Pick and Draw Winner

We have a winner for the Pick and Draw game, it is Joyce over at Joyful Creations.  Thanks again for playing!  I will have another giveaway in a few days. 

If you are intersted in picking up a Pick and Draw game of  your very own visit Rich Davis they are only $10. 

Menu Plan Monday

Didn't get to the baking I wanted to do last week, Lord willing next week while we are on our break.  We did FINALLY eat the lasagna and have cake for my husbands birthday, even though it was 3 weeks ago.  I know that makes me sound like a bad wife but honestly everyone had been sick. 
Looking forward to our Ressurection Day dinner, we are having it at our house this year.  I plan on having the ham in the oven and at LEAST 2 crockypots going.  They even make holiday dinners easier! 

Monday

Breakfast: Waffles w/ fruit
Lunch: Turkey & Cheese w/ Apples
Dinner: Taco Bake (I also add brown rice, salsa, black beans and cumin to mine) w/ Tortilla Chips & Corn

Tuesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ bananas
Lunch: Leftover Taco Bake (this is one of my kids favorites)
Dinner: BBQ Chicken in the Crockpot w/ Mashed Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts
(the Brussel sprouts are actually REALLY yummy.  You saute them in a little bit of butter and add a dash of sea salt and a splash of lime juice)

Wednesday
Breakfast: French Toast w/ Fruit
Lunch: Pizza
Dinner: Breakfast Night: Eggs and Bacon w/ Biscuits & Gravy (real heathy I know!).  To make me feel better I think I might add some cantaloupe too!

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Grilled Cheese w/ Tomato Soup
Dinner: Creamy Chicken & Rice Soup

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Mac & Cheese
Dinner: Pizza Night

Saturday
Breakfast: Kid's Choice
Lunch: Hot Dogs w/ Sweet Potato Fries
Dinner: Leftover Lassagna from the Freezer

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: PB & J w/ Fruit
Dinner:  Ham, Crockpot Mashed Potatoes (these potatoes are, well Da' bomb!!) Creamed Corn, (these are a WOW too!) Green Beans, Spring Salad, Rolls.
Dessert: The Best Lemon Bars, Orange Dream Torte

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

by Stuart Townsend


How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure


How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory


Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocing voice,
Call out among the scoffers


It was my sin that helf Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished


I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection


Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Some Good Ol' Family Management Wisdom

While drinking my coffee and trying to keep my eyes pried open this morning, I enjoyed reading some great family managment wisdom over at Organized Junkie.   You should grab your coffee and go check it out.  She was reading from Kathy Peelers book, The Busy Mom's Guide to a Happy, Organized Home.  I actually have this book and it is chock full of home management goodies.

Do you all have any favorite home manangement type books?  I like the Kathy Peeler's book and I really like Manager's of Their Homes.  At some point some I'd like to get Manager's of Their Chores, anyone have this one?  If so, is it working for you?

401 Ways to Get Your Kids to Work at Home is another goodie, this one has great ideas to make working around the house fun.  We've used a few of the ideas in this book successfully.

What we've been up to....

Last week My Father's World sent us on a "trip" to Japan and we had a great time!  As we studied Japan we enjoyed learning about their culture, customs and praying for the people there.  We learned a little bit about the foods they eat, the language they speak and there strong ties to family.    

For fun we made origami tulips with stems, houses and pianos using a Fun with Easy Origami book (that was fun)!  In case you were wondering, my flower is the yellow one, isn't it purdy??!! 

We also studied oceans.  We enjoyed reading The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor and Turtle Bay.  We watched a Moody Science video about Oceans and we watched a SciQ Video about Underwater.

We ending up making it a light week because we still had some sickies.  We only "stayed" in Japan for 1 week because we are doing a unit study this week, (fill ya in about it next week) but we enjoyed our trip. 

As for a new pet....

I am still thinking on it.  My girls are STILL begging me for guinea pigs.  My response so far as been "Love ya, but NO!"  I am seriously considering the turtle. 
A good friend of mine has graciously offered to loan us 2 of her birds until the novelty wears off, I am thinking we might take her up on it.  I told her we would in return loan or give her our rottie and she of course said no way!  Can't blame me for trying.  Well, at least she isn't jumping the fence and runing through the neighborhood anymore, PRAISE GOD!
We ALMOST got 2 female rats from a lady on craigslist but someone else got to them first.  Can't really believe that I was even considering that one. 
I'll keep you all posted and thanks for taking our poll!

Pick and Draw Give Away

Do you remember the Pick and Draw card game that I was telling you about the other day?  Well, Rich Davis (the artist and creator of the game) has kindly offered me a second card game to offer to one of you (Thanks again Rich)!

Ways to Enter

• If you are a follower of my blog leave a comment.
• Become a follower or subscriber and then leave me a comment.
• Invite a friend, if you told someone about my blog and they became a follower please leave me a comment and let me know.
• Go to Rich's Pick and Draw website and play a game.  Come back and tell me what you think of it.
• Blog about my give away and let me know about it.

Please be sure to leave a comment for each way that you enter. I will use www.random.org to pick a winner on 3/30/10 (next Tuesday).

Menu Plan Monday

 Simple family friendly fare this week.  I think I came up for my grocery list and menu in 10 minutes - that might be a new record.  For the 3rd week in a row I am going to attempt to have a birthday dinner for my husband.  Everyone is still on the mend from being sick. 
I enjoyed crocking last week.  I am thinking that every mother should own a crockpot and a crockpot cookbook!  Instead of the hospital sending you home with that cheesey pleather wonderful black vinyl diaper bag, that most of us never use, they should send us home with a crockpot! Now that's a thought! : )
We all loved the Clean out your pantry minestrone soup last week, it was simple and very yummy!  The Applesauce Chicken and the Brown Sugar Chicken, yeah not so much.  Can't really ever imagine making either of those again. 
My kids are stilling loving the Giant Breakfast Cookies.  I am going to have to make a triple batch of those real soon, we are on our last few cookies.  Haven't gotten to the breakfast cake yet but hope to soon. 
Enough babbling, here's what we are eating this week...


Monday
Breakfast: Waffles w/ fruit
Lunch: PB & J's w/ Apples and Bananas
Dinner: Breakfast Night:  Pancakes, Eggs, Chicken Apple Sausage and Blueberries

Tuesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ bananas
Lunch: Cheesy Brown Rice w/ Mixed Veggies
Dinner:  Lemon Pepper Chicken w/ Parmesean Noodles and Broccoli

Wednesday
Breakfast: Giant Breakfast Cookies
Lunch: Pizza
Dinner: Tacos w/ Corn and Black Beans

Thursday
Breakfast: Waffles and Fruit
Lunch: Grilled Cheese w/ Tomato Soup
Dinner: Bacon Cheeseburgers (my mouth is watering just thinking of them) w/ Baked Beans and Potato Wedges

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Mac & Cheese
Dinner: Homemade Pizza

Saturday
Breakfast: Kid's Choice
Lunch: Hot Dogs w/ Sweet Potato Fries
Dinner: Tortilla Soup w/ Corn Chips

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Turkey & Cheese w/ Fruit
Dinner: Lasagna w/ Homemade Bread and Salad (Lord willing!!)
Dessert: Home Chocolate Cake w/ Homemade Candles


Anyone tried anything new lately??

And Can It Be That I Should Gain?

by Charles Wesley


And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?


’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.


He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!


Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.


Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.


No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Instead of Watching Saturday Morning Cartoons, We Made Our Own!!

We just finished playing a super fun card game called Pick and Draw!  We were blessed with this game about a week ago and have been loving it ever since.  Have you guys ever heard of the Tiny books?  They are about this dog named Tiny that is anything but (he is huge)!  Well, anywho the illustrater for the Tiny books, Rich Davis, has created this great game called Pick and Draw. 

This game is very simple and user friendly.  You lay out 5 piles of cards - Faces, Noses, Ears, Eyes and Hair.  Then one by one you flip them over and draw what is on the card.  By doing each step you build a character.  You can make so many different characters by using the different shapes and features that Rich has provided and altering the size of the features you are drawing.  Rich, has truly been blessed with the gift of creativity and a heart for the Lord! 

 

This is a great tool to get the kid's creative juices flowing.  Even though each of my children were drawing from the same cards, their pictures were very different.  They had great time drawing and naming their characters.  Rich encourages you to really have fun with the characters by giving them names, hoobies and such.  We will be using these in our workboxes to draw characters and write stories about them!

If you would like a Pick and Draw card game of your very own you can find them on here on Rich's Website.  Did I tell you they are ONLY $10 a deck!  What a deal! What a deal! 

 

The Only Thing Missing Was A Lab Coat!

Last week we were blessed with an Extreme Secret Formula Lab from SmartLab and boy is it cool! It comes with a lab book (with secret formulas, of course), test tubes, a blank sticker sheet, and glow in the dark powder. Our kit arrived on a day that I was sick, I was actually in the dr's office and my oldest calls me on my cell, "it's here, it's here!!!" she yells. I think I managed to hold the kids off for a whole day, because I was not feeling well. I can't really blame them, the kit did look like lots of fun.

It was hard to decide which experiment to do first, I think there are about 20 to choose from. Since Daddy was at work when we made our volcanoes they all decided to do the glowing volcano. We used baking soda, vinegar and the glow in the dark powder.

 Simple but very cool! Each child got to add or stir something and then watch it erupt! Not sure who enjoyed it more Daddy or the kids.

The next lab that we did was Dark Roast fossils, I did this one with them a few days later. You mix coffee, old coffee grounds flour to make a coffee smelling mixture that hardens. Before it hardens you make "fossils." This was my favorite. We pulled out the dinosaurs and bugs and made impressions in the "rock." Humpty D. and I really liked making dino tracks. We also laid small dinosaurs on their side for a full body fossil. I think the kids all really had fun with this. The girls really liked using the bugs and their Littlest Pet Shop pets.

        

I love doing this kind of stuff, instead of always just reading. I love to read but I think these hands on activities really leave an impression (no pun intended) on the kids. I think we are going to be doing the Glowing Crystal Art and the Scratch and Sniff Glow stickers real soon.

Menu Plan Monday

 I think I am calling this Crockpoting on a Budget Week.  I know it's obsessive but I am now up to 4 crocky pots - cause I just love them!  I guess I am a collector of crock pots.  Anyway on to the menu....

Monday
Breakfast: Waffles w/ fruit
Lunch: PB & Bananas w/ sliced oranges
Dinner: I don't really wanna tell you what this was but I will tell you it came out of a can. YUK!


Tuesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ Cinnamon, Apples and Raisins
Lunch: Mac and Cheese w/ Pears
Dinner: Breakfast Night in a Crock Pot - Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole  (following this except I am using fresh potatoes)


Wednesday
Breakfast: Huge Breakfast Cookies (These were a HUGE HIT last week!!)
Lunch:  Hot Dogs w/ Fruit
Dinner:  Chicken Fajitas w/ Rice and Broccoli

Thursday
Breakfast: Waffles and Fruit
Lunch: Grilled Cheese w/ Tomato Soup
Dinner: Clean Out the Pantry Minestrone Soup w/Cornbread


 
Friday
Breakfast:  Breakfast Cake
Lunch: Turkey and Cheese Wheels w/ Mandrin O's
Dinner: Brown Sugar Chicken (folllowing this except I am going to try Agave instead of the brown sugar, not sure about the lemon lime soda, I did find mandrin/lime soda at Trader Joe's so I may try this) w/ Brown Rice nad Green Beans


Saturday
Breakfast: Kid's Choice
Lunch: Egg Salad Sammies with applesauce
Dinner: Lasagna (yep, crockin' this too) w/ Salad and fresh bread. Didn't have have this last week like I had planned.

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: PB & J's w/ fruit
Dinner: Applesauce Chicken w/ Brown Rice Noodles and Grean Beans


The breakfast cookies were a winner from last week as the Bruschetta Chicken.  That chicken was awesome!  I made it last night and I thought I might make some chicken salad out of the left over chicken for a yummy lunch tomorrow. 

Drum Roll Please....

Ok ladies, we have a winner! The winner is Victoria (sent ya an email)!  Thanks to everyone that has become a follower of my blog and for playing. 

I have 2 more very cool give ways coming up so stick around ; )

So, I guess we are looking for a new pet??!!

You know the story, the kids are begging, signing "I promise to clean and feed said pet for the next 80 years" contacts and promising me their first borns if they can only get a little pet of their very own.  Unfortunately, I am one of those people that are a sucker for animals, at least at first.  So here I am looking for a new pet. I think somewhere between the begging I said ok, well see (mom's famous word's right).  If I hadn't lost it prior to this, I have definitely lost it now... my MIND that is! 
We've done cats, guinea pigs (twice!!), hermit crabs, fish and we currently have three dogs.  Did I mention that one is a small horse rottweiller, oh and yeah she is still a puppy! 
I started our little adventure thinking that we could hang with a turtle, they are simple to care for right?? I am however  not really sure that I can do the whole salmonella thing.  I just have this little thing where I can't stand germs!
Guinea pigs, yeah been there twice.  My daughters really want another guinea pig, but I have flash backs of kale, hay and ME cleaning out the cage.
We had cats and we learned that they live a really long time! I know that is a horrible attitude, I really did love my kitties but 14 years is a LONG TIME, especially when they tend to pee in the house once in a while. (Praise God we have a Carpet Cleaning Business).
Hermit crabs... boring.
Fish, they were pretty cool.  We had 3 tanks going at one time.  One was a mish mash of different fish, one had a HUGE oscar and the last had pirana's (they of course were my hubby's).  The coolness wore off little by little each time I had to clean the tanks.
I am sure if anyone is reading this they are thinking... well, why is she even entertaining this idea.  The short answer I guess is that, like I said, I am a sucker for animals and a glutton for punishment!
So, if you have any critter suggestions please take our poll (providing I put it on here correctly) or post a comment.  Oh, yeah ABSOLUTELY NO SNAKES!  Thanks!

What've been up to this last week...

We had to really modify our schooling this past week due to most of us being sick.  I really hate having to waste our days on being sick, we really like to focus on school and finish up our school year by mid May.  But we all needed to take a rest and feel better. 
Since we were on our 2nd week studying China we did try to do some videos on China.  We watched the Inn of Sixth Happiness, which is a movie based on the life of the missionary Gladys Aylward,(very good!) and  The Emperor and the Nightingale.  The kids listened to the book The Empty Pot on CD and we read Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat. 
Yesterday, we were able to do some catching up on our reading and such.  We have really been enjoying the very encouraging stories in Hero Tales.  The true stories of these men and women of God have really been encouraging to me and the kids.  We had already watched the Gladys Aylward movie, so yesterday when I read about her in the Hero Tales book the girls came and snuggled next to me and were very into the stories about her.  They had pointed out the differences between the book and the movie, it was one of those moments that I realized they really are "getting it!" To finish up our China study today we are going to read a few more China books, play chinese checkers and order Chinese Food for din-din!
Alot of things fell to the wayside this past week, but I am glad that we were able to take it easy and work on getting better.

Confessions of a Homeschooler Give Away!

Have you all ever been over to visit Confessions of a Homeschooler?  She is one of my favorite blogger mommies!  She is so creative and always seems to have something fun happening!  She just hit 1500 subscribers and is doing a Give Away to celebrate.  The give away is for a card game called Pick and Draw, which looks very cooool by the way!  Thought you'd like to check it out and enter the contest, I know I am.

The Best Meatloaf EVER!

So, one day last week I took a little Mommy time out.  I decided to climb into by bed and watch some tv, after flipping around a bit I decided on Paula Deen.  Haven't watched her in a looong time, but her and her son Jamie were fixin' some yummy comfort foods.  I gotta tell you, I was getting hungry just watching those two cook. Well, anyway one of the recipes that they shared was Jamie's wife Brooke's Homemade Meatloaf recipe.  Nothin fancy, but WOW is it good!!  The meatloaf itself is pretty standard but the glaze on top makes it out of this world good!!   Didn't get a picture of it before dinner but I did get one after....

These people (myself included) ate that meatloaf up in record time!  I served it with homemade garlic mashed potatoes and maple glazed carrots (just a fancy way of saying steamed baby carrots with maple/agave syrup drizzled over top).  I was really looking forward to leftover meatloaf sandwiches for lunch the next day.  But as you can see that didn't happen!

We took a family vote and it was decided that this was my new meatloaf recipe!  Hope you all try it and love it as much as we did. 

Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday


Nothin' fancy this week.  we are having Lasagna for my Hubby's birthday dinner.  I think the kids are going to make him a cake this year - they are so excited about doing this!  I am trying a new recipe on Friday, Bruschetta Chicken, that sounds very yummy!

Monday
Breakfast: Waffles w/ fruit
Lunch: Homemade pizza w/ fruit
Dinner: Mac and Cheese w/ Dogs and broc.

Tuesday
Breakfast:  Oatmeal w/ bananas
Lunch:  PB & J's w/ fruit
Dinner:  Breakfast Night - Pancakes, Eggs and Bacon

Wednesday
Breakfast:  Cereal
Lunch: Turkey and Cheese w/ Fruit
Dinner: Chilli (from the Freezer) Mac w/ Cornbread

Thursday
Breakfast:  Waffles and Fruit
Lunch:  Grilled Cheese w/ Tomato Soup
Dinner: Lemon Pepper Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Gr. Beans

Friday
Breakfast: Eggsw/ Toast and You guessed it!  Fruit
Lunch: Brown Rice and Mixed Veggies
Dinner:  Bruchetta Chicken w/ Pesto Noodles and Veggie

Saturday
Breakfast:  Kid's Choice
Lunch:  Egg Salad Sammies with applesauce
Dinner:  Thinking about ordering Chinese Food since we studyed China this week

Sunday
Breakfast:  Cereal
Lunch: PB & J's w/ fruit
Dinner: Lasagna w/ Homemade Bread and Salad
Dessert: Home Chocolate Cake w/ Homemade Candles

Oh yeah, I almost forgot Humpty Dumpty and I did some baking yesterday.  We made Giant Breakfast Cookies from Heavenly Homemakers and they are a W O W!!  I doubled my batch and after I took the first bite I thought Oh, NO!!  The kids aren't going to like these!  I thought this because they are not very sweet like a cookie normal is.  I liked them, they are like a nice natural sweet.  To my shock and JOY!  the kids loved them!  Praise God! 

She also has a Breakfast Cake recipe that I might try next week.  She is awesome by the way, if you haven't checked her out I suggest you do. :  ) She has some awesome recipes.  After I read her post about the 500 lbs of wheat she bought I was hooked!

We also made Banana Banana Bread and it is a yummy one too!

Ring-O-Links Giveaway

Last week when I was unpacking that huge box of goodies I realized that Educator's Outlet had accidentally sent me 2 of the Ring-O- Links. When I called the company to tell them my problem, they explained that they had not charged me for the extra set, told me I could keep it and do with them what ever I wanted with it.  Soooo, I thought it would be a fun little idea to offer it to one of you.

If you would like a chance to win a set of Ring-O-Links 1)You Must Publicly Follow Living Sola Gratia and 2) Leave me a comment about your favorite hands on math activity, 3) Be a US Resident.  I will run the contest until 3/14/10. Please be sure to include your email so that I can contact you.

We Got Mail!

Just like most people we love getting mail! Especially, when it's goodies that I've ordered and have been impatiently patiently waiting their arrival. 

I found out about this educational supplies/games website on one of the mommy blogs I read.  The company is called Educator's Outlet.  They might just be my new favorite place to order from.  I restricted myself to the Blowout Closeout Section only.  I still can't believe all the goodies that I got!  Did I tell you that I only spent $42 and that INCLUDED my shipping!  Yes, $42! 

It was lunch time and I was checking my email and saw an email that FedEx had delivered my package (I have begged the FedEx and UPS men to NOT knock on my door because I have 3 dogs that go nuts and sometimes wake up my sleeping children).  So I, ran to get it casually went and got it.  HOLY SMOKES! I could not believe how big the box was! 

This is what we got (minus the dog)!  When I ordered these things, I guess because they were sooo- cheap, I didn't think they would be full size games. 

• 
  
  The Space Explorer Floor puzzle is great.  The older 3 kids have already done it twice. It comes with an info sheet about the different planets.  The planets are all labeled on the puzzle, so after they put it together I'd ask them to find Earth, the Moon, the Sun, Mars, etc...  ($2.25)
• 
  
  Dr. Green is a small green house with seeds and dirt pods included.  My kids CAN'T WAIT to do this one!  ($2.25)
• 
  
  Ant Town is an ant farm.  It has 3 small containers that connect.  It also has an ant sucker upper, I am sure there is a proper name for it, just don't know what it is. The kids can't wait for this one either.  If anyone has any extra ants hanging around please send them to us, we will pay the shipping.  ($1.75)
• 
  
  Memo Spell is a memory spelling game - looks pretty cool but we haven't gotten in to it yet. ($1.50)
• 
  
  Math Lotto is a math game that I think all my kiddos can use.  The math problems go up to multiplication, which is great because I have a hard time find stuff for Little Miss Muffet to do. ($4.50)
• 
  
  Round Up is a game where you have to keep the wolf from getting your sheep.  Thisis one of those use your brain kinda games.  It will probably go in the workboxes next week for an end of the day treat! ($1.25)
• 
  
  Ring-O-Links are super cool!  The links come with cards that direct the child to do activites like sorting, counting and adding.  The kids love this one.  As an added bonus, when they are done counting and sorting they can connect the links together and play jump rope! ($1.75)
• 
  
  Alphabet Animals are individual animal puzzles that spell the name of the animal - great for workboxes. ($1.75)
• 
  
  The last one is Animal Kingdom, haven't really looked at this one yet but it looks cool.  I think it is like checkers, with a food chain twist. ($1.38)

We also got 2 Spell Bounds ($4.00 each) - they are long spiral books that have 8 spaces for letters that the kids can use to spell out words.  My plan is to let them each do their spelling words on this one day a week instead of writing them. I am very excited about these.

We got lace & trace pictures ($.88), these huge buttons with laces ($2.00), and this Mosasic Peg a Picture Board and Pegs ($2.00), Humpty Dumpty loves these.  

At first Humpty Dumpty was not happy with me for taking a picture of his unfinished project.  But, once he was finished he was more than happy to share his art work.

For the girls I got these bee's wax candle kits, where you make your own candles.  At first, I did wish the wax squares were a  little bigger but once they started playing with them and the fact that I only paid $1.25 for each kit I changed my mind.

We Made Volcanoes

I really love doing hands on stuff with the kids and I think this was one of my fav's.  Last week we made our own volcanoes, out of modeling clay.

Then, we made "lava" out of baking soda and vinegar.  We used balsamic vinegar because that was all I had, it looked more like real lava.  The kids also added red food coloring just for fun. 

                                  

                                  

Not real sure who enjoyed this this the most me or the kids.