"Transformers do NOT have butts!"

Yes, I know I still owe you an update from the past couple weeks but this was too good to not mention while it's in my head. The boys and I like to debate random things, particularly while driving...as we were doing today on the way home from music class. Today's topic? Butts.

Sometimes, when the boys and I walk in parking lots, I have to tell them to "link up" to get them to hold my hands...it's Transformer terminology dealing with how some of the Transformers can combine to create bigger and better 'bots. The main 'bot gets to be the head and body and the others become an arm or a leg. So. We were walking today and Noah, when told to link up, hooked up to my back rather than on one of the ends (since he'd have to hold hands with one of his brothers). I informed him that he was the butt. He adamantly maintained that he was a jet pack and that Transformers do NOT have butts. Hence the discussion that has continued since that time. 

The boys, for some reason, find it just wrong to think that a Transformer might have a butt. I don't know why. I asked how they sit if they don't have butts. They informed me that they *do* sit, but that they call all their parts something different and we can't know because we're just humans. Yes. Really.

Anyhow. That's what we've been talking about for the last hour or so. Thought I'd share. ;) 

Announcements.

Sorry. Been MIA again. ;) Nathan's mom was visiting this past week and we had a great time...away from the computer. :) I'll sort through some pictures and post before long, but not right now. Right now I just wanted to pass along a few announcements:

1. CK is having a sweepstakes where you could win a NIKON digital camera...a cool one! So, pop on over and enter!! What are you waiting for?! Totally a piece of cake to enter and what a sweet potential up-side. (Course, I'm a little partial to Canon, myself, but who would pass up a FREE camera, eh?) 

2. Prism Papers is having a card contest! You've still got plenty of time, so get creating! Here's the info. Personally, I've been making more cards lately and can definitely see how this could become addicting. :) 

3. In case you haven't seen it, Lisa Bearnson has a new book out called "50 Moments: Scrapbook the pages that Matter Most" and it's pretty dang cool. I happen to have five layouts or so included and am loving some of the page ideas in there!! Definitely inspiring.  

Okay. That was it for now. I promise I'll be back with more later this week...just now, though, I need to sort some laundry and continue "catching up" from our past week or so. :) Happy Tuesday to you!!

Good clean fun.

Yup, I'm sure that's what the title of the layout will eventually be. ;) Just wanted to pop in to share a couple pictures from last Friday...

 

 

Not the greatest pictures (don't worry, I'm already planning an encore performance so I can catch some better ones...this was too impromptu so I wasn't ready for it, lol) but I'm sure you can imagine how extremely happy these boys were.  We found these awesome bubble wands at a local toy store earlier in the week and, of course, had to try them out. Wonderful. The wind even helped, though it is a bit difficult explaining to a two year old how to be sure to stand up-wind. ;) Yeah. We had to do baths rather shortly thereafter given all of the soap/bubble residue in their hair and pretty much all over Micah (the kid didn't even need soap to shampoo his hair, lol!).

Oh! And one of the best parts was the bubble solution itself...homemade. We found the "recipe" on the back of the bubble wands...didn't manage to follow it exactly, but it worked way better than other pre-made bubble solutions I've purchased (and was considerably cheaper when you look at how big a tub I put the stuff in...had to have something easily shared by the three bubble wands). Because I'm nice like that, here are the instructions as given:

12 cups water

3 cups dish soap

3/4 cup corn syrup 

Yes, corn syrup. I think it must be the magic ingredient, because I've tried the dish soap thing before actually. Even to the point of knowing that Dawn blue dish soap seems to work the best for some reason. I digress. In any case, we ended up using about 48 cups of water (btw, great math lesson worked in here) but only had 8 cups of dish soap on hand and decided to just use one of the containers of corn syrup...which was just shy of 2 cups. So. There you have it. And, because of the type of container I put it in, I just popped the lid on it and pulled it back into the garage...it keeps just fine and we'll just add to it over the summer. :)

I'm sure we'll be playing with more bubbles soon...but I may actually have to go find some more bubble wands, as the boys did this in our very popular front yard. Shortly after pulling out the bubbles, we found ourselves with almost a dozen extra kids in our yard. Between some "assisted" sharing and the impromptu soccer game some of the older boys started (did I mention that all but one of the kids were boys? Lots of boys on our block apparently), we managed. But more wands would definitely be useful. ;)  

Two for Tuesday...

Today was such a nice day! Not only was the weather gorgeous for a change, but we had a fabulous time at Denver's Butterfly Pavilion with our homeschool group. The kids started out with a little class about habitats and then we all roamed at will. Nathan took a break from work and joined us (which was lovely!) so he and the boys and I started in the "bug" room (it has a different name, but that's how I think of it)...staring at all the beetles and cockroaches (including the hissing variety) and spiders and bees. Still couldn't convince any of the boys to hold Rosie (the resident tarantula) but took a plunge and did so myself:

 

Not really a bug sort of person (and, thankfully, neither are any of my boys) but it was fun. :)

Then, we ventured through the aquatic invertebrates and the shrunk room (where the bugs are big to give you perspective on how life would be if you were a bug) before heading to the butterfly area. Wow. We've been to the Butterfly Pavilion before and this is our second year raising butterflies ourselves, but still. Being surrounded by so many fantastic butterflies and foliage is awesome. Micah, in particular, was delightful...so thrilled every time he spotted a butterfly yet simultaneously completely freaked out if one came near him. He and Noah were on a quest to find a blue morpho butterfly (thanks to an episode of "Go, Diego, Go!" that's been a favorite lately...for Micah, not Noah...Noah just thought Micah was cute and decided to help him). Both boys ended up spotting one, so they're content. Oh, and Micah calls them "bubble-flies"...how cute is that?! Anyhow, here's one of many pictures:

 

No. This isn't the blue morpho...just a pretty one that was fairly cooperative. :)  Saving the rest for a layout or two or three.

All in all, a very good time. :)

So. That was one for Tuesday. The second thing is that I just finished and ordered my awesome School Days photo book from Shutterfly! It was designed by my good friend Tiffany Tillman (who rocks!) and is great fun! Even though we don't do "typical" school stuff, this album still worked fabulously for our homeschooling story. You can check out my completed album HERE. (Sorry. Can't figure out how to place an image directly on my blog of the book.)

I just have to add that, even though these photo books may seem a bit pricey at first glance (I know they did to me in any case),  they're sooooo worth every penny! I love how incredibly easy these are (with these pre-designed ones by CK you only have to drag and drop your photos and add some journaling...beauty) and what a gorgeous finished project you end up with. Even though I've scrapbooked much of our homeschooling stuff already, I love that with this album I can quickly get a nice overview of it all. (And, incidentally, if you're ever concerned that perhaps you don't do enough with your kids, pulling a bunch of pictures together like this is a great exercise! I know that I have my moments of doubt and this really helped!) If we did public schools, I can see that making one of these for each child would be a super easy annual solution for capturing all that "schtuff." Anyhoo...check it out.

Okay, off to wade through some more of the photos I took at the Butterfly Pavilion... 

A quick little plug...and some enabling!

Just wanted to say thanks to all for "voting" for Tiff last week...she made it and is one of the new designers for Little Dreamer!! Incidentally, Little Dreamer is having a birthday celebration all week and I'd hate for you to miss out on the fabulous new products and awesome deals...everything is at least 35% off all week! (Yes. I don't as of yet do much digital scrapbooking. Somehow that doesn't stop me from collecting against the day I do, LOL!)

So go check it out!!