The Next Hit Song

Cali's new hit song, she calls it the Bear-Horse Song

Crafty Gifts

Another one of our friend's is moving away this week and I wanted to make a little scrapbook for their daughter, who is one of Cali's best friends. I didn't do much planning ahead so I had to do this one on the fly. I grabbed a shoe box, cut off the bottom and folded it in half to form the cover, cut & folded cardstock to fit inside, then sewed it down the center to bind it and added a strip of Mavalus tape* for extra security.




I also made her one of these treasure bottles for her travels. You can find the directions from Familyfun.com by clicking here.



*Mavalus tape is this great new tape I found out my local school supply store. Our house has VERY textured walls and its difficult to stick posters, etc. to it so they recommended this when I bought Cali's calendar. Sticks to anything, and won't pull the paint off the wall either!

Cali's Calendar

Yes, I know she is a little young to really understand concepts of time but I wanted to do something to help her understand that Daddy is not here and help her visualize when he will be here. Luckily, Dave is close enough he is planning to come home for the 4th of July weekend so we can go to the parade! Cali is so excited about the parade, she has been talking about it for months and seems to remember going last year with her friends. Since she is so young I figured the best way to do this was to draw a picture to make each day distinct and put a photo of Daddy on the days he will be here. I explained to her that Daddy will only be here on the days that you see his picture. Each day we look to see what we're doing that day, we count how many days til we see Daddy, we name the day of the week and sing our little "Days of the Week" song, at the end of the day she gets to scribble over that days activity and we talk about what we will do the next day. It seems to really help as she hasn't been too upset about him leaving but often asks "how many more days til we see Daddy?" and attempts to count the days on the calendar or count off on her fingers. Plus if she asks about Daddy or says something like "Daddy will be here tomorrow" I can show her visually how far away Daddy's visit really is.

Simle Picnic S'mores

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner:

Marshmallow fluff
Graham crackers
Chocolate Chips

Spread fluff on graham crackers, top with chocolate chips. Yum!

Yes, its a little bit messy...


Good thing we were at the spray park, so I could just hose 'em off!

Not Everything is Bigger in Texas...

According to Lucas Miller, the Singing Zoologist, the quills of a Crested Porcupine of Africa can grow up to 2 ft long. The Porcupines that live in TX have quills about the size of your thumb. We got a chance to see Lucas Miller live in concert on Thursday as part of our local library's summer reading program. You can visit his website for song samples and to order his CD by clicking here.

Cali (far left), D, and friends rocking out to Lucas Miller

ISO & White Balance

I really don't know anything technical about photography, but today I was messing with the menu on my Kodak V1003 point & shoot and saw I could change the ISO & White Balance (among other things). The White Balance was easy enough because there was a "Natural Light" option and we were outside so that made sense. Now the ISO I am totally clueless, I hear it might have something to do with shutter speed. I used my friend Shana's camera the other day and noticed she had hers on ISO 80 so I just went with that. Here's the results...
ETA: You'll have to click them to see the actual quality because my layout is a little transparent and they appear faded out here.





I can tell a difference in the sharpness and brightness of the colors, I think I'll be experimenting with this some more and stepping away from the "auto" function on occasion.

Oh, and regular Crayola paints work really well on the vinyl Dollar Store tablecloth.



On more thing... D is crazy! He is actually saying "CHEEESE" to me.

Polar Bears & the Trash Vortex

Polar Bears were recently added to the list of "threatened" species. Click here to see how the Oil Companies responded. Click here to see read what Canada thinks.

On another very sad note, I learned today that there is a HUGE vortex of trash (mostly plastic & sytrofoam) swirling around in the Pacific Ocean. It is located between California and Hawaii, and it is LARGER THAN THE STATE OF TEXAS. Horrible, just horrible. There is one group out of California actually researching the phenomenon and they found that the plastic actually outweighs the plankton at a ratio of 40:1 by weight. As if the trash just being out there isn't bad enough, what you must realize is that sea life is eating this garbage, putting them at great risk. Plus, the "garbage patch" is so large it is shading large areas, reducing the amount of light reaching the ocean floor to grow the kelp, and kelp in turn is a large contributer to removing carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. I learned all this from one of my favorite new shows: G Word on the new PlanetGreen channel.


So if you're as devastated as I am about the "Garbage Patch" news and wondering what you should do about it... one word: RECYCLE!

More links about this tragedy:
Article featuring Charles Moore, captain of the private research vessel Alguita
Continent-size toxic stew
Greenpeace article

Allergic to Spaghetti

Cali: Baby Cali doesn't like spaghetti.
Me: She doesn't?
Cali: No, she's allergic... and she's allergic to ice cream, a little bit.
Me: She's a little bit allergic to ice cream?
Cali: Yeah

Good Quote

"The greatest gift in the world is to be the child of a loving father." - Paula Deen

From my new Paula Deen Celebrates! cookbook, a birthday gift from my brother.

Flaxseed Smoothies

Since Dave left us (not by choice) today, I wasn't reallly in the mood to cook dinner. Not to mention when its 100+F everyday I don't want to cook dinner anyway. I read (yet again) in a magazine recently (probably Wondertime) that its OK to have smoothies for dinner. Hooray! I have permission. The magazine also mentioned to add... was it wheat germ? or flaxseed? to boost the nutrient value. I don't remember but I do have flaxseed so that's what I used. Frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, vanilla yogurt, pineapple juice, milk, and flaxseed. The kids sipped them all down faster than I could make the other half of their dinner - pancakes. Not just any pancakes, but leftover pancakes. I finally figured out to save them, freeze them, and toast them (on low) rather than waste the leftovers. So along with our flaxseed smoothies we had a main course of leftover pancakes with peanut butter (Simply Jif) and a touch of honey. Bonus: I poured the extra smoothie into little plastic cups to make popsicles. By the way I'm on the hunt for some good HFCS-free popsicles for the kiddos. If you know of any please share.

Why did I have flaxseed anyway? Well because its good for you, high in... protein? I don't remember. But it is good for lowering cholesterol and you can add it to your baked goods, oatmeal, and now smoothies. Delicious.

On another note, I am also learning first-hand that when your husband gets back from Iraq and you think "Hurray! A whole year to spend together before they send him back"... well, that's not true. I've heard it isn't true, but now I know. They take a week here, ten weeks there, another 3 or 4 weeks after that, a year "back home" doesn't necessarily mean they get to STAY home.

How to Make a Scalloped Edge

You can use your corner-rounder to make a scalloped edge design! Who knew? Well this New Zealand scrapper did. CLICK TO SEE HER PHOTO DEMO.

Stains & Birthdays

Since Dave is taking off for awhile, we decided to spoil the kids a bit today. That meant a morning at the spray park, then dinner at Dairy Queen!, followed by a splurge at Toys R' Us. The 2nd two things are truly things we really NEVER do. Here's what I learned: the Star shaped treats at DQ are SUPER messy (especially for toddlers) and super stain-y.

Can you tell by her face we don't have treats like this very often?

Lucky for me I finally figured out how to really get a stain out. I have a problem with set-in stains because I really don't pay attention or jump on a stain the minute it happens. So I saw an add for this spray that says its "specially formulated" for set-in stains. I've already tried Oxi-Clean and wasn't having much luck (granted I probably wasn't doing it right to start with). Anyway it's the new Shout Advanced Gel, and its really great. First of all the directions say you can leave it on up to a week! Which according to my dear friend Tish is what she always does. See I told you I didn't know how to get stains out. Anyway its been nice to actually get the stains out instead of having our clothes ruined after just one wearing. See one of my main motto's in life is: Kids are Washable. True, but kids don't stain and their clothes do.

In other news we apparently have several birthdays coming up. I was just informed on our drive home from Toys R Us that Tuesday is Mama Horse's birthday. I also learned that the horse's name is Cali ("Like me") and she wants cake, and its her first birthday ever. Friday is her new baby Jaguar/Cheetah/Lemur's (she's not sure what to call it) birthday and Saturday is Bear's birthday. Except Bear just had a birthday (complete with a REAL pink polka dot cake, guests, party hats, and presents) a month or so ago so I think she's trying to pull one over on me there.

Poop Doesn't Fly

Cali went through a little (typical) toddler phase of totally FREAKING out about bugs. We have flies in TX and with as much as we go in and out all day they sometimes get in. She would scream bloody murder and go into hysterics if she saw one touch anything or come anywhere in her line of sight. So we taught her to just say "Shoo Fly, don't bother me" and now she's cool with it. So today we are out exploring on a trail near the local Spray Park and there is poop. D is walking toward and I tell him to watch out for the poop. Dave for some reason tells Cali to say "Shoo Poop" to which Cali replies (repeatedly) "Poop doesn't Fly".

Doing Dishes

What do you think is the more eco-friendly way to do dishes? By hand or in the dishwasher? Lucky for us busy mom-folk its the dishwasher!! Yay! It actually uses about half the water as doing a sink full of dishes by hand (11 gallons v. 22 for by-hand). Just make sure you're doing a full load to be the most efficient. Source: Family Fun Magazine. (and I also heard it on TV the other day)

Tired of sinks full of dishes every time you turn around? Try this clever trick. One mom of 8 got so sick of all the dirty dishes she boxed up all her dishes, bought each family member ONE plate, had them personalize it with glass paints, and made them responsible for their own dish. They even figured out it only took 12 seconds to wash their one plate. Smart! (Also, from Family Fun magazine)

Physics lesson for the day - heat will contract glass. At least I think its physics, I never took that class. Anyway I had two glass Pyrex bowls hopelessly stuck together for the past couple months. I tried to trick Dave into using one so he would have to unstick them but he gave up and used a different bowl. He did make a passing statement that heat should make the glass shrink thus letting us pull them apart. So two days later the bowls are still in the sink. I try spraying Pam around the stuck edge and pry in a fake credit card from the junk mail, no luck. So I finally go with the heat trick. Put some water in the top bowl and microwave it 2 minutes. Tada! It worked, I was so excited. Yay for Physics!!

Corn

On a cob of corn there are the same number of silk strands as there are kernels. Anyone care to count? It has to do with plant anatomy, the kernels and silk strands come from the female reproductive part of the corn plant. I could probably explain this better if I remembered anything from my college botany classes. Anyway, got this tidbit from my favorite parenting magazine: Wondertime (love it, click to see their website). It has a strong focus on just family time, simple pleasures, and the great outdoors. Its not so much about what latest gadgets to buy (although there is a little of that) or "how" to parent.

How to Make Sidewalk Paint

I read this a week or so ago. Just trying to keep the kiddos entertained. They love to paint, I let them use their Crayola Washable Fingerpaints outside on the sidewalk. They can make all the mess they want then I hose 'em of or tell them to jump in the pool. The paint hoses right off the sidewalk too. Just be careful because it can get slippery - no running! The clean up can be fun too if you get them a big bowl/bucket of soapy water and clean sponges and let them join in. Fun, cheap, easy toddler entertainment. Anyway, we ran out of the Crayola fingerpaint and I kept forgetting to buy more (plus I'm cheap so I decided to find a homemade alternative).

If you ever need to make or do anything, look it up on ehow.com. Here is my simplified version:

1 part water
1 part cornstarch
food coloring

I mixed 1 cup water with 1 cup cornstarch, stir until dissolved. It is very watery. I bought 4 little clear travel shampoo bottles from the $1 store (2 for $1) and used a funnel to fill each one. I added the color after the "paint" was in the bottle, then
put on the lid and shook it up. Shake again before using, it stays very watery but the kids don't care. Use on sidewalk, use with brushes or just hands. My plan is to tack up a vinyl tablecloth to the fence and let them go for it. I think it'd be fun to put in spray bottles too.

Disclaimer: Don't ruin clothes with the sidewalk paint that you made. It contains food coloring which will leave a permanent stain. (My kids are usually naked, or in swimsuits for this. You can also buy a pack of plain white T's in a larger size for this purpose).

Click here for the link to the ehow.com directions.

UPDATE: This paint does not stick to vinyl, so skip the tablecloth idea and keep it on the sidewalk for best results :)

In this last photo you can see the fun effect of the paint turning gooey-er then eventually to powder as it dries in the sun. Fun stuff.

Softer Feet

Usually I don't care and don't bother to keep up much of a beauty routine, but this seems simple enough. I know my heels are just dry and cracked like crazy since I never ever wear shoes or socks here in Texas. Maybe in January but thats it. Or if I'm going for a walk/jog/run. Either way here's the idea... When you get out of the shower/bath slather some good rich lotion or cream on your heels then put on socks for a while. I tried it this morning and it was no big deal to put on the lotion then wear some socks around while I got us all ready to head out for the morning. Now if I only I can remember to do it a couple more times a week maybe my feet won't feel like alligator paws.

My New Way to Scrapbook

D has made it home safe and sound from his cross-country flight. Now that I have my camera back here are the promised photos of my recent scrapbooking with the 6-slot 4x6 page protectors. Enjoy...

Donkeys are Tasty

Me: "Look Cali, Donkeys!" (in a field by the exit to our town)
C: "MMM, I eat donkey!"
ME: "You eat donkeys?"
C: "Yeah!"
Me: "How was it?"
C: "Donkeys are tasty!"

BREAKTHROUGH CHICKEN POX

My friend's little boy has chicken pox (poor guy) and he's been vaccinated. Turns out you can still get it and its called BREAKTHROUGH CHICKEN POX, supposedly its not as bad if you've been vaccinated but you can also still get it more than once. Crazy.

Do you remember having the chicken pox as a kid? Did they have a vaccine for that back in the 80s? I remember I got the chicken pox when I was about 3, so in 1985. I was supposed to be the flower girl for my aunts wedding. My brother had had it too (that's how I got it) but he was all clear by the wedding so he went and was the ring bearer while I had to stay home with my Granny Blanche. I faintly remember being on some sort of bed, having little dabs of calamine lotion all over and being told over and over not to scratch. I felt like I missed out on something for many many years and was always sure to blame my brother for it. I never got the opportunity to be a flower girl ever again. Poor me. We were in the middle of moving too, I'm sure that wasn't much fun for my parents.

Crayons Melt

Don't leave crayons in the car when its 90+ outside - they melt. Luckily it was just one (although I didn't search around for others and there very well could be others) and it was just inside C's carseat pocket. The melted part that was stuck in the pocket cooled off from the A/C and I was able to pick it out in one chunk when we got home. It got a little crayon goo on some of her little trinkets that were in the pocket, but it all washed off fine. I'm from Alaska, I don't think of things like this. We worried about what things would freeze if left in the car too long. One of those is bananas: they turn black.

Another Way to Scrapbook

scSo I've done a few "regular" scrapbooks of the kids but now that I have two I got to the point where I had to figure out what to do with all our family photos. Stuff like our little weekend adventures or our vacations, or just in general around the house. Plus I'm not going to be making everyone an individual scrapbook for the next 18 years anyway. So I saw on this PBS Scrapbooking show (I forget the name) an idea to use regular 4x6 albums, so I think and I ponder and I contemplate and I finally figure out my plan.

I will use the 4x6 sheets (there's 6 slots per page) and a 3-ring binder to do all the family pictures. I'm still a year behind so I'm thinking I can finally start to "catch up" using this method too. Now if I want I can still slip in a 12x12 or really any other size I want to so the Gemini part of my is very happy I can have that variety.

I even learned a great trick from my fabulous, scrapping friend Emily. She will take a photo and simply back it with cardstock, punch some holes and throw it in the binder. She's so clever! So whenever I have a random photo or two that just won't fit in with the others that is my go-to trick. I can even leave enough of a border or overlap for embellishments and journaling.

I'd be happy to show you photos of all this fun stuff, but my dearest husband hijacked my camera and flew across the country in his helicopter. By "his", I mean the Army's but you get the picture. Anyway when he comes back I will get some pictures up of my exciting new 4x6-type layouts.

The goods: On another note I did a bit of research regarding this whole set-up and found several nice options available now. But being the cheapskate I am I had to find the cheapest option and went with the stuff they have at Hobby Lobby so I could get it 50% off when it came up on sale. The brand is called Ultra-Pro and the 4x6 pages are $5 for 10 pages (each page has 12 slots if you count front and back) and you can get them for $2.50 when HL puts all their page protectors on sale. The binder was $15-20 and I got that 50% off too.

Other options: My friend Emily pointed my to Ali Edward's blog to start my research, she has lots of great info on this idea. I really like the Pebbles, Inc. Share & Tell system but again I just wanted to do this on the "cheap" and I didn't spend too much time trying to find a good deal on this one.

More inspiration: I just came across another like-minded scrapper via the Simple Scrapbooks Mag. Gallery, here is her blog with some great photos of her pages.

If you're into this style of scrapping too or interested in trying, let me know! I'd love to see your ideas and what page protectors you're using. Check back for photos of my work.

My Bad

Here's what I know... I am terrible at keeping up with anything that is meant to be continuous. I'm a gemini, I'll say this often. I lose interest, or better yet find new interests and get distracted and sort of let other interest fall to the back burner. I still learn something new every day and I still think, hey I should be keeping up with my blog... but I don't. So I'm going to try again and it might work out for a while and it might fade out for a while but all I can do is try right?