She's Crafty

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Boy, we have had some busy fun-filled last couple of weeks! We started off our week by spending a Free Day at the Zoo through my husband's work. In June they opened up a Dinosaur Exhibit where they have robotic dinosaurs throughout the park, and since we had just been in May, we honestly didn't go to see the animals....We just wanted to see the new dinosaurs! We loved all the dinosaurs! The Dilophosaurus' sprayed water out of their mouth which was fun and refreshing since it was so blasted HOT!

Included in the free admission was unlimited rides on the carousel. You better believe we lived that up!  :)

Mark wasn't able to go with us because he had to work and the other available day to go (when he didn't work), was his Sister's wedding, so we brought my good friend's Nancy and Brock. Brock puts together Dinosaurs for a living (yes, I know, I have cool friends! haha!) so it was fun to learn about all the dinosaurs with him there.


Lila was such a big girl walking around all the exhibits. I can't believe my baby girl is almost a year old.


We also got our face's painted for free. Andy had a crocodile and Luke had a dinosaur. We have never done this before, so it was so fun! The kids were upset they had to wash their faces later that night.


The very next morning Andy started first grade! Here he is before walking to school.


After school Andy said first grade was even more fun than Kindergarten. His teacher allows one person out of the class to be the King or Queen for the day and be the big helper all day long. Andy was chosen first out of the class to be King and he got to wear a crown all day. He was a happy camper!


We also attended my Sister-in-law's wedding on Friday. I didn't get too many pictures because I had to wrestle Lila around so much. This is a picture from my Mother-in-law's camera of the bride, groom and all the grand kids in the family.


My boys had the time of their life playing with their Uncle David. We don't get to see him very often so it was special for them to spend time with him.



We've had family staying at our house all weekend so it's been crazy and fun!!

Oh, and earlier this week we had tangerines with dinner. Andy said, "Do I look happy Mommy?" and put a slice in his mouth. It was so funny! 


I seriously just so happened to have my camera sitting on the kitchen counter so after I was finished laughing I had him do it again so I could take a picture.

My children give me these reminders on a daily basis that we should find joy in the simplest of things...I know I say this every week, but they are my greatest blessing!

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Since we learned some about the Moon this week, I thought it appropriate to learn about the Solar System and our Planets. My boys love Space! They love looking up at the stars at night, they love talking about how the Sun is lava hot, and they love to fight debate over which Planet is the coolest. Sometimes it's difficult for me to find a craft that I know my 6 yr old and 4 yr old will both fall in love with but this week I found it! We created our very own Universe.

I am a HUGE fan of art that has several different layers to it like this one. I think it really gives children a chance to be imaginative and create exactly what they want to. After we finished this project my 6 yr old said, "Can we make this again tomorrow?" That is how much they loved it!

This is how we created this cool project.

Materials you will need:
-Black sheet of card stock paper
-spray bottle (I bought one at Wal-Mart for .97)
-white paint
-water
-a variety bright colored pieces of card stock paper
-glue stick
-crayons
-glitter glue
-star stickers

Directions:
1. Put a small amount of white paint inside a spray bottle and dilute it down with water.


2. Spray a couple sprays onto your black sheet of paper. This creates that Galaxy look to your picture. Let the paint dry completely. It was sunny outside so it only took like 10 minutes to dry.


It really only takes a couple light sprays. Ours looked liked this after spraying.


4. Cut out the circles and glue them onto your black paper.


5. Add whatever details you'd like to your Planets with crayons and glitter glue.



My boys loved using the glitter glue for a ring around a Planet.

Andy suggested we make shooting stars. He even came up with the idea to add the gold star on the end of the tail. He is a Genius, I know! hahaha And I totally copied HIS idea on my own Universe, I'm such a copy-cat. LOL!

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We had so much fun this week re-creating the Moon! Here's a little sneak peek before I show you how to make it....

We started by reading a couple stories. "Happy Birthday, Moon" by Frank Asch. Love this Story!!


It's about a Bear who thinks it would be fun to get the Moon a Birthday present. He climbs up to the top of a mountain to talk to the Moon and he really thinks the Moon is talking back to him, only it's really just his own echo. My kids LOVED this story. They giggled and giggled and it was lots of fun!

We also read "The Boy and the Moon" by James Carroll. Honestly, this story was weird and I didn't like it at all. hahaha! The only reason I read it to my kids was because I loved the illustrations in it of the Moon, and I also loved how it showed the Moon in different phases. Not a book to buy, just check it out at the library like I did.


After reading we set off to make our very own Moon masterpieces. We wanted to make sure the moon had lots of texture so we used a special painting technique. This is how it turned out.


Materials you will need:
-black sheet of card stock paper (I used construction paper but if I had to do it again I would pick card stock because of the thick paint)
-white crayon
-cereal bowl (to trace the Moon shape)
-white paint
-flour
-paint brush
-Empty bottle with plastic cap on it (we used an empty water bottle)
-star stickers

Directions:
1. Trace your cereal bowl onto your black paper with the white crayon.


2. Mix together white paint with flour until it is the consistency of cottage cheese, and paint that onto your Moon circle.


3. While the paint is still wet, press your circular plastic cap onto your Moon all over to create even more texture. Then let the paint dry completely. Since it was thick, we let it sit over night.


4. Add some star stickers for finishing touches.


Here is a close up of the Moon when it is completely dry. I love the circle indents and the cracks. Super fun stuff!! After we got all done with this project my 6yr old said, "I thought the Moon had gray in it Mommy." So for added fun, it might be cool to add a bit of gray paint onto your dry Moon in places.

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Sadly, since Andy is on year round school, this was our last week of Summer vacation. I know....Boo!! We definitely made sure to make it the BEST week we've had this Summer so far!

We had a play date at the Herriman Beach where I pretty much caught the most adorable picture of Lila in the whole wide world...

Lila made a new friend who is Mr. Handsome. She already has good taste in men...She takes after her Momma for sure. hahaha!


We also paid a visit to the Aquarium where we saw some pretty awesome color-changing jellies!


And my favorite, the sea horses...They are AH-MAZING!  :)


And we petted some super slimy but VERY COOL Sting Ray's.


And of course we went to our favorite picnic place, Wheeler Farm. Where we enjoyed eating Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches in the shade. Well, all of us enjoyed the sandwiches except for my 11-month old runner...


Thank heavens for big brother Andy who was in charge of grabbing her before she could escape. She was not a happy camper!


We saw a pretty intense geese fight...This picture was taken after the fight and this goose in the middle was all screaming at everyone to leave him the heck alone!


Oh, and I admired these beautiful faces....





We made sure to get at least one completely inappropriate shot of a calf sniffing Andy's crotch. LOL! I couldn't resist putting it in here.


In fact, we played so long and hard that little Lila zonked out in her stroller.


Have you ever asked for your children to sit and smile so you can get a memorable happy photograph, and this is what you get....


They pretty much look like they just had the worst time of their life right?? Well, I am about to tell you a little secret. Whenever my children give me a shot like that, I tell them to look at each other and laugh and suddenly the most amazing thing happens....


Life returns to their faces...


And even though they might give you the most cheesiest of cheese smile in the Universe like Luke did, it is still one dang cute photograph!


We also took 3 trips to the park this week and I let Andy take Lila down the slide.



And I convinced Luke to try to stick his head through this hole so I could take a picture of him. hee hee hee


There is that smile I love!


We officially decided that Lila is much more of a Daddy's girl than a Mommy's girl.


And Luke gave me the biggest laugh of the entire week when I asked him why he had to put on Daddy's shoes to open the freezer. His reply was, "Because I wanted to get a Popsicle and I didn't want to get my feet cold." Hahahaha  I most certainly have the best children on the Planet!


The End.