Color Changing Ghost Story

Everybody knows that ghosts are white because they only eat things that are tasty and white, like coconut, whip cream, cream cheese icing, and vanilla ice cream. {If you didn't already know that, now you do.}

Gilbert was a little ghost who was in a hurry to be a big ghost. One Halloween, after weeks of begging, his mom said that he could be the one to pass out candy to trick or treaters while she and Dad went to a haunted house for a Halloween party. Gilbert was so excited! It was his first night home alone. He felt so big!

As his mom was leaving, she reminded him, "The candy is for the trick or treaters. No snacking! Crazy things happen when little ghosts eat things that are not white."

"Mo-o-om! I am not a little ghost anymore! I am a big ghost!"

At first, things went just fine. The door bell would ring, Gilbert would answer the door, the costumed kids would shout "trick or treat", he would give them candy, and the kids would scamper off giggling over their bags of treats.

But then, Gilbert saw himself in the mirror. His white was so plain. His white was so boring. He wished he had a cool costume like the kids. He wished he had a bag full of yummy treats.

He looked into the bowl of candy he had been passing out. Hmmm. It was huge.



Surely, one little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a RED cinnamon bear and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of RED.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a ORANGE lollipop and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of ORANGE.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a YELLOW Starburst and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of YELLOW.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a GREEN jaw breaker and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of GREEN.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a BLUE taffy and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of BLUE.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a PURPLE box of Nerds and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of PURPLE.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a PINK piece of bubblegum and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of PINK.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a BROWN piece of chocolate and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of BROWN.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!



Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a BLACK piece of licorice and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of BLACK.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a GRAY jellybean and popped the whole thing in his mouth. It was disgusting! Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of GRAY.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!



And then he spotted a piece of candy corn in his bowl. He grinned and popped the whole thing in his mouth. It was delicious! Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful striped pattern.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!

But, he didn't feel so well. The door bell rang. Gilbert groaned. His tummy hurt. He couldn't get to the door to answer it. The door bell rang again. Gilbert groaned again.

The door opened. "Gilbert?" It was his mom. She was home from the party. "Oh, Gilbert!"

"I don't feel very well."

"I can see that, sweetie. I have just the thing to help you feel better." She went to the kitchen and returned with a nice tall glass of milk.

Gilbert drank the milk and began to feel better.

A little while latter, on his way to bed he passed by the mirror.

He saw his old look.

He looked AWESOME!



Curtain call:



Written by: Timbra Vaughn

I did the artwork too. I know, I ROCK!



Have your child act out the story with props to work on color identification and naming. You can make your own out of all kinds of things (construction paper, felt, milk jug lids, whatever) or you can print out the photos and use those.

Candy Land will never be the same

We. dig. Legos.

Look what we stumbled across:

W-h-A-t?!

They are like trading cards but are

LITTLE LEGO CHARACTERS!!!!

I cannot tell you how excited I was to get to the car and open these things up. It simply cannot be described accurately.

I have a vision of my Christmas stocking overflowing with these. hint hint

BBD was not super interested in the dramatic unveiling because he had picked out a Toby the Train Lego set, but he liked his vampire when I handed it back him. He is pretty sure that the vampire is part of the Toby set and is meant to ride around on Toby.


CB was thrilled that she landed the Pharaoh, but she doesn't like that name, "that is why I call it a ninja".

I got a sweet little wicked witch.

Daddy got a lady life guard.

He used to Life Guard so that is cool. But what is really cool is that she totally completed our gang of super villains. She brings some mean super spy skills to the group. She's a double agent. That's right, she has betrayed her country and that is pretty bad.

Intimidating.
I know.

Daddy had the GREAT idea that these should be our game pieces for board games. I love that man.

So when we got home, we invaded. Poor little sweethearts, they never saw the destruction coming. Who could? Lord Licorice has got nothing on us. Fool. You call yourself a villain?!


Breaching their defenses was so easy. A cake walk actually.

Things were quiet at first.

But that was short lived. Soon, everybody was Kung Foo Fiiiighting.

And the castle was taken at a price.

Daddy won the first organized game we played. CB and her father are very competitive and often trash talk each other. It's heart warming.

D: How does it feel to have your Daddy beat you at Candy Land?!
CB: Not so good. I like winning better.

Pine Cone Monsters

We needed some Halloween decoration in our home.

We had pine cones and miscellaneous craft supplies.

Now we have

Pine Cone Monsters.

The children dictated color, amount, material, and placement. I hot glued.

After playing with hers for awhile, the girl brought it back to me and informed me that it was not done. It needed legs "as big as my fingers" and a "bow tie on top of her head".

They were thrilled with the little boogers.

{It says, "EeeeOooowwwwEeeeeeRrrrrrr!"}

In the mood for more pine cone craftiness? Check out: Pretty Messy Pine Cones

Linking up to all kinds of fabulous parties...please check out all my glorious buttons on the side bar.

Big Decisions

The beginning of the school year comes with some pretty big choices.




What theme do we start with?




What professional goals do I turn into my principal?




And most importantly:

Which 'stache do I sport?





The kiddos have their favorites:



I think my children may be on to something... why settle for just 1?!

"I really need a trim!"

Don't fret! You can easily make your own, too.



* Cut out various mustache shapes on felt {2 per mustache} I found that they looked nicer when I cut them out one at a time. Thicker felt worked the best for me. You can find templates online through a search engine. I used my Silhouette machine to make patterns on card stock.

* Slather hot glue all across the inside of your mustache (to make it a little stiffer) and sandwich a craft stick of some kind off to one side.

* Show 'em off!

Linking up to all kinds of fabulous parties...please check out all my glorious buttons on the side bar.

Rock Creations

We arrived home from the beach with A LOT of rocks or as my daughter put it "a whole rock collection".

And so with a little hot glue, miscellaneous craft supplies, and our imaginations we got busy creating.


Group Shot:


CB made this adorable butterfly


and this fun and funky "yellow stripy zebra".


The boy was more interested in the big stick. (Sticks are cool too. Follow your interests, babe.) So some of our pieces became a little more collaborative than usual.


He made these "alien big eyes" and with his approval I added the nose. I dig it-it's like a friendly swamp creature peeking out at you to say hello.

He made the clouds, I made the rainbow-this rock was the perfect shape, I found this to be kismet.

This is BBD's butterfly (I only helped with the gluing and cutting for this bad boy)


You can also go a more natural route and make a little something like this:

I dubbed him DoDo the Doo Wop bird.

We had a good time and that is really what it all is about.



Totally unrelated side note:
I told my teenage nephew that we made these and he texted "Sure, do the fun stuff when I'm gone." I replied, "I can't stop being cool, just because you go home." And he said, "Yeah, u can." Thereby inadvertently admitting that I am cool! Triumph!

Please check out some of these fabulous linky parties. Wonderful ideas and inspiration await! Thank you!

Carnival of Small World Play