Rainbow Loom

There is a new fad sweeping the elementary schools...rubber band bracelets made with the Rainbow Loom. A month or so ago, Nathan came home with one of these. A friend made it for him, and I thought it was cute, but didn't give it much more thought. A week later, Nathan went to Jake's birthday party. Jake got one for his birthday, and one of the moms made one for all the kids. Then I started noticing other kids wearing them wherever we went. Plus I was finding little individual rubber bands in Nathan's backpack (I'll explain that later). Hmmmm, this must be kind of popular. What really made me start thinking about it was when I took Nathan and Charlotte to the movies, and Nathan lost one of his bracelets there. When we got home, and he realized it was gone, he was crying and genuinely so sad.  I remembered seeing the kit at a craft store, so I thought I might look into getting one for Nathan, but wasn't in a hurry. I made Nathan a deal that if he would keep his finger out of his nose and be respectful and courteous, we would get one. He was sooooo excited!!! Once I started calling around, I found out that most places were sold out! What?! I even had Carrie call a store in Austin, but they were sold out too! I did finally find a store that just got a new shipment in so I snatched it up. 

When talking to my friends whose kids go to all different schools, they said that the kids make and trade the bracelets and some schools let the kids bring the kits to school where they make them during recess. Then I looked on You a Tube and found tons of videos of kids giving tutorials on how to make different designs. CRAZY!

Now that I realized how popular this was, I couldn't wait to give it to Nathan. Plus I love that it's a craft. So after a week, Nathan did a great job of being respectful  and keeping his finger where it belongs...it was cute to see how hard he tried. When I gave it to him, he was so happy! We made about 5 simple bracelets the first day and have been getting more creative since. Nathan had found tutorials on "The Ladder", "The Fishtail", "The Inverted Fishtail", and "The Triple Single".  And not only does he want to make them for himself, but he wants to make them for his friends too!

Oh, and the single little rubber bands I had been finding in his backpack were part of a collection he was starting (before he got the kit) to try to get enough to make his own. It takes about 40, and he had 7...my sweet little boy said he would just find random ones laying around and put them in his pocket. That's when I really realized just how much he wanted one. So glad I was able to get him something he was so excited about...I did think about waiting til Christmas, but was afraid it might lose its popularity by then. 

 Here's a picture of our firs day's production:

Date Night...With the Kids

Wayne and I have been having "date night" every Friday night. We have loved it, but Nathan and Charlotte don't always like it. They have fun with Grandmother, but the thought of mommy and daddy doing something fun without them (it's more Nathan that feels this way) is not "fair". It's kind of funny to me...they just think the world revolves around them! Well this weekend we decided to do date night WITH Nathan and Charlotte. Wayne had been out of town and is going out of town again this next week so he wanted to spend as much time with them as he could. 

Nathan actually got sick on Friday. I took him to the doctor after school and he ended up having strep. So we waited til Saturday to have date night, and bowling is where we went. They loved it!!! Oh and Nathan was our photographer or telling me how to take his picture 😊

Happy Halloween

Nathan was Mario this year and Charlotte was Princess Peach. Although Charlotte's costume and character changed about 10 times. First she wanted to be a princess, then a ballerina. So I found an adorable ballerina/princess dress at Marshall's. The top was light pink soft velvet with little flowers across it and the skirt was long tulle with sequins on it. She loved it when I showed it to her and we decided she was a Flower Princess. Well then my friend, Alison gave me all of her daughter's old dress up clothes, so then Charlotte wanted to be Snow White. The costume was fine to play in but was torn so not good for Halloween. After talking her out of Snow White, she decided on another dress up dress of Lauren's. It was in good condition so it was a possibility. I thought she'd end up going back to her flower princess dress, but nope, she wanted to wear Lauren's dress. So with Nathan being Mario, Charlotte decided she was Princess Peach who is a character in the game. They both looked so cute!

I made Halloween goodies too...pumpkin rice crispie treats that I took to Charlotte's class party and hot dog mummies that we ate.

We first went to our neighborhood's fall festival and then trick or treating with one of Nathan's favorite friends from his class, Aidan. In fact, Nathan could not have fun at the festival until Aidan showed up 😊

Beauty Shop at Grandma's

Nathan and Charlotte always love to visit Grandma and help take care of her. Last week, they decided to brush and fix her hair, and then Charlotte put a little lipstick on her. I love these pictures because they show how caring Nathan and Charlotte are towards Grandma...they weren't being silly about it. They were really making her beautiful. 

Heard Museum

Nathan had an early release day at school last Friday, so mama suggested he invite a friend to go to the Heard Museum. The museum had a dinosaur exhibit where huge dinosaurs were scattered outside along a walking trail...perfect activity for two wild boys! Nathan's friend, Jake came with us and everyone had a great time. The boys ran ahead and explored. It was fun for them to have the freedom to go on their own a little. There was also an area with a mini village of old wooden cabins set up and furnished on the inside. Charlotte and the boys loved this part. Afterwards, Mama treated us all to yogurt 😊