Happy Halloween Costumes!

Happy Halloween!

In an earlier post we showed how we made our skirts.  A few days ago we made our shirts.  And today we put our costumes all together!

For Angel's pirate shirt, we found a cute skull and crossbones to copy and cut out.  Then we pinned it onto some white flannel and cut it out.

Then we pinned it to a black shirt and sewed it on.

For Shelli's Lilo shirt, we found an Hawaiian leaf to cut out of three different colored flannel.

Then we sewed it onto a pink shirt.

Today we put it all together.

Angel had her pirate shirt, skirt and some black and white leggings.  She wore her tall boots and put on a red handkerchief over her hair.  She looks great!

Shelli put on her Lilo leaf shirt, some orange leggings, her cute skirt, flower sandals, a pink lei, and held the Stitch they just got from Disneyland.

A few days ago, Angel and Shelli made me a witch's hat. 

I wanted to be a witch but couldn't find a hat I liked so they made me one!  They are so thoughtful!

The witch is all set for tonight!!

Littlest Pet Shop Beds

Written by Angel and Shelli

Today Shelli and I made beds for our Littlest Pet Shop animals.

I made a big bed for the big kitty and three miniature beds for the babies.

I made the beds out of the tops of tulle holders.

For the miniature beds, I took of the caps and glued them together.  Then I put felt on the tops to make a cushiony bed and glitter foam around the edges to make it pretty.

Then I made felt pillows, lamps and little water bottles out of beads.

For the big bed, I used  an empty ribbon spool and put felt and foam on it like the others.  I added a few more cushions for the big kitty.

For Shelli's Roller Roo bed:  I used a scotch tape box.  I put felt on the top.  Then I cut a circle out of the box and felt and placed a cap inside to make a seat with more felt to make a cushion. I used felt leaf stickers for decorations.  And I used a sea shell for an ice cream.  I used beads for the cup  and the light bulb on the lamp.  I used a cardboard box to make a bowl full of blue string to make spaghetti and orange beads for meatballs.  I used a straw for the spoon and I put a bead on it so it would look like a little spoon.  

We had fun making our beds!

Fall Recital October 22, 2016

This Saturday our music studio, Strings, Keys and Melodies held a Fall Recital.  Mommy teaches about 40 students and holds 5 recitals every year. We like to go to retirement homes because the people enjoy our music and we like to share it with them.

We went to The Commons for the first time.  They have a wonderful grand piano and the residents were really nice.

This recital was the first time that Shelli played her pennywhistle.  Mommy played a duet with her so she couldn't film it at the same time. Therefore, we waited until we got home and Amanda filmed us. 

Watch Shelli and Mommy's pennywhistle duet.

Angel opened the recital by playing "The Streamliner" on the piano.  She did great!

Watch Angel Play "The Streamliner"

Angel also sang "I Could Have Danced All Night" 

Watch Angel sing "I Could Have Danced All Night"

Please excuse the funny filming because Mommy is the teacher, sound tech and videographer so its hard to do all those things at one time! 

Working on Halloween Costumes

This week, we worked on our Halloween costumes. 

Angel wants to be a pirate and Shelli wants to be Lilo from Disney's Lilo and Stitch.

We decided to make pretty tulle skirts.

Shelli's Lilo skirt is yellow, orange and pink. 

First we sewed a piece of elastic into a circle and then I showed Shelli how to tie on the tulle.

Angel's Pirate skirt is black, red, and sparkly white.  I didn't take pictures of her making her skirt but she did a great job too!

Now we just need to finish the skull and cross bones for Angel's shirt and big Hawaiian flowers for Shelli's shirt!  We are almost ready!

Nature Walks

All three of us love to go on Nature Walks.  We go almost everyday!  We have several favorite places to go that are pretty close to Finch Cottage.  

We call the one closest to us, The Turtle Park, because there are a lot of turtles that line up on branches that are sticking out of the water!

There are also a lot of ducks, geese, hawks and cranes.

Sometimes we see snakes, skunks, otters and muskrats!

In this picture, Shelli is sliding down the hill because it was sleek after the rain.  She and Angel ran up and slid down several times!

After the rain, the little creek was running full.  It was making a very pretty river-like sound.

Angel and Shelli love to find hidden trails through the grass and fields.  They tell stories as they run along together.

On our walks, we learn a lot about nature plus get our exercise and sunshine! We love the freedom to relax and enjoy God's creation!

Fall Acorn Necklaces From Start to Finish

Today we made beautiful Fall Acorn Necklaces!

We got the idea from Rhythms of Play and thought they were so pretty that we wanted to give it a try!

So yesterday we went on a nature hike and gathered acorn caps.

 We brought along some marbles to make sure they would fit inside the acorn caps since acorn caps come in a variety of sizes!

The next step was to drill two holes in each acorn cap.  

Then we measured the hemp cord (about 32") and threaded it through the two holes.

We tied granny knots with the cord inside the caps.

After that we went to the hot glue and filled the caps with glue.  

Then we shoved the marbled into the plop of glue.

Ta-da!  The beautiful necklaces were completed!

Pizza From Start to Finish

This week we decided to make pizza from scratch for lunch.  We do a lot of baking around here!  You can learn so much from following a recipe - reading and following directions; measuring ingredients; life skills of cooking; chemical reactions (in this case yeast); making something look appetizing and appealing!

So we started with making the dough - measuring and kneading.

Then we rolled out the dough onto the cookie sheets.

After we baked the crust for a few minutes, we pulled it back out and put on the toppings.  Some of us are allergic to cheese so I didn't even think to look if we had any before we started making our pizza!  So we made our pizza cheeseless!

But we had wonderful toppings such as mushrooms, bell peppers, olives, zucchini, and sauce.  

After baking it was time to enjoy our pizza lunch!

Welcome!

Hello!

We are excited that you have joined us!

We have decided to share our everyday lives in our new blog:  Life at Finch Cottage!

It will be full of baking, crafting, science, and everyday fun!  

Our family is a whole life learning family! We learn something new everyday and would like to share it with you while keeping track of it for ourselves!

Let us introduce ourselves:

Mommy, Shelli and Angel

(Other family members are Daddy, big sister Amanda, oldest sister Rachel and her husband Garrett.)

Enjoy!!