Crazy Projects

Does anyone else "assign" themselves "crazy" projects? Things that you decide "must" be done, but really may not be all that important? I do it, I do it all the time! Cleaning out cupboards, reorganizing closets and other such things.

This time I have started on a project of transfering all of my childhood records onto CD. Of course, I can't just transfer them, I feel the need to copy the album cover, reduce it to the size of a CD and then type up all of the information from the back jacket onto a paper and create the insert. I have several CD's made, and several copies of the albums copied, but the rest is just waiting.

The pile is hiding on a dining room chair and I am hoping that after school is over for the semester I can complete this crazy project. It has been really fun listening to these recordings and my kids are enjoying them now too. I will be glad when I can dump all of the old records (sad, isn't it?) into the trash can and get them out of the box in my garage. (before you ask, I looked into selling them, but really I only find them for under $1.00 most places that I look!)

Crazy Projects... do you have any?

New Bikes

Our yard sale was a success and we met our goal of making enough money to get the kids new bikes. They had both outgrown what they had and it was time! Thankfully, Toys R Us put bikes on sale and we headed there quickly, before the sale ended.

The kids didn't know WHEN they were getting the bikes, so for our Friday Family Night, we had dinner together and then the kids did a treasure hunt. They found clues and plastic coins hidden around the house and when the came to the end, there was a small treasure chest. Inside, they found some chocolate coins, the Toys R Us ad page and a coupon for ice cream!

I have never seen those kids move so fast! They left a vapor trail as they ran to the car! We picked out the bikes, loaded them up and then went to Baskin Robbins for dessert. We had enough money for the bikes, some accessories, ice creams for Mom and Dad (the kids had free scoop certificates) and even enough to pay for some video games at the pizza party that we went to on Saturday!

It feels so good to pay for things in cash and KNOW that you have the money for them! Andy and I put the bikes together on Saturday afternoon and Ella could not get enough! Once she figured it out, she rode for 2 hours. On Sunday morning, she was up and dressed WITH shoes on and asking to go out and ride!

Gavin likes his bike, but wants to ride with a friend. I am sure that he will ride a lot on our next camping trip. He went up and down the street a couple of times, and then played handball.

Here is a quick clip of Ella riding, I am not sure why she was going in a circle, but my guess is: because she can.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

It is all coming up! Everything is looking good, our only problem is that there are tomatoes popping out everywhere and it is hard to tell what should be pulled up and what should not!

The sugar snap peas did not come up at all, which is strange, but Andy is going to replant. They grow so fast it won't really matter!

I think that I am most excited about the corn. Last year's was a complete failure, but we have four rows this year and I am hopeful that it will work! The carrots and the cucumbers are barely showing but the beans and pumpkins are doing great! We are also going to plant watermelons in some tubs down the driveway. We don't have room in the garden and we think that it might just work. Keep you posted!

Let's Play With "Dirt"

Dirt? Goo? Playdough? Yup!

Pair it with this book of silly poetry and you have a great afternoon!

Recipe:

1 c. flour

1 c. coffee grounds (collect them yourself or get a massive bag FREE from Starbucks)

1/4 c. salt

3/4 c. cornmeal

Mix it all together and add warm water until you have "dough"

Ice Cream for Lunch?

Yup.. this was Ella's lunch yesterday! She ate the remainder of her breakfast at snack time and asked for an Ice Cream Cone for lunch. The strange thing, is that I said "Yes". I just figured, what the heck? Besides it bought me some more time to work on my final project.

(Later, she ate an apple and ham...it all balances out, right?)

Haircut

Gavin decided to have his hair cut! I did it myself and it looks good, even though it is REALLY short. We both decided that we will like it better in about three weeks when it gets a bit longer. He freaked out at first, but it didn't take him long to start to like it. I feel like "Gavin" has been gone for a really long time, and now he is back. I swear that he acts different, but it is more likely that I RE-act to him differently. He looks more like "my little boy".