A stuffed caterpillar, clean or dirty socks, teddy bears and a couch.

It's not every week that I schedule in a craft for Kid's Klub, but every few weeks I will and last week was one of them. Our craft project was this fun stuffed caterpillar. Little did I realize what questions this project would bring up. :)

I had long, colorful knee-high socks for each of the kids. We stuffed those with loose poly-fil, then tied chenille stems around the stuffed sock to create the caterpillar body sections, added wiggly eyes, antennas and a mouth and - ta-da! - a caterpillar! How cute is that?!?!

The poly-fil I had was in a 2 foot square box, so I started pulling it out. (Btw, the kids were VERY excited to be playing with this stuff! I knew there was a valid reason why I'd been storing that extra poly-fil for the last 10 years - now it's put to use!)

Here's some bits and pieces of our conversation from that afternoon:

Coltin (in 3rd grade) asks me, "Are we going to put the stuffing in the socks?"

I start pulling out a couple handfuls of stuffing out of the box and respond, "Ummm......mmmmm, yeah, that's what we're going to do."

As I'm pulling out mounds of this stuffing, his eyes get huge and then he asks me, "How many teddy bears did you have to take apart?" Lol!!!

WAIT....it gets better....;) Keep reading....

Smiling, I said, "Well, uh...uh...none. This didn't come from any teddy bears. " (Through the years, I've torn apart a lot of things to get what I want from it, but never a teddy bear! :))

Coltin then asks, "Did it come from stuffed animals?"

I respond, "No, but that's usually what is in stuffed animals."

At this point, I've already pulled out a couple armfuls and am reaching in for the last armful.....and Coltin asks with this amazed voice, "Did you take ALL this out of a couch?"

I couldn't stand it any longer, I started laughing and said "No, I didn't take it out of a couch."

I told him that you could just buy it like that. I have a feeling his mom may regret him knowing that information. :)

Then the youngest kids table starts this very serious sock-washing discussion. First of all, you must understand that we've had a clean/dirty sock debate before. In some of the games/activities we have played, the kids have taken off their shoes/socks and then when it's time to leave, it's quite the chore trying to discover all the sock owners. :)

On one of our previous weeks, I asked one of the little girls if the socks I'm holding were hers? Her response, "No, those are dirty socks and my socks are clean." Fairly certain they were indeed hers, I tried to explain to her that if she had been wearing them all day at school, they were no longer clean. They would be dirty. She didn't believe me; she insisted hers were clean. :)

So when I informed the kids that we were stuffing socks, you know what question comes up, don't you?

I'm going around the the tables, helping them stuff their socks and hear this question, "Did you wash your socks?"
Knowing exactly what's going on in their minds, I respond with, "Yes, I wash my socks. But these aren't mine. These are new, clean socks."

And as I moved to help the other table, I continued to hear bits and pieces about socks, clean ones, dirty ones, yours, mine and theirs. I didn't hear everything they were discussing, but they were having a serious sock-washing discussion. And from what one of the parents told me, the new-clean-making-socks-into-caterpillars conversation continued at home. :)

This is why I love working with kids! They are so refreshing and many times their questions/answers/responses make me stop and think about life through their eyes. They just have a totally different outlook on life. And honestly? I love to hear what they have to say every week; I'm constantly surprised! :)






The next craft I have planned: a butterfly. No socks. No poly-fil stuffing. Only paper. Surely paper can't bring up such inquisitive questions. Then again, you never know....!!!

Cinnamon Twists

I made these for a church brunch a couple weeks ago and they turned out so yummy and wonderful!! Plus they freeze extremely well! (Even when you've left them uncovered in the freezer for a week! ;))

Cinnamon Twists

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cream of tarter
3/4 cup softened butter
1 cup milk
2 TBSP melted butter
approx. 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Add milk and stir until moistened.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead in flour as needed until well mixed. Roll out dough into rectangle, approx. 1/4" thick.

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Fold rectangle in half and cut into 1" strips. Twist strips and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
few tsp. milk or water to desired consistency for drizzling.

Mix together above ingredients and drizzle over warm twists.

These are delicious with or without the icing and are perfect for making ahead of time and freezing until needed!

Spring cleaning update

Where in the world did the month of February go to?!?!?! January just ended and then all of a sudden it's March! February is such a short month! Of course, the fact that I was gone for a week and was doing a million other things didn't help to lengthen it. :)

So much for my deep cleaning a room or two a month; that just didn't happen in February. But the good thing - I made up for it this month! :)

Last week I tackled Dad's room, his bathroom, the main bathroom and hallway! Quite a day's work, but at least that end of the house is complete. The only thing that is slightly driving me nuts is the fact that I can't fully clean the windows inside and out as I normally do...mainly because...uhhh...it's still winter.

And fully opening the windows, standing on a ladder outside, hosing down the window, drenching my hands in a bucket of cold water and spraying Windex just is not really conducive to winter-time temps. Not only for the fact that there are NO garden hoses outside at this time of year, but have you ever seen Windex icicles?? Me neither; and I don't plan to find out what they look like either!

You know, that's probably why they call this deep cleaning thing.....spring cleaning. Just a thought. ;)

Can I have a spring break too....please??

All the kids and teachers are thrilled to have this next week be spring break! Considering what I've managed to do the last few days, I really think I need one as well.

...sprayed sink & tub cleaner on the bathroom window to wash it. Windex works and smells much better.

...put away the milk in the cabinet instead of the fridge. Thankfully discovered that I did that only 2 minutes later.

...uncovered a pan of cinnamon twists in the freezer that I made the week before and totally forgot about.

...pulled a pan out of the oven momentarily forgetting to use a hot pad. Believe me, less than a moment later, full realization of what I did hit me.

...discovered my Google toolbar has disappeared from my Firefox browser and so far I've been unsuccessful in recovering it. Do you know how hard it is to live without that Google search box and bookmarks?!?!

...crossed something off my list only to rewrite it because I crossed it off, planned to do it that very minute and got distracted. Note to self: Don't EVER cross off my list until AFTER the fact.

...almost forgot one of my SS kid's birthday in spite of the fact that she has been reminding me for the past month. (You know what kind of tragedy that would cause?!?!)

Too bad I don't teach school and can't have that much-looked-forward-to-break. Of course, my job being the wonderful job that it is...I can take a break just about any time. And next week sounds like a perfectly good week to me. :)

Matthew - that greedy tax collector!

Kid's Klub has gone extremely well and Erinn and I have greatly enjoyed spending every Wednesday afternoon with this group of kids. Also, having Debbie there to help fill in as needed every week has been a true blessing. Sure, there have been some trying moments, but anything that is worthwhile, takes work and effort, right? Yep!!

For a full slide show of photos, be sure to check out my pics on facebook here...

Here's a quick peek at our Bible hero and memory verse a couple weeks ago - Matthew!

I told the kids about Matthew, the greedy tax collector, and how he collected his share plus the Roman government's share of tax money. Then we acted out Matthew collecting the taxes and raising prices. (Their absolute favorite thing to do!)

I told Annalise that she had to look greedy! Does that expression spell greedy or what?! Love it!! :) So several of the tax payers filed past Matthew and dropped their coins into the bucket. And when the last one couldn't pay what she owed, the soldier took her to jail! (I find the fact that she was delighted to be thrown in jail slightly disturbing, don't you?!?! ;))

And then Erinn had this great idea for a memory verse review game! And the kids LOVED it!! (Another slightly disturbing fact - Erinn had many volunteers willing to stand with a bag over their heads! ;))

Follow along and say the verse...first, touch your toes...

...then face backwards...

...then sideways...

...now to the front...

...and finally to the other side!

And the afternoon wouldn't be complete without playing the clothespin game!! :)

Kentucky Trip Part 4: A few last highlights and the "relaxing moments" trip home.

Throughout the entire time Jena and I spent in Lexington, we had so much fun and just enjoyed being together with Krissa and Ryan. There are so many moments that we'll remember for years to come! Here's just a few more highlights from our week!

You can see the remaining pics from our trip here.

Jena couldn't endure an entire week without running!! But considering the fact that she's planning on running a full marathon in April, I guess she has to be prepared for that!

Krissa and I! We were still smiling after a few slightly hazardous driving episodes. :)

Emily and Jena choose to stay in the backseat. Good idea - probably safer. Ryan would agree! :)

Love those expressions!! Can't wait to see the people behind them again!!

Us three!!!

Of course, eating pickles was all part of the plan! And popcorn! And ice cream! So much for well-balanced meals!

Yes, we started on the third, last and large jar of pickles, thanks to Miss Muscles! ;)

We, again, filled Krissa's car up with gas - it didn't take her quite as long to guess what we did this time. :)

And then my dear sister opens up the car door and looks like this! Yeah, I was scared to death! Wouldn't you be the same?! :)

And then the journey home! Our first flight out of Louisville was delayed, which of course delayed everything else. So we...er...had some relaxing (i.e. waiting in an airport) moments. Quite a few of them, actually. And of all things - did you know that Atlanta does NOT have free wireless internet?? What's this world coming to?? Sitting in that airport happened to be our longest relaxing moment. Of course! :)

We did get back to Oklahoma City with all our luggage intact. Glad to be home. Thrilled with the week we had with Ryan and Krissa. Thankful for a safe trip and fun family times. And then the feeling of....I really have to get back to work now after a week-long vacation, but I just don't want to.....

Kentucky Trip Part 3: Sewing, decorating, shopping and "Well, this is embarrassing!"

I shipped my machine, so I knew I had sewing planned. It arrived perfectly, except for one little piece of plastic that was broken on the door of the case that holds my feet, but that's not too big of a deal. Ryan and Krissa both laughed at the crate it came in, but it served it's purpose.

As I unpacked that and prepared to stitch a few things, I began to think of where I was going to put my machine. I considered the floor, as I have done that before, but it's rather difficult to have a sewing machine on the floor with a foot petal stretched one foot in front of you, trying to make the machine go. Scratch that idea. Use the kitchen counter. Yep; that works!



We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday shopping, decorating (you'll never believe what we came up with!), cake testing (that was fun!), bridesmaid dress hunting (got that accomplished!), shoe scavenging (that it an ENTIRE story in and of itself - thanks to the lost phone-speak to me baby!-Claire-DSW Shoes-strange phone conversation episode!) and gift registry planning (quite the adventure!).

We did some trial and error decorating at the church and reception area. Oh my - that was a blast! We tried a little bit of this on the railing...and I think we've got that figured out!


And then we tried this decorating style....now just what would you call this??

All of us (except for Jena! :)) came to the conclusion that this is better!! :) lol!!! It actually started this way because I needed Jen to hold the fabric at the top so we could try wrapping the columns. Well, how can you wrap fabric without wrapping her in it?!?! ;)

Perfect!!! Now just stay there all night, Jen!!! :)

I know, I know...if this is the only idea we had, we are in huge trouble! :)

After spending the morning/afternoon shopping with Emily for dresses, we needed a lunch break! Especially Ryan! He endured hours of dress shopping with us! :)



And then Jena brought out her iphone (love that little piece of technology!) and we started watching youtube videos for advice and inspiration. Really!!! You wouldn't believe what's on youtube! Just as you can google anything for an answer; if you want a visual guide, youtube it! :)


So our next planned activity was gift registry shopping! You have no idea how Krissa has looked forward to touring Bed, Bath & Beyond with that little scanner in her hand! I'm not sure she was ready to let go of it when we left! But she had plenty of items to add to her list!

Believe it or not, Ryan did get a chance to scan in a few things!! :)

The hard part - decisions! But there seems to be enough choices, don't you think?!


And after those jam-packed full days of activity, how did our evenings usually end?? Yep, computers, facebooking each other in the same room (I know, it's silly, but we have fun with it!), talking, laughing, watching Andy Griffith....


....and oh, yeah....the "Well, this is embarrassing." message! I could try explaining the meaning of this, but it really wouldn't make a bit of sense, unless you were there. And when you are at the point of laughing so hard as we were, anything and everything seems funny! :)

THAT stash of toys!

Interrupting this continuing series of my trip to Kentucky to report:

For the past several nights, I have been awakened by two cats digging and trying to scratch their way under my nightstand. The other night, I could take it no longer, so I took a deep breath and carefully stuck my hand into that darkened area, wondering what was drawing their attention there so frequently.

Since both my cats are indoor only cats, I knew it couldn't be a mouse (something that could have happened in past years!), but flies, bugs or crickets - now, that's another story. As my hand brushed against something furry with a long something, I began to wonder if this was a wise idea.

Thankfully, that furry, long thing was a toy mouse and not the real thing. Whew!! Would you believe those cats had stashed all this under there?


Those little black pom poms were Skittles's favorite toys as a kitten! I wondered just where they all disappeared to about a year or two ago! What was she doing? Stashing them away? For what? And I have no idea why she liked the black ones so well (she preferred the black to ANY of the colored ones); aren't cats color blind?!

Anyway, I discovered that they liked to carry those toys over to my nightstand, bat them under there and then try to retrieve them. One problem: there's only a one inch space between the bottom of the stand and the floor in the front. So they are only able to get their paws under there; yep, digging and scratching, trying to find that one toy!


Much to my dismay, after pulling out all those toys and throwing them clear across my room, Scamper promptly goes over to the now uncovered stash, picks one up in her mouth, comes over to the nightstand, sets it down and takes her paw and bats that black pom pom right back under the stand.


Why did I even bother getting all those toys out of there?!

Now back to my regularly scheduled blogging....:)

Kentucky Trip Part 2: You do it on the outside, but it shows up on the inside.

Thursday Krissa had to work, so that was our appointed day to do whatever we wanted in the city of Lexington. I mean, Jena and I had her apartment to ourselves and her car to drive around in - how fun does that sound?!?!

So we made our lists and started out to of all places - Wal-Mart! Well, you know, there are certain items that can't be done without for the week....like ice cream! Jena pulled out her phone, plugged in where we wanted to go and amazingly enough, we got there! :) We had fun basically not doing a whole lot, but wondering around. :)

That evening after Krissa got home from work, we headed to Ryan's house since he was making chili there for us. While we're driving, Jena asks Krissa, "Do you notice anything different about your car?"


Krissa responds very suspiciously, "What did you do to it? Did you put a dent in it? What's not working right?" So then she starts looking all over her car (as she's driving!), looking for something that might be different or damaged or banged up.


I am telling you - she started desperately looking ALL over!


Why does she assume it's something bad?? Maybe we did something good to it?!


This pic is hard evidence that I am not the only one who does all kinds of things while I'm driving!


Then Jena said, "You do it on the outside, but it shows up on the inside." Hmmmm......


That little bit of information totally confused her!


Yeah, she's still searching...at this point, Jena and I were laughing so hard we could hardly talk!


I mean, she looked everywhere!! (Yeah, it was a slightly hazardous drive! Thank goodness I was in the backseat!)


Then Ryan calls and she informs him, "The girls did something to my car and they won't tell me what they did!"

Seriously, what could we do to a vehicle?? We aren't vandals!!

Since she was unable to figure it out, we finally had to tell her, "We filled your car up with gas! Didn't you notice the full tank??" (Therefore the "clue" makes sense. :))

These sisters and such suspicious minds they have built into their heads! ;)