New House Guest

Yesterday while searching at the thrift store I spotted five little men I just HAD to bring home. . . .

I cannot WAIT to paint these! They are is great shape just need repainted with DETAIL! Yipee, I am sooooo excited to put these in the gardens. They only cost $1.99 a piece too. Good deal compared to finished gnomes selling for around $20.

Hippity Hoppity Easter!

Wow. This week flew by fast. I had so much fun with the kiddos. Our last day of spring break was JAMMED packed full of Easter fun.

In the morning, a local craft store was hosting a Free Kids Craft Day. They had 10 craft tables, some were Easter crafts others were not. One table was a candy necklace project, which I totally plan to steal for Brooklyn's birthday party. We were there for almost two hours, it cost only $10 for both kiddos to do all the projects, and they had a lot of fun. This locally owned craft store has events all the time, I learned. Another kids crafts day is coming up in June. 

After the craft day, there was a special viewing of Hop at our local Dollar Theater. Well, not too local. About 45 minutes away. LOL. But I am used to having to drive far for something great!

After Hop, we went to a FREE Easter egg hunt. We've gone to this hunt for the last 6 years. And its still my favorite to attend. They have hot dogs, corn dogs, chips, and juice and pretty awesome prizes all for FREE. Also contributing the radness of it all, is the hunt isn't overcrowded. Our hometowns Easter egg hunt is and I hate it!! Oh and did I mention it is completely FREE!

The kids were so tired by the end of the night. I mean cranky, cry when your sister drops your plastic egg, stomp your feet and yell, TIRED! But I really, really wanted to try out glow in the dark Easter eggs. Guess I will save that for next year :)

Hope everyone has a GREAT Easter!

Meeting the Lorax + Printable

Today, the hubs and I took the kiddos to Dr. Suess' The Lorax. It was a cute movie. I still however, prefer the book, but Danny DeVito was excellent as the Lorax.

source

The kids LOVED it. Our families all time favorite kids movie is Despicable Me, and the same team did a great job on The Lorax. (by the way, a number 2 Despicable Me is in the works, due out sometime in 2013 eek! love Steve Carell) The Lorax's  has a good message to SAVE THE TREES and a greener planet. I think they did a much better job at getting the healthier environment point across to the kids than Wall-e and Happy Feet.

Prior to the movie, I made up some Lorax mustaches. I thought it would be cute to wear at the movie. My kiddos so kindly pointed out immediately that the color was wrong. 

Bumble Bee and T-Bird did love their mustaches though. They played with them through out the night.

 In case you need one I made stencil below :)

Lorax Mustache Template

After getting home we made cupcakes! They turned out pretty cute if I don't say so myself. Tanner wasn't really interested in making them, but Brooklyn is always reading to bake. I can see her becoming a baker :) The cupcakes were chocolate with vanilla frosting. We used paper straws and cotton candy for the tree's. Tanner joined in, when it was time to eat.

We started some gardening after we filled our bellies with sweets. I felt it was a fitting way to end the fun day. Brooklyn and Tanner really enjoy gardening. . . okay, well they really enjoy digging in the garden for worms, but its better than nothing. 

Science is Cool!

How great was Bill Nye the Science Guy? I seriously want to archive all his episodes so my kiddos can watch them when of age. (If you don't know who Bill Nye is check him out here)

Bill Nye

Channeling my inner Bill Nye, the kids and I engaged in some good ol' science. Well mostly science, plus a little fun too! All experiments were based around the BALLOON. I wish I had thought of taking pictures of my little scientists at work. We had so much fun today.

THE FIZZ INHALATOR

Supplies Needed:

a empty plastic bottle

1/2 cup of vinegar 

balloon

Baking soda

What to do:

Carefully pour the vinegar into the bottle. Bow the balloon up once, then let go while still grasping it. This loosens the balloon up for maximum size. Fill the balloon about half way with baking soda. (The easiest way to fill the balloon is with a funnel) Carefully, wrap the neck of the balloon around the top of the bottle WITHOUT spilling any baking soda in. Lift the balloon up, so all the baking soda enters the bottle mixing with the vinegar.

How does it work:

The baking soda and the vinegar create a chemical reaction.The two chemicals work together to create a carbon dioxide, which is a gas. Gasses need a lot of room to spread out. The carbon dioxide fills the bottle and continues spread by inflating the balloon.

STATIC ELECTRICITY CAN ROLL

Supplies needed:

empty soda can

balloon

a head full of hair :)

What to do:

Put the can on a smooth surface, like a table. Rub the balloon up and down, back and forth, fast on your head o'hair. Hold the balloon close to the can without touching it. the balloon begins to come toward the balloon.

STATIC ELECTRICITY WATER BEND

Supplies needed:

indoor facet

balloon

a head full of hair :)

What to do:

Turn on the faucet just until you have a very thin stream of water flowing. Rub the balloon up and down, back and forth, fastly on your head o'hair. Now bring the balloon close to the flowing water. Do not touch the water. The stream of water will bend towards the balloon.

STATIC ELECTRICITY TISSUE JUMP

Supplies needed:

tissue tore up as small as possible (super small)

balloon

head full of hair

What to do:

Rub the balloon up and down, back and forth, fastly on your head o'hair. Hold the balloon close to the tiny pieces of tissue. If the pieces are small enough they will jump off the table to the balloon.

How does it work for ALL static experiments:

When you rub the balloon through your hair, invisible electrons (with a negative charge) build up on the surface of the balloon. This is called static electricity, which means "non-moving electricity" The electrons have the power to pull very light objects (with a positive charge) toward them - like the soda can, water, and TINY tissue pieces.

TEXTURE BALLOONS

Mainly for my three year old, I filled four balloons with liquids. Warm noodle soup, cold water, liquid soap and ketchup (had a bottle of knock off brand, something HAVE to be name brand). Each kid hypothesized what the substance inside was. If was fun they all guess the water right but none of the others. My neighbor got close to the soap by guessing gel. We discussed size, weight, texture, look in the light, sound, the way it jiggled. . . . and what a hypothesis is.

Lastly, for a little fun, all the kids that ended up joining in on the science (6!) grabbed a side of a blanket that I placed water filled balloons on. All the giggles and squeals were contagious as they popped the balloons up in the air. 

Next science day theme....WEATHER! And lab coats, I must buy them all lab coats!