LOVE My Family-In-law Day 1

I had a great time with my sisters-in-law over the last couple of days. My husband's two sisters get together annually to let their kids sleep over and go on some outings and just play. One sister has 6 kids and the other sister has four kids and I have one little girl. Thankfully the house was big enough that it really didn't feel like there were that many kids.

The first day we met at a Water Park in Germantown. While keeping my eye on Hannah, I was having a hard time capturing all of my nieces and nephews but got quite a few of them.

These two are 6 months apart. Hannah and Mary Grace.

Nicole & Timothy enjoying a break from playing by eating lunch.

Little Tim Tim with his goggles on.

Getting-bigger-all-the-time Josh and his goggles!

Nathan looking all natural while watching the big buckets fill with water and tipping over on the kids.

Suzanne & Lily

Monica and John John

Still watching the buckets getting filled with water and dropping on the kid's heads.

The other kids were running around having lots of fun so I didn't get them this day. Day 2 to follow........

Writing with Melting Crayons

Hannah and I had fun writing with crayons today. It's a little twist on regular coloring. I found the idea here at PaintCutPaste.com. I did it a little different because I don't have a warming tray but I do have a griddle (Is that what it is called?). I use it only when I make pancakes. What you need:

1. Crayons
(preferably crayola because they seem to
have less oil in their crayons)
2. Griddle or warming tray
3. Finger Paint Paper
4. A child or two

I had the griddle on 200 degrees or a little less. You can put it as low as you can that will melt the crayons as your child is writing with it. I put the paper on the griddle, tore off the paper on the crayons and let her color away. Here are some of the things that we made:

By the way.....this month we are learning about rainbows, butterflies, rain, thunder & lightning & clouds & humidity.

She colored a sheet with purple and blue and some other colors and I just cut out a butterfly to continue with our theme for the month.

This last picture Hannah used the crayon the side instead of up and down. It melts a lot more which is fun!!

Oh...AND here is a list of other fun things to do with crayons!

Butterflies

Right behind Hannah against the house is the butterfly bush. Right near the window so we can see it through out the day! NICE!!

Our family is enjoying our growing butterfly bush. It's hard to believe but I got it two years ago as a measly little root. It is amazingly big and brings so many butterflies to our window. There are a maybe 1-2 bees that show up but the butterflies out-way them.....as you can see.

Chore Charts and Encouraing Positive Behavior with Your Kids

I recently bought this from Clever HomeMaking and have been using it with Hannah and it is working out really well. Instead of stickers to put in the space when she has completed a chore, I hot glued small heavy duty magnets to glass "pebbles" They are very pretty, and sparkly things makes Hannah happy. She has certain jobs and chores she does every day and when she completes it, she gets one glass pebble and at the end of the week I tally up the glass pebbles and she gets a "chore buck" for every 10 pebbles she earned. She has the choice to go to the dollar store after $5, she can also go to Target after $10 or go out on a Daddy/Daughter ice cream date with Jonathan (which works out for me because I miss out on all of those calories and I get some time alone) It's a Win-Win-Win!! I just need to stay on top of it so she can accumulate her bucks. And Kim from Clever homemaking is SUPER accommodating to exactly what you want in your Chore system. You can buy her system in her Etsy Shop.



Teach Mama is cool website for ideas on teaching your kids through play, art, etc. and Amy has this neat post on: Playing on Positive Behavior..How neat of an idea is this?? Each child gets to have their own see through container and when they are displaying good behavior, the parent gives the child a glass pebble to put in the jar. When it is filled they get the reward.

Do you have any ideas of encouraging good behavior? Or any ideas on how your reward your child for their chores/responsibilities?? I would love to hear from you!

Featured On CAST

I was featured on CAST (Christian Artist Street Team for Etsy), where I am a member of their team. If you want to find out more about me and the interview, click on the link above! :-)

Daisy & Circle Earrings

Aren't these cute? I know not everyone's taste is the same I decided to use the same design but do both Sterling Silver and Copper. They are about an inch round and I added some sterling silver spacers to give it some weight and some visual interest.

The Full Set (of Copper Earrings)

Here is my full set of copper earrings. They rang from 1 cm all the way up to 1.5 inches. They are all hand forged with copper wire and lightly hammered to give a little texture and shine.

Home-Made Guacamole

I love avocados! I love guacamole too! Here is my recipe for guacamole that I think you will love!

First, cut avocado in half and take the knife and make it go into the pit kind of of hard. Make sure your aim is on target. Twist gently left and right so the pit comes out. Discard.

Next get a spoon and scoop out the "meat". I have to say this was a really good scoop on the first try! I didn't leave any in the shell. Take a fork and mash both halves in a bowl. I like it chunky but you can mash it to the consistency that you like.

Half a lemon and squeeze the juice from only one half into the avocado mixture.

This is a special trick that I always do when make salsa and guacamole. I half the tomato and scoop out the seeds. This cuts down on the wateriness of the guacamole. Dice the tomato and stir into the mixture.

For this recipe I used chopped up scallions. But you can use diced onions of your choice.

I also added 1 clove of minced garlic, 1/8 tsp salt. You can also add pepper or cayenne, depending on your taste and who you are serving.

Schooooooool's Out.For.Summer!

Good-bye school year...Helllllooooo Summer!!!!!! Even as an adult I still love the feeling of school being out for the summer. There is something freeing and fun about it. Glad I can relive that feeling again!
During this summer, I am hoping that I can spend some time designing more unique jewelry and designing more girly accessories and getting them on Etsy for the public to purchase.

The whole class of 8
(5 fun rambunctious boys and 3 artsy princesses)


Katie, Lexi & Hannah



Charlie, Joel B., Tucker, Joel S. and Jacob

I helped to start and complete a Home Schooling Co-op Preschool with 5 other moms this year. We have had fun teaching the kids along with the kids having fun with each other. They learned many many life lessons, built friendships and learned basic preschool education. This was our last day of school. We had group pictures and individual pictures, field day and lunch with a short little "graduation ceremony". I am blessed by the other moms and just being able to do this with Hannah. She came out of her little shy shell and has made some really sweet friendships that I am grateful for. We'll most likely get together for some play dates this summer for the kids to play with each other and I will definitely be capturing some shots on the camera. Until then...later!

Taking Pictures of my Dad and Joan's Visit

My dad and Joan (my step-mom) came to visit us from sunny Miami, FL and I wanted to get a nice picture of them with the beautiful scenery in the background. One problem...it didn't look like my dad was enjoying this. See...just a 1/2 of a smile.

Very good...a full smile but you still do not look like you are enjoying this. Can you show some teeth, Dad?

Ok, we are getting better, Still don't see enough teeth. Joan looks beautiful, though. (Side note: I made her necklace! Pretty, ay?)

Ok, dad, that was way too much teeth. I am scared!

Now, we are enjoying this!!!

Ahhhhh, PERFECT! Thank you!! What a cute couple!