Linking Up.....

I linked up my Batik Project over at Running With Glitter today! I love this blog and I was super excited to find out she's a local gal to me! Go check out her page and link up a project of your own!

Art, Art and more Art....

So, my kiddos and I have been working diligently on a project or two around the house! And I am excited that now I can post a pic of one that is finished.

And it turned out AMAZING! It was so much fun and I love that we honestly worked on it for like five days! And we had all the materials on hand already so it cost nothing, but even if you bought stuff it wouldn't be that expensive.

We did a Batik on a sheet. We are going to hang the sheet from a line between two trees to be the backdrop for our outdoor stage. I have to do some rearranging of the area before I take pics of that part though. So, here in a serious of pictures is what we did...

Skylar adding Glue.

You need to make sure you use the Gel Glue...

Clark adding glue...this was also a good motor activity to help him strengthen his hand muscles.

This is our sheet after we have added the glue...

We let this dry over night....then the next three nights we added watered down acrylic paint. I just took all the bottles that I had from other projects (which was alot) and poured them in cups and added water....mixing until they were very runny like water. Then we just went out and poured them on. We only did 3 or four colors a night so that we could see how they ran and dried. Then the next night we would know where we had white spots.

This is what it looked like after all the nights of adding paint!

The next step after all the paint was dry was putting through the washer with HOT water. That will dissolve all the glue and leave those spots fresh and white! It looks awesome, but I want to show it to you in it's full glory. So tomorrow when I get it hung up I will take more pics and show you!

Hanging head in shame...

I am the worst blogger evah! I am so sorry! I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. I can't even blame school or anything. I've just been unable to think of things that I think are worthy of blogging about. Does anyone else ever have that problem?

School has started back up here. I have one in her last year of middle school and I have one that is starting pre-k in one short week.

Maybe that is what has me so frazzled. Or maybe it's the fact that for the first time in I don't know how long, I am not taking any classes this semester. I find myself not knowing what to do at night because I was so used to reading, studying, andoing homework.

Me and the littles have had a cold this week and the poor baby can't take anything because she is so young. So she is the worst of all of us, poor poor baby!

So, I am sorry that I've been missing from blogland and I promise to try to be better! Hope you have a great Friday!

On the Eve....

This is it. The night before the first day of school for the oldest little. My first born will start the 8th grade tomorrow.

It will be the first time EVER that I have not driven her to her first day. She wants to be big and cool and ride the bus with her new cousin that just joined our family through a wonderful marriage.

I can't deny her that right though. The right to spread her wings and fly. We went to meet the teacher night tonight. Then we had dinner just the two of us. We talked about grown up things and childish things.

We asked each other random "slumber party" questions. Like, if you had to eat something every day for the rest of your life what would it be.

What would yours be?

And we talked about boys, hair, clothes...all that good stuff. Stuff I only get to talk about with my oldest.

I appreciate this little moment of time we had. I love having all my kiddos together at one time and watching them play. But...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...

I love having time with each of them seperately too!

So good luck tomorrow big 8th grader! I love you and I know you'll be amazing!

State of flux....

Here's a question for ya'. What did you want to be when you grew up?

Are you doing it? Are you moving towards it?

Am I the only person out here that wants to be so many things that it's hard to contemplate doing just one of them?

When I was little I wanted to be a mommy. Other things would come and go, but always I wanted to be a mommy. I would be damn good at it. I knew.

I am a mommy and I am good at it. Of course, I make my fair share of mistakes. I falter, I forget things, I snap sometimes at them for little things. But all in all, at the end of every day I think I can truly say that I focused on letting my kids just be kids. I don't care about my house looking perfect and clean (much to my hubs dismay). I don't care about having grand parties and being the home room mom. I just want my kids to go to bed each night knowing a)they are loved and b)they got to be themselves. I am confident in this! I am Mommy!

Work, not so much...I'm in a state of flux.

I've worked a lot of jobs since my first one. It used to be a family joke that I was trying to see just how many W2's I could take with me at tax time. But I've always come back to working with kids. So finally it only made sense that I should go back to school to get a degree. I love working with kids. I love being around them, witnessing their ideas and watching them form their ideas about the world. I have been going to school while working full time for the last 7 years. That's a lot of time and energy and I don't regret one minute of it. Even though it has taken me away from children and I have carried so much guilt about that. I have always known that it was getting me closer to my ultimate goal. When I had Lexi 9 months ago, I was so unprepared for the depression that hit me. And I know that I was exhausted and full of new mommy hormones. But I also knew that what I was doing was taking time away from my baby and other littles. Even though I was lucky enough to get to take her to school with me many times, I was just being pulled in too many directions. I was reluctant but sure that I needed to take a break and slow down. So, I dropped some classes and extended my time in school. It will now be another year before I graduate and student teach.

I should be getting ready to step into a classroom this school year. Nervous and giddy with all the energy of a new teacher. But I'm not. I get to hear about all my school friends and their new classes and the teachers they are working with. I will be absolutely ecstatic for them. I still know that it was the right thing to do. For my sanity, for my health, for my children. But, I don't know if it was right for my heart. I don't know if it is still the depression that creeps in. Or if the break has given me too much time to think now. I don't know what is wrong exactly.

I just feel so scared that I've devoted seven (now 8) years of my life to something and when I get to the end of the tunnel....what if I suck at it? What if I can't get a job? What if it isn't everything that I thought it would be?

And then I get mad at myself. Because I never used to be the kind that questioned myself like that. I'm an only child so I tend to think if I want something I will get it. But, I'm being honest here, right. I'm scared. I'm sad. I think I'm a little lost.

Sorry for the bummer post!

Button Love....

I want to win this headband so badly! I just love it! And I love this blog...go check it out...but DON'T try to win the headband please!

http://delirious-rhapsody.blogspot.com/2011/08/hey-lady-nice-button.html

We're Having A Heatwave....

A tropical heat wave. Oh, wait. This isn't so tropical. I would actually welcome a tropical heat wave at this point. At least there would be some breeze coming off the ocean, right?

My mind is kind of melted right now so I warn you that this post will be full of random thoughts and mommy nonsense.

For instance, I have a car that has seen better days. It has no air conditioning right now and getting the A/C charged only last a day. I also have black leather seats. And the two back windows don't roll down.

This basically means that my children don't go anywhere with me except the baby because she is little and can't (yet) refuse to get in the car with me.

It also means that on our 15 minute drive home today in the 110 degree heat of our town...I worried that she might have become unconscious due to the heat because she was quiet...so I did what any good mommy would do and said her name a little too loudly...I scared the crap out of her. I saw her poor feet jump. That was just wrong of me.

This crazy ass heat also means that people are using up water like freaking crazy and let's be honest...some of them are using it to water their lawns. Ridiculous! Seriously, utterly, ridiculous! It's over 100 degrees and it has been for weeks....who gives a shit about your lawns!!!! I don't have water every night for atleast four hours while I try to cook dinner and do dishes and heaven for bid try to bathe my children...so I'll be damned if I care about your lawn growing!

Ok, thanks for letting me rant and rave. I could go on and on about some other things as well, but I think we've all had enough for one night!

Here is a really funny picture to remind us all that sometimes when your older children pick on your baby...it can be really, really, funny!