Halloween at the Isaacson's

 We had Napolean Dynamite, a Minion (with a jet pack strapped to his back so he could fly to the moon) and a fairy princess.   Quite the combination Cole got his "Vote for Pedro" shirt the night before  his school Halloween party.  It came just in time.  We ordered it off the internet (I wasn't sure it was going to make it.  His boots were about 3 sizes too small but he wore them anyway.  

I couldn't talk  Lyndie into some better looking shoes for this costume she was dead set on these lovely boots (that are also too small).   Amazingly her boots are on the right feet.  I  got the idea for Lyndie's skirt from my sister Kristin.  She made one for her daughter Swasey using elastic and tying strips of pink and purple tulle to the elastic.  We got her wings and wand on amazon.

 I made Jared's Minion hat the night before.  We got the idea off the internet.  I think because I am a poor planner Halloween is not my favorite. I always find myself wishing it could just pass up by without us knowing.  Well this year turned out not too bad.  For costumes.

 The Jet pack idea came from pinterest we spray painted two 2 liter pop bottles silver and then glued felt flames to the bottom.

I did not get any pictures of the oldest 3.   Abbie was sick and Tyler and Corey refused to have pictures.

 Teacher appreciation gifts

 For the last day of school we made some teacher appreciation gifts.  I got the idea from the blogspot crafty moods  These apples are made from clay pots.  The top is the water holder that is normally placed under the flower pot.  Abbie painted the three pots.  Then I  used chocolate sculpey clay and formed a stem.  I baked the stem for about 20 minutes at 275 degrees. I made leaves from green cardstock.   I creased the leaf slightly on one end.  Then I hot glued the leaf to the water holder.  Next placed the  stem on with the leaf slightly under it with the hot glue.   Then to complete it we put little chocolates inside.

 The kids wrote thank you notes and took them to their teachers.  Somehow Abbie and Cole got their notes mixed up.  So their teachers didn't get their notes.

crafty moods

Christmas Piano Recital

 Cole and Abbie are taking Piano lessons and they had a recital December 3rd.  Abbie played Twinkle little star and God rest Ye merry Gentlemen.  Cole played Angels we have heard on high and the Rockin' song.   

We made snowmen for preschool last week.  I found this cute idea on pinterest.  

 These kiddos love glue, scissors and markers.   Sometimes they glue cut and color things I really don't want them to.  But when they are busy on projects they do really well.   It has been really fun to see them progress.  Even Tave seems to be learning the letters.  when I hold up flash cards He will say the letter before the girls sometimes.

I am Thankful for.........

Parents!  In October my Mom and Dad took time out of their busy lives to come visit me and my family here in LaGrande.  I am amazed at how they manage to visit all of their kids even though we are all so scattered and far away.  From Boston Massachusetts to San Francisco all 7 of us are spread out yet Mom and Dad make special visits to all of us.  

Lately I have been discouraged and overwhelmed with our house.  It is tight quarters compared to our Afton House.  Finding a place for everything has not been easy.   My Mom spent lots of hours helping me organize and clean while she was here.  She bought a bookshelf for Abbie's room.   Now all the hundreds of kids books we had in boxes in our hall way are organized neatly and out of the way.  No more tripping over boxes and books.  Whooo hooo what a wonderful feeling.  Abbie saved some money and bought her own bedspread just before Grandma and Grandpa came.  Mom and I found a tablecloth at wal-mart that matched the bed spread and Mom cut it in half and sewed the edges to make curtains.  We hung pictures and decorative shelves in Abbie's room plus clean and organized all of her things with Abbie's help.  We also got several more pictures hung up and Mom helped me make curtains for my Bedroom as well.  Dad entertained the kids and It was soooooooo sooooo nice to have them here.  I wished it could have been longer.  I can't tell you what a difference that made.  I love my Parents and can't imagine life without them what a blessing.  

These pictures are not great but this gives you an idea of what we accomplished.  Wish I had a before and after picture to show you.

Abbie and Lyndie's Room 

PRESCHOOL

Well I am babysitting again.  I had a year off and then Shauna got a hold of me and asked me if I would be willing to  watch her kids.  She just started working at the High School as a Social Studies/ English Teacher.  Her husband Darin is Jason's cousin and he teaches 4th grade.  Laura is Lyndie's age they are only a few months apart and Tave is 2.  I watch Laura and Tave Mon.-Fri. 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This is turning out to be a great opportunity.  I was wanting to do preschool with Lyndie this year at home so it gives us another 2 students to work with and gives Lyndie some playmates.  This was our 2nd week of preschool. Last week was mostly adjusting getting to know each other better we worked on the letter A a little. This week we had lots of fun with the letter "B.  We glued Beans on the letter "B" and then made "B"utterflies.

 We read  Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly and The little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear.  

Everyone got their own pile of "B"uttons and we used rummikub tiles we drew out numbers and then had to count out the number of buttons on the tile and put them in a "B"ucket.

My good friend Rachel Berry introduced me to a great blog with tons of preschool activities. I am so excited about it and plan to use it often you can check it out here preschoolalphabet.blogspot.com

Toothless

Jared lost  his 2 bottom teeth in one night.  They were not very loose  but he was excited about the money and the tooth fairy.  He let Jason twist and tug on one.  Jason pushed and pulled really hard and got the first one out.  Jared was so excited.  His other one was slightly loose as well so he asked Jason to work his magic on that one and now as you can see he is the Toothless wonder.  We are all amazed at how he can be so tough sitting still while Jason wrenches on his teeth but when one of the kids teases torments or bothers him he is the biggest Boob.  Oh well!  After the teeth came out he asked I heard him say to Cole "it feels so good to have your teeth out doesn't it."