Slices of Life

We're really on a roll with our 100 Days of Art Challenge lately.  We're trying to complete at least two art projects a week. The boys decided to try some tin foil art this week.  We found two different tutorials on-line; one where yarn was glued to cardboard and another where glue guns were used.  We decided go the glue gun route since we knew that would dry much quicker than the yarn/ glue. We used the front and backs from a few cereal boxes as our cardboard and the boys drew pictures and designs on their boards.  Once they were happy with what they had I helped them trace over the lines using our low temp glue gun. Once the entire design was traced with the glue gun we wrapped the cardboard in tin foil and taped them to the back of the cardboard.  We then pressed down lightly but firmly on the front side to make the designs show up. The boys used sharpie markers to color in their designs. They are all so unique and the tin foil ...

We made these adorable paper bowl Jellyfish last week.  The boys all have them hanging in their rooms and they are just adorable. In keeping with our 100 Days of Art Challenge we try to find different mediums and different crafts to try.  My boys saw these on Pinterest and they all wanted to try making them. We pulled out all the supplies and settled down at our picnic table. Alec decided to paint his Jellyfish purple with large purple dots while both Ian and Evan wanted to use tissue paper squares & glue to decorate their jellyfish.  We glued on some large googly eyes and set them in the sun to dry. Once dry I used a pair of scissors to make a hole in the top of the head.  We threaded some string through for a hanger and then each of the boys picked out some ribbon for the tentacles.  We cut long strips of ribbon, curled them with the scissors and then taped them to the underside of our jellyfish. Alec decided the ribbon was n...

We got a lot of schoolwork done this week.  My husband has been gone again for his job and rather than take off on any adventures we actually decided to spend quite a lot of time at home.  It was nice and relaxing and it felt good to feel like we accomplished a lot this week.  We did four full days of school, ran a bunch of errands (even got a jump on my Christmas shopping!), cleaned the house, and prepared a bunch of food. Math: The boys worked in their math workbooks completing two more pages each day.  Ian and Evan should be finishing up their books in the next few weeks!  They all worked on two more pages in Multiplication games too.  The older two boys completed another set of pages in Are You a Math Genius?  One night Ian and I played three rounds of The Clumsy Thief; I won all three rounds! Reading/ Language Arts:  We listened to another disk in our Heroes of Olympus story and several more chapters in The Viper's Nest.  The b...

This week's list assignment:  list the sports you like to watch or play was definitely not made for me.  I am not very coordinated and there aren't a lot of sports that I enjoy watching OR playing.   That said I do enjoy some activities (I'm not sure how many of them could actually be considered sports though!): I enjoy watching the Olympics I enjoy watching any sports that my boys decide to play I enjoy swimming, kayaking, and easy "sports" like badminton, bowing, and croquet.   I enjoy roller skating and biking too.  And that's just about it...  Others in this series: Week #1; Words that Touch My Soul Week #2: Greatest Comforts Week #3: Things You Should Be Proud Of Week #4: Current and Future Goals and Dreams Week #5: What You Are Grateful For Week #6: The Ways In Which You Can Love Others Week #7: The Things That Make You Feel Healthy Week #8: My Favorite Albums Week #9: Places I Want to Go Week #10:...

A few weeks ago we made some traditional Chex mix and I had quite a bit of left over rice and corn Chex. My boys do eat cereal but not often and I was afraid the leftover cereal might get stale.  However I had none of the other ingredients to go with the Chex to make another batch of Chex mix.  I thought I'd look around for another Chex mix recipe to try.   I found a few that looked pretty good and ended up combining a few recipes with some of my own ideas and twists.   I was so surprised when we came up with a mix that we all just LOVE! It smells divine too.  Sugar, cinnamon, chocolate, butterscotch... what's not to love?!! Want to know how to make it? It's easy! Ingredients: 4 cups Corn Chex 5 cups Rice Chex 1/3 cup white chocolate chips 1/3 cup butterscotch chips 1/3 cup chocolate chips 1 cup brown sugar (packed) 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine 1/4 cup light corn syrup 2/3 cup granulated sugar 4 tsp cinnamon 1.  I...

My boys and I just love learning about ocean animals.  We particularly enjoy reading books about dolphins, whales, and sharks. Over the years I think we've read just about all the books available at our local library Here are 10 of our favorite books about dolphins: 1.   Dolphins at daybreak ; we just love the Magic School House books and this one did not disappoint.  Jack and Annie befriend some dolphins when they are stranded out in the middle of the ocean on one of their many adventures. 2.  Dolphin Talk: Whistles, Clicks, and Clapping Jaws -- We love these read and find out science books.  They are great for presenting factual information in a really engaging way. 3. Swimming with Dolphins - We love, not only the story, about a girl who discovers and swims with dolphins at the beach near hear but also the lovely illustrations that accompany it. 4. Winter's Tale and Hope for Winter -- I combined these two books to one entry since they bo...

We've been in the midst of a heat wave here and we're doing everything we can to keep cool!  We're spending lots of time swimming, hanging out anywhere there is air conditioning and drinkings lots of water and iced tea.  This summer is just flying by!  I can't believe we're in the last week of July already.  We're so thankful for our relaxing summers by the lake and this year has been wonderful.  We have a few families of ducks that come to visit us often, we catch lots of craw fish, fish, fresh water muscles and turtles (though we always release them unharmed after a bit of observation), and my boys enjoy a lot of water sports.  This summer Ian has even tried water skiing.  He can't quite get up yet but he gets pretty close! Evan tubing  Ian getting ready to try water skiing  Great blue heron  The mama duck and one of her ducklings Freshwater muscle  “Welcome to Oh My Heartsie Girls “Wonderful” Wednesday’s Linky Party the 30th Wee...