Blow It Up!

Here's a little science experiment that C and I did last summer.
Found directions for ya at Funology.com.
It's a great website for all kinds of funstuff.

Don't Forget About the Game Closet!

Today was not going well. 
In the morning they went to a little community soccer camp for a few hours.
I did my best to make suggestions of fun things to do throughout the day.
But, in the afternoon, they watched movies, played video games, read books, and FOUGHT with each other!!!
I was trying to make dinner and each one of them earned a time out for various reasons. Just one of those days.
So, while I was waiting for dinner to cook, I decided to teach my oldest to play a card game, Crazy 8s. He really liked it. And, it helped to separate all of the boys for a while.
Then, I played a board game with the 5 year old.
Sometimes I just forget about all of the games we have in our hall closet.

Here are some of our favorites:

• Zingo (it's like Bingo, but w/ pictures - no reading necessary)
• Jr. Scrabble
• Guess Who?
• Memory
• Chutes & Ladders
• Slap Jack (played w/ face cards)  Directions
• Crazy 8s (played w/ face cards) Directions

*What are some of your kid's favorite games?

and,

What ages are they best for?*

CD Spinners

Saw this idea in a Family Fun magazine in a waiting room the other day.
I love easy, fast crafts. I typically don't have the patience for anything else.

Materials:

CD
Shooter Marble (the others are too small)
Glue
Water Bottle Top
Spinner Template (optional)

go HERE to download a template for the CD SPINNERS craft. The template will be on the front page under "Featured Ideas."
You can make these without the template. It just makes them more colorful and fun to watch.
You could also just decorate your Spinner anyway you want.

DirectionsColor the template and adhere it to one side of the CD.
Glue the marble on the center of the CD.
Glue the water bottle lid to the center of the other side of the CD.
Let dry.
Use the water bottle lid as a handle and SPIN!

Pedaling Fast & Trying To Keep Up

My Aunt shared this funny picture on her blog.

Truer words...  :)

The end.

Homemade Butter

Do you celebrate Pioneer Day? the 24th of July?
Growing up, my family would always celebrate with cousins, bbq and a rodeo.
This year, due to my very large belly, I think we'll stay home.
But, to give my kids a little taste of pioneer life, we made our own butter.
I used to make this while teaching school as part of a social studies lesson.
Here's how, if you'd like to give it a try:

Ingredients:
all you need is some
Whipping Cream & Salt

Put some whipping cream in a canning jar, or whatever jar you'd like,
(I put about 1/2 pint of whipping cream into a pint jar, so it would have plenty of room)
Shake, Shake, Shake until the cream turns mostly solid and separates
(took us less than 10 minutes of shaking)

looks a little something like this

Pour off the excess milk
Add a bit of salt to taste
And, you've got BUTTER!

I'd Like to Try...

Check out THIS SITE for road trip ideas in your area.
You can choose trips that use 1/4, 1/2, or a full tank of gas!
What a great idea!

No Bake Cookies

If you want cookies, but don't want to turn on your oven because it's a million degrees outside...
(ok it's really only 113 degrees!!!)
try these stove top cookies.
I'm sure most of you have had these before and there are many variations,
but here is our recipe just in case you've never tried them.

No Bake Cookies
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
Combine these ingredients in a medium sized pot on the stove top.
Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. (if you under or over boil, the cookies will be runny or break too easily)

Take pot off heat and add:
3 cups Oats
1 tsp. vanilla
3 T. Peanut Butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder

Combine and drop onto cooking sheet that has been coated with cooking spray while still warm.

I Like to Try...

Came across a cool site called  Little Passports recently.
I wish I would have seen it at the beginning of the summer.
It's so great for kids to learn about life outside their own country.
Pay for a subscription and you get a traveling kit mailed to you.
Each month, your child will be mailed info. and activities about a certain country, along with online activities.
I think I could just pay for one subscription and by 2 oldest could share...

Summer Houses

The holidays are just so crazy!
It's often hard to sqeeze in each and every fun tradition that you and your kids want to do.
So, I thought it would be fun to make gingerbread SUMMER HOUSES.
One more fun thing to do in the summer and one less thing to do at Christmastime!
Perfect!

Cardboard box fort

Had an odd shaped box laying around.
So, we turned it into a little playhouse.
They weren't too interested in decorating the outside to look like a real house, like I suggested.
But, it was very important to have a sunroof / lookout widow!
The inside did get decorated with a tv and video games though.
Only the essentials!

Decor. for the 4th

Here's what the boys made to decorate our house for the 4th of July.

They traced their hands (3 of each color) and glued them together into the wreath shape.

So simple, but it kept them busy for a while. I figure it's good for developing fine motor skills.

And, yes, my husband installed 2 peep holes in the front door.

One for me & one for the boys.

Happy Birthday America!

This is nothing spectacular or new.

I think you see this type of cake on every magazine around the 4th of July.

But, it was new for my boys.

And, we got to talk about our country and what the design of the flag means.

I LOVE angel food cake. Strawberry Shortcake is one of my favorite desserts.

So, we used a box of angel food cake mix and I cheated and used Cool Whip for the "white". It's almost against my religion to use fake whipped cream, but I let down a bit on my snobbish whipped cream standards due to time restraints. Nothing like real whipped cream if you ask me!

Here's what our cake would have looked like, but...

the 2 year old woke up from his nap while it was cooling and took a few handfuls out of various spots.

So, I cut out a few flag shaped pieces for the boys to decorate their own personal flags.