How to be the Best Uncle Ever. (Hillbilly Slip and Slide)

My brother-in-law first pulled off this genius idea over ten years ago.  Now it's not a party without a hillbilly slip and slide.

If you're looking for quick and (relatively) cheap fun that will keep the kiddos busy for hours - yes, hours - this is it.

All you need is a nice hill, some heavy duty plastic sheeting rolls from the hardware store and a hose.  And maybe some dish soap to help you go a little faster.

Just clear your area of any sticks or hard objects, roll out the plastic and go.  We like to put a couple squirts of Dawn down it before the first slide to get things moving. 

Now the nurse in me has to tell you that slip & slides are the most common Summer injury in the ER, so be careful.

The kids may be back in school, but there's still loads of time to have fun. 

Try it at your next party. 

And maybe you too can be as cool as Uncle David. 

Candy? Cake? Candycake!

Our annual cake auction is this Sunday at church and I always make Josiah's favorite birthday cake.

 But this year, I wanted to try something a little different.  Also, I may not have been in the mood to bake.  So I made a candy cake.
 
I grabbed seven boxes of the boxed movie theater candy from Walmart, a box of Airheads and a bag of Halloween candy. 

I stood the boxes on end in a circle and taped them together with clear packing tape.  I also added a couple of small pieces of tape underneath the boxes and between the cake board to keep it from shifting.

Then lay out your Airheads and tape them along the back.  Add an additional piece of tape to the bottom facing out so that it will stick to the inside of the candy box circle.

 

 

Now you have a candy circle with a big hole in the middle. 



 

 

Fill the hole with your remaining Airheads and top with the little candy bars.  To be honest, it was a huge hole so I also put the empty Airheads box in, then stuffed the sides and top with all the candy.  I didn't want to go back to the store.

 

 

 

Add a ribbon and that's it.

 





Candycake!

Why I Love Amazon Prime.

I really do you know.  I love our Amazon Prime.  Even though they've raised the price to $99 per year, I still think it's the best. 

Why?  Well, I get two day shipping on lots of things that I need.  OK, I'll admit, that's shouldn't really be a big deal for me.  I mean, it probably wouldn't kill me to have to wait a week for most things, but it's nice (really nice) for things to show up on my porch two days later.  What can I say?  I love almost instant gratification. 

And then there's my free streaming with Prime video.   Amazon is getting so many great shows to stream for free, I think I'm going to cancel Netflix.  We regularly watch movies and TV shows - especially Gilligan's Island.  What can I say?  It's just a great show.  We also use Amazon for movie rentals.  It's cheaper in the long run than using (and forgetting) to return movies to Redbox.  Most rentals run from $2-$3 and you can watch as many times as you want in a 48 hour time period. 

Did I mention that I get to check out a book a month for free for my Kindle?  Yep.  That happens.  I can check out one Prime selection a month for free.  I've had lots of choices for both the boys and I.  You just pick it, read it and return it before the end of the month and you're ready for a new book on the 1st of the next month.

And finally, the newest addition, Prime music.  This I'm still discovering but what I've discovered so far, I like.  Lots of choices to listen to for free.  Newer choices as well as classics.  My favorite right now is that the Seeds Family Worship that I use to help with our memory verses. 

So basically, for $8.25 a month, I'm pretty pleased with what I get from my Amazon Prime. 

The Starving Artist

I just love finding fun and out of the ordinary things for the kids to do.  The Starving Artist in downtown Clarksburg fits this just right.

This Summer, John & Josh joined with their cousins Brent & Breanna and friends Ty, Seth and Olivia for a week long art camp at The Starving Artist.   Each day was a new project - drawing, painting, upcycling and tie dying - with the incredibly talented folks there.  The boys talked non-stop every day on the way home.  It was a big hit.

They also offer classes for adults and kids paint classes throughout the year.  If you're looking for something that fun (and sneakingly educational) this is it.  I know we'll be taking another class this fall once Josiah turns 6 and is old enough to participate. 

Check out their website above or click here to see their Facebook page for more of the masterpieces created there.

A trip to Blueberry Hill. (Thrills not guarnteed)

The boys & I went blueberry picking with Tracey from Buildng My House and Lori from Life & Love of an Everyday Wife and Mom on Wednesday. 

And yes, I spent most of the drive singing once again - loudly and off key - "I found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill".  It's a good thing that I think I'm hysterical, because apparently the kids don't. 

If you're local and you haven't been there yet - well, make plans.  It was so much fun! 

It's located way out on Bunner's Ridge.  And by way out, I mean to clear past the Sagebrush and at the end of the road, turn right.  Then continue way out that road following the blueberry signs. 

 

 

There were row upon row of plants to pick from and the staff there were really helpful to let us know which rows were ready to pick.

 

 

The kids spent time picking berries (and eating berries) and running up and down the large aisles playing while Tracey, Lori and I solved most of the world's problems - which is usual.  We were there for almost two hours before the complaints of "I'm hot" and "Can we go now?" started.  Not to bad.



 

 

We will definitely be back.  Not only was it fun, the prices for the berries wasn't that bad.  Each white bucket heaping full was $18. 

 

If you go, make sure you bring something to take your berries home in, sunscreen. cold water and cash.

 

We had homemade blueberry pancakes for dinner that night.  Some berries are being made into blueberry syrup to can for later and some ended up flash frozen and stored in the freezer for later. 

 

I wish there were more pick your own spots.  This was a blast! 

Thrifty Living: Using what's around.

Summer is just around the corner.  You're home all day, the weather is beautiful - it just seems like the perfect time to run around and have fun, right?  Of course!  But that doesn't mean you can't be smart about it.

Summer doesn't have to mean breaking the bank with daily pool and ice cream trips.  You just have to be smart about it. 

Here are some tips to help you stretch your cash and still have fun:

1.  Check with your local parks and rec for activities.  Even here in our little corner of WV, our parks and rec have lots of free or cheap activities.  There are over five different parks for free that we love to go to.  Make it a little more special by packing  a lunch and meeting some friends.  We also have a fishing park that has reduced price and free days through out the Summer.  Watch the local pools for discounted times, such as afternoons.  Also, don't forget about the pools in the next town.  Our local pool is a wave pool which makes me crazy and I think is pricey.  We usually go to Grafton, which is about the same distance from our home and half the price.  Plus, unless I'm actually planning on swimming, they don't charge me admission.  Log onto your local parks & rec website to find out what they have planned for the Summer.

2.  Speaking of swimming, know anyone with a pool?  We probably won't end up at the public pool very often this Summer thanks to a couple of great friends who open their pools up to us.  The first is a weekly Bible study poolside while the kids play.  We're using the book Unglued by Lisa Terkerst.  As a bonus, Kathleen was always my favorite teacher on Wednesday nights.  The next is my BFF, Vicki.  She also has a great pool.  We get to spend time together (which doesn't happen often now that she's in grad school) and the kids get to play.  I'll take snacks for the kids and of course, a snack for the adults and we'll have a great time swimming and spending time with our friends.

3.  What about the library?  The library has activities going on all Summer long - and in an air conditioned building.  Can't beat that during the dog days of Summer.  We'll start back with our weekly or bi-weekly trips to the library soon. 

4.  Our biggest source of fun, free (or super cheap) things to do?  Church!  We love our church.  We have all kinds of fun events there for the Summer.  The boys always go to VBS, they usually have a camp out with their boy's club, Rangers, just last week - they went for ice cream.  We also go to my in-law's church for VBS.  They do a great job as well.  This Summer, I'm excited about a series of classes at our church from the wonderful mind of Liz DeRoos - a back to basics type series where I'll learn how to make cheese and soap and herbal tinctures.  All for a minimal cost and with child care!  Ronnie & I are actually teaching the canning class on July 13th.  And don't forget about helping others!  Volunteer opportunities are a great way to show your kids there is more to this world that just me, me, me. 

There are so many more things that could be covered here - bike rides on the Rail Trails, concerts and movies in the park,  $1 movie days at the theater, carload days at the drive in, state parks.  Just look around.  There's a lot to do without breaking the bank this Summer. 

Now, go find some Summer fun!



I'm linking up with Blissful and Domestic today.

Movie Review: Wreck-It Ralph

We splurged on a family night out yesterday and went to the matinee to see Wreck-It Ralph.  I'm so glad we did. 

Ralph is the bad guy in his game.  His job is, well, to wreck it.  To tear up the apartment building in the game so that Fix It Felix can repair it with his golden hammer and earn medals.  When the arcade closes each evening, all the video games continue on with their "after work" lives.  Unfortunately for Ralph, even after hours he is considered a bad guy, just because of his role in the game.  He just wants to be included and sets off to earn his own medal so he to can be a good guy.

This movie repeated the message of don't judge a book by it's cover.  It had some great laughs, lots of physical comedy gags, racing scenes, action with shooting big transforming bugs and of course, lots of video games.  I had a chuckle at seeing Qbert and PacMan in different scenes, as well as Sonic giving public service announcements.  The boys liked seeing different video game characters that they knew in the movie. 

I was also impressed at the lack of language in the movie.  Honestly, given the casting of the film I figured Disney would try to slip a "not so bad" bad word in like they've been known to do (think Iron Giant or Cars).  No such worry.  The worst I heard were just jokes about, well, poop.  There was a big thing about Ralph meeting Vanolipe and telling her he's been in Hero's Duty.  Of course, you can't say Duty/doodie with out some kind of laugh, right?  It was right up the boys alley.

If your looking for a fun family outing this weekend, I would recommend Wreck-It Ralph.  We enjoyed it.

Bible study with kids.

Our boys are now 8, 6, and 5. We've been searching for a better choice for our evening Bible story. It just seemed like everything we came across was too young or too old.

Enter my new, most favorite family Bible study:

 

 

Each night, we follow Doc as we dig for the truth.

There are four parts to each lesson:
The map tells us where we will be going today.
The dig is the main part of the lesson.
The treasure is the big idea of each lesson.
And finally, the display - how we put this idea into real life.

My favorite part of this book is that unlike many kids Bible story books or devotionals, you actually use your Bible. I love that each night the boys are finding the book of Luke. I love that they are becoming more familiar with the location of the books of the Bible and realizing that the Bible is for them. I love that they are reading the word of God, not just someone else's paraphrase of a Bible story.

The lessons are concise, which helps a lot with the "antsy in the pantsy" problem of many of our previous attempts at family Bible study.

We've been using this book for the past couple of weeks and are really enjoying it. I downloaded my copy onto my Kindle, but it's available for the Nook or as a PDF file as well. I think it's the best $5 I've spent in a long time.

You can check out the website here for more information: thedigforkids.com.
  



Pintervention: Week 2

NERF BATTLE!!

This was a fantastic pin from obviouswinner.com. 

The boys & I were hid throughout the house with our Nerf guns locked & loaded when Ronnie came home from work.  What a blast!  I need to remember more often that making memories is worth the mess. 

I tried to get a picture of our fun to show you, but I kept being shot at.  While I'm not sure who won the battle, I'm pretty sure I lost. 

At least we had fun!

It's Story Walk Time!

This Saturday, October 22nd, is the Story Walk festival in downtown Fairmont.  We went for the first time last year and it was great. 

This year, it starts at Veteran's Square and ends at the Marion County Public Library.

There are different stations as you walk along - story time, puppets, therapy dogs, safety presentations and of course a snack.  This year WV children's author Don Thompson will be there as well.

Last year the weather was awful and they had to have it inside the Pierpont Center.  

The boys favorite....the pirate.

Mom's favorite....Curious George.

While it was a little crowded, it was still loads of free family fun.  Take some time to check out the shops downtown.  I'm going to try to sweet talk Ronnie into checking out Noteworthy Sweets for lunch.  I've heard nothing but great things about that place.

Interested?  You can find out more information here.

Hope to see you there!

This Saturday.

This Saturday is our church's Harvest Fest. 

For those of you not familiar with what this is, it's a free community event with lots of fun for everyone. 

Here's some pictures from last years festival:

This is just a very small part of what all there is to do.  Check out the flyer below for more information. 

We always have a great time! 



Hope to see you there!

Pittsburgh Zoo Love.

I love the Pittsburgh Zoo. 

I love spur of the moment.

What better than a spur of the moment trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo.

Ronnie & I decided to take the boys to the zoo Sunday afternoon.  We've always gotten up and headed out on our trips bright and early, but this time we didn't get there until a little before 3pm.  You know what?  It was great.

We splurged for the train to make up walking time.  The boys loved the train. 

We decided to ride the train to the aquarium and walk from there.  The boys really wanted to see the polar bears.  And the penguins.

John's favorite part was the underwater shark tunnel (as always). 

My favorite part was watching the sea lions while Ronnie reminded the boys (and all the small children and parents surrounding us at the exhibit) what we saw happen to the sea lions when we watched shark week on TV.  In detail. 

I quickly moved us on before a mob formed.

Ronnie was proud of me for letting the boys go through the kangaroo yard.  I've never let them do it before.  Laugh if you must, but I watch America's Funniest Home Video's.  I've seen lots of kangaroos kicking little kids.  I secretly think their not as sweet and cute as they look.  It's OK, I know I'm also a little weird.  I can admit it. 

Our favorite non-animal thing to do at the zoo is to ride the little scooters.  They have so much fun.  This year, Josiah was able to make it move on his own.

One final picture:



There has been a peacock on the roof of the aquarium every single time we have gone to the zoo. 

Has anyone else noticed this?  Crazy peacock.

All in all, a great zoo trip.

Movie Review: Spy Kids 4

Let me tell you a little story about kids and babysitters. 

When you have your first child, people come out of the walls to watch your sweet first born. 

When your second child comes around, you can still count on close friends and Grandma and Grandpa to be there anytime you want to go out.

However, when the third baby shows up, you might as well be Typhoid Mary.  No one is coming to help you.  Sitters will run from you.  Your last and only hope is Grandma and Grandpa.  Other than that, you're on your own.

Given this situation, I have begun to enjoy some of the kids movies that we see. 

Spy Kids 4 is no exception.  It kept the kids attention, had a very family oriented message and best of all....no inappropriate language. 

Of course, they had gross out humor - dogs and babies passing gas, nose picking, bombs coming out of a dog's behind - but that was right up the boys alley.   

It also had Carmen and Juni in it from the original Spy Kids....this time all grown up. 

My favorite part was the message.  The Dad, played by Joel McHale, was working hard to make a better life for his family - his "five year plan".  Not that there is anything wrong with that, but he was always working and missing everything going on with his kids.  The overall message of the film was that tomorrow comes to quickly.  Enjoy your family while you can. 

Don't expect realism - it's Spy Kids for goodness sakes.  It is what it is.

And we liked it!

This Weekend!

Jesusfest is this weekend in Clarksburg.  I have no idea how this snuck up on me so quickly. 

I was just checking out their website and found that not only my personal favs (because they're great guys) Brandon Wood and Last Years Model, will be there, but also....

Slug Bugs and Lullabies!  We have had this on my IPOD for about a year and love their music.  It's great.  It's funny.  It's one of the few kids CD's that doesn't make me want to poke out my eardrums with an ice pick. 





Todd Agnew is also performing.  Not that I don't think he's fantastic, we just listen to slug bugs weekly and I'm so excited for the boys to meet them. 

Jesusfest starts this Friday and continues through Sunday.  Here's the schedule for the weekend.  Admission is some canned food that will be distributed to local charities.

Now, what ever your plans are for this weekend, change them. 

And I'll see you at Jesusfest.