Rainy Day Project

Monday, after the kids got home from school, I had to run out to return a child I'd been babysitting.  I returned home to find that they'd been quite industrious during the time I'd been away.  They were busy baking boats.

Rather interesting boats.  I think they went through a package of paper plates.  I thought about being cross over it, but realized for $2, they were having a lot of fun and DOING something.  That's definitely worth $2! 

They had used masking tape and duct tape to make their creations and they had definitely used their imaginations! 

 I admit that I was pretty impressed with some of their ingenuity.  And their art.  The little flag poles were especially cute, I thought.   But why were they making boats, you ask?

Because it was pouring down rain.  The canals were filled with rushing water and the kids had the brilliant idea to make boats to float down it.  

They had made several variations of boats to see what worked and what did not.  They also were trying out different models to see if they could create a boat that would survive a trip through the pipe.  

Marian's boat sailed along the canal nicely. 

 As did Callie's.  Sadly, none of them made it through the pipe intact.  But they sure had a lot of fun trying!  I love that my kids were so creative and had such a good time.

A Spot of Sunday Silliness

Rylee likes to look at pictures during church services.  I have a collection of Christ themed picture cards the size of  business cards that Rylee loves to look at.  She was having a lovely time going through them and examining each one carefully.  She was particularly entranced with a picture of the crucifixion.  She was murmuring questions about what was happening and who were the other people in the painting.  Then, when the room was actually really quiet, she loudly, full-volume whispered, "Why is he wearing his underwear?!"

Daddy's Gone Dinner!

 Sometimes, when Daddy is out of town, you don't feel like cooking.  Okay, fine, when Daddy is gone, I definitely don't feel like cooking!  Sadly, the kids still need to be fed and I know our budget and health can't handle having McDonald's every time Dan is gone.  We have found a lovely little meal, that may not actually be healthier than Micky D's, but it is certainly cheaper!

Let me introduce you to Squid Dogs!  You can go to the link, but I just wanted to give credit where it is due.  I found this little gem in a Family Fun magazine a while ago.  Back before Parent's magazine bought them out and ruined their website.   So don't bother to go to their link, I'm going to do a much better job telling you how to make it!

First, you are going to cut up a package of hot dogs.  Then you are going to skewer them with dry spaghetti.  I like to put about 4 pieces of spaghetti in each hotdog, but smaller chunks of hotdog will have room for fewer pieces of pasta. And if you have kids helping you with this part, you may end up with some interesting things going on with them.

Here is what it will look like as you make them, before cooking them.

Once you have all your hot dogs speared by spaghetti, dump them in a large pot of boiling water. 

I know, they don't really fit.  This is a 4 quart pot.  Just give it a minute for the pasta to soften. 

See, the spaghetti in the water is becoming flexible, and you can just push the tops gently into the water now.  The pasta will all fit in and cook away.

 Told ya, it's all in there!

 Nearly done.

 When the pasta is soft enough to eat, drain the pot.  You might want to add some butter or oil here, so it doesn't all clump and stick together.

Serve it up and prepare to be the most beloved mom, ever!  Some of my kids like it with spaghetti sauce, but most just want a bunch of Parmesan cheese on it.

Either way, it makes them happy!

Valentines.. whatever

I know single people are suppose to be the ones who say "Bah, Humbug," at Valentine's Day, but honestly, it is not my favorite holiday. I'm not a hater, I just don't have the creativity and enthusiasm that most people seem to have for it.  This year we did do a pretty awesome Valentine for the kids though.   I was googling ideas, and I wanted something that was candy-free, cheap, and easy to make.  I mean, come on, with 5 kids, I have to make around 130 Valentines!  This is what we came up with:

 I know, totally adorable!  I saw it on a blog and loved this idea.  I did not make my own mustaches. I know, they were cuter, but I could not find adhesive felt.  So I ordered the mustaches from amazon, and they were about $6 for a pack of 36.  Sweet deal!  I took pictures of the kids and then emailed the photos to my amazing Sister in Law who put the writing on the photos. (Cuz I'm not smart enough to do that and have no program to do it.) Then I uploaded and ordered the pictures from Walmart.  Easy Peasy!  And so cute.  Well, we did have to cut out the mustaches and we used the glue dots to put them on.

I guess I didn't take pictures of Joshua's finished product.  It was awesome.  I wasn't sure how 6th graders would take it, but he said they were quite popular and kids not in his class were asking for them.  I'm so glad they liked them!

Well, Marian, being Marian, did NOT want to use a picture of herself.  So what else would she do but use a Cheetah!  I know, perfectly logical!  Again, it was quite sought after by all the kids in her class and not in her class.  So I was very pleased with these.  And, NO CANDY in them!

I should mention that my favorite Valentine girl celebrated her birthday with a party.   Her best friend has his birthday a few days after hers, so his mom asked if I wanted to do a joint party.  YES!

We had it at the local Bounce House place and the  kids had a blast. 

 Even Marian, who I'd have thought was a bit old for such a thing.  We had 22 kids in all, and it was a rowdy good time!

It was perfect because the other mom brought finger foods, and the Bounce House place supplied drinks and pizza and ice cream.  They also did all the clean up. Score! 

 I did the cake.  It was cute and yummy.

Yep, the 2 of them agreed on a dragon cake!  Isn't it adorable?  Yeah, yeah, I know, professional cake makers may mock, but I'm happy with it and the kids were delighted.  Plus, did I mention it was yummy?!

Grump

You know when you are in the middle of a deep sleep and having a great dream, and you get woken up?  I feel really grumpy when that happens.  Unfortunately, it is even worse when you have to get up to hold someone's hair and rub their back while they void their stomach.  Having to get up and out of bed to do this repeatedly during the night does not make me feel any better.  Just in case you were wondering.

(And yes, I know I'm a jerk, since the person doing the puking probably feels a lot worse than me.  But they'll get to lie on the couch all day and I will not!)