First Orchestra Concert

This is Coral in her very first Orchestra concert, third grade, May 10, 2010. She was so excited about this concert. After all, she has been preparing since she was four years old.

She did absolutely wonderful. We could definitely hear her over everyone else. She said it was because her fingers were much stronger than the other performers. Most of them just started playing, and haven’t had enough time to build up finger strength. She is probably right.

I can’t wait for next year’s concert.

Summer is Almost Here!

Summer is almost here. Twelve more days of school left for my oldest daughter, and Twenty more days left for my youngest. This is going to be a great summer. We have season passes to the local water park; a season passes to Six Flags; and a zoo membership, so our weekends and evenings are going to be pretty full this summer.

New things I would like to do this summer:

Visit the Oklahoma City Zoo. I’ve never been to that zoo, but my cousin lives down there, so it would be a nice day trip to visit her and her family.

Visit Six Flags St. Louis. Again, never been there, but it is fairly close, and our season pass includes admission to the water park.

Drive to Amarillo. My husband father was from the area, and he has really been wanting to take a trip there.

Teach my daughters HTML. (I say that every summer.)

Teach my oldest daughter how to create 3D graphics. She wants to be a game animator when she grows up, and it is time to get her started learning the ins and outs of 3D design.

One Hour Snow White Costume

We were on the way home the other day when my daughter informed me she needed a costume for her fairy tale book report the next day. Luckily her book report was on Snow White, so her school uniform worked great as the top, and all we needed was a skirt. I made quick detour to Wal-mart for some costume satin, then headed home to spend a little time at the sewing machine. This is what I came up with. I think she looks lovely, but I sure wish she would learn to give me some notice.

Felted Sweater Purse

This is my very first felted sweater project. I used a green wool sweater that I found at Dollar Tree. The sweater was less expensive than the zipper I used for the inside pocket, and green is my favorite color. I love the long wide strap; it is so comfortable for long outings. The only thing that I don't like is that it isn't a very comfy purse once the temperature reaches about seventy-six degrees. At that point wool is no longer comfortable.

DIY Bangle Bracelets

I ran across a great tutorial on DIY Tipps showing how to recycle plastic bottles into bangle bracelets. I’ve been wondering if there was a cheap material that could be used to create some bangles, and this looks like a great idea. I’m definitely going to try this craft with my daughters. You can find the tutorial here.

Paris Princess Fashion Birthday Party

Coral's birthday theme(s) this year was a Pink Paris Princess Fashion and a Barbie and the Three Musketeers swim party. Yep...she couldn't really nail it down, so that s what we ended up with. That was one seriously busy night.

I made pink cupcakes with wrappers made out of pink and black scrapbook paper. The cupcakes were topped with pink icing and homemade Eiffel Tower cupcake toppers. I really loved how those turned out. To make them I sketched a quick Eiffel Tower, and then scanned it into the computer. Nothing fancy, or even symmetrical, just a very rough sketch. Then I printed it out on card stock, and layered it with another piece of card stock. I around the little towers out, and then glued a toothpick between the pieces. They turned out adorable. I don't think I'll every purchase cake or cupcake toppers again.

I made tutus for all of the girls, and we had a fashion shoot. Loads of fun. Then the girls watched Barbie and the Three Musketeers, and made masks from paper decorated with stick-on gem stones, and ribbon. Above is a picture of them recreating the movie afterwards.

Halloween 2009

For Halloween 2009 the girls were the Statue of Liberty and Kairi (Kingdom Hearts).

The Statue of LIberty costume was a simple tunic made out of green costume satin, with a wide sash safety pinned at the shoulder. Her crown was made out of an old headband with card stock triangles wrapped in duct tape. The torch was a flash light wrapped in tin foil with a tissue paper flame duct taped on. The tablets are two plain jane foam boards from Hobby Lobby.

I didn't keep a running tally on the cost, but overall it was a pretty cheap costume. Of course she wasn't really green, but I thought it would be fun for her picture.

Would you believe Kristen would only let me sneak one picture of her Kairi costume? ..After all the time we spent looking for just the right plaid. Can't remember what my niece, standing next to her was. It looks like maybe she was a cat.

We had a great time trick or treating on Halloween, and enjoyed Hallelujah night at Dry Gulch. Kristen volunteered at one of the games the entire night, and was exhausted by the time we drove home.