Hi Ya'll! It's been quite a while since I've added anything new to my blog here at Munkin Punkin. Life has been a whirlwind this summer and here we are already into the fall season, Ugh! I do love the fall season though. I think it's my favorite. One of the reasons life has been so crazy is our newest addition joined our family in late spring. And this September I started homeschooling my oldest and doing some school stuff with my middle child. I've been using Alpha and Omega for phonics and math with my oldest and Explode the Code with my middle. We have also been reading Little House in the Big Woods, and since LHitBW talks a lot about bears we've done some further investigation into bears. Did you know that the polar bear is the largest bear species? I follow another homeschoolin' mama on Facebook and after viewing a video clip that she The Crafty Homeschool Mama shared where she and her daughter recited the poem When the Frost is on the Punkin by James Whitcomb Riley I wanted to try to have my girls recite a seasonal poem. I wasn't sure that they could recite James' poem and figured that 5 Littles Pumpkins was more doable. I also thought it might be fun to turn it into a shadow puppet show for when their daddy got home. It still could use some work but they just learned it today! Here is the video of their presentation of 5 Little Pumpkins, hope you enjoy!
This cake was by far the easiest cake to make of all the birthday cakes that I have made. The trees on the cake were made out of gum paste. This was the first time that I have played with gum paste. I think that I need to do some more playing before I get a better grasp of how to form objects out of it. The top of the cake is covered with homemade marshmallow fondant. I had come across some pre-colored fondant in brown tones that I used to cut out the giraffe spots and then added some plastic toy jungle animals around the outside edge of the cake.
I had plans for a couple of activities but the box fortress was a last minute suggestion by my husband. We had just remodeled our kitchen and had all these boxes leftover.
The boxes were a HUGE hit!
As soon as guests drove in and the kids saw the boxes being put together that is where they first ran to!
Being a nice warm summer day in the Northeast I had also purchased a bunch of water guns for the kids to play with, which was also a lot of fun. Of course several thought it fun to spray the host!
One the activities I had planned was "pin the tail on the giraffe" The giraffe was one that I painted on a large piece of cardboard. I used an appropriate picture of Melman the giraffe character on Madagascar.
Here the kids are attempted to pin the tail onto "Melman the giraffe"
I had also come up with a quiz for the adults and some of the older kids who might be interested. The quiz of course was on giraffe facts. A couple of my girlfriends had too much fun while completing the quiz and were coming up with some crazy answers to the questions.
Some games/activities that we didn't play:
I also made some zebra and wild cat tails that would velcro around the kids waist so that they could play a game called "Catch the Lion by the Tail" or Tag. The first game is like "duck duck goose". The lion walks around the circle of kids and says lion, lion...then randomly touches another and says hyena. The lion must make it back to the hyenas spot before the hyena grabs the lions tail. Of course the names of the animals can be changed.
Another game is called "Hungry Lions" This is a game of predator and prey. Some kids are lions some are zebras. The game starts when an adult yells feeding time. The lions must tag a zebra. Once a zebra is caught it must stand still until another zebra has crawled in between their legs. The game is played until all the zebras are caught or until the kids are tired out.
"We're Going on a Bear Hunt" song was another option that I was thinking about doing with the kids because it has a lot of fun sounds and movements for the kids to do along with you. I came across a youtube video of Michael Rosen performing the song that we thoroughly enjoyed watching.
Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
We ended the day with cake and gifts. It was a beautiful day that we got to share with our many friends/family!
I decided to try a little science experiment with my girls today. This idea from something that I came across on Pinterest and if you are interested check out this website: Learn with Play at Home. It looks like a blog that I need to do some more exploring of!
My daughter took this picture which is neat because you can see the round water droplets as they are being pushed out through the straw.
The experiment that we did was with a water bottle fountain.
We did it this part a couple of times and recorded one of them. I really should have angled the straw better, but I'm not sure if it would have made that much of a difference.
The fountain part of the was the end of our water bottle fountain experiment. You will want to let them hold an untied and blown up balloon. Ask them what is inside the balloon. My daughter's first answer was nothing. With further prodding she was able to come up with the answer of "air." What happened when they let go of the blown up balloon? The next step is to attach the blown up balloon to the empty bottle. Find out what they observe. The ballon didn't deflate ~ Why?
And then lastly discuss what is causing the water to come out through the straw.
This was fun! We hope that you will give it a try too!
~Laura
This land will be yours, for the LORD your God will himself driveout all the people living there now. You will take possession of their land, just as the LORD your God promised you. Joshua 23:5
This party was for my oldest's birthday. She decided that she wanted a "How to Train Your Dragon" themed birthday party. This movie of one of our family favorites!
Costumes For her party I came up with the idea that I wanted to make her an Astrid costume to wear at her party. I also ended up throwing together a costume for my youngest to wear at her sisters party as well. I was going for Ruffnut (one of the twins). If I had more time I would have attempted to make my husband a costume so that he looked like Hiccup! So wish I had had the time!
Cake For the cake I decided I would attempt to make a dragon. The dragon body was made our of rice Krispie treats molded into a dragon shape and then covered with marshmallow fondant. The cake itself was banana cake~Yum!
Decorations
The two most important decorations for her party were the two dragons that I had painted on two very large pieces of corrugated cardboard. One was of Toothless and the one was of the smallest dragon in the movie the Terrible Terror. Toothless was used as a backdrop for the beginning of the party. Each of the guests (kids) were to sit in front of toothless and pose with a viking helmet and homemade axes, and have their picture taken.
I also had the idea that I wanted to make a large scale dragon skeleton that the kids could walk through. With my husband's help to figure this one out we got a partial skeleton of the dragon's rib cage. You can see it right?!
Activities
After the guests arrived and after being photographed with Toothless they were encouraged to design their own shields using markers, crayons, and glitter glue.
This was just the beginning of their Quest!
When they arrived they each received a piece of paper informing them that a momma dragon's eggs had been stolen and that she needed their help to find and retrieve her eggs.
After their shields had made it was time to find a ship that could sail and then cross the rough seas (our hot tub)
After the ships had been sailed the kids had to bomb a cardboard castle with a small scale trebuchet and water balloons (all with the help of my hubby). Once the enemy had been eliminated, they were able to safely secure momma dragons eggs. Each child was given an egg to open and find a ring pop inside. They also receive a dragon claw/tooth necklace made by me using polymer clay. I unfortunately do not have pictures of the kids bombing the castle.
The ship were made from milk cartons that I cut in half and then stuck a bunch of skewers into.
I found the idea from a youtube video. The gentleman that provides the instructions also has a website with some other really cool projects that you can make from stuff around the house. Check it out HERE!
Some additional Photos
One of our favorite scenes between Hiccup and Gobber
Hiccup: [about the Night Fury] I really did hit one. Gobber: Sure. Hiccup: He never listens! Gobber: Well, it runs in the family. Hiccup: And when he does, it's always with this... disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich. [imitating] Hiccup: "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish-bone!" Gobber: Now, you're thinkin' about this all wrong. It's not so much what you *look* like, it's what's *inside* that he can't stand. [pause] Hiccup: [sarcastic] Thank you for summing that up. Gobber: Look the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not! Hiccup: I just wanna be one of you guys!
This photo and a few to follow of my daughter are few days after her party. I wanted to get a few photos of her in her Rapunzel dress. I made the dress and Rapunzel hair using a Simplicity pattern that I purchased at JoAnn Fabrics. I'm currently using the same pattern that I am tweaking to make a Snow White dress for my girls dress~up play box. When I'm finally finished with it I'll share some pictures with you all!
I've been wanting to post about our Tangled Birthday Party for a while I just haven't taken the time to do so.
Activities/Crafts
The activities for the party were a lot of fun.
I provided a table for the kids to make 2 different crafts during the party. The first one is a Pascal (the Chameleon) party blower. This idea came from Family Fun (a Disney Magazine). You can get the instructions for this at the link above. I happened to have some peel and stick foam that was a whole lot easier and less mess.
The second craft was one that I kind created with the help of Martha Stewart. I cut out paper lanterns and added vellum windows with pictures of Tangled characters printed on them and a battery operated tea light candle hanging inside. This craft was a little more difficult for the younger ones to do.
Some time during the party I read a Rapunzel story to our guests. Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox. This story was a lot of fun and rhymed throughout.
Now for the Games!
Game 1
As soon as the guests arrived they were told that Flynn Rider (Eugene Fitzherbert) andthe Stabbington Brothers had dropped some of the royal jewels they had stolen and that while the kids were at the party they were to look for the jewels. This was easy I just purchased a bunch of plastic jewels and hid them around my house.
Game 2
The guests were also told that Rapunzel and Pascal had been playing hide and seek and that Rapunzel would like their help in finding Pascal. For this game I cut out a bunch of Pascals and hid them around my house.
Game 3
Pin the Frying pan on Flynn Rider.
For this I drew an enlarged picture of one of Flynn Rider's wanted posters and then cut out frying pans.
You can use super mom moments PDF to print out frying pans. You should also check out her blog post of the Tangled Party that she put on for some additional ideas. Check her post out HERE.
Sweet Treats
As for the cake I'm not as thrilled with how my tower cake turned out. I could not get the fondant to stay onto the tower of iced donuts.
For each of the guests they got a cupcake that was made to look like a cherry pie. I had been trying to decide whether to make pie(s) for the party rather than a cake since Rapunzel performed many domestic duties while imprisoned in her tower. One of those duties/tasks was baking pies. The idea for the cherry pie cupcakes idea came when I received my Family Fun magazine and at the end of the magazine was the how to for making cupcakes to look like cherry pies. You can find out how HERE.
My oldest got to blow out a candle for her sisters party as well!
The girls were happy to have Geoffrey return from his trip to Hawaii! They and their parents would have loved to have joined him on his Island Adventure, but didn't feel that we were ready to take on the long flight to get there.
Geoffrey stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Glen Domhoff owners of Cruzin Hawaii Motorcycle Rentals also known as Uncle Glen and Aunt Chris.
While in Hawaii Geoffrey visited with a friend of the Domhoff's who is also a hula dancer. While Geoffrey was away we watched a dvd that taught some simple hula dances and even tried to do a few of the dance moves with the instructor.
Geoffrey got to eat some "ono" food at the Hawaii Art Museum. Ono means delicious.
He also visited the Hawaii state capital, Iao Needle state park, a dormant volcano named Haleakala and rode in the Pineapple Express, visited Waikiki beach, saw a whale tail in the Pacific ocean, and attended Spam Jam 2012.
We were very interested in volcanos and read a book and watched some dvds about volcanos. Volcanos are important to Hawaii for that is how they came to be formed and are continuing to be formed today. Maybe if mommy feels up to the task we'll make ourselves a mock volcano with some baking soda and vinegar.
We are so very Thankful that Geoffrey had such a wonderful visit in Hawaii and for all the great information that we have learned from his visit!
What are you doing for Father's day? We don't usually doing anything really special. But this year we gave my husband an early Father's Day gift of 3 pairs of pajama pants and a card. He was in serious need of pajama pants. He now owns and wears a pair of cookie monster pajama pants, chosen for him by his youngest daughter. My girls are very blessed to have the father that they have! He is a loving caring and protective father who loves his Father in Heaven!
Ok so I wanted to have something my girl's daddy on the actual day. So when I saw the how to for this card I had to make one for our resident father.
Happy Father's Day, to all the wonderful fathers out there!
~Laura
"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son." Ephesians 1:3-6
