Family Life

Let the Gardening begin!

2011-03-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

Today, March 19th, 2011 I finally have the time to sit down and figure out my garden!

Now where to begin!!! Planning..............................

Here are 2 sites that I found helpful in helping me determine which plants to start with.

Vegetable Planting Guide

Handy Chart

GOOD TIP, that I learned today! Transplants should not be more than 4 weeks old! :) (outside of tomatoes!)

I have started the morning off with a grid to find out how many starter plants that I need.

For this grid, I taped 3 - 8 1/2 X 11" sheets of paper together. My garden is 7 X 35. I drew out a grid of 1" squares inside of this paper. This way I can look at the planting requirements of each plant and draw it onto the grid.

Today I am planting for indoor starter garden:

6 Tomato bush plants
4 Cherry Tomato plants. I am trying 2 different varieties.
30 Snow pea plants
9 lettuce plants
4 celery plants

I will be planting the lettuce, celery and snow peas in the ground on April 2nd.

The tomato plants will go into the ground on May 7th.

I will be planting a second round of lettuce and celery on April 17th and putting those into the ground on May 7th. (Although the second round may be able to go directly into the ground to start?)

I have been saving tubs from sour cream and large yogurt + toilet paper rolls.

To prepare my planter I poke a few holes in the bottom of the tubs, cut three paper towel rolls with a slit and 1 in 1/2. I layer the three on the outside, and squish the 1/2's into the bottom, and fill with potting soil. I think that this might work better with a few layers of news paper? I just thought that I was being clever and finding another use for toilet paper rolls. :)

My goal with this method is that I can pull out the clump of toilet paper rolls, dirt and a baby plant and plant this directly into the ground, disturbing the roots as little as possible.

Making your own Tomato Cage

Urban Homestead Back Yard Gardening Denver, Colorado

2010-12-22T07:38:00.000-08:00

My grandparents were farmers, as a matter of fact they owned well over 350 acres in Hayden, Colorado back in the day when I was growing up in Denver. This is a long way away from Denver, where grew up and currently live. We only went up there and visited for Christmas break and a week in the summer. All my cousins used to call me the city slicker because they all still lived up in the hills with farms themselves. They all believed that we (my brother, sister and I) had no idea what we were doing up there.

However those visits are unforgettable memories that have lasted me a life time and are sparking my inner farmer. :D My children will not get the benefit of visiting the grandparents to learn how to live off of the earth, so it is my job to teach them! Being the city slicker that I am and just learning my self we have started small. This isn't going to happen over night, it is a learning process and will take a while to get things going.

We have a fairly large parcel of land as far as pieces of land go in the metro area. Just under a 1/4 of an acre, however our house, driveway, patio and sectioned off corners of the yard take up a lot of that parcel. When we moved in we built our children a tree house that connected two trees together with a bridge spanning the back yard. I guess that you would say this was the start of our adventurous yard.

The following year we build ourselves a compost pile. This has taken several years to perfect, but we are now making dirt!!! :D This is where I will start us on our adventure of urban homesteading! Making Compost.

Making Compost

2010-12-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

Our compost took a while to get going. I am not an adamant composter. I don't pay that much attention to it! I only play with the compost once in the fall and once in the spring.

Compost Video

We do collect goodies for it all year and dump as we collect. For me composting began as a way to conserve what we throw away, now I am finding how much more useful it can be. Not only are you saving items from the landfill and reusing them, you are also making a gourmet meal for your plants. Check out the Great Energy Challenge to find out your global footprint.

Coffee grounds
Tea bags
Your hair and Pet hair
Ash from the fireplace
Lint - (Although I use my lint to start my fire)
Paper napkins
Freezer-burned fruit and vegetables
Wood chips
saw dust
Pine needles
Leaves - I pile my leaves in a separate pile for a year to let them compost all on their own before I throw them into the compost.
Chicken manure, I don't have any chickens so we went and picked some up from one of our local freecylers. Freecycling is another story! :D Fun and useful.
Paper towels
Grass clippings
Potato, carrots, cucumber and other peelings
clippings from plants
Bread
egg shells
rotted fruits and vegetables
rines from melons
pasta and rice
apple cores
Banana peels
Pencil shavings
vacuum cleaner collection

Good general rules

If it was made from a plant it can go into the compost pile.
A basic way to start your pile is in in layers. A layer of fresh (i.e. grass clippings), a layer of dead (i.e. old leaves) a layer of mush (i.e. Kitchen waste).
It doesn't hurt to toss a layer of dirt in there every once in a while. The bugs love it.

To start,

Choose your location. Mine happens to be under a tree, but this doesn't have to be the case.
Choose your bin. Mine is made out of and old piece of decking that I screwed together in an L shape. I flip this L in the fall and spring against my fence to make a U. Leaving one end open. I'll try and take a picture later!
Make sure to break the dirt up at the bottom, this allows the bugs a place to crawl and hide.
Start the layers. You will find that your bin will quickly fill up. Don't worry tho as time goes your pile will condense and you will be able to add more.
Flip your pile in the fall and spring. Take the L and move it to the other side. Using a shovel, start at the top of the pile and start shoveling the mix into the other side. Don't forget to break up this dirt too!

Pre-paring a section of your yard for a vegtable Garden

2010-12-22T07:18:00.000-08:00

Vegetables love the sun! So the first step is to make sure that you are planting in a very sunny location. Most edible plants require 6 hours or more of sun light.

Neither one of my 2 very first gardens had enough sunlight. They were both tucked away in the far corners of my back yard and didn't produce any fruit.

The easiest way to prepare your garden is to do it in the Fall with a lasagna style gardening. This way you don't have to dig out and rototil the yard. There are several ways to do the Lasagna style gardening, the choice is yours with the supplies that you have on hand. The word Lasagna simply stands for the layers that you are going to use to create the preparation of your garden. Here is how I did mine.

Cut Grass, part of my garden was already a garden, so I took out all of the old plants. The other part was grass, so I cut that down so that it wasn't too tall.
Layer with newspaper, wetting with a hose as you go. This will help for it not to blow away as you are preparing your garden area and then will serve as a nice bed for the worms and bugs.
Next layer is going to be a layer of cardboard. We happened to have large pieces of cardboard that I saved from our patio furniture, but next year I am sure that we will not have any so I will be visiting my local bike shop for some boxes. Wet the boxes.
We have a few local horse boarding locations near our house, so we took the truck and loaded it up a couple of times with horse manure. This gave the garden a nice clean look.
Next we used the leaves from our trees that have fallen, we have a mulching lawn mower, this cut the leaves up into tiny pieces along with a nice mix of green grass, as the bag of the lawn mower filled up I would spread this mix along the top of the manure layer.
Now is the time to take all of the compost that you have been composting all summer long and spread it over the garden.
By the spring you should have some nice healthy dirt ready to give your plants all of the nutrients that you need.

For me this is the first year, so I actually do not know how the results are going to be, but as soon as I do I will let you know!!

Purchasing a New Car

2010-11-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

On Monday, July 12th, 2010 my husband and I had went to a Dealership in Broomfield, Colorado just North of Denver. We were out to buy our new 2010 Chevy Camaro. We have owned 2 other camaros. A 1996 and a 1982 of which we had owned for 18 years. We were very excited that we had found our new car that we very much wanted. The dealership was close to 30 miles away from our house and there are several dealerships here in Denver that are much closer to us. We were making the drive down there because they had told us that they had the exact car that we were looking for, a V6, 1LT, Victory Red 2010 Camaro. My husband and I were ready to trade in my 2005 Saab, and his baby the 1982 camaro for our new car.

When we arrived to the dealership our new car was not there yet even though they had promised me that it would be. The floor and Internet managers came to speak with us and let us know that they will get our car here by the time that we were done test driving a few other cars. We had arrived roughly around 3:00 p.m. and were finished taking some fantastic test drives by 6:00. We had already knew that we were going to purchase this car by the time we had left our house earlier that day, so test driving was really there for us to burn time. By 6:00 the car was still not there. The dealership assured us that they were getting our car and that we could go a head with the paperwork and the car would be there. Now............. normally if this was not a new car I would not have done this. But what could go wrong with purchasing a new car with out first seeing it, right?

In our experience it seems as if everything, (not literally) went wrong. We left the dealership by 9:00 that night, a 6 hour ordeal, exhausted and hungry. An experience that we felt should have been in and out left us with out the car that we wanted, with out our cars that we drove down there with, a loan on a new car that we didn't have and with a loaner 2010 Chevy Camaro, a different car than we had expected to be driving home with.

The next morning I had found that I lost my phone and called the dealership to let them know. 11:00 a.m., they still didn't have our car. By this time we were feeling a time crunch for we were planning our daughter's very special 13th Birthday party. Phone call after phone call our car still was not at the lot. Soon, during the party we found that the "dealer trade" had went sour. This was the first that we had heard of a dealer trade. At the time I did not know what exactly this had meant. The dealership informed us that the car that we had intended on buying they could not get. This one had 100 miles on it. They did find a car that was exactly like it, brand new and in the package. It had been driven from another state as transfer miles with 402 on it. Would this be OK. My husband and I agreed that since it was still in the package and was driven as a transfer vehicle that we had no choice but to purchase this car. After all we had already purchased it. My husband picked up the car later that evening.

By Friday our 90 day trail of XM radio had turned off. I figured that this must be because I needed to set it up. However when I called XM they informed me that my car had been previously sold and this classifies it as a used car. I was shocked to be receiving this news and explained to XM what I had thought and what I had went through. They transferred me to a manager who then re-instated our Radio.

Later that afternoon we had to drive back down to the dealership to receive a mat that was missing out of the back of the car, while we were there I confronted the floor manager about our car being used. He informed me that our car has never been titled, therefore it is not a used car. Feeling that our car was a used car and knowing that we could not do anything about it, we felt cheated as we left the dealership that evening. As well as the weeks between, we kept finding items in the car, a bank slip that wriggled out from under the seat, a bag from a jewelry store that came out from a crack, insurance papers in the glove box. Our feelings were becoming more and more solid and felt more and more like this is a "USED" car. How can they classify it as a new car when we are finding personal items in the car? The issues started crawling under my skin.

I began research and decided to post a BBB complaint against the Dealership. For the BBB was partially the reason why we had went there in the first place. This particular dealership had an A+ rating.

Yoursphere - Ourworld

2010-06-11T09:10:00.001-07:00

In the parent profile you can see what your children are talking about in their spheres, be sure to set the dates. Ours currently are set to 1969, lol! In the ourworld part of the sphere, you can not see what they are talking about! Luckly DD talks with me about what she is and they are saying, but I could see this being a not so good thing for some........ Make sure to talk with your kids about all online sites.

Yoursphere

2010-06-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

Has this game called your world just like facebook has yoville. DD met a 16 year old boy that wanted to friend her on there? I'm not so sure if I like that. We had the discussion that even though this place is safe............. to still take percautions!

I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review."

Starting this week, we have an exciting new incentive for my readers tied to your referral code! Anyone who uses my code to register on Yoursphere.com will be entered into a weekly drawing to win a $50 gift card. The Mom with the most referrals above 200 will win a $1000 American Express gift card!?? Your referral code: YSMC-0014

Free to low cost summer Fun - Denver Metro

2010-06-07T10:44:00.001-07:00

Looking for Summer Fun things to do! Here are some suggestions.

Free things:
*Denver Public Library has lots of classes to go to. Don’t forget to check out that book and snuggle up together while you are there. http://denverlibrary.org/cgi-bin/events/webevent.cgi
*Take a dip in the river. Bear creek runs along Dartmouth and Platte river runs along Santa Fe, both have some great spots. (Don’t forget to wear shoes.) Rivers and trails - http://www.denvergov.org/parks/RiversandTrails/tabid/432298/Default.aspx
*Take a hike - http://www.denvergov.org/WalkingandJoggingTrails/tabid/432299/Default.aspx
*Bike riding
*Skating – Littleton Skate city offered our school passes for $3, but if you didn’t get yours you can still get one at the door for $10, this will allow you to skate for $1, all summer long. Skate rental is $1.50 and additional sessions are $1.50.
*Go to a park -http://www.denvergov.org/parks/Welcome/tabid/433973/Default.aspx
*Buffalo Bill’s grave and museum - http://buffalobill.org
*Outdoor programs, including volunteering opportunities - http://www.denvergov.org/recreation3/OutdoorRecreation/tabid/432114/Default.aspx
*Free summer meals at various schools throughout Denver metro http://summerfoodcolorado.org find one near you. Some even offer arts and crafts while you are there.
*Denver Parks and Rec. offers Free swimming to youth under the age of 17 all summer long, thanks to Kaiser Permeate, adults are $3.50 http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/pressreleases/co/2010/042810denverparksopen.html
Parks and Rec. Brochure - http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/626/documents/2010_Summer_brochureDenverPost.pdf
*Clean and de-clutter / host a garage sale, this is a great way to get your house back in order, as well as teaching the kids to organize their belongings and make some cash while you are at it.
*Home Depot kids clinic – 1st Sat. of every month. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=Kids_Workshops&catalogId=10053&storeId=10051&langId=-1
*Lowes Build and grow – you have to reg. for these, but it is quick and easy on line. https://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com
*Michaels kids workshop – some are free and some offer the class with the cost of supplies - http://www.michaels.com/art/online/static?page=store_events
*Haystack Goat farm - http://www.haystackgoatcheese.com
*Littleton Historical Museum - http://www.littletongov.org/museum
*Lakewood Heritage center - http://www.littletongov.org/museum (Free for self guided tour, $5 adults, $4 seniors age 65+, $2.50 Youth age 3-12, 2 and under free, for guided tour.)
*Downtown Denver History field trip / Ride the 16th street mall shuttle- http://handsonhomeschool.wetpaint.com/page/Down+Town+Denver
*Colorado State Capitol - http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/cap/contents.htm
*Governors Mansion - http://www.colorado.gov/governor/residence
*Denver Mint – you must make a reservation ahead of time, but it is Free - http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=Reservation
*Geology Museum - http://www.mines.edu/Geology_Museum
*Dino Ridge – Walking is free, you can ride the bus for $ - http://www.dinoridge.org
*National Earthquake center – Tours are free by app. Only http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/neic
*Aurora History Museum - http://www.auroragov.org/AuroraGov/Departments/LibraryAndCulturalServices/CulturalServices/HistoryMuseum/index.htm
*Denver Art Museum - Sat. Free http://www.denverartmuseum.org/home
*Denver Astro society - http://www.denverastrosociety.org/chamberlin.html
*Hammond’s Candy - http://www.hammondscandies.com/factory-tours-directions-i-5.html?osCsid=3caed86eca57f273d0f8d79f01e80672
*Celestial Seasonings - http://www.celestialseasonings.com/visit-us/index.html
*Embracing Red Rocks Country - http://redrockcountry.org/index.shtml
*Gardening and working in the yard can be fun, and a great way to enjoy the outdoors.
*Movies at the park - http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/626/documents/Blockbusters2010_poster.pdf
*Free summer movies @ the theater - http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx
*Find a free festival - http://www.denver.org/events
*Other Free Events - http://www.denver.org/events/free-events
*Nrel - renewable energy - http://www.nrel.gov/learning
*Boulder Ice Cream – tours by app. http://www.bouldericecream.com/findus/tours.html

Low cost:
*Hudson Gardens - http://www.hudsongardens.org Adults: $5, Seniors (60+): $3, Children (ages 3-12): $2
*Berry Patch farms - http://www.berrypatchfarms.com contact them for pricing.
*Colorado School of mines - http://mining.mines.edu/edgar_mine.html
Adults $10, children $6.
*Amc $1 summer movies - http://www.amcentertainment.com/smc
*Elvis Cinema - http://www.elviscinemas.com
*Cinema Grill - http://www.cinemagrill.com
*Morrison Museum - http://www.mnhm.org Senior (age 65 and above): $4.00, Adult (age 18-64): $5.00, Teen (age 13-17): $5.00 Youth (age 4-12): $4.00 "Hatchling" (age 0-3): Free
*Platte Valley Trolley - $4 adults / $2 kids - http://www.denvertrolley.org
*Colorado Historical Society, (Free to low cost.) http://www.coloradohistory.org
*Rocky mountain Arsenal - $6
http://parks.state.co.us/Parks/Roxborough/Pages/RoxboroughStatePark.aspx
*Colorado Railroad museum - $8 adults, kids $5 - http://www.crrm.org
*Fiske Planetarium - http://fiske.colorado.edu $5 adults, $3 kids
*Bowling
*Ice cream tour - $5 pp - http://www.glaciericecream.com
*Ncar - http://www.ncar.ucar.edu
*4 mile historic park
Cost:
*We bought season passes to Elitches for $54 in Nov. with that we got a free parking pass. Tues. we have coupons to bring a friend for $10, if anyone wants to go we’d be happy to see if we can squeeze you in! Of course you can still get your season pass, but the parking pass will be an additional $50, still worth the cost if you go a few times during the year.
*Denver Museum of Nature and Science - http://www.dmns.org Adults $11, kids $6.
*Firefighter museum - $6 adults, kids $4 http://www.denverfirefightersmuseum.org
*Denver Botanic Gardens - http://www.botanicgardens.org
*Colorado Railroad museum - http://www.coloradorailroadmuseum.org
*Argo Mine – Adults $15, kids $7.50 http://www.historicargotours.com/tours.html
*Phoenix – Adults $15, kids $5 http://www.phoenixmine.com
*Denver Zoo - http://www.denverzoo.org
*Butterfly pavilion - http://butterflies.org
*Wings over the Rockies – Adults $9, kids $6 - http://www.wingsmuseum.org
*Forney transportation museum- http://www.forneymuseum.org Adults $8, kids $4
*Wildlife Experience - http://thewildlifeexperience.org
*Denver Aquarium – Friday Family nights $1.99 kids meal, $5 admission + discounted adult admission - http://www.aquariumrestaurants.com/downtownaquariumdenver/flash_content/index.html http://www.aquariumrestaurants.com/downtownaquariumdenver/pdf/FridayFamilyNights.pdf
*Putt-Putt Golfing - http://maps.google.com/maps?rlz=1T4PCTA_enUS276US276&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=putt+putt+golf+denver&fb=1&gl=us&hq=putt+putt+golf&hnear=Denver,+CO&view=text&ei=ZSYNTP_0NpbKMt-XlbYE&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQtQMwAA – Putters Pride is one of the best! :D
*2010 SCFD Free days http://www.scfd.org/?page=home&sub=4
*Laser Tag - http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&rlz=1T4PCTA_enUS276US276&q=laser%20tag%20denver&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl
*Heritage square - http://www.heritagesquare.info
*Lakeside, we received coupons that were pink from school - http://www.lakesideamusementpark.com they often offer discount days, I think that the next one coming up is Father’s day.
*More: http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/region/denver-co-usa

Festivals:
*Chalk art fest June 5-6 (10-5, 10-7pm) Free admission. Downtown Larimer square. Awesome chalk materpieces, kids can draw too. http://www.larimerarts.org/
*Capitol hill people fair June 5-6 (10-8pm, 10-7pm) Civic Center Park The Capitol Hill People's Fair exists as a celebration of the diverse Denver urban community and its residents. As Colorado's Premier Arts and Crafts Festival, the uniqueness and magic of CHUN's Capitol Hill People's Fair is created by the careful blending of great family fun, carefully selected handmade arts & crafts, delicious culinary delights, fabulous entertainment and the commitment to raise funds for and promote the missions of non-profit organizations. FREE
http://www.peoplesfair.com/display_page.asp?site_id=5
*Crawford Pioneer Days June 10 – 12 Crawford Town Hall and Town Park Old Fashioned Melodrama, Parade, Fireworks, Races, Street Dance, Games, and more. More details: http://www.crawfordcountry.org/pdf/2010poster.pdf
*Parker days June 10-13 (Thur 5-10pm carnival only, Fri 5pm-12am, Sat 9am-12am, Sun 9am-10pm) $20 carnival admission, free to enter festival and enjoy live music shows. O'Brien park Parker rd and main st. http://parkerdays.org/?gclid=CKv2-v7O8qECFRkcawodaydSnw#
*Wool market June 10-13 Estes Park is home to one of the largest all-natural fiber markets in North America. Wool Market features demonstrations, competitions, a children’s tent, exhibits and the sale of fiber animals and products from their wool. 1209 Manford Ave. Estes Park, CO 80517
FREE ADMISSION Phone: 800-443-7837 http://www.estesnet.com/events/woolmarket.htm
*Family fun fest (10-3pm) June 12 Lafayette Atlas Valley, 95th & Arapahoe, Lafayette www.lafayettecolorado.com
Bring your family and friends and enjoy a full day of fun activities for everyone. Atlas Valley is located at SW corner of 95th Street & Arapahoe Road in Lafayette, Colorado. Kid’s activities are scheduled from 10:00am – 3:00pm that will include Face Painting, Balloon Sculpting, hands on kid’s activities and so much more!
*Renaissance fest Coupons are offered at Wendy’s opening weekend only http://www.coloradorenaissance.com/General%20Info.html and discount coupons can be found at Kingsoopers. June 12-13, 19-20, 26-27 Location: 650 W. Perry Park Ave. Larkspur, CO 80118 Times: 10:00a.m. until 6:30p.m. * Rain or Shine * FREE Parking * No Pets Please Admission: $18.95(adults) - $8.00(children ages 5-12)
FREE Admission to children under 5 http://www.coloradorenaissance.com/
*Bald eagle fledge fest June 19 9-12, View eaglets and make bird feeders for fathers day. See parent eagles and their babies, hike around the lake. RMBO Reserv rqd Barr lake state park $15 family $6 park pass, 14500 Lark buntng lane, Brighton, 303-568-4348 x 15
*Good old days fest June 25-26 Lyons, CO
34th "Good Old Days" A community celebration with carnival, kidspace, arts & crafts, live entertainment, food & beer garden, softball tournament and more!
*Cherry blossom fest June 26,27 (11-6, 11-4) downtown Lawrence st. between 19and 20th. Free admission. Celebrate all things Japanese, drumming, dance and martial arts. http://www.tsdbt.org/cherryblossom/
*German fest June 26, 27 Crafts, games train rides, food and beverages in a German village. Colorado railroad museum Golden, $20 adult/$5 child under 12 http://www.coloradorailroadmuseum.org/
*Scandinavian Midsummer Festival June 26 – 27 Bond Park, downtown Estes Park - intersection of Elkhorn and Macgregor (on the main street) Entertainment throughout each day, with folk dance groups, live Scandinavian music performances, craft booths. Walk through a Scandinavian Village, demonstrations of textile arts, blacksmithing and carpenter work. "Warriors" will be giving demonstrations of combat using sword, axe spear and shield. For more information, vist: http://www.estesmidsummer.com

Fire Safety

2010-06-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today, our house could have caught on fire! :o................... I got some Bison meat a while back from a person at school, except come to find out after calling the fire department and trying desperately to put out the fire, that the meat was not meat! It was FAT! And my poor, poor grill didn't like the fat at all! Everyone and everything is OK. I am so going to go and get a fire extinguisher. I now have to figure out how to get my grill clean and looking new again! So sad! :( It was very pretty!

YourSphere - Logging in

2010-05-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

I have successfully logged into YourSphere and helped my daughter to create a profile. From what I can see, I do not create a profile for myself, it is just a dashboard where I can view what dd is doing.

So far, it looks like it is going to be a lot of fun and it is attractive! I'll start letting my daughter explore some more and find common interests with other children and keep you updated.

If you decide to join don't forget to use the referral code: YSMC-0014

"I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review."

YourSphere - First Impression

2010-05-24T19:58:00.001-07:00

I have to admittedly say that I have been able to prove to myself that YourSphere is a safe place for my kids to be. I have only begun my journey into YourSphere because when I signed up for it I put the last four of my husbands social instead of mine and it wouldn't let me on! After getting a hold of the YourSphere crew we straightened up the matter and I am now on and ready to explore.

I'll keep you posted as I learn and explore more about the sight and get DD on it too! :D If you decide to get logged on don't forget to use the referral code: YSMC-0014

"I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review."

YourShpere

2010-05-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

I am excited to announce that I am participating in a test drive @ Yoursphere. This is a similiar application such as Facebook and myspace but for kids. Designed to keep them safe on the internet. We will keep you posted as to how it is going for us. We are having a contest to see who can refer the most. My referal code is - YSMC-0014

"I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review."

2010-02-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

MARCH 10 –14 DENVER COLISEUM
Purchase a 4‐pack of tickets for only $44 for weekday performances
or receive $4 off weekend tickets
by entering the code: MOM4 at:
www.Ticketmaster.com or call 1‐800‐745‐3000
(Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required for 4‐pack; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each.
Offer not valid on Front Row or VIP seating. Cannot be combined with other offers. Service charges and handling fees will apply.)
www.DisneyOnIce.com

Monster Jam is coming to Denver

2010-01-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

February 13 & 14, 2010 at the PEPSI CENTER, enter the code: MOM at http://www.tickethorse.com/eventsearch.aspx?q=monster+jam to save $4 per ticket!

All new Disney LIVE on stage is coming to Denver

2010-01-13T16:24:00.001-08:00

FEB. 5 & 6
Save $3 per ticket on all performances! (excludes Front Row and VIP seats)
Use the code: KIDS at www.Ticketmaster.com or call 1‐800‐745‐3000
www.DisneyLive.com

Disney on Ice is coming to Denver.

2009-11-07T18:24:00.001-08:00

Check out Disney on Ice with for the first time ever Disney Cars will be on the ice.

A SPECIAL OFFER FOR YOU!
Purchase a 4‐pack of tickets for only $44 for weekday shows
or receive $4 off weekend tickets by entering the
coupon code: MOM**
**Get 4 tickets for $44 Monday‐Friday matinee, or $4 off weekend tickets by entering the code “MOM”in the
promo code box on ticketmaster or tickethorse respectively. Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional
tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each. Offer not valid on Rink side or VIP seating. Note: Denver Coliseum Box
Office opens on Nov. 23rd. Cannot be combined with other offers. Service charges and handling fees will apply.
Pepsi Center
(Purchase tickets from
www.tickethorse.com)
Dec. 4th: 7:30pm
Dec. 5th: 11:30am, 3:30pm, 7:30am
Dec. 6th: 11:30am, 3:30pm, 7:30pm
The Denver Coliseum
(Purchase tickets from
www.ticketmaster.com)
Dec. 11th: 11:00am, 7:30pm
Dec. 12th: 11:30am, 3:30pm, 7:30pm
Dec. 13th: 1:30pm, 5:30pm

Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus Coupon Code

2009-09-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus is coming to town!!

Come experience the all-new Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
presents ZING ZANG ZOOM playing Denver Coliseum with your family!

A SPECIAL OFFER FOR YOU!

Purchase a 4‐pack of tickets for only $44 for weekday shows, or receive $4 off weekend tickets by logging onto www.ticketmaster.com and entering the coupon code: MOM.**

Denver Show Dates:

Wednesday September 30: 7:30 pm
Thursday October 1: 7:30 pm
Friday October 2: 7:30 pm
Saturday October 3: 11:30 am, 3:30 pm, 7:30 pm
Sunday October 4: 11:30 am, 3:30 pm, 7:30 pm
Wednesday October 7: 7:30 pm
Thursday October 8: 11:00 am, 7:30 pm
Friday October 9: 7:30 pm
Saturday October 10: 11:30 am, 3:30 pm, 7:30 pm
Sunday October 11: 11:30 am, 3:30 pm, 7:30 pm

Free Summer Movies

2009-05-20T07:54:00.001-07:00

Free Summer Movies - http://handsonhomeschool.wetpaint.com/page/Free+Summer+Movies

Kids Bowl Free this summer

2009-05-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ - Kids bowl for Free before 7, and you can buy a family pass for 4 other family members after you sign your kids up for $24.95. You still have to pay for shoe rental.

Baby Caterpillar

2009-04-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

DS brought home a baby Caterpillar on Friday. It was snowing like crazy, and I didn't pack a brush in the new car. But we had a nice fellow homeschooler brush us off before we even knew! Thank you! :-)

DS wanted to show his Caterpillar the sun roof, we opened it up and DS says, " It is all snowy! We can't see out of the sun roof and it looks like it is night time.!"

When we brought the Caterpillar home we poked holes in the lid so that he can breath. We started to build a terrarium for him. I clipped some leaves from one of my plants, we stuck these in water so that they can grow some roots.

The next morning DS woke up with a good morning Caterpillar! And later night he told him good night, and said that he wasn't going to sleep. DS was right!??? The Caterpillar was busy all night making a web.

He has been working hard all week on his web and now it appears as if he is starting to roll up into it. DS might get a butterfly after all!

Free Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream TODAY!!!! 4-21

2009-04-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

As a way to thank our customers for their support and to celebrate 31 years of scooping the chunkiest, funkiest ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet, Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops are happily giving it away!Around the world, Scoop Shops are opening their doors from noon to 8:00 pm, to serve up a free scoop of your favorite flavor. Please check with your local Scoop Shop for more info! Grab a pal and come on down to have some good, ’scream fun on us! http://www.benjerry.com/ Enjoy!!!!!

Tax Day? Time for a new car?

2009-04-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

Today we got a new car. It's a Saab 9-3 something that I have been wanting for about 10 years now! It finally was the right price, right mileage and right amount of years old!

Love it. I was so excited just what I have been looking for. And it gets about twice the amount of mileage as the Jeep! Hubby will now be taking that to work, which gets better gas mileage than his 82 camero!

Jeep still needs some work, but we'll work on it during the summer.

We had test drove a Saab convert, this of course the kids just loved. But we ended up buying a Saab coupe with a sunroof. This one has all those fancy side impact air bags. So it'll be a much safer car especially since we are going to be driving with our kiddos in the back seat and the sun roof is close to a convert?

So now that we've got a car we want to go on vacation, yet now we can't afford one? Go figure!

Making Beads

2009-04-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today we learned to make African Beads, well not really African. Africa was a world central trade of beads, so we made our own paper beads using decoupage.

We also discussed the territories, land and the way the people live.

Neat day!

Testing the new Insurance

2009-04-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Today we got to test our new insurance and see our new doc. DS swallowed a penny yesterday, at the time I didn't think anything of it! "Ah it'll pass, you know you shouldn't be swallowing pennies!?" DS replied with he wasn't going to eat it, he just wanted to taste it! :D AHHH

Anyway, today his tummy was hurting, I thought maybe it was from eating too many fruit snacks, dropped DD off at options and brought DS home with me! On the way home he asked if he could have some Mc Donald's for breakfast! Wait, if you are hungry your not sick?

So what is going on? Ahh yes, that penny that you swallowed! Gotta love google, cause I googled swallowing a penny, there are some pretty scary stories out there, turns out if you swallow a mass amount of penny's after the year? they contain more zinc than copper and the zinc can react with your stomach acid causing a battery acid effect.

Quick call the doc, they were able to get us in, in a few hours! Whew! Then I got a call back from the doc, which for me is unusual, when I call the doctors office at our old place they would tell me quick, get him in, he is dying! SIGH, the new doc calls to say that with a single penny there is little or nothing that they can do and I really didn't need to go in unless I just wanted to see the office. What, I don't have to come in? Are they OK? Wow, I am pretty impressed with this new system.

We went ahead and went into the doc anyway, cause now it is a non emergency and we can check out the ropes before it becomes that way. Literally with in walking distance from my house, and guess what they are open on Sat. and on call after hours. Humm........... should I make my kids follow the no getting hurt after 5:00 and on weekends rule? :D

Young Thespians is coming along

2009-04-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

Today we had our 3rd meeting after the script was complete for our young thespians group.

The kids have been working very hard on their script! They've created a 30 minute play called the Bored at Grandma's house.

WOW, these kids are awesome! It is a theme that starts in an attic, the kids are bored and are trying to find something to do. They find a game board that takes them on a journey to different lands. In each land they encounter a person, who is the same person through out the play, they begin to turn into what the land is................ then they quickly roll a die and off they go to another land.

I can't wait to see it all put together! ;)

Kids Club

2009-04-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

Today DD and her friend started a kids club, they played, danced and talked about what the club was going to be like. I don't know when is the next time but they plan to meet up again.

They also went outside and played, then we went back inside and played get a clue. When it was time to go home they first dropped one of the girls off and then dd thought it was neat that her friend dropped her off last.

Study of India

2009-03-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

Today we enjoyed our study of India, we made paper India dolls, men and women wearing Sarees. We had some holi colours to celebrate the festival of Holi! Because we were indoors and could not splash the colors on each other we used our dolls.

Some of us painted on our hands with the colours. The kids all had a lot of fun and enjoyed the meaning behind the festival.

We tried some curry with pita, it was about 1/2 and 1/2 liked and didn't like!

Chili in Bread Bowls

2009-03-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

In light of the cold weather today, well OK the foot of snow we will be having Chili in Bread bowls. We are getting ready to start the bread Bowls.

Bread Bowls Recipe

This is also a great way to serve soup. Because this makes 12 bread bowls and we eat only 4. I usually freeze the extra dough or it is actually easier to freeze the made bowl. But I have found that freezing the dough takes up less space and you have fresh bread with your meal. Don't forget to label the bag Bread bowl (4).

Makes 12
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Rise Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups warm water
4 ½ tsp. or 2 packages active dry yeast
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons canola oil
6 1/2-7 1/2 cups bread flour, divided
cooking spray, oil or Lard Optional
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk

1. Measure warm water into large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast and stir until dissolved. (Hint: I do not stir, it works better for me to just let the yeast sit for about 10 minutes.)
2. Add salt, sugar, oil and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth.
3. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff dough.
4. Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 to 12 minutes. (I place this into my mixer with the Kneading hook and allow it to mix for the 10-12 minutes.)
5. Place dough in bowl that has been lightly coated with nonstick spray. You can also pour a little bit of vegetable oil in the bowl. Turn once to coat.
6. Cover with a wet warm cloth and let rise in warm place until doubled, about one hour.
7. Grease the outside of 12 small custard cups or oven-proof bowls of similar size. (We use our cereal bowls.)
8. Punch dough down and divide into 12 pieces and let rest 10 minutes.
9. Place dough balls on top of bowls and spread each piece around the bowl, working it with hands until it fits.
10. Set bowls, dough side up, on baking sheet that has been coated with non-stick spray /oil. Combine egg and milk and gently brush mixture on dough.
11. Bake at 400° F for 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove bowls from the oven and remove glass bowls from bread bowls. Set bread bowls open side up on baking pan, return to oven and bake five minutes longer.

(Hint: If you prefer a more crispy bowl you can also bake these directly on the oven rack for the 15 minutes.)

Chicken Sandwiches

2009-03-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here's another one that is quick and easy! Cheap too! :) Total Cost $5.13 for a family of 4

Ingredients:

1 egg - .11 cents
1 cup milk - .18 cents (I actually used some milk that was about to go bad that I had frozen / defrosted)
1 cup Flour - .10 cents
1/2 tsp. pepper - .02 cents
2 tsp. salt - .02 cents
2 T. powdered sugar - .10 cents

Total .53 cents

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved (in this case I cut them into 4ths.) - $2.75 This was about 1 1/2 pounds of meat.
4 plain hamburger buns - or any kind of bread works. - $1.00

Lettuce - .25 cents
Slices of pickle - $.10 cents

Veggies as a side - .50 cents

Directions:

In a small bowl beat the egg and stir in the milk. Add the chicken meat to the egg / milk mix.

On a plate bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and pepper.

Dip each piece of chicken in flour mixture until completely covered.

Drop back into the milk / egg mix and then back into the flour.

Place in baking dish and bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes until cooked through.

Assemble the sandwiches and put the veggies on the side.

Ymmmmm - Enjoy

Easy Fun dinner on a Budget

2009-03-24T16:12:00.001-07:00

Who says dinner has to be expensive when it is fun. Well here at our house it is never really expensive.

Here is what we are having tonight! Homemade by the kids Pizza!

Ingredients:

Small amounts of oil, a little bit of veggies, olives or mushrooms optional cheese and sauce. (Homemade of course.) And last but not least homemade dough we used was Focaccia Bread, yeah believe it or not it makes a great dough for pizza! I made this recipe when we studied Italy! http://culturequestworldtour.schools.officelive.com/default.aspx

I know, it sounds hard, being mostly homemade and all, but it really isn't! It is quick and easy.

Dough:

This of course you are going to have to make earlier in the day, so start around lunch and then forget about it until it is time for dinner.

2 ½ - 3 cups flour
1 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 package yeast
3 T. vegetable oil + 2 for later
1 cup very warm water

Directions:

Mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in bowl. Add warm water and beat on high speed for 3 minutes.

Add enough flour until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl.

Place dough on floured surface or place dough hook on mixer and knead for 5-8 minutes.

Grease bottom of bowl pop the dough back into bowl making sure to grease all sides. Get a dish towel wet with warm water, put this on top of your bowl. Place dough in a warm location and allow dough to rise for 30 minutes. Dough is ready when indention stays.

Grease cookie sheets, gently deflate dough and flatten onto cookie sheets. Cover loosely and allow dough to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Dough cost about .50 cents

Sauce:

1 can tomato sauce (15 oz.) Bought on sale for .50 cents + .25 cents for the spices.

Heat a small amount of oil in a pan. Pour the tomato sauce in and allow to simmer for a minute while you get all of the spices out. You'll need, 2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. ground pepper, 1/2 tsp. salt and 2 tsp. Italian seasoning. Your sauce should be just about bubbling by now. Add all the spices and stir generously. Reduce heat to a simmer.

Pizza:

Roll your dough out onto your gently greased pans.

Spread the sauce onto the dough.

Spread the cheese - $1.50 for 1/2 a pound shredded already.

Add the vegitables. In this case we used the 3 pepper blend and onion already chopped and frozen $1.00 for a pound. We only used a little. And we used 1/2 a small can of mushrooms. $.50 cents for veggies.

Add the meat. In this case we used pepperoni, but we have used ground beef. I bought a roll of pepperoni that we had to chop for $4. We divided it into 3. $1.30 for meat.

Heat oven to 400˚, Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown, this will depend on your oven and pans that you use.

Total Cost = $4.55 and it was a lot of fun!

Congruent, symmetry and perimeter of a polygon

2009-03-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

Both DD and I are very visual to be able to see the full problem. Now of course there are many ways to teach these lessons, but here is what I found to work out the best.

Congruent Shapes - http://www.mathleague.com/help/geometry/coordinates.htm

Symmetry Shapes - http://www.innovationslearning.co.uk/subjects/maths/activities/year3/symmetry/shape_game.asp

Perimeter of a Polygon - http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/vol1/perimeter.html we then used graph paper to draw our own observations. Graph Paper = http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/

Been gone so long I had to re-enter my user name and password!

2009-03-24T14:11:00.000-07:00

So we have been doing our fair share of being busy. Thank goodness for colds, otherwise I may not have slowed down. Heck DS even slept until almost noon today! I thought that he may have been coming down with the cold but he was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

So I'll be catching up posts here.

4 Field Trips in a Week

2009-03-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

Now this is the reason why I enjoy homeschooling the kids. Well not because of 4 field trips in a week but because we have the opportunity to do so.

On Monday, we celebrated St. Patrick's day and all the kids contributed what they knew about the holiday, tried foods from Ireland and completed St. Patrick's day themed crafts. Dressed the Leprechaun, much like Pin the tail on the donkey. We also hunted for gold that the Leprechaun was supposed to leave.

On Wednesday, we went to the Post office for a tour to contribute to DS's community workers lessons.

And then 2 in a day. We went to Dino Ridge. This was different because we had a tour guide. There was also a room with photo's and maps that explained why we were once in an ocean. I am excited to expand on that here soon. Like I said for me a visual is the best! :) We were under 40 degree mark on the earth and did not have the mountains to block the incoming water.

Then we went to the geology museum and wrapped it all together.

Busy Birthday Weekend

2009-03-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend of Birthday parties. DS and DD went to Josh's party and DS tried to have a sleep over for the first time at Josh's house, but they got them selves scared ahh, maybe next time. DD and DScwent to Tabitha's bowling party and then we wisped Tabitha off, took her shopping and out to eat, then the girls had a sleep over, over here.

Big Day at AmeriTowne

2009-03-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

The big day is finally here. It was absolutely perfect. It went as smooth as can be and all my volunteers showed up, even the floaters. The ones who I scheduled so that I would keep my sanity.

I had so many kids come up to to say thank you! And it was truly heart felt. This made every minute that I had spent on AmeriTowne worth it.

They all signed a box and gave me a wonderful card. Also I am able to give away 2 bird houses that the kids make during AmeriTowne and I wanted to give mine the third to Nina, she has worked very hard for the past 3 years to get this all put together. The staff member asked me, "What about you?" I told her that those mean so much to Nina! :) They went on and made a fourth one just for me! How special is that. That was the hardest part for me was to chose which volunteer deserved the bird house or basket the most. They all did a super job at stepping up to get the job done. In all we had over 30 moms or dads helping out.

When I got home I got busy starting on a DVD, my brother in law burt the VHS to DVD for me and I added all of the pictures that I and Nina took and posted it all to a DVD. DD and I had been working on the homemade thank you cards over the months, so when the DVD's were burned and checked to see if they worked they were shoved into an envelope and sent off to our volunteers. I sure do hope that they liked their thank you.

I've already started the plans for International Towne, this one should be just as fun.

Wow we sure have been busy!

2009-02-26T11:58:00.001-08:00

In a nut shell busy would just about sum it up! :)

We have had our First training for Ameritowne! I was so nervous, I felt like I was about to enter a race! But I had so many great helpers and all the 80 + kids that were there did so great! It was a good day.

I had to then come home and start sorting the applications. This is a huge task but I think that I accomplished it fairly well. I hope that everyone is happy tomorrow when they find out what their jobs are! This is so exciting for the kids. Check out www.yacenter.org for more information.

On Monday dd had went to an ice cream social for the dd club. So ds and I stayed in the car. We had a good visit while the girls had a great time doing their thing!

Tuesday was hubbies Birthday. What a day. We've been to Sears 3 times now to try and get him the right size jeans. I think that we finally did the trick! He now has a pair that fit. On the way over to the Aurora Mall we decided to go the the Cinema Grill to watch a movie, only I put us off on the wrong exit and poor thing, we were lost and he got a speeding ticket, hasn't gotten one ticket in all of the 17 years of driving. I guess that there is a first for everything! (SIGH)

Yesterday we went Rock Climbing again at REI, I really enjoy Josh with the way that he works with the kids. He is so great at giving just the right amount of encouragement. This time I forgot to pay! Oops! So I had to turn around and go back! Next time I won't forget! That was a pain!

Disney Land on Ice 4 pack of Tickets for $44 + a chance to win 4 tickets.

2009-02-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

Disney Land on ice is coming in March - Get 4 tickets for $44 see the following dates promo code (MOM)! www.ticketmaster.com You can purchase additional tickets for $11 each.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/search?tm_link=tm_homeA_header_search&q=disney+land+on+ice

Thursday March 12 @ 7:30 pm
Friday March 13 @ 11:00 am
Friday March 13 @ 7:30 pm
Saturday March 14 @ 11:30 am
Saturday March 14 @ 3:30 pm
Saturday March 14 @ 7:30 pm

I am also giving away 4 tickets, for the following dates don't forget to enter to win! :D

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=tjQE4MBB_2bxnucrDG0nwc9Q_3d_3d
Thursday March 12th @ 7:30 pm
Friday March 13th @ 11:00 am
Friday March 13th @ 7:30 pm

Tickets will be held at will call.
You will need to bring a photo ID to claim your tickets
I will let you know via email no later then March 1st.

Good luck! Feel free to cross post information!

Loven' the crazey jammie day!

2009-02-15T17:33:00.000-08:00

I am loving the crazey jammie day that we just had. We finally took showers at about 4, then went to kings to get some frozen lasagna! We usually eat for around $1.00 per person, but today we are eating at $2.50, better than going out! ;-)

Now we are waiting for dinner to cook, playing catch up on email. DS is watching tv on the new VCR that we bought from Savers, (didn't want to wait for 50% off tomorrow!) DD is listening to the radio and DH is playing a video game.

We just hung out all day today and played board games and such! It was nice to have this day................. just what I have been needing!

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T07:02:00.000-08:00

Hubby had to work today! Which is not unusual for him to be working on Valentines day. We'll celebrate when he gets home. Usually with dinner and a movie at home. We typically do not drop our kids off anywhere. And besides I don't like going out on these busy days!

We covered our Valentines together on Friday! Now that, was relaxing.

Today the kids and I are going to get caught up on some school work, I'll have them fill out their Ameritowne workbooks so we can scratch that off of our list. It is Saturday morning on cool op o lus (Sp?) So I am sure that they will watch some TV before we get going.

I am going to do some research on the pricing of the mammoth and see if Papa Murphy's has the heart shaped Pizza this year.

Papa Murphy's has the heart shaped pizza http://www.papamurphys.com/ this is always fun. Did you know that they do a jack-o-lantern for Halloween too! :) And......... I found coupons on line, I wander if I can use them? http://printable-coupons.blogspot.com/2007/03/papa-murphys-coupons.html I love the Internet!

Colorado Mammoth vs. Calgary Roughnecks at the Pepsi Center tonight. I found tickets for as low as $5.00, but these are not very good seats, section 358. Plus, can you believe that there is a $6 service charge per ticket on Ticket Master! Even by going with the higher price levels you still can not get good seating!

Peace and quiet

2009-02-13T08:00:00.001-08:00

After two full weeks of on the go business! I finally have peace and quiet! Ahh, the sound of nothing but the buzz of the computer. Dogs are sleeping because the kids are gone to HOPE! DS did great today, he was excited to go! :D

I am going to catch up on the blogs, toss in some laundry, send out an email about our first training session for Ameritowne next week, and schedule Ameritowne for 2010. (WHAT, 2010 is just next year?) I can not believe how time flies!

I am going to try and paint a box for ballets, label a box for job applications and make sure that I have everything needed.

I am also thinking............... about possibly cleaning the house? That is of course if I get to it.

The beauty of Homeschooling

2009-02-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

Today we went to a Hena Class! Our little one went off playing with the younger kids and my older daughter participated in the Henna class.

When we were done we went and ate lunch with Daddy! The kids, daddy and I all enjoyed our afternoon together. We were home by 2:30 and done with school work for both of the kids by 4:30.

I even got to do all of my exercises today and I cleaned the kitchen! :D

Common Grounds Valentines day party

2009-02-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

This was so much fun............. took me back to the days when schools were allowed to celebrate stuff like this!

We homemade 60 valentines pencils with glitter hearts. And dd labled 60 dip stick valentines!

The kids both made paper bags for their Valentines from others to be put into.

We had a line of 55 kids tossing cards into each and everyone!

I asked the kids if they had fun and both of them simotaniously "OH YEAH"

Sesame Street has MEAL or No MEAL!

2009-02-11T08:24:00.001-08:00

OMG! It is so funny! He says everything that Howie says! LOL Except instead of cases it is those plates with lids! When they pick a dish it has something like gum or candy under it! Then the phone rings! He comes back with, "The banker likes you, and he has offered you one dozen cookies!

MEAL or no MEAL!"

It is so funny! The moment of truth, the meal can be on either your dish (3) or in dish #2................ you have chosen the meal! Cheering, jumping and full of excitement!

Then, cookie Monster breaks out of the banker booth, COOKIE! Runs over and eats all of the cookies that were offered.

Oh, I haven't laughed this hard in a long time!

Culture Quest to Canada

2009-02-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

This one went fast! We had all of our discussions and made a Family Day jar. The kids were all relaxed and enjoyed it. We tried Canadian biscuts and looked at the lucky loonie.

We were out of there by 12:00 WOW, this never happens. I am sure that it had something to do with the small croud!

Not a good begining, but a perfect ending

2009-02-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

Arrgg, the kids are just pushing each others buttons! All day....... yest. last week, last month! Geesh! Right after I tell the kids I can not handle them fighting, take a shower and ds is off crying!

Then dd tells me.......... I need to put her stuff back after I use the printer and to turn it off! WHAT! I told you not to put stuff in front of the printer. Having a computer in your room is a luxry and I can move my computer, you can't! She, just keeps making coments like this and it is soooooooooo getting on my nerves.

Turns out we have an outdoor ed meeting at 4:30 - 6:00 I DON'T like the timing on this one! But what can you do!??

The evening turned out to be ok! ds fell asleep on the way over, I droped dd off at the door and worked on Korea! :D ds was asleep until a 1/4 to 6 and dd got out 5 after! Then we went to Taco Bell and watched some TV. Life was good the rest of the evening!

DATE DAY!

2009-02-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

Today hubby and I got a date day! That was so wonderful! That hasn't happened in a long time. It was so nice to have the peace and quiet! We dropped the kids off at HOPE and then went out to breakfast at a very quiet diner! Then we went shopping at the mills which is waaaaayyyyy out of what / where we would normally go. We didn't go into any stores just window shopped except for Bath and body! They had a wonderful sent coming from their store. We went in to find Optimism! So we ended up buying a sent port, it is kinda like glade except it is a natural aroma therapy! It smells pretty! :-)

Dragon boats and Japanese Kites

2009-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

We made clay boats called dragon boats at the Arvada center today. The kids enjoyed seeing their clay come to life. DS, doesn't like to get his hands dirty. He shivers when it becomes too much! So off to the sink to rinse! LOL But he completed it.

The Arvada Center is going to fire our boats in the kiln and pass them back to our HOPE teachers.

When we were done with the boats we took a tour of old paintings and then back to the classroom to eat lunch, and make Japanese kites.

Once we were done the kids all had a blast playing on the large dragon outside of the Arvada center, it was such a beautiful day.......... we couldn't pass that up.

Busy Cleaning

2009-02-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

I am a busy bee cleaning the house before the kids wake up! When they awoke they asked who is coming over! SIGH, can't my house be clean with out anyone coming over?

Well the kids were right! We are having Canadian X-Ray art class today! We are studying Norval Morrison. He is a famous Canadian Artist who created his own spin of X-ray art called Woodland art.

The kids were all into their art work!

Turns out my table isn't paint proof! (I was busy scrubbing the paint away!)

Piano today

2009-02-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

I am glad that the kids didn't see the pump it up building next to the piano class studio! We enjoyed an afternoon of making music at Harmony music academy.

India Student Lessons

2009-02-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed sharing our Lotus Temple from India! Looks like the real thing! I am glad that it turned out so good!

We also made some Diwali Diyas (candles. The kids had a lot of fun making these. Now we have to wait for the paint to dry so that we can paint them.

After our India student lessons we were back to pick up the last of the Ameritowne materials that we forgot.

Waxing Crescent Moon on the Bottom

2009-01-29T21:40:00.000-08:00

This was a beautiful site to see. We were on our way home from my in laws. Grandpa had surgery on his eye and we spent the evening with them.

We had both cars with us, hubby stopped to comment on how beautiful and weird the moon was.

Honestly I have never seen such a site, it was a full moon with an eclipse! The crescent was on the bottom and.............. the moon was in the west not the east like usual!

We do not get out much at night and tonight, I am glad that we did. Wish I had my camera!

Puppy Snow Angel's

2009-01-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

Spirit makes puppy snow Angel's! She is so funny

Yesterday............... she thought that our door should be a revolving door! Bark.......... I want out! Bark............. I want in......... in out, in out, in out. Paul said that there was a chill in our house, are you sure that there is not a window open! I told him the story of Spirit. I can not get a dog door in it cause it is not a normal size door. Then our other door on this level is a sliding glass door. All other options are out. This part of the house is brick! So Spirit has to learn that on cold days......... she just can not keep going out to play! Although she is funny to watch.

Sad Day

2009-01-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

Virginia our neighbor passed away today!

Our neighbors, like grandparents to the kids. Mel is at a loss and I just do not know what to do.

Crop Art

2009-01-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

This was an interesting feat! DD made Jack the Pumpkin King out of beans! She did amazingly well. She loves art, it is her Passion.

Lotus Temple in India

2009-01-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

With each Culture Quest lesson plan we study the Architecture of the country and with that we do a hands on activity. So far we have only been able to make pieces of Architecture that was long ago.

Today, we were able to start the process of the Lotus Temple in India!

Rock Climbing at REI

2009-01-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

What fun was this! DD scaled the wall like it was laying flat on the ground. Apparently she has the build and obviously the muscles for it. She climbed for 2 hours and didn't bat an eye.

Our instructor Josh was wonderful! He did so great with the kids. We are planning another trip back on the 25th of February, that is if we get enough kids.

DS, didn't get any higher than my head, but what can you expect from one who is only 6 and has to know that things are safe before he dives right in.

Sakura Square ~ Japanese Market

2009-01-13T17:56:00.000-08:00

Ahh what a neat experience, we went and toured a Japanese grocer today! This was so much fun looking, touching and tasting all of the new and unusual foods!

The owner of Sakura Square was beautiful to answer all of our questions, we will be back soon!

Wanderful Day full of Snow!

2009-01-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful day full of SNOW! And I actually got to take my Jeep out in it! :D Poor hubby had to drive the Camaro! It was a busy day for us.......... we were off early in the morning, stopped by the bank, went to Savers for .99 cent day! I love .99 cent day. We found a ton of games for my friend who is vowing to stay home with her family more.

We enjoyed a day of playing with Lincoln logs. Why.......... so that we could learn how the early settlers made their houses in Canada! :D Then we drove around Wash park to compare Canadian houses to USA houses.

After that we went to Ya Center to pick up all the supplies for Ameritowne in March!

Turns out I miss counted and have to go back on the 3rd of Feb! Ahh, this is what I didn't want to do.

Whew, what a day............. glad we got it all done, home safely and were able to play in the snow.

We also