{A Fall Favorite} The Bloomsburg Fair

 Last year, the Bloomsburg Fair was cancelled due to flooding. At the time, I was very sick and it didn't phase me in the least. The kids were bummed. This year, they made up for their disappointment with lots of fun! Here are a few of the things we did at the fair. (We even took Flat Stanly along!)

Love Note

This was left for me by Felicia...the night before we were to go to The Bloomsburg Fair....

By "most of the house", she actually means the kitchen table and the refrigerator magnets. ;)

 

Apple Print Wreath

Apple printing is a staple in our fall crafting. The kids look forward to doing it every year. So, even though we have already done a few apples crafts this year, there was no way we were going to skip this favorite. Instead of the apple print trees we made in the past, we made a wreath.

 Older kids could easily do apple prints without overlapping them, Stella could not, So I gave her some paper and she did her own freestyle apple prints. That worked out great as she is always happy to do her own thing!

While Stella happily got onto her work, I printed apples in red and green. After they were dry, I added stems and cut them out. Then it was Stella's turn once again. She glued the apples around the base of our wreath (a paper plate with the center cut out).

I added a bow and we have a finished wreath!

Caught Red-Handed

While I was busy making lunch today, Stella was in the living room being entertained by the babysitter, AKA Disney Junior (no judging, please). It got very quiet. If you're a parent, you know that quiet is not always a good thing. So, I went to investigate. Strewn about the living room floor was an entire bookshelf of books and Felicia's sticker collection. I looked at my girl, sitting like a perfect angel watching her shows and I began my interrogation.

"Stella, how did these books get on the floor and who got Felicia's stickers out? You know that Felicia  doesn't want her stickers out."

 My sweet and innocent girl looked up at me with those adorable brown eyes and said,

"Goofy did it!"

 

  I knew he was trouble all along. Just look at him sitting there, he still has some of the evidence in his lap. Caught red-handed!

Breast Cancer Awareness Games

I really do try to stay positive about things like breast cancer awareness, but for some reason these games disturb me. If you're a women and have a Facebook account, chances are you know what I'm talking about. Once again, my inbox has been bombarded with silly requests in "support of breast cancer awareness". Here is this year's game:

 Ok ladies it's that time of year again, in support of breast cancer awareness!! So we all remember last years game of writing a color as your status?.....or the way we like to have our handbag handy? Well this year, it's slightly different. You need to write your shoe size,( just the number) followed by the word 'inches' and how long it takes to do your hair... Remember last year so many people took part it made national news and, the constant updating of status reminded everyone why we're doing this and helped raise awareness!! Do NOT tell any males what the status' mean, keep them guessing!! And please copy and paste (in a message )this to all your female friends to see if we can make a bigger fuss this year than last year!!! I did my part... now YOUR turn ! Go on ladies...and let's have all the men guessing!!..........

Now...where do I begin? First off, how exactly does sharing my shoe size and how long it takes to do my hair make anyone aware that according to breastcancer.org:

"About 1 in 8 U.S. women (just under 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime."

or that:

 "For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer."

Now, lets talk about keeping the men guessing. Believe it or not, MEN can get breast cancer as well!

"About 2,140 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in men in 2011. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000."

If you are trying to spread awareness, why would you hide something so important from someone who also could be affected?  Not to mention the fact that many men are supporting women who have breast cancer, my hubby included! If it were not for him, I am not sure I could have gotten through the last year.

Previously the game asked that you state your bra color. That request is quite insensitive given that fact that so many women with breast cancer no longer have need for a bra because they no longer have BREASTS! 

No, I don't see women rushing to the phone to schedule a mammogram after participating in one of these "games". So, if you truly want to spread awareness, educate yourself and share facts, not your shoe size.

Good News

Yesterday I had my first post-op mammogram and everything looked great! The next step is having my mediport removed. I'm definitely looking forward to that! I'm feeling great and finally seeing a return to normal life.

 Life is good!

Hand Print Apples in a Basket

It's really beginning to feel fall-like around here. So, sticking with that theme, we made a basket of apples today!

 
Start off by painting the palm of your child's hand and printing it several times on a piece of construction paper. Add some stems and leaves.

 
Next, I cut strips of brown paper to create a basket covering the apples. Older kids could weave this, but Stella is just 2 so I just applied the glue and let her stick the strips to it. After she placed the strips on, I cut the ends off to make it look more like a basket. It's finished!

*This is what happens when you walk away from little Miss Stella and she can reach the paint...

{Wordless Wednesday} Praying Mantis

Hand Print and Button Apple Tree

With the big kids back to school, Stella has been begging to do something crafty. The girl loves to paint so to avoid another disaster like this one, I decided to make an apple tree with her.

I painted a tree trunk on a piece of construction paper and added some leaves with Stella's hand prints. Then, she glued on some buttons for the apples. Easy as pie!

Although we did ours on construction paper, how cute would this be on fabric with the buttons sewed on? I could see it on a cute tote bag. Hmm...maybe another day.

Cast Off.

Felicia has been counting down days for the past four weeks. That “special” day is finally here!

Her cast is off and man was it stinky! But, it’s perfectly healed and we have one super happy girl! 

Let’s all just pray that she doesn’t break anything else.

She's 7!

Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Fruity Play Dough

We go through a lot of play dough here at the Adams' house! Stella has just now really started getting into playing with it (without eating it) so I have been pulling it out almost daily for her. This recipe has a great fruity scent and is super easy to make! 

•  1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 pack of unsweetened Kool-Aid. 

 Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat over medium heat (stirring constantly) until it reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove from heat. When it's cool enough to handle, knead it on a floured surface. Now it's ready to play with! Just store it in a covered container so it doesn't dry out.