Happy Birthday {Super Dad!}

I decided to throw my husband a Birthday Party.

He has never had a party in his entire life, so I figured it was about time!

Noe is really into comic books, so we went with a Super Hero Theme.

I ordered these invites off Etsy, my favorite shopping place. The lady who designed these also made stickers to put on the favors and placecards for the food, all to match.

The Happy Birthday Banner was made out of comics. The comic book store always has $1 comics, so I just bought a few to make things out of like the photos above on the fireplace mantel.

Noe made the toothpicks. We stuck them in the Super Hero Sandwiches also. We kept the food simple with Peter Parker Pizza and Flash cookies {lightening bolts} and Green Goblin Guacamole and a veggie tray that had signs that said For Super Strength and Power Sticks.

This was my first time making red velvet cupcakes. I hadn't even tried them before the guests got there! I hope they enjoyed them. They have cream cheese frosting. Half of the cupcakes have chocolate stars we made on the tops.

There were a couple tables outside as well. They were invited to make their own comic books. Instead of tableclothes, we put paper on the tables and Noe drew comics onto them.

We also made a wall out of boxes for the kids to break through, like a brick wall.

Noe opening his presents. The guys at work bought him Dragon Ball Z books. He's been reading everyday!

For the party favors, we bought comic books for the adults and Super Hero coloring books for the children. I filled up a large cylinder vase with Kryptonite {green rock candy and green Pop Rocks} for them to grab as they went home as well.

My husband is such a Super Hero in my eyes. He is an incredible person and friend. Everyone who is fortunate to have him in their lives, is truly lucky. He is such a blessing.

Noe had a SUPER birthday!

Pen Pal {FUN}

The kids got a package from their Canadian penpal in the mail.

They get to write to a girl named Makayla that is 8 years old. She put some really fun stuff in that package. I hadn't sat down with the kids to talk about Canada before. So, it was nice that she sent some worksheets about her country to the kids. They are so intrigued with Canada now! I learned that it takes 1 week to get mail from there.

Great penmenship Makayla!

School Supplies

Nowadays, school supplies can be super cute and inexpensive at the same time.

Look around for some good deals whenever you are out.

You can find stuff anywhere.

Plain, boring supplies are out and awesome looking supplies are in!

All of these supplies were under $1.

We can all afford $1 to score some coolness points. Right?

{Strawberry} Playdough

Playdough is super simple to make. We threw away hard and old playdough today, so I decided to make some more for the kids to play with. I had all the ingredients already in the cupboard.

~

Ingredients

1 cup Flour

1 tbl Vegetable Oil

1 pk Strawberry Kool Aid

1/4 cup Salt

2 tbl Cream of Tartar
1 cup Water

Directions

~Mix flour, salt, tartar and Kool Aid in a pan.

~On low heat add water and oil.

~Stir for 3-5 minutes.

~When it forms a ball, remove.

Sand Pail Dessert...!

This Sand Pail Dessert is such a big hit around our home during the summer.

The kids make it entirely themselves....well...with the pudding I help stir because their little arms get tired...!

Go to Michael's and start with a clean, washed $1 Sand Pail.

Layer vanilla pudding ....

Then crushed graham crackers or vanilla wafers....

Then sliced bananas....

Lastly, whipped cream.

Stack until you reach the top or run out of ingredients..!

Serve by scooping with your shovel.

FUN in the SUN!

{Chick} Flick

I invited some friends over for a Girl's Night without husbands and kids. We watched a chick flick- He's Just Not That Into You. It was fun to have a few hours just to relax and unwind with girlfriends.

This was our fabulous table of goodies for our night.

Anthonia made lasagna-yum! I made some cheesy potatoes and a salad. Julie brought a fruit tray. It was a delicious dinner.

I made cones out of scrapbook paper to put the popcorn inside.

Chocolate covered strawberries are so tasty and easy to make!

I got the tutorial for these Crystal Light holders from Heidi here. I must say these are now my favorite party decorations.

I had a wonderful night with these gals!

Ocean Themed Activities.

There are simply not enough hours in the day to do all the learning that I want to do with the kids for each letter and theme. We actually get done about half of the things written down on my planner. In the summer especially, life is slower. If the kids don't want to do a project, I don't make them. If their friends invite them swimming, I let them go instead of doing lessons.

{Carmendee and Patience made starfish. They glued beads onto star shaped construction paper. Cereal O's work well also!}

Here is a list of some Ocean Lessons that are simple and fun:

~Bury turtle eggs. Give the kids plastic eggs and have them bury them in the sand.

~Paint turtles. Paint a paper bowl like a turtle shell. When dried add construction paper head, legs, and tail.

~Play Beach. Give them props to play pretend.

~Examine different types of sea shells with a magnifying glass.

~Play crab crawl.

~Visit a pet store. Have the kids observe hermit crabs.

~Seal balancing. Have the kiddos balance objects on their noses like a seal.

~Serve tuna fish for snack {or sardines if the kids will eat them!}

~Play pretend deep sea diving. Give the kids flippers, goggles and air tanks {2 liter bottles} to play with.

~Make paper whales. Measure them and have the kids record how long they are.

~Fish puzzle. Draw a fish on poster board. Cut it out into big shapes like puzzle pieces. Have the kids put it back together.

~Sand Castles. Make sand castles.

~Sea shell patterns. Arrange sea shells in patterns for the kids to decipher the pattern.

{End} Of Baseball Season

Baseball Season is officially over..!

Their teams had pizza parties to celebrate.

It was a good season this year. It didn't get incredibly hot until the last 2 weeks. The weather was in the 100's.

Maelyn's team was 10 and 0. They got First Place trophies!

What a fake smile for Mommy! She really liked playing baseball and looked so cute playing.

These were the gifts for the coaches. I told them to make a card to go with the gift, and this is what they came up with! Brilliant! All by themselves, I have to add.

Inside the gift bag was: Waterbottles, Baseballs, Babe Ruth Candy Bars and Sunflower Seeds.

For the older kids it was, dare I say it, intense this season. I'll just say that the parents were very into winning; being nice on my blogsite. It was his first year doing pitcher machine and I was proud of him. I thought my son did very well. He is always such a nice boy no matter what circumstances. What a leader?! He's growing up!

Paper Plate {Octopi}

The older kids made some Octopus {Octopi? hmmm....plural. I need to look it up.}

They painted paper plates blue. I thought green or purple would have looked cute, but kids have a mind of their own. Maybe I should have made my own Octopus to make it however I wanted?!

While it dried, they simply cut strips of construction paper out in yellow, again their choice

{I must be in a mood or something inside my head.} They folded the strips of paper accordian style and glued them onto the plate. The last step was simply making a face.

They turned out really cute. I should have trusted them..!

The Octopus on the right is eating a fish {too fun!}

Friday Book Project {Jamberry}

I love this book. I read it when I was little and now I read it to my kids.

The words are cute and the illustrations are spectacular!

It's an easy read for them.

The kids really wanted to paint today. For our Friday Book Project, we painted these bears that look like the bear in the book.

Next, I cut out a strawberry shape and the kids painted it red. They glued on black felt for seeds and a green stem.


For snack we had Teddy Bear toast. Some had jam on them and some had butter with cinnamon and sugar.

I encourage you all to pick a book next week and create something to go with it.

It's Our Anniversary...!

Not our real Anniversary, but today is the day we had our first KISS 11 years ago.

Noe made breakfast for me in the morning and had an evening planned for us.

He has been reading one of my favorite blogsites Love Actually {so excited about this!} and he found the Bookstore idea.

~

11 years ago, we were both attending college. We had to look for a book for a research project, so we were in the library together. While walking in a secluded aisle on the 3rd floor of the library, our hands touched. Suddenly, we were holding hands. We looked into each others eyes and kissed. I'm not sure if we found the book or not, I just remembered walking down the flight of stairs floating on air!

The Bookstore Date was perfect for our first kiss anniversary!

 Noe wrote out the game onto these rose papers.

What's a first kiss anniversary without Hershey Kisses?

 We looked for all the books on our list!

I had to choose a book that I thought Noe would like! It was kind of embarrassing walking around with this {haha.} I ended up really liking this book and buying it!

Sorry for the PDA's, but we had to for old time sake!

Everyone was starring!

Afterwards, we went out for dessert.

Mmmm....Delicious!

{Discovery} Bottle

Going back to the Ocean Theme.....

We had to take a break from Ocean Learning to get ready for Independence Day! The kids needed to read books about our nation and sing patriotic songs and of course create projects!

These are our Discovery Bottles. They are made to look like the ocean.

The kids drank half of their water in the bottles. Adding food coloring right then wouldn't look or feel like an ocean, so we filled up the rest of the bottle with oil. So, it was half water and half oil. It looks so neat watching the oil rise up above the water. The kids each added drops of blue food coloring into there. We put the lids on and shook them up to see what it looked like at that point. Next, we added glitter to look like sea life. I hot glued the lids on so they can't get them open.

I'm amazed by these mini oceans!

For our Ocean Theme I got some ideas from other Mom's on the web. You've probably seen them before so I didn't post them. We did all the ocean footprint and handprint ideas from Sandy {octopus, lobster, fish.} The kids also made a crab that we found on No Time For Flashcards. We have more in store for the next few weeks.

Come back and visit blog familia!

 

Word Rings

While I was at the teaching supply store, I picked up 2 of these Word Rings. They have them in various colors as well. The rainbow ones are super cute!

I thought these would be good for Noah and Maelyn to use as a learning tool this summer.

I googled the educational standards for the grades that they are going into next month.

Looking at the standards, it shows some words and concepts that they should know.

I wrote those words on their word rings to study.

Maelyn is going into 1st grade this August. I talked to her teacher that I requested and she gave me the list of all 300 sight words she needs to know. I added those onto her word ring. We told her she didn't need to know them all by the end of summer- but she is insisting! She is such a roaring reader!

Noah's word ring is used in a different way. He is allowed to write down whatever he sees fit- things he wants to remember or look up. He writes notes on his as well. Noah is old enough where he can take his own notes.
My kids love flashcards! They aren't boring to them one single bit!

Fridays Fixins' {Blueberry Dessert}

Blueberry Dessert is a family favorite. I had to use cherries instead because my local store in the small town where I live, didn't have the blueberries. I was completely bummed but had my heart set on making this dessert anyways. It's a good alternative to the flag cake that is the typical Independence Day Dessert.

Blueberry Dessert {Cherries pictured above}

~

Crust

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup Melted Butter

2 cups Flour

1 cup Chopped Walnuts

~Mix these all together in a bowl.

~Spread it out in a 9 by 13 inch pan.

~Bake in 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

~Cool.

Filling

1 8 oz Cream Cheese

2 1/2 tablespoons Sugar

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla

~Blend together all the ingredients and set aside.

Dream Whip

2 envelopes of Dream Whip

~Follow the directions on the Dream Whip package.

~Mix until peaks form.

THEN MIX:

~The Dream Whip and cream cheese filling together.

SPREAD:

~Over crust.

CHILL:

~At least 4 hours.

Blueberry Pie Filling

1 can Blueberry Pie Filling

~Spread over the dessert after it is chilled.

Patriotic Toes...!

You can have American Spirit anywhere you go!

We painted our toenails in American Flag colors- red, white and blue.

Rockstar toenails with a twist...!

First, put a clear coat of nail polish onto their toes. When not using thin glitter like Martha Stewart brand, make sure the clear coat is really thick so the glitter sticks.

Next, sprinkle the glitter onto their toes. To catch all the glitter, put a paper or towel underneath.

Lastly, put a clear top coat of polish over the glitter.

Let dry.
Very Patriotic....!