craft thursday #2: bird nest collages

edited to change my links. now you can link up to the exact pages where this craft was posted!

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this is another idea i found at whatever, but it was originally posted here. the crafty crow is a great resource for you guessed it, crafts!

to make this craft you will need the following:



first send the kids out for some sticks, moss, leaves, grass... bird nest fixings!



next paint the bottom half of the plate brown. i found crayola brand washable tempera paint had excellent coverage. we used colored paper plates, but you could use white ones and paint the top one color and the bottom brown. cut out a bird from scrapbook paper. you could cut one out freehand OR print a template from here!





then glue the bird (or birds) to the plate, so it looks like it's sitting in its nest. add some additional glue over the brown paint. note: we used A LOT of elmer's glue on this project.



next add some shredded brown paper (purchased in the gift wrap section) as the base layer of  your bird nest.



then add some sticks, leaves, grasses, and any other bird favorites you can think of.



finally add a button eye to your birdie and cover the nest in glue. let it sit overnight and maybe even part of the next day to dry.



crafting in action:






our finished crafts:







 ben loved this craft so much he had to make two!
 

On display:

happy last day of june!!

planting strawberries

the boys wanted to plant flowers, so i suggested strawberries. they LOVED that idea.

we went to osh where each boy picked out a strawberry plant. there were only three plants left. perfect!

the boys were a little possessive of the plants they were carrying, so i explained that these were our strawberries and we were going to plant them in our garden. we had this little pep-talk at least half a dozen times before the plants made it into the ground.


strawberries before being planted


choosing a plant


cutting off the dead leaves and stems



putting plant into the ground


making sure the leaves don't get buried


filling in the hole with dirt



the strawberries are planted!

now they just need to grow so we can start enjoying their tasty goodness. do you have any tips for growing strawberries?


do you see that little blur near the top left? that's ceelo. he lives between the fence and garden bed. he's a speedy little guy. i've been trying to figure out what kind of lizard he is, but he's so fast that i can't quite see his details up close. he looks like a fence lizard or sagebrush maybe? any lizard experts out there? he pops his head up every day when i'm watering. if i water too close to the fence or if we are too noisy, he will zoom up the fence and through the boards. but he always comes back.

treat tuesday #2

when i envisioned doing treat tuesdays, i pictured spending time with my kids in the kitchen. teaching them how to crack eggs, measure sugar and flour, use a mixer. talking and having fun. getting some face time in.

sometimes things don't go the way we plan.

first of all, i was going to make something entirely different, but i was given about four pounds of so ripe they need to be used yesterday strawberries. i am not complaining--these berries were delicious and we used them all. (thank you mom!) and i had actually been eyeing a strawberry cupcake recipe, so i wasn't even panicked about what to do with them when i got them... i knew immediately that i was going to make strawberries and cream cupcakes. 

sounds yummy and summery, doesn't it?


even blurry, they look scrumptious!

when i am making something for the first time, i like sticking to the recipe. then when i make it a second or third time i can make changes to satisfy the taste buds of my own personal food critics. however, being dairy, soy, and peanut free, i sometimes have to experiment before i'm ready. so while i used sara and kate's recipe, i made some substitutions. the cupcakes were still pretty yummy, although very dense and more like a muffin. we actually ate them for breakfast the next day. without frosting, of course. :)

making these cupcakes proved to be a true labor of love. it took me alllll day long. and nowhere in my day was there happy, sweet, calm children in the kitchen baking with mommy. but they did find some things to do that made them happy and that should count for something.


ben found a "sleeping" earthworm and made it his mission to take care of it. he made it a dirt blanket and gave it a baby lemon that had fallen from the tree for a snack. awww!


 natalie enjoyed eating her green beans and rice and spoon!

taylor and zach played a game of clue jr. and no one cried!

fast forward a few hours and the cupcakes were made and it was time to eat them.


ben had the hardest time waiting... he's happy to finally get a cupcake in his hands and i make him wait to eat it so i can snap a picture. ha!


so excited he forgot to take the liner off.


learned from his brother's mistake.

treat tuesday #2: strawberries and cream cupcakes...

two thumbs up!

my brother's birthday

today is my little brother's birthday.

calling him my "little brother" makes me chuckle. when i was a kid, i called him my little brother and all of my grown ups would always say "some day he's going to be bigger than you." i would snicker, thinking that day was sooo far off. and what do you know? it happened--he was no longer my "little brother." today my brother is 25 (because that would make me almost 27).

he is more than a size or age though. he's funny, smart, kind, and thoughtful. he's a gentleman. and he's an awesome uncle to my little rugrats.


last week we attended my grandmother's memorial together. without my ever asking, he held doors open, buckled kids in car seats, took kids out of car seats, served thirsty children beverages with straws prepared, carried a baby, ushered bigger kids who weren't paying attention, monitored someone on time-out, started the car so it could begin cooling down before we got in, listened to goofy stories that didn't make sense, showed my kids his roommates python, because he knew they'd love to see it... the list goes on. 

yesterday we celebrated his special day with swimming, pizza, and lemon pie. It was a fun day!

 

happy birthday little brother! hope 25 is a great year for you with lots of boogying!!

end of the year teacher gift

there are many times during the week that i think "oh, that would be a great blog post." later when i go to post something i can't remember what i wanted to share.

then i look through the pictures on my camera and see photos like this:

and i think "how smart of me to take a picture of what i wanted to blog about!" now if only i can remember to do that more often. ha!

i found the idea for these sweet boxes here. i found it last year, but the school year had just ended (sorry mrs. o! maybe you'll get one in two years?!), so i tucked this little treasure away until this year and surprise! i actually remembered to use it!

you can also find some other cute teacher appreciation ideas on this site. teachers will dig the fun phrases, homemade touch, and most of all, the thoughtfulness :)

the boys each picked out the color combinations, letter styles, and decorative pieces for their boxes. i cut the paper and used glue dots to adhere the paper and ribbon to the box. taylor put the letter stickers and decorations on the top. zach had the stomach flu, so he gave me permission to do the letter stickers on his, but he added the flowers. together we picked out the contents: colorful paperclips and binder clips,  pencils (ticoderoga, of course!), smelly stickers, and chocolate.



 zachary had two teachers, mrs. campbell and mrs. perez, so we made a box for each of them. taylor's teacher was mrs. schulz.

this box can be adapted for all kinds of special people, not just teachers. are you going to tuck this little treasure of an idea away and make one for someone some day?  

craft thursday #1: father knows best framed picture

craft thursday #1 was a bit of a phony. since father's day was just a few days away, we used craft thursday as our time for making joe's father's day gift.

fyi: the project looked a lot different in my head.

the plan was to make a frame for some classic "father knows best" phrases. i got the idea and graphic here. i am having trouble locating the link for where i got this idea, but i will link to it when i find it.

the first things we needed were a large piece of cardboard (at least 10x12), a large piece of foil (also 10x12 minimum), pencil and scissors:


the cardboard was for mounting the graphic, the foil was for making the cardboard shiny, the pencil and scissors were for tracing and cutting out the cardboard/foil.

after the cardboard and foil were prepped, we placed the graphic on top:


here you can see what happens when your 4 year old pulls the graphic out of the printer before it's done printing and if you overreact and shout his name, he'll say "it's okay, mom!" and immediately you will know he's right:


the final step involved the children etching their names in the foil frame, like this:


sadly, this caused the foil to rip. boo!

thankfully there was a plan b, which was a bit less crafty and "homemade," pricier, and involved a trip to target: 

dad liked it anyway!

treat tuesday #1

i got the idea of treat tuesdays from meg at my favorite blog whatever. you may recall she is the creator of the summer list, too. i'm pretty sure i described her as super. well, that's my story and i'm stickin' to it!

what is treat tuesday? each tuesday during summer break we will be making a different treat. i will take pictures and blog about our treats, as well as post recipes. who knows, maybe you will want to indulge in treat tuesdays with your family. just think of all the wonderful memories and traditions you will be making!! also, if you have an amazing recipe you think would make a good treat, feel free to share. it may just appear on my blog!

let's get on with treat tuesday #1!


last tuesday i made coconut banana bread with lime glaze. i told you i would. and let me say this, it did not disappoint!! i found the recipe first at whatever, but it originally came from sara and kate at our best bites.

do you like how i refer to these bloggers by first name? i do not know them in real life and they do not know me in blogland. the internet is crazy like that.

i have tried many a good recipe from our best bites. you will notice that my food photos don't quite look as... pretty as their photos. but it's really taste that matters, right? right.

so coconut banana bread with lime glaze. i was drawn to this recipe because of the coconut. i am crazy for coconut. if you aren't, this may not be the bread for you. i didn't find the taste overwhelmingly "coconutty," but the there was lots of coconut texture in every bite. what made this bread amazing, in my opinion, was the lime glaze. i found myself eating the bottom of the bread first, then the middle, and saving the top for last. do you save the best bites for last, too? joe doesn't. he eats them first.


like i said, we made this bread on tuesday. it was also eaten on tuesday. ahh! so on thursday i made more coconut banana bread with lime glaze.


two loaves more.

i even poured more coconut on the top this time. meg said she made her bread without coconut and it was still super yummy. you could go that route as well.



immediately after taking these picture i cut into the warm bread and ate a slice. immediately after that i whipped up another batch of lime glaze and drizzled it over my loaves. the lime glaze is soooo good! if you like lime.  the glaze isn't as white as the first batch. i poured it over the top while the bread was still pretty warm. you could wait a little bit if you like a crunchier glaze.


this picture makes me want to lick my computer screen. that top is so delicious! i'd never really do that, just so you know ;)

so what do you think, are you up for treat tuesdays? do you want to make this? go ahead and say yes and yes!

what's up next: strawberries and cream cupcakes, also from our best bites.

monday, funday

we got to check something off the summer to do list.






the actual checking an item off isn't all that special. it involves "i want to check it off. you did it last time. it's myyyy turn. you're mean!" and other huffy words.

nonetheless, the boys were super excited for their first swim of the season. me too. it felt like warm weather might just skip a season.


looking forward to the first day of summer tomorrow. and more swimming :)