Saturday, June 29, 2013

Summer Theater Camp Success!!

Receiving the "Best Actress" Award at Camp Curtain Call
My oldest daughter is an artist.  She loves to draw, sketch, and create and Art Camp at the Louisa Arts Center was awesome last summer.  After she joined Chorus and went to 7:30 am practices all school year, she realized she really likes to sing sing, dance around and perform anything!  This summer...Camp Curtain Call!!  Wow what an amazing program!! For two weeks she went to camp from 9-12 to practice practice practice (with one missed day for our DC trip - but we did stop to see the Ruby Slippers at the Smithsonian!) and landed the role of "City Mother" from the Munchkin scene in Wizard of Oz.  She had a few short speaking lines, and once she spotted us in the audience, sang her heart out.  My heart of course melted when she finally saw us and her face beamed.  Ahhh proud mommy moment! In the car on the way home she was just beaming and said "Mom I loved this I can't wait until next summer" Yes yes this was very worth it.  

My sweet girl after the show. She was beaming with pride!

We may be a small country town but we can rock out the Arts!

Still up...concerts in the park, movies on the big screen in the theater (we have to drive at least 45 min to go to a Regal), and a long list of performers coming this fall.

What I love it that the kids are marking the calendar with local things to do and see.  No whining for time on their iPods or laying around watching TV this summer. They actually WANT to get out there.   Ok lesson learned!  Slow down Mommy and your kids will do the same!

Stop and See

This past week we headed in to C'ville (Charlottesville,VA) with aspirations of walking the beautiful grounds at UVA, stopping by the Rotunda for a free (and educational) tour, then doing some quick shopping after checkups at the pediatrician. Ahh yes beautiful plans of a summer weekday until...we got a flat tire!

Luckily we were safety parked in the doctor's office parking lot, and AAA didn't take long at all, but still we didn't  have time for our leisurely stroll. Of course I had to bribe the kids with something to get them to sit and wait in the humidity that came out of nowhere in what has been such a mild Virginia summer.
Chalk wall (chalk provided!) on the Downtown Mall

Nothing a little Sweet Frogs can't conquer! After the spare tire got us rollin' we swung on over to the Historic Downtown Mall for a promised treat.

The real treat was watching the kids stroll along arm in arm, stop to "leave their mark" on the chalk wall and chase their baby sister up and down the brick path. Paying $2.50/hr for parking (yes that was dumb) is nothing compared to these priceless stop and see memories.  

My cup runneth over!  This is one blessed mommy!

(P.S. You'll notice my oldest is wearing her Sweet Frogs t-shirt. She does it everytime we go to C'ville "just in case" I want to take them there!)  :0)

Our goal to simplify and slow down this summer has not let us down! We are rediscovering the great things that surround us that we have realized we take for granted.  Explore your hometown...you live there for a reason right?  Rediscover it! 

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Dairy Day Winner!

After that fantastic Saturday, Ali got the call that she had WON the Dairy Day Gift Basket!!  She was so excited and even happier to see two milk glasses so Connor could join in the fun! Love these kids!


Our Washington DC Adventure!!

Seriously tried to get everyone to look at the same time :) 

Summer Bucket List - Trip #1

On our summer bucket list was a day trip to Washington, DC. We are less than 2 hours away from all the fun but traveling on 95 in rush hour traffic (which is sooooo unavoidable if you want to enjoy the day) has kept us from making the trip.  What we found out is that the HOV 3 lane makes a breeze and we are so rockin' out this trip again soon!!



Here are some tips for a great trip to the National Mall and Smithsonian Museums.

*Note on this trip we drove right into the city and parked in a parking garage. We didn't want to brave the metro with two still in strollers.  Going with another mom was awesome because we always felt like we had back up for each other and the kids paired up perfectly!

1.  Pre-Plannig - the teacher in me felt like I had to have all the printables ready. My supermom friend not only printed them but had them bound! How cool is she!  They were great reference points and you could even earn American Girl or 39 Clues Cards but in all honesty we didn't use them.  If it is your first trip browse the website to see what exhibits are being featured but just walk around and enjoy it.  Visit the Smithsonian Website.

 I did allow the kids to bring their iPod Touch so they could take pictures and recordings with the idea of making an iMovie when we got home.  That kept them engaged....now just to find time to sit at the computer rather than jump in the pool!

Mom Bag Packing - well of course I packed too much..here is what I would pack next time
  • Camera - unless you are a photography enthuasist just use your smart phone. I toted my Canon Rebel and really I used my iPhone camera more. Quick and in my pocket!
  • Snacks - only water is allowed in the museums but we had trail mix and graham crackers in our bags for outside eating and we were fine. Just don't open any food in the museums.  
  • Drinks - there are water stations all over the place. Pack a cup or refillable bottle to share.
  • Hand Sanitizer or Baby Wipes- for more than just the "baby". DC is a major germ fest with lots of hands on activities.  
  • Extra diapers - serioulsy only I would forget to check that!!
Parking - we flubbed this a bit by not really looking at a map to pick the best lot. We were kinda far from the National Mall (we parked on I street) even though we picked National Mall Parking :-/   Nevertheless you pull up, they park for you and at the end of the day get your car....all for only $18*!  This of course requires some prepacking mom style so you are ready to hop out and go when you get there.

Here is the link to Central Parking :  http://washingtondc.centralparking.com/Washington-DC-Downtown-NW-Parking.html?gclid=CMvAoNyH_7cCFcyf4AodnCMAKg

Now that we know our way around a DC map the closest garage to the sights is 2121 K Street NW. That is where I will park next time! 

2.  Bathrooms!  Of course everyone has to pee the second you get out of the car.  I used the Charmin Sit or Squat App to help us find a restroom and it led us right to the ranger station by the Washington Monument.  I also know there are public restrooms at the Lincoln Memorial.

3.  Food - we packed a lunch and had a picnic which was great. Since we each had a stroller we filled our Thirty One Picnic Thermal Totes and stowed them in the bottom all day.  One down side is that you have to go through security at each museum and they check your bags. After pulling out the cooler bag full of water I realized next time I'm brining one or two refillable water bottles to share and disposable juice boxes.  There are food kiosks on the mall and cafes instide the museums but holy moly expensive!  I did splurge on Astronaut Ice Cream for our snack after visiting the Air and Space Museum. :)

4. Souveniers - The museum shop on the bottom floor (Constitution Avenue Entrance) of the Museum of Natural History is awesome.  The prices are reasonable and you can get at least a post card for $1.  My kids had saved their own money and each bought a small stuffed animal for $8 and Ali scored a glow-in-the-dark t-shirt for $9.99!

5. Sights/Museums of Our Day 
  • Walk past the front of the White House - very cool
  • Washington Monument - stand and take a picture so that it looks like you are holding up the monument. 
  • Stop for Picnic Lunch - restroom and picnic tables at the ranger station.
  • Look Left...Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vitenam Memorial...awesome but we saw that on the 3rd grade field trip.
  • Turn Right...Walk Walk Walk...Ahh the Smithsonian Castle stop #1
  • Smithsonian Castle - very cool on the outstide, stop to take a picture for sure.  Inside is a great information station with models of the entire city but it wasn't worth going through security with 8 kids....keep moving
  • Air and Space Museum -stop #2  AWESOME  If you want hands on this is the place!
  • Snack break and Squirrels!  The luch lawns are gorgeous but if you want to avoid some very friendly (they will crawl into your lap) critters then stay in the middle of the lawn not over by the shady trees!
  • Museum of American History - Mom's loved it, kids were totally bored,  not alot of hands on stuff. There are some cool touch screen documents that you can pull up and the American Flag exhibit is always awesome (Thank you Ralph Lauren)
  • Museum of Natural History - a kid pleaser! We only did the main floor because we were all getting pooped but the dinosaurs and sea life are always sure to please. Plus they have a great gift shop!
Overall this was an awesome day with GREAT friends!  We can't wait to do it again and check out what we didn't see!

Costs of the Trip:
Gas to DC (depends on your vehicle)
Parking : $18
Astronaunt Ice Cream $7
Starbucks on the walk back to the car (the mommies needed this!)  $10.73
McDonalds (we almost made it home)$14

Not bad for an awesome day!!





Monday, June 24, 2013

Sewing Success!

Mommy Bucket List Project #1 - Square Circle Skirt

I have always wanted to make a piece of clothing for my girls.  Well finally I gave it a try and even saved a scrap to make a headband! I saw this super cute and easy tutorial on Pinterest.  Of course I didn't read all of the super easy directions before going out to buy the fabric.  :0)  I bought cotton instead of knit which just required me to hem and all that jazz.  The skirt is FAR FROM PERFECT (the points are totally uneven) but my daughter loved how twirly it is and for a first try it isn't too bad.  Plus I again got to BUY LOCAL!  We have a wonderful little shop in town called "The Fabric Hut and Gift Gallery" where I purchased everything I needed at affordble small town prices!

  

Here is the link I followed and will try again when I can get my hands on some knit fabric and cute elastic!

The only diffrence in mine is that I took two square pieces fo fabric and sewed them together. Then when I cut the circle for the waist I turned it inside out to create the hem, then attached the elastic.  Hence the uneven points!  Still fun and super easy!!  I can't wait to try it again the "right way".



Buy Local!  
Fabric Hut and Gift Gallery
  • 203 W Main St
  • Louisa, VA 23093
(540) 967-1630




Saturday, June 22, 2013

Our Simplified Summer Saturday 



This morning we took the liberty of finally sleeping in on a Saturday. No ball game to rush out to, no major project around the house, just simple family time. 

 So we sauntered over to the local Farmer's market and picked up fresh picked blackberries, some tomatoes and cukes from the sweet man who always has fruit snacks for the kids whether you buy from him or not (you guessed it - we always do!), Pink House Farm sausage raised right down the road by a great family, the best cinnamon rolls ever, from a top notch local fourth grade teacher ...does it get any better than this?  

I didn't think so until we stopped by our local Southern States Co-op to get some sweet feed for our Alpacas when we found out it was Dairy Day!  The kids got to go in and cuddle with the calves (yup right in the store-dang left the phone in the car), snack a mini cowtail candy, and enter to win the "Got Milk" gift basket.  Yes, it is days like these that I'm reminded how grateful I am for small town USA living?

Who's with me?  

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Rainy Day Fun!

Redbox....check

Popcorn....check

Kids screaming around the house using each other for target practice.....think think think.....HEY WHO WANTS TO MAKE S'MORES? Hmm that got their attention.  Connor actually replied "In the rain?  I do! I do!" Really son really...no not in the rain.  Ok here we go!




There are a bunch of versions of this floating around on Pinterest that you might want to try. I'm not sure whose recipe this actually is but kudos to the creator...here's our humble take on it.  :0)

Shopping List

  • 1 box of graham crackers (go cheap you are adding butter it won't make a difference)
  • 1 bag of miniature marshmallows
  • 16 oz package of chocolate chips of choice (we used Nestle Chunks)
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter (yes butter- yummmm)
From the Pantry
  • Cookie Sheet
  • Foil
  • Cooking Spray
Steps to Success
A great summer reading activity is reading recipes! Time to let the kids take over - this is kid language below.  P.S. There are no pictures...you have to read and imagine!  Read the entire recipe before you begin.  What kitchen tools do you need to use? How can you group your ingredients? 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Make sure it is long enough to come up over the edge on each side of the pan.  After the s'mores cook you are going to lift the bars out of the cookie sheet - now is a good time to volunteer to clean up since - there is no clean up :0)

3.  Spray the foil with cooking spray

4. Arrange the graham crackers along the bottom of the cookie sheet. Break them only if you need to fill a space. The entire bottom of the cookie sheet should be covered with graham crackers. 

5.  Measure out the butter 3/4 c - great time for a math lesson.  
You need 3/4 cup of butter. Look at a stick of butter. It says 4 tbs is 1/4 cup. How many table spoons do you need? 3 sets of 4 or 3 X 4 right...12 tbs. Count that out now look at it again.  1/4c or 4 tbs is 1/2 stick. You needed 3 half sticks or 1 and a half sticks of butter.  Hmm I could have said that in the recipe but math is so much more fun!

Now you need the help of an adult to use a butter knife and use of the stove.

6.  Cut the butter into small chunks and place in a small sauce pan.

7.  Add to the sauce pan 3/4 cup packed brown sugar.  Packed means to pack it down into the measuring cup with our hand. When you dump it, it will look like a part of a sand castle!

8.  Turn on the stove and melt the butter and brown sugar together.  

9.  Ok, really now an adult has to do this...CAREFULLY pour the HOT mixture evenly over the graham crackers.  

10.  Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes or until bubbly.  Keep an eye on it. I ran up to switch the laundry and my ours is a little crispy.  Once you see bubbles pull it out of the oven.

11.  Sprinkle with the marshmallows and chocolate chunks.

12.  Put back into the oven for 2-3 minutes or until marshmallows are a little brown.  

13.  Take out and let cool (this is the hardest part...waiting!)  The marshmallows will get less puffy when it cools making it easier to cut.

14.  When cool...grab the ends of the foil and lift out of the pan.  Place on a cutting board and cut into squares.  



Sit back and enjoy!  


Tell us how yours come out.  What kind of chocolate did you use?  Comment below and let us know!






Wednesday, June 12, 2013

What's Cookin' Wednesday!

Today we used our Disney Family Fun Magazine Cookbook (thank you dollar bin at Target) to make Waffle Art for breakfast! This was super fun and very easy. 

To make the dog pictured you need:
3 waffles
1 whole waffle for the head
1 waffle cut in half (body) - then half of the half for each ear
1 waffle cut in 4 with the corner that meets the center trimmed off to create legs. Use one of the trimmed pieces as the tail. 

We used strawberries and chocolate chips as eyes and a tongue. 


Monday, June 10, 2013

Math Monday: Calulating Chores

Ok so I'm not "mean mommy"  and I love my iPhone more than anyone but to avoid being stuck to a screen all summer we are UNPLUGGING and earning screen time - yep me too!  Since I'm always up with the chickens (literally I'm the one who lets them out of their coop each morning) I know I can bank on the time earned for the morning feeding cycle. :0) To simplify the chores and keep it all fair we came up with this plan.  

For our first Math Monday the kids calculated what chores they wanted to complete in order to earn screen time or chore money!

Dollar Store Shopping List:  
  • Chore List  (see Printables Tab above to download)
  • Plastic Sheet Protectors
  • Dry Erase Marker
  • Plastic Cups
  • Cup Labels (see printable)
  • Colorful Drinking Straws
  • Self Stick Magnets (optional)
  1. The kids came up with a list of chores that need to be/can be done around the house (ahhh music to my ears)!  
  2. We compiled the list and assigned "mintues" to each chore. Feel free to download and edit our list from the Printables Tab.
  3. Print and Laminate chore chart (print out and pop it in a plastic sheet protector) so we can use a dry erase marker each day to show what we have completed. 
  4. Take one plastic cup and fill it with straws.  Each straw = 5 min earned.  Since we will be erasing the chore board each day but not necessarily using the time we came up with this plan to keep track of our time earned. 
  5. Label 3 cups per kid:  Time Earned,  Time Redeemed, and Cash Out
  6. Cash Out - if you accrue 60 minutes you may cash it in for $2 instead of screen time
  7. Stick a magnet to the back of each cup and place on fridge or door to garage (yup magnetic) to organize.

Pictures of our set coming soon - although even before I finish this post, Connor has emptied the recycling bin! Yahoooo! 

No time for this now?  Use the Pin It button and pin to your Pinterest Board! 



Summer Picnics

Wow so my friend Kate found a recipe to roast corn in the oven and I will never do corn another way again!! So yummy...soooo simple! 

Heat oven to 350
Place corn (with husks on) right in the oven rack
Cook for 30 min 
Let cool a bit, pull off the husks and enjoy!   Below is a pick right out of the oven :)


Friday, June 7, 2013

Summer Behavior Charts

With the pouring down rain I might need to pull out the ole' behavior chart!  This worked wonders last summer to help keep the kids on track (it mirrors what their teachers use at school).  I found them encouraging each other to "get to blue" or suggesting the other move up.  I had one rule - you cannot ask to move up just because you did something nice. You have to be caught being good! We used clothes pins personalized by each kiddo to move up or down the chart.

Don't forget you can download a copy to personalize yourself in the Printables above :)