Back to blogging!

It seems like I dropped off the face of the earth, but I've just been preoccupied with Facebook, Pinterest, and just being a stay at home mom. I am amazed that this school year is in the final 5 weeks. I think it has gone faster being a SAHM than as a teacher. I have learned so much about myself and my HIGH and unrealistic expectations for taking care of my home. I hope to use my blog to share my experiences because what I have found is that most of my friends have felt the same way, we just haven't had the opportunity to share our thoughts and feelings as we should.

It has definitely been a year of ups and downs and lots of life's surprises, but I am so excited about all that the future holds for us. 

Texas Aggie Cookies

I finally got to make some Aggie cookies for a customer. I see a few things I will do better next time, but these are not bad for the first batch.

For more cookie pictures, or for ordering information, check out Sweet Station on Facebook.

All Saints' Day

I did it! I made some simple saint costumes using pillowcases thanks to Catholic Icing and Shower of Roses. Another suggestion from Lacy at CI was to use a t-shirt that is turned inside out. If you cut out the neckhole just right, you get a little St. Francis cap, too.

Here they are: Blessed Kateri, my little angel, and St. Dominic.

I'm already planning for next year.

Costumes for All Saints' Day

I am a procrastinator this year....no, I just didn't have time to even try to put together costumes for my kids. I just started my candy/cookie business on October 1, and it's off to a good start so I've dedicated a lot of time to that.

I must admit my knowledge of saints is still in the beginning stage and since this will be the first year we can attend the celebration, I am frantically trying to put something together. I quickly turned to Catholic Icing for ideas. There are so many wonderful ideas that I became overwhelmed and started putting them altogether in a spreadsheet. That's my OCD kicking in and it's okay if you laugh at me. Anyway, I found that all you really need is a good robe (pillowcase with holes cut or an adult t-shirt turned inside out if you're really in a hurry) in brown, white, black, maybe red or green. For a veil, you could use a skirt. Some costumes require rope around the waist. Then you add some accessories. It seems so much simpler when written this way, but looking at all the fabulous ideas on the blog was overwhelming.

So I stayed up a litle late last night making a spreadsheet. I am grouping all girls' costumes and then all boys'. Then I am grouping them by color of robe. Last is a column listing what accessories are needed. It makes it seem so much simpler (in my head at least).

If anyone can tell me how to attach a spreadsheet or put it on a website you can link to, let me know so I can share. Until then, if you leave your email address, I'll be happy to email a copy of the unfinished spreadsheet to you.

Snack Time- Time Saver

For the first week of school, I found myself arguing with the kids about which snacks they could have. I wasted so much time trying to explain what was healthy and what was not, so I made a list of acceptable snacks. Then I made this picture "menu" so the kids could choose for themselves. The first few days we used it, they tried to ask me if they could have Oreos or candy. I just pointed them over to the pictures and told them if it isn't there, they can't have it. Now they take care of their own snacks and I have more time to get the smaller kids theirs.

This list comes in handy when I am making my grocery list as well.

#160 Make Your Own Puzzles

I was cutting boxes to make slotted disks when Lauren took the pieces and started putting them back together. It hit me that I could make my own puzzles using empty food boxes. You can make simple puzzles for 2-3 years olds by cutting 4-6 squares out of a picture with few details (Cap'n Crunch Cereal), or you can make them harder by cutting more squares, and by using scissors with different patterns.

For over 150 more fun and inexpensive things to do with kids, check out my Summer Bucket List.
You will need:
empty boxes, scissors, a paper cutter, baggies, pencil, ruler

1) Cut the face of the box away from the rest of the box.

2) Using a ruler, draw your puzzle design on the back. The more puzzles I made, the more designs I created.

3) Using scissors or a paper cutter, cut the pieces out.

4) Store in a baggie.

#103 Marble Painting

You will need:
masking tape
cardstock
tempera paint
scissors
small containers for paint
lots of marbles
paper towels
another adult to help you if you have more than one child
a container to roll the marbles in such as a cut cereal box. Make sure it is 1" wider than the paper on all sides. Flats from soda cases are the best. 1. Fill containers with enough paint to cover the marbles.

2. Tape the paper inside the box.

3. Drop 2-3 marbles in the paint and swirl the container, making sure you cover the marbles.

4. Take the marbles out and place them on the paper.

5. Tilt the box back and forth to create different patterns.
6. Repeat with different colors.

7. Let dry and carefully remove from the cardboard.

Each masterpeice is unique, just like my kids.

For over 200 more ideas of Summer Fun, click here.

Shaving Cream Swirl Art

This activity was so much fun...and just as messy. This must be done outside, trust meIf your kids are young like mone, you will need an adult helper. 1. Spread a layer of shaving cream as easily as you can into a glass or plastic container.

2. Squirt a few drops of paint into the shaving cream. Repeat, making sure you keep the colors apart. We squirt ours into the 4 corners.

3. Run a knife back and forth, creating a swirl pattern.

4. Lay a piece of cardstock onto the shaving cream and pat it down, making sure every part of the paper is making contact with the shaving cream. 5. Lift the paper and quickly scrape the excess shaving cream off with a knife or paper towel. The knife left neat marks.

6. Let your masterpiece dry while you make more.

7. My kids probably would have used a whole ream of cardstock if I would have let them. Let the pages dry, pressing them under weighted items to prevent curling.

8. You can use the finished product to make cards.

Costume Organization

There are 2 little girls in our family and both of them LOVE dressing up. Our little boy likes to dress up in his old Halloween costumes, too. We used to put their costumes in a basket, but we just ran out of room. This is my solution.

Organizing my arts and crafts supplies

I have seen this idea on several blogs and in the Lowe's magazine. I decided to organize my arts and crafts supplies, but now I want to buy another shoe organizer to hang in the pantry and keep all my pasta bags, seasoning packets, chocolate chip morsels, etc.... anything that comes in a bag.

Get Ready For School Routine ...a little trick to make it better.

My oldest has ADD. When she was in KG, each and every morning was a struggle no matter how much we prepped the night before, however, we did not know at that time that she had ADD. In first grade she was diagnosed so it made my husband and I more patient, but it was still frustrating, especially since the medicine does not kick in until we have left for school.

Lauren started 2nd grade this year and Caleb started Kindergarten. We wake them both up at 6:30. Caleb is ready no later than 7. Lauren needs constant reminders on eating, putting her socks and shoes on QUICKLY, brushing her teeth, and letting me do her hair. She is sooo sloooow. We even turn the TV off which isn't fair to the little ones. This doesn't make for a great morning for anybody.

I racked my brain for a better system. A picture chore chart might work for some, but she does some things upstairs and some things downstairs. Plus, out of sight, out of mind. The chart must go with her.

It finally hit me.

I bought a package of 5 plastic bracelets at King Dollar, and I wrote a task on each one. 1) Get dressed; 2) Eat; 3) Socks and Shoes; 4) Brush your teeth; 5) Hair. When my husband or I wake her up, we put the bracelets on her. After she completes a task, she takes the bracelet off.

It worked beautifully this morning. I am not sure it made her go much faster, but there was a lot less arguing and nagging on our part and she could look at her wrist to see what was left to do.

Road Trip Fun for Kids

NOTE: For a list of over 200 free and inexpensive things to do with kids, see my Summer Bucket List here.

We are about to go to Austin for a few days and from there we have decided to head to the beach. With 4 kids. Under that age of 7. You know what that means. Fighting. Lots of fighting.

When we drove to my aunt and uncle's house last month, I started making up my own Road Trip Bingo. I brainstormed things the kids would see along the way. I tried not to have too many restaurants. I added water towers and oil derricks. I came home and created my own bingo boards using a simple spreadsheet and pictures I copied from the internet. Since my kids ARE so young, the method of play will be simple. Anytime the kids see one of the items on their sheet, they will mark it off of their board. I'm not sure there will be a prize for the 1st one to finish, but we're thinking of having "good behavior tickets" and we may give them some extra tickets upon completion.



Another idea I'm excited about is one I found on I Can Teach My Child blog. Make your won Paint With Water pages....pack them in a gallon-sized ziplock bag...add a paintbrush....don't forget your cup with a lid and a strawhole for the paintbrush and you're ready to go.

Also going in the baggies are these printable hidden pictures from Highlights magazine. There are 2 pages so be sure you click to see the next page. The 2nd page has about 138 more pages.
I have printed wordsearches for my older kids and here are some "What is Different" pages. Here is another one by Family Fun.
Here are 400 travel game ideas on Family Fun's website.
I am trying to find some "Crack the Code" pages. If I had more time, I'd make my own using my rubber stamp collection. I suppose you could use the symbols on your computer as well.

You could play The Alphabet Game. Start with the letter "A" and find one on a sign, truck, building or license plate, say the word and then move on to the next letter. You can do this as a competition or together as a family for the younger beginning readers. The first one to get to the letter "Z" is the winner!
Another version of this game:
Someone picks a theme (foods, animals, places, girl names, boy names, bands, songs etc) and you pick an item that corresponds with each letter of the alphabet. You can do this several ways... We usually go Person 1: A, Person 2: B, Person 3: C, etc,. But you can do it where each person does A and then each person does B. If you want to get competitive about it, you can do one letter until someone can't think of an item, and that person loses that round!

How about The License Plate Game:Print a U.S. map off the computer and color in the states as you see license plates from each one. For smaller kids, you could copy and paste pictures of each states' license plate.

Pass around a "Treasure Bottle": Use a large soda bottle or a large clean peanut butter jar. Fill it no more than 2/3 full with uncooked rice or birdseed. Then put in about 20-25 small objects (safety pin, plastic bugs, button, M&M, nut, bolt, paper clip, penny, bead, piece of macaroni, tiny lego, and other misc. toy pieces or stuff that is probably rolling around in your kitchen junk drawer.) Keep a count of the items and write down the number of items on the outside of the bottle. Put the lid on tight. Let the kids take turns rolling the bottle around in their hands until they find them all. Kids of all ages love this game. You can make more than one treasure bottle so kids don't have to take turns - put different items in different bottles

Play "Find 100": Choose a color or an object and then count them until you find 100 of that item. Popular Find 100 items are American flags, statues, rivers, water falls, churches, red cars, etc. A competitive variation has each person choose a different item or color of car that passes you, and have a race to 100

There are many more ideas out there. Check out Momsminivan.com for more ideas with printables.

Summer Bucket List #1 Dye pasta or rice

You will need:

Dried pasta of all shapes and sizes or rice

rubbing alcohol

snack bags

food coloring

measuring cups

yarn to make necklaces or bracelets

1. Add about 1/2 c pasta to snack-sized baggies. We had 8 different colors so we started with 8 baggies.

2. Add 1/8 c alcohol, or just enough to coat the pasta.

3. Add about 4 drops of food coloring and mix the pasta around until mixed and coated.
4. Allow the pasta to sit, turning every 20 minutes or so, for about an hour.

5. Remove pasta to a tray to finish drying.

6. Let kids make jewelry.

My Sweet Spencer

I am ashamed to admit that I don't have a journal for Spencer. He is #4 and I always feel like I am chasing my tail around so I'm going to start here and hopefully buy that journal soon.

Today when Spencer woke up from his nap, he was a little fussy so I gave him his milk. He put it down and did the baby sign for "eat" and even told me, "Eeeee." I'm not sure if my other kids were signing at this age, but we're so excited to be able to communicate with him.

His first word was "duck" but it took us some time to figure out what he has been saying because it comes out, "guck."

So many exciting milestones are in the near future.

Supplies in my Supply Closet

I have made a list of just about everything you need to complete my Summer Fun Bucket List.

Bingo stampers (dot)
Borax (For MYO Bouncy Balls)
Bubble Wands
Buttons
Candy Molds (Plastic, found at hobby stores in cake decorating)
cardboard from cereal boxes
Cardstock
Colored pencils
Cookie Sheets
Corn syrup
Cornstarch
Cotton balls
Cotton swabs
Crayons
Different colored Sharpies
Dishwashing liquid-Dawn
Dixie cups or empty yogurt containers
Empty boxes of all sizes for #s 58, 151, 147, 160, 155, and 60)
Empty plastic containers with spouts for #148 (syrup, ketchup, jelly)
Extra white flat sheets for painting
Felt
Flour
flour-self rising
Foam stamps for painting
Foil cupcake liners
Foil-heavy gauge (for #159)
Food coloring
Fuzzy balls
Giant boxes
Glass Jars (empty)
Glitter
Glue-Elmer's
Goggle eyes
Hole punch
Ice cube trays (different shapes)
Ink pads and rubber stamps
Kool-Aid packs (for #25 and SnS watercolors)
Lemon Juice for #115
Liquid bluing (crystal rock garden)
Liquid dish soap
Liquid starch
Marbles
Markers
Medicine droppers
marshmallows
Muffin tins
Old toothbrushes
Paint by Number ($ Tree)
Paint Rollers
paint: powdered tempera,fingerpaints, etc...
Paintbrushes (various sizes)
paper
Paper bags big and small
Paper cutters (scrapbook style)
Paper on a roll
paper plates
Paper towel tubes
pasta-different shapes
Perler beads
Pipe cleaners
Plaster of Paris figures to paint
Plastic squeeze bottles
Popsicle sticks
Print Doodle Art Pages
PVC Pipes
Q-Tips
Rice
Rock salt
Rocks to paint
Rubber gloves
Salt
Sand
Sand molds (found 2/$1 at Dollar Tree)
Scissors
Sequins
Sharpies (all colors)
Shaving cream
sheet (flat)
Shortening
Small paper cups (Dixie Cups)
Soil & seeds & pots
Sponges
Spray bottles-check dollar store
Squirt Bottles (saline solution)
Stencils
Stepping Stone kits
Stick-on jewels
Straws
String
Sun Catchers to paint
Tempera paint
Tissue paper squares
Toothbrushes for #152 (6/$1 at Dollar Tree)
Toothpicks
unsweetened Kool-Aid mix
Vegetable Cans
Vegetable Oil
Vinegar (MYO watercolors)
Water colors
Wax paper
Wrapping paper tubes