Medieval Times Dinner Theater and Tournament Commercial Shoot

  In January my family was chosen to be a part of the Medieval Times Dinner Theater and Tournament 2014 Commercial Shoot. We found out a week before the shoot that my husband had to go out of town... we were bummed.  I called my mom up to see if she wanted to join me and guess what? She did!  (She lives in AZ and is the BEST!) So let me tell you about our experience..... we drove 6 hours up to Dallas and picked my mom up at the airport (she had been there all day.) By then it was late and we grabbed a bit to eat, stopped by Target (because who can resist Target) and went straight to bed at the hotel.  We woke up super early because we had to be there at 7:45am and of course had to look our best.  The kids were great and we were all so excited.  Of course it also happened to be the day of the great Texas ice storm. We were FREEZING getting to the castle but it was kind of amazing seeing  the castle moat completely iced over (yes, crazy.)  So anyways, there we were and we seemed to be the only family there... YES!  We were going to be the stars of the show.... They sat us in the arena and told us to help ourselves to breakfast and the snack bars.  Umm.... yes, my children were in heaven being treated like movie stars with the all you can eat cookies and granola bars.  The staff were all so super sweet and accommodating. We were true "ladies" and "lords". Then the news came... apparently we did not read an email saying we didn't need to be there until 2pm.  Ugh... what to do until then.  Well, my kiddos all wanted to stay.  So, we did.  We were able to watch the behind the scenes action, watch a few shots done and of course, eat all that great food.  The best part was how nice everyone was... I mean, even the "BAD" guy of the show was sooooooo super nice.  He took us around and basically taught us the history of the show.  Did you know that the owner of the show is actually a knight in Spain... therefore any building he owns is actually a castle... so yes, we were guests in a REAL castle.  We even learned how to become  a knight in the show and all about their horse ranch outside of the city. Later in the day we realized the others were arriving and mingling in the main hall, but we decided to enjoy our special view and waited until they escorted everyone in.  Then the fun began..... we shouted and hurrahed and waved our flags until our voices no longer worked... and let me tell you, my 10 month old, is now a MASTER at waving a flag.  (He still waves his hand when we say YAY!) After 2 days of watching the making of the commercial and hoping we'd get in it, we left with free tickets and a fun memory.  The commercial came out today, and while we didn't get any face time (although I think one of our flags did :)), we will always remember this fun trip. Here's a link to the behind the scenes action in which my mom, daughter and son got in the scene at 1:26, 1:30, 2:42 (look to the left behind the princess): CLICK HERE 

Here's another behind the scenes: CLICK HERE

And here's the actual commercial: CLICK HERE

We can't wait to visit again!

Limerick

I'm trying to get a few "fun" lessons ready for the month of March and I thought that Limericks would be a fun nonsense writing activity.  I think we'll write nonsense about leprechauns.  

A limerick has five lines.

The last words of lines one, two and five rhyme.

The last words of lines three and four rhyme. 

A limerick has to have a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables: (U-unstressed S-stressed)

USUUSUUS

USUUSUUS

USUUS

USUUS

USUUSUUS

Whenever my children write poems, I have them turn it into a 4x6 photo for printing.  We usually use the Picasa collage function or Picmonkey.com. My 5th grader wrote this one and I thought it had a great ring to it. 

St. Patty's Day Activities

What do you do for St. Patrick's Day?  Do you decorate? Give gifts? Party? Wear green and call it good? I'm not one who normally decorates for St. Patrick's Day, but I can't wait for a package from my mom with the cutest crochet shamrocks.  I will probably put a few up around the house and be done with that part of the decor.  As far as gifts or activities go, when I was in 3rd grade, my teacher had us make Leprechaun Houses out of recycled boxes and containers.  I LOVED it so much that I actually did this on my own every year after. I would get the help of my brother and we would pretend we had a pet Leprechaun for the day.  Some years, we would make furniture and go all out.  I have since, when I remember, done this with my children.  They always love creating a fun house out of boxes and decorating for their Leprechaun.  As I searched Pinterest, I found a couple of super cute paper furniture templates.  These would be adorable to cut and put into the little Leprechaun homes.  Another idea would be to make Fairy Homes to use in a garden. Take a peek at my St. Patty's Day Pinterest Board for more inspiration. 

  

Thing One and Thing Two!

My sweet sister-in-law had many rough years of infertility.  Last year, she welcomed into her life, Izzy and Liam!  They are the cutest twins EVER!!!  Since we live oh, about 16 hours away, I wanted to join in the First Birthday Festivities by sending them a few decorations.  Here's a few pictures:

Happy First Birthday Banner

High Chair Banner

 Food Tents and Thing 1 &2 Photo Props

The Stars of the Show!  Aren't they adorable!

I think they had a little bit of fun!

Interchangeable Holiday Decorations.

I am so blessed to have a talented mother. See that cute crochet heart?  She made that and about 50 more just for me. A banner was made with some and the rest I snuck in around the house. I'm thinking I may be using the mini ones on cards this year.  

They are soooo cute. 

So now to my interchangeable holiday decorations thought. I made this burlap wreath before Christmas and I love it.  I was going to add our family initials to it, but  I have decided to change it with each season.  This really helps with budget and time. Plus, my wreath goes perfect with my regular home decor. For Christmas I used mini clothes pins to hang our Christmas cards on.  For my daughter's birthday it turned into a pirate wreath and now it's a Valentine's wreath.  I'm really hoping my mom learns how to make crochet shamrocks.... that would really rock. During off seasons, I will be using mini clothes pins to hang inspirational words or family pictures. 

Sad the L-O-V-E is Over

I'm quite sad Valentine's day is over. I pretty much missed it due to the flu.  I'm the only one in the family to have gotten it (so far), but I was DOWN.  Thankfully the kids and I had a small party at our house before I got sick, but they missed the big homeschool party we do every year.  So here's the Valentine's we ended up making this year.  I thought they turned out GREAT and the kids LOVED them. Now there's more for them!

1. My teenager was inspired by all the glow stick Valentine's found on Pinterest.  She in turn used www.picmonkey.com and created her own.  

2. I found the mustache whistles at Hobby Lobby and thought they would be perfect for the baby.  I opted to use a printable I found on Pinterest rather than create my own because, hey, I loved it. You can find it here by Lou la Belle Designs. 

3. My 11 year old is a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan. I had seen a few done around the internet, but made this one using an imported image and picmonkey.

4. Used picmonkey again!  Love that site.  My 3 year old was Minnie for Halloween, so we used that photo to make it more personalized. 

5. I used the printable found here.  Since it ended up being my 9 year old who wanted it and not the baby, we opted to make chocolate duckies rather than buy rubber duckies. 

6. My 6 year old is my mini me.  She loves to craft!  I had wanted to make the chapstick holder for her, but she wanted to be more involved.  So she found a pad with hello kitty stickers and coloring pages and inserted those into a party bag and decorated the bags.  I think they are perfect!

All You Need Is Love - Printable

My husband is a HUGE Beatles fan!  I thought I'd put this on his phone for Valentine's Day!  

Little Man Baby Shower

I helped out a friend with a baby shower she was throwing!  I loved the theme and had a blast creating the personalized favors. I will be listing these on Etsy soon.  Check out my Mustache Shower Pinterest Board for more inspiration.

Bedroom in the Living Room?

Ok, for my current scatter-brained idea I've been contemplating moving our master bedroom to the living room.  Say What?!  

We bought our home 1.5 years ago.  It's a 1500 sqft, 3/2 home on 16 acres.  Our thought process was that we could always build on.  Well, our thoughts have changed a bit.  Our priority right now is becoming debt free via Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps.  We paid off baby #6 and are ready to start this process.... so, that means a little bit of a sacrifice until we can pay for any renovations with cash. 

Right now we have one bedroom for the girls (13, 6, 3), one bedroom for the boys (11, 9), and the baby, mom and dad share a room.  Oh, and my oldest has turned the laundry room into her "hang out closet."  My kids hardly ever "play" in their rooms.  They do spend a lot of time outdoors, but they don't play because it's too small in the girls room and in the boys room there are Lego's EVERYWHERE!.  I made them a Lego table and have storage bins, but still... EVERYWHERE.  I am ready to get the baby out of our room. (I've co-shared a bed for 13 years and I think I'm ready for a little space).  So that being said, we can't put the baby in a room with Lego's EVERYWHERE! 

My husband's dream since we've been married has been to have our bedroom in the living room (don't ask why, I have no clue). So, I'm thinking of taking all toys out of bedrooms, and turning our master into a play room.  Yes, the Lego's will be in there along with the baby toys, but I'm certain that the boys will pick up or the consequence will be little kids playing with "their" toys.  That's a huge consequence in their minds. That leaves us with moving the bed into the living room (I've already moved the living room into the dining room.) I just have to figure out where to put all the "craft" stuff.  Hmmm..... once I decide, I feel like it's a huge decision.  I'm not sure I'll be willing to move everything back any time soon.... so to move or not to move.  

We've already turned our pantry into the school closet.

Yep, I'm Scatter-Brained

When I was first married, I had a sweet friend take me under her wing.  She was artsy, creative, loud and fun!  Whenever I went to her home we would layer on the feather boas and craft to 80's music.  She might have had a few Martini's and although I don't drink, I fit right in (I was normally shy, quiet, uncertain).  We laughed and played until it was a little too late and we knew waking up to our babies would be torture. As I got to know her more, she confided in me that she was diagnosed bipolar. She couldn't stand taking her medicine because it prevented her from "creating." It was the thing she loved most about herself. Her greatest inspirations came from those "high" moments in her life. I have since lost touch with her (yes, shock with FB), and I don't know how she is dealing with her illness, but I truly cherish those times when I learned how to love myself for who I am.  She taught me to go for it, to trust yourself, and to not worry what others think of you.  I still struggle with some of those things, but as I've gotten older, I'm learning.  

Anyways..... with that being said.... although I am thankful I don't deal with a mental illness, I do deal with my own scatter-brain.  I am a wishy-washy, bipolar crafter, wannabe business owner, mom of 6, wife of 1, homeschooling teacher, city slicker farmer with one half painted wall.  And guess what?!  That's what I love about me!!!!  It may drive my husband and my OCD child crazy, but that's ok.  

So, rather than trying to pursue a business and a blog with one purpose (oh, I still love a great party!), I'm going to blog because I love it. I may have one post about a digital printable and the next may be about building a chicken coop or homeschooling.  I want to love what I do and not worry that I'm not getting the numbers or posting what others want to hear.  I hope you join me on my scatter-brain journey, but if not, I LOVE Kara's Party's.  You'll have to look her up.  Her site is AMAZING!  So here's to a new start... once again. (I'm sure there will be another one in the future.)