Heavy Lifting?

While walking through Target the other day I heard an elderly woman on the phone.

“Irma. You tell them you can’t help.”

Intrigued, I quickly pulled over into mens underwear.

My cover was almost blown by Andrew’s not so quiet, “Mom, why are we here? You said we were finished getting everything.”

Shh!

“Irma, I’m telling you . No more heavy lifting.”

“Moooooooooom, what are we doing here,” whined Alex.

Does no one in this family watch CSI or NCIS? I’m trying to gather INFO here people!

Shhhhh!

But it was too late.

Irma’s elderly friend left the underwear section while glaring at the crazy woman suddenly arguing with her children.

Some people are so rude.

Little Bity Organizing

Caroline doesn’t have a dresser in her room so I needed a place to put her socks, hair bows, tights, and diaper covers. Leaving everything in a pile on the closet floor worked well for several months but was a tad embarrassing when people would come over.

Since I had great success in the past with a clear shoe organizer, I decided to try one again.

In our old house I used a clear shoe organizer for toys and general house supplies (tape, scissors, pens, batteries – loved always being able to find these things).

Do you have any simple but effective organizing tips?

Killer Cake & Entry Way

Finally, the last installment of Andrew’s Lego party.

Go here for part 1 (lego bingo) and here for part 2 (lego party boards).

Andrew decided he wanted a “Killer the Croc” cake. Actually Killer the Croc was a third choice since I vetoed the first two choices in the name of difficulty. I need to watch a few more episodes of “Cake Boss” in order to tackle those particular mini figures.

So, who is Killer the Croc you ask? Apparently, he’s a bad guy from the Batman Legos.

Step 1: I made 2 sheet cakes and placed them next to each other. I then iced over both cakes and outlined the shape of Killer the Croc with a toothpick. With the outline already drawn, it was easy to know where to cut the cake.

Andrew wanted a strawberry and vanilla cake. Ask and you shall receive!

Step 2: Spread the colored icing for his body and his pants.

Step 3: Add white icing for his mouth

Step 4: Add red icing for the eyes

Step 5: Use a thin icing point and outline the eyes, teeth, and muscles? scales? in black

When Andrew saw the cake before the party he said,”This is my best party ever.” Now that’s a pretty good review even before the party started.

I put together a simple Lego display guests saw when they first entered our house. The boys created the “6” and chose the minifigures to display. I copied a picture of Killer the Croc, and gave him a word bubble which said, “Andrew, we love you to pieces.”

I’m pretty sure we will have another Lego party in our future so I hope to use some of these ideas again.


Todays Creative Blog

Primary Carnage

Andrew went to chapel every Friday at school. One Friday he asked me to attend since chapel would be in the garden. I arrived right on time, located Andrew, and spread my blanket directly behind his class.

Chapel began with a prayer, some songs, and a little scripture reading.

The music teacher, who also doubles as the chapel teacher, began a mini sermon.

Loving God’s creatures and treating them with kindness appeared to be the main message she was trying to convey.

She supported her message by discussing ladybugs and how they are beneficial to gardens. Each of the three teachers then received a clear bucket which contained hundreds of ladybugs.

The children were ecstatic.

They clamored around the teachers trying to obtain a ladybug. Each class walked over to their specific garden and released the ladybugs. The children came back to the chapel area eagerly since they were promised another animal.

Next up, the discussion of earthworms and their valuable contributions to the garden.

Again, the teachers each received a bucket. When the buckets were opened, a few teachers gasped. With obvious displeasure their eyes pleaded with the music teacher, “Must we touch these creatures?”

Once I peeked into the bucket I was never happier to be the parent and not the teacher. The worms were enormous. Definitely larger than your average garden worm.

The idea with the earthworms was the same as the ladybugs. Release them into the garden so they will nourish the soil.

Initially, Andrew declined an earthworm but with a little coaxing from me agreed to hold one.

He giggled with delight as the earthworm moved on his hand. It was lovely to see him enjoying this experience.

Our picture perfect moment ended with a blood curdling scream from a little girl in front of us. She was distraught because someone had stepped on her worm. Other kids rose quickly to look. The quick movement resulted in additional worms being dropped and stepped on. This, in turn, lead to more upset children who also began crying.

The teachers tried to calm the students with soft and gentle voices, “Please don’t move. We’re going to release our earthworms in the garden soon.” This did little to rectify the situation.

Eventually, the teachers managed to ensure every student had a worm to release.

I was glad when chapel was finally over.

Fast forward one week to “Come Plant Your Own Plant Day” in the garden.

Andrew’s class returned to the garden for the first time since chapel. Each student held a flower or herb which they were going to plant.

As Andrew and his friends began digging, they discovered dead ladybugs everywhere. Hundreds of lifeless ladybugs lay on the ground. Apparently, releasing hundreds of ladybugs onto the same plot of soil is not the best idea.

I must say the sermon was a success. The students were quite kind and compassionate while discussing the ladybug annihilation.

Not sure if you can tell but the ladybug carnage is above. I refrained from photographing the earthworm debacle.

Guest Posting Today!

Today I’m guest posting over at All For the Boys.

Allison has an amazing blog filled with activities geared toward boys (although many girls would love to shot off rockets and build forts).

This week Allison is hosting, “Roadtrip Roundup.” She describes it as a week of projects, products, activities, and ideas all to keep your boy busy on your summer roadtrips.

Should be loads of fun.


Please stop by and say hello.

Father’s Day Gift – Part 2

In addition to the printables the boys filled out for Derek, we put together a few snacks for him to take to work.

I bought 3 of these containers from Target

Filled them with snacks: honey roasted peanuts, “kisses for Dad,” & sweet candies

Wrapped a ribbon around the sides – secured with tape

Alex created some labels for each jar: Super Dad, #1 Dad, We love you

I desperately wanted to edit the labels Alex created by enlarging the word size, changing the font but I held back. How it looks is really not the point. In the end, Alex was so proud of his labels and so was I.

I chose these containers because they are stackable and would take up less space on Derek’s desk at work

At Target we also found some firework paraphenalia – pops & confetti bombs

So we made personalized sign covers for them. Cheesey I know.

Pop sounds like Derek is 75 years old but we just went with it

Here’s the final Father’s Day gift: the 3 containers, the father’s day printables, the dynamite gifts, and messages written on hand tracings. (Some people are having trouble printing out the printable. Please email and I will send you a copy if that happens.)

Andrew’s says, “You’re my best dad.”

For the record, Derek is Andrew’s only dad. 🙂

 

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