Styrofoam cup art

I saw this little activity online and tried it out! The kids loved it!
Step one: Put Styrofoam cups onto cookie sheet


Step two: Sit kids in front of the oven and watch the cups shrink before your eyes


Step three: Remove from oven, observe how tiny they got


Step four: Agree with your kids when they say they look like barbie hats


Step five: PAINT!



Enjoy!

Random things...

The kids and I went to a children's museum on Friday as our field trip. It was very hands on and alot of fun for them, but I think I like the Baltimore Science Center a little more in terms of quality, education, size and fun. This was still super fun though! Here's a picture of Elle carving a block of wax.



On a totally different note, I cleaned out my purse the other day. I actually had two purses, and I dumped the insides of both onto a counter to attempt to organize them. I was appalled when I saw what all I had in there! I'm happy to say I now only use ONE purse and only have a fraction the crap in it I had before!


Okay, on yet another random note. I have a new favorite thing! I love floating candles! I use to have all sorts of scented candles on my counter and in cleaning out a cabinet, I found several scented floating candles I had purchased years ago. I stuck them all in a bowl of water and they looked so pretty! So different from the norm I usually have on my counter.



And last but not least, here's a photo of my dog Loki... just because he's so darn cute! Of course Pinky is as well!!!! How can I not love that giant smile!

Just for fun... here's a picture of Pinky and Loki when we first got him 6 months ago!


That's it for now, until next time!

YAY! I'm back!

We got a new camera, and it's super cute! Hubby bought it in a dark red/brown color. The kids aren't allowed to TOUCH this one! The first photo I took on it was of myself... first thing in the morning!

Then again after I showered and got ready for the day!

Yes, that's tacky I know!

Things are still relatively the same here. The girls are liking school. Well, except the fact that I make Belle write her name and the date on every piece of paper she writes on. She REALLY hates that, LOL! But hey, she's learning the the calendar really well!
We had another field trip on Friday, we went to the Baltimore Science Center. Since I didn't yet have the new camera, I had to buy and use a disposable one... so I have to transfer those pics onto a disk to put onto the computer. But it was really really fun! The girls and I got to lay on a bed of nails (what a strange feeling!), and they were both called as volunteers to go up and get shocked during a static electricity show demonstration we saw.

Today poor Belle has to go to the dentist to get a giant cavity filled. I took her in for a routine visit last week and apparently she has weak teeth that break easily and get cavities easily. Half of her back tooth is missing because it broke off at some point and she has a massive cavity in it. She has a smaller one on the other side as well. The dentist is filling the smaller one today and will use laughing gas. That way we'll know if she's okay using ONLY laughing gas because the next one that will be filled is alot bigger, and they'll have to also repair her tooth. So, in testing out the gas on the smaller cavity we can see if she'll be okay or if she'll need to be sedated. I REALLY hope she doesn't need to be sedated because insurance doesn't cover that!

Later!

Broken camera...

I havn't posted in a while because my camera is officially broken (and everyone knows posts are more fun with photos!). Pinky dropped it on thursday and cracked the screen in half... but it still worked. Then over the weekend, Belle dropped it for it's final time. It couldn't take any more major falls! The screen is completely broken and it wont even turn on. The lens will only extend halfway, then retract... probably in pain!
It was a good camera, it served us well for the two years we had it! Time to go research a new one I guess!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary!! Hubby and I have been together for 5 years! Since it's a weekday, we are only going to go out to dinner with the kids tonight for a small celebration... we'll do something bigger this weekend! As for tonight though we are going to Melting Pot. I think the kids will like it. I know will!

I had a really good day today. Our homeschool co-op ended up being at my place today instead of it's usual place, which is totally fine, but I had to get ready! I got up to work out at 5am (I shower at the gym), so I got back home at 7am and was VERY busy until co-op started at 10:30. I cleaned like crazy, I had to make paper mache for the class I was teaching (the recipe was botched, so I had to re-make it), I had to vaccuum and mop the floors, and I made a new bread recipe I got from a friend. It was literally foolproof! I've attempted bread before and it never seems to work out, but this was seriously the easiest I've ever made...also super delicious! It seemed really fast aswell. I started about 8am and had hot baked bread by 10:00am.


Co-op started at 10:30 and everyone commented on how awesome my house smelled. :)
As I mentioned earlier, the classs I taught paper mached boxes to take home. It was a beautiful day and we were lucky enough to be able to do it out on the patio. I only had 3 students in my class because two of the co-op familes weren't able to make it. So, we only had 11 kids total today instead of the normal 17. Here's a picture of some of them during lunch time. Like I said it was SOO beautiful outside!


Melting Pot... or Bust!

The stupid life of Wasps...

It started out normal enough. We went to church... in fact today for the FIRST time ever Belle got up and spoke in Sacrament meeting! It was super cute, this is what she said (well first she breathed really hard into the microphone) "I love Jesus and I know that Jesus always loves me too... Amen" Everyone thought it was cute! Hubby went and sat with her then walked her to the podium, but everything Belle said was her own! I gave her a piece of candy when she got back to her seat!

But all that seemed a bit overshadowed by the following events later that night. Belle had a friend over and they were playing happily, these two get along really well. It was about 6pm and I thought it would be fun to walk down to the lake in the back of our house. It's a short 3 minute walk through a path in the woods. I take my kids and the dog there all the time. Loki LOVES LOVES LOVES swimming, so it a great place to go use up some energy while the kids play in it too. I decided to take my two kids plus Belles friend.

It was fun at first, Loki swam all over, Pinky played on the edge of the water, Belle and her friend went off a bit to climb on a huge log. I was listening to them talk and play and it was really really cute! Until Belle just started to SCREAM bloody hell and cover her eye, her friend just stared at her... until SHE started screaming as well! Then belle started screaming again, and they both were running around screaming. I saw hundreds of wasps all over them, all over their clothing and hovering over them. I ran over there to yank the two out of the swarm (I'm shocked I didn't get stung!) The bees remained on their clothes though even after we ran away from the pack. They continued to scream and run in circles, clutching various parts of their body. Belles friend just started running back down the path to her house, but I didn't want her to go home running and crying without me there, because I was supposed to be WATCHING her. So, I started to frantically get MY kids moving. belle was trying to run as well, Pinky was screaming (just because everyone else was), Loki was freaking out running back and forth). Finally the friends dad heard all the ruckus in the woods and came out to get his daughter, I didn't have time to say anything except "She was stung by a wasp!" because I had to run back and get screaming Pinky who by this time had stopped running and was just standing in the woods alone crying. Also trying to help Belle to the house as bees continue to sting her, and round up Loki.

By the time we got inside both my girls were hysterical, I put some stinger stuff on Belles stings and counted 7 of them!! The first one she got was right on her eyelid and it was all puffy and swollen. Then she had various ones other places, but 3 of them were in a huddle on the back of her thigh. We later found out that the bee was stuck in her shorts and it fell out (dead of course) when we undressed her. Here is the culprit!!


Hubby was out running errands and just arrived home at this point and took care of Belle while I ran back into the woods to find the friends shoe (her shoe had fallen off at some point in her running for home), I took bee killer spray with me and I found the shoe! So, I returned it to her house and talked to her dad. I apologized and assured him that's never happened before in all the hundreds of times I've done down there, they must has upset a hive! He said she had half a dozen stings on her as well. Poor thing!

Belle saw fit to call each one of grandparents to get proper sympathy, then after that she went to bed.
So, it was a crazy evening! bBelle seems to be doing better today although her eye is a bit more swollen then it was yesterday. Stupid bees!

My ROSE colored... ROSES!

The girls started school yesterday. It was super fun! This school year will be alot more intense then last year and alot more intense then the local public schools! Hubby wasn't too sure about the whole thing in the beginning and in fact was wanting me not to go through with it at all. I assured him it was for the best and I convinced him to let me 'try' it out for a few months. He agreed and I did the last few months of kindergarten. Well, I LOVED it and the kids had an AWESOME time! Belle learned to read almost overnight, she also started writing like crazy. Basically it was success! I'm glad I started mid way though kindergarten because I met a alot of veteran homeschoolers and learned alot about different types of curriculum. It was sort of my 'test' period.

So because of those few months I started (tested and tried different things) I'm now sure about which ones are best for my kids and I'm confident that I made the right choices. I also feel like this year I actually know what I'm doing! Even though the kids did great last year, I was kind of floating there for a while and feeling my way around because it was completely out of my element. But I have found my niche and have buckled down and we are on a great path so far!

A proud moment for me was when hubby was 'I think' trying to gently tell me the house had gone to trash and I needed to pick up the tempo on the cleaning! His words were "Babe, okay you've won me over with homeschooling, but now the house is always messy and you never have time to cook anymore!". My mind stopped at "babe, you've won me over..." I was elated! Now, the hard part was over... but I had to somehow continue to still do all the stuff I did before and show him I could do it!
I was more determined then ever to PROVE that I could still clean, cook AND homeschool! I think I've done pretty well. I have my 'off' days for sure, but who doesn't.

I've done alot to prepare for this year and while I'm not quite done with the organization part yet (although I'm about 80% done and will only take another few days or so!) I HAVE done alot of other stuff. Including converting our third bedroom into a school room, which meant that Pinky had to share a room with Belle now. So, it's a little bit of sacrifice...

Anyway, onto the good stuff! Hubby is super supportive of it now (and has been for a while!!) But any lingering doubts I might have had about him thinking I still couldn't handle it were erased this afternoon with a knock on the door. And standing there was a flower delivery guy holding a beautiful bouquet a pink roses in a sage green square vase with balloons floating above them! I wont write out what the card read on here, but it let me know without a doubt that he loves me and it proud of me and wished me luck this school year! I jumped onto instant messenger and told him he was best hubby ever!!! And he truly is!! I love my little family!

Robot Dance

Here is 30 seconds of my kids dancing like robots to a Depeche Mode song. (Don't mind the mess in the background!)