Workin' Hard

Today was so beautiful...warm with a nice cool breeze and just the way summer should be, so we were finally able to be outside. We have been shut in for the last week because it has been so hot and humid. I was reading my book while the kids were playing and i looked up to find Mitchie setting up his own "motorcycle" repair shop. He got some blocks from Chris to keep the "bike" from rolling away, a wrench to fix things with and a mat to lay down on while he works! That was his work face. I love him...he is so much like his daddy. Always working on something or fixing something. Like Father like Son!!

Sassy Summer Duds

I made this for Avery yesterday. I started out with a plan to make another new bag, but when i was digging around in my stash i got sidetracked by this fabric. These two fabrics have been sitting side by side destined to be used together but i did not know what they would be until yesterday. Avery was wearing a cute little skirt from Julia and i thought that it seemed like it would be easy enough to make....so i just started cutting and sewing and this is the end result. I am afraid of patterns so it felt good not to use one this time, otherwise it probably would never have been made. Avery was a very unwilling model today that is why it is only the skirt in the picture not the grouchy face too.

Paper Fancy

I had seen the idea around to make little book/journals for your kids, so that they could explore story writing and journaling in their own little books. I have pretty lofty ideas and plans for what i hope they can do, but that does not mean those plans always come together, however i am prepared. My plan this time is to do some color poems, simple stories about firefly's (since it is our bulletin board topic), and/or to explore some alliteration games with Avery. Or maybe she could pack one away in her backpack for drawing and journaling while she is geocaching with Chris. Avery helped me make a few of these little books yesterday. They are about 4 1/4x5 1/2. That little tiny one is for Kit, her American Girl. Avery said it was so Kit could practice her school work and writing. How very homeschooly of her!?!?!?!

I admit that i am not much of a scrapbooker, but sometimes I buy the pretty papers just because they are so pretty, so i had some of this on hand for the project. We used regular printer paper for the pages along with some sturdy decorative scrapbook papers... a paper cutter made it easier to get straight edges, but i suppose you don't need that...scissors for smoothing down folded edges.... and embroidery floss and a large needle for binding.

I just folded a full paper in half long side to long side and then cut that in half with the paper cutter...giving me 2 sets of pages. The end result had 24 pages(front and back). We cut and folded our pretty paper to the same size, then used the floss to sew ourselves a binding. It was fun to do and easy, almost addictive. I could have made a ton more. Now i am looking forward to what they become.

For Sarah

I could not find the picture of the goose, but here is another sweet one. Remember, you brought me flowers from work and just came by to hold the baby for a little while and visit. Thanks!***I think this might be the one you were looking for Dee. After your comment i went on a hunt down memory lane and here it is. That feels like such a long time ago. It was a beautiful summer being near you and Jeremy.***

Summer School

Look what a happy girl! This is our new school bulletin board. I just finished the summer version and we got to use it for the first time yesterday. There are poems and insect nomenclature and pictures all on there. This "months" theme is firefly/lightning bugs and summer. I am trying to make it seasonal and to include some kind of creature that we see here in our yard in that season. Like last time i did spring, with birds and flowers. But, the truth is, there really are not that many firefly's here. We have seen one or two, but not nearly the amount that we had when i was a little kid. We really could catch a jar full by nights end then. Our bulletin board is a jumping off point for school...like yesterday we made our own lightning bug pictures(art) and it encourages reading(Avery reads these( poems back to me)and exposes her to poetry(LA). It also is helping with science as we learn what the parts of a insect are.We also have included song lyrics when we can find them to fit our topic. This time i used You Are My Sunshine. Avery knows it well and has loved it ever since, when she was a tiny wee baby, we got a knock at the door and it was my friend Sarah and some of her youth group girls singing You Are My Sunshine to serenade her and welcome her to the world. Thanks for that sweet memory, friend.

Popeye's!!

You know, i sometimes wonder what is worth blogging and what is not. I take a bunch of pictures of something that might seem silly to some, and then in the end decide that it just is not worth it. But once in awhile there is something that really seems worth it and this time i did not have a camera....so sorry about being lame and having nothing to show for my tricky work, just a picture of Avery picking part of tonight's ingredients.. Although i may be the only one that is amused by this i feel like sharing. Tonight for dinner i made "green" smoothies. That green translates to spinach included. I chose not to share because that would be the end of my willing kiddie participants. I did not lie...i just left the part about the spinach and celery out. You see, Avery has been a little leery since the beet juicing, dare i say, incident last week. As soon as i offer her a glass of juice that she knows has been juiced or come from the blender she immediately asks, "what is in this?". It is almost like she is on to me. But this beauty had frozen berries and tropical fruit in it, what is there not to like about that. So i talked it up big time at dinner.."mmm, this is so good! taste those yummy strawberries that you picked yourself?". Mitch loved it and drank it down right away....but it sat strangely full beside Avery's plate. Maybe she really was on to me...I was giddy all through dinner. Every time they took a drink and liked it i caught Chris' eye and patted myself on the back, literally. I could not help myself. In the end, it took no convincing at all to get Avery to finish hers. I think there are more "popeye's" in our future. I am just going to have to be sure Avery is nowhere near the kitchen when i make it.

For me...

I got a wild hair and decided that i needed a 4th of July bag. I don't make a habit of making things on a whim and i don't usually make things for me. I am a compulsive over thinker!! But yesterday morning i stopped thinking and made this little tote bag. I no longer have excuses for my other bag taking me so long. This one took about an hour or hour and a half. It was very easy to make. I went hunting through my fabric stash for anything red white and blue and i found this denim i had bought for...something.... and this pretty red and white. Thanks to my new bag model. She did a very nice job!

Red, White and Crafty

I thought that today i would make some 4th of July crafts with the kids...so this morning i went gathering all over the house to find supplies in red, white and blue. I was literally all over the house...in every cart, bucket and cabinet we have. I really should put all these things in one place! They had to be simple, because i was totally making it up as i went.

We made these ribbon streamers. We used a metal d-ring and scrap ribbon...Avery chose to add a bell....and just looped the ribbon around and through to make a knot. Easy-peasey!

The kids went and hunted down big rocks from the backyard. These were the only ones we could find. They painted them with sparkly craft paint....again really simple! I think they are going to go out back to the garden for decoration in among all our vegetable plants. It could use a little sprucing up since something is eating everything.

The last kid craft we did were these "fireworks" headbands. I braided red, white and blue pipe cleaners, and then added a few more to stick up and glued sparkly pom-poms on the ends. I did not get a whole lot of help from the kids on this one...just some creative direction from Avery. She has lots of ideas!I asked the kids for their fireworks faces... as you can see Mitchie does not like them and Avery likes them a whole lot!! We shall see how it goes tonight.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Here is to having a great reason for super fun toe polish. Happy Birthday America!

Aaaargh matey!

What are all the crazy faces about? It was an afternoon well spent at Pirates Hide-Out mini golf...so of course they are pirates!!! This is this weeks installment of Field Trip Thursday. Not our original plan but we improvised. It was a great day for it...not too hot and the kids had a good time. They were especially pleased to know that there was ice cream to be had at the end of all the fun.

Avery's method was just to whack that ball, no matter what she had to do....Mitchie had a more laid back approach! But despite our sad lack of mini golf skill, Avery got a hole in 1 and Mitchie got several in the hole on the second hit.I can not say the same for mommy and daddy. A few times we were in danger of being hit with his club, as he swung it up over his shoulder as he has seen someone else we know do. But most of us managed to make it out with no bruises. I say most of us because Mitchie actually lost his balance and fell right on his face and got turf burn around his eye...poor baby. Only Mitchell!!

More pirate faces!!!! They are pretty silly kids.

Creative Kid

Last night Chris and i went on a date...imagine that...while we were gone the babysitter took the kids on a walk. Avery had the idea that it should be a nature walk. She took a baggie to hold all her finds. They walked the neighborhood and collected up all the things that looked beautiful to her. Avery is very into the idea of blogging the things we do, since she sees me do it...So, I conducted a little interview with Avery about it this morning.

What did you do last night with Megan? "We went on a walk and found nature things."

Why did you choose those things? "Because i wanted to have a art craft that had only nature things. And i like to look at nature."

What did you do with them? "I taped two papers together, and i glued all the things on the paper."

why do you like to do nature crafts? "Because they are fun"

Sweet Treats

Frozen banana's were my favorite county fair treat when i was a kid. Every summer we went to the fair and that was the one time a year i could get this yummy treat. I would never have thought to make it at home, but i was inspired.

I am always looking for ice pop recipes or something frozen that i can give the kids that is more than just sugar water...so that when i send them outside right after getting sun screened on a hot day, those frozen treats keep them in the shade long enough for it to soak in. I found this. They are so simple, just green and red grapes on lollipop sticks, freeze and enjoy!

I love a treat that you don't ever have to say no to. Why would i? I try to make it a habit to not say no to any requests for fruits or vegetables.The kids tried the grape pops. They were not sure what to make of this fruit that they love, but frozen. I think they thought that it was a little strange.