Water Beads

Have you seen these things? I have seen these crazy things a few times at the Hallmark stores and have wondered what the heck they are.  I also thought they would be fun to play with!

I decided to buy some and see how it would work.  They are non-toxic so that’s even better!  I bought four different colors to make it more eye catching!  You have to soak them in water for 12 hours before you can actually use them.  Once they were done, the kids dug right in! 

I just had out some random clear containers and utensils for them to use.  Just a fun little activity.  They say these are supposed to last up to 6 months.  But we shall see how long we use them for!  They seem to break easy.  But that’s all right, we have enough to last awhile!

Halloween Survival Guide

I am usually not one that gets into Halloween.  Just not a holiday that I like much other than letting the kids dress up and go get all that candy they don’t need!  Anyway, a couple months ago I was browsing around on my favorites sites and came across this idea:  http://naptimejournal.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-survival-kits.html

I found it super cool and thought I needed to make one to take to work.  All you need is a bead container, stuff to decorate it, and the goods to go inside it.  I had a lot of fun making it and it sure seemed to be enjoyed at work today.

I decorated the outside with scrapbooking paper and curled ribbon.  I found these labels that had spiders on them to write what I wanted on.

Some of the items that Nap Time Journal used, I changed to make it my own. 

Here is the list of the items to “Eat At Your Own Risk”

Twisted twigs – Twizzlers

Bat Droppings – Tootsie Rolls

Ghost Doughnuts – Lifesaver Mints

Skull Dust – Powdered drink mix

Rat Eyes – Cinnamon Dots

Vampire Teeth – Candy corns

Brain Cells – Nerds

Frog Legs – Mike and Ikes

Fried Skin Flakes – Sno Caps (chocolate with white dots)

Bed Bugs – Sluggles gummies

Ghost Poo – mini marshmallows

Mummy Corpse – Sour Patch Kids

It turned out really cute.  Next year I might have to make a couple!  I’m kind of brainstorming what I could do for Christmas!  Such a fun thing to create!

Glow In The Dark Bath

Okay, so I am now a fan of Pinterest.  I just started looking at it this week and I have already fell in love.  My kids are going to be busy with new things to do.  My “new” house someday will be pretty with new fun things to decorate with!  Lastly, I will be broke! If you haven’t had a chance to look at Pinterest, you need to.  Especially, if you are a crafty person like me!

Tonight the kids took glow in the dark baths.  All you need is some glow sticks and a dark bathroom!  I got it all ready and surprised them. It was super fun and they were really excited.  Josie told me about 10 times how cool it was! 

We will be buying some more glue sticks for this winter when they need a nice long, WARM bath! 

This was Jayden’s tub.

This was Josie’s tub.  I put bubbles in hers.  Kind of a cool effect!

Now I have to give credit to Marissa Denham on Pinterest.  I have yet to figure out how to actually show the website this came from, but I can at least tell you who I found it from! 

Can’t wait to do more fun things off of Pinterest!

Try it out!  It’s fun!

Getting Colder = Time For Art!

So of course it’s Iowa and the weather changes daily!  Well,  It’s finally time for fall temps!  Not so much a fan, but I guess that’s why I live here!  I miss the 80’s already!

Now that we will be spending more time inside, it’s time to find some things to do to keep these kids busy!  Of course, they have a million toys, but they have been ignoring them for months!  Not looking forward to Christmas and trying to figure out what to get these two!  They don’t need a single thing!

Anyway, Josie was digging around in the craft stuff and found this package of people shapes.

The people shapes had sticky fronts so all we had to do was find stuff that would stick to them.  We got out tissue paper, gems, sequins, googly eyes, yarn, and curly ribbon.  Figured that was enough to keep them busy!  So, the kids got busy decorating!

They had a fun time.  It was fun to see how unique each one they made was. 

Loved this activity!  Should have picked up a few more of these when they were on clearance at Michaels!

We hung the finished artwork up in the kitchen for all of us to admire!  Little color is good!  I even got in on the action and did a few of them myself!

Melted Crayon Canvas

Found this idea on one of my favorite blogs that I follow.  So, of course, I had to make it with the kids!  And since the kids seem to be under the weather AGAIN, we are hanging low the weekend. 

http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/2011/08/melted-rainbow-crayon-canvas.html

I bought some crayons. You need to use Crayola because I hear they are the only ones that work the best.  I hot glued them into a rainbow pattern on a piece of canvas.  Got the hair dryer out and started melting the crayons! 

The kids had fun watching the colors melt.  I will tell you that it took a long time for the colors to actually melt.  And of course I couldn’t get mine to look as cool as “Pink and Green Mama” did.  But oh well, it was still fun! 

I am going to try another canvas with black, white, and gray and see how that turns out.  Hopefully we’ll have some fun wall art for our new house someday!

Most importantly, the kids were proud of it!  And it does look neat in person! 

What’s Next?

It’s been awhile since I have updated on here.  Apparently I am a busy girl!  I am trying to figure out the direction of this blog.  Now that I am working and both kids are in school, the fun activities are not getting done. I still keep my eye out on fun activities, but haven’t been any for awhile.  I love crafting and doing things with my kids so I hope an can still continue some fun ones every now and then.

So, I have been at my job for a month now.  The first day was absolutely nerve racking!  But now, it’s like old news!  I love my job.  I love the staff and I love the kids.  Everyday seems to be different.  I start my day with the kindergartners.  They are funny little human beings!  I also work with second graders and 4th graders.  It’s really interesting to start my day with kindergartners and end the day with 4th graders. 

I am only working 4 hours a day.  Right now, that is a super perfect schedule for me.  I still have a couple hours to myself during the day.  Get stuff done, run errands! It’s perfect!  And the extra cash is pretty nice to have!

Jayden is loving 1st grade.  It’s going a million times better than last year.  His teacher is amazing.  It is such a relief!  Not one day last year did he come home and say he had an awesome day.  He has said that almost everyday this year!  He has had to adjust to a new classroom, but he’s doing GREAT!   I’m a happy mom!

Josie is doing great in kindergarten.  She’s having a hard time in the mornings when we go to school.  I am still having to walk her all the way in.  I stop at her room door though.  I am slowly working on making her more independent.  She just loves her mom too much I guess!  She has a GREAT teacher too. I can’t ask for a better start for Josie!  She cracks me up with the stories she comes home with.  I should be writing them down, but I don’t.  I may regret this someday.

I have learned a few things over the last four weeks:

1.  It’s GREAT to be back in the workforce again.  Even though it’s only for a short time each day.  It makes me feel important again!  It’s a rewarding job and I am glad it fell in to my hands. ( And I have got to buy a whole new closet full of clothes!)

2.  My kids are awesome kids.  They do their best.  They treat others with respect.  I hope I have done something right and they keep being the kids they are. 

3.  After being in the schools and having an inside look at what goes on, I have to hand it to the teachers.  This school system expects A LOT out of the teachers.  They don’t always get the credit they deserve.  I have worked on a few things for some teachers and have thought how tedious it is and how much work they have to do, it’s just crazy.  They don’t get thanked or appreciated enough!  So, I want to say thank you to all the teachers out there. 

I’m not sure where this blog is going to go from here, but I am sure I will come up with something.  Happy Fall and I hope everyone’s school year is off to a good start like ours!  Anything is better than last year!

Happy 7th Birthday, Jayden!

Man, how time flies!  Seven years ago tomorrow this is was Jayden:

I seriously cannot believe he is seven!  I love this little man to death.  He has a heart of gold.  Loves his family.  Cares for EVERYONE.  Worries about EVERYONE!  He amazes me with his knowledge.  Maybe that’s because he would rather watch the Discovery or History Channel than Nick or Disney! 

I went through some of our pictures and tried to pick some fun ones.  It was fun to look back on my blonde hair and blue eyed boy!

If only I could put video on here of his little scooting butt! Jayden never crawled, he scooted.  It was so stinking cute!  How I miss seeing his little butt shimmy across the floor!

He loves the outdoors and he LOVES the farm!

Jayden, you are becoming quite the little man.  I love your warm heart.  I love how much you care about your sister.  I love how much you do the right thing and always watch out for others.  Don’t ever let anyone change that about you.  I am super excited to see how this school year goes!  Fresh start and GREAT teacher!  You already say it’s awesome.  You never once said that in kindergarten.  I love you to the moon and back! Love, Mom

Kindergarten And Beyond!

 

 

Well, the time has come.  My baby girl is heading off to kindergarten on Monday.  Ugh!  I think I am ready, but am I really?  Nope, probably not.  Will there be tears shed?  Yep, probably will be.

I decided to look back on pictures tonight for this post.  Hard to pick the ones I wanted to use and it also brought back a flood of memories of my little peanut.  Yes, she did have straight hair at one point.  And yes, she has always had an attitude! 

The five lucky years I got to spend with her were awesome.  I am so glad I have got to see all her milestones and then some.  Yes, there were some days she tested me to the limit, (and still does) but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  I thank Kevin for letting me stay home.  I couldn’t imagine it any different than it was.  I don’t regret sacrificing the last seven years to be home with my kids.  It will be memories that we will have forever.

I am very proud of my little peanut.  I can’t wait to see how her first year at school goes.  She says she is nervous but I know she is going to do great!  I worry a little about her bladder issues and pray she doesn’t regress, but if she does, we will deal with it.  I pray that her first year goes so much better than Jayden’s.  I pray she makes friends easy and is nice to all her friends.  I pray she stays true to herself and makes her mommy proud!

So what is the beyond part?  That involves myself!  I decided since both kids were in school that I wanted to go back to work.  I thought at first that I didn’t want to do anything with kids.  Haha, that didn’t last long.  I applied for a job at the kids’ school I wanted really, really bad, but that didn’t work out.  Yes, I was super bummed, but I decided to look into a couple more at different schools.  I went in to interview for a position and walked out having the opportunity to choose between four different ones!  I was happy, but it was very overwhelming!  I didn’t know what one I wanted to go with and I wanted to make sure it was the right fit for my family.

During all of this last week, I had found out about someone I know past away.  She was a preschool mom I had gotten to know this last school year. A great mom of two, young, full of life.  This hurt me in many ways!  I feel for that family and pray that God is watching over them and that the girls have the love and support they need to deal with their mom not being here anymore.  I had just ran into this mom a couple weeks before at a local establishment.  We chatted for a long time about what we were going to do when the kids went to school.  She was really excited about a job she applied for, which she ended up accepting!  She was happy and seemed fine.  Life is just not fair!

With this happening, and four different jobs to choose from, I was super emotional!  I cried a lot!  I was scared to make the wrong decision, but I went with my gut.  I decided that I wasn’t ready to not be there for my kids.  I still want to be able to help out in their classrooms.  I want to help them until they say they don’t need me anymore.  Life is too short!!  I want to enjoy my kids and still be there for them.  So, I chose the job that gave me four hours a day, all morning hours.  And I can still help out in their rooms/school!  WAH-HOO!

Now, as I look on to the week coming up, I have all sorts of emotions.  Am I ready to commit to something?  Am I ready to answer to someone?  Am I confident I can do the job?  Did I make the right decision?  Should I have waited a while and just see how the next couple months would go at home?  Am I going to fit in? Will people like me? Will I screw up?  Will I like the job?  Eeek!  Lots of questions.

I have to tell myself that I am ready for a change.  I’m ready to work again.  I’m ready to help kids again.  I’m ready to be out with other adults!  Wow, that’s a concept!  Adult conversation!  Who knew it existed.  I think I am ready to walk into the school and hopefully everything falls in to place.  I still don’t know my duties, which scares me.  Looks like I will be thrown in to things!  But that’s okay!  I hope I can fit in with the other associates.  I am the only new one so I have to find my place in the group!

Now, Josie, oh my Josie.  These years went way to fast.  I cannot believe you will be in kindergarten!  I know you will do great!  I can’t believe it was a year ago I was writing a post about Jayden, typing and crying at the same time!  I am doing it all over again!  Doesn’t seem right that it’s your turn now.  I love you with all my heart and I can’t wait to see you spread your wings and fly.  I hope I have taught you well and given you the confidence to navigate this world.  I can’t wait to watch you grow and learn.  Do the best you can.  Be the best you can.  And have fun doing it!  I am pretty sure I will be crying on Monday.  I promise to try and hold back the tears until I leave your classroom.  Can’t promise much as I have been super emotional lately! We will make it!  I love you, Peanut!

Change is a good thing.  And there is a lot of change in our house!  Hopefully it doesn’t take us long to adjust!  I’m excited, nervous, and anxious for all that is to come this year.  I hope we are on to great and better things! 

LIFE IS GOOD!

Tie Dye Baby Wipes!

I don’t know about you, but we always have baby wipes around the house.  My kids are out of diapers, but I still carry some in my purse and have some handy in our vehicles!  I always wondered, back in the day, why my mom and dad always seemed to have wipes handy.  Now I know!!  Kids are messy! 

This craft is super easy and good fun!  I think they could have sat and done it all afternoon!  Why not, nothing else to do in this monster heat wave outside! 

I got this idea from Make and Takes.  Here is the link: http://www.makeandtakes.com/summer-camp-for-kids-tie-dye-baby-wipes

I didn’t have any Kool-aid on hand so we used food coloring and water instead.  Works just the same, I assume. 

I let the kids fold up the wipes how they wanted them to be folded.

Then they used a clothespin to keep it together.  What’s next? Start dipping!

Then when they were done dying them, I unfolded it!  They got really excited to see what it looked like!

I did most of the work for them.  I let them fold and dye them, but besides that, I did most of it!  Didn’t want food coloring all over the place!  We managed to keep the mess low, but still had fun!

I put them outside to dry.  It’s 110 out!  They should dry fast!  They were very proud of their work!  Such a fun easy activity!

Sponge Painting

Josie had been begging me for awhile to do an inside painting project.  We didn’t have much going on yesterday so I decided to get something going for her.  I saw this idea on a website.  Here is the link: http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2011/06/australia-craft-sponge-art-activity.html  She actually has on there a few things she has done with sponges.  We have actually made the water sponge balls before!  Those work great for outside!

I cut two sponges up into different size pieces.  Cubes to long strips.  Gave her some paint and paper and we were ready to go!

She had a good time painting!  She made a fish and starfish by the waves and sand.  And then she decided to copy my rainbow I was making on my own paper.  Her and I had a good time painting!  Super easy and just good fun.  I cleaned up the sponges and put them in a baggie for another day!