Lil Miss Annie Oakley

The entire 5th grade at Bailey's school had a very large project that they've been working on for several weeks. It involved picking a historical figure from U.S. History, doing a report on that person, creating a short speech about the most important details of that person's life, painting a large backdrop that best depicted the historical figure and then dressing as that person for what they called their Wax Museum. Bailey chose Annie Oakley. To come up with an idea for her backdrop, Bailey googled "Annie Oakley" images and found the cute one below. We decided to use the picture (minus the girl) as inspiration for her backdrop. Annie was a sharp shooter and was known for shooting 4-5 holes in a playing card before it could hit the ground (thus the reason for the cards in the picture). The backdrop was very large! It measured 6' tall by about 3.5' wide. It took us all day last Monday (it was due Tuesday), but we sure were happy with the end result! My favorite part? The queen. Bailey did her all by herself. Wow. And what do you think about the bullet holes in the cards? So cool. For the picture below I stood up in the computer niche and looked down at the banquet table to get it all in.

This is her costume. It looked very cute on her. But as old costumes usually go ... it was musty and Bailey hates musty smelling things. Haha. So she sprayed it with her Twilight Woods Bath & Body Works spray, which gave it a musty, Twilight Woods odor. Not great. :)

Here she is at the actual Wax Museum. All the kids had their backdrops put up, and then they stood in front of them in a pose. Each family was given 12 tickets to then pick which characters they wanted to learn more about. When we put a ticket in their container, they then began to talk as if they were the actual person, and giving the details of their life. Once the speech was done, the froze into a pose again, until the next person came along wanting to learn more. Such a neat way for them to learn about U.S. history in a fun way.

Some of the other historical figures that were there: Lucille Ball, Susan B. Anthony (Bailey's BFF Lauren was this), Bruce Lee, Amelia Earhart, Theodore Roosevelt, Martha Washington, Hank Aaron, Sally Ride, JFK, Paul Revere, Noah Webster ... so, so many. It was very cool.

I Love You's, Hugs and Kisses

At the beginning of February, Bailey and I did some decorating for Valentine's Day. We dressed up the dining room table as well as the fireplace mantel, and we think it turned out very cute! We thought we'd share what we did here.

Since it seems like another month is just flying by, I thought I'd do a recap of what's been going on around these parts:

1st - Austen went to the doctor again. He's had a cold that just won't go away! He had also been to the doctor at the end of January and was given a week of antibiotics. This time they gave him a two week dose (different type of antibiotic).

2nd - I find out that Green Tangerines is closing. I'm so sad. Seriously.

5th - Shawn and I celebrate our 16th anniversary. Well, celebrate is such a strong word. Actually, we had talked about it quite a bit for the week leading up to it. Maybe we'd do something the following week? Nah, that's Valentines Day. Gifts? Nah. Well, there is a little crafty item I thought I might like. Haha. So, the day arrives and Shawn completely forgets. As in ... he doesn't say a word all day, after work he calls and asks if I mind if he goes over to Dan's house (a friend from work) and have a cigar and a few drinks. Oh gosh ... I'm giggling a little to myself and get off the phone and say to Austen, "hmm, Dad forgot our anniversary". He wonders if I'm mad, and I say nah. Later, he gets a secret text from Austen reminding him, and I'm sure at that point he crapped his pants. Haha. Kind of comical, really. Thankfully, I'm not the type of person to get angry over something like this. I know how very much this man loves me. I mean ... I'm so lucky, but all I'm saying is he better not forget next year.

7th - Shawn went over to our neighbors house for their Superbowl Party. Of course, I was invited too, but I stayed home with Bailey who wasn't feeling well. Believe me ... I'm cool with that. :)

12th - Austen went back to the doctor. He doesn't seem the least bit better. This time, they give him a different 3-day antibiotic, 3 days of steroids, and had us get a nebulizer so he can do breathing treatments at home. They really aren't giving what he has a name, but we're hoping this will help. Kale came home early from school today. He says he's not feeling all that great. Bailey had a V-Day party at school. We also ran around a whole bunch for various valentine's gift stuff for the boys and their girls. Kale decided to make Sloan a fleece blanket and got her a personalized gift from Things Remembered: a pretty heart necklace inscribed with "I'm right here with you", and a silver box that says Kale and Sloan. Austen decided on a teal necklace and matching bracelets (Marissa really likes teal).

14th - The boys are having the girls over tonight. They are planning to order take-out food from Mikuni, eat here in the dining room and then just watch movies. Somewhere in the midst of that they will give them their gifts. It's my understanding that they both plan on "making it official" by asking the girls to be their girlfriends. How cute is that?

Lastly, on the whole "love" theme ... I was thinking the other night that I'm so grateful that each and every night Shawn and I both get I love you's, hugs and kisses from all of our kids. That means the world to me. :)