Learning to Read

Tonight we were having a skipping lesson at our house.

Hannah and Spencer haven't quite mastered that skill yet.

Todd was explaining how learning to skip helps you learn how to read.

We soon found out that Christian doesn't know how to skip properly either.

Todd asked how Christian had learned to read at the age of 3 if he didn't know how to skip.

So we were trying to show all 3 of them how to step, hop, switch.

Spencer got to the point that he was doing it in VERY slow motion.

He was so excited he did his little victory dance and then shouted out,

"Yeah, now I can read books without pictures!"

What a kid.

Halloween costumes

I'm cleaning out the costume closet and totes. Watch this blog for the next few days and you might find something that would work perfectly for your child for Halloween this year. I decided to post these on my blog because I spent almost 2 and a half hours today trying to post 1 item on ebay. My internet ended up dumping all 5 of my internet explorer windows and left me back at the beginning. So I threw up my hands and said,
"There's got to be an easier way."
This is our Circus (quite literally) Series. Below you will find the costumes that I'm selling from this "series", along with sizes and costume description. Hope you enjoy!

Size 4T Elephant Costume

I made this costume with gray fleece and felt embellishments. The headpiece is separate from the body. The trunk and tusks attach with a velcro closure under the chin. The headpiece is also lined with a light gray cotton. The costume body has a full zipper in the back. This would be perfect for all you Alabama fans (think RollTide). I'm asking $35.00 for this costume. It's been worn for 2 Halloween's and still in good condition.

Size 10-12 Gypsy/Fortune Teller Costume

I made this costume with satin. It comes with a 3 tiered skirt of hot pink and green, the white satin blouse, and a matching green satin scarf that can be used as a belt or a headpiece. The skirt has an elastic waist that would fit up to a 30 inch waist. This costume has been worn for 3 Halloweens but still in great condition. Asking $40.00 for it.


Size 8/10 for full length or a 10/12 for knee length Pink/Purple Clown Costume

I made this costume out of co-ordinating fabrics. A pink and purple both with lime green stars. White rickrack around the bottom of the legs and arms. A full zipper runs up the back with a ribbon tied drawstring to keep the neck closed. This costume was worn for 2 Halloweens. I had a neck piece but the lime green boa I had glued on it didn't fair well through the wash after it got face paint on it. The clown nose is not included but I do have the beanie/propeller hat and a pair of oversized clown shoes I'm ready to part with. The shoes have been worn once. I'm asking $12.00 for the costume, $3.00 for the hat, and $7.00 for the shoes. All pieces are in great condition.

1T-2T Store bought Tiger Costume

This costume I bought and it's only been worn once (for the pictured Halloween). The headpiece is attached making this a one piece costume with a front zipper (pretty heavy duty). It also has attached shoe covers and attached mittens on a string if you need to keep your little one warm. I'm asking $15.00 for this costume. Costume in like-new condition.

And lastly, the red vest that Russell is wearing is for sale also. I just couldn't get the picture to load correctly. It is red sequined satin trimmed around the bottom with black trim and gold hanging circles and lined with red satin. He went as the lion tamer in this picture but we have used it for another Halloween as Dracula's vest under a black cape. The front of the vest is missing some of the sequins but wouldn't be noticable in the dark. It would fit a child between the sizes of 5-8. I'm asking $8.00.


If you are interested in any of the Circus costumes please leave me a comment on this post or you can leave me a message on Facebook.

Thanks for taking a look. I'll be listing my Wizard of Oz and Star Wars costumes in the next couple of days so please check back!

Hot Dogs.... Who knew???

I had this HORRIBLE smell coming from my fridge over the weekend. I had no idea what it was coming from. But everytime the fridge got opened,

OH, the SMELL!!!

I thought it might be the bowl full of tomatoes that got pushed to the back of the shelf. So I threw those out. Julie thought it was the tomatoes in the crisper. She threw those out.

But the smell persisted.

I refused to think it was the pork cubes I had just bought on Thursday. When I opened the pork to make dinner last night, THAT is exactly what it was!!!

I was not happy. My older kids had places to be. I needed dinner on the table soon. So I grabbed a couple of packages of hot dogs. I wasn't going to let the kids see what I was doing but when they saw me slicing hot dogs they wanted to know what was for dinner.

At first I wouldn't tell them.

But I've made this particular meal enough that just looking at the ingredients they knew what I was making. I told them I was using "Poor-Man's pork".

They were a little hesitant, as was I.

The consensus was......

They liked the "Poor-Man's pork" better than the plain pork cubes. They said it added more "zing" to the flavor of the meal. Even the Hubby liked the change.

Hot Dogs......Who knew?