Last week I had a day....yes, ONE day which looked like this ~
Disclaimer: Sometimes, when I share my minor catastrophes, I exaggerate to add some comic relief. Just keep that in mind.
So, on days when I have a group of school aged kids I try to plan activities to keep them occupied. The first craft project was "hockey art". This involves placing a piece of paper in a cake pan, sprinkling paper with powdered tempera paint and using a Popsicle stick (hockey stick) to move around an ice cube (hockey puck).
My tempera paint is in a high cabinet in my kitchen so I grabbed a chair to ladder me up to the otherwise unreachable cabinet. With one foot on the chair and one foot moving towards the counter top, I heard the creak of the chair (a chair that was in my grandmother's house when she was growing up) and knew it was over. One leg on the counter the other dangling through the chair, I somehow managed to catch my self with my arm on the top of the refrigerator.
I am thankful that I didn't land on top of the broken chair or end up with a twisted ankle (I once fell off the counter while I was retrieving art supplies which left me limping for a month).
The kids loved this craft activity.
The next craft was melting old, broken crayons into new, cool heart-shaped crayons. Unfortunately the counter top was filled with our drying hockey art so, as I searched for a place to set the crayon mold full of hot melted crayon wax, the silicone mold gave way............
My carpet, dishwasher, refrigerator and cupboard now have a really cool wax design. It's one-of-a-kind artwork.
Disclaimer: Sometimes, when I share my minor catastrophes, I exaggerate to add some comic relief. Just keep that in mind.
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| A pile of backpacks, coats, boots and winter weat. |
School was delayed for two hours.....until the school decided at 7:20 am to cancel for the day. This left parents scrambling and extra kids (kids FULL of energy and excitement over having a snow day) arriving at my house. I love my school-agers but they tend to be harder to care for than babies and preschoolers. I never hear a four year old say, "I'm bored......" but a seven year old? Ugh. I'm bored comes out of their mouths in 20 minute intervals.
So, on days when I have a group of school aged kids I try to plan activities to keep them occupied. The first craft project was "hockey art". This involves placing a piece of paper in a cake pan, sprinkling paper with powdered tempera paint and using a Popsicle stick (hockey stick) to move around an ice cube (hockey puck).
My tempera paint is in a high cabinet in my kitchen so I grabbed a chair to ladder me up to the otherwise unreachable cabinet. With one foot on the chair and one foot moving towards the counter top, I heard the creak of the chair (a chair that was in my grandmother's house when she was growing up) and knew it was over. One leg on the counter the other dangling through the chair, I somehow managed to catch my self with my arm on the top of the refrigerator.
I am thankful that I didn't land on top of the broken chair or end up with a twisted ankle (I once fell off the counter while I was retrieving art supplies which left me limping for a month).
The kids loved this craft activity.
The next craft was melting old, broken crayons into new, cool heart-shaped crayons. Unfortunately the counter top was filled with our drying hockey art so, as I searched for a place to set the crayon mold full of hot melted crayon wax, the silicone mold gave way............
My carpet, dishwasher, refrigerator and cupboard now have a really cool wax design. It's one-of-a-kind artwork.
So much for cool, new crayons. This all occurred before lunch but I was still able to laugh at my "misfortune". Heck, it's important to know how to laugh at one's self.
Oh, did I mention that I was hosting Tuesday night bible study in my house on this same day? Luckily someone else was bringing desert because I may served burnt cookies.
While cleaning the table after lunch I dropped a plate...................
yep, still laughing..........
Hubs returned from work at 3:30 and as I was sharing the series of my unfortunate events with him I grabbed the footstool that the children use to wash their hands at the sink.....and it fell apart. Really. I did not drop it or throw it (although I felt like throwing it when the side ducky fell to the ground). I laughed yet wanted to cry at the same time as I exclaimed, "Everything I touch today........"
Sometimes there will be days like this but when I looked at the rest of the day I can see so many blessings.
A houseful of kids playing, laughing and getting along. The sound of joyful play in every room was beautiful. Getting the chance to spend time with the school age kids that I don't get to see on a daily basis was wonderful. The hockey art was a success despite the chair that was sacrificed. The carpet? Yeah, I ironed for hours and finally gave up a few days later. I have a new rug thanks to my wax spill. I am thankful for Amazon.....rug ordered and delivered in less then a week.
The whole family pitched in after dinner to sweep the floors, vacuum carpets, pick up the play room, etc. so that the house was ready for bible study. It was a joy to work along side my family after what seemed to be a very long day.
Another great part of that day? I have a funny story to tell. I think it even entertained my bible study guests.
I was a GREAT story! Still is. And I learned some cool tips about getting wax out of carpet. Win-Win, right?.... right?... ... well. It's still a cool story.
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