I'm a Genius - Well, Sorta

So I tried two new things this week to get my kids to behave and clean up!  After all, that's what we all want right???  Thought I'd share my awesome ideas - wink wink!

This one actually came from my child's teacher at school.  This is what she does, but then she signs folders correspondingly (is that a word)?  It must be a much bigger deal in her classroom, cause it's not working too well at home.  The blue sticker jar is the one to get too - you get a prize out of the prize box, green is good, yellow is a warning, and red is bad - note home to mom and dad!  We switched it up a little - most are the same except red here means that a chore chart circle comes off and you don't get the .25 cents for doing that chore:(  Let me know if you can think of some ways where I can make this work better - I need ideas!!!

This idea DID work and I was smiling from ear to ear about how smart I was!  My kiddos room (they are sharing until we find a new house) was a complete and utter disaster!  So...I decided that if I put a circle around one area it would break it up into smaller steps and not seem so overwhelming.  So I used what I had - a yellow stretchy something of my husbands, but you could use a hoola hoop, yarn, or anything that makes a circle shape. They had 10 minutes to clean out the circle - I put the timer on, and then I would make a new circle.  IT WORKED!!!  Before the end of the night the room was spotless, and...I think they had a little fun doing it this way! 

Show us Your Life - Desserts! - Fancy Chocolate Covered Strawberries - YUM!!!!

FANCY CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES

Wanna make expensive looking store-bought, so pretty you could sell them at Valentine's Day looking strawberries?  Well...here ya go - I'll give ya my secret:)

Buy your strawberries - look for the BIG ones, I like Driskoll's but any will work!

Buy your chocolate - I love Ghiradelli's chips but I've also used chocolate and white chocolate almond bark and it works fine too!

Melt the chocolate in the microwave just until the chips are soft and you can stir them - be sure not to do it too long or you will scald it.  Stir it up.  

Hold the strawberry by the stem and swirl it around in the chocolate.  Transfer to wax paper or foil to cool - its ok for the backside to be flat - that's how you will present them anyway!

After the strawberries are cool, melt a different kind of chocolate to put on top - dark chocolate strawberries look beautiful with white chocolate on top, and white strawberries look best with dark chocolate on top.  

Take a fork and dip it into the melted chocolate - it should be runny and drip off the fork when you lift it out.  Now, have all your strawberries - already dipped and lined up on your wax paper and take the fork and drizzle the dripping chocolate back and forth over the strawberries to make the lines:)

Experiment - you can do different chocolate combinations, tint the white chocolate blue or pink for baby showers, dip the bottoms into nuts, etc.  Just have fun!!!!  Let cool - but whatever you do - DON'T put them into the refrigerator - that will make your strawberries runny and gooey - BAD!!!  Just leave out at room temp and for best results, make them and take them - don't do the night before!  Enjoy!

Toilet Paper Pumpkins - SO FUN!

We made a really cute fall craft today!  They are called toilet paper pumpkins and here's what you need:

• a roll of toilet paper
• orange fabric - mine cost 2.00 for a half of a yard at Hobby Lobby
• green pipe cleaners - 77 cents at Hobby Lobby
• green felt - 4 sheets for $1.00 - I just got one (cheap)
• brown paper sack - used a lunch sack and cut it:)

Then all you do is:

Get your toilet paper

put it in the center of your fabric

pull the fabric tight around the toilet paper and stuff extra fabric into the center

roll up a piece of paper sack and stuff the bottom into the center for a stem

draw your leaves onto your felt and cut out - my kiddos each chose a different shaped leaf:)  Be sure to draw a stem to attach the pipe cleaner to, wrap pipe cleaner around stem of leaf, and then around stem of your pumpkin (paper sack)

Twist remaining pipe cleaner around a pen/pencil to look like vines:)

After you twist just pull gently on the end of the pipe cleaner

taaaah dahhhhh!!!!

How cute are these?!!!!!!

Fun Stuff

I know ya'll all do this:  Don'tcha just LOVE when your kiddos are sleeping peacefully and you can just go in and peek on them and stand there and thank God for his wonderful gifts?

Kinsley and I had a great girl day today while Curtis and Kaden went to the OU game.  After I woke up from my Zyrtec coma:) - more on that later, and Kinsley woke up from her nap, we went to eat at Kins's fave - Cotton Patch, had a small shopping spree at Target, went to Marble Slab for ice cream and came home to play with these goodies:  

Here's Kinsley with her new suprise!

I bought these for Kinsley and Kaden so they can start doing chores - and earning a little allowance:) - Found them at Target for $9.99!

They come with all kinds of jobs like "share", "brush teeth", "clean room", etc. - SOOO cute!

And this, for me, I've been looking for one of these since I saw the cute pottery barn cover for the month!  It looks a little more like an apple than a pumpkin here, not sure why???  Still, I LOVE it!

Acorn Pumpkins

One of my goals this school year is to do more crafts with the kids at home!  So today, when we were at the park, I noticed these HUGE acorns in the trees surrounding us - they reminded me of a craft I recently saw at www.familyfun.com; so I picked them off the trees and decided to take them home:) - ***at least I think they are acorns, if not, and you know their real name, please feel free to correct me in the comment form!

Here's Kinsley with the acorns - pre cap removal!

I bet you could make something else cute out of them with the caps on too - like lions, or eskimos, etc???  Next time:)

Here's Kinsley painting her acorns into pumpkins!

The finished product, now, aren't they just the cutest things you've ever seen?  Why, yes, yes they are!!!!!

Tah Dah!!!!!!  How cute are they?  Kaden made the one on the left, then me, Kins, me, Kins - we had so much fun!!!!!

Kindermusik

Ya'll I'm so crazy!  We tried a free Kindermusik class today with our MOPS group and it was a HUGE BLAST!!!!  Kinsley absolutely LOVED it after she observed shyly for a little while:)  She was so cute that I had to MAKE myself not cry - you know, those "she's so cute and sweet, it makes me so happy" tears!  I was so embarrassed that I almost cried - but I fought the tears back!!!  Go me!  If you haven't tried Kindermusik I highly recommend it.  We've been once before with my sister and baby Kai and it is just such a sweet bonding time to have with your child.  Such delight!!!!

Kinsley with her rhythm sticks!

I'm not sure what these are called but aren't they cute?!

Winkin' at me!  It cracks me up that she has to do her mouth like this when she winks!

Some of the MOPS group enjoying themselves - Kins and me are in the center - my friend Angie and her little girl Sarah are on the right.

Rhythm sticks!

Colorful Tongues/Simple Pleasures

We like to enjoy the "little things" in life and here's one of our favorites:  The kiddos and I LOVE to go to Sonic's happy hour after school to get slushes and cherry limeades.  They like to experiment with different colored slushes and get a kick out of showing me their different colored tongues!!!!  I just love it that its a fun little thing we do together as a family!

Cousins

Free Art Lessons - Hmmm???

So I took Kaden and Kinsley here the other day for a free trial art lesson.  Kaden loved it and did exactly what the teacher instructed the kids to do - draw a guinea pig inspired by G-force.  Kinsley, however, is too much of a free spirit to copy what someone else is doing, and was not interested in G-force or guinea pigs, so she decided to create her own picture.  The teacher said she might not quite be ready for this.  Does anyone know of art classes in town where a kid can simply be themselves and create???  Guess I'll be letting her do that more at home for now:)  Hmmm, maybe I should open an new business????  Not that I'm saying this is a bad one - it's very good indeed - just not fitting for my little girl's true artistic nature - free spirited and independent!

Kinsley's artwork - this is her self portrait after she fell on a rock and got lots of booboos - ha ha!

Kaden with his guinea pig and cage drawing - my little rule follower!

Here's the teacher - Kade is on the left and Kins is on the right!

Things to do before you are 30

Jenny, you inspired me, I did these things below that are bolded before I was 30, so now that I AM 30 maybe I'll try to do some of the unbolded ones - especially the ones about traveling!  What have you guys done?  This is just fun!  

***Here are some things I still want to do that are NOT on this list:) - In my NEXT 30 years:) - The list of things I have done follows - I've done the bolded ones:)

WHAT I STILL WANT TO DO:

1.  Go back to Korea with my husband

2.  Take Curtis to Venice, Rome, Switzerland, Paris - all the places I visited when we were engaged but he didn't go and BOY did I miss him!

3.  Go to Greece

4.  Go to a U.S. Virgin Island

5.  Watch my kids give their life to Christ and get baptized

6.  Learn how to cook:)

7.  Have a garden - Sarah B. do you give lessons - Dad????

8.  Let all those I love KNOW it!!!!

9.  Have my paintings hung in a gallery for a show

10.  Surprise my husband BIG time - he always figures them out before I get to them:(

11.  Give back to all those who have so generously given to me/my family

12.  Learn more about photography

13.  Help a charity that helps kids - sick or mistreated or starving

14.  Go to Africa and hold sick babies and just love on them, feed them, etc.

15.  Have a studio where I can literally go in and fling paint whenever/however I want

16.  Decorate a really fun and cute playroom for my kiddos

17.  Watch specific family members make HUGE life changes

18.  Go on a second honeymoon with my husband

19.  Fly to see far off family more

20.  Play with my kids without interruptions for a whole day:)

21.  Get back into my personal best physical shape

22.  Learn to eat organically/affordably/healthy

23.  Write a childrens book

24.  Throw a party for all my girlfriends that I love and respect 

25.  Be in a play

26.  See more famous plays

27.  Organize all our family videos:)

28.  Write and mail more letters to family/friends

29.  Plan and go on a big family vacation with extended family

30.  Start yearly traveling traditions - skiing spring break, summer beach trip, yearly anniversary trip, etc.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS I HAVE DONE: (bolded)

Bold the ones you’ve done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive 
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone - my husband of course:)
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa - it was closed when I went, but I did see it:)
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment - at a funeral once
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger - in college for my sorority party
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe 
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach - This is how I got engaged!!!!!
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theatre
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business - selling purses with my sister Jae
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites - Rome, Italy, Tuscany
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie - for two seconds on Leap of Faith with Steve Martin:)
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice - needed to be pinched here, it was surreal!!!!
80. Gotten a tattoo 
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on a television news program as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date - at least he ended up being my husband:)
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents 
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open
103. Had plastic surgery 
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol 
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet 
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Dad's 65th Birthday!

This is my precious daddy!  I cannot begin to tell you what an amazing man this is!  What a God-fearing, wise, gentle, AWESOME example of a man I had for a father!  This weekend was his 65th birthday and we celebrated BIG with family and friends.  We had a blast with all the family we had in town and just being together!  I have many more pics to post later, but here are a few from the weekend!  Happy Birthday Daddy - you deserve every happiness in the world and all God can give you!!!!!

Jae, my dad, and me

Mom and Dad - so cute!

The table of food/Mom's awesome flower arrangement!

One of the food trays we made:) - yum!

Some of the strawberries my sis Jayna and I made:)

Kinsley's First Day of Pre-K 2009

I cannot believe this sweet baby girl is so big!!!!  My precious little girl started her last year of Pre-K this past Tuesday.  She was so excited to go since her brother started school two weeks ago - she's been asking when it was her turn ever since!  I let her pick out her own outfit and as you can see below she is totally a girlie girl!!!!  I was so proud of myself because I fixed her backpack the night before this - it had already been torn on one of the shoulder straps - much to my dimay, so I sewed it back together - that's right - me...the next Martha Stewart, ha ha!  Those of you who know me are REALLY laughing now!  Anyway, I was proud of myself.  

Here she is outside smiling before we left - if only you could hear my hubby telling me over and over to "Come on!  You're gonna be late!"  and me insisting again and again "I have to at least get one picture!" - hopefully our whole aptmt. complex didn't hear us!

And here she is with her two incredibly precious teachers Ms. Pam, and Ms. Sandra.  Sandra has been working with me since I started at New Creation and I just LOVE her, she's the perfect mix of strict and sweet, and Pam - this is her second year at New Creation - what a heart of gold this girl has - so sweet its indescribable!!!!  LOVE THESE LADIES!  Kinsley had a great day and is looking so forward to this year!