Listening to Florence this week!
Have a Wonderful Weekend!
Category Archives: Uncategorized
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.
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. 🙂
< 
100th Post
Wow! Can you believe this is my 100th post? When I started writing back in November I thought my posts would focus mainly on my crafty endeavors. But overtime I realized I didn’t produce projects at a quick enough pace, and to my surprise, those weren’t the most satisfying posts to write. I also discovered I actually enjoyed writing about the everyday mundane occurrences in my life. I never thought I would write about our drive through dinners , getting my haircut , or share my intimate thoughts… so I guess this blog has turned into a hogde podge of everything.
As you know, these past 6 months have been a bit of a roller coaster for me and I thank you all for going along on the journey. Thank you to everyone out there who reads everyday, once a week, or whenever you get a chance. I appreciate every comment, kind word, and suggestion.
THANK YOU!
Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
Just in case, anyone out there, oh, I don’t know, maybe my own family, needs some last minute Mother’s Day ideas, I have gathered a few ideas.
| Lisa Leonard Necklace
|
|
Be Kind print |
Hubby Arranging for a Babysitter & Date Night
|
| Have 3 NEW restaurant choices to choose from for a Mother’s Day meal
|
A few hours of uninterrupted craft time  |
|
Home Made Cards
|
Load some music onto our Ipod
|
Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping for a week |
|
You are Loved
Do you have any other Mother’s Day wishes / ideas on your list?
Lego Man Cake
Alex had a Lego party for his 9th birthday. Derek suggested making a Lego brick for the cake but I quickly dismissed that suggestion since it did not seem like a challenge. Alex provided me with this figure as inspiration for the cake. So I went for it and think it turned out all right.
Step 1: You need: 2 boxed cake mixes, frosting dye, and 5 large containers of frosting. No, I don’t even consider making my own frosting.
Step 2 – Place both cakes side by side and then carve out the general Lego man shape. Follow up with an initial layer of frosting. Place the cake in the fridge – it’s easier to put the next layer of frosting if the first layer is more solid.
Step 3 – Create the bodysuit? armor? training clothes? with orange icing. I used clear icing bags and a basic frosting tip for the rest of the icing.
Step 4 – Use gray icing for the equipment and part of helmet. I started questioning my cake decorating abilities at about this point – hmmm… 2 hours till the party, I wonder if the grocery store could make a lego brick cake in such short notice?
Step 5 – Using a wider icing tip I created the white sections of the helmet
Step 6 – The first attempt at making “Lego skin” was too pink (very bad in the eyes of a 9 year old boy) so I tried again and got a brown color. Good enough.
Step 7 – I added the black icing sections.
 |
 |
Step 8 – I added the red sections and called it done.
There were certain parts of the cake I wasn’t thrilled with but Alex was excited with the cake and that’s all that counts in the long run.
Get Your Play On
MissPrettyPretty.etsy.com has the most delightful playhouses.
For me, there is nothing better than a toy which sparks a child’s imagination. I despise dislike electronic toys which kids tire of quickly. I can see hours of entertainment with these playhouses. The playhouses fit right over a card table or you could build your own PVC pipe structure to fit it on.
Isn’t the camping one adorable?
Love the girly pink one – it has over 40 removable pieces
In addition to the playhouses, the shop has costumes and accessories. After seeing the mermaids tails, I’m thinking Caroline would be adorable as one for Halloween.
Now for the best part!
You can win one of these playhouses valued at over $200!
Tammy at She Wears Flowers if hosting a giveaway for a playhouse!
Jump on over and visit her site and leave a comment on the giveaway section.
Hurry, the giveaway ends April 11 at midnight.
GOOD LUCK and GET YOUR PLAY ON THIS WEEKEND!
Hunting a Wabbit
Since it’s springtime we have an abundance of rabbits in our neighborhood. We often see them early in the morning munching away on the grass. While the kids love seeing the rabbits, I quite dislike the thousands of rabbit droppings in our backyard. However, having tons of rabbit droppings does not dissuade the boys from playing tackle football or inspire us to actually do something about it.
Caroline and Andrew asked to play in the backyard on Sunday. Immediately after opening our back door we saw a rabbit run from the play set to the middle of the yard. A mini showdown occurred as we stared at the rabbit and he stared back. Thirty seconds later Caroline went running toward the rabbit hollering, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Thankfully, the rabbit took one look at the wild haired child and went under the fence.
Following Caroline’s cue, Andrew began screaming, “We have to follow it! Get the keys!” I weighed my options of either staying in the yard and dealing with their whining about why we didn’t follow the rabbit or just getting the keys to the back gate and following the rabbit. Following the rabbit won out.
After opening the gate my two explorers quickly spotted the rabbit sunning himself 20 feet away.
They were on him in no time. Barreling toward his resting spot they were surprised when he took off. Quickly scanning the area, Andrew located the poor fellow under a tree. Caroline kept yelling,”Wabbit. Twee,” along with “Wabbit. Here!” The rabbit wisely ignored her command to “come here” and stayed put.
Andrew decided to get closer. Unfortunately, his trusty sidekick was still next to him yelling, “Wabbit. Here!” So the rabbit ran. My little Diego and Dora ran too. Tree after tree they followed the terrorized animal. He finally wised up and escaped under someone’s fence.
I am fairly convinced their tactics won’t land them a show on Animal Planet anytime soon.
HELLO!
Everyone has that person.
It may be your neighbor, your in-law, or your boss.
For me, it’s Carl.
I mean, IT’S CARL!
Carl works at our local post office behind the check out desk.
When the need arises to mail a package or buy stamps a slight shudder runs through my body.
Since our post office is quite small and only two employees are on duty at a time, there’s always a 50% chance I will have an encounter with Carl. The time of day doesn’t seem to change those odds – believe me, I’ve tried.
While standing in line, usually five or six persons deep, I try and compute how long each person’s transaction will take.
Please let me miss him, please let the old lady get him.
I typically have no chance of avoiding Carl if the person in front of me has an international package. The necessary paperwork will have been filed out incorrectly, Carl will tell them to step to the side, and motion me forward.
Damn it people! Why can’t you get the form right?
I’ve been through this ritual before so I try and be proactive with my information.
“HELLO!!!“
Hi. I need to mail this package. It’s 2 books and I’d like to send it the cheapest way possible. I don’t need anything else today.
“DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING LIQUID, PERISHABLE, OR FRAGILE IN THE PACKAGE?”
No.
“DO YOU WANT TO SEND IT PRIORITY MAIL?
No.
“IF YOU DECIDE TO SEND IT PRIORITY IT WILL TAKE 2-3 DAYS”
No. The cheapest way please.
“OK. IF YOU SEND IT POSTAL MAIL IT WILL TAKE 7-10 DAYS.”
Okay.
“SO YOU ARE OK WITH IT GETTING THERE IN 7-10 DAYS?”
Yes, regular mail will be fine.
“DO YOU NEED A BOOK OF STAMPS? A BOOK OF 100? A BOOK OF 200? A BOOK OF 400?” (followed by huge burst of laughter)
No.
“DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE NEW ELVIS STAMPS WE HAVE?”
No.
“DO YOU NEED ANY ENVELOPES TODAY?
No.
DO YOU NEED ANY TAPE OR BOXES TODAY?”
No.
“CAN I BE OF ANY OTHER ASSISTANCE TO YOU TODAY?”
No. Thank you.
Once I finish playing 20 questions with Carl I grab my receipt and breathe a little easier.
That is, until my next adventure with CARL!