Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Halloween Fall Festival

Fall Festival 2018

We just got back from a local fall festival.  The kids had a great time.  It was raining off and on today so I am thankful that they moved all the festivities indoors!  A and B made their own costumes this year (Ace of Hearts and Queen of Hearts) and I made F's costume (A Wild Card) - card theme!  

A basically made this using red felt.

My favorite part was her homemade bow that she made using an ace of hearts playing card.

B's costume was also made from red felt.  The wand is felt and a chopstick.

We took a Dollar Tree tiara (left over from E's party) and spray painted it gold.  It worked great.

I made F's costume using felt and one Uno wild card.

He's pretty excited.

We had a few Star Wars repeats - a Jedi, Princess Leia and BB8.  

 This robe that I bought on Etsy a few years ago is still as amazing as ever!

Princess E as Princess Leia

 Our BB8

 And D was Sleeping Beauty.  Hope you had a fun filled night!

 
 Sleeping Beauty with her crown.  This is a similar crown that we spray painted for B's costume.

 Love this pose!

Happy Halloween 2018


I was able to take the youngest 4 to a nearby Trunk or Treat over the weekend.  We pulled together their costumes a few hours before the event - not bad!  G was BB8 (from last year), F was an Uno Wild card (I made it with felt), E was a Shopkins Cupcake Queen (costume from Grandma) and D went as a gymnast - easy peasy.

Halloween Peppers

Last night for dinner I made Halloween peppers.  I had seen a picture of them on the internet and thought they were so cute.  I just made my own stuffing.


Another view...

F and G at our local pumpkin patch

I thought I had missed it but I took F and G over to our local pumpkin patch today and I was able to get a few pictures - yay!  

Close up of G

Close up of F

 Another pose

 My pumpkin!

 Hope you have a fun, happy, and safe night tonight!  Happy Halloween.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

No More Braces For A

 A with braces headed to her appointment.  Now you see them...

I'm so excited for A!  Last week the orthodontist removed her braces.  She is super excited to be able to eat all the long restricted foods.  Now, I need to take her to a movie and buy her a bucket of popcorn.

And now you don't!

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Indivisible Movie Review & Fandango Giveaway


I wanted to share with you an upcoming movie, Indivisible, which releases in theaters nationwide tomorrow, October 26th.

Indivisible is a movie based on the extraordinary true story of Army Chaplain Darren Turner and his wife Heather.  With a strong, faith-filled marriage, the Tuners are ready to follow their calling:  serving God, family, and country.  Fresh from the seminary and basic training, Chaplain Tuner and his family arrive at Fort Stewart.  Yet before the Tuners can even unpack their new house, Darren is deployed to Iraq.  Heather is left taking care of their three young children alone...as well as serving the families of the other deployed soldiers.  Despite a desire to stay connected with their loved ones, the harsh realities of war take a daily toll over the course of the Battalion's extended deployment.  Meanwhile back home, babies are born, kids keep growing, and nerves are frayed with every late night knock on the door.  With deeply etched battle scars, the soldiers' long-awaited homecoming is much different than any of their families anticipated.  Carrying burdens the other can't comprehend, the Turners must decide if they're willing to face one more battle:  the fight to save their marriage.  From the director of The Grace Card and the studio that brought you Fireproof and War Room come Indivisible, the story of one marriage...one family...under God.  The movie stars Sarah Drew, Justin Bruening, Jason George, Tia Mowry, and Madeline Carroll.

I really enjoyed this movie.  I'm super excited about the increase in faith based movies - we need even more!  I say this a lot but I feel like this movie was extremely relatable.  I have never lived on a service base, nor gone through deployment; yet, I felt like I got it watching this movie.  It's hard.  This movie makes us aware of the staggering divorce rate among those who serve in our country.  And as Darren Turner finds out, even chaplains are not immune to this statistic and possibility.  Thankfully as Darren makes a huge impact in the lives of those he serves his marriage is impacted as well.  This movie is not all butterflies and rainbows but it is powerful and it is truth.  What more could I want?

Check out the trailer below and be sure to enter the giveaway.



Ready for a giveaway?  One of you will win 2 Fandango ticket codes to see Indivisible (the codes can only be used for Indivisible).  Enter the giveaway below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure:  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway.  Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive a prescreening of Indivisible in exchange for this review and post.  Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days on Cummins Life, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again.  Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

How to Make Baseball Slime

Our Baseball Slime - version on the left is made with all gold glitter glue and the lighter version on the right is a touch of gold glitter glue mixed with a lot of clear glue

The kids and I have had some fun experimenting with making slime!  We made several different recipes.  Our most creative one yet is our Baseball Slime.  Our beloved Astros are sadly not in The World Series this year but we still adore them.  Our baseball slime is in honor of them - hence the colors and usage of stars!!  Enjoy the video and let me know what you think!  The baseballs are beads that we found at Michael's.


Monday, October 22, 2018

My 41st Birthday - Texas Themed Party

Officially 41

Yesterday was my 41st birthday.  David and the kids gave me a Texas themed birthday party and it was the best!  David also gifted me with tickets to The Point of Grace concert and A and B went with me (their 1st concert).  We had a great time.  Hope you enjoy the photos.

Homemade Party Decor - the kids made cacti, tumbleweeds and a Texas flag

Happy Birthday Texas Banner - designed by Miss E

Stevie 

It's hard to see from the pictures but the kids hung the tumbleweeds up with push pins in the center so you could spin them around - I love it!

My Birthday Cake

Another view of my cake

With 41 candles

Sporting my Texas shirt of course

Make a wish...

Presents from the kids with homemade cards...

Mr G bringing me my present from him.

Our cactus pinata

I love this photo of all 7 kids.

Another super fun thing that we did is that the kids colored me!  We used some of our Just Add Color Mega Pak and it was so much fun.  Stay tuned for more about this.

It is hard to believe another year has past.  I'm actually super excited because my 40th year of life has definitely been my most difficult one yet in so many ways.  I am looking forward to a new year and all that awaits!

Friday, October 12, 2018

Just Add Color - Special Discount


I'm excited to share with you a deal from Just Add Color!  The Just Add Color Mega Pak includes everything you need to add colorful powder games, color dances, color crafts, color photos and color experiences to your next party.

Here's the deal - Get a one-time discount, Two Color Blasters (for FREE), Money Back Guarantee and Shipping (for FREE) when you purchase your Just Add Color Mega Pak right now!

For More Information and to get your party started:  http://www.justaddcolor.com/order

Let me know what you think!!  I'm excited to try this and come back and share my thoughts.

Disclosure: Thanks so much to USFamilyGuide and Just Add Color for selecting me for this campaign.  Just Add Color will be providing my family with our own Just Add Color Mega Pak in exchange for our honest review.  All opinions are my own.  Stay tuned for my review!

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

E's 7th Birthday Ball

E is 7!

E turned 7 last Friday.  She has a royal birthday ball party on Saturday and we really had a ball!  Our formal dining room is fairly empty so A and B made many tulle bows and hung them around the room for our ball room.  We had music going for the first half of the party so the kids could dance around as much as they wanted.

The ballroom

We had a make your own bracelet station and tiaras for all the guests as well.  A did a great job being in charge of the hot glue gun!

A ready to help guests sparkle!

Close up view

D's bracelets

Homemade party bracelets

We had E's party over lunchtime so we served fruit, chips, guacamole, pizza, and of course cake and ice cream.  This was our 1st official party in our new home - the 1st of many I am sure.  Enjoy the photos!

E's Birthday flowers

Lunch with friends

G joined us in this photo

Gotta have fresh fruit!

Birthday Cake - David made a pink lemonade cake at E's request.

Singing

Special thanks to hostess with the mostess for offering the free printables that I used for the party.  You can check out her blog and get them here.