Butterfly Life Cycle

It is that time of year where the Camacho Family studies insects. It's fun and weird and a little gross sometimes. Right now we are learning about the Butterfly Life Cycle.

I purchased these handy dandy life cycle plastic toys, a few years ago. They really are handy. I use them as a teaching tool {so it stays in my teaching stuff until we use it.} The kids can put the stages in order and use them various ways. {There are tons of ideas on Google}

These are 2 of our cups of caterpillars {larva.} We actually don't purchase them as eggs, them come as caterpillars just super tiny.

Most of them are in the cocoon {pupa} {chrysalis} stage. Whichever terms you use.

Pretty neat huh?!

We made a project out of the Butterfly Life Cycle.

The background is a sentence strip cut in half {I suggested blue, but the girls of course wanted hot pink!}

Basically, we used whatever we had in the house. The egg is a leaf sticker with a piece of cotton ball glued on. The caterpillar is a pasta noodle. The cocoon is a shell they colored brown. The butterfly is made out of some random rejected bows that didn't make it onto clippies. We just added pipe cleaner antennae.

It's really easy for children to learn and remember insect cycles.

*Side note: We get our insects from a place called Insect Lore. It just so happens it is in the same town where we live, so we love to go look at the insects all the time. They ship anywhere in the U.S. in fact that is their speciality. They are famous for releasing butterflies at weddings. If you are in the education field, you probably have seen or used their products. I noticed they would always be at the different conventions. Their website is here if you are interested. Once I bought the insect habitats, all I do is clean them up and reuse every year...then I just buy a cup of insects.

Flower Learning.

It is the perfect season to teach about plants. I have a great, easy project that we made over here with handprints of course. I'm a little handprint freak....! Handprints make things extra adorable and fun.

After we planted flowers and we also planted seeds, we needed to talk about the various parts some more and how they grow.

I traced each of their hands in different colors for the flower, leaves and roots.

I had the older children cut out all the handprints.

The littler kids glued their own parts of the flower onto the construction paper.

You've probably noticed by now, our projects are never perfect. The kids basically do everything. I supervise and have an example ready for them to look at to picture how the finished project should kind of look.
I hands down give them all the credit...!

Guest Blogger: Veronica Cargill

Hello from Bakersfield, California! My name is Veronica and I am a stay at home mom. I have a budding love for all things in the paper universe and more importantly card making. So, when Bobbi asked me to be a guest blogger here at Casa Camacho, I was not only ecstatic but also much honored to do it.

Today we are making a springtime card that is perfect for a variety of occasions; such as a birthday card or thinking of you card.

Supply List1-8x8 sheet of light blue cardstock.
Recollections cardstock pack, “Cape Cod”
2- sheets from Martha Steward’s 4”x12” Paper Pad “Bright“, 1 blue glitter, 1 yellow plaid
1- Spool of white ribbon
1- Tulips embellishment from Making Memories
Stamps
Ink pad-Black
Bone folder-mine is from Martha Steward crafts and I love the flowers and bling
Tombow Mono adhesive
Paper Trimmer
Pop Dots
Tape
Cuttlebug with stamp die

Instructions
1. Trim blue cardstock to 5 ½”-7 ½” with paper trimmer. Trim glitter paper to 3 ½ “-3 ¼”. Trim plaid paper to 3”-3 ¼”.

2. Line up edges for a portrait orientation card fold. Fold card down with bone folder. A bone folder gives a nice clean and crisp fold.

3. Over lap the plaid paper over the glitter paper and measure against the card background, trim edges as needed. Glue plaid paper to glitter paper but, NOT to the background.

4. Measure ribbon against the width of card and cut. Flip card and ribbon to the backside and tape down ribbon edges. This is called the cheater method and a great way to save ribbon for another craft.

5. Flip everything back to the front (patterned) side and glue to the card background. Tie knot to side of card. Trim frayed edges at an angle.

6. Glue embellishment on plaid paper.

7. Using the stamp tag die and scrap blue cardstock- roll through CuttleBug.

8. Stamp tag at angle and allow to dry. Flip tag to backside and apply 2 pop dots.

9. Remove pop dot backing and glue to glitter paper underneath knot.

Thank you so much Veronica for this lovely card idea. For some reason, card layouts are more difficult to me than scrapbooking. I need lots of card inspiration...! The layout is perfect for the Spring. I think I might just use it for Mother's Day.

I am loving my Guest Blogger's...! Thank you all. I hope my readers are enjoying these tutorials as well...!

Theme Of The Week {Go Green!}

We had a really fun week with our {Go Green!} theme. The kids were more creative than me with our recyclables. Every time we used something, I cleaned it out or cut it up and put it on the counter for the kids to create with....and create they did!

Using {coffee filters} the kids created Planet Earth window clings.

With {toliet paper rolls} they made binoculars and explored the outside world.

We had lots of {toliet paper rolls} saved up, so they painted circles with them on construction paper.

After washing different sized {plastic bottles} I cut them into flower shapes. They got to paint the flowers.

We planted some {flowers} in our front yard. Each of the kids got their own plant with biodegradable pots to put into the ground.

Our family had fun exploring and taking a {walk} at the park. There was some trash by where the peacocks live...so my son threw it away. We decided to bring trash bags and clean it all up another day.

The girls planted seeds in an {egg carton.}

Using {coffee filters} and markers they made "Planet Earth."

I found some scraps of {wrapping paper} on the bottom of my wrapping paper organizer. Instead of throwing the crumpled up ones away, I decided to cut them up and make a game out of them. I wrote letters on the back of them, then laminated them to make a matching game for the girls.

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The Kids Went Green By Themselves...!

With some {paper bags} they made their own puppets.

I also had some {canning jars} that they made a game with. They colored them with color crayons and put a clear, plastic bead under one of them...then mixed the jars up and they had to guess which jar the bead was under. Ummm....Brilliant!

Using the leftover bottom part of the {plastic bottles} after we made flowers, the kids glued paper onto them and made theirselves pencil holders.

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But of course this Mama made some yummy treats. We can't have a Green Day without {Earth Cookies} and {Worms In Dirt!}

Oscar {The Grouch}

This week we are having some fun with our Recyclables in honor of Earth Day.

There are so many things to do with "trash" besides throwing it away.

The kids made their own Oscar the Grouches out of plastic lids and cans.

They painted the lids green. When it dried they added googly eyes. I cut out a mouth and tongue for them to glue onto the plastic head. The fluffy eyebrows are made out of crafters moss. They wrote "trash" with puffy paint onto the trash can. When everything was all dried, I hot glued the plastic lid onto a plastic knife {I was looking for a paint stirring stick or oversized popsicle stick...but no luck.}

For a Grouchy snack, we made Oscar cupcakes with some goodies we found in the cupboard. Jelly bean tongues, marshmallow and mini chocolate chip eyes and lots of frosting!

Recycling is so much fun!

The Great American Cleanup...!

My husband's work had a team in The Great American Cleanup, so I decided we would sign up as Team Camacho.

The jobs to pick from were picking up trash, planting flowers, painting over grafetti, recycling...among other things. None of us cared what job we did, as long as we got to help out. They gave us an alley {a pretty long one} to clean up trash from.

We woke up really early.....

Carm drinking her hot chocolate looking like a teenager...!

I found out my camera ran out of batteries and didn't have time to charge it, so these are all camera phone pictures. {Sorry! We all know I am the worst photographer anyways. I dream of beautiful blog pictures, but that dream will never come.}

Team Camacho about to clean up. These kids had smiles the entire time. No action pictures though because we had grubby dirty hands. Some people are plain nasty with the things they throw out on the ground.

After a couple hours of beauty-fying the alley, we washed up at their cousins house and left for a BBQ at the park with all the other helpers.

Taking a break for lunch.

This event was huge! There were hundreds of people getting together to make a difference.

They had bounce houses and games and raffles....there was a huge tent with lots of booths.

We learned how to make cookies with a solar panel and they tasted delicious. They gave us flowers to plant at home in our yard. Highschoolers made art out of recyclable materials.

The kids wanted their faces beauty-fied.

It was a really fun day. We bonded together to clean up, each one of us and that is what being a human being on our shared planet is all about. Loving and caring and helping one another.

Earth Day is coming up this week.

Love, care and help...!

It really does make a difference.

Monthly Home Evening Lessons.

What to say about this project? It was a long time in the making...!

I wanted to pick a theme with activities and recipes each month to do with the family in the evening. I got the Home Evening Lesson idea from my Mormon Mom's that I talk to online. Our family is Christian, but the majority of the people I talk to online are Mormon and I absolutely love and adore them. They are some of the craftiest people-ever! From Visiting Teaching and Young Women's Lessons, they have some great ideas on how to build a family. I just had to say.

So......the problem with this binder was that I had too many directions to go with it.

At first, I thought that each month would be a Bible based lesson....then it turned to a fun theme...then it turned to practical ideas. After pages and pages {seriously} of notes, I was going insane. My husband sat down with me and we picked the best idea from each month that {we} wanted to teach the kids.

You might think the themes don't make sense but it's a variety of what we wanted to do.

This is the final project that I started at the beginning of the year {but once I recruited Noe's help, I was done in 2 days!}

I was thinking of doing paper clips with ribbon on them, but decided on these tabs.

Every page is in clear protection sheets because they are supposed to last until next April. I know it's weird starting in April but better late than never...!

I saw that someone charges $50 for these binders online. I love when families share special moments and time together. Anything that I can do to help with that, is worth all the time and effort that I put into this. I have each month for you to download right here.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Feel free to use them how you wish. The themes and activities are what {we} chose for {our} family. You can adapt it and rewrite them however you wish. I just don't want to hear any negative comments please! If you don't like my recipes, don't tell me...oh and I suggest making them together as a family. There are only 3 evening activities for the entire month just because my husband is gone alot and between sports and school and everything else...I just wanted to make sure that those activities are done. Change it up if you would like.
I wish your families the best throughout the year. Hopefully, these lessons will give you a stronger bond.
I am off to get things together to salvage the rest of April's lesson. Can't wait to do it together!

Stranger Danger.

Remember being taught about Strangers in school? School is different than when we were kids. Most of time, there's just no time in the day for extra stuff to teach. It's nobodies fault really...just a sad reality. In all fairness, it's really my job as a parent to teach my kids everything.

I'm urging you to talk with your children about strangers. Go over your family rules. If your children walk home, you might want to check out Meganslaw.com and see what criminals live near the route from school to home. I don't want to put fear in your hearts. It's just better to teach and show the kids the rules and hopefully never have to use them, than to not teach them.

Our family has a password that we can all remember. When someone else picks our children up from school, they have to know the password. If they don't, I didn't send them. I tell my kids even if it's a friend of mine, they have to know the password.

Here's some printouts that I found for the kids, maybe this could be the starting point of the conversation?

It worries me when my kids walk home from school. They want to walk home with our neighbors. I still time them.

It breaks my heart turning on the news. I hate the news. It's just better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully, this post will remind you to talk with your kids.

If you have any tips on rules that your family uses, please let me hear your nuggets of wisdom!

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Crystal from Life At The Circus suggested a video that includes different scenarios for kids to watch. It's made by John Walsh of America's Most Wanted and a lady that works for Baby Einstein. I found a link for it here if you are interested in buying it. I just might learn a few things from it as well!

An {Inexpensive} Birthday Gift

Every month our family gets invited to several birthday parties. Every single month. I usually pick and choose which ones we can go to. There's just no time to go to each and every one of them. Plus, we usually have our immediate family birthdays as well. Going to a birthday party, can be pricey. It's an added expensive each month. If I had all the money that I wanted, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But I don't..! Unfortunately.

I like to make gifts just because kids these days have pretty much everything. A homemade gift is unique, cost friendly and thoughtful.

In the past, I have given away Art Kits. I love the idea of an Art Kit piled with different craft supplies. Sometimes with those, I wonder if they are getting used. This time I wanted to be more specific with the project and teach the child how to make it as well as getting the parents involved in the project by reading the directions.

Looking upon esty.com for ideas, I came across this awesome store. She makes Craft Kits with specific crafts marked in them. Bingo! I knew what I wanted to do.

My friend's little boy loves Rockets, so I came up with a Rocket Ship Craft for him to make.

The specific parts are all labeled and pretty.

I got this storage box at the $1 Store and just added a label.
{This entire project cost $1 because I had everything!}
I tied it with a simple twine ribbon....so masculine and cute!
Hopefully, all goes well. If it does....I'm hoping to make more of these Craft Kits for birthday gifts.
If you don't have time to make a Craft Kit there is always this etsy shop. Her stuff is seriously fantastic and affordable!

Tiger Awards.

Lately, I've been struggling with the idea of going back to Teaching. I really enjoy being at home but we are on such a tight budget financially. Some days, I miss the 2 incomes coming into the home and not having to worry about money.

Then there are days like this.......when I went to Noah's Award Ceremony. Each month is a different trait and he was awarded the Leadership Award {again!}

I seriously left the cafeteria thinking, I am never going back to work! I am doing such a great job {haha!} I was bursting. He got straight A's again, one of the highest test scores out of the entire state each year, his AR {accelerated reading} points are super high, he is a Leader, and just an all around wonderful person.

There were some kids whose parents didn't make it to the awards. You should have seen their little faces looking around {tear!} One boy looked really bummed out, so my Mother-In-Law who actually knew him went to go sit by him. It cheered him up.

Staying at home is a hard job...but even if I'm clipping coupons and don't have the best vehicles or house and living on a tight budget...I still feel like it's right, for me, at this point in {my} life.

God has entrusted me with these beautiful blessings and I know it's definetly not all me that made them who they are. Actually, it's only by a divine miracle that I got such great children.

I just need to remind myself of that.

Muffin Tin Monday {Rainbows!}

The theme for Muffin Tin Monday {click on Michelle's link to view other tins} this week was Rainbows! I couldn't be more giddy because I seriously love Rainbows. They remind me of how miraculous God is.

For snack, the kids had a Fruit Rainbow: Strawberries, Oranges, Bananas, Pears, Plums and in the Muffin Cups I made some Whipped Cream.
Have a Miraculous Day!

States Postcard {Update}

Casa Camacho has been representing California in a Postcard Swap from Our Adventures in Education. Every 2 weeks, the kids get a surprise in the mailbox from different states in the U.S. It has been quite the adventure. I love {I mean, the kids love} getting mail the old fashioned way! It makes me want to do more swaps. Swap with me ladies!

Here is where we are at now in our learning...

I am not quite sure how we are going to fit all the states on the wall. I think this was a good starting point. The only other idea I have is to put them all in a binder and then put a big X over the states that we learn about. Do you have any other ideas?

Being on a strict budget right now, I was trying to find an affordable approach to buying postcards and sending them to 52 states.

I made my own California Postcards using pictures of places that we have traveled, up and down the state {I tried not to use any pictures of the kids.}

I really liked how they turned out. Unique!

California is so diverse. I can drive to the mountains, the beach, theme parks, Hollywood....so many places. Sometimes I take that for granted!