Pealing Crayons

Ok so you would think that this would be super simple. I mean we all had it down pat when we were kids right? Um.... No! It's a big pain when you sit down to peal 64 crayons 1 piece at a time. 

 See there's also too much mess

So I started thinking of easier ways. Lucky for me my first thought was easy enough! 

What you'll need is a sharp pairing knife and your crayons 

**Note try to keep your fingers BEHIND the blade while cutting**

With your knife upside down (blade facing up) run it the length if the crayon just under the paper  next to the seam (it's the only place that the paper is a single layer) 

 And it should pop right off :)

 UNLESS you get this bad boy... The crayon above (and most crayons) the paper folds to the left but there are a few that fold to the right. These SUCK! (Thanks Crayola!) 

 For some goofball reason these have glue all over the crayon so there a pain to peal

 See the difference the one on the left folded right and the one on the right folded left (really should have switched them when taking the pic, sorry!! )

Here you can see that most of them were easy removal YA!

Lego Crayon FAIL

So Cam has asked for a Lego themed birthday party this year and even though his party is 2 weeks after Ella's it requires more "do it yourself" prep than Ella's so I'm starting it early (a little over a month) that way I'm not too over whelmed all at once. I was going to order some cute Lego crayons and chocolate off of Etsy but the price was adding up quick!! So my Dh suggested I just get the molds and make them myself so I did! I got these from shescrafty10's shop for $19.95. They came so fast! (seriously a great seller!)

They are great quality. Super sturdy but flexible

Anyway I went to the store and just got a small box of crayons to test. 

 I DO NOT recommend these if your going to melt them. They color well in original form, but when you melt them....

 They separate... All the color goes to the bottom and the wax floats.  

 See the color at the bottom

They're cute though

 See the separation 

 Also If your going to make the bricks you need 3 of each color to make a good brick. If not this is what you end up with... 

 Now with the Lego men you only need 1 crayon  but when popping it out of the mold go feet first! You'll break off the head otherwise 

Also If you want the head to be a different color.... it's not going to happen, sorry 

I'll post again when I can try another brand :)

Christmas is coming!!

So Christmas has been in full swing for a couple of weeks here and Cameren couldn't be more excited about it. In previous years he kinda understood what was going on but never got too excited about it because he didn't really have many other kids around to show him that it is indeed a HUGE deal. Well since starting Kindergarten he has really gotten to know the holidays with all the activities and crafts (that I tried to get him to do when he was younger but he wanted nothing to do with) This year he had me put up our extra tree in his room and he got to decorate the whole thing himself including the star (I'll have to get a finished pic to put up)

The best thing about this year is he gets to teach his little sister about Christmas.

 She LOVES the trees! I love this pic

Here they both are together ♥ So cute!!

 

 Cam drew out his Christmas list, addressed it and mailed it out at the local mall. 

We were looking for the big red mail box that they usually have out (the one that when you put in a letter they make a donation) This mall didn't have it :(

Ella got her first Christmas outfit I searched for weeks to find the perfect dress that would match her bow  (I'm such a sucker for bows)

 And here's a look at our indoor setup. Pretty cute :)

 And our outdoor setup. I know it's a little bland but at least we have the lights thanks to my Neighbors :) they said we looked like the scrooges so they put them up for me Since DH was on call and working constantly that week. There so wonderful!!! Next year I'll do a little more :) Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Sitting up!

Ella is now sitting up!

 This started a little over a week ago but I didn't want to jinx it by saying anything because then she started rolling over I got all excited and let everyone know then she stopped and only does it on rare occasions... But she loves to be vertical! I'm so happy for her!

 Cam tries to have her "ride" things now lol This is him having her ride his giraffe pillow pet. So cute :)

She's also gotten very handsy she loves to touch anything and everything, especially phones (UH OH!!) This is her trying to get my niece Heathers phone

I guess it's time to teach her about phone bills lol :)

Time for school, and ear piercing!

First day of school!

Yesterday was Cameren's first day of Kindergarten. He was so excited to make new friends and have fun learning, and meet his teacher (again b/c he already met her at meet the teacher night a couple days before). He was a little upset about having to wake up so early "Mama it's still night time!" and "Do I bring my toothbrush and pillow to go back to sleep at school" lol nope.

 

This was his first lunch that I got to make him, I know not anything extravagant like some of these cool ones you see around the net now a days, but sufficient and what he wanted. I mean it his first day why not give him what he wants? Although most of it did come back and he finished it after school. Also he learned a very good lesson about lunch. He drank all of his juice and was still thirsty so like all the other kids he wanted some milk, well he didn't know that you have to pay for them so he just went up there and got one for himself without paying!!! Evidently the teacher saw him but he got to drink it anyway?! Well when he got home the teacher let me know about it and I apologised and talked to him about it. I honestly don't think he knew it was stealing because he was very remorseful and started crying. So I sent him to school today with $1 to pay for the milk and to apologize.



This is his teacher Mrs. Saliano, It's her second year teaching and is very sweet. Cam came home so happy and already knowing more than he did the day before :) He recited the days of the week and a couple songs that they had sang in class. I don't know if any of you have ever googled your kids teacher before but I did and I have to say I like what I see. She's very creative and very articulate. Some of her stories are online and crafts. I ♥ the web lol. Honestly I can't wait to get to know her better. Oh ya, and did I mention Cam thinks she beautiful?? lol He's already got a crush ♥

 This is his seat for the year. He's happy with it he says he sits at the head of the table now like daddy does.

 This is his first name badge! He was very happy to see his name spelled right. Mrs Saliano accidentally spelled it wrong on the table (she spelled it like it would normally be spelled so no fault on her)

EAR PIERCING!!

 Ms. Ella was very unsuspecting of anything. She was her normal happy self enjoying the day out. Poor thing had no idea that we were going to pierce those beautiful itty bitty ears.

 I had to hold her head very still even though she did beautifully every time I held her she stayed perfectly still.

 Until the pain kicked in but after a minute of crying she was better and held still for the next one.

 Then cried and cried until she got some milk, then she was all better and took a nap. I gave her some ibuprofen 20min. before we started so that they wouldn't hurt for long.

See she's all better and back to her happy self. Cuteness!

More splashing fun!

We  went to the splash pad again yesterday (can't get enough of free fun!)  And thanks to my niece Heather Ella got to get in for the first time!

She absolutely loved it! I know it doesn't really look like it in the pics but she totally did! She was holding her tongue out so it would get wet and sucking on her fingers ♥ She even got mad when the water stopped (you have to push a button to make it go for 15min. so it doesn't run with out anyone being there)

Cam did a lot to get and keep her wet

And a whole lot of splashing himself

Heather is such a great girl (when she wants to be lol) She loves my kids and is sooo good with them. I'm so blessed to have her around

Silly little girl was so worn out within 2 hours she zonked right out

Lunch time!

Word building

Ok so Cam will be starting Kindergarten in a few weeks so I thought I would try to come up with more learning games for him I came across this diy-spinny-spellers I couldn't make them exactly like she did but I just used tape and wrote on that

 I used the mega blocks that he doesn't really play with much anymore

 

 of course he had to spell some big words (not by himself) but he asked how it was spelled so I helped him. He sounded each letter out then found the letter and put it together

We did this with all of his words. He was super happy when he learned he knew the word without having to sound them out (Rat, Cat, and Bat)