Valentine's Day Project #1

(The cute "dinosaur" helper is optional for this project.)

I saw this idea online a while back and always wanted to try it. You take your old, broken crayons and put them in seasonal silicone ice trays to make new, fun shaped crayons. I found these ice trays at Target--they were 2 for $2.50.

I put just one broken crayon into each indentation, but they came out a little thin so next time I'll add a little extra. Put them in an oven set at 350 for 5-8 minutes, or until the crayons are totally melted. Let them cool completely before trying to remove them from the molds.

My only real problem was the residue they left in the molds after the cooled crayons were removed. Haven't been able to get all that color out yet, so if I were going to do a second batch I would need to put a similar color into each slot.

Valentine's Day Project #2

One of my goals for this year was to do one project each week. I always think about doing projects, but never seem to make time to actually do them. I wanted to do something for Valentine's Day, so here is my Valentine's Day Specimen Art. I didn't want to have to spend any money on it, so I used what I had.

Car Wash

If you know Grant, you know he's scared of EVERYTHING that makes loud noise. Historically, the car wash has been out of the question. This particular day my car was in desperate need of a wash, so I let Grant crawl up and sit on my lap during the wash. I love the look on his face. He actually really liked it and now asks all the time to go to get a car wash.

Hmmm...

Yes, that's underwear attached to handcuffs on his head. He came up with this awesome idea on his own and couldn't wait to show his daddy.

Glasses

Grant really loves glasses. He told me that he wants to wear contacts like Mommy and glasses like Daddy. Over Christmas break, I had an eye virus and had to go to the eye doctor. Grant was so excited to go and wanted to know if the doctor was going to give him glasses. I found a pair of Nate's glasses from high school/early college and Grant couldn't have been more excited.

The New Fashion Police

While I was driving yesterday, Grant saw a couple of teenage girls walking. One was wearing extremely short, tight white shorts. "Mom! That girls just has underwear on!" Kids...they call it like it is.

Pretend City

We went down to the Pretend City Children's Museum in Irvine over the long weekend. It's a new family favorite. Grant got to play at the beach, shop and work at the grocery store, drive around a fire truck, work at the emergency dispatch station, do a little gardening, watch some little chicks (birds--not girls), do a little construction, and so much more. We didn't even get to some of the stations, so there is more to explore later.

Fiscal Responsibility

Grant: I like money!
Me: Do you know what money is for? Why do people need money?
Grant: Oh, for expenses.

Snapshots of a Day #1

I was reading someone's blog recently and on the 10th of each month they take a picture each hour of the day for 10 hours. At the end, you have a little snapshot of their day. I thought it might be fun so I gave it a whirl. Of course I missed the 10th so I did it on the 11th and forgot to take pictures for a couple of the hours, but it was fun anyway! (All the pictures were taken with my phone, so they're a little fuzzy...)

10:30 Waiting for the garbage truck to come
11:30 Trying out EVERY couch and chair in Ikea
12:30 Found joy on clearance at Target...but I have plenty of joy so no need to buy more
1:30 Driving home with my buddy behind me
2:30 Laundry
3:30 Opening a package that arrived today. I love getting packages!
4:30 Folding laundry
5:30 Playing with Grant in the tent we made out of the dining room table and a blanket
8:30 Shopping with a friend during our night out

Not what most people would call an exciting day, but I loved it. It was filled with lots of time and fun with Grant, getting things marked off my to do list, and a fun evening with a great friend. What a wonderful day!

First Ornament

Grant's class made little foam gingerbread ornaments this year. I can't tell you how excited I was about the first ornament he brought home. I felt really silly being so excited about it, but I just couldn't help myself. It's my new favorite ornament...and he was pretty proud of it!

USA?

I found this in Grant's room after his rest this afternoon. He'd propped it up on his chalkboard like it was his work of art. It's the first time I've ever seem him write letters. It looks sort of like "lush" (aka random letters) but now I think maybe it's USA...like he was copying it from something in one of his books. I'll never know, but I loved it!

So THAT'S Where My Stickers Went

Grant was quite proud of himself when he found my stickers and put them to use. Taking them off wasn't quite as funny, though.

My First Project

I got a really fun toy for Christmas, and this was my first try at using it. One of the things it does is cut shapes that can be heat-transferred onto a shirt. Grant LOVES his fire truck shirt. When we were out that day, we saw a big fire truck stopped at a light and all the firefighters waved to him. He couldn't have been happier. I later asked him what other things he might like on a shirt and he said "two hearts." I think I'll make all the clothing decisions from now on.