Columbus, Ohio Adventures

Roar and Explore Three Day Family Package!

I first posted this on my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog last July.  But I did look and it appears that you can purchase the Roar and Explore package again this year.

My family had an awesome vacation in Ohio and just outside of Ohio this year.  We started off with the canopy tour, headed down to KY to tour Mammoth Caves and then came back for a three day Columbus Adventure Package called Roar and Explore.

Here is a Video Recap of Our Three Day Adventure

Day One The Zoo

We planned our three days according to the weather forecast.  The first day was the nicest one. Clear skies and cool.  It was in the low 70′s, so perfect for the zoo, but a little cold for the water park. The animals were out…. perfect. We walked in and realized it had been awhile since we had visited the zoo. The entire entrance had been redone. It was really nice!

We went to an animal show that was just about to begin and it was really cute. Started off without any people, just different strange animals running across the stage and performing different tricks (like knowing which doors to go in that would open and let another animal out.
It was really fun day for all of us.. we were all exhausted by the end of it and ready to head back to the nice comfy hotel to rest (or go to the pool as the triplets did)

Day two – COSI

It was a bit stormy and rainy so we went to COSI (Center of Science and Industry). They had a special dinosaur exhibit that we were able to go into. This was an extra cost to get into this exhibit. It was nice and the kids had fun. To be honest I don’t know if I would have been excited if I would have paid much more to be able to see it. It wasn’t the kids favorite part of COSI.

They loved the 3-D movie (extra cost) but I think their favorite part and I know my favorite part was the outside exhibit of the construction equipment. They actually got to work some of them (with assistance of course). That was cool.

Day three – Zoombezi Bay

Ended up being a wash for Zoombezi Bay. It was storming and we weren’t able to go. The good thing is that the tickets are good until Sept when it closes for the year.

Drury Inn & Suites

We had a blast at the Drury Inn & Suites hotel. We had two nights there and I can’t count how many times the kids went to the pool. The room was really nice, there was a work out facility that had glass walls right next to the indoor/outdoor pool. Dave used it and was very pleased. We had a very nice warm continental breakfast (no charge for any guest) and the staff was lovely. I’d have no problems recommending it to anyone. The only thought I had was that I wish it were closer to the Zoo and Zoombezi Bay. The one we stayed at was in Grove City.

 

Our package was provided by ExperienceColumbus.com for our family of five.  All the pictures and videos (except the Zoombezi Bay picture) were mine and my opinion was not swayed by the complimentary package.  Thank you Experience Columbus, we had a wonderful time. No pictures or videos are to be used without my permission.

 

This post was first posted July 23, 2011 on Explore Ohio with Sandy.com 

 

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Fishing

Dave and the kids go Fishing

These pictures were from a couple years ago when Dave took the kids fishing. I just loved them and wanted to share.

Dave getting the triplets rigged up.

Dave helping Elise get ready to fish

Alex fishing

Drew fishing on his own a little further away from us. (smart! LOL)

I just liked this picture of Elise

The bait. The kids found bag worms and centipedes along with regular worms (that no one could find in the can) while at the farm.

Dave and Zach whistling the Andy Giffith Song on their way back.

No fish…but lots of fun.

Kids Activity – Make Your Own Cards

Kids Are So Proud When They Make Cards Themselves

 

Majority of the time we have the kids make their own cards.  It is cost effective ..yes, but more than that, they get such a sense of pride when they make their own cards.

Look at Alex’s face as John (his step brother) reads his card. I think the triplets were about 6 years old here.

He was so excited for John to read his joke.

Here is Zach while John is reading his.

I absolutely LOVE this picture of John and Zach hugging. Look at Zach’s face. Then look at John’s heartfelt face. There is just so much love and a feeling of pride for Zachy there.

Here are some cards they made for Dave. The kids were 8 years old.

This is a terrible picture of Dave since I got him with his eyes half shut… but look at Elise’s face. She is so excited he is comparing himself to the picture she drew of him.

Kids have so much creativity in them.  I think we need to encourage that anyway we can.  Why go out and pay $2-5 per card at the store?  Let the kids grab some of their construction paper, crayons or markers and go to being their creative selves.  There are pennies in the supplies and you don’t have so spend hours trying to find “Just the right card” for the different occasions.

They are going to get much more satisfaction out of making a card.

Dave and I would both rather have a home made card from the kids. You never know what they are going to come up with and they certainly are something that are going to be more cherished than if they sign their name to a card that Hallmark wrote.  They are just so excited to have you look at their cards.

But here is an important clue.  Give their cards as much or more attention to the store bought gift that may or may not go with it!

 

Kids Activities – Make Your Own Cake

Making and Decorating a Cake Is a Fun Project

Why go out and buy a “store bought” decorated cake when the kids can create one for the occasion?

They were so proud of this cake they decorated for their Dad for his birthday a couple years ago.  You never know what kind of creation you may get.

We don’t have the kids decorate all the cakes. But it is a fun project for them to do occasionally.

When they were eight years old for their birthday, we told them they could either make their own cakes this year, or we would buy them – (like we usually do).  The triplets have always gotten their own birthday cake for their birthday. Yes… three cakes.  We also always sign Happy Birthday to each one of them individually. (Yes.. we sign it 3 times)  They all decided without even saying it twice that they wanted to make their own cakes.

We let each one of them pick out any cake mix and frosting they wanted at the store.   We got foil cake tins so that there was no problem with not having enough cake pans, and so there would be no problem with someone having a pan that was a different size than the other.

 

They each got turns making their own cake.

Then they went to the decorating

I think we must have gotten some extra vanilla frosting for the middle of the cakes.  They all have vanilla inbetween layers. I can’t remember the exact reason for that now. lol

Think he is proud?

Here are their finished products

Elise’s strawberry creation

Alex’s chocolate frosting & cake

Zach’s vanilla with devil’s food cake

They had so much fun creating their cakes.  It of course is a great money saver, but they had a blast doing it… and still talk about that birthday and how cool it was. They also got surprised when we took them to Walmart to look at some things Daddy needed.  We walked by the bikes and Dave told them “Surprise… Happy Birthday.. Pick out a bike!!”  I think Dave and I were as excited as they were.

Activities for Kids – Archery

Archery Can Be A Great Sport For A Kid!

Or course that is if your kids are old enough or mature enough to realize they can’t turn and shoot the dog.. or their sister!!

Dave got himself a new bow (which he hasn’t had for about 15 years). He knew it was adjustable one and thought he would be able to adjust it so the kids could use it too. He attempted it once and realized it would be no easy feat to adjust it back and forth for them to use.

So he went out and bought them one they could use that wasn’t terribly expensive.  He measured their draw length first to see if the triplets were even able to use the same bow. They were.  You also have to know what poundage your kids can handle. (Dave knows all this stuff…not me)

Dave worked with the kids to explain how to hold it, and of course safety measures they HAVE to follow.

The dogs were not allowed outside and of course there were no kids on the community playground back behind our house.

Dave is so patient in teaching the kids.

They love it

Cross bows are very popular right now… but Dave isn’t fond of them.  He wants them to learn how to shoot with a “real bow and arrow”.  Actually he would love to get them a recurve bow (no pullies) but they are too expensive. Plus this is like Dave’s is like that he bought.

I’m surprised how well the kids are doing! They rarely miss the target block.

They do plan to go out with their Dad into the woods this fall. Dave will not let them shoot at any deer this year. They aren’t ready for that, but it will be good experience.

This is not an inexpensive sport.  Once you get your bow and arrows, it isn’t too bad. But the arrows are around $6 per arrow (so you don’t want to lose them)

I remember taking archery in high school. I really enjoyed it myself. (There are pink bows you know! lol)

Kids Activities – Tying Knots

How Do Kids Learn If You Don’t Teach Them?

Dave is so good at teaching his children things.  They have never been able to be in Boy or Girl Scouts because of the divorce situation and having them go when they aren’t with us. So, Dave teaches them things himself.

When we were on our vacation this year, we came back and spent a day at our farm for a night. We had planned to go fishing, but the river was too high, so we had to adjust.

Dave decided to teach the kids how to tie knots.

Dave made it fun for them once he taught them the fundamentals.

“You are caught out in the water…I’m throwing you a rope and you need to tie it around you so I can pull you in.”

 

He taught them the names of the knots and when you would use each one.

Then worked with them until they got it.

Then they practiced….

and practiced…

and practiced some more

Something as simple as tying knots was a memory that I bet these guys will have with them for the rest of their lives.  Their Dad spent a couple hours with them that day and they loved it.  He came up with all kinds of fun scenarios for them to use their knots.  Asking which ones they would use for what…  enabling them to tie their own fishing knots….  etc.

But for them it was just time with their Dad.  Time learning things he was teaching them and knowing that he loved them enough to take that time to teach them.

He would be an awesome home schooling Dad. Not that it is an option for us.  It is something I know I couldn’t do…. but I envy his patience with his kids and his drive to teach them everything he can.

He is actually in the back yard as I write this… teaching them how to shoot the bow he got them.  Yes… I went out and got pictures…. future post for sure. lol

Kids Activities – Pets

Raising a Pet Teaches Responsibility

I think it is great for kids to have a pet or a couple pets to take care of.  It teaches them that there is a life that is depending on them, for food, water and shelter.

But I also believe the kids have to follow through with the responsibility if they decide to get a pet.

I have to tell you this story, because it is such a hoot.  We took the triplets to a local street fair.  Dave told them they could have a couple dollars each to either ride a ride, get something to eat or play a game. (The kids had a karate demo there, so we were just sticking around for a few minutes after the demo – we didn’t go just for the fair).

They all decided they wanted to try a ring toss game. You know the one… you get the little rings and they are nearly impossible to get on the bottles?

The prizes?  Huge stuffed animals hanging from the center, kids bikes on each corner of the booth and a cage with live bunnies. There was one red bottle in the center of all of the bottles.  I figured that was the one you would have to get in order to get the big prizes.  I asked the guy…. he said that if you got a ring on any bottle you had your choice of a huge stuffed animal or a bunny. If you got the ring on the center, then you won a bike.

The kids wanted to play because they wanted a bunny.  I said, “We can’t have a bunny at our house. Sadie loves to chase bunnies and she actually killed one this summer inside our fence.  If your mom will let you have a bunny at her house, then you can get a bunny if you win.”.  The next step was calling their mom.  She agreed that if they won, they could have a bunny – but only after she asked what the game was. She told me later she never considered any of them would win.

Guess what?  Alex did!!  He got a ring on a bottle and you should have heard him whoop!!  Here is the call to his very surprised mom.  He was SO proud!!

It really is a cute bunny.

We had the bunny at our house over night.  The kids took it in the back yard in the morning to let it hop around. It was having a great time in our fence yard until Elise was coming out of the house and Sadie pushed pasted her (she had been watching this bunny in our yard and barking like crazy at the window). You would have thought we were on a sit-com… kids yelling… adults running.. grabbing dogs… kids chasing the bunny… getting dogs in the house after that had a taste of fur….finding the bunny hiding and checking it over for doggy damage … ( it was fine) .. phew!

As a side note. Alex has also realized how much work goes into cleaning cages…( “Yes Alex, bunnies do poop a lot!” lol ) feeding and nurturing.

 

Kids Activties – Bowling

Bowling is a Great Activity for Kids

There are many bowling alleys that participate in a program called Kids Bowl Free .  Bowling is an activity that kids love! Many adults too.

We did this last year and really enjoyed it.  You can sign your kids up online and they can get two free games of bowling everyday all summer long!  Perfect if you live within walking distance from one of the participating lanes …that’s for sure!  You can check but I know last year I was able to buy a full family membership for $24.95 (I think) and that allowed the older kids and Dave and I to also bowl. 

The bowling was during the day hours, not in the evenings, and I don’t think on the weekends either.  Their shoes also are not included.

At the bowling alley we were going to, we figured out that it was less expensive for us to buy them shoes if we planned on going several times throughout the summer.

It is designed to get the kids to love bowling, and keep them out of trouble.

When my older boys were young, they were in a bowling league and dearly loved it.  It was our weekly Saturday morning activity for a couple years.

We haven’t gotten the kids into a bowling league, they have other sports they are into. But it is a fun diverse activity.

We used to have a bowling alley right in our small town. But unfortunately it closed down last year. I think there were a lot of repairs needed and it was old, but great for birthday parties and the kids could be walking to it now ..if it was still there.

I love it when the kids get a strike or a great shot… you never know what kind of reaction you may get.  I wish you could have seen Alex’s full “victory dance”

 

Activities For Kids – Gardening

Plant and Maintain a Summer Garden

I can’t take any credit for the gardens that we have in our yard.  This is a Dave activity for the kids. When we moved into this house it had two raised garden beds.  Most every year that I’ve lived here, Dave has planted gardens with the help from the kids.

This year he added a third raised garden bed.  He let the triplets  pick which veggies they wanted to plant in the gardens.  They actually are good vegetable eaters, so it wasn’t a teeth pulling event!

The garden has flourished this summer.  The kids have been in charge of watering, weeding and pulling the veggies when they are ready.

This is a picture of Dave getting the first radish out.  He was showing and talking to the kids as he was getting it.

Look at the beans that are ready to pull.

We have some squash and cucumbers that are coming along too.

Gardens can be such wonderful teaching and learning experiences for kids.  Not only do they learn how to plant and take care of a garden, but they learn how valuable it is to take care of things. They realize how much food you can have for little.  It is teaching them life lessons.

When my son Tim was young he went to a daycare that was part of the school they went to – during the summers.  He had such a wonderful teacher. She did all kinds of activities with the kids, they didn’t just sit inside and paint pictures.  They had field trips near by almost everyday.  She also started off the summer by having the kids plant a garden. Each day they went out and took care of the garden and got to watch it grow throughout the summer.  What a great lesson!

 

Activities for Kids – Sprinklers!

Bring On The Sprinklers!

Are the kids bored?  Tell them to get their swimsuits on and get out the sprinkler! It can be that simple.

We do not turn on the sprinkler much in our town because water tends to be pretty expensive.  But we also do not have a pool membership. (The kids do with their mom, so they aren’t deprived)

I surprised them the other afternoon and asked them if they wanted to play in the sprinkler. You know what they said?  “Do we even have a sprinkler?”

Wow.. I didn’t realize it had been that long since I had the sprinkler out.  I used to water my lawn routinely before I moved to this town.

You can kill two birds (or more) with one stone!  Your water gets a drink, and/or your garden (if you have the water on high enough).

You can also make a dog who likes the hose, very happy. Sadie loves to play in the hose and get drinks from it.  Gizzy hates the hose. When the sprinkler came out… she ran the other way and wanted to go into the house.

The kids can get so goofy when you bring out a sprinkler.

They were doing somersaults through it…. jumping in it… tackling each other in it.

The kids had a great time.  I didn’t have to spend any money (well, at least until I pay the water bill that is) and they had a fun experience that they will of course want to repeat.  I did put a time limit on it, but they turned off the hose themselves before my time limit was up.

I think Sadie had even a better time!

I ended up with three very happy children, a couple wet swim suites (they decided to sit outside to dry off without towels too!) and a dog that was happy and worn out too.

 

 

 

Activities for Kids – Lemonade Stand

Lemonade Stand

The triplets had a lemonade and Kool-aid stand a couple of years ago.  They were so excited.  They made a list of what they would need (with some assistance).  They made their products. Dad helped them to understand what the supplies they used cost.  E made the sign (and we of course didn’t have the heart to tell her something was spelled wrong.) They got it all outside (with lots of assistance) and sat for a long time…. drinking most of the profits.

But they did make a little money and had fun and learned some lessons.  They had the cash register outside and when there were no “customers” we worked on how to make change.

This is a low cost activity the kids can do. They don’t forget it either. The kids have often referred back to their lemonade stand.  My guess is that one of them will have it on the list of things they want to do this weekend.  Labor Day weekend is the time to do a lemonade stand in our town. There are a couple of huge weekends that you have garage sales.  The biggest is Labor Day weekend. The reason is because there is an event every year in our town called Swappers.  Swappers day is basically a massive flea market.

You wouldn’t believe the garage sales in this town. There had to have been  hundreds. Last year was unbelievable. The weather was perfect and everyone was out.  It is just such a fun weekend.  All that to say that if they want to have a lemonade stand that is successful they should have it then. But I don’t think they would mind at all. The experience for them is the setting it up, the anticipation and of course.. drinking the lemonade.

 

 

Activities for Kids – Picnic

Picnic

Kids don’t need a big deal picnic.  You don’t have to plan an outing that will use your gas etc.

It can be simple.  Kids love to do things that they do not normally get to do. They can make and pack their own picnic if they are old enough.  The triplets are ten years old and did the whole thing.

They went down to the basement and got the picnic basket and blanket out too. By the way they also put everything away themselves (without me even asking them too!! I was in shock!)

We have a picnic table out back but it was more novel to eat in the grass. They scoped out a place and checked to make sure the dogs hadn’t visited there first….lol .  They spread out the blanket and had their lunch.

They will love the feeling of independence.   They were thrilled with doing the whole thing themselves.

Here is one of their lunches. Nothing fancy, but he did it himself.

They can even just use a brown paper bag or lunch box.

Tell them to invite a friend over and they can picnic with their friend.

If they are young, they will still appreciate it. I remember when my older boys were little, we had a little kids picnic kit that was all plastic. They loved having lunches out of that.

You’ll be amazed at how something so simple can be so fun for the kids.  Just to eat outside when that is unusual. If you eat a lot of meals outside at the table, then change it up.  Let them picnic on the front porch or in the grass.  If it is a rainy day, then let them have a picnic lunch in the family room on the floor, on a blanket.

It doesn’t take much to make it special.

 

 

Activities for Kids – Fishing

Fishing

I LOVE this picture of Dave and Zach.  They were just coming down the road after the rest of us. We had all gone fishing together.  They were really whistling the theme song from the Andy Griffith Show!

The kids love to fish. Of course Dave doesn’t get a lot of fishing done at this point. He is usually busy helping untangle a line, or helping in some way.

But Dave makes the kids bait their own hooks and take off their own fish.

I love this picture of her when she was about 4 years old. I just had to throw that in.  The kids have been fishing since they were about three.

An activity that the kids learn to sit quietly, concentrate and enjoy nature.

This is a great activity for kids, of any age.  It just depends on how involved you want to be.

This is a lower cost activity … that is if you have fishing equipment.  You will probably have to buy a fishing license for the year, and maybe some bait.  But if you don’t have fishing gear, be sure to check garage sales and Craigslist. You can pick things up pretty inexpensively I’m sure.

Summertime with Kids

Summertime….and the living is easy?

by Evelyn Cucchiara

 

 

Ah….summertime. That season of the year when everything slows down and you get a chance to relax. At least in theory. Reality might be a bit different, especially if you have kids. If you’re not careful, you may just replace your hectic running around school time schedule with a hectic running around summer time schedule.  Except it will now be accompanied by a side dish of guilt because you know that summertime is supposed to be when you slow down and relax. A vicious circle. Time to jump off that merry-go-round.

Summer can be all you remember it being when you were a child. Long lazy days and what seemed like unlimited time. You just have to do a bit of organizing before the season starts. Some ideas to get you started:

• Don’t sign up for more than 2 scheduled activities. What sounds like a great idea now won’t be so great in a few weeks when all you and your kids want to do is relax.
• Sit down with your family ahead of time and find out what activities/day trips/events they want to do this summer. Keep a list. Tops on our list is going to an amusement park, having giant ice cream sundaes for lunch one day, scheduling a trip to a different library once a week followed by reading time, watching movies (complete with popcorn and snack bar) on rainy days…….. you get the idea. Find out what is important to your family – don’t worry about what the neighbors are doing.
• Once a week, enlist one of your kids to help cook dinner. They’ll learn important life skills, you’ll spend quality time together, and hopefully when they get older they will take over some meal prep!
• Try this idea year round, not just in summer – so that I don’t end up being the maid all summer, we schedule two family clean-ups a week just to keep the house in shape. What’s a family clean up? We ring a bell, all family members gather, each member picks a chore to do (in our house you get a choice of dusting, de-cluttering, vacuuming or a quick cleanup of the bathroom.) First come, first choice. This keeps the house in decent shape.
• To keep the kids busy and give them a sense of contributing – son #1 is in charge of sweeping off the front walk daily, son #2  handles blowing off the driveway and deck weekly. (Son #3 is 18 and has an actual paying job out of the house.)
• Two birds with one stone idea – the kids clean out their bedroom and playroom and gather any toys they haven’t played with in a year. They can play with them for a few more days, then we list them on Craig’s List or eBay and they get to keep the money.

Those are a few ideas to get you started. Just remember, summer is about slowing down and recharging for the next year.  If you don’t have time to read a few pages of a book just for pure pleasure this summer, something is wrong. Plan a lose schedule of events and activities, and you should end up in August reflecting on what a great summer you had, not wishing you had done more.

An important part – don’t forget to schedule some time with your friends – no kids allowed! A girl’s night out at the movies, some couples meeting for drinks at an outdoor watering hole, whatever sounds good to you! Just be sure to organize it before the summer slips away……………………………..

Happy summer!…………………………Evelyn

 

 

Short bio:

Hello everyone! I’m Evelyn Cucchiara and I’m a mom, business owner, author & blogger from New Jersey. My organizing experience comes from the trenches, so it works! Here’s my life in a nutshell: I’m a mom of three boys, I own and operate a children’s art studio, I write 2 blogs, I wrote an eBook on organizing entitled “30 Days to an Organized Home”, I tweet daily organizing tips and, along with my husband, I own a house flipping business. Want more info? Visit one or more of my websites:
http://www.bestorganizingtips.blogspot.com for daily organizing ideas http://www.comeongethappyblog.com for ways to bring happiness into your life
My art studio web address? http://www.artadventuresartstudio.com.
And last but not least – my eBook website http://www.organizingwithevelyn.com

And if you’d like to follow me on Twitter: @organizingwithe

 

Activities for Kids – Cake Pops

Cake Pops!

Have you heard of them? OMG… they are So good!  What a great activity for the kids!  Ours didn’t turn out as fancy as you see them in the Cake Pop book, but the triplets had a great time making them.

I saw these Cake Pops and went out and bought the Cake Pops book by  Bakerella.

I bought all the required items.  If you happen to have these supplies, then it is a low cost activity. For me… there was a lot I needed, so not so low cost.

Cake Mix & supplies needed to make. Oil, eggs, water
Candy Melts (she calls for 48 oz which is four Wilton bags, but I only had 2 bags and didn’t use them all)
Lollipop sticks
Styrofoam – the size I got cost me $8,99 at Joann’s. I’m sure you can buy it for less, but I didn’t have time to shop around.
sprinkles – we had a lot of that.

We decided to go with the very basic cake pop.  Having triplets, I had to divide up the jobs so everyone got a chance.

One thing about baking or cooking. There are so many lessons and skills that can be taught.  We talked about fractions, how to measure, how to flour.

It was a great teaching moment.

Thank goodness there were three eggs in the recipe… that’s all I can say!

Learning how to use a hand mixer…. and can you believe that none of them lifted it up to early? I fully expected a nice cake spraying!

Then of course once you make cake…. you get to help clean up.

Of course since there are two beaters, you have to have the third have the spoon.

Bake the cake as usual.  Once it is cool, cut into four large sections.

They had to read the recipe.  I was there to guide and teach, but they did the work. I didn’t do it for them.

They got to crumble up the cake into tiny pieces…. think they had fun with that?

I had some homemade awesome frosting left from some cupcakes I had made last week. It was vanilla frosting, but it was just colored pink. The recipe called for 3/4 of a can of canned frosting. A can is 16 oz, so I had them measured 12 oz of frosting.

They took turns mixing it in.

Of course they all dove in to make up the cake balls.

Their ball rolling wasn’t perfect, but this activity was for fun, not perfection.  The box made 48 cake balls. I made them figure out the math of how many rows and how many in each row on the two cookie sheets.

We took the two trays of cake balls out to the freezer. We brought them in after 15 minutes like the directions said, but we left the whole tray out.  The directions said to only work with a few at a time and keep the others in the refrigerator.  We learned.

We gave them more time in the freezer, then brought in one tray and kept in the freezer inside. Then we only got two out at a time.

We melted the candy melts. You only heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. I also ended up adding some Crisco (as per direction) to thin down the candy melts.

You take your candy stick and dip it first into the candy melt. Then you put it into your cake ball. Not all the way through.

Then dip it in and lift right out of the candy melt.  This one didn’t get down far enough. I was using the spoon to help put some extra on the ends. I also would try tipping the bowl to make it deeper.

I used one of my deepest bowls, and I think had we had a couple bags of candy melt in the bowl, instead of just one it would have been easier.

But our main problem was that they would fall off the stick.  Even after just coming out of the freezer.  I think the issue there was that I must have used a little too much frosting. I think they were just a bit too gooey. Then you tap it gently to get some of the extra off.

They got to then dip them in the sprinkles. But we found it worked better and was less messy to sprinkle the sprinkles on top and not dip the cake ball into the sprinkle bowl.

I had also bought a bag of chocolate melt. It seemed to thin out a little better. I also added a little bit of Crisco to that too.

The whole process took us about 3 1/2 hours from start to finish.

The kids found out that the “duds” tasted just as good as the “good ones”.

 

They couldn’t have been prouder.  They raced in to show their Dad when he got home and their brother. Of course I heard, when can we make them again?

 

What are some of the recipes your kids like to make?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activities for Kids – Libraries

Reading Clubs at Your Local Library

The Columbus Library has a program going on starting tomorrow, June 4th.; called Be a Hero – Read

Don’t forget to utilize your library! They have great programs for the kids during the summer that are completely free.

We aren’t far from one of the Columbus library branches.  It is where my husband usually gets his books on tape for his daily work commute.  Our library doesn’t have nearly the selection that the Columbus libraries do.  So it is easy for him to take the kids in the evenings if they want to do a run over there.  Last year that participated in both programs.  It really gave them incentive to read even more.

The triplets went yesterday (first day of their summer break) and signed up for the reading program at our library.

We are lucky because the library is within a bike ride for the kids. They will be going into 5th grade and can follow the rules of the library and go on their own.

My husband has given the kids a daily assignment.  They are to go to the library and read one article from the Columbus Dispatch newspaper.  Then they have to explain to him in the evening what the article was about.

They get credit for the amount of time they read or are read to. (Starts at age 3)

They love it!  Now we will have more scenes like this in our house.

My daughter has a girlfriend that loves to read, so she has already told me that they plan on going to the library everyday.  Of course they want to earn the prizes for reading for so long…. so there is added incentive.

The libraries also have programs and activities through the week for the kids.  I know our library has a magic show scheduled, they have routine reading time for the younger kids too.

I’m all for that.  A great activity for the kids, that they enjoy… is free… and they are learning at the same time. What could be better? Check out your local library!

 

 

Organizing Girls Headbands

Organizing Headbands

 

 

 

 

Uses for Egg Cartons – To Help Organize

Organizing Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive!

There are common everyday items we use and throw away that we could recycle to help us organize. Last week I showed you how you can use empty toilet paper rolls and duct tape to make cool cord and cable organizers.

Egg cartons – There can be so many uses

Before I show you one use for this egg carton I do want to say that I am not in favor of saving every egg carton from now on because you MIGHT be able to use it.  What I would say to you is that if you can think of an area you can use one of the ideas that I give you, or the other readers give you… save as many as you need for that project and recycle the rest.

Simple enough

Are you thinking?

I have oodles of ways you can use this…. but I’m only going to show you one! I want to hear your methods… see your posts and learn some creativity from you!

You can use this egg carton as a desk drawer organizer.

All the little separate compartments

Think of all the little things we have in our desks

You can either cut off the lid and use just this portion of the egg carton, or you can leave the lid on and put it to use also.

You can benefit from the still divided, but bigger compartments too.

There are a couple things when I look at these pictures.  All you crafters and DIY’ers…. you are all thinking… omg I need to spray paint that so that it looks better and you don’t see the writing or I can make that egg carton into wall art if I just do this….

I WANT TO HEAR YOUR IDEAS!!  Better yet… I want to see them.  I would love for you to go and get an egg carton and work your magic on it!  Show me your ideas.

You can either leave your link to your post… or to another blogger who you know has done some cool things with egg cartons in the comments OR you can link them to my link party here.

I love your comments!

Summer Schedule

Don’t Forget The Learning!

We all know that summer is about fun with your kids. There are many things to do, vacactions, riding bikes, playing with friends, swimming and picnics.
But one of the big issues with summer and kids being out for such a long period of time, can be that they forget so much of what they have learned. Three months for us seems like nothing (you know…each year seems to go by faster? The older I get …the truer that statement is!) But 3 months to a 9 year old is a long time!

Learning can be fun?  Yes…it can!
Make learning fun. You can make a pretend classroom. Let them be teachers.
Most libraries have fun programs that encourage kids to read for prizes. The triplets signed up 4 days ago. I can’t even tell you how much reading my one step son has done. I had to shoo him outside! LOL I think he had down 8 hours in 3 days yesterday. You may think, “Yeah, but some kids are just bookworms.” Funny thing is, he never has been. Doing their 20 minutes each morning during school is a chore normally. So something as simple as getting tattoos or stickers at the different “marks” on their little reading map are enough to encourage kids to read.

Computer games The kids have Study Island at school and know how to use it. They are continuing at home. But with Study Island I guess it “passes” them at 60%. Yeah….I don’t think so! I told them it has to be 90% before they move on. If they only get a 60% they obviously do not have the concept down. They are working on math right now, but there is reading and other subjects too. The one in the picture above is from Jump Start. There are many different learning computer games out there.

The other thing I just started them on this week is with a free typing program called Free Typing Games The kids knew of another one called Tux Type that they had at school, but it had to be downloaded. It wasn’t working on 2 of my computers, so I found this.
I like the Free Typing Games better anyway. Tux Type it seemed it was all just games. I wanted one that worked with “home row” and making sure they were using proper fingering. The #1 lesson is the letters “F” and “J”. It just goes through fffj jjf ffff jjf etc… Three things. The 2 letters and the “space” key. Just like my mom’s old typing book that I used to use when I was a kid. Lesson #2 will move on to “D” and “K”. It then progresses after you have learned all the placement of the letters to words and there are also games. Love it!!
Typing is SO imporant in this word of computers. My husband is a “hunter and pecker” when it comes to typing. He never learned and he uses 2 fingers to do his typing.
I want them to learn properly. I won’t let them look at their fingers either. So I took a top of a cardboard box and made a cover to cover up the keyboard so they can’t see their hand.

Journal writing
I let the kids each pick out their own spiral notebook and we made that their journal for the summer. We are picking a subject each day and they have to write a half page story or their thoughts on that subject. They ask me what the subject for the day is going to be. Yesterday was, “Being Nice”. Today’s is “Boats”.

So here is the learning line up that we have done this week. The kids are not complaining. My Step daughter has said, “This is fun, it is summer and we are still learning!”. Gotta lov her!

The computer picture of my s-daughter was from another time. The other 3 pictures I just took this am while they were working on their morning routine.  I didn’t pose them…that is why 2 of them are working on their journals and no one was using the typing program. LOL

What things do you do with your kids to make their summer learning fun.

Summer Schedule – Kids Chores

Kids need routine – even in the summer

I believe this.  I think kids do better if they  know what to expect and what is expected of them.  I’m not saying that summer shouldn’t be fun.  I’m not saying that it has to be completely rigid without any give.  But I think there should be things that are done daily. (I don’t think this is only for the summer…but there is more free time during the summer).

Chores

I’ve said several times that I think kids should have chores.  But in the summer my kids have extra jobs.  I’ve done this post called, 1) “How Do you Get Your Child To do their Jobs?”  2)  “Should Kids Help in the House?” 3) “Kids Chores – Cleaning Buckets can Help” and 4)  Kids Chore Boards – Make Your Own.”

Here is an example of the Chores my kids have:

Normal routine:

Make Bed  -  Clean Room  and 1 other chore (set table, clear table, help in kitchen)

In the Summer

I will add 2 more jobs to their lists:

Vacuum, clean bathroom  (either sink, toilet or tub), dust, playroom in basement

My thoughts are this. It is our responsibility as parents to train our children so that they can be self sufficient when they are on their own.  I have 3 boys on their own now. They have thanked me. That says it all.

We do the jobs in the morning and get them over with.

What jobs do your kids do?

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