What's Your Name?

I suppose all kids have a name plaque of some sort hanging in their rooms.   We wanted to make some just incase.

Discount School Supply has loads of stuff that I love.  This is now on my list of loves.

There were two baggies of each color.  It is super lightweight and soft.  It left NO RESIDUE on the table to clean up.  Simply amazing!

Each child chose a color and created a rectangle. 

Next they chose another color to create "snake letters".  This is a fun alternative to name writing.

Ethan was creative, as usual.  ♥

I love the bright colors of this clay. 

Think we could sell these at Pike Place?  It looks like modern art to me. :)

Poke the ends of a pipe cleaner through and twist to create a handle.  Project complete!  Happy Friday!  Today I get to wander Seattle with a guest from afar, one of my favorite things to do. ♥♥

Fine Motor Skills

This mess of yarn has been floating around for years.  It's nearing it's end.  Every project we have used it for was fun and colorful.  I remember making yarn dolls two summers ago.  Today it was time to master fine motor skills.

Fruit Loop necklaces seem easy enough, but in actuality they require some preparation to avoid any tears.  It is imperative to take some tape and tightly wrap it around the end of the yarn that will do the stringing.  It should resemble a shoe lace.  This allows for easy passage of the yarn through the fruit loop, and eliminates the possibility of a frustrated three year old.

Next, it is also imperative that you tie a fruit loop onto the end of each string ahead of time.  This also eliminates tears by not allowing the Fruit Loops to slip off of the end of the string.  Now that I had practiced MY fine motor skills, it was the kids' turn.

How do you write a name on a fruit loop necklace?  Cut a shape out of paper, write the name and hole punch it so it can be strung onto the necklace.

This is great practice for little fingers.  It helps them gain control of grabbing small items, therefor aiding in the act of holding a pencil.  They just think they get an extra snack! (Laughing...) ♥♥

Lightning Bugs

I have always wanted to watch real lightning bugs.  Or fireflies, or whatever they are really called.  I was very excited to find this craft at Oriental Trading.  Right now the cost is just over $1.00 for 12 kits.  Really?  that is amazing.

We don't have fireflies in the Pacific northwest, so we searched Youtube for some videos.  I love using Youtube- it's a great teaching tool!  We have searched for videos of so many animals, bugs, fish- it's like having a moving library at our finger tips.  Aren't fireflies magical?  I officially have "Find Real Fireflies" on my bucket list. Now that we know what fireflies do, it's time to make our own. 

Here is what the kit looked like.  We recommend using glue dots.  Easy application- no dry time- instant art that is ready to wear.

I was grateful for the cloudy day so our bugs could glow.  We cracked them and played in the garage.

I love fireflies! Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

Make Something From Nothing

We were sitting in a parking lot waiting in the van and I noticed an abundance of nice sized rocks.  I couldn't help but snag a bag full.  They were perfect.

We took some construction paper that had been cut on both ends as shown above.  These would be little beds or homes for our pet rocks.

Fold the ends together as shown above and staple.  I love my stapler.

I wasn't really in the mood for a gigantic paint mess, so we got out the paint blobbers.  (That's just what I call them.)  These are great- no paintbrushes involved.  Just squeeze and dot. :)

Time to paint our pet rocks!

They also colored or paint blobbed the pet rock homes.

Dot, dot, dot. .   . . . . .

We used hot glue for the eyeballs, it just works very well on rocks.  We thought our pet rocks looked kind of lonely and uncomfortable in their homes.

I got out some fabric that we were blessed with after VBS last summer.  We cut them into blankies for our pets. :)

Cotton ball pillows completed the picture. :)  One boy brought his back this morning because his name was "Rock and Roll and he rolled one of his eyeballs off. " LOL  Then he also told me that his rock couldn't breath and needed a mouth.   What a good little rock parent he is. :)  Talk about making something from nothing! ♥

Who's The Boss?

 This is what happens when we try to run things.  The screaming baby is my niece, and the other kids are my bundles of joy.  That is Adams grandmother- she is an amazing woman and only wanted to get her great grandchildren in red shirts for a Christmas photo.  The kids would have NONE of that.  It's a perfect example of what happens when we try to run our own lives.  Things fall apart.
I couldn't decide what to blog about this morning and then it hit me- yesterday at church our guest speaker Josh preached about Job and all of the troubles he endured.  He had everything, bliss, home, family, and then Satan asked God if he could wipe it all out basically to see if Job would curse God.  God said ok.  (SCARY!)  Anyway- Job passed the test, remained faithful and was blessed by God in the end.  It reminded me of how God has control of  everything- every atom, every action, even the tiniest thing.  It's time to stop planning our lives and just let things fall into place the way God intended.  Easier said than done!
Happy Monday!  I am thrilled to be back on the job and will have a house full of kids today. ♥♥

Childcare Worker Upkeep

It was time for a break!  I have always had this urge to drive away to anywhere.  Not because I don't like where I am in life or something- I am incredibly happy.  We have been blessed beyond our dreams- we have God, a beautiful place to call home, an even more wonderful family, and jobs.  But I always feel like I need to get away.  Maybe it comes from my mother, who in her day would just hitch hike with my dad to anywhere.  It's a free feeling to just hop in the van and drive.  I guess I am grateful for that feeling.  I crave escape.

Need to get away from it all?  Click on the photo above to get a closer look at what was out in the middle of nowhere.  This is Eastern Washington somewhere along I90.  I love snapping photos of the drive.

It was important to me to try to capture a dust tornado.  I remember seeing them as a child.  I grew up in Grantsville, Utah.  (The joke was that it was 3 feet from hell..)   Anyway, it's hard to capture things while moving, AND through the passenger side window.

Stephanie learned how to dip strawberries in chocolate.  We made these for the 4th of July pool party at Adams aunt and uncles home in Kennewick WA.

We love to visit the Tri Cities.  It's almost always a sure bet that we will find sun.  I had one goal: lay in it.   A lot.

We played in the pool for three days in a row.  Aiden figured out how to blow water through the noodle.  Our routine was : play in the pool, lay in the sun, play in the pool, lay in the sun...  It was amazing.  The temperature was 87 degrees.  It was a nice respite from our 60s weather at home.

 While we were visiting the grandparents, we were blessed to discover the amazing treasure being stored there.  Adam is wearing his great grandfather Leland Kays' WWI  helmet.  His initials are carved into it.

Along with the helmet, in a giant box were lots of newspapers, receipts, a gas mask, photos, and letters all from that era. I will dedicate a post to this amazing piece of history later.

Here is a portrait of Leland Kays, drawn by my father in law.  He's an amazing artist.  This probably took him no time at all. 

I checked the Casey Anthony trial coverage before we left.  I had been following the case since opening statements.   God changed my heart about this case I think.  I have my own opinion, but she is still a child of God and now she has a tough road ahead of her.

Ok- let's go!!  Adventure, adventure, adventure!!  If I row my arms, will we go faster?  It felt like it.  Try it sometime..  I liked driving so close to the windmills.  We were off to Coeur d' Lane to ride the roller coasters.

The road to nowhere.  Is that the end of the earth ahead?

Wait- there's something..

We detoured to Riverfront Park in Spokane.

Spokane has some beautiful architecture.  I had no idea.

Running with the runner statues.

Childcare worker upkeep, here.  Why is it that I can't find a shaved ice at home unless there is some sort of festival?   Man- it was gooood.

We checked into our hotel in Liberty Lake, where Aiden jumped and had pillow fights until he got a bloody nose all over the white bed 20 minutes after our arrival... don't worry, Peppertree Best Western.  We'll keep you on your toes..

Finally, what I had been waiting for!  I see it- that roller coaster that whips me through the air so fast that I can't even remember my name.. Tremors at Silverwood!

Look at my roller coaster boy, Ethan.  He loved it so much he begged to go again and again. This is the best childcare worker upkeep I can think of!  Near death experience- wind in my hair.. it just doesn't get any better than this!

The Corkscrew was the oldest coaster there.  It was kind of a baby coaster.  I'm on it- I was glad Adam snapped a picture.  I am scared of heights, so the coasters are very breath taking for me.

Aiden drove Stephanie and Adam around. 

More childcare worker upkeep.  Sherbet in a waffle cone.  We still had one more busy day at Silverwood that was spent in the water park.  We didn't bring the camera.  My upkeep level is officially at the top!  Now we are home again, where our beds felt like heaven, and we have the weekend to recover.  Thank you God for allowing us this wonderful vacation.  Amen! ☼

Transformers

A friend was blown away by some butterflies, so we wanted to be blown away, too.  I popped on over to this great website and purchased our Butterfly Garden.  It seemed to take forever to arrive- I was so excited!  The kit arrived, and inside was a coupon to be mailed or punched in online, and for $5.00 shipping, 5 Painted Lady caterpillars arrived about a week after that.  I am sorry, but I seem to have lost the photos of the cute little box.  Inside of the box was a tiny tub containing 5 caterpillars and their food.  They stayed there and ate themselves into a fat frenzy and then hung upside down to form their chrysalis.  Yesterday, FOUR of them emerged!  It took 7 days.

Click on the images to get a closer look.  They popped out of their slumbers so quickly that I didn't even notice until we were mid book in group time.  By the time I grabbed the butterfly house and moved it to the table, another had emerged!  It happened so fast- I can only compare it to Transformers.

We mixed up some sugar water in a shallow bowl and sprinkled it on a peony flower.  (My flowers are mush because of the rain yesterday..)

This lady popped out and was letting her wings harden. Look at the color!

Butterflies taste with their feet. 

Is she smiling?  I think so. ♥  Now we are praying for some warm weather before tomorrow because we have to let them go.  We are closing Henle House for the entire week and driving to sunny Idaho to ride the roller coasters.  This will be my last blog post until next weekend.  Boy do I need a break!  ☼