The Summer List

Check

Did you, as I did, have a list of things you want to accomplish

this summer?

I am excited to report that several are checked off, including

this biggie....

TEACHING MY GIRLS TO SEW!

Yep! Check that off the list!

The new sewing machine Ron bought for me in May

(Mother's Day, to be exact) finally got a work out.

It is an amazing machine. I must admit, I was intimidated by

it as it has so many bells as whistles compared to the

machines I have used in the past.

Everything is computerized on this machine and making

fancy border stitches is easy-schmeezy. Once I got over

being intimidated by yet, another advance in technology,

I gave myself an afternoon orientation to the machine.

Soon, I sat down withMegan to teach her the basics of a

Sewing Machine, the names of parts, and how to thread it, etc.

It was like a Mini-Home-Ec Class.

I was amazed at what came back to me after all these

years. More amazing was how quickly she caught on (oh,

what an amazing teacher I am, Ha!) She has been busy

making pillows, purses, doll clothes, etc.

Katherine had a lesson after Megan. I had Megan help me

teach Katherine some basics (for Megan's review benefit).

They both are comfortable and capable of sitting down to

sew. I showed them how to mend several items, which

crosses more off my "TO-DO" List...Mending.

They are both itching to make an item of clothing. Using

patterns, cutting the pieces and sewing them together will

be our next frontier!

Now that I see how much they enjoy sewing and how easy it

was to teach them, I wish I had started earlier in the summer.

Click HERE to see the another exciting thing my

girls learned this summer...At least I think it is exciting, it

will be several years before they think so...after all, it has

to do with toilets...

Am I the only one with A Summer To-Do List?

Do You Have One?

If so, how did you do?

Summer Is Fading Fast!

Last Beach Hurrah!

Yesterday was our last Group Beach Day for

The Summer of 2008.

As best we could, Tuesdays were at Lake Worth Beach

and

Fridays were at Dubois Beach Park in Jupiter.

Yesterday, we had nearly perfect weather and water.

The children played and played and played.

It was an ideal way to say good-bye to summer vacation.

Every beach day, the children work on digging holes.

Usually, there is one HUGE hole by the end of the day.

In or out of the water, the children are so happy.

Katherine buried Erick and made him into a "shark". Note

the sand "fin" near his neck. I have written about this before,

note the shovels the children use to dig. They are, hands down,

the best beach toy. They are perfect for sandboxes and just

plain digging at home, also. You can find them with the

children's gardening supplies at Target or WM.

I am not sure who has more fun.... the children...or the moms!

I look forward to spending the day with the awesome women.

I feel blessed to call them friends.

Stephanie, Lynelle, Sally, and yours truly...you can call us

The Beach Moms!

Happy Back To School Everyone!

Summer was totally fun, just not long enough!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation.....

I Can Just See It Now....
It is the first day of school and the teachers ask my girls to write a paper about what they did over the summer. No doubt, at the top of the list will be.....
"This was a great summer, I learned how to properly clean a toilet....."
The essay will go on....
"My mom says that there are some children who don't know how to clean a toilet at all and she does not want us to be one of those children. She said that when we are 12 years old and attend Young Women Girls Camp, we may even get the assignment to clean toilets. She does not want us to be embarrassed by not knowing how to do this chore properly."
The essay will include other thoughts such as...
"I have the greatest mom in the world. She made sure that she prepared me for real life and taught me everything I need to know. I will know how to take care of and clean anything...especially the toilets in my future. I love my mom and I know she loves me."

Yes, you read it here first.

Two weeks ago, I gave some serious Toilet (and Bathroom) Cleaning lessons
to Katherine and Megan.
With 4 Bathrooms in our house, there was plenty of "hands on" demonstrating.
I cleaned one toilet as a demonstration and then they each cleaned one on their own with me watching and then inspecting.
We covered what cleaning supplies and materials to use and why.
We covered the all important....Do not combine ammonia and bleach cleaning products
and then went over which products contained what.
I showed them how to read labels and where to use which products.
I taught them which order to clean things in the bathroom
and how to not use the same rags on the rest of the bathroom that touch the toilet, etc.
Little did I realize that this new found skill would be put to use outside of our house so soon.
Tonight was our family's turn to help clean the the Church Building.
Guess what.... We Cleaned the Women's' and Men's Bathrooms.
(Yes, my GIRLS got to go in the BOYS Bathroom...they kept staring at the urinal...I realize we did not cover urinal cleaning in our sessions.I just tried to be matter of fact, like this was any other restroom that just had to be cleaned)
Katherine kept saying....I need to do this for the experience. I don't want to be one of those kids who does not know how to clean a toilet properly. I need all the experience I can get.
I THINK maybe.....just maybe... I got my point across!
For 8 and 11 year old little girls, they are doing great.
What an amazing summer we are having... I know you are sitting there just a little envious that you have not had Toilet and Bathroom Cleaning sessions with your children.
Or, maybe you have had these sessions and are having the same sort of
wonderful summer I am having.... It's great, huh?
Not everyone can have such an exciting summer.

Recycled Crayons aka Crayon Cupcakes

What To Do With All Those Crayons....

It is the end of another school year and

your children bring home a pile of crayons....

broken, paper peeled off, and well used.

You empty them out of the well traveled back pack and throw them

in the crayon container with the other broken and well used crayons

or....

Make Crayon Cupcakes!!!!

Turn all the small crayon pieces in to a novelty..
Crayon Cupcakes
Directions at the end of photos.
Just in time for July 4th.... A Patriotic Crayon Cupcake.

This is the crayon pieces after they have been stripped of
the paper wrapper. This is muffin tin with cupcake pan
liners...I recommend doubling them in each cup and DO NOT
use the foil ones.
This is how they look right out of the oven.
Don't stir them or you will have one big dark colored mess.
You may, however, take a toothpick and ever so gently
"swirl" the colors around. Careful...you are working with hot
wax! Adults only at this point.
Finished product when cooled and out of the cupcake paper.
Some of the crayons we used. Originally, we used small, broken
crayons. When those were used up we sorted through the crayon
container to find those that were less sharp, or showed the most
signs of use.
Peeling the paper off is the most teadous of the stages....
I discovered a trick to get the paper off quickly. Everyone cheered
when they saw how easy it was. Especially after we spent so much
time peeling the papers off little by little.

Directions For Crayon Cupcakes:

Do This Only with Adult Supervision! Hot Wax involved!

• Peel the paper wrappers off several broken and well used crayons. Use an assortment of colors. Here is the best tip I can give for getting the paper wrappers off the crayons....have an adult slit the paper length-wise with an exacto knife....viola...hand the crayon to a child and the wrapper comes righit off. Otherwise, the paper peeling gets discouraging and takes too long for little ones (and grown ups)..plus it is hard on the nails!
• After the crayons are bare, break them into small pieces. The smaller they are, the better they melt.
• Line muffin pan cups with TWO (that is double) cupcake papers. Do not use the foil liners, they do not peel away from the crayons as well as the paper.
• Place crayon pieces in the cupcake liners. Fill about 1/4 to 1/3 full. Do not over fill as there will be too many crayons to melt and the colors will mix if you have to heat them too long
• Do not use too many dark colors as they tend to take over any other colors in the mix.
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees
• Place Muffin tin with crayons in the preheated oven.
• Watch closely, it is fun to see the crayons melt, swirl, and transform.
• Leave in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
• Adults only at this point....When crayons have just melted, remove from oven and let them sit.
• Do not stir, the colors will mix and not be very pretty.
• You may, however, use a toothpick to ever so gently swirl the colors together.
• Let the Crayon Cupcakes set for 1-2 hours before you peel the cupcake papers away from them
• Now you have some fun "NEW" Crayons for summer

Save this great activity for summer afternoons when "mom, I'm bored" sets in. Children create their own art supplies and learn about color combinations, mixing, etc. This is also great for teaching color names to toddlers. Sorting by colors and shades reinforces learning in a fun way.

After designing and creating custom colors, my children use their Crayon Cupcakes all summer. Without being recycled, they would have made their way to the bottom of the Crayon Container and most likely been thrown out.

We have been making these for many years at our house. If I forget, the children remind me with words like these...When are we making our Crayon Cupcakes ...look at all these Crayons we need to make Cupcakes with.

Speaking of Crayons.... if you are ever near Easton, Pennsylvania. Visit the Crayola Factory. It is one of my favorite "factory tours" and is located near the NJ/PA Border directly West of New York City. Well worth adding to your travel plans!