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!! 

Catching up...

Sorry. I know I went MIA for a bit there. Call it a mental health break if you will. ;) In any case, some things for today...

ONE. Don't forget to go buy Tiff's awesome Little Apprentice kit!! Rockin' prices and fabulous kits! You have until midnight Friday to make your vote count! (Each purchase is a vote.) Pretty please?

TWO. Here's one of the layouts I started last Saturday and finally finished:

 

Yes, it just happens to also be my take on my March Album in a Year layout sketch. :) Have you finished yours yet?!

THREE. Micah's getting way too smart for me. Yesterday, honest to goodness, he came to me in the kitchen complaining his tummy hurt. With the expected sympathy, I asked him what we could do. His reply (without a moment's hesitation, as if, of course, he'd been planning for this exact moment), "Candy will make me feel better." Really.

FOUR. Not to be left out of the interesting things kids say department, a couple nights ago Asher and Noah were randomly and completely out of the blue discussing things they were grateful for...

Asher: "I'm thankful for gravity. It's good."

Noah: "Yeah. I'm thankful for the earth's magnetic field. That's good, too."

Um, hello? Where do they get this stuff?

FIVE. We got our Painted Lady butterflies last week! I placed a big group order for our homeschool group and even made up 24 of these fun little informational journal type things (a grand excuse to try out my new Bind It All, don't you think?): 

 

Our little caterpillars should be forming chrysalids any day now...very cool. (We've actually done this once before, so the boys aren't quite as excited as before, but we also have a field trip/class planned at Denver's Butterfly Pavilion next week, so that will be fun!) 

SIX. Okay, just some forewarning, but I may go missing for a bit again. Feeling overwhelmed here and trying to get things back in line. Nothing major, so don't worry...just feeling the need to step away from the computer and get things done, kwim? Don't worry, though, I'll be back! :) 

Course, I also reserve the right to not go missing. Who knows? Just wanted to apologize in advance just in case. ;) 

This morning.

Yawn. Still recuperating from the blast I had all day yesterday at a crop here at my local favorite place (The Treasure Box). I'll post more about that (and maybe even a layout or two once I finish them up) later. For the moment, I just had to share this sweet moment I had with Micah this morning.

I brought Micah downstairs after he woke up. His brothers, uncharacteristically, weren't awake yet (they were all pretty darn tuckered after a long Saturday). Micah looked around and said to me, "me sad. Brothers not up." I indicated that they'd probably be awake soon, particularly given how loud he was talking, lol. He brightened up and said, "Asher me best friend!" How cool is that? :)