To the Soldiers

I wish you all a wonderful and safe Memorial Day Weekend.

Remember those who have devoted themselves to our freedom and safety...and died while doing so.

Fourth Grade Science

With third grade coming to an end I have begun to order Vada's fourth grade curriculum. So far, the subject I am most excited about is science.

Our third grade science program didn't prove to be of much success, which was probably my fault. Many of our experiments didn't turn out the way they were supposed to. I believe the scientific term for their outcome is: flop.

For fourth grade I have decided to go a different route. Vada is one of those kids who is happiest when outdoors. When the weather permits, she would rather work on her math worksheets on the back patio as opposed to at the kitchen table. She has no fear of getting her hands dirty.

As for myself, I try to be as environmentally conscience as I can. I reduce, reuse, & recycle, and buy eco-friendly products as often as possible. It frightens me to think of how wasteful and careless we have become on this planet. How that will affect our children, and their children, and so forth.

Those things combined encouraged me to choose environmental science for the topic of Vada's fourth grade science curriculum.

I have purchased Planet Earth, written by Kathleen M. Reilly, as our textbook. I have read great things about this book and cannot wait to get a jump-start on the activities inside. What makes this book extra special? It is printed on 100% postconsumer recycled paper. The printer of this book, McNaughton and Gunn, is a part of the Green Press Initiative. These two things, along with the raving reviews and the "Look Inside" option on Amazon.com, make this book irresistible.

While searching the web for environmental activities for kids, I stumbled across this blog: http://greenguideforkids.blogspot.com/. It may not be jam packed with activities, but it wouldn't be a bad blog to visit on a monthly basis.

Another website I have become addicted to: http://www.growingagreenfamily.com/. I have found many helpful posts at this website in the past, and would enjoy checking it out with Vada by my side. What made me fall in love with this website? In several different posts they assure you that it's impossible to be perfectly "green", and if you attempt to be "green" in every aspect of your life 100% of the time you will drive yourself crazy. It's true. I have stressed myself out a number of times trying to EVERYTHING "green".

Check back here towards the end of August, when our environmental adventures begin. I can't wait to document our activities! 

Through the Eyes of Broden

As so many two-year-olds these days, Broden is the master of the iPhone and iPad. Though out of all the games and movies we have downloaded, his favorite app is simply the camera. I probably delete 50 photos per day, but sometimes there are photos he has taken that I just can't bring myself to delete. It's just so neat to look at them and see the world through his eyes.

On the US Airways flight to Arizona

In the sky 

The driver seat frequently
serves as a foot rest.

Building his photography portfolio.

I look like a giant.

Maybe I should put a picture on
the back of the driver's seat
so he has something better to look at...?

Church.

My favorite:
on my lap at the Renaissance Festival
in Apache Junction, AZ.

A Tribute to Spring

Here is a fun little craft that my sister-in-law and I did with our kids last Friday (this and dying eggs is what kept me from my blogging duties).

When I found the idea for these cute toilet-paper-roll bunnies on Pinterest (in sweet pastel colors) I thought, "Those are cute." Then once we made them in these rockin' colors I couldn't stop staring at them thinking, "Oh Mylanta! I could just gobble these up! They're too adorable!"

Now, around these parts we don't celebrate Easter. I try to ban the word "Easter" from my vocabulary altogether, but sometimes it slips out due to habit from my childhood. Sneaky little devil. Seeing that we're not Pagan's, but yet we're not Catholic, we chose to meet halfway. In the Mc Clan, we don't call them Easter baskets. We call them Spring baskets. And we don't call them Easter eggs. They're just hard boiled eggs that we jazz up in pretty spring colors. And to answer your question, no, we don't fill our children's heads with the idea that some giant pink rabbit broke into our house to poop out jelly beans on the kitchen table and left a basket full of goodies to apologize for it either.

Since Spring had decided to show it's smiling face (briefly), and we have noticed more roadkill bunnies off to the side of the street lately, I decided these would be the perfect springtime craft for the kiddos.

With three wee-ones, we took 3 toilet-paper-rolls (each cut in half) and one paper-towel-roll (cut into thirds) and divided them so each child would have 3 bunnies to create. The ears were cut out of cereal boxes. Once the body and ears were painted and dried we super-glued the ears onto the inside-front of the bodies. The eyes: scrapbooking brads. The noses: larger brads than the eyes, or buttons. Whiskers: 3 staples on each side of the nose. And voila! Bunnies complete.

They can be used simply as decoration, as egg stands, or, what I used them for, candy holders. To make them candy holders I purchased mini paper cupcake liners, filled them with Eiffel Chewy Bon Bons and Trader Joe's Mini Peanut-butter Cups, and set the liners gently behind the ears.

They made the presentation of the kids' Spring baskets complete. The kids LOVED seeing them dispersed around their baskets!

Maybe next year I'll let red paint be in the mix and we can make zombie roadkill bunnies. I'm loving it!