Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Saturday, October 25, 2008

So so funny!

Watch this !

Halloween Art Projects

Ghosts in the Graveyard

Derek made sure there was a Dad, a Mom, and a baby ghost.

Graveyard Instructions

Haunted House Instructions Ghost Painting
Derek and Allison had fun with this.

Ghost Painting Instructions

And my friend Laura told me about these...She gets all of the credit. Recycled crayon cookies. We made hearts.

Color with swirls of color!

Recycled Crayon Cookies Instructions

Thanks Laura!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

I'm not Catholic, but....

They have got it right, and they are part of the Christian Coalition to protect the family....A good friend of mine sent this to me...you really need to watch it. It is not very long.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Circus

A few weeks ago, my friends and I had to drag our husbands to the Circus with the kids. None of them were very happy about having to go. But being the good sports that they are, and having each other to complain to the whole time, I think the enjoyed it, in spite of themselves... And then while watching Conference, Jeff was very touched when Our Prophet said this:

"I love the following example, taken from an article entitled “A Day at the Beach” by Arthur Gordon. Said he:
“When I was around thirteen and my brother ten, Father had promised to take us to the circus. But at lunchtime there was a phone call; some urgent business required his attention downtown. We braced ourselves for disappointment. Then we heard him say, ‘No, I won’t be down. It’ll have to wait.’
“When he came back to the table, Mother smiled [and said,] ‘The circus keeps coming back, you know.’
“ ‘I know,’ said Father. ‘But childhood doesn’t.’ ” 5
My brothers and sisters, time with your children is fleeting. Do not put off being with them now. Someone put it another way: Live only for tomorrow, and you will have a lot of empty yesterdays today."


While I was looking for the exact quote on LDS.org, I discovered that Thomas S. Monson had used this story in at least 3 other talks. He must think it is pretty important.
Jeff was glad he went.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Sarah Palin and Me

I have never been a big fan of guns. I still am not sure how I feel. In fact when I first married Jeff, I made him sell his guns before I married him, Even though I grew up with guns in the house.Over the last few years, Jeff has worn me down with his opinions about the importance of having your own guns, for all kinds of reasons. It started out with paint ball guns, and has progressed from there.I appreciate how careful he is and all of the safety precautions that he has taken to keep them locked up, and to teach Clint all about gun safety, and how to shoot properly. All the things that his father taught him.
Clint has become I really good shot. And as the only girl in the family, I feel like I have to make some decisions about whether I want to be excluded from all of the guy stuff that goes on in our house or not. I draw the line at shooting birds, or other living things. And I do not allow Jeff or Clint to shoot at any living thing. But as food prices skyrocket, and the economy plummets, am I doing my family a real diservice by not teaching my sons some wilderness and survival skills? Isn't it better to be prepared and learn some of these lessons in case we ever need to know how to hunt for ourselves? Jeff knows how, and I am grateful that he could provide for us if he needed to.
I think it would be wrong not to teach Clint and Derek the same skills, and I need to learn them myself too.
I also have been thinking about my Dad and Grandfather, and how they would go hunting every year. My Dad rarley brought anything home. I think he preferred not to shoot anything. Animals in the wild are so beautiful. But it was more of a time for them to be together. My Grandfather was really quiet. He rarely said anything, and my Dad was kind of the same way. (Kind of like Jeff). But I think that when they were hunting together, it was an amazing time for them, and they didn't have to talk to stay close. It's just something guys do, that I appreciate. I may not understand it, but I will be supportive. And target practice is really fun. Are you impressed, Dave?

Cornbellys 2008

We tried a new place this Fall. Mostly because someone gave us free tickets! (Thanks, Josh!)We had a really great time.
This is "The Creature". You walk through it, and it is like the inside of a living thing. It is really dark, and you walk into it's mouth, and around it's heart, and stomach, and then out the intestines. Derek decided not to go in at the last minuet, and Clint was absolutely terrified the entire time we were in there. I think he was expecting someone to jump out at him or something. I thought it was fun. If you look closely, you can see Derek jumping off the top of the train...I've had to adjust a lot of my fears with the boys having Jeff for a Dad.



Cool Pedal Cars. Cow Boy Stuff...



The corn maze is shaped like David Archeluta...and they were blasting all of his songs through the corn maze. REALLY Corny! Jeff and Clint kept throwing ears of corn at me and other people. It is a good thing they didn't get caught.

The corn room was one of our favorite parts. Jeff is a big kid.

Pumpkin Cannons. That's right...you shoot little pumpkins out.

Cow train. Almost as good as Uncle Nelson's.




Hay Playground. While Clint and Derek played on this, Jeff and I played Tether Ball. I was laughing so hard my stomach was hurting so bad. Jeff is so much taller than me, of course I didn't have a chance. I usually just served it once and then watched it swing over my head while I tried to jump to hit it. I really want to get one for our backyard.
Panning for gemstones and arrowheads...

This was really cool. Derek found a lot of arrowheads in his, while Clint found a lot of Turquoise and Quartz.


I guess Fall isn't all that bad.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Sorry Everybody...

So it was really stressing me out deciding which pictures to put on which blog, so I combined them...I am under construction again, because of course I lost all of my widgets when I switched templates. So I am back to the same blog, but I have added a list of posts, so I can find my projects again when I want to. Sorry about the mess. Right now I have to find everyones blogs again.

Acid Action

Definitely not one of our safer experiments, but still fun, on one of the last sunny days this year. We decided to do the baking soda vinegar thing without the volcano. I love that Derek loves Batman right now...
Baking soda and vinegar makes great chemical reactions. Not a good idea to go barefoot around the reactions...
But we didn't end up with any injuries...this time!
Derek and Allison learned a lot today about chemical fizz!

Another Mess

This is how you make a Rainbow in a bottle... Polymer crystals, color tablets (or food coloring), Test Tubes and Rack, and a place to make a mess. You can get everything Here. (I don't get a comission or anything...I just like this web site.) Someday, when one of my boys get the Nobel Prize for Science...He wil say "it all started with my mom's messy kitchen...."

I can dream, can't I?

Rain Art

The rain is supposed to make these colors run together... and look really cool...
You need to use water based markers, like Crayola, on plates or heavy cardboard.
We did, but we left them out too long, and the colors all washed away. Good advertising for Crayola...completely washable! Even off paper plates.

Egyptian Paper Beads

Cut long triangles out from magazine pages. The triangles should be long and thin, and the entire length of the magazine. Put glue stick one side, and then roll them up with a Bamboo Skewer, or a tooth pick. For thicker beads, you could wrap them around a pencil. Slide out the Bamboo, or pencil and the paper will hold it's shape. We used an embrodery needle and floss to poke a hole through the top of each bead to wear them long, but you could make thinner triangles, and thread the floss through the middle of each bead. Especially if you use a pencil, that would give the beads a thick center to thread yarn or string through easily.

To see our other Egyptian Projects, click Here.
Colored light: Flashlights covered with cellophane...It's amazing what can entertain a 3 year old!

Something really cool happens if you mix all three primary colors of light....
...White Light!
And you can bend light by putting a mirror in a jar of water...

And shinning a flashlight through and shinning it on the mirror...

You will see a rainbow on the wall.

Add some toothpicks... And then add marshmallows, or gumdrops...
Hours of fun!


To make Taffy:

2 Cups light corn syrup--2 Cups sugar--2/3 Cup Water--1/4 t. salt--Flavored Extracts--Food Coloring (Optional)
We used Vanilla Extract, and no food coloring.

1. Butter a Cookie Sheet

2. Combine ingredients in saucepan and boil on medium heat to 250 degrees F on a candy Thermometer, or until a drop of the candy gets hard instantly in a cup of room temperature water.

3. Pour mixture into a buttered pan until it is cool enough to handle.

4. Butter your hands, and start pulling the Taffy. Pull until it is a shiny color. The more you pull it, the better it will taste.

5. Roll it out and cut into bite size pieces.

6. Wrap with wax paper.


We had a lot of fun making it, but it was really hard. Too hard. I was worried that it was going to ruin Clint's dental work, so we threw it out. But it was fun to make. I am now on the lookout for a better recipe where the Taffy is not so hard. It was tasty, though. I guess you could just suck on it....

It's time for Apple Art! Kooy and Derek are doing a great job!


They used fall colors to make their prints really pretty.
Make sure to cut the apple both ways...across the middle, to show the star in the center.