As if it ain't cold enough!

Earlier this week we did a lesson on ice!

Messy

I put bowls of water outside the night before and brought them inside in the morning.  The were partially frozen.  When we turned them upside down and popped the ice bowls out, they all sprang a leak and a tiny fountain of water flowed from each of them - actually, one had two holes.  The kids got a huge kick out of watching through the ice as the water level inside decreased while the water leaked out.  We talked about the different states of matter.

Messier

Next, the kids used water and food coloring to make different colored ice blocks.  We put the color combinations in ice cube trays and froze them. 

Messiest of all!

Finally, the kids painted a picture on freezer paper and then used "ice cube paint brushes" to draw designs in the painting.  I froze popsicle sticks in blocks of ice the night before and popped them out in the morning for the kids to use.  They loved this.  After they were done, we put them out in the freezing cold to dry.  The finished products are cool - they still look wet but are completely dry!

Christmas Distress

Here are some Christmas tags that I tried to do Tim Holtz style.  I first cut the tags out of manilla file folders.   I used glimmer mist, a mask, TH Tea Dye distress ink (on the edges of the vintage music and the words December). Stamped green swirlies and black Noels. I distressed the edges with my scissors since I don't have the neat TH distressing tool... yet.  Then I inked the edges of the tags with TH Vintage Photo distress ink. I folded the wreaths using this tutorial, attached them and added tiny green bows, along with bows at the top of the tags.  I really like how they turned out!

Scrappy Thanksgiving!

Here's a little something for you!

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Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Lil' Miss has private violin lessons, group violin lessons, private Spanish lessons, dance class and Girl Scouts. The Little Guy has private piano lessons and soccer practice. Lil' Cherub has a toddler class at the library and a gym class at the Y. We also have a preschool group that meets twice a month, a bi-weekly playgroup, a weekly co-op, and a playgroup that meets every other week. And of course, there is church, including weekly Bible Study.

We have so much packed into our schedule that it is a miracle we actually get schooling in! God somehow works that out each week. Not only have we found time to get all of the 3 Rs done (and other fun subjects) but we also manage to include daily practice for their musical instruments and Spanish.

With a life this busy, the year certainly flew by! I do hope that before the year is out, hubby and I will find time to spend together. We have been on two, maybe three dates this year. Our 8 year anniversary, a wedding, and out to dinner once. And I'm almost ashamed to say, we have not had a night alone since before our first child was born! Now that the baby is weaned and independent and bossing everyone around, maybe we can leave her with the grandparents and go away for a weekend sometime soon. Or better yet, stay in for a weekend!

Hope everyone is finding time to cherish the ones they love this holiday season!

A Little Imagination

My first time posting a Phindy image on her PCP site. Yay! This is the Bleeding Heart Fairy. I used Copic markers to color her in and DCWV's Pocketful of Posies paper. Flowers, ribbon and bling to finish it off of course. Oh, and I used the Cricut to cut a scallop circle to mat the image on, but for the life of me I cannot remember which cart I used!

Holiday Craftiness

It's time for my annual fantasy post about what I'm making for the holidays! Every year I get so excited about making homemade gifts for Christmas, especially when Sew Mama Sew begins the Handmade Holidays series. I make a huge list and then start surfing the net for ideas, tutorials, patterns. It is at this point that I usually run into a problem. I see so many fabulous handmade things on the internet, I can never decide what to make! My list gets so impossibly huge that I don't even finish a fraction of the projects.

This year will be even harder. In January I joined a wonderful scrapbooking site called Scraps of Color. I have always loved scrapping and making cards, but since meeting these crafty folks, it's all I want to do! I've been a card making fool this year! When October rolled around, the time I usually begin thinking about sewing gifts, I felt strangely conflicted. My neglected sewing machine was calling me, but my stamps, punches, markers, papers, ribbons and all things scrappy had a hold on me already! What's a creative girl to do?! What I always do of course, pack it all in!

So for 2010 I am making Christmas cards for friends and family as usual. I am involved in a couple of holiday card and tag swaps with the SOC group. I am making a few paper gifts - bookmarks, note card sets, gift card sets. I am also making several handsewn gifts. For the kids there are snuggies, tic tac toe sets, doll clothes, doll changing sets (diapers, changing pads, wipes), fabric food, superhero capes, tents and mail carrier sets. For the adults there are aprons, coasters and place mats so far.

How am I getting this all done you ask? It is time to reveal my secret identity....

I AM Supermom!!!

No seriously, I've been getting together with a few friends once a week after the kids are in bed. We all bring our sewing machines and have been encouraging each other to get it done. During the rest of the week, I do the papercrafting late at night, after finishing the housework and work for my job. I'm not sure that the entire list will be accomplished, but I believe that exactly what needs to get done will get done.

How about you? Are you making anything for the holidays?

Good Times

I practiced using my copic markers with these three spunky ladies. The sentiment stamp is from Raindrop Echo Designs. The embellishments were cut with Martha Stewart Punch and EK Success Punches. I used stickles to add some interest to their outfits as well as on the embellishments. The paper border is also a Martha Stewart border Punch. I also used, ribbon, flowers and textured cardstock.

New School Year

I've been trying something new this school year. I read a homeschooling article that suggested it is beneficial for multiple children in a family to learn all together at the same time. Last year I worked with each child separately, however I thought I'd give it a try this year. So the last few weeks I've been sitting everyone at the table, starting off with prayer and a scripture. Then I have each kid stay at the table while we do the work. Obviously they are 2 and a half years apart so they aren't working on the same level. I'll have Lil' Miss read from her reading book while the Little Guy listens. Then the he'll work on his beginning phonics while she listens. They work on math together and I just direct questions to each, appropriate to their level. And so on with the other subjects. It's been working somewhat. The baby has even been paying attention. When they do artwork, I give her paints and paper too so she can participate right along with her older siblings. I figure, back in the day when they had the one room school house there were way more than three kids, so I should be able to handle this!

My stress relief

A few cards I made recently...

A simple card with just patterned paper, stamps and ribbon.

It's hard to see but there is a tree stamped in gold in the center of the scalloped oval (cut from the forever young cartridge). I used the cricut to cut out the leaf (accent essentials) and the cuttlebug to emboss the sentiment.

Five stamps were used to make this 3 x 3 card: a 3 layer set of flowers, a leaf stamp and a hello stamp. It's matted on metallic blue cardstock with a pink cardstock base. Lime green ribbon and a bit of bling finished it off.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today has been a wonderfully blessed day. I woke up to healthy children, a loving husband and Christ in the center of our family.

I am spending the afternoon organizing my craft room. When it is all done I'll try to post some before and after pics... or maybe just the after pictures!

In the meantime, here are some Mother's Day cards I made.

My mother took a picture of the one I made for her.

I took these next two pictures with my cell phone so they are a bit blurry.

Here is the one I made for my grandma. And here is the one my mother made for me. How are you spending your day today?

I Still Love Being a Mom

I do, I really do. I've just been a bit overwhelmed lately. The baby is now 14 months old and has been walking since 10 months old. Now she is practically running. It has been quite a challenge keeping up with her and her antics while also managing the other two. My little guy is full of little boy energy and the ideas that come into his head always catch me by surprise. The oldest just turned six and seems to have that confused with 16. The moodiness is just off the charts!

These signs of growth and life in our home have also been accompanied by lots of celebrations. We had a Christmas Eve dinner with about 17 folks over. The baby's first birthday was attended by a total of 32 family and friends in January. Lil' Miss' birthday a couple of weeks ago was smaller, with 8 little girls, 2 little boys and 9 adults. And now we are gearing up for Easter Dinner. Phew!

I am trying to figure out how to keep everything together. Dinner, laundry, homeschooling, cleaning, outside activities (a must for the little guy), my own hobbies of scrapbooking and sewing, church, Bible reading, prayer time. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!

I am thankful however to have such busy days and a full life. I am always surrounded by family and friends and I know that is not the case for everyone. I am truly grateful for all that I have been blessed with. I just need a little help learning how to be a good and faithful steward of all these blessings!

Oh, and of course, I'd really like to keep up with my blog as well! Any advice?