Where did the Air Go?

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 drive out all the people living there now. You will take possession of their land, just as the LORD your God promised you. Joshua 23:5

How to Train Your Dragon Birthday Party

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! 

~Laura

Tangled Birthday Party

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) and the 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!

Have yourself a Happily Ever After!


~Laura

Flat Geoffrey Returns From Hawaii

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!

Aloha!

~Laura

Happy Father's Day!

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.

I found the idea for the iDad Card on Tip Junkie.

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

A Visit of The Salamander Kind

Today as we were arriving home mommy discovered a Salamander crawling in front of our front door steps.  At first I thought it was just an earthworm.  Then it started to crawl and was moving at a good pace much quicker than I've seen an earthworm move.  I had just gotten the mail and used a Current catalog to pick it up. 

It's a red and black salamander!

The girls were thrilled to be able to hold and check this unique creature out.  After they had visited with the salamander for a few minutes we let him/her go.

Here are a few pictures of them holding and watching the salamander.

~Laura

Up~Cycled Challenge on PR&P

This week's challenge was to create an outfit from recycled or organic materials.  This challenge had a rough start in the beginning to the point that I had lost enthusiasm for the project, but then I came across an old shirt of mine and sparks began to fly again.  I had started to make a ruffled dress from one of the green shirts but it just did look as great as I wanted it to.  I still have it and I will probably finish it off and let my oldest use it as a night gown or for dress~up play.  

The items that I used for this project were an old pair of my mom's jeans, an old shirt of mine and 2 shirts purchased from Salvation Army (they were both 50% off their ticked price).  

 The elastic for the waistband was even up~cycled from a pair of mens underwear!!

 Here is the finished project being modeled by my two lovely assistants!

So what do you think? 

Oh and guess what next weeks challenge is:  A Color Challenge. We have to pick a color and make an outfit based on that color.

If you would like to see what other readers of PR&P have done with the challenge check out their Photos of the Up~Cycle Challenge here.

~Laura

Sportswear Challenge

I recently came across a blog that challenges readers to make different types of clothing for children.  Which I currently seem to have great interest in.  So I was thrilled to be able to participate and allow creative juices to flow!  Their most recent challenge was to make sportswear and the only help they gave was a wikipedia definition of what sportswear is.  Which wasn't all that clear to me so I did some more research and found out that a woman named Coco Channel was an influential fashion designer that was one of the first or the first to create sportswear.  I tried looking for photos of some of the original fashion designs which originated to the 20's and 30's.  

Sportswear is clothing that was designed to be more comfortable and looser fitting but still a polished enough look that a woman could wear the clothing to work and then to watch a sporting event.  At least that is my understanding of what sportswear was originally.   

I really liked the pants that I was seeing in the older photos.  They were wide legged and some had cuffs at the bottom.  I liked the cuffs.   Hence I made pants with cuffs.  The top was much more complicated the 20's tops seemed to have a dropped waist line but some of the 30's fashion photos had the pants sitting higher above the waistline.  So I decided that I liked the dropped waistline.  

The two older photos to follow are just a couple I found on my search to find out what sportswear was.  

The photos can be found at here: Sportswear Photo Link.

Drum roll please..... 

Here are two pictures of my girls modeling my finished outfit for Project Run and Play's Sportswear challenge.  

If you are interested in participating in any of their upcoming challenges check out their blog at http://projectrunandplay.blogspot.com/

Some info on how I made the outfit:  The pants were made after tweaking a pattern that I already had.  The top was a different story.  I decided to go with a dropped waistline look and thought that a tie off to the side would look nice.  The top was pieced together quickly (Wednesday night to be exact)!    

What I would have liked to do differently:  If I knew how to put pockets in the pants I would have done that.  The pattern did not have pockets :( and I wish that I had taken the time to actually make a pattern for the top.

So what do you think?  

~Laura

Where in The World is Geoffrey (the giraffe)

The girls and I recently read the book titled Flat Stanley.  I had heard about children sending out their own  Flat Stanleys to various places and teachers using this project as a way to study geography and improving writing skills, etc.  I thought that my girls might enjoy learning a little geography.  

So instead of making a flat Stanley, we decided to make Geoffrey the giraffe.  My oldest has a thing for giraffes.  

We would love to see Geoffrey visit each of the 50 states at least once and whatever country we can also get him to.

As of this past Monday, April 16th 2012 we have sent a Geoffrey out to Honolulu Hawaii, Foster City California, and Karlsruhe Germany.  I will be sending one out to Richberg, South Carolina very soon.  I don't want to send out more than Four Geoffreys at a time. I would like to have some time to think of activities and read books on each of the areas/states/countries that Geoffrey visits.  What a lucky giraffe Geoffrey will be!  I wish that I could see all of these wonderful places myself, until then I will have to live vicariously through a paper giraffe!

Stay posted I will be updating as our giraffe visits and share some of the activities and books that we read along the way.

~Laura

A New Family Tradition

We started doing a devotional prepared by Noel Piper titled Lenten Lights, Eight Biblical Devotions to Prepare for Easter on Sunday night.  We technically should have started on Saturday night~oops!  This is the first year doing something like this as a family so I assume that we will tweak things to improve upon what we did the year before.  I got the idea to do a special devotional during Holy week from a blog post I accidentally came across on A Holy Experience's blog.  Ann keeper of A Holy Experience's blog also mentions the 8 devotionals put together by Noel Piper.  The devotional can be found here at Lenten Lights.  The Devotional shares the symbolism of the seven candles, which is this "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it". John 1:5 But for a while it seemed as if the darkness was overcoming.  I'm going to share some pictures during our first night.

~Laura