3 days of chasing fireworks!!

Don't get me wrong, I like the 4th of July. But...I really wish it would just be ONE day...not three.
When I first thought of this, I thought, well its on the weekend and that's why.  NO....its 3 days every year no matter what day it falls on. For some reason, the towns around where we live, I swear like to battle for who gets the most visitors at their events. Not everyone had their fireworks on the same day.  Therefore I have kids, who feel they NEED to watch fireworks every night.

So, here is how our holiday went. We DID have some fun. But it didn't start out that way.....

Our town has a carnival every year, the week before or the week of the 4th. Well, we tried to go on Wednesday night. We got in 3 rides, and clouds came rollin' in. We saw lightening in the distance and they started not letting people on rides. So we left and it rained all night.
The next night, we tried again. Weather was cloudy but according to the radar we had at least 2 hours. NOPE. As soon as we got there, the winds kicked up and the skies opened up on top of us. But only for 2 minutes at a time....each time we tried to get on a ride. So we did a couple games, and finally the kids got on the merry go round. And then it rained again. The clouds started to part but the carney's decided to shut it down, as another storm was headed in anyway.
As we drive away, we saw the rides moving. WHAT??????? UGH
Luckily the tickets are transferable to other carnivals and can be used whenever, even if next year.

Now we are on day 3 and its finally the 4th of July!!!! We headed to my moms for a BBQ and later hit the fireworks in my home town with one of my oldest friends. We go every year.

 Day 4 of the 4th of July....pretty un-eventful on purpose. Got some cleaning done, cooked a real dinner, and then we headed up to the pier in our town. We were able to see fireworks from our right and left. 

Day 5 - the final and last day!!!  We had some family meet up with us for our towns parade, which was followed by the fireworks (which were delayed due to rain).

It was a long 5 days, but the kids had fun and I guess that's all that matters in the end. Hoping you all had an eventful and fun weekend as well!!

Kid friendly 4th of July home decor

I know this post is short notice, but these few little crafts can be done pretty cheap and quickly, for those of you who might be last minute people.

Our family did a few of these crafts, to just spruce up a little for the 4th of July. To get our house into the spirit.


1 - Patriotic paper chain - this one is easy enough that we have all done it at least once. However, instead of using thin construction paper, we used scrapbook paper. Total cost was about $4.50.

2 - Star door hanger --another easy one, but its also a fave of mine. I don't know why I love seeing it on the door when I walk up to my house.
Get 3 wooden stars in the size you choose from a craft store. I wanted all different sizes but that wasn't an option, so we got 3 medium size ones. They were like $1 a piece.  We grabbed some patriotic ribbon that was on sale for $1.00. Last, the paint. It was on sale 3/$1.00. So this door hanger pretty much costs me about $5.00 to make.
I had my husband drill holes in the wood. He had to do this very carefully because of the thinness of the wood, so beware.
Then we painted each star a different color, attached them all by the ribbon and done.

I am sorry for this being a last minute blog post, right before the holiday. However, if you still haven't done anything decoration wise, and get a rainy day this week, here are a few crafts to do with the kiddos. Have a great holiday!!

It's CHORE time!!!

I admit, I am bad with keeping on top of my kids with a chore schedule. Typically what happens is that we will be on path for a week, then they start to whine and I start to forget to be consistent (I HATE that word in parenting), and I end up doing it myself along with just barking orders at who to clean up what.

However, in summertime, the kids are home more, while I am working. And the last thing I want to do when I am done working is clean up. NO, I want to get these whiny kids outside!!!

I realized the only way to keep this house not looking like a tornado is to force them to help. So we compiled the chore chart below. Now this is just for normal everyday clean up that needs to be done and not any large cleaning hauls. We take care of that in our own time.

Below is the chore chart that we use.

Each person has a different chore to do each day with day off a week.

We have Mommy & Daddy chores listed too, for the reason that, my children are very known to pull the old "How come you aren't doing anything and I am doing it all".   Oh really kid???
I found that this way, each daily chore got done pretty much each day.

Also, for each daily chore the girls do WITHOUT any complaint and WITHOUT me having to tell them to do it 5 times, they get a tally mark. A money amount is applied to each tally mark. Then when the chart fills up, we take their tally marks and cash them in, and go on a mini shopping, at a location of their choice.
This way, not only am I getting them to help me clean up THEIR mess, but I am coning them into not complaining about it. He He  But really, they are able to see who has more tally marks, and it sometimes helps them try to do better.

Teachers get them to work off of charts and lists at school, and it seems to work at home too.

Fireworks must haves

4th of July is right around the corner. And that means going to Fireworks!!!

Now if you have children, its not as easy as it used to be, when you could just find a place to park last minute, meet your friends, throw a blanket down and be done.

There are kids involved now. Which means there will be complaining on hunger, thirst, potty breaks, and tiredness.

So here are a few tips I like to keep in mind, for those 4th of July fireworks. 
(Note: Yes there are fireworks other times of the year, but come on...are they as crowded and stressful? NO)

1 - Go early to park close & convenient.
The kids will be whining and cranky by the time they are over, so you want to ensure you can get out of there fast and preferably with ease.

2 - Bring things to do.
Yes,  you are there to see fireworks, why should you have to entertain the kids with more then that? Well if you need to go early, there WILL be a good amount of time sitting and waiting around.  things to do could mean bringing food and drink, glow up sticks/toys, or even other kids. best thing is to park your butt as close to a playground as possible, IF possible.

3 - Speaking of glow sticks....buy your own.
Trust me, if you are frugal, you will want to buy your own. You would rather your child have something that lights up, just like all the other kids, then have to tell them NO b/c you won't pay $10 for a light up stick.

4 - Bug spray.
This is a Summer staple of mine. My kids always get eaten alive. And if they are eaten alive, they tend to be even more miserable.

5 - Blanket/chair
This should go without explanation.


Here is to a Happy & Healthy and & stress-less 4th of July!!

Recital weekend

This past weekend was recital weekend.

On Friday, we had Isabel's little showcase at the dance school. Her and her acro teammates did a cute little routine. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it actually was a well coordinated "routine". It was sooo cute and she was so proud of herself, as we were proud of her.

Then Saturday was Madison's recital. This was her second year in a row. And once she again, she owned that routine! Its kind of hard to really want the whole 2 minute dance, and see all the kids, AND concentrate on your own child, but she seemed like one of the better ones. She loves dance. And she pretty much puts her ALL into everything she does, as if she's getting paid to do it.

However, she is talking about backing down from the "dance" and moving onto acro next year. I wish she would stay with the dance because she is so good at it, but I will not be that mom to force my children into extracurricular activities if they don't to. So, we shall see.

Overall it was a very Proud weekend!

Entertain your kids with their snacks

 Summertime is officially here for most of us. Kids are not in school and the temps are rising.

As a lot of us moms experience, we have picky eaters. And out kids get bored in the summer. So lets make their food entertaining.

Below are a few summertime snacks for kids, that are not so on the boring side.

 Watermelon on a stick. Seems simple enough, yet just adding that stick might make things more fun for them. I can picture mine pretending to eat it like a Popsicle. And, it MIGHT help with the mess and juice all over the hands.

Keeping with the watermelon theme, this one is one that my mom did when I was a kid. We called it the watermelon cake. However, now that I am a mom, I think it would just be a great way to keep a large group of kids occupied at a BBQ. or just a cool snack for the neighborhood kids all hanging out.

Cut a watermelon in half and scoop out the melon.  Then take some softened sherbet of any flavor that is pink and fill the half of watermelon shell with it. Top with some chocolate chips to look like the seeds. Re-freeze. When ready, just place it on a table and give each child a spoon and they can dig in!
(sorry there is not a photo of the finished product. I will post as soon as I do this as I plan on it this summer)

Applesauce in the freezer. I started doing this last year, because my kids wanted water ice every night and it was starting to get a bit expensive. However, at our local Dollar General, we could get a 4 pack like this for $1.00. I decided to put one in the freezer to see if they liked it and they LOVED it. So every week, I would buy a few packs, and stick half in the freezer and half in the fridge and they could have water ice whenever they wanted, for 1/4 of the costs.

Kids jello shots. We have all seen the ideas going around of how to hollow out fruit and put alcoholic jello inside for a unique way to do Jello shots. Well why can't we just leave out the alcohol and make them anyway, for our kids?

Fruit kabobs. Plain and simple. Stick fruit on a stick. Also, I am hoping this will keep my daughter from eating an entire bag of grapes all to herself.

Budget friendly Father's Day idea, for the working dad

As moms, we all want to help our kids, show their Daddy's just how much they love them. But sometimes, we don't always have the money to do it up the way we really want. Or, we may have husbands who always seem to be working on Father's Day.

This made me recall a time about 5 years ago, when we were in that situation. My husband worked on weekends and was not around on Father's Day. We also did not have a lot of money. So, i got a little creative.

I took the girls out the day before, while he was at work, and we picked up some plain white t shirts, in the girls sizes. We also grabbed a box a fabric markers. That was it -- about $10- $12 total was spent.

When we got home, I asked the girls what they wanted to tell people about their Daddy, and I wrote those quotes on the t-shirt.

My dad's a cool dude!
My Dad rocks!
My Dad is awesome!
 Etc Etc Etc

Then I just let them draw and color around the phrase. I think we may have even traced their hand prints onto the shirts.

On Father's Day, we made a packed lunch for daddy. We put it inside a paper bag that we colored with more notes like 'I love you Dad!". 
I got the girls all dressed in their t-shirts, and did their hair up really cute.
We then went to Daddy's work, un-announced, and brought him lunch while sporting our t-shirts.

Not only was he surprised that we popped in, but he got to show off his adorable daughters, and they got to show off how much they love Daddy!

I'm ignoring you!!!!

Sitting at my desk, while trying to sort through a mess of a spreadsheet of 22,000 numbers........

Child: Mommy, can you cut me up an apple?
Me: I can't right now. Just eat it normally.
Child: But i dont want to and there is notttttthhhhhhiiiiiinnnnnggggggg to eat.
Me: Well find something else.
Child: But.....
Me: GOOOOOOOOO away from me right now

This is when said child promptly groans in anger and stomps back into the kitchen yelling 'There is nothing to eat in this stupid house."

Continue on with my sorting and reading emails with even more information I need to sort out, about a completely different issue now.

Child :  Can I have this water ice? (said in a nice sweet tone now)
Me:  Yes
Child: Grumbling from the kitchen..."UGH, when are you ever going to do the dishes so I can have a spoon???"

At this point, I am completely ignoring her attempt to get ME to stop my work and do this all for her. She is not startving, this is her second snack since we got home.  She them continues on to find a spoon, clean it, and she is on her merry way with not another word.

I then stop to think....WHY didn't I do the dishes this morning, as I usually do? Oh that's right...I was on the phone with your sister, trying to get her to stop hysterically crying, afraid I am going to get mad, over an issue that I could care less about anymore. THAT is why the dishes are not done.

Heeeyyyy Junnnnne

Hey all! Its that time of the year where summer is fast approaching. However in our house this is a pretty busy month. Well....at least  for one specific week in June it will be.

Its the end of the school year now!!!! Our school year has been extended a little bit because of all the hate Mother Nature threw at us over the winter. Ugh.  So my children will be in school until the later part of the month. Boo.  (For them, not me. Remember...I work from home.)  None of the girls are progressing to a higher level school next year, so we do not have any of that orientation type stuff to go through this time around. Everyone is staying where they are.

Dance school will also be ending for the year too.  So we will have picture week, recitals, and showcases, OH MY.   I, of course, will be posting pics and blogs about those end of the year events.

Also this month, I will be doing some 4th of July posts too. I will be hitting the dollar stores for some inexpensive decor.  I am sure I will also be posting about some recipes ideas, or dessert ideas. I have so many things on my Pintrest board for Red, White and Blue holidays that I want to try. So feel free to Follow me on Pintrest and try some of those ideas right along with me.

And I am sure, if not in June, definitely in July,  I will be posting some type of scheduling ideas for kids over the summer. The girls are home with me a lot more in summer, while I am working, and if I don't have a plan, things can get kinds of crazy around here.
I also like to try a few new crafts over the summer with the girls, so I will be posting about those as well.

In all honesty, I don't think I will be posting daily over the next month. I will be stepping up my own game, for certain personal reasons, so I intend on being pretty busy with normal everyday chores and things. But as I stated, I do have a lot of ideas and will be sharing them all with you.


***Feel free to also follow me on Pintrest @hjsmoons

Friday Funnies - 5/9/14

Me: After I am done eating, Ava & Isabel I am going to get you in the bath. By the way, where is Isabel? Is she still upstairs?"
Ava (in total monotone like its normal): "OH, I'm sitting on her. She told me to."
OK.......???
----- --------- ------- -------
Driving past the school, after a morning appointment. Scanning the crowd to see if either of my girls are out there. Set eyes upon Isabel...doing a little butt wiggle dance with her friends.
------ ------- ------- --------

Sorry, that's about it. The girls did not make me LOL too much this week. I mean, they always make me smile and laugh but.....ya know.
However, I need all y'all help!!!   I am trying to gather some questions, to do funny interviews for the girls, and record it, to try to get the vlog going. And I am not having any luck finding good ones. So i ask all of you to please let me know of any questions, that I could ask the girls, where the answers just might make us all crack up laughing,  or just questions that are so over their heads, that watching to see what answer they make up can be hysterical. So please, comment on the blog and give me some ideas. Thanks!!

PS - My page is only about 20 or so views away from hitting 1000 total views, after only 23 blog posts. I know this might not be a lot but its still pretty cool for ME.  Thanks for everyone who has given the me gusto (weird word) to keep posting. Like I said, I know its random, but that's my life!!
Also, feel free to Share the posts on your pages too.

Candyland BD party

 

(balloons very tediously taped and pinned to the wall)

 

Hey, its me!
I know this post is over a year old, but I found these pics and thought I would share with you all, the Candy-land themed birthday party I did for the twins 6th BD in Dec. 2012.  This took a lot of simple but tedious work, and a lot of people with helping hands.


This was the famous candy-land sidewalk. I know there were better ways to do it, but I got impatient and just went with the process of cutting poster board in squares and coloring each one. I don't suggest this method, but the idea is there anyway. I went through 2-3 packs of permanent markers and about 4 adults all killing their arms coloring away, over a period of a week. Ha Ha  We then found some heavy duty double stick tape and laid the path.

The giant lollipops. Well this was only doable because my florist sister, still had the bases to come topiaries that she did for our other sisters wedding a few years earlier.  its basically just pvc pipe cemented into a flower pot. Then you can see she glued some cotton filling to the bottom  to give it a cotton candy, on a cloud, look.
I don't think that balloons were secured to the bases at all, but once we wrapped the cellophane and tied with, the stayed in place. 

These cakes i did myself. i used giant cupcake cake molds. I wanted them to have a polka dot look to them. I used a star tip to create the polka dots in one color them the same tips to fill in all around it.
Not the most professional looking but.....in the ends, who doesn't like cake and icing?? 

This was our candy buffet. More of the life size lollipops, along with bowls of candy and gum balls of all different colors. The table skirt I found online at http://www.orientaltrading.com and thought it was perfect for the party theme.

Hope this helps inspire some of you, for your next party.