Belieber Shmelieber!

So when Justin Bieber first started to misbehave The hubs and I talked to our daughter about it and said she could still listen to his music if she liked it but we didn't feel he was a good person so would no longer be getting her anything Bieber related. She said that was fine. She agreed.

 

Then we told her about his being arrested 2 days ago for drinking and driving and under the influence of drugs, and she just looked disgusted. She actually said "Oh I'm done with him". We felt very happy.

 

So last night she had a friend stay over and she had her help take down her posters of him. I (in all my wisdom and awesomeness) had a great idea for an activity for them.



My daughter's friend taking aim

 

Perfect Target!

My son had been waiting for this day for a while!



My daughter is red, her friend was blue, and my son was orange paint.

 

Valentine's Day for kids?

Spoiler Alert: This is not a cutesy, DIY Valentine posting today.

 

I have been thinking about this for the last couple of days. Mainly because whenever I pop onto Pinterest lately, I am bombarded with

Valentine's Day crafts, decorations, jewelery, and Valentine related clothing.

#1. My kids are in elementary school. That's a K-5th grade, so 5-12 year olds. Um, they shouldn't have Valentines. They shouldn't have boyfriends or girlfriends. Sure they can have crushes and think someone is totes cute, but I really feel that is about as far as it should go. I'm no prude, or fuddy duddy. I got engaged and moved out at 17, with the man I felt was the love of my life and I would spend forever with. 17 years later, we are still married and have 2 wonderful kids, who know that I was 17 when I moved out, but I have a hard time being okay with it for kids nowadays.

 

#2. Do people actually decorate their homes for Valentine's Day? I mean I know people who do themes for Christmas, winter, Thanksgiving, autumn, 4Th of July, Spring, & Easter (this one mainly for their kids). But is there sense in decorating for days like Valentine's and St. Patrick's. Why not Groundhog day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or even President's Day. I mean do you put up a foam Mt. Rushmore on your mantel? Do you hang little paper Groundhog head garlands on the trellis? How about putting a MLK Jr. mannequin in your yard in January? Ya, sounds spectacular to me.

 

#3. I'm willing to bet that the moms out there are the ones who scour the internet for these adorable little V-day card ideas, trying to find the perfect one. The perfect one has to meet several requirements:

• Cost to make
• Supplies on hand versus need to purchase
• Cuteness/Coolness
• Ease to make/ skill level required
• Does it come with something extra (candy or toy)
• Will any other moms probably do this or something like this

Once you find your perfect lil' idea, you begin. Time and energy spent coloring, printing, folding, cutting, taping, pasting, sweating, crying, drinking, giving up, jumping back in because you'll be darned if your kid doesn't bring something totally adorable or awesome in.

 And now I guess we are giving teachers, mailmen, bus drivers, the pharmacist and neighbors V-day cards & treats too. When does it end? 
Well the pharmacist is cool in my book; the places I'd be without that angel ;)

See, look at these adorable ideas that I...my kids ;) would love to do!

 #4. The candy and toys. They come home with a bag full of cards and junk because the school has made it mandatory that if you bring something in for one kid, you must bring enough for everyone. And most of the other kids also brought cards with a candy or toy attached so they will be cool. I DON'T WANT MY KID TO HAVE ALL THAT CANDY! And I'm the bad guy when I tell them that and ration it to them like it were the Great Depression. (which they haven't even learned about yet)

And if you do send them with empty store bought cards, they are most likely to be passed over and thrown out without being opened or read.

How do I know this? Because 2 years ago my darling son brought home his bag and when we went through them, he pulled one out and looked sideways at it and said "hmm, no candy" then dropped it on the table. Since then he has come to understand appreciating the thought and effort put in to things.



 (FYI: My daughter just walked by and told me she was impressed with how much i am typing)

 So I have this parent part of me that wants to ask the teachers to have kids not bring candy in this year. And I have the cool parent, that used to be an un-cool kid, part of me that wants to keep my mouth shut.

 

Maybe if I send in one of these vintage gems then they will politely ask me to just not send anything in next year ;)

 

Rollerball painting

Materials needed: Paint, box lid, paper, something that rolls.

(We used a marble and a bouncy ball)

 

Kam did 3 colors on each side

 

I did 3 on top and 3 on the side

 

And away we go!

 

Keep rolling til you get the desired effect.

These are our finished beauties

 

Pinterest, you enabler!

So I have been trying a lot of Pintest things lately just for fun, and to be more than just one of those people who pin and never actually do any of them.

Some things I didn't take pictures of so i'll just speak of their success or failure.

#1-

I thought this would be fun for the kids. Especially sonce they love playing with water but are not always able to go into the pool.

I had a bunch of crystal light containers so i thought what the heck.

Um, big tip for ya, start with the top and pour some water in each one after you attach it to the fence so you know where the water is going to land, then you know where to place the next one. I didnt do this at first so i had to re adjust 2 of them because they not placed right.

Here is mine. OOOOOHHHHH so awesome i know. Well actually my son loves it so much, so ya it is awesome.

See here he is enjoying my handy work.

#2-

 DIY Screenprint Shirt

The items required are pantyhose, an embroidery loop, mod podge and acrylic paint.

I had all but the pantyhose, but i snagged a pair for like 70 cents at Walmart.

So you draw your design on the panyhose stretched over the hoop, cover what you don't want in a thick layer of mod podge. Let it dry, mine took a whole 36 hours. Then place it on your shirt and basically stamp the paint on like any other stencil. Let it dry then peel off.

I taped mine down so I wouldnt mess it up

 Just dab dab dab away.

It doesnt really give you straight lines so i ended up going over and outlining it after this picture was taken to clean up the lines a bit. I also ended up adding red outline and and accent lines.

But i used a pajama shirt so if i messed up it was ok ;)



 

Bleached shirt project

Did the bleach shirt thing. I used way to much bleach and my lines werent thick enough so when the bleach bled it just made a blob. So i sprayed a bunch more bleach to hide the tape marks and just whatever. Then I sharpied the transformer symbol I origionally attemped to make. He is happy because it is transformers, but I still plan to try again.

Project time!

Since it's the end of the school year, I have been looking at fun things I can do with the kids to keep them occupied and not zombiefied in front of the tv or playing video games.
So here are a couple I recently tried. Although I must say, letting the kids do it their own way and not trying to pick at them to make it perfect was hard, I love that they had fun.

Personal Painted Canvas

I just took a small canvas and taped off a K for Kameron and let her paint whatever she wanted. When I pulled the tape off she wanted to paint in the K as well, which defeated my purpose, but I love that she loves it. So now she has personalized artwork for her room.



Before



After





Melted Bead Sun catcher

So I saw this on pinterest and thought "I have to try this"

I used a Bundt cake pan for the top part and we used a cupcake pan for the small discs. I think it looks great. We wanted to see how each color would look on it's own when melted and we love it. I also did a special one for Kam to see if it would work and it did. I made it into a necklace for her. The trick was layering the pony beads one flat and then one on its side resting in the center of the flat one. 2 layers high is just perfect. then carefully place the other beads around the initial and melt.

20 minutes @ 400 degrees. P.S. no one else said this would smell nasty as heck, so open a window for ventilation and you'll be fine. Plus you can go get pans specifically for this project but you don't have to. They pop out cleanly and don't mess up the pan.

And just use a small drill bit to drill a hole (i was afraid the discs would crack but they drill nicely.) Also I used invisible thread to string it up at different lengths and tied it to the top ring.



I would show you the other pictures but apparently my phone and puter are not speaking right now....they must be married, lol.



Driving 101

I was driving to the store today and pulled out onto the main road and although it was not a drastic move or one of those Mario Andretti type maneuvers to get in front of someone, I had a little flashback in time to when I was learning how to drive.
(Somewhere in the distance I hear the laughter of my parents)

So a few moments from my past popped into my mind, and of course I feel it is my duty to share it with you. (Insert wavy lines and flashbacky music here)

Moment 1-
I was in Driver's Ed class in High School and it was my day to go out driving the Driver's Ed car. You know the cool bad ass 4 door blue sedan that was most likely a Plymouth or Pontiac, with a brake pedal on the passenger side for the teacher to use "just in case".
So I'm doing good, staying in my lane, using my mirrors correctly, kept getting told to watch my speed, I even got kudos for changing lanes and not hitting any of those "turtles". Then we come to a stop and I am waiting for an opening to turn right and I see it. So I gun it and all of a sudden the car stops after an inch and I look at the teacher and he's holding down the brake. I said what I still say to this day, "I totally coulda made that." And while the 2 other students in the back are laughing, my teacher said "yeah I don't think so."

Moment 2-
Riding around with my mom all those years in the passenger seat and hearing her yell "ARSEHOLE" to the other drivers. Those few moments when she would have to break suddenly and her arm flies out in front of me. You know, the "mombelt". The arm they think will save you from flying out of your buckled seat belt through the windshield to your horrific demise. I always asked "Why do you do that?" She always said she couldn't help it and I'd understand when I had kids. I always the smart ass would reply with "Um if we get into an accident I'd much more prefer you kept both hands on the wheel duh"

Moving forward a few years, I am moved away from home and living with my fiance (hee hee such a funny word) and I am driving to work when all of a sudden the jackhole in front of me decides to stop suddenly. Thus causing me to stop suddenly and the purse in my passenger seat flies forward slamming into the dash with such force I actually check for dents later. Then it drops to the floor only after it flips upside down and pours everything out onto the floor as well. And I'm thinking "Dang that mom arm would come in handy hahahaha"

Moment 3-
I am a mom of 2 now. My kids are buckled safely in their carseats in the seat behind me. Latch system in place. Those pups are moving if Hercules himself yanks on them. We are driving down the road when all of a sudden the ARSEHOLE in front of me decides he needs to stop right then and there. So I brake and my right arm flies out to the side of me as if I were holding someone back. Even though there was nothing in the passenger seat, it happened and I understood. The mom arm. I has it now ;)