tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8096621165484193172024-03-13T22:12:11.102-07:00Summer 101One mom's journey to avoid the "I'm bored" summertime blues.just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-45497810242805118272009-08-03T17:27:00.000-07:002009-08-03T17:59:45.103-07:00Pressing Clover<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3786289669/"><img height="323" alt="1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/3786289669_f63d7cd8ed.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />Today my plan was completely thrown out the window when I spent the afternoon at the Costco Tire Center. So I wasn't able to pick up the items I needed for what I had planned. So I had to think on my feet. I noticed some clover growing in the garden. So I decided we would learn about clover hearts and try our luck at finding a four leaf clover. We didn't find any four leaf clovers but they kids were thrilled by the heart shape leaves, especially the pink ones!<br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3786286745/"><img height="333" alt="2" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3540/3786286745_e987bec1a2.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />The girls spent so much time searching for the perfect clover. My son took one peek and said he would never find a four leaf clover and he went inside after picking a few 3 leaf clovers! (by this time it was 4:30, my kids were toast!)<br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3786286593/"><img height="333" alt="3" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/3786286593_be0e44f9b5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3787096494/"><img height="500" alt="4" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3512/3787096494_7f6260eedb.jpg" width="351" /></a><br /><br /><br />Still searching..........<br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3787096592/"><img height="331" alt="5" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2608/3787096592_d7e5cff59e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3786286393/"><img height="500" alt="6" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2572/3786286393_ec169416ed.jpg" width="326" /></a><br /><br /><br />Our pink clover!<br /><a title="DSC_2369 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3787099638/"><img height="346" alt="DSC_2369 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2496/3787099638_f3c78b9656.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />We put the clover on wax paper and placed them in a very big, heavy book. Then I added two more heavy books on top of that. When the clover is ready I will have the kids make a picture with them and I will place them in a frame for the kids.<br /><a title="DSC_2444 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3787100138/"><img height="333" alt="DSC_2444 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2484/3787100138_a763be149f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />I had wild flowers on my summer to-do list; I wanted to take the kids to a field of wild flowers for some beautiful pictures and press some flowers but I didn't have the energy to do that tonight after a challenging day. I was quite happy to not be in public with them! LOL They were so out of control today! It just wasn't a good day. They made me grumpy and longing for a glass of wine! So clover sounded like a good idea! ;)<br /><br />Before our day took a turn, we had a full morning of fun. It was when we were leaving the library that I noticed a flat tire. I had two options, one: go straight to get it fixed. two: try to follow through with my plans and pray I make it home. If I didn't, I did not have my cell phone and my husband is traveling and I know nothing about changing a tire! I don't even know how to get to the spare tire! LOL So I did what I had to do, even though it meant 2 1/2 hours at Costco.just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-58367112149422217222009-07-31T11:30:00.000-07:002009-08-01T06:08:20.985-07:00Bean Bags and Eggs<a title="DSC_7012 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3775853054/"></a><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><p><a title="DSC_7013 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3775946590/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_7013 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2568/3775946590_d2d0b1a402.jpg" width="500" /></a></p><br /><br />Today we had bean bag races followed by egg races. SO fun!!! This morning I stitched up these bean bags from old receiving blankets and filled them with rice. It takes about 5 minutes per bag. Very easy! I just cut a random size, stitched the wrong sides together, left a hole, turned them inside out and filled them with rice. I then ran a stitch across the opening. If you don't put too much rice inside you can do that last stitch with the machine.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3775849842/"><img height="327" alt="1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3512/3775849842_6f2e7df632.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />First they raced with the bean bags on their heads. I was going to have them play relay style but I didn't think my girls would understand. So everybody went at the same time. When my girls get older, we'll do two teams (my son was too busy putting together a train set that he hasn't seen since our move and my youngest was off throwing a temper tantrum!)<br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3775043951/"><img height="332" alt="2" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3529/3775043951_e9cf3ba4d0.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />My girls were totally into this and gave the boys some good competition!<br /><br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3775850902/"><img height="332" alt="3" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3775850902_9cb1af8062.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />I switched things up after several races. They each took a turn calling out the body part to hold the bean bag. We did one shoulder, the knees~hopping, the elbows out in front, the nose, and under the shirt!<br /><br />Look at the air under my little one! Can you tell that she was loving this?<br /><br /><a title="DSC_6932 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3775851994/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_6932 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2580/3775851994_2bbe5ccd2e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />When we were done with the bean bags I got a package of eggs. The kids did their first ever egg race and LOVED it!<br /><br /><a title="DSC_6934 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3775852516/"><img height="313" alt="DSC_6934 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2514/3775852516_61a6586966.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />A three way tie, perfection! The were all so pleased to share the title!<br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_6963 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3775852674/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_6963 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3592/3775852674_5216fd4732.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />All 5 kids in action and one hungry dog swooping in on the broken eggs!<br /><br /><a title="DSC_6997 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3775852742/"><img height="337" alt="DSC_6997 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3444/3775852742_0743cb79ea.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />I ended the fun when the kids were dripping with sweat. They've already asked to do this again so I'm sure we will go back out after they have a little rest. But we'll limit our yard to 18 eggs today!<br /><br /><br />All 18 eggs were cleaned up by Bear Bear. Gross, there's nothing that dog won't eat! I should have taken a picture but I didn't, I was too busy making the kids popcorn and getting a movie on!<br /><br />Now, I am going to kick my feet up while they're all quite.....who am I kidding, somebody is going to need me in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1................just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-6019034413660340342009-07-30T16:41:00.000-07:002009-07-30T17:03:59.171-07:00Homemade Play Dough<a title="DSC_6626 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3772899323/"><img height="326" alt="DSC_6626 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2651/3772899323_619249701f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This recipe is all over the web (just google play dough) and while we have tons of play dough, it was exciting and new because we made it together! Personally, I hate it. It's a texture thing for me. The dry flour on my hands is like nails on a chalk board! LOL But my kids loved it so of course I would do it again and again if they asked me! I used the new neon colors that I found at the market. Love them! ;)<br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_6787 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3772897243/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_6787 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2600/3772897243_3f14a0fba4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />A birthday cake!!!!<br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_6800 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3772896999/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_6800 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3435/3772896999_8cce6cee88.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />Such concentration while they baked and created different things!<br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_6734 ccopy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3773704048/"><img height="500" alt="DSC_6734 ccopy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2535/3773704048_59f58952ab.jpg" width="332" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_6703 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3772896867/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_6703 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3578/3772896867_85f6169739.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />My oldest daughter decided it was her younger sister's birthday! So she made this cake for her, candle and all and sang Happy Birthday to her!! It made my middle daughter feel so special that her big sister would choose her! She really looks up to her and I love to see them play so beautifully...it doesn't happen that often these days :(<br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_6712 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3772911509/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_6712 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2662/3772911509_587854aff0.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />She made a wish and blew out the candle! Hurry before it falls off the cake!<br /><br /><a title="DSC_6749 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3772897073/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_6749 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3442/3772897073_402a3e4406.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />"MOM! Don't take my picture!" LOL<br /><br /><a title="DSC_6752 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3773704328/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_6752 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3444/3773704328_17308c0b07.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><p><br />He knows me too well! </p><p>He's a big guy but play dough is one of those ageless things! The neighbors came over and even the 12 year old was hands on!</p><a title="DSC_6675 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3773703892/"><img height="500" alt="DSC_6675 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2603/3773703892_7b331158c0.jpg" width="326" /></a><br /><br /><p>Pony stamps!</p><br /><a title="DSC_6667 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3772896715/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_6667 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2611/3772896715_4a45a73970.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><p><br />We sat outside and played for over an hour. We laughed about some of the things we made and there were some tears and stomping off which just means that they are really into it and taking it so seriously! The stomper did return renewed and the play dough fun continued. </p><p>I made my version of an Orangina drink. It's so hot out so I need to make sure the kids are drinking a lot of fluids, so something new is always a hit. I filled these large sport bottles with Orange/Tangerine Juice (tropicana) and then I added a little Sprite for the fizzies. They loved it and drank all of it and asked for more. Cheers!<br /><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_6631 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3773703638/"><img height="329" alt="DSC_6631 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2619/3773703638_fa7c2df194.jpg" width="500" /></a>just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-37650087386733210182009-07-29T18:22:00.000-07:002009-07-30T08:51:22.916-07:00{coffee filter} butterflies!<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770902978/"></a><br /><a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770902978/"><img height="328" alt="1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2564/3770902978_65f3959972.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />I meant to have this activity follow after the day we caught butterflies. But since that was on a Friday, I suppose it doesn't matter. This week has been tough.<br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770101289/"><img height="500" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2618/3770101289_8d271efdb9.jpg" width="332" /></a><br /><br />This was such a simple and fun craft. The kids colored my coffee filters with markers (which btw are now on sale as past of the back to school supplies! stock up on glue, crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc). All 4 of the kids wanted to keep going, I cut them off at 5 filters! So we now have 20 beautiful butterflies around our house!<br /><br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770901892/"><img height="330" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2496/3770901892_b62f2ffb2c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770902076/"><img height="329" alt="4" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/3770902076_753bd1a574.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770902634/"><img height="332" alt="5" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2532/3770902634_bae0f60bd3.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770903848/"><img height="325" alt="6" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2424/3770903848_260479763c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />After they colored the filters with the markers, they sprayed them with water which causes the markers to bleed, like tie dye! Let them dry and then gather them in the middle with a chenile stem and shape the antennas. Pinch them with a clothespin and draw a little face on the top of the clothespin.<br /><br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770102689/"><img height="324" alt="7" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/3770102689_b8cbb0b4c6.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="8 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770903378/"><img height="328" alt="8" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/3770903378_dbb623d214.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="9 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3770903156/"><img height="500" alt="9" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3568/3770903156_f99b820771.jpg" width="334" /></a><br /><br />As soon as I fully assembled each butterfly, one at a time, the kids would take them and run through the yard flying their beautiful butterflies! My middle daughter even ran with them in the butterfly net! When the rain chased us in, the kids played with them inside. When the kids were done playing with them I pinched them onto the blind pulls, and lamps around the house. They are all so proud to see their beautiful butterflies throughout the house.just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-18299502961357150142009-07-28T15:56:00.000-07:002009-07-28T16:30:28.755-07:00You've Been Slimed!<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3767351870/"><img height="340" alt="1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3007/3767351870_06f80790f8.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Remember that show? (maybe it's still on?) I found this recipe for slime. I knew my son would have the best time with it, the girls.......I wasn't too sure about.<br /><br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3767351634/"><img height="326" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2603/3767351634_5af450d704.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><p>This one braved it and then quickly wiped it off, on my pot holders. </p><br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3767351476/"><img height="340" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2534/3767351476_e1ea863f4e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p>This sweet thing dipped her finger in and immediately wiped it off! And you can see the look on her face! She loved it, but she didn't want to touch it. So she played with it with a spoon.</p><br /><br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3767351252/"><img height="321" alt="4" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3575/3767351252_d564d04b90.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />My son, LOVED it!!! and if you scroll down, it didn't take him very long before he smeared it on his arms. HE is the reason we did this project outside!!!!<br /><br /><br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3766553109/"><img height="336" alt="5" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2480/3766553109_a16e1bb64d.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />PLOP!<br /><br /><br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3767350732/"><img height="332" alt="6" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/3767350732_9517cc9b71.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Total boy reaction.<br /><br /><br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3767349938/"><img height="332" alt="7" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3490/3767349938_f5670232d3.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />My girls; nice and clean and having fun!<br /><br /><br /><a title="8 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3767349702/"><img height="332" alt="8" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3494/3767349702_b1af6ef356.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="9 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3766551715/"><img height="338" alt="9" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/3766551715_c666eaec17.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Here is the recipe:<br /><br /><br /><br />6t Metamucil<br /><br />3C water<br /><br /><br /><br />Put the ingredients in a jar with a lid and have the kids shake it like crazy for a minute. Then pour the concoction into a pot and bring to a boil for one minute. Turn the heat down and stir for 3 minutes. Remove from pot and allow to cool.<br /><br /><br /><br />The slime takes awhile to cool, so I split it up. I used 2 bowls and the rest went on a tin pan that I had saved from a bakery item. The girls had fun moving the slime around the large pan with spoons and for my son, he had his hands completely in the slime so the bowl was perfect for him. I did this on a cheapo tablecloth left over from the 4th of July. When we were done, I removed the bowls and gathered up the tablecloth with everythign else on it and threw it all out. I hosed off my son and we were all cleaned up in seconds!<br /><br /><br /><br />My son wanted to keep the slim but it's just too easy to make so I promised him I would make it again. This is the first time that my middle daughter didn't ask me, "Can we do this again?" So while I want to say she enjoyed it, I don't think it was that big of a hit with the girls. This might be more of a boy activity. My son lives for getting dirty, while my girls are more girly girls. We had some good laughs and it was cheap fun. Now, what am I going to do with this huge bottle of Metamucil?! LOL (btw, i was so embarrassed when i bought it! )just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-31604577386805455212009-07-24T20:18:00.000-07:002009-07-26T07:04:47.315-07:00Catching Butterflies!!!<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3753353845/"><img height="332" alt="1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2656/3753353845_67c10cdb65.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>We grew our own butterflies this spring and my son loved each stage of it. He was so excited to let them go freely and we watched them soar through our trees. Our backyard is full of butterflies and every time my son see's a painted lady butterfly he screams, "There's my butterfly!" Bless his heart, I won't tell him they're long gone by now! </p><br /><p>Today was a beautiful sunny summer day and I thought it would be fun to run through the wet grass and try to catch some butterflies. I am sad to say that one butterfly was killed in the process....when the youngest flattened the butterfly garden. OPPS. Remember, we gave 6 butterflies life! Oh well, it was a wonderful learning experience for the kids and they had so much fun trying to run after the butterflies and catch them. They took turns with the net without fighting and each child was able to try to catch a butterfly. </p><p>I was going to have the kids make butterflies out of coffee filters but the kids were around the dining room table once again building more legos! All day today, if they were inside they were building! I took a few shots and I still need to upload some to yesterday's post but it's nearly midnight, so I will have to catch up over the weekend! ;)<br /></p><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3753353985/"><img height="324" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/3753353985_10492feb48.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />First we caught a Painted Lady.<br /><br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3753354083/"><img height="500" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2509/3753354083_640cbc3b22.jpg" width="323" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3753354173/"><img height="500" alt="4" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2499/3753354173_326cfa6b05.jpg" width="324" /></a><br /><br />Walking with such care....it was later that she flattened the butterfly garden!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3754152170/"><img height="500" alt="5" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2563/3754152170_05dd7e2f06.jpg" width="306" /></a><br />The hunt!<br /><br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3753354351/"><img height="330" alt="6" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2538/3753354351_d19f5d032b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />In action.....<br /><br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3753354481/"><img height="332" alt="7" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3437/3753354481_f05f0ed16e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Another sighting!!!! RUN!<br /><br /><a title="8 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3754152510/"><img height="313" alt="8" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3754152510_168c909627.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="9 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3754152632/"><img height="329" alt="9" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2466/3754152632_f0a7890721.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Bad shot of the butterflies here. We caught a beautiful Painted Lady and a pretty white with purple spot Moth. We tried for a Monarch but they were flying too high today. Although tonight when the kids were on the waterslide one landed on one of my butterfly bushes. I tried to get it without luck by the time I set down my margarita and camera! LOL 8 kids, one huge waterslide and all the mommies kicking back because it's Friday!!!!<br /><br />TGIF!just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-75177718432640603322009-07-23T21:05:00.000-07:002009-07-23T21:36:20.566-07:00Rainy Days Are Good For Lego Building!I'll post pictures tomorrow....... <br />My dining room and sunroom are covered with lego sets. The neighbors have all been here building with us. The girls built all the Belville sets, a palace, horse stables, and 4 pink houses. While the boys built pirate ships, race cars, hotels, a fire house, a beach house and so much more! My house is a disaster!!! But the kids had so much fun building. My son was a chatty cathy today. oh my gosh, I don't know where it all came from. "And once at band camp........."! LOL ALL day long!<br />I didn't take a single picture today, I just participated. I'll snap some tomorrow of the kids with their creations, although the weather forecast looks bad for tomorrow too so I'm sure the kids will spend another day building! I'll snap some then, I just didn't feel like it today. <br />I'm a big fan of Lego's. I grew up with them, nothing fancy like today, just the building blocks. It's a wonderful outlet for creativity and imagination. So, as a result, we have many sets. I kinda can't say no to Lego's! We have spent so many hours around the table building and having fun together. When my kids outgrow them, the sets can be handed down, or put away until my children have children. I know my kids will have fond memories of us building together.<br />I'll be back tomorrow.....just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-66498962558946083792009-07-22T19:04:00.000-07:002009-07-22T19:34:45.153-07:00Water Fun!!!!<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3747392845/"><img height="322" alt="1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2431/3747392845_c585cab559.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />Is it ready? ? ? ? She's ready and waiting with her swimmies on!<br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3748182792/"><img height="500" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2476/3748182792_e98e1a5d9d.jpg" width="328" /></a><br /><br /><br />Big sister tells the wee one what to do with pure excitement!<br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3748182922/"><img height="319" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2619/3748182922_e3b13f56c1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />They could hardly stand still for this picture! They were so excited! We had to pull out two hoses to move the agonizing wait along!<br /><br /><br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3748183118/"><img height="324" alt="4" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2570/3748183118_6c62535276.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />Seeing all 4 of my children happy, laughing and playing together..........PRICELESS!!!!!!<br /><br /><br /><a title="So Doreen, Jake and the boys.......whatcha doin' tomorrow???? by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3748184486/"><img height="323" alt="So Doreen, Jake and the boys.......whatcha doin' tomorrow????" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2475/3748184486_d2574393f4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />All I can say is FUN!!!!!!<br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3747394325/"><img height="332" alt="6" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/3747394325_13b5be78cf.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3748184202/"><img height="328" alt="7" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2578/3748184202_a8a0a878a6.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_6044 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3748183632/"><img height="325" alt="DSC_6044 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2539/3748183632_98080d7b2e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />Bear Bear snuck in not once but twice! She so wanted to join in on the fun! We knew better with the puppy, he was safely in his crate!!!<br /><a title="DSC_6047 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3747394153/"><img height="321" alt="DSC_6047 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/3747394153_f5483e04ee.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />Such a sneak!<br /><br />We have been wanting to buy one of these slides for our kids for YEARS! However, our previous home was built on a mountain (which is the reason we're still stuck with it!) so there wasn't enough flat space for one. So as a perk for moving from their friends, schools and everything they knew as home, we promised we would get one of these slides. Every spring Sam's Club always had one and it was perfect. Now we shop at a Costco here in our new town. The slide they had was $800! Um, for material that can pop? And you would need a fire hydrant to fill it! It was crazy big. So that started a search all over the web and there were so many decisions and bad reviews, we just didn't know what to do! So I kinda put it off and then forgot about it. Then one day last week I got an e-mail from Amazon and all the slides were WAY on sale with free shipping, so I made the best decision I could and here it is. And it's awesome!!!! The joy, laughter and fun I witnessed today was priceless. I am one happy mom to see my children so happy.just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-76386619415871173522009-07-21T20:42:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:50:29.500-07:00Fancy Rocks<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3744418529/"><img height="500" alt="1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3521/3744418529_b09a79edb0.jpg" width="322" /></a><br />Today we made fancy rocks. It was a rainy day (yay for replenishing our rain barrels!), so I had to wait for the rain to let up. I gave each of the kids a baggie for collecting their favorite rocks from around the yard. They ran around hunting for the best rocks. My neighbor is 10 and she said to me with a smile, "This is like having an Easter hunt!" lol<br /><br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3744418927/"><img height="500" alt="2" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3467/3744418927_8c58460a3f.jpg" width="332" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p>Some of the kids filled their bags full of treasures while some had only a few. <a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3744417747/"><img height="340" alt="3" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3527/3744417747_8470a5cd72.jpg" width="500" /></a></p><br /><br /><br /><p>After collecting the rocks, we washed them off and put them in the oven, just to heat them up. I think I had the oven at 275 degrees. After about 10-15 minutes I started giving the kids their rocks. I was a little nervous about the kids getting burned so I staggered the process. One big kid, one little kid. </p><br /><p>I set up their station with wax paper on a cooling rack. I peeled back the crayons before they started. When they were given a rock, they set a crayon on the rock and watched the wax melt. It's really kinda cool! Some of them are solid and some have a swirly pattern.<br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3745216530/"><img height="335" alt="4" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3495/3745216530_b7903d4bdf.jpg" width="500" /></a></p><br /><br />Look at the concentration! The crayon melts right on the rock and drips down.<br /><br /><br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3744417907/"><img height="332" alt="5" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2459/3744417907_6fd2f3745d.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Smooth rocks worked the best and pourous rocks didn't melt the wax. We could color on them but the wax didn't pool up on them. After we figured this out we lost a lot of our rocks and just used the smooth black rocks.<br /><br /><br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3744420581/"><img height="332" alt="6" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/3744420581_26f0aba78e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />You can blow the melted wax for a neat effect.<br /><br /><br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3744418073/"><img height="332" alt="7" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/3744418073_267d761141.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />Ok, I did not mean for this picture to be watermarked! I watermark them by batch to speed things up. And the watermark is to keep the orkut thieves from stealing the pictures of my kids.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, by the time we got the rocks washed and "cooked" it was dark and stormy again so the inside pictures are kinda yucky! If I remember, I'll reshoot this one in better light so that you can see how beautiful the rocks are. After we were done, 3 more neighborhood kids came over and they all thought they were really cool and they all took one home. So I think this is a hit with all ages! All you need are rocks from your yard and crayons!!just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-33059094121715448752009-07-21T19:56:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:52:01.366-07:00The Tie-Dye Outcome<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3744286025/"><img height="319" alt="1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3466/3744286025_697ac21ff0.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />There's a whole lotta color for a rainy day! ;)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3744285897/"><img height="500" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2589/3744285897_42aa057fa4.jpg" width="326" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>I've been wanting to make flower headbands with weeds but I don't have a good source so I tried to buy daisy's but to no avail. The mini carnations are not quite mini enough! </p><p>She loved them and had fun until they broke. Can someone clue me in on hot to make a flower band? I've always wanted to do this with the girls.<br /></p><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3745083590/"><img height="332" alt="4" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3488/3745083590_ecb576e0e4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3745083888/"><img height="332" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2669/3745083888_6fd11af4c4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />Nothing says summer like fla-vor-ice!!!!!<br /><br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3744286363/"><img height="323" alt="5" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3520/3744286363_4814483af7.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />So what do you think, did they rock the swirl or what????just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-14130704953873012242009-07-20T17:27:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:52:25.052-07:00Tie-Dye!<a title="DSC_5511 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3740387649/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_5511 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2587/3740387649_0fa469280c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />This is like a rite of childhood, right? Only I never did it as a child and I've only once participated and they came out ugly! So I was a little intimidated....and I cheated. I bought a kit at Joann's 70% off, so it was $3! I couldn't resist. I knew this was on my to-do list but when I saw that pretty little package for $3.00, I snatched it up! Although, I have to tell you, even the kit scared me!<br /><br />The boys did a scrunch technique and the girls did the roll and tie technique. The boys shirts look pretty cool and I haven't opened the girls yet. I will post photos tomorrow with all 6 of the kids wearing their new shirts.<br /><br /><a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3741180106/"><img height="332" alt="1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/3741180106_a21a9e8ebe.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />The package said "enough for 8 shirts" but after we did our 6, we kept going! I think we finished all the dye after 12 shirts! I bought the Hanes pack of white t-shirts and what I learned from that is buy big!!! I wasn't thinking about the fact that they are meant to be worn as an undershirt.<br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3741179908/"><img height="329" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2549/3741179908_78c85afae8.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><p>Working together. Everybody loved to squeeze the dye......what a mess! The kids were COVERED! It will be a day or two before they come clean! I hope my neighbor doesn't kill me for the way that I sent her kids home!!! ;)</p><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3741179488/"><img height="332" alt="3" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3423/3741179488_95d341fd2f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />First we sprayed with water to moisten the fabric, another fun step!! The next time I do this, I will give the little ones the job of water spraying and the big kids the dye.<br /><br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3741173884/"><img height="500" alt="4" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/3741173884_e214a4bb11.jpg" width="332" /></a><br /><br /><br />Mass producing the remaining shirts with the scrunching effect.<br /><br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3741173712/"><img height="500" alt="5" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/3741173712_de4cc9897e.jpg" width="322" /></a><br />The rolled effect (spiral).<br /><br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3741173532/"><img height="500" alt="6" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3741173532_ae477a3b10.jpg" width="331" /></a><br />The boys doing the scrunching effect. Their shirts are pictured above in color.<br /><br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3740380917/"><img height="500" alt="7" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2595/3740380917_40744f95bf.jpg" width="332" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />"Are they ready" is still echoing in my head!! The sweet things are now sleeping and I am going to unwrap the rolled shirts and wash the pile of shirts so that when they wake up tomorrow they can wear them! I will bring the neighbors over bright and early and place them on their back deck so that they too can dive right in them!!!<br /><br />Some helpful hints:<br /><br />~make sure the kids are in old clothes that you don't care about!<br />~keep an entire box of baby wipes with you!<br />~use an old sheet that you use for painting. not a beautiful quilt that your mom made. duh!<br />~collect a big pile of rubberbands<br />~then collect more!<br />~buy BIG shirts!<br />~wrap rolled shirts in plastic wrap to keep them moist for 4-6 hours.<br />~hang wet shirts and don't let them touch anything or another shirt.<br />~hand the rolled shirts after you unwrap them, let them dry completely and then wash them.<br />~wash the shiirts in super hot water and keep them separate from other laundry until they've been washed several times.<br />~have fun!!!just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-47687961892265765872009-07-17T18:23:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:52:49.292-07:00Field Trips<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3730348913/"><img height="500" alt="1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2610/3730348913_a5551af10b.jpg" width="332" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Three to be exact. First we went to a school playground and I took some pictures with my blackberry, I'd upload them but I realized as I was snapping them that I don't know how! So we ran home to pick some things up (camera/snacks/etc) and our neighbor stopped by and she decided to come along with us to our next two places. We went to a local farm to visit with the animals. We saw it all, including peacocks with the most beautiful feathers.<br /><br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3731145386/"><img height="334" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2636/3731145386_5ff92d9057.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />They fed the goats, quacked with the ducks, laughed at the cows exposed rear end, waited for the peacocks to spread their wings, climbed some jungle gyms and played Veterinarian at the little Vet Shop. I couldn't pick one thing or one animal that was a favorite, they enjoy it all, however,<br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3731145028/"><img height="500" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/3731145028_5a96327912.jpg" width="333" /></a><br /><br /><br />this sweet little one loves her lambie and I know for her the highlight was introducing her lambie to the sheep!!! so so precious!!!<br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_4803 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3730354779/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_4803 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/3730354779_3d2c98cccd.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Next we went to the lake. We spent the afternoon/early evenning swimming, digging, building and boating. It was a perfect day to be on the lake!<br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3731145646/"><img height="332" alt="4" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/3731145646_b3a2f73bcf.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />(couldn't decide between color and black and white!) grrrr, the right side always gets cut off here!<br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3731145832/"><img height="332" alt="5" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3443/3731145832_31964cd078.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3730350411/"><img height="324" alt="6" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2563/3730350411_543208143f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3731146108/"><img height="323" alt="7" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2558/3731146108_e2244733dd.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p>We had a very full day and my sweet things are all sound asleep!!! Which is a good thing because I've got another full day planned for tomorrow!!!!</p><p>Have a wonderful weekend!<br /></p>just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-40521766093585863672009-07-16T14:03:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:53:16.658-07:00Homemade Crayons!!! (sort of)<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3727043575/"><img height="332" alt="1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2485/3727043575_c7884ca629.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><p>I got this great idea from my friend Kristin in Maine. She did this with her kids last winter and I filed the idea away in my mind, just waiting for a rainy day. Well, it didn't rain today but it was suppose to. So I pulled out the crayon bucket and we all sorted out the broken crayons and peeled away. (hint #1, new crayons peel easier than old crayons)</p><p>We filled what I thought was a silicone tray. (hint #2, not all silicone can go in the oven.....oh yes, cleaning the oven is on my to do list.....sorry honey)</p><br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3727843908/"><img height="333" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2466/3727843908_7d8b30f425.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />The kids were on a mission peeling those crayons and they LOVED breaking them! No surprise!<br /><br /><br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3727040905/"><img height="500" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2593/3727040905_e8ba184389.jpg" width="329" /></a><br /><br /><br />The finished product was so much fun and so unique! The kids were taken back by them!<br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3727844284/"><img height="332" alt="4" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/3727844284_26e095e1b2.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />"Oh my gosh, it works!"<br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3727040989/"><img height="500" alt="5" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3451/3727040989_af7b863ec7.jpg" width="332" /></a><br /><p>(hint #3, if you discover that your "pan" isn't oven safe, it takes too much time to melt in the microwave. Sorry again honey, i killed the microwave. but we have 4 beautiful new crayons!)</p><p></p><p><br /></p>just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-61136954996343899832009-07-15T20:48:00.001-07:002009-07-21T21:53:42.235-07:00Bead Madness!<a title="DSC_4338 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3725856684/"><img height="331" alt="DSC_4338" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2548/3725856684_9f793a383e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><p>This is not what I had planned for today, however when they saw the tub of beads, the plan was changed. We started out with 6,000 beads in the tub, we used a couple hundred and there are 3,000 beads on my kitchen floor! That would have been a picture! It's almost midnight so I can't go shoot it now, oh well. OOPS, I just gave myself away........YES, the beads are still on my floor! Most people would have cleaned them up before ending the project but we left for the lake instead and stayed there until waaaay past our bedtime! I will have to deal with the mess tomorrow. </p><p>We all enjoyed this activity and the finished product. They are so pretty! Tomorrow I will add some magnets to the back of them and find a spot for them, or mail them out to the grandparents. We spent a lot of quality time together around the table, after about an hour we took a lunch break and then the kids went right back to the table. </p><p>The bucket of madness was 50% off, so for $5.00 we had almost two hours of time together at the table and when I sweep the floor, we'll have another afternoon or two of fun!! ;)<br /></p><br /><br /><a title="DSC_4364 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3725046969/"><img height="335" alt="DSC_4364 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2579/3725046969_f0dc45ec44.jpg" width="500" /></a>just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-45868486537121841922009-07-14T18:48:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:54:15.414-07:00Girly Girl Flip Flops!<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3722515806/"><img height="332" alt="1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/3722515806_4869d021ac.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Big brother had some buddies to play with and I have been waiting to do this with the girls!!! First we started with flip flops which then led to making matching hair bows, which then led to painting our nails and putting on make-up! Total girly girl day!!!! (love, love, love it!)<br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_4134 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3721703397/"><img height="317" alt="DSC_4134 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3721703397_07c6a02ca8.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />First, we cut strips of pink fabric with pinking shears and then tied them to the flops. Too hard for the wee ones but perfect for our favorite neighbor and my oldest girl. The wee ones sat with us while we cut and tied. It was a beautiful summer afternoon to be on a blanket making memories.<br /><br /><a title="DSC_4296 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3721699817/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_4296 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3447/3721699817_6a9742b491.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />Then, our sweet friend painted nails to perfection! A pattern of purple and orange! Who would have thought! Big girls are way cooler than mommy! LOL<br />(You can see the matching bows in this picture)<br /><a title="DSC_4317 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3721699955/"><img height="323" alt="DSC_4317 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/3721699955_0518366d7a.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />So so proud of her pretty nails, new hair bow (at the bottom of her braid which sweet K did!) and girly shoes!!! What a day! We ended it with a movie night in our jammies while the group of boys did boy things in the driveway. Tomorrow I owe the boys!<br /><br />~I bought the flip flops at my local craft store for just over a $1 and I bought 2 yards of fabric, which was too much! We made 4 pair of flip flops and 4 hairbows (although one daughter wanted only 2 strips of fabric!) and we had at least 3/4 of a yard left. The pinking shears are part of my craft supplies but they can also be found at any craft store.<br /><br />updated with pictures......<br /><a title="DSC_4461 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3727780806/"><img height="500" alt="DSC_4461 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2567/3727780806_f24a630f9a.jpg" width="332" /></a><br /><br /><a title="summer days by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3726978661/"><img height="332" alt="summer days" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/3726978661_b99b16a004.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a title="summer days by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3726979789/"><img height="332" alt="summer days" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/3726979789_ca5cf35707.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a title="DSC_4519 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3726980143/"><img height="314" alt="DSC_4519 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3726980143_2fbde506f2.jpg" width="500" /></a>just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-86356096220091697322009-07-13T11:32:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:54:47.321-07:00Shaving Cream!!!<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3717042425/"><img height="500" alt="1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2512/3717042425_2363c8508d.jpg" width="317" /></a><br />Today we played with shaving cream!!! So so much fun! I let the kids fill up a water table with 2 bottles of shaving cream. They all took turns with the bottles and it was messy fun! They had so much fun squirting it out and then running their hands through it.<br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3717856424/"><img height="332" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2492/3717856424_2a7a1f9fb5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />They watched the lines they made and used different objects to see the trail they would leave behind.<br /><a title="DSC_4013 (2) copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3717042143/"><img height="500" alt="DSC_4013 (2) copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3531/3717042143_12e31ede0c.jpg" width="324" /></a><br />They smeared it all over their bodies and this wee one loved to clap her hands and watch the shaving cream fly around. She was covered. They were all covered!!!<br /><a title="DSC_4000 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3717856970/"><img height="500" alt="DSC_4000 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2543/3717856970_dcd0025134.jpg" width="332" /></a><br />So so much fun for $1.50 a bottle!<br /><a title="DSC_3922 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3717041735/"><img height="500" alt="DSC_3922 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2619/3717041735_6db21e38bd.jpg" width="307" /></a><br />I haven't done this with them in quite some time and they played with it differently this time. So next time I would make sure i have a source of water and a towel for wiping eyes. In addition, I would tell them it's not to eat. My oldest daughter did a little taste test and was completely disgusted! eek!just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-91847359134894733322009-07-12T20:19:00.000-07:002009-07-13T05:12:39.473-07:00Friday's missing postI was in crazy hostess mode. Bunco at my house. Hubby was out of town all week. It was crazy. There was alcohol to buy, bathrooms to clean and reclean, floors to sweep and steam, many trips to the market~with kids in tow, dogs to deal with, 3 trips to buy ice~ clearly I am a horrible judge at that! Oh, and moving boxes to uncover and unpack. Fortunately my sweet husband flew in around 1:30 and saved the day. He took the kids to the lake so that I could finish my tasks without playing mommy too. I was so thankful for his help! Bunco was a blast and I won $20! I just wish the night didn't go by so quickly. Fun people, great conversations, laughing, and a warm summer breeze blowing through my windows, a perfect night.<br /><br />We traveled over the weekend to pick up my oldest daughter. Words can not describe how I feel to have her back home! So we will be ready for some fun tomorrow!just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-20370925296677198592009-07-09T15:16:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:55:27.175-07:00Homemade Bubbles!<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3705606302/"><img height="332" alt="1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3529/3705606302_3e592448d5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Here is the recipe for homemade bubbles! It's fun to make your own and they smell SO good! I made 3x the recipe and it lasted until the mosquitos ate all of our flesh. Seriously. I made the bubbles in something from our recycle bin, a couscous container. It was perfect and so was the lid. I tried to make wands from pipe cleaners and they didn't work very well so we used blowers from our collection. The crazy straw blowers are from the Dollar Store and they were quite popular with my crew! (2 in a package!) I think I'll pick up some more the next time I'm there. I love that place!<br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3704799395/"><img height="500" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2538/3704799395_be6c5f41f2.jpg" width="321" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p>I used a yellow dish soap so I added green food coloring to make our bubbles blue. We have a lot of pink in our house so it's nice to have some blue when we can! ;) </p><p>I called my local market and had the pharmacy order a bottle of glycerin. The next day it came in and my husband picked itup for me. Very easy, just call your local market and if the pharmacy doesn't have it in stock they can have it in a day or two. I was at the store at 9:00PM and by noon the next day I got a call that it was in. Very easy, very cheap.</p><br /><br /><p>This activity speaks for itself and since I am not a good writer, I'll let the pictures speak for themself............</p><br /><br /><p><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3704787103/"><img height="328" alt="3" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3477/3704787103_3fc5327167.jpg" width="500" /></a></p><p><a title="bubble time! by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3705593538/"><img height="334" alt="bubble time!" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2425/3705593538_e3854288c2.jpg" width="500" /></a></p><p><br /><br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3704786959/"><img height="332" alt="5" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2480/3704786959_af6816d6fd.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3704785517/"><img height="332" alt="7" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/3704785517_111066c2b8.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a title="8 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3705592040/"><img height="332" alt="8" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2424/3705592040_2cc2d757ee.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a title="more bubbles by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3705592214/"><img height="332" alt="more bubbles" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/3705592214_92ac558096.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a title="10 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3705592436/"><img height="332" alt="10" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2543/3705592436_b8af8cf57e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a title="11 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3705591892/"><img height="332" alt="11" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2645/3705591892_a4fcf867f7.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a title="Today we made bubbles! by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3705594606/"><img height="324" alt="Today we made bubbles!" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2498/3705594606_e3a3d2fb08.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><a title="Today we made bubbles! by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3705594606/"></a></p>just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-58587405928364523942009-07-08T12:21:00.000-07:002009-07-08T12:47:56.351-07:00Busy Little Hands (part 2)<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3702178962/"><img height="346" alt="1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2546/3702178962_eb3bf59d07.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>We finished our artwork this morning. It took longer than I expected. My oldest two took great care with their artwork and the youngest could have painted her 3 pieces for hours! Her "artwork" is on the right. You'll have to look closely under all the paint! There is a ladybug, duck and a piece I can no longer identify.</p><br /><p>This is what is left of our "cookies".......I forgot to tell the dogs these aren't cookies! I wasn't thinking and left these to dry out on the kitchen table. I came back to find smashed crumbs everywhere. The dogs obviously didn't like them, but as dumb dogs will do, they kept trying to find one that tasted good. Unfortunately they ate all of one child's artwork. I offered to make more dough or homemade icecream sandwiches and suddenly all was good again.<br /></p><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3701369785/"><img height="332" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/3701369785_dd1c9d47c4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />Look closely, there is a duck under all that paint! LOL The duck was yellow to begin with and then she moved on to red. There is now, no trace of yellow under all the red! This wee one had the time of her life painting, and repainting, and repainting! I think it will take a good week for her art to dry!<br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3701369611/"><img height="500" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/3701369611_c0cba1288e.jpg" width="329" /></a><br />This little piggie loved to paint her creatures with lots of color and such care! She loved it!<br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3701373647/"><img height="500" alt="4" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3501/3701373647_43d96112de.jpg" width="315" /></a><br />Pure joy for this one!<br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3702181522/"><img height="500" alt="5" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2627/3702181522_fd280320ae.jpg" width="337" /></a><br />This is my serious painter! He painted with such attention to detail. The mice were his favorite! He told me that he doesn't want them to have a magnet, he'd like to play with them. This will probably be one of those childhood things that he adores and remembers more than his big expensive toys!<br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3702178464/"><img height="500" alt="6" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3469/3702178464_1ff91b8449.jpg" width="324" /></a><br /><br />SO thankful for adorable $5 dresses from the bullseye store!!!! Although this is washable paint, washable doesn't always mean it is going to come out! What a mess she made, and loved every minute of it!!!just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-42334887427983723102009-07-07T18:03:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:56:28.003-07:00Busy Little Hands (part 1)<a title="Busy Little Hands by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3699060905/"><img height="332" alt="Busy Little Hands" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2542/3699060905_b459a63aff.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />Today we started a two day project. We made salt dough and shaped our favorite creatures. We baked them and tomorrow we will paint them and attach a little magnet on the back. The kids were so focus and serious while rolling out the dough and shaping it into different things.<br /><br /><a title="DSC_2478 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3699872506/"><img height="500" alt="DSC_2478 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3610/3699872506_bd89e17944.jpg" width="316" /></a><br /><br /><p>My son made mice, a snake, a butterfly, and his initial.<a title="DSC_2385 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3699872294/"><img height="500" alt="DSC_2385 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3462/3699872294_9dbbaca169.jpg" width="313" /></a></p>My daughter made a pig, a duck, a snowman, a bunny and her first initial. When the "cookies" came out of the oven she screamed for everyone to come, the cookies were ready to eat. OPPS, I forgot to tell the kids these are not edible! I should have explained better so that the little ones understood that they were not cookies!<br /><br /><a title="Brin by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3699061085/"><img height="500" alt="Brin" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2675/3699061085_005851341f.jpg" width="323" /></a><br /><br />My youngest made a bunch of clumps. Bless her heart, she sure does have an imagination! She handed me a baby, a ladybug, a ducky and a "pider". While she was busy with the next clump I shaped her blobs into whatever she told me it was.<br /><br /><br /><br />Tomorrow we will paint them and attach the magnets on the back. I'm not sure where we'll put them as all of our appliances are stainless steal, but we'll find a spot for them!<br /><br /><br /><br />This was a really fun, hands on project that kept the kids busy until we used all of the dough. I will pull this recipe out at Christmas time and have the kids make some ornaments for our tree.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here is the recipe:<br /><br /><br /><br />3C flour<br /><br />1C water<br /><br />1C salt<br /><br />2t oil<br /><br /><br /><br />mix all the ingredients by hand in a large bowl. when the dough forms a large ball, roll it out and start shaping! Once you have a tray of artwork, bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Larger pieces will need more time. I am letting our batch cool and harden overnight before painting with poster paint. More on that tomorrow.....just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-30479936733867991172009-07-06T10:59:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:57:02.838-07:00Let's Set Sail!<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3695135078/"></a><br /><a title="Ahoy mates!!!! by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3695135078/"><img height="337" alt="Ahoy mates!!!!" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3543/3695135078_df18b8389f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Ahoy Mates!!! Greetings from our new boat! (the packing paper is suppose to be waves!)<br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3694330253/"><img height="332" alt="2" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3544/3694330253_8d703dbd83.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We started with moving materials. A large wardrobe box, duct tape, a cardboard tube from fabric (you could also use wrapping paper roll), some left over muslin fabric, washable poster paint, packing paper and a little yarn.<br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3695132746/"><img height="500" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2648/3695132746_4b064bc627.jpg" width="323" /></a><br />I assembled the box the best I could with the duct tape. I left the top and bottom open so the kids could crawl in and out. I cut a large opening on the side (which is now the top of the boat). I attached the fabric to the cardboard roll with a staple gun and secured it into place with the yarn.<br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3695132052/"><img height="325" alt="4" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/3695132052_1c13e906d1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />The kids worked together as a team, painting. They LOVE to paint!<br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3694325469/"><img height="332" alt="5" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3659/3694325469_729fddabb7.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />When it was painted, the kids jumped inside and we set sail!<br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3694324407/"><img height="315" alt="6" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/3694324407_cf5a473400.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3694324137/"><img height="332" alt="7" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3617/3694324137_a9699dd647.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />Notice all the paint! Make sure you use washable paint!!! LOL<br />It took an hour and a half to make the boat and then it was lunch time so we are going back out now to take sail. I'll probably post more pictures tonight.just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-64403016666115117932009-07-03T17:07:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:58:14.579-07:00Today's Activity.......<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3685157657/"><img height="323" alt="1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/3685157657_ba8e339677.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />Sun, Sand, Splashing and Fun!!!!<br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3685157587/"><img height="500" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2441/3685157587_5f10338649.jpg" width="332" /></a><br />My husband was off today, which was a surprise to us, so we decided to take the kids to the beach. When we arrived the sky was black, a mini storm came and cleared, then the sky was grey followed by beautiful blue!!!! But then thunder sent us packing several hours later. So we saw it all today! But we still had plenty of fun in the sand!<br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3685966186/"><img height="314" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2587/3685966186_dc2bd069df.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />the girls with mermaid barbies, shh don't tell big sister!!!<br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3685157359/"><img height="332" alt="4" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2670/3685157359_b5ff5c75e2.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />Surprise waves that knock you down are the best!<br /><a title="5 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3685965886/"><img height="500" alt="5" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2456/3685965886_3b76a3e57f.jpg" width="326" /></a><br />jumping the waves is one of our favorite things!<br /><a title="7 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3685157765/"><img height="500" alt="7" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3685157765_e7c6635a0f.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Again Daddy!!!!!<br /><a title="6 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3685965788/"><img height="500" alt="6" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3649/3685965788_63378e2775.jpg" width="332" /></a><br /><br /><p><a title="DSC_1861 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3685190661/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_1861" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3685190661_11f2678235.jpg" width="500" /></a>All 5 of us built sand castles, complete with roads, train tracks and Cinderella! Then the tide came up and washed away our village.</p><br /><p>We had such a fun family day, it's was hard for me to not have my oldest daughter with us. She loves the beach so much that I couldn't stop thinking about her and how much fun she would have had. But I know she is off creating her own memories that will last forever. I am anxious to show her the perfect sand dollar that I found just for her.</p><br /><p>I love days like today! There were too many highs to list! Mostly, I just love sharing the simplest of things with my children, they provide the greatest childhood joys. I hope they will remember today. It was a perfect day, just perfect.<br /></p><br /><p><br /></p>just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-25481723685906619742009-07-02T19:25:00.000-07:002009-07-21T21:59:54.918-07:00Pirates, Treasure Maps, Compasses and Stolen Dogs<a title="1 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3683524784/"><img height="326" alt="1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/3683524784_dd30b83166.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />I spy 3 little pirates! oh wait, there's another! We made treasure maps of our backyard and put an X on the map and the kids would swap maps and try to find the treasure! They took such care making their maps and finding the magic spot! The younger two were really tricky so we had to cheat a little bit and watch where they hid the treasure! shh, don't tell! LOL<br /><br /><a title="2 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3683521292/"><img height="331" alt="2" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/3683521292_4a388beae5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Don't laugh at my homemade eye patches, I was thinking on my feet! I took apart the egg carton (and I fully expect to pay for it the next time I pull out the carton and forget that it's a little lopsided!) The kids loved them! I simply colored them with a black crayon and pulled yarn through them.<br /><br /><a title="3 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3683521400/"><img height="332" alt="3" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2424/3683521400_f77cd5da24.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />Doesn't she look mean? Don't cross this pirate!<br /><br /><a title="DSC_1350 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3682707931/"><img height="350" alt="DSC_1350 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2433/3682707931_7b98469e11.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />We pretended that this was the enemy's pirate dog and we captured her and made her eat cake! Now we can't get her to leave!<br /><br /><a title="4 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3682707885/"><img height="500" alt="4" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2445/3682707885_bbe503d764.jpg" width="329" /></a><br />Call in your location mate!<br /><br /><a title="DSC_1378 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3682707999/"><img height="313" alt="DSC_1378 copy" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2595/3682707999_8fed5356bc.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />This little pirate was a little sleepy, until she spotted a pirate cake!<br /><br /><br /><a title="DSC_1449 copy by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3682764245/"><img height="332" alt="DSC_1449 copy" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3644/3682764245_b76978a3a9.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a title="DSC_1460 by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3683521750/"></a>Of course the stolen dog was forced to eat cake. I don't think she liked it.<br />(I totally stole this cake idea from my friend Denise. It was a hit Denise!)<br /><a title="last by sweetthings, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetthings/3682708083/"><img height="332" alt="last" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/3682708083_42d765ea18.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />My inspiration for today's activity came from these adorable pirate plates that I found at the dollar store.<br /><br />I want to give a HUGE shout out to Kori for helping me with my photos. You went above and beyond helping me and I really appreciate it. My photos now go back to flickr the way I wanted them to. THANK YOU!!!!!!!just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-42606588232016602502009-07-01T19:22:00.000-07:002009-07-21T22:00:32.180-07:00Water Balloon Fights!<a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3680578238_bd125d59da.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 332px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3680578238_bd125d59da.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3550/3680578058_92be8d74f7.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 328px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3550/3680578058_92be8d74f7.jpg" border="0" /></a> The fun event today was water balloon fights! My son was so excited, I couldn't fill the balloons fast enough for him! I wanted to fill them from our rain barrels but that proved to be nearly impossible due to the lack of water pressure! So I used the regular water and it was a little time consuming considering the outcome.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/3679763269_43a51f2ff2.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 341px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 500px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/3679763269_43a51f2ff2.jpg" border="0" /></a> The kids had a great time throwing the balloons and watching them pop on each other. Unfortunatley it didn't take much for them to pop. The whole event was over in 15 minutes, not what I was hoping for!<br /><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/3680578494_cb86c44364.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 332px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/3680578494_cb86c44364.jpg" border="0" /></a> My son wanted to stand opposite the girls so it was him against the girls. If one of their balloons didn't pop he would pick it up for them and tell them to try again. Oh the sweetness!<br /><br /><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3549/3679763151_8b102a0ca5.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 332px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3549/3679763151_8b102a0ca5.jpg" border="0" /></a> After the kids emptied their pails, I refilled them and told them they could line up and fire away at me. My seven year old thought this was better than dessert! He pegged them right at me and didn't hold back the laughter as they hit me. My sweet, darling four year old said "I don't want to hit you Momma". Bless her sweet little heart! Oh the difference a few years makes! My son has a big heart but at his age, this was the coolest thing ever!<br /></div><div>I would definitely do water balloons again and I would say it was a success but I will try another brand next time.<br /><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3558/3680578646_ebcbeb2eb9.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 332px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3558/3680578646_ebcbeb2eb9.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />OK, all my photos are chopped off on the right!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRR, thsi blog is totally frustrating me!!!!!!</div><div>i think i might "blog" somewhere else!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div>just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809662116548419317.post-27199387119182490762009-06-30T11:41:00.001-07:002009-07-21T22:01:05.733-07:00Spray Chalk<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUNrlQhHhxpaikkYP1jsVnBV9Tz2c4q1foUvg1d4-DieKa5o5lO1diDY3Q1IHJ9inblf5tKnUzvN8haITlG2wei-MrS6I2Jhkcp1Fkm8YNiZXetNuHlLhqJgOHMzq1KRYsDOLd2-cqJk/s1600-h/DSC_0670+copy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353193195280380738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 239px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUNrlQhHhxpaikkYP1jsVnBV9Tz2c4q1foUvg1d4-DieKa5o5lO1diDY3Q1IHJ9inblf5tKnUzvN8haITlG2wei-MrS6I2Jhkcp1Fkm8YNiZXetNuHlLhqJgOHMzq1KRYsDOLd2-cqJk/s400/DSC_0670+copy.jpg" border="0" /></a> Spray chalk!!! My kids could spend hours squirting this stuff! It's so easy and inexpensive to make. I bought 4 spray bottles from the dollar store, 2 boxes of corn starch and mixed it up last night.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthrmtL34MiXCNX_cdK-M12oEXMv3LYnnW8v9hb3Rl1TMd2KTYCQiPuutDHy0NC9dsG1PcnbT48h-RH4XkAFi5CvARoS0jl8upbPuNaiBq6I-2xvCkZ7JYiRA_9d4ZB9Wx2je2HffPbp4/s1600-h/DSC_0717+copy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353193189883572130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthrmtL34MiXCNX_cdK-M12oEXMv3LYnnW8v9hb3Rl1TMd2KTYCQiPuutDHy0NC9dsG1PcnbT48h-RH4XkAFi5CvARoS0jl8upbPuNaiBq6I-2xvCkZ7JYiRA_9d4ZB9Wx2je2HffPbp4/s400/DSC_0717+copy.jpg" border="0" /></a> Even the dog was entertained! LOL At first they would say "oops" but then it turned into an all out spray the dog event! Poor thing, she's such a sport!!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4VWkb0GFV9GxYK2yR5qj6rlwZdB_ttFrekVOWk4mhMMjZvojWHLE29Fq_8Pwyr1fXgzcNKxUKbbMI-JJ891L3Jlp5jn9WKWRQPsv13HXQPA1iDHEq3TuOcUuxlWGyuJgzb9mgaIwoZA/s1600-h/DSC_0736+copy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353193190977198690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4VWkb0GFV9GxYK2yR5qj6rlwZdB_ttFrekVOWk4mhMMjZvojWHLE29Fq_8Pwyr1fXgzcNKxUKbbMI-JJ891L3Jlp5jn9WKWRQPsv13HXQPA1iDHEq3TuOcUuxlWGyuJgzb9mgaIwoZA/s400/DSC_0736+copy.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg626a4TVCvT07CL8omBv7g4TG985xRtr6V-xa1M96v1ip_HMaKH3LSrMDDBJoK_kHX86kXAVqIh_Bk3gNb3msaA1mqSjgiaVcV8F-4zaX0yYBf3KacCWWiEY-sjRP1gL-D3-2Kjfxch1A/s1600-h/DSC_0805+copy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353193184180082930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg626a4TVCvT07CL8omBv7g4TG985xRtr6V-xa1M96v1ip_HMaKH3LSrMDDBJoK_kHX86kXAVqIh_Bk3gNb3msaA1mqSjgiaVcV8F-4zaX0yYBf3KacCWWiEY-sjRP1gL-D3-2Kjfxch1A/s400/DSC_0805+copy.jpg" border="0" /></a> I made 4 full bottles of spray chalk and it lasted for an hour with 3 kids and um, one adult!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FvqnOUvwj5cuN6estmYRy1ykbp1cni-GLInCMLPoy0ZpQmUrIlPlnmQmOpIgpbx4u4vYCkZZYeZb1AbfVjVsi7UIkAVd27a8PHeeS0lp1OvfxSZYHdQF4PZBK4YE3ukPfJWR4s640HA/s1600-h/DSC_0893+copy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353192903900638962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 278px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FvqnOUvwj5cuN6estmYRy1ykbp1cni-GLInCMLPoy0ZpQmUrIlPlnmQmOpIgpbx4u4vYCkZZYeZb1AbfVjVsi7UIkAVd27a8PHeeS0lp1OvfxSZYHdQF4PZBK4YE3ukPfJWR4s640HA/s400/DSC_0893+copy.jpg" border="0" /></a> The recipe is simple:<br /><br />4T corn starch<br />1/2 cup water<br />food coloring<br /><br />I have large bottles so I did 4x the recipe for each bottle and picked the colors I wanted. I went through a box and a half of corn starch. You can adjust the spray stream to change the effect. I have the most beautiful driveway right now!just a mom of fourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17967865290796584028noreply@blogger.com4