Eye of Sauron and a Cheerleader Grace Our Hall Wall of Fame

Years ago we started this tradition of having our friends and family put their thumb print on our wall. Here is a link to where I first post about this tradition.

The idea is that they paint something that represents them. It can be anything about themselves. 

I have a family member that decorates cakes and made her print into a cake.Others make things like instruments, sports, toys, movies, crafts, kids, occupations and others to grace the wall.
 
It is fun when someone new comes to visit and they stand looking at all the prints on the wall and usually think what they would like to put on the wall. 

Since the kids are older and we didn't start it until after my divorce, (we had all white walls while I was married) the older kids didn't have friends prints on there but Princess Five has LOTS of friends prints on there and some of Princess Four's friends also have prints on the wall. 
 
Princess Five never really felt like her print was representative of her as her cousin chose the item she wanted to put on the wall so she asked if we could add a new print to our wall with something that represents where she is in life. I told her she can put a new print on the wall every year showing where she is at in her life is she wants. 

I hadn't really thought about it but Prince One hadn't ever put his print on the wall and of course Grand Princess one wouldn't have it there as she is just one so we thought it was about time that we added them to our wall of Fame! 

Grand Princess HATED getting paint on her finger as she wanted to do what she wanted to do with it but after it was all done, she was really cute wanting to point to her dad's picture when I was taking the picture so we went with that. 

It was just one of the many fun things we did this weekend. I LOVE when my family gets together!!!!!

Angels Watching Over Prince Ones Christmas Wishlist

Today was another one of those days where things ran smoothly most of the day and we just enjoyed time together. We ate and Prince and Princess one decided they wanted a new TV so he was REALLY excited to go to Walmart and try and get one of the 50 inch TVs they had for less than $300. He said he was going and headed out right for 6. 

He went and found out that they opened the doors at 4 p.m. and you needed to get a wrist band at four to come back from 6 to 8 and pick up the TV. He also went for legos and someone bought carts full so there were none left. He left the girls there and he didn’t even look at the movies. He was so bummed. After he left the girls at the store, I had to go get them and so I went and had to wait in line to get into the movie area where they were shopping for $2 videos. 

I started a conversation with the couple behind me and they told me a story about how the people were waiting in line in some corner for a trampoline wristband and he just went to where they were on the shelf and picked one up and everyone was upset because they had to wait with the wrist bands. 

Prince One was told that if people didn’t pick up their wrist band TV before 8 p.m. they would sell them to those waiting. I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask so I picked up some videos I think Princess Five would like and went to where they had the TVs and the last 40 inch TV was walking away. I asked both the 40 and 50 inch people about them and they said they all sold and told me two people stood with them for an hour to get the last two TVs that no one picked up before 8. I then went to the electronics sections asking anyone along the way if they had seen any TVs placed anywhere else. I asked in the electronics space and there was no one that knew anything there. I went to the Lego section asking if they had any anywhere and they didn’t. 

We checked out and there were two dimes on the ground at the check out. (In God we trust post about finding money here) I asked at the check out, I asked at customer service. I then asked the people standing around at the 20 items checkout / cigarette isle. They had a wrist band sitting there. They said, “Oh, this is for the 50 inch TV but I don’t know if they have any left. He took it over to someone and they said I could take the wrist band to the tire and lube and see if they had any left. We had already checked out and the girls were gone so I rushed back there and I could see two pallets full of 50 inch TVs so I asked them and they said they hadn’t seen any of the wrist bands and had no idea what it meant but not one person had come back for any of the 50 inch Emerson TV’s and they had two pallets full, over 30 TVs. 

They called the manager for the area, he called the store manager to find out that they had somehow forgotten they had the 30 TVs there for sale. There was a bit of a yelling match over the radio with one ending in a rough, “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” and I guess they weren’t happy at how many upset customers had left without a TV that was featured on the front of their ad for black Friday early on Thanksgiving night. 

They asked me if I would like to purchase one. I quickly called Prince One and asked if they wanted it. His wife was on the phone and told him it was up to him. She said he wanted it so I told them I would purchase it. He called back a minute later asking if they had a 40 inch as my eldest is worried the 50 inch won’t fit but I had to tell him in a sarcastic voice that it is so sad that they didn’t have any of the 40 inch TVs left so he would have to take the 50 inch which is what he wanted the entire time. He said, “Oh darn.” With a smile in his voice. 
 
The guys that were ringing me out said, “This TV is much better than the one’s they sold on the floor for the sale. This one has more features and is a better quality TV. It acts as a computer monitor and has 3 HDMI inputs and all the other HD flat screen options." It was a bit difficult getting it into the car but Princess Two had to sit on Princess Four's lap and I had to drive while holding my purse and purchases. The car bumped out of gear a few times but we made it home safely.

I had to return a Red box at Walmart but their box wasn’t working so we had to go to Mcdonalds to return it on our way home. I almost took one parking spot but thought with all the people and stuff in the front, I should park in a better spot to pull out so changed spots. As I walked in, there was a dime in my path and I smiled knowing that my prayers to get Prince one his TV were answered and the angels wanted me to know it so put that dime in my path even getting me to move my car so it would be in my path to remind me to "Trust in God in all things." 
 
I asked the guy at Walmart if I could keep the wrist band so I could put it on my gratitude frame. They were all sweet and were putting out the TVs for other customers as I left and they thanked me for bringing it to their attention as they needed those TVs out of the lube bays before tomorrow. I am sure many other customers were happy I asked so many people about the TVs and I KNOW Prince One is happy I asked them as well! I think that much is evident by the huge smile on his face. 

Princess One mentioned to her Prince that he now needed to buy a mounting bracket. I suggested they wait on that until Christmas as Princess Five has their family for Christmas. They both got excited looks on their faces. Truth is, I have one from my winnings at Panasonic as we chose not to mount it to the wall in the end but I kept the mounting unit just in case I changed my mind. I don't see me using it any time soon so it will be great for them to have it without the cost. My TV is a 50 inch so I know it will be strong enough for their TV as well! Another blessing! 
 
I added this last picture as Prince One was helping me in the kitchen today. My grandmother always made au gratin potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner but no one got her recipe before she died so I used this one in a town cookbook and I smiled when I looked at what page it was on... Yes, 111! No coincidences in my world. It wasn't lost on me. This was the grandmothers home I spoke of in yesterdays post where we prayed kneeling next to the dining table every Thanksgiving. We started that tradition today but with grand-princess in the mix, it did shorten the gratitude prayer but I thought of my grandparents today at several times, on this day of family, and I am so grateful to them for a good foundation and heritage that I can be proud of. I am grateful for my little family that brings so much joy to my life.

Oh Happy Day - Thanksgiving With Family

 There are many days in your life that you remember.... There are many that you wish you could forget.....

Today, is a day I wish I could re-live over and over and over. I was up late making muffins of all varieties since I have some that like nuts, some that don't, some like zucchini, some like pumpkin etc. 

I explained my not sleeping due to headaches in yesterdays post and was so happy that I woke somewhat refreshed and without a headache. Within an hour of me waking, I had a house full of family. The house was ready, the food was mostly ready, the rooms were ready and I was SO ready. 

Babies change so much in such a short time that every time I get to see my grand baby, she has changed so much. I LOVE when I get to see her. She is watched over and pampered by five adults besides her parents. We can't seem to get enough of her. 
 
Her parents have done such an amazing job with her. I sneezed while in the kitchen and I hear a cute little "Go bless oh" coming from the other room. We thought it was so cute. I asked her parents how she learned to say, "God bless you" when someone sneezes and they said they all were sick a week or two ago and she picked it up. A little later, her dad coughed and she said it again. It is the sweetest thing! 

She says, "please, thank you, all done, more, help" and many other adorable things. She even has the girls names down. I wish I had taken a video but right after arriving, one of the first things, if not the first thing she picked up was a family photo I have in the living room. She said "Daddy" and then started pointing to the girls and would say their names. Her mom would point and she would answer with their names. I was so surprised as we don't see her that often.
Now the girls on the other hand, Princess three went right to the fun game "hoopla" I blogged about a few weeks back. We still play with it all the time and whenever we have someone over, they want to play it. It is so fun. Prince One got in on the action and had a turn. It was quite the game all day with different people taking turns. 

Princess Five and I still play with it often while visiting at the table after a meal. It actually got broken with a little bumping from Grand-Princess but we should have played it where it wasn't on the floor. It is an easy fix as it was just one of the dowel legs so I can do surgery on it tomorrow, I posted a blog about fixing dowels a few years back, here is that post.

I found a radio flyer rocking horse at a second hand store for $3 a few weeks back and figured she would be about the right age to ride it over the holidays and I was right. She is at the perfect height and age to get on it by herself. She enjoyed when her aunt rocked her back and forth with her foot. It was a wonderful time when she would walk with me holding on to one of my fingers to go get a snack pickle or to the toy box to get out a few noisy toys to enjoy. I LOVED that she "Found" her spot and promptly put all of the toys on the coffee table and climbed up there over and over to enjoy them. Her little throne!   

Princess Four arrived a little later that the rest but it gave me time to pick up the last few items needed for sushi from the store and then we all enjoyed making our own sushi rolls. Some thought it was a bit different for us but I told them that I love that they appreciate our traditional meals when they come home as they all want their favorites. Those are "wedding sandwiches" and "Bacon wrapped Chicken" but I would like to make some other things that I can eat and that we can make some new traditions so I told them that next year, I want to make some cheese cakes. I've made one before but I want to perfect that art so hopefully, I can expand my horizons in that way for next Thanksgiving. 

The sushi was a hit with most having two or three rolls they created themselves. I am sure it will be one more favorite that we enjoy together. 

After dinner, we played games and enjoyed visiting and spending time together. Grand-Princess was wonderful considering how tired she was as she hadn't slept since ten this morning when she took a nap in the car. She was so sweet with everyone and made us laugh and smile all day. I have to say that my house isn't as "child proof" as I thought as she is into every drawer, cupboard, and at one point, she nearly grabbed a knife off the counter as she just puts her hand up and grabs whatever she can reach up there even if she can't see what is up there. She was hoping for the "cutie" oranges that are kept near there as she kept one in her hand like a ball most of the afternoon just holding on to it. 
 
She got into the dress ups and the stuffed animals and the decorations and kept bringing me all the stuff that she knew she really shouldn't be playing with like she was "baby proofing" the house for us. Not that anything out would cause danger but things like pictures, decorations and the little sign on my antique wheel chair that says, "please don't sit here." etc. 

My living room looks like a toy tornado went through and she really loved all the musical instruments that I have decorating the room and at one point had both "rain sticks" in  her hands and was using them like hiking sticks. She walked around and around and she learned the word, "over" when I kept telling and showing her how to turn the rain stick over to make the "rain" noise. She figured it out in about a minute and kept walking around with them in her hand and as I cleaned up a bit for the night, I found one in the family room and one in the living room on the floor. I smiled as I picked them up as I probably won't view them the same way ever again as now in my mind they are "Walking rain sticks." 
 
I worked on placing shirts for a t-shirt quilt for Princess Four that I want to make for Christmas and we watched the latest Disney movie some of us hadn't seen. It was "Inside Out" and I thought it was very creative and fun. Two of the girls said they cried or almost cried when they watched it but I guess being a product of divorce could stir up some feelings when you are watching a movie about feelings. 

I picked up all the quilt pieces in order and put every thing up so it wouldn't be in the path of Grand-Princess for the next few days while they are here. About then, the baby woke up croupy and they ended up in the steamy bathroom and I put a humidifier in their room with some thieves oil in it to help her breathe better as it has the rosemary and eucalyptus oils in it. I got her some grape juice with some GSE as well to help. (Click here for a post about that.) She seems better now as I blog. 

When I came upstairs, collected my cameras to blog and headed to my room, I looked at two different clocks thinking about what a wonderful day it was seeing everyone home and safe and couldn't help smile when both clocks said 1:11. (Click here for that original post) It was the frosting on the cake. I am SO looking forward to the next few days with my wonderful clan. I am truly Thankful that our country still honors a day of Thanks and that we spend it with family. It brought to my mind when I was younger and we would travel to my grandparents home and we would all kneel around the thanksgiving table while my legislature lawyer grandfather would give the most wonderful blessings of gratitude. I asked the kids about it tonight and think we will start that as a tradition tomorrow because we truly do have so much to be thankful for. Once again, I am thankful for you and hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday!

The Mystery Gratitude Flowers Case is Soved

I woke to a knock this morning but I have had three days of horrible headaches this week, one which kept me in bed all day one day trying not to move with nausea. 

I was so tired, I didn't get up to get the door and went back to sleep. I then woke to a phone call, but still being tired, I didn't answer it. 

I finally drug myself up but at least I didn't have a headache today. I listened to the message on my phone to find out that the knock at my door this morning was the flower delivery people. They asked me to call when I would be home. 

I called and they delivered the flowers about 45 minutes later. The arrangement was so fall, and the first thing that caught my eye was the two little ears of indian corn. The colors are so cute. I thought it would be fun to use the kernels and grow some next year. It is funny the thoughts that flash through your head in a second. 

It took me back to when I was about ten and my mom had some ears of corn in all colors and she had us plant some of the kernels and it was such a fun year harvesting all those different colors of corn. We ate some and it wasn't the most tender of corn but it sure was fun to grow and look at.  

I looked at the card and it just said, "Thank you for everything!" I called my friend Julie and asked if she sent it and she said she didn't. I then called my dad and step mother asking if it were from them. Nope, but I did have some great conversations and updates with all of them. Then, I texted my girls. I figured if it were from them, they would sign the card. 

One of them texted back later that it was from "one" of them but the sender wanted to be anonymous. I laughed that I called several people before them and actually asked my friend Deanna when I picked something up from her house as well. I just couldn't figure out what "Everything" meant and kept trying to think if I had done something for someone lately. I thought perhaps they were from the food bank but usually when we sent gifts or flowers, it goes through the board so doubted that was the case as I am on the board. 

I appreciate them and they will liven our Thanksgiving table up nicely so I am really looking forward to this holiday with all my family here. What a blessing it is having a family! I am so grateful for them! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family! We are truly blessed! 

Making and Freezing Fruit Smoothie and Green Drink Base - Fast and Easy

If you read yesterday's post (click here for that if you didn't read it) then you will know that I brought home a TRUNK full of meat from the food bank. With that, I had to find a place in my freezer for all that meat.

When the food bank freezer compressor went out  a few months back, I helped distribute thousands of pounds of meat but didn't think to clean out my own freezer and keep some. I kept a few turkeys and a ham I think.

After all the stress trying to save all the meat, it just didn't occur to me to get rid of the bread, veggies and fruit that I had in there and get some meat. So, this time, when they had overages at the food bank, I did think to keep some for myself. It was an answer to a prayer for sure as you can see in yesterday's post I have been craving protein.

That meant cleaning out the two chest freezers. The two upper fridge freezers are always getting rotated as I keep the new stuff in those but I had about six bags of blueberries from the food bank at different times, peaches and nectarines from my tree, plums from my tree, pineapple from the food bank, bananas from the food bank and a few other weird things like fruit pulp from juicing apples and some watermelon I froze when we had to leave town and I didn't want to waste it and figured we could use it in a smoothie. I also had many bags of frozen grapes that were wonderfully sweet we also got from the food bank when they had pallets of grapes one time.

So, I had a full plastic bin and a smaller box of frozen fruits and yogurts. The yogurts came from the food bank and I froze some to eat as frozen yogurt but they got buried in the chest freezer so they just didn't get eaten. I would rather have the meat so I pulled it all out of the freezers and filled them with meat.

I didn't want the fruit and yogurt to go to waste so I gave a box to a friend and then decided I would make smoothies and freeze them made already and then take them out and thaw them or actually defrost them in the microwave on defrost and drink them that way.

I would throw a few bags of stuff into the VitaMix blender and blend it up with some water. I would then throw in a frozen yogurt to give it a creamy taste and I poured that into a large bowl and repeated that process until the bowl was full.

I would then mix the several blenders full together and double bag quart sized freezer bags and fill them by folding down the outer edge so I could keep the zipper part clean. I then got all the air out and sealed it. I saved some space in the two upper freezers and laid the bags out flat to freeze. I went from a full bin plus to about 20 containers of smoothie. I thought it was so good I kept sneaking tastes as I bagged it. I also dehydrated some for fruit leather which I will post about tomorrow.

This is a wonderful way to have a fruit base for a green drink or just to have a quick and easy smoothie. I just put a bag into the microwave on defrost typing in 1 pound of meat and by the time it beeped, it had thawed enough to get it into the blender to mix. Or, I just put it on for another few minutes on defrost and then mushed it with my hands and it was the perfect smoothie, it still had slushy texture but didn't require any blending. Also, I did this for another few fruit leather trays and the microwave technique worked great. You could have your green drink or smoothie made up in about five minutes with just seconds of work as most of that time is the microwave doing the work. Or, if you don't like microwaves, you could fill a clean bowl with hot water and let it soak for a few minutes to defrost if you are in a hurry. Otherwise, you could just leave it in a bowl on the counter for a few hours and it will be nice and thawed.

I LOVED that it went from large amounts of freezer space and somewhat unusable bags of harder frozen bananas, peaches etc to easy to take flat bags or containers that took up the bottom shelf of the upper freezer! I will choose these over eating a bowl of ice cream or other frozen treat as I thought they tasted great. I actually saved some out of the microwave fruit leather bag just to eat.

If you are going out of town, just put one of these in a small cooler and take it with, when it melts, it is still "slushy" texture and is quite good. This could be a way to have a frozen treat with the kids on a long trip without the expense and time for stopping at a smoothie or ice cream place.

I wish I had thought to take a picture of the bin and box full of fruit but as usually happens with my blog posts, it is just stuff I am doing already and I don't think about making it into a blog post until I am halfway through the project.


I just thought I would share that information as I was so happy with it. I like that Princess Five can just pull a bag out and have a smoothie anytime without me having to clean up any messes or having to dig in the freezer for items. This is one brilliant idea in my book! 

Blessings From Tithing - More Than I can Count

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”Malachi 3:10 

I write about gratitude often on the blog. Probably not as often as I should with the name of the blog being "The Secret is Gratitude" but life also happens and I think it is important for people to understand that just because we give gratitude and are good people, we will still have trials. 

Today, however, I want to share with you something I know to be true. TITHING PAYS! I belong to a church that has tithing. Many churches just pass around a basket to collect money. In my church, we believe in giving 1/10 of our income or "profit" in tithing. I personally believe that we should also tithe our time. I try to tithe time but when I am busy, that doesn't always happen. 

I ALWAYS pay a full tithe though as I have seen over and over how my Father in Heaven blesses those who obey that principle. It doesn't matter what religion you are, just pay 1/10 forward, give it to charity, in your heart, let God know you are tithing your income and your time and the blessings will always come! 

There have been many times where I paid my tithing rather than bills and somehow, the money I needed comes. I believe it is a matter of faith. 
 
The other day, I felt inspired or prompted to call a friend of mine. I haven't seen her in a long time but called asking how she was doing. In the conversation somehow, the subject of tithing came up and I  started telling her some of the MANY stories we have in our family about tithing and how we will get a check for the exact amount we paid that was an unexpected income etc. She thanked me and told me that she didn't have money to pay both tithing and bills but felt that I was inspired to call her. 

Later that day, she sent me the sweetest text thanking me for following those feelings about calling her. 

I shared with her how I actually "picture my Father in heaven in my head standing in front of me." I then tell Him how I am doing and what my stresses are just like I would my earthly father. Then, I hand Him my problems and worries as I picture myself actually handing them to Him. I thank Him for taking that problem and TRUST that HE will take care of it. 

This month, house taxes are due. I don't know why they make them due the month before Christmas but it makes it difficult every year. Also, Princess Five is going on a Concert Tour to Disney in a few months and the money was due this month also. This left me in the negative in my checking. I CHOOSE to pay my tithing. There is no question in my mind that HE will and would take care of us. 

With the parasites, I crave protein, LOTS of it! Especially at night. I eat cheese, yogurt and lately, those haven't been enough and I will eat a hand full of lunch meat. We don't eat lots of meat because it is expensive. A few weeks ago, we ate most of the rest of the meat we had in the freezer leaving a pound of hamburger. I bought some chicken and some lunch meat but hate spending that much on meat but if I don't eat it, I am so tired I can't get much done. 

I have four freezers and they are full of mostly fruit and vegetables from my neighbors garden and some bread I get from the food bank when they have overages. Also, some mangos and broccoli from overages at the food bank and have posted about those in the past. 

The items I had in the freezer weren't making the cut for my protein craving and the funds needed to purchase meat isn't there. I still pay my tithing and TRUST that as I handed the problem to my Father in Heaven, He would take care of it. I did worry a bit as I have all the kids home for Thanksgiving this year rather than Christmas and stressed a little about the cost of providing meals for four or five days. I am not perfect in faith but in some areas, I trust completely and others, I still need work. 

I thought I was doing a great deed as I am collecting items for the food bank. I bought a bin to put scarves in that my friend Julie so graciously made for homeless that come through. We are collecting hats, gloves, can openers, silverware, hygiene kits etc as the homeless come through so they can take what they need. 

I took in another bin and can opener this week when they got two calls about a HUGE donation while I was there. A large company that supplies restaraunts had lots of food that is expiring and told us they would donate all we wanted. 

The problem being that we didn't know what a "case" of lunch meat or french toast looked like space wise and when trying to ask the donator, he didn't know exactly how many were on a pallet either so we grossly over-orded what our walk in freezer, fridge and distribution freezers could hold.

The normal places the food bank stores overflow lost his compressor and the large freezer at the woman shelter went out and they got a walk in but it didn't have much room.
 
I went over and helped fill up freezers, rearrange and distribute what needed to be distributed. We were able to help the woman shelter, a few others in need and I was absolutely BLESSED from my Father in Heaven to FILL my four freezers with mostly meat! i had the dehydrator going making fruit leather from much of the fruit and made it into smoothies and refroze it that way consolidating space in the freezers to fit everything. I also shared some of my fruit and other items with a friend to create room.  

When I distributed some food to a family in need, she asked me if I could take some gluten free food they had to the food bank for her as they thought their sons health problems was gluten but found out it is his liver. I shared that I am gluten free and she told me she had more stuff at home that was open she would give me and told me to keep the other stuff as well. God blessed them through me but as I was helping them by giving them food, they gave me flour, pasta and some other items that were gluten free which filled up my cupboards. That same night, I went to bunko and they served me gluten free pasta and sent me home with the rest of the package. So, not only did I fill my freezers, but my kitchen cupboards are full. 


I KNOW my Father LOVES me. I KNOW He does take care of those problems that I entrust with Him. I wish I were better at trusting in other areas of my life but I am constantly working on that. 

I cleaned out the can shelf a few weeks ago and got rid of the bulging cans and you can see I still have no room on my shelves for more cans. I have a garage full of food storage buckets and I can't close my cupboards they are so full of food.

I will tell you that paying 1/10 of your income to God, charity, poor, needy etc is an investment! Look at all the cases of meat in my trunk! I dare you to try it!!! You can never one up God. He will always win! You think you are doing some great thing but he will win in that game!!! 

I LOVE my Heavenly Father and am so grateful that I have a knowledge of Him and feel of His love in my life often. You can't read much of my blog without seeing how He blesses us!       

Try telling Him exactly what you need and see if He doesn't just take care of those needs. Always remember to give gratitude when He does!!! Think about other ways you get "income" as scholarships, Christmas bonuses etc. I paid out 1/10 of the meat I got and shared my portion with those I knew could use it. It is on your increase, not just income. Many times my girls have forgotten to pay on scholarship, I remind them, they pay it and receive another scholarship in the amount of the tithing check they paid. Things like that happen all the time when you pay tithing! Give it a try!  

Soda or Pop Tab Can Lid Elastic Bracelet - Easy

I have posted several times about making pop or soda tab jewelry.

Here is a link to the first ones Princess Five made. Doesn't she look so young in the post? 

Here is a link to some others we made when we had our exchange student.

Here is a post where someone made a bag or purse out of them.

Here is one where they made belts out of them  I found it at a second hand store.

This bracelet I found the other day in a bag of jewelry I purchased. I hadn't seen this options before. In this one, it looks easy to make and they use thin round elastic. They just wove it through like you do a shoe lace. They tied a knot at the end. It was really easy and cute and what I liked about it is that it expands over you hand and you don't have to have a ribbon tied like the other jewelry we made.

I know they have white and pink elastic cording so you could use that and you could also paint the can tabs. They used a green one as an accent one but you could make it patriotic painting them red and blue and use white elastic to make it.Making one for Halloween by painting them orange and using black elastic etc.

It could be fun to make patters up. I just thought it was worth showing and I have had a really busy day as it is now 5 a.m. and I need some sleep.

First Girls Choice Dance a HIT for Princess Five

Princess Five has a fun group of friends. She had lots of them want to be in a group with her for the first girls choice dance of the year. They had to cut it down some but made it fun for the ones that did go with her. 
 
She wasn't sure who she wanted to go with but didn't want it to be really serious so she thought she would ask someone who was new to dating and that she knew somewhat. 
 
Her date is on the yearbook committee so he is always walking around with a camera so she decided to go with a "camera" theme to ask him. 
 
She planned her date with her friends. I found these black sweat shirts for a deal so they were able to make their "shirts" for $12 a couple. Let me just say that Princess Four paid $60 or more for her two shirts last year. 
 
They had her friends mom make all the wording with vinyl and they spent an evening putting all the names on the back, colored names on the arms and some cute words on the front of each sweatshirt.   

I have never seen so many customs / traditions as they have here in this town but you ask the guy, make shirts for the dance, plan a date and then go to the dance, oh, and eat as well. To see the "Jr Prom" traditions, check out this post.

She seemed to enjoy herself and made the posters and put them on his car one night. He just turned 16 and hasn't dated at all so he wasn't sure how to reply so he just walked up and told her "yes" at a choir practice. One of his friends quickly informed him that he was supposed to do something "creative" to answer her so he wrote up some posters of his own which is a big deal for a guy, and placed them on her car. 
 
She called his mom before asking him to ask his mother if she could ask him on the date and he is the oldest in the family so the mom hasn't had any experience with this towns traditions so she wasn't sure what to do with that and asked my daughter if she was supposed to tell her son and wondered why she was asking the mom over the son. 
 
Princess explained that usually, the person asking calls the parents to make sure no one else is planning on asking already so that they don't go to all that trouble of asking if they are already going to the dance. 

In the end, they did have a "Picture Perfect Postcard" evening! I only heard fun things about the date and they asked me to take the pictures and I may be biased but I think they came out VERY cute. I didn't show ones that I would have to block lots out but lets just say, there were some VERY cute pictures!