Parenting Under the Stars

This summer has been hectic but its been fun and full of ups and downs. I won’t whine too much or bore you with all the dirty details of the negative stuff. Suffice to say I pulled my back and couldn’t move for a bit after camping, hiking and lugging around kids.

Camping was a blast. Our Coleman stove was useless because we purchased the wrong sized tank. We managed to cook everything over the fire including chili, hot dogs, burgers, soup, oatmeal, hot chocolate and coffee.

The twins are back to school and the silence is somewhat shocking so I play music more than usual. I like it though. It’s kind of nice to have some time to myself again. My eldest daughter moved out and my stepson moved back in but he’s no bother.

I truly thought we were set for the most part on the back to school supplies but of course that was wishful thinking. It turns out binders must be certain measurements for some classes. Besides that there were no big surprises but I’m bracing myself for more and keeping a float in the bank.

Kitten Adventures

We have two new kittens we have named Squirt & Chester. Squirt is the runt of course and he’s mellow but he’s a suck. If he wakes up and he’s alone, he starts mewing away and running around looking for company. Actually the kids call him Eddie but I think his nickname Squirt will stick.

Chester however has given me grief. i fetched him out of a heat vent one day but then he almost hung himself getting caught in a stroller wheel. i have no idea how he fit his head through but there was no way it was coming back out.

I called the humane society and a guy showed up, shook his head and called the fire department. He took a pic too so I should request it but was too stressed to think of it then.

This is a pic of Chester anyway. He’s a lot prettier than he appears here but he did not like getting his picture taken. He likes to lie on my laptop case if I leave it out.

Anyway, the fire department showed up and so did every kid in the neighborhood. They had to use a hacksaw to widen the hole and get him out. He just sort of shook himself off and walked away like nothing happened. I guess he’ll fit in here because the boys in my family are basically the same. I just hope he stops the crazy stunts soon.

Derek from The Man Page had some wonderful ideas on his post 10 Things to Do With Your Kids This Summer and he got me thinking about more.

Hit the beach. Kids of all ages love hanging out in the water. Bring along balls, beach toys and shovels to make sandcastles.

Don’t forget to pack a yummy picnic with lots to drink. Foods that are popular for our picnics include grapes, strawberries, cucumbers, cheese, buns, sliced meats and tomatoes. We like making our own sandwich buns when we get there so that the tomatoes don’t make everything all mushy.

If you can’t get to the beach, make a picnic anyway and set up a little swimming pool if you don’t have a big one. We usually end up having water fights with those super soaker guns too.

Organize a neighborhood barbecue. Make it a potluck and get the kids to help design and hand out the fliers.

Make sure they let everyone know the date, location and whether to bring a salad, desert or barbecue item. It’s a great way to meet the neighbors and try new foods.

Have a giant garage sale and get rid of some of the stuff you don’t want at the same time. Include neighbors on your street and get the kids to sell lemonade.

Make sure you check everything before it goes out the door though. Our children have fun with this one but they tend to get overexcited and want to give all their stuff away.

Another offshoot of this is to have a book swap.

Go to the drive in if you have one. We have one left in a nearby town and it’s always a blast. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and play at the playground before the movie starts.

Go rollerskating. I think I love this one more than my children. The flashing lights, the catchy tunes and the fancy moves. I hadn’t been in so long I thought I would forget but it’s like riding a bike.

Plant a garden together. Even the smallest child enjoys helping by digging in the soil and watering the plants. Later when the fruits and vegetables are ready, everyone can take pride in the fact that they helped plant them.

Other things we have fun doing while we’re out there are collecting pretty rocks, picking wildflowers, drawing pictures with chalk, blowing bubbles and collecting leaves to press. If you have some more ideas, let us know.

If you’re looking for ideas for crafts that your kids can make on Father’s day, check out some of these projects.

Crafts for fishermen

• Here are a few for fishing freaks. We happen to have one here and I think he would love this fish craft card. Get the pattern and full instructions on Kaboose. This project is for ages 4 and up.

Decorate a mini tackle box for dad at Makingfriends.com. You just need glue, foam letters, shapes and some tacky glue. It’s a great way of dressing up those boring little boxes.

Father’s Day Photo Frames

• How about a printable Father’s Day frame with a wale, fish, beach and sun from FamilyFun.com.

• DLTK have several printable photo frames with themes. There’s basketball, fish, golf, soccer or simply say “I love you.” That’s my favorite and I think it would make a cute card as well.

• I like this simple handpainted finger frame craft from Amazing Moms. All you need is construction paper, tempera paint and a photo.

• Don’t forget the classic popsicle stick frame from Kaboose. It’s very easy so would be fun for all ages. Multicolored popsicle sticks would be even better.

• Here’s a fun foam picture frame from Enchanted Learning. You could personalize it further by decorating with sparkles, buttons, nuts, bolts or stickers. It would also make a great magnet.

Further Father’s Day Craft Ideas

• Danielle’s Place has a large listing of Father’s Day crafts for ideas and instructions.

• Family Crafts at About.com has quite a few in their collection.

• All Free Crafts is another good resource.

• There are many other free Father’s Day crafts listed at 4CraftyKids.com. I like the decorated can found under the “tool caddy” link. My dad used to have rows and rows of those cans full of nuts and bolts in his workshop. Decorating a couple cans will be fun and we can find pictures in magazines.

Are you all prepared for summer holidays? I’m not but we’re working on it. Our children are so excited about having school off but I know that they will be complaining after a few weeks.

I decided to start a list of summer supplies to see what I’m missing and to fight off those summer boredom blues. They will go to a couple day camps here or there but we don’t want to ship them off for the whole summer.

List of summer supplies:

Bubbles: If you’re into making your own, Ecobites.com have instructions on this make your own bubbles post. It’s no fun running out of bubbles or running back and forth to the store to purchase more.

Chalk: Some people get upset about kids drawing on the sidewalk but I love looking at all their colorful art and it’s a great creative way to pass the time. There are certainly worse things they could be doing and I still like hopscotch.

Balls: Basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, tennis balls, check. We have them all. The basketballs seem to drive the neighbors crazy but they can’t just sit around reading all the time.

Rollerblades: They will have to get new ones this year but they’re a lot of fun. I might even spring for a pair for myself.

Bicycles: Got that covered as long as they aren’t stolen. One year someone smashed up our daughter’s bike and threw it in the bin. That was strange and slightly disturbing.

Don’t forget helmets. A little boy just fell off his bike here and went to the hospital with a broken arm but he’s lucky it wasn’t his head.

Arts & Crafts Supplies: Paint, crayons, beads, glue, play dough, construction paper, scissors, string, buttons, egg cartons, milk cartons, sticks, Popsicle sticks. Some children will need supervision with some of this stuff but crafts can keep kids busy for a long time.

Skipping ropes: Invest in a sturdy one if your kids are anything like mine. They tear those cheap ones apart within a day or two.

Tent: Even when we’re not camping, our kids have fun pitching a tent in the backyard. There are a lot of kids here though so that can get overcrowded quickly once they all spot it. We need a new one this year.

Swimming Pool: We don’t have one so we keep buying them every year because they are wrecked quickly. I’m sick of the inflatable pools because they spring leaks right away and the harder ones are mostly for tiny kids. Any ideas for alternatives?

Activity Books: Word games, mazes and crossword puzzles are fun and educational. You can also find great workbooks for your child’s grade level to help them prepare for starting their new school year. Kimberly L. Keith has an impressive list of free print and learn activities for children from kindergarten to grade 6.

Freezies, sunscreen and sunglasses are a few more things I need to stock up on. Does anyone have anything to add to the list?

Happy Mother’s day to all you mothers out there! I hope you have a wonderful one and that your family is good to you.

I went and visited my mom today since she’s working tomorrow like the bionic woman she is. She wanted some clothespins for Mother’s Day, which weren’t too hard to find. I threw in a couple soy candles I made and some gardening gloves. We also had a barbecue and watched the kids play football and leapfrog in the backyard.

Tomorrow we’re kicking back at home although I will be on a mission to get some vegetable plants. My husband tried but he couldn’t find any anywhere. I just saw tomato plants in containers for the patio yesterday and some woman at the grocery store told him they never had any.

I plan to get myself some new music as well. I have the same tunes spinning around in my head and it’s starting to drive me mad. I know what the kids got me because my older daughter told me to point a couple things out from the twins. I just picked out a coffee cup and an oil burner.

What are you doing for Mother’s Day? Does anyone have any big plans? Are you going out for dinner somewhere special or going on a trip? I have no idea if anyone planned anything tomorrow but I hope nobody asks me if I have any ideas for supper because that question drives me crazy.

Here’s a couple videos I found for you for Mother’s Day. First up, Shower the People by James Taylor.

Here’s a rap by little Bentley Green called Hey Mama. He’s singing it for his mama and all the single mamas out there.

Most kids love to create gifts for mom and here are a few ideas I wanted to share with you.

Family Fun’s colorful apron craft with paint-dipped hand prints would be fun or try them on towels or potholders.

If your children can write their own name with a fabric pen, get them to do that but otherwise do it for them.

Either way it makes a pretty and practical keepsake. If you have a few children participating, the apron or towel would hold more hand prints.

Personalized mugs are always a hit and I posted previously about a set I bought and had fun with our family creating Xmas gifts. We made one for my husband, my mother and I made one for myself.

Picture Frame & Holder Project Ideas

I love receiving picture frames especially when they have pictures of my kids in them.

Children can decorate frames with buttons, feathers, shells, paint, sparkles or glue fabric around a cardboard frame with a couple flowers or fake jewels for décor. I sometimes see little paper mache frames at the dollar store that would be perfect to decorate.

A unique way to display pictures is in a mouse pad. You can find them with a 4 x 6 opening and insert a favorite photo in there for your mother or grandmother.

I adore this cat picture holder made out of modeling clay I found at Top Ten Guides. Of course, it could be a dog, pig or anything else you think mom would get a kick out of. You could also use salt dough.

A simple salt dough recipe:

• 2 cups flour

• 1 cup salt

• 1 cup water

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)

These kinds of things are fun projects for families to do together any time of the year so have fun creating!

We have decorated candle holders with rub on transfers and also made mosaic ones. Just make sure you glue on the jewels, rocks or tile pieces with a glue gun and then put grout around them. I didn’t the first round and a bunch fell off.

Now that we have dyed and decoupaged our Easter eggs we’re preparing for the egg hunt. The kids look forward to it every year and my husband comes up with a list of hilarious clues for them to go by.

Last year he hid the eggs so well however that I only recently found one. Luckily it was not a hard boiled egg but a small chocolate one.

They get so much chocolate it’s ridiculous. Some goes in the freezer but it’s only good for so long like that. It starts turning this weird gray color after awhile and I wouldn’t even eat it, and I’m not that fussy. None of my kids are fussy either, which is a good thing because I make the same meal for everyone and I guess they caught on to that.

I don’t get much chocolate for them anymore but other people do. They enjoy getting toys like skipping ropes, balls and bubbles too.

Traditional Easter Food

It depends on where you’re from but around here it’s mainly ham and lamb or perhaps a turkey. We’re not crazy about ham or lamb and I forgot to get a turkey but FamilyFun has a yummy collection of Easter recipes.

Alternative Easter Food

I’m making the Streusel Coffee Cake since I have all the ingredients and it’s easier than hot cross buns. Their dinner recipes are heavy on the ham though so will have to keep thinking about the rest of the menu. If you would like to explore some different food this Easter, check out BBC Food- Easter Around the World.

This is a decoupage egg I made by simply mixing half white glue and water, soaking the pic for a couple minutes and gluing it onto the egg.

It would be easier to use a smaller circular picture so you wouldn’t have those little bungles but I still think it’s cute. I got the idea from Family Fun’s Arts and Crafts page.

Dye eggs naturally

There are many things you can use to dye eggs naturally. Here are some ideas to get you started.

• Beets for pink

• Coffee for brown

• Paprika for orange

• Raspberries for red

• Turmeric or mustard for yellow

• Blueberries for blue

• Grape Juice or wine for purple

Want some more ideas? See Erinn’s Green Easter post on Parenting Children.

Easter Egg Shell Project Idea

What to do with the eggs later? Sherri from Family Crafts explains how to make an Egg Shell Mosaic on poster board. It sounds fun and it’s a wonderful way to recycle all those dyed eggs into another work of art.

Family Day is the newest holiday here in Ontario, Canada but Alberta has been celebrating it since 1990.

The third Monday in February has also been designated as Family Day in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Not everything is closed February 18, which has caused some confusion and prevented some from being able to celebrate it with their families.

On our list of activities is Karaoke since we have a Karaoke machine and it’s a lot of fun. My youngest children and my husband have this crazy rap contest. It cracks me up. They’re quite good at it too and although I can sing, I cannot rap. I don’t necessarily feel like I’m missing out because they also appreciate the silly lyrics that I make up to popular songs.

My dad used to make me laugh doing that and he kept us amused on long trips with his crazy creations. This is also a good time to take out the photo albums and reminisce about fun times together. My husband lost his mother and I lost my father both within a year of each other. It threw us both for quite the loop as anyone who has lost a parent knows.

Even if you don’t have a designated family day there’s nothing saying you cannot treasure your family by planning to do special things together. They like games so Monopoly will keep us busy for quite awhile and we all get a kick out of Trouble. I like Backgammon but nobody else here seems to. Maybe on Family Day someone will humor me.

There’s another storm coming, which should not surprise me because the snowfall has been crazy the last couple of weeks. On the bright side, we can build a snow fort and a snowman, make snow angels and drink hot chocolate. We’ll throw a couple movie rentals and popcorn in for fun but it won’t be a strict schedule they have to adhere to.

Happy Family Day to those celebrating and to those who don’t, enjoy time with your family anyway.

I am not feeling deprived or anything but I was just trying to remember the last time I actually went out for New Years. I think it has been a few years. It is not so easy to obtain a sitter for a bunch of kids. Now that they are older maybe we’ll attend something as a family. I believe they have a free skate on and there will be festivities at City Hall.

When I just had one child, I would go over to Mom and Dads and party with them. It was actually a lot of fun. We usually rented some movies, played games and enjoyed each other’s company and of course some good food. My husband and I usually do that and sometimes we watch the count down on television. I have some pictures of my kids wearing party hats, blowing horns, and looking happy.

At FamilyFun.com, they have a New Year’s Fun Guide and include all kinds of crafts, recipes, and activities. One of my favorites was this idea for personalized place mats. They decorated a large piece of construction paper with handprints, pics and memorabilia and laminated it to have as a keepsake for that year.

What do you do for New Years as a family? Do you have any fun new ideas?

• At Mom is Teaching Summer has some New Years Resolutions for Homeschooling but most of them could apply to any family. I like her ideas such as creating more arts and crafts, going for more walks, going to bed earlier and living more green.

We’re beginning to bounce back here but it’s been a bit of a crazy Christmas. I don’t know if that’s the right word but it sounded good. We basically hibernated. Hubby stayed in bed for a couple days and I had a freak attack about that and then collapsed with the same illness soon after.

It hasn’t seemed to hit the kids as hard and although they have the sniffles, they look alright. We had a blast playing Trouble together as a family last night. We were laughing so hard we were almost crying because everyone kept breaking the rules and forgetting how to play. We have decided to make it a weekly activity since we have received quite a few board games for Christmas.

We had so many people in our family over for dinner there wasn’t enough room at the table. My husband helped me stuff and carve the turkey and we had a lot of fun with that simple task. We reminisced about past turkeys and had some laughs. One year he fired one into the oven upside down.

My mother had to work Christmas day, which was a shame but I’m sure she brought joy to a lot of people at the nursing home. She’s not shy so sure she spread some jolly cheer all over the place.

Tomorrow is when the rest of the family is coming over. I guess they were all busy with better offers. We’re not real party animals here so it’s pretty low key, especially this year. I prepared everything for the holiday meal and it turned out wonderful but I stayed in my pajamas.

Wishing everyone peace and joy for the season. I’m off to slurp some more chicken noodle soup.

We burnt a lot of calories off hiking today, which is a good thing because more food and festivities are coming up. I took off around noon but back tracked to pick the kids up and left again. They saved a bit of money and bought a few little gifts at the dollar store for everyone.

One of the most fun activities of the day were these personalized mug creations. I get excited over these little things but think my mother and husband will love the mugs as well. The kit came with four mugs and four permanent markers and it’s called “Precious Mugs”. You wouldn’t have to buy the kit to do these but since I purchased them half price (four for $10); I figure I got a deal. Some cups cost that much for one.

The memories themselves and the fun making them however are priceless. Show here is one for Grandma, and one for Dad.

Earlier on in my travels I was hunting for a simple manicure bowl. This is all my poor mother wanted and do you think I could find one? People were looking at me like I had three eyes when I inquired about one. Finally at the drug store a lovely young lady in the cosmetics section graciously acknowledged such a thing existed. She told me about how great they were and how she took a manicure course and they just happened to have one left! Phew.

Mom also wanted some emergency candles. That sounds sort of boring so to spruce them up I stuffed them into a festive looking bucket I found at the dollar store.

I kept one mug for myself. I have decided to do a psychedelic scene with flowers, peace signs and perhaps a sun shining.

• If you’re looking for more fun festive craft ideas, check out Creative Mom’s red felt stocking tree ornaments.

I couldn’t get online until now and have to get up early in the morning but I wanted to share this cute Christmas craft project simply made from popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. It would be an easy one for younger children to do. Find more projects at www.ActivityVillage.co.uk

April from Life as a Christian Woman asks, “How do you achieve a balance between the two?”

The purpose of Christmas to me is to celebrate Jesus’ birth and to spend time with family and friends. Somehow, that seems to get lost in the shuffle with the mad rush at the malls and the “buy more stuff” pressure.

I don’t enjoy the competitive clamoring or try to keep up with buying someone an expensive gift anymore just because they have for my children or me. For one it’s not possible and for another I figure if they are a true friend or family member they will still love us regardless of what thing we as a family present.

Debt

One person I know hands out checks to everyone dated in January. I would be just as happy with a card, a coffee cup, or even a hug and think it’s sad that someone feels it necessary to break themselves to the extent that they’re still paying for it months later. Not that I haven’t been there. A few years ago, we put on quite the show but paid dearly for it for many months after. For what? If someone truly puts value on a person to be how much money or things they can produce, what sort of friend is that? They’re not and if that’s all they want, then you’re simply a mark to them.

Memories

Some of my fondest memories are of our family getting together, telling stories, singing carols, creating ornaments, sharing meals and playing games. I don’t even remember what most of them gave me over the years. Stuff I do remember is my aunt making us flannel nighties and my mom knitting some gorgeous sweaters. Other things that I treasure are photographs because they represent those memories and I can look at them and laugh and cry and treasure those times with loved ones. Here’s one of my eldest daughter who’s all grown up now. We still have fun baking and making crafts together, although there’s a few more kids to join in on the fun now.

Handmade Gifts

In the craft section here you can find some fun crafts to create with your family either as ornaments or presents.

I continue to learn and am not perfect but our family is going greener as well so the less packaging and the more handmade stuff the better. My children are not always thrilled about such things so they will still receive some sort of gadget. You can check out Globally Green Living for some earth friendly holiday gift ideas.

• You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. –Charles Haddon Spurgeon

We made Christmas salt dough ornaments a few years ago and they were addicting. I ended up buying new cookie cutters just so I would have some new shapes. I’m including a video with the recipe for salt dough. Don’t forget to put a hole in them before baking.

We did Sesame Street characters, gingerbread men and women, flowers, hearts and the Simpsons characters. The gingerbread men and women were the most fun to paint and it was interesting to see what sort of outfit a family member would come up with.

We used water based paint and sprayed shellac on them after to make sure they were sealed. Try to make sure they’re the same thickness because I found some that had soft spots because the thinner parts cooked first. It’s an activity the whole family can enjoy though and it doesn’t have to be perfect, so have fun!