Scrap Wood Art

             So my 13 year old and his friends were acting like boys and broke the boards holding up the mattress on his bed a while back. After months of asking me, I finally fixed it.

             Off to home depot we went.  I am very thankful that they will cut the wood right there so I did not have to teach myself how to use a saw. eeeek! That might have been a little scary. When the gentleman at home depot was done cutting the wood he asked if I would like the scraps. At first I said, "no" but then I thought about it. I thought about all the different things we could do with the scraps of wood. I had the guy cut the scraps of wood into smaller pieces.

We came home and gathered some supplies

and quickly got to work.

My abstract artist

                                                                                                            

What happens when we have a weekend without kids?

So my husband and I took a much needed break from everything including being grown ups.


We went para sailing. Yes! I went four hundred feet off the water and entrusted my life to a rope and a parachute. It was not as scary as I thought it would be. It was actually very relaxing to sit there and embrace everything around us. As I sat there, four hundred feet off the water watching the stingray beneath me, I was thinking about how I could get my children to do this. Home school experience right? Just kidding!! My children would scream the whole way up.

The next day we had even more fun. Not as relaxing though. We went jet skiing. My husband who likes everything to be calm and relaxed was driving the jet ski... AT AROUND 55 MILES AN HOUR!! So much fun. So scary, but so much fun. I am pretty sure someome slipped something into his morning
Vi-shake because seriously... in ten years, I have not seen this side of him ever. :)

We couldn't take pictures so here is a picture of how we looked.

Here is a picture of what I thought might happen. lol!!!

In the marina we were able to see dolphins. I wanted to jump off the jet ski and go swimming with them. I am pretty sure the jet ski tour guide would have been pretty mad at me.

Where were our children? Well, we have some pretty amazing friends who kept them for three days. Thank you friends!

Crayon Candles

Having toddlers around means we have lots of broken crayons. Most kids think that once a crayon is broken, it doesn’t work anymore. We decided that instead of melting the crayons into special shapes, we would make candles from them.

The children peeled

and peeled

and peeled some more

 

 

 

 

until they had these cute creations.

We placed them outside for a day and they made their own unique designs. This makes another great gift idea for a child to give to someone special.

When do you find time to??

People are always asking me how I do it. Busy activities.. That is how I do it. I give them stuff to do. Is it messy? Of course it is. What fun would it be if it wasn't a little messy.

The other day I sprayed shaving creme on my dining room table so that I could cook dinner. If I didn't, I would be busy cleaning up paint off off the floor or cleaning writing off the walls. I mean, have you ever had two toddlers around. lol.. They are busy little people exploring their world.

Toddler one: "I wonder what will happen if I poor this paint on the floor".
Toddler two: "hmmmm.. Maybe you should try it".
Toddler one: "You grab the blue paint and I will grab the red".
Toddler two: "Okay.. ooooohhhh.. Look what color it's making. It's PRETTY"!!
Todller one: "Oh NO!! Miss Kathleeen is coming. Pretend like your playing with blocks". 

Eeeek!

Yes! It actually happened but it was black paint.

Miss Kathleen, Are you sure we are allowed to do this?? Really?

Look mommy!! I wrote the Bible. 

 

As always, they loved it!! 

Going to The Store

So I always have a kabazillion kids with me. I don't think I have ever walked into a store without someone coming up to me and saying: 

"WOW!! Are they all yours?"
What I want to say is: "Yes they are actually but I have shared custody of them and they have several other parents".
Or I could say, "Yes and I have seven more but they are with their other parents". 
What I really say: "No, I run an in-home daycare".


"What do you do in your spare time"?
What I want to say: "I fork peoples yards".
What I actually say: Well.. That is what I actually said. The woman just smiled and walked away.

Disclaimer: I did not actually fork this yard. :) I have only been twice and I am not this good. :)

You have your hands full
What I want to say: "Oh really?" 
What I do say: "I sure do." 


People come up with all kinds of interesting things to say. Most people are polite. I love all of my babies and yes they are all mine for at least 8 hours a day.




 

Fourth of July Fun Day 4

So I really love pinterest. There are a lot of creative people on there. Yesterday I had my children make Fourth of July candle holders. They turned out super cute. 

 Supplies needed: 
Mason Jars
Acrylic Paint of choice
Paint Brushes 
Star Shapes (or another shape of choice).
Glue Sticks 
Candles

 This activity does not need to be for the Fourth of July.
This would make a cute gift idea for a child to give to mom for her birthday or Mother's Day.

 

Look how cute the candle holders turned out and the kids loved them. I think this was a pinterest win. 

There are so many things to do for the Fourth of July. We found a free event in a park near our home. They provided free food, soda, snowcones, and popcorn. 

My husband with three of my four children.

Did I give them soda? 
Well... Yes.. 
They were so excited that I gave them soda. They couldn't believe it at first. 

I let them have snowcones too..

 Hi mom! I am going to hurry up and drink this snow cone before you have the opportunity to change your mind.

This cute little inch worm landed on my husband. Homeschool lesson!!

 The weather turned bad for a moment! It rained like crazy but...

God stopped the rain long enough for us to enjoy some beautiful fireworks. Happy Birthday America!!

Class Pictures 2013

So how do you get a bunch of little people to sit and take a picture? You offer them candy. :) I think I took a hundred pictures today trying to come up with a good one. Here are a few of them. 

The Morning Crew 

Ummm.. Yeah...

Ummmm.. Did you say bubble gum? Cheese!!

The Evening Crew

Hmmmm... I think I am losing some.

Ummm... The large ones are on a roller coaster but where did those two year olds go?

Jelly beans anyone?

People are always telling me that they do not know how I do what I do. Look how beautiful each and everyone of these little people are. Have a safe fourth of July everyone!!

Fourth of July Fun Day 2

 

 Before you ask.. No they are not all technically mine but I love them all. :)

We had a lot of fun today working on our t-shirts. They really love this project.

Sweet Smile

Preschoolers

It's hard work creating a masterpiece

School Age

Then we made an American Flag with cool whip, strawberries and blueberries. Mmmmm!!

.

          After we made our flag, I told them they had to wait until after lunch to enjoy it.

Mmmmmm!

                           Psalm 33:12

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

    the people he chose for his inheritance.

Trying to find Psalm 33:12

This is the back of one of our t-shirts.

                                The afternoon crew made chocolate chip cookies. Mmmmmm!

They are ready to go in the oven mom. 

While we waited for our cookies to bake, they painted their Fourth of July shirts.