Mini Scientist

Last weekend Kennedy asked to do science experiments all afternoon.  That is like music to my ears!  Luckily I had pinned lots of ideas on Pinterest and had found a wonderful website last summer.  We had to search for experiments that included things we already had on hand, which did limit our options. But we still were able to try about 6 different activities!

I only took photos of 3 of them to share. 

Baking Soda Experiment
The first one is just a basic baking soda and vinegar mix.  I had seen a fun one involving color somewhere online and tried to replicate it. We got 4 glass jars and put a few drops of food coloring in the bottom of each.  I covered the color completely with baking soda. Kennedy then poured vinegar into each and guessed which color it was.  I was expecting it to fizz and bubble much more than it did...I think my baking soda may have been getting old.  But Kennedy (and Quinn) enjoyed it all the same!  She also enjoyed mixing the colors when they were done fizzing.

Fireworks in a Jar
This one was easy and fun!  I got a large glass display jar and filled it with water.  In a large glass measuring cup Kennedy mixed a little bit of vegetable oil and multiple drops of food coloring.  She tried her best to mix the food coloring in...the science behind the properties of oil is a bit over her head, but hey, she could see how it didn't blend normally. ;)   Next, she poured the oil and color into the jar of water.  I am not going to tell you exactly what happened - you will want to try it!  But you can check out the photos below!

Milk Color Explosion
This was our favorite experiment of the day! 

Again, this is a super simple experiment.  Fill a plate with milk (the fattier the better).  Add a drop of food coloring to the center.  One drop of each color you have. Place a Q-Tip in the middle of the colors and see what happens!  Then place a little bit of dish soap on the other end of the Q-Tip.
 It was so fun to play around with...even Daddy thought it was cool!




Here are a few places we went for our experiments.  Hope you try some out!

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/milk-color-explosion

Screaming Balloons: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/screaming-balloon

Fireworks in a Jar:
http://www.marthastewart.com/266403/amazing-science-projects

Valentine's Decor

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought I would share what we have up around the house! I had fun creating most of it myself!

This heart wreath is probably my favorite.  There are multiple tutorials floating around Pinterest and I wanted to give it a try. It was supah easy!!!

This garland was also very easy! I used my new Martha Stewart heart punch with some yummy My Mind's Eye papers.  Then I strung them together with embroidery floss and hung it on the old window.

I used the same method as the heart to make these "puffs."  The candle holders were actually from a thrift store and really yucky looking.  I just painted them white!

This is our mantel right now....very simple and plain.  The print on the left can be found at one of my favorite blogs: eighteen25 . This old window is one I found while out junking with my friend Janet!  It had broken panes so I took out all the glass, sanded a lot and painted it white.  Then I backed it with some burlap!

Hope to be back soon with some other Valentine things we have been doing!!!

Polar Express Party

 As I said in one of my last posts, we have been doing MANY fun things found on Pinterest.  When the idea to host a Polar Express Party popped into my head, I had only given myself less than 2 weeks to pull it off.  So I went straight to Pinterest and searched for fun stuff!  If you want to see my Pinterest board about Polar Express, you can find it HERE.:

As with any shindig or holiday, Kennedy wanted to help "decorate." So we had 4 signs to make sure everyone knew they were at the correct place and that they could find the basement theater.  :) Love that girl.

Being that I am who I am, we just HAD to do a craft. Well, not just one craft....THREE crafts.  Yup.  TEN kids on my kitchen floor with paint, glue, buttons....FUN I tell ya! Thank goodness for my mom friends that get their hands dirty and helped out!

Poor Quinn....she wishes she could make a craft too...

It doesn't look too bad afterward, right?!  I just put a vinyl tablecloth down and taped it in place.  It is so nice to just roll up the mess and toss it when they are finished.

These were 2 of the crafts.  Each child was a given a bag as they entered the house.  It contained all the items they needed for the crafts, plus their Golden Ticket and a Silver Bell just like from Santa's sleigh and the movie.  For the first craft, each kid got a bulb ornament.  I had previously written their name and 2011 on the bottom.  I then put brown paint on a plate and walked around so each child could dip their thumb in it.  They stamped their thumb on the ornament once or twice (or ten+ times!) and we let it dry.  While they watched the movie I drew in eyes, antlers and painted red Rudolph noses on each.  The popsicle tree took the most time. Kennedy and I pre-painted the sticks and I cut them to the correct lengths. I basically showed them a model and said "Figure it out - make a tree and decorate it!"  It was funny to see them try to put the pieces together and then glue them.  Decorating is always a blast, too!

This was the last craft.  Each child got a rectangular piece of foam.  I drew what was supposed to be a Christmas light wire on each piece.  On a plate, I had poured various colors of paint.  I walked around and let the kids dip their thumbs in the paint of their choice and press their thumbs to make the lights.  

Aren't my sweeties cute in their matching jammies?!  You know you must wear jammies to a Polar Express Party!  They wear them in the movie!!!

Next up....SNACK TIME! 
I made some homemade hot cocoa in the crock pot...not so good.  But we still had a hot cocoa bar with yummies to put in the cocoa.  I made a cookie dough dip from Pinterest...yuck.  But the kids loved the marshmallow pops, the oranges, the snack mix and eating marshmallows plain.  After the snacks it was movie time!!!  I was so tired by then I forgot to take photos of them actually watching the movie!  Oh well!


And I can't forget! I had printed out a game for the kids to take home and play with their families but I had run out of time to laminate them. Yes. I own a laminating machine.  Go ahead. Call me a dork.  Anyway, my dear mommy friend Janet laminated them while I finished their Rudolph ornaments.  Phew!  That party was a lot of work!  But totally worth it all. And  Kennedy wants to do it all over again next December!  Will it be a new tradition?  Check back next December to find out!

A Pinterest Menu

If you haven't joined Pinterest yet, you are missing out!
I joined maybe 6-7 months ago and it is a favorite spot on the 'net!  I check in at least 2x a week!

Basically it is a giant corkboard online!  I used to try to bookmark sites that I liked or ideas that I saw online.  But I had hundreds of things bookmarked and forgot about them all.  With Pinterest, I can categorize my boards and "pin" things to them.  It is truly a genius idea!

One thing I have been using Pinterest for is new recipes.  I am NOT a fan of cooking.  At all.  And I need all the help (and practice) I can get.  So I wanted to share with you all some things we have tried here in our home that came from Pinterest, or that I pinned myself!

If you want to follow me on Pinterest you can do so here:Danielle's Pinterest

Let's get started!

Rainbow Cake.  We made these for Quinn's 1st Birthday Party!  It was a rainbow theme!  They are easy and super fun to make!

Baked Potato Soup.  This is a crock pot recipe...which I love.  ALL of use gave this two thumbs up!  It is VERY thick, so I think I will add either more broth or some milk next time.  But yummy!

Sweet & Sour chicken.  This was fabulous...lots better than I expected!!!

Home made mini deep dish pizzas.  We made these when Kennedy had a sleep over and each girl

put on her own toppings.  It was a hit!!!

Crock pot pizza soup.  Originally made this to take to my father-in-law.  He raved about it and I loved it!  So I made it again and Jeff loved it!  Kennedy, not so much...but she is quite picky.

Chicken parmesan.  It sounded so good.  But none of us cared for it.  Pretty blah.

These looked good but weren't anything special at all.

Breakfast casserole in the crock pot.  YUMMO!  Easy and good!

Apple Crisp.  We all gobbled this one up!  A go-to for sure!

Caramel apple cake with apple cider frosting.  I was beyond excited to try this one.  But it wasn't good.  The frosting ruined it. 

Mini Corn Dogs! Jeff and I liked this.  Kennedy says she likes the long corn dogs better.  But we will be making it again!

Chicken and dumplings in crock pot.  Jeff LOVES chicken and dumplings so I was eager to try it and see what he said.  His vote was a big YES!!!!

Sugar cookie dough dip.  Sounds delish!  But it wasn't.  Yuck.

I hope to share another Pinterest post soon!  We have done lots of fun activities that were found on Pinterest! Thanks for stopping by!