Party Time

I am nearly 19. crikey. And my next youngest sister is nearly 16. One of the best parts about having a birthday so close to my sister’s is that the party lasts from the end of February to the middle of March. So this year, to prepare to celebrate our consecutive birthdays, we made tissue paper pom-pom things and hung them from the various tall places in our house. And I do have to say, they look simply lovely.

and in case you were wondering, yes, that second to last pom-pom was made by the boy, and since it was smaller, we put it on a stick in a flower pot. love!

Were these hard to make? Not at all!

Here’s the instructions we used:

(Thank you to Audrey from Oh So Pretty for the instructions!)

Here is what you'll need:
+ 10 sheets of the same color tissue paper (Most people suggest 8 sheets but I found they turned out best with at least 10 sheets.)
+ Scissors
+ Monofiliment or fishing line (for hanging the poms)
+ Bendable wire (I used 24 gauge)

And here are the simple steps for pom making:

1. Stack 10-12 sheets of tissue paper. I bought paper at Paper Source on the plaza. If you haven't been there I suggest you check it out...tons of great stuff to choose from!

2. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.

3. Wrap your wire over center of folded tissue; twist until tightly secured. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.
4. Separate the tissue layers, pulling away from center one at a time. Once pulled apart evenly, fluff the sections until you are happy with the fullness.

5. Tie a length of monofilament to wire for hanging.

TIPS:

+ I found the poms look better when you cut the rounded (or pointy) shape pretty deep instead of just the ends.

+ The first pom I made was a dud. I made it too big and didn't cut the rounded ends very deep and it turned out poorly. I made some adjustments on my second pom and they all turned out great after that.

+ To make a smaller pom follow the same steps but simply cut down your tissue paper to a smaller rectangle or square.

+ I made a multi-colored pom using 4 sheets each of 4 similar colors (a fun alternative to a solid colored pom).

So really, all you need are these 4 things:

And wa-la! So pretty!

 

 

To top off the afternoon, my amazing mom made cake. Carrot cake. Yum-o!

Party on!

endless entertainment

scene: a calm, windless, cool sunset in our city. 4 houses overlook a small pond. the farthest house on the right is our house. two doors down are our two older neighbors enjoying a peaceful moment on their back porch, sipping beer and chatting lightly as the sun sets.

enter 18 year old with old dog and young puppy.

the young puppy takes off towards the empty lot, and I, the 18 year old, watch calmly and chat with Ruthie as we wait for the puppy to finish her business and saunter back. The puppy, named Piper, goes to the furthest point away from us, which is normal. Suddenly, she stops, stoops, and picks up a black something.

I take off towards the puppy.

Piper, being oh so sweet, thinks “Wow! What fun!” and proceeds to launch herself into a full run while I am calling “PIPER! DROP IT!” because I have no clue what she is holding.

I come within reaching distance of the pup after a few laps around the yard, when something disgusting reaches my nose and I glimpse a tail- yes, a nasty black tail- draping out of Piper’s mouth.

Dead mole.

Dis-gust-ting.

Meanwhile, Ruthie has gone in, put treats in her pocket, and is also chasing the dog around the yard, calling “PIPER!!!” the entire time, much like I am.

We are quite the spectacle.

Our neighbors sit serenely, no expression, no movement whatsoever, except to turn their heads and sip their beer as they watch us careen around the yard like the hooligans we are.

Mom’s laugh echoes from the kitchen window.

We plan a strategy of attack as we sprint around and around the house, the yard, the lot next door, and the weeds. The tail is slowly beginning to disappear, and we are now fearing that Piper may actually eat the entire mole while running- no easy task, mind you- and that it will come back to haunt us later, if you know what I mean.

Finally, the tail disappears and Piper screeches to a halt. I am still running straight for her as she pauses, cocks her head ever so slightly, and proceeds to run straight back to where she found the dead mole.

and guess what.

she finds another one.

This time however, her slight pause to consider her next move had allowed Lillie to come out of the house to help us, and we soon have her cornered. Corralled. The mouse drops, and she again takes off.

Love that dog.

And our neighbors quietly sit, only turning their faces to watch us as we chase the dog some more.

Piper, all of a sudden, changes direction and heads straight toward Ruthie who is running towards the back door. Me and Lillie yell and holler while running for Ruthie to run to the back door so we can get her in the house.

She opens it, and in flies Piper.

We all stop, hands on knees, and catch our breath as Piper watches us from her glass enclosure. We all turn, look up and notice that our neighbors are watching us. They quietly lift one hand, almost in unison, and we wave emphatically back.

A funny story

Honestly, for the last few weeks I’ve been wondering what to write about. I didn’t really have much to say, so I stayed away from blogging and kind of enjoyed the quiet of just one photo, a few words, and counting blessings over  here. 

But now I have a story to tell.

A funny one.

:)

So I was at work the other day, and we were busy (which is a good thing!) and as I bounced all over the store, the phone rang. I noticed that they were busy everywhere else so I grabbed it.

Did the typical greeting, “how can I help you” and all that.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” comes the nearly shouted question from the other side of the phone. I gather it’s a sweet older lady.

I repeat the greeting and a bit louder ask “How can I help you?”

“WHAT?”

Nearly shouting now, I ask again if there is anything I can help her with.

“OH! I NEED BATTERIES!”

“Do you know what kind you need, ma’am?”

Again, “WHAT?”

“Do you know what kind you need?” 

“WHAT???”

Okay, now I really am yelling into the phone, and everyone at the counter is just laughing at me, because they know this is how it goes sometimes. Finally, she says, “Oh! I need two 13’s!”

I am searching my mental filing system. I can’t think of any batteries that are 213s.

I just say that yes, we will look and see if we have them and put them on hold for her about 4 times.

She says thank you and hangs up, and I’m off to look for 213’s.

After looking around and not finding them, I get an idea.

She need two 13s. Not 213s.

I head to the back counter and what do you know?

There they are.

13’s are a hearing aid battery.

Have you ever heard the tale?

or known where heroes are?

Or heard of the valiant deeds

of the conquering Sir R?

With a sword of blue hue

he conquered the foes

and fought off the dragon

and stubbed all his toes.

He vanquished the dragon,

then made her a knight,

But the dragon wouldn’t do it,

and she started to fight.

Sir R sought the famer

to help to him to hide.

the farmer was Monkey,

a soccer ball at his side.

They ran to the barn

and rescued his pals

rode out the earthquake

when off the cliff they fell!

The dragon, Sir R said

would come and fight him!

So Sir R disappeared

and ran into the night then.

 

He goes by a name

that is funny but true:

Purple Fox Soccer Knight

is how he is known to you.

So now he travels

incognito, he moves

protecting the kingdom

never to lose.

 

(what a fun morning we had! off to be a train engineer! Have a great day!)

Kaye :)

just because it made us laugh

have a Happy Lemon day!

Kaye :)

Questions One Must Ask

For example, my little brother, the great intellectual.

as the sun goes behind the cloud,
"Is it getting dark out already?"

when a singer on the radio came on,
"what is he saying?"

while peering down into his snack this afternoon,
"Do you think God likes peanut butter and pretzels?"

Owl Cupcakes

Because really, who wouldn’t want to try and make these adorable cupcakes?

So we waited patiently while they cooked and our mouths watered as they cooled on the counter.

Then after lunch, we dove into the Oreos and M&M’s with the happy excitement that comes with making delicious baked goodies that look cute too…

And I think we did very well.

Here is our little flock of owls, all googley eyed and adorable!

Each of us gals got to make three, and here are our favorites~

first, L’s favorite…

googley eyed and sweet… and funny! :) made us all giggle!

then Miss M’s… isn’t this just look like her?? :) Ha! A surprised owl!

and her other one, the shy owl…

And my fav- a cute little one…

Too sweet!

And while we were busy creating our flock of birds, Mr. R was busy with the M&M’s creating one big happy smiley family-

 

Yum!

(and thanks to Anna from Young and Married for the idea!)

 

Have a blessed day on this gloriously cool fall afternoon!

Kaye and family :)

Oh Peter…

A funny and powerfully true video for your weekend…

enjoy!

Kaye

The Flight of the Bumble Bee- Mamo Camp Day 4 (pt. 1)

My sisters, cousins, and I spent the last week up north at our grandparents’ cabin on the lake. It is such a blessing to have grandparents that are willing to take all 5 of us, ages ranging from 5 to 17! This was the 11th annual running of what we call “Mamo Camp”.

And what a week we had!

Over the next couple of days or so I hope to let you in on what we did that week through some pictures, stories, and funny happenings over here. Enjoy!

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Mamo and Papa have a beautiful old Victrola record player in their living room with dozens of records to dance your socks off to.

So of course, we selected a few of our favorites to play and jam to in the living room.

(And so for your listening entertainment, I have also added, on each song’s name, a link to a YouTube video of the song. :) Enjoy!)

Our unanimous favorite was “The Flight of the Bumble Bee”.

A close second was “The Woodchopper’s Ball”.

Coming in third place was the classic “Big Wig in the Wigwam”.

And our honorable mentions were “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm”…

and “Let’s Dance- Fox Trot”. Congratulations to our winners and better luck next year to all the rest!

Gotta love them golden oldies…

Kaye

At the DQ- Mamo Camp Day 3 (pt. 3)

My sisters, cousins, and I spent the last week up north at our grandparents’ cabin on the lake. It is such a blessing to have grandparents that are willing to take all 5 of us, ages ranging from 5 to 17! This was the 11th annual running of what we call “Mamo Camp”.

And what a week we had!

Over the next couple of days or so I hope to let you in on what we did that week through some pictures, stories, and funny happenings over here. Enjoy!

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No words necessary for this one :)

Yum.

Kaye

The Never Ending Game- Mamo Camp

Scooter tag.

The object is simple really.

1. Choose someone to be “it”.

2. Have that person hide the flag.

3. Find the flag. On scooters. While being chased by whoever is “it”.

4. If tagged, your frozen.

Scooter tag.

Hours. Long hours spent doing this.

All week.

:) Too much fun.

Where was I during the game, you ask?

Photographer-ing.

:)

Kaye

Out on the Water- Mamo Camp Day 3 (pt. 1)

My sisters, cousins, and I spent the last week up north at our grandparents’ cabin on the lake. It is such a blessing to have grandparents that are willing to take all 5 of us, ages ranging from 5 to 17! This was the 11th annual running of what we call “Mamo Camp”.

And what a week we had!

Over the next couple of days or so I hope to let you in on what we did that week through some pictures, stories, and funny happenings over here. Enjoy!

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A cool morning provided us with the perfectly wonderful opportunity to spend some time out of the house and onto the lake.

For as long as I can remember, my family has enjoyed canoeing together around the bay where my grandparents live, and up and down the surrounding lake shore. We are very blessed to have grandparents with 2 canoes- enough for our whole crew to be out on the water at once.

The camera got dragged along on this outing as well. Actually, it would be dragged around all week- with over 500 pictures taken with it (I promise not to share all of them here… :) ).

Mamo took our group shots for us throughout the week, and they all turned out so well! She is an up-and-coming photographer, that grandma of mine!

Here is our “We just LOVE canoeing” picture…

And our “We will conquer the great waters of the north because we know what we’re doing!” picture…

or well… maybe not….

We divided up into the two canoes… me, L, and Jay in the green one and Mamo, Miss M, and T-man in the other red one. Both canoes had been “woogied” to rid them of all spiders and hitch-hiking bugs to prevent falling into the lake should a small person see them :).

After docking at the shoreline after our canoe ride, me and L took out the kayaks and hit the lake. It was so much fun to be out with just L on our ride. We took turns passing around the camera (very carefully) between the two kayaks and got some crazy photos of each other… just being sisters…

here’s two of our photos that look like they’re from “Lake Country Magazine” :)…

And then the two that will show up at our graduation open houses and weddings one day…

L and me got laughing so hard I almost tipped my kayak over. WAY too much fun was had…

We could have stayed out there all morning, the sun at our backs and the cool water under our fingers, but then our stomachs grumbled…

and it was a dash to lunch.

Kaye