Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Busy Making Busy Bags


Another Pinterest Project Completed!  Yay!

Have you every heard of Busy Bags?!


I hadn't, until Pinterest.  Thank you Pinterest! Check out some of these blogs for lists of Busy Bags ideas here, here and here.

And I am so thankful I ran across these little jewels.  There are so many busy bag options out there and they are such creative learning tools!

Another great idea, put together a Busy Bag swap with other moms and friends. 

Here's the Busy Bags I put together.  I chose ones that will work for our car ride when we head on vacation this year. Check out the links under each Busy Bag for specific directions on how to make them and printables for each bag.



Color/ Number Wheel
This is a two sided project for the kids to work on their colors and numbers.  This is a simple but great tool.  Click here for the printouts and further directions.

Animal Counting Cards
These I chose to make with velcro so that they could work for traveling.  The directions also have you attach the numbers to bottle caps, I simple chose to laminate the number instead.  Click here for the directions and printouts for this project.

Magnetic Pom Poms
I have a few separate bags of magnetic pom poms.  This is a little time consuming to put together but the kids love this busy bag and there are tons of print outs to use with magnetic pom poms.  I bought the pom poms at the Dollar Store and the roll of magnetic strip at Hobby Lobby.  I broke out the scissors and hot glue gun and got to work.  Like other projects I laminated each page.  Another tip, I purchased small baking sheets/ cookie sheets from the Dollar Store for these projects that are magnetic.  They are also perfect for when using these Busy Bags in the car.
Click here for the printouts and more specific directions for this project.

Brown Bear Head and Tail Matching Game
This one is cute and simple, just match the head and tail of each animal.  She also has a ton more printables that you can look through for more options for Busy Bags.  Like my other Busy Bags I laminated these and added magnetic strips to the backs as well.  Click here for the printouts.

Matching Color Shades
This is such an easy Busy Bag to put together, just grab some paint sample cards, and clothespins.  You can check out more specific directions here.  I also chose to laminate the paint swatch cards, like most every other Busy Bag project I did. ;)

More Magnetic Pom Poms
This one I have a plain template for the kids to create their own pictures and patterns. 

Build-A-Letter
I love this project!  I took at bit of time on this one making it travel friendly but I think it was worth it in the end.  I laminated each letter sheet and added velcro on the back of each foam template.  Click here for the printout and directions.

More Magnetic Pom Poms
Click here for more printouts for this project.

Velcro Mr. Potato Head
This one is just for fun, my kids have fun playing with their Mr. Potato Head and I figured they'd have fun with this on our long car ride coming up.  Click here for the printout for this Busy Bag. 

Upper and Lower Case Matching
This one may be better for a child who is a little older but they can also match using like colors if they don't know all their letters yet.  I added magnetic strip on the back of each letter.  I also made these myself on a Word document.  But I got the idea from  here.

Cupcake Busy Bag
This one is just too cute and you can use it in different ways.  Have the kids simply put it together or have them count out a specific number of chocolate chips or sprinkles.  Click here for the directions and printout!


Monday, August 27, 2012

Our Siding is FINISHED!!!

Wow!  What a huge relief and blessing it is to have our siding finished!  It was our last really big job that needed to be finished on our house.  And from the outside our house looks finished... even though we still have a little ways to go.

But that is okay!  Because our siding is finally done!


We actually started putting up siding in September of 2011 which you can read about here, it's been almost 1 year.  Crazy.  And granted a lot of that time we didn't work on siding at all due to the cold cold weather of our winters here, but no matter how long it took we are grateful to be done.

We had so much help from friends and we could not have done it without their generous help and blessing.  The siding we used definitely is a two person job to put up for the most part.  Even Zeke was out there with his Dad holding up the other side whole it was nailed into place. 

We just need to go around and touch up the paint where we caulked all the seams and then paint the front door but overall it looks amazing.

We're so happy with how it's all coming together and now that such a big project has been completed we have a little extra motivation to finished up the inside and get this place finished!  The end is drawing closer and we're all excited about that!

Check out our fully sided house!


One happy guy and glad to be putting the last piece of siding on!

Putting the last piece up,

And nailing it on!


A late but good night, wrapping up!

Looking good!

More like.. Looks amazing!!


Even got a few lights up!

Thank you Lord for helping us persevere! 
















Friday, August 24, 2012

An Unexpected New Favorite Snack

Recently I headed on a jet plane with my baby to Denver for a special friend's wedding.  I headed out a few days before the wedding so I could spend a little time with her family who I also consider to be my family as well! 

Anyways one afternoon we were heading out the door to get things ready for the wedding when the mother of the bride stopped to get a quick snack before we headed out.  She grabbed a bag that had cut up bell peppers and she grabbed a jar of peanut butter.  Then she asked me if I wanted to try it, and lets just say I was a bit skeptical to say the least.  I almost walked out the door without taking a bite but let me just say I would have been the one really missing out!

I could hardly believe a bell pepper with a little bit of peanut butter spread on it could taste SO good!

Well, when I got home and went grocery shopping I made sure to pick up some bell peppers and I shared this new snack idea with my kiddos who also loved it.  Score! 

So simple, a bell pepper with a little bit of natural peanut butter or almond butter spread on it and there you have a great healthy and yummy snack that everyone can enjoy!


Go ahead, try it!  I promise you won't be disappointed!





Thursday, August 23, 2012

Hallway & A Bookshelf

Our hallway is a work in progress.  Okay, mostly it's the hallway closet that just needs a lot of work.  Also known as organization.  But I have yet to get to that project so it's a place to unload everything for now.  But one project that has been finished in the hallway is our bookshelf.  I finally took the time to organize it and make it pretty and I'm happy with how it turned out.  Eventually we'll add some pictures to the walls but for now this is where it's at.

Welcome to our hallway...

Exciting, I know!...


The bookshelf that has finally been decorated.
Our hall closet which is one of my nightmares.
Bathroom door on the right, Master straight back and the girls room on the left.















Not much, but there you have it!



Monday, August 20, 2012

Everyday Moments: August 13th - August 19th

Welcome to our summer in photos. If you're wondering what this page is about please feel free to read more about it here.

The week of August 13th through August 19th: in photos!
August 13, 2012
My sweet baby sleeping.

August 14, 2012
Playing outside.

August 16, 2012
Enjoying a snack.


August 17, 2012
Finally finished the kids chalk board.  Found the large frame at Goodwill for 10 bucks!  Score!  It's just under 5 ft tall.  Just added a little chalk board paint and spray painted the frame red.

August 18, 2012
Another day working on siding and the kids had fun playing outside.

August 19, 2012
Had a skype date with the cousins and Oma and Opa!  Super fun!
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