anything in the box! I *might* have had blue fingers for a week after a lid wasn't properly secured. The mommas helped the kids get the shirts folded and wrapped with rubber bands. Then we let them squirt dye, mostly as they pleased.

Mary Claire got in on the action this time and her shirt turned out great! She might be the next Picasso of the tie dying world!

We used the same kit that I purchased from Amazon previously. I won't be doing any tie dying without it! I do recommend enough gloves for each person that will be touching the shirts or dye and lots and lots of rubber bands. It comes with a fair amount and if you were only dying 5 or 6 shirts it would probably be plenty. The rubber bands could also be dried and reused but I decided to throw them away. Dye covered rubber bands waiting to dry would result in dye covered children in my home. The disposable pans are nice because they help contain the mess and can then be dropped in a large outdoor garbage can.

Madisyn enjoyed the tie dying and visiting with friends but holding baby Stella was her favorite part of the day. Candyce had quite an exciting birth story and I can't wait to "hear" all about it again on her blog. Candyce also amazed us all with how well she was getting around just a little over a week after Stella was born. I'm in the hermit camp and tend to stick close to home after a new little one joins our family. I'm hoping for a little of Candyce's energy this time. ;-)

Our finished product! I purchased two kits and so far we have been able to do 9 short sleeve shirts, 8 long sleeved shirts, and two baby one piece short outfits. We still have 1/2 bottle of all three colors of dye.

Play Day in the Bootheel

 

Despite being 36 weeks pregnant at the time, Candyce invited us up for a play day and quilting day {more on the quilting coming soon}. We enjoyed the grand tour of their lovely new home and the kids had a wonderful time playing. She even prepared us an awesome lunch complete with two desserts!

The boys checked out all the "boy" toys and played everything from Duck Dynasty to cops and robbers to auction.

Ty happened to be wearing a camo shirt and all the kids though he made a great Uncle Si. As fast as Ty is growing it won't be long before he has a real beard!

The little girls enjoyed playing with dolls. I'm not sure why baby dolls have such a hard time keeping their clothes on but it seemed that Candyce and I were constantly helping the poor, naked dollies.

Liberty thought the baby doll pack and play looked like a fun place to hang out. I'm not sure how many times she dumped the whole thing over, cried and crawled in again. The Tims Family has become some of our greatest friends and we were so glad to spend the day with them!

Back in Time {Part 2}

 

The heat of the day and the activity of  the morning left some of us dragging by the afternoon. Since I don't look as cute as Mary Claire when I suck my thumb and take a nap on a picnic table, I refrained {this time}. :-) 

 

 

The younger kids loved washing clothes. This sweet lady fed the same clothing through the ringer over and over and let each child have multiple turns wringing the water out.  

 

They had such a good time that Nana and the older kids left them there to play while they visited a few of the other exhibits.  Too bad I can't get the same enthusiasm for laundry at home!

Next they visited the Post Office/Newsroom. We've never had a PO Box so the whole concept of going to town to get your mail is pretty foreign to us. The printing press always impressed the kids. They can't believe how big the plates are compared to how today's printers.

The man at the outhouse was very informative. He told us that the star symbol on the door meant it was for boys and the moon was for girls. If an outhouse had both, then both sexes could use it.

He also had a "fancy" bathtub that Mary Claire promptly hopped in and spread out for comfort.

It got a little crowded when "three men" joined her in the tub!

Libby doesn't get much from field trips but for the most part, she's happy to go along for the ride.

Our last stop before heading home was the exhibit on pioneer games. The older kids all had a turn shooting the sling shot. Some even managed to get their rock to go the right direction!

Hoops and sticks also provided a lot of enjoyment. Henry would just roll his hoop and chase it down.

The older boys enjoyed the challenge of rolling the hoops down the ramp on the porch. I don't think we have any champion hoop rollers in the making.

Back in Time {Part 1}

Things have gotten a bit busy around here. I've had a couple of posts ready and just never got them published.

A couple of weeks ago we visited Parker Homestead. It's a great "pioneer village" type place that opens in the fall. Several of our homeschool friends joined us and the kids were especially excited that Nana came along. They have big plans for her to attend all future field trips. ;-)

We started at the Rope Maker's stand. This is always a favorite for the kids. They always jump at the chance to make their own rope.

Sisal twine is looped through a jig. When the handle is turned each section of twine twists and they all three sections twist together. The Rope Maker rigged the stand so that it only takes three people (two keep the sections separate - one at each end, and the kids get to turn the handle) to make a rope instead of four. Before his rig, a fourth person had to keep the rope taught.

Liberty and Clara had a good time checking each other out. I was hopeful that Liberty would want some of Clara's independence for herself and start walking but 3-4 steps seems to be her maximum distance.

Next we visited the man that showed the kids how the cross cut saw worked. No one in our group got to try their hand at it but they enjoyed the demonstration just the same.

Next a man from the extension service talked to the kids about agriculture, specifically crops and how they are grown and harvested. Ty was renamed Jethro and served as an assistant. My country kids know their crops!

It was a very warm day and shade seemed elusive. Some of us couldn't get close enough to the medicine lady so we played in the trees.

I think some of these pictures may be gracing the walls of our home soon.

The covered bridge is another favorite place to visit. The kids really enjoyed Nana coming and dragged her all over the homestead.

During our lunch, Griffin and Lee put their ropes to good? use and played a game of tug of war.

Sew Much Fun

Recently we invited the Tims and Mashburn families over for a play/sewing day. While the kiddos played, the mommies broke out the sewing machines.

Needless to say, 17 children {all but 3 were 8 and under} spread out all over the house and yard! I think at almost any given time there were children in every room and the driveway!

Candyce had not made a garment with a pattern so she and Jess choose the same dress to work on. I went back and forth between them and helped them get past any confusing parts. We choose an easy pattern but with a round yoke, it wasn't as simple as we hoped it might be.

After lunch the lure of the AC and Smurfs won out over the bikes and bubbles outdoors. I couldn't believe the boys lined up on one couch and left the other totally vacant.

When the morning began, only the littles were still inside so we blocked off the living room so they couldn't escape. :-) Then all the middle kiddos turned the gate into a pen and had a fantastic time locking themselves in it. If we had put them in it, they would have had fits. Instead, they had a blast playing in the "pen".

I don't know how many chocolate chip cookies were consumed during day but Liberty enjoyed hers more than anyone!

Jess with her almost completed jumper {it needed the collar stitched down and it needed to be hemmed). Candyce cheated and packed up her dress without getting a picture. They both did a great job!

I'm not sure how the Duggar family has such lovely pictures on their website because posing 17 children is impossible!

 

We had a great day and are already looking forward to another! There is talk of making a baby quilt next time. :-)