rainbow loom: teenage mutant ninja turtle, red angry bird, & starburst bracelets

My son's friend showed us this and I was determined to make it for him.

It is definitetly a hard pattern to complete! But the outcome is cool and my son was thrilled!

I bought my kids 1200 rubber bands and they went thru them in two days. At first there were rubber band all over the house and I thought I made a big mistake. by the next day every rubber band was used up and made into bracelets on their wrists. Its addicting and fun to watch little people at work making bracelet after bracelet with different patterns.

Cheap places for rubber bands: Sally's Beauty Supply $1.70 for 400

These bands are very tight and they don't give much.

Best place to buy is Joann's because you can use a coupon: $2.60 for 1000 bands

My daughter came up with a good idea for c clips just use a broken rubber band and tie it together. 

So no need for C Clips!!!

The starburst turns out beautiful and is fun and challenging to make.

Pulling off the bracelet is the moment you find out if you did it correctly or not!

After you watch the video a couple of times you just need to know the code:

connect the two middle ones

over 2 green

up 4 green, purple, crossover purple, purple, green, crossover green

Up 2 green, double black, green, purple, double white

Up 2 green, double black, 2 green, 2 purple, 2 green

Repeat this on the other side.

Add 3 purple links for mask tie on side pin

Add double white diagonal

twist green crossover at top

green , purple purple,green, green, green, green, 

twist green

figure 8 green on bottom pegs

purple purple

green green 

green green

For the Angry Bird you can copy the directions for the turtle one:

With a bit of tweaking

Add the eyebrows and the beak and there you have it!

Why Accelerated Reader should be in every classroom

  I have two kids that did not take off in reading until 2nd grade. Yes, they both knew how to decode and "read." But they didn't posses the joy or know how of sitting down with their favorite book and reading away. 

This picture is my son at the library reading a Froggy book to a real parakeet on a leash. It was a highlight of his week and he struggled through that book. The parakeet owner sat for about 20 minutes and listened kindly to my son get through that book. The program was at our local library called Reading to Furry Friends.

He was going into 2nd grade and boy was I nervous. The first day of school he came home and was embarrassed that he tested into AR at 1.6.  I reassured him that he was OK and that he shouldn't get discouraged but keep plugging along.

Well the class had an AR chart and goals and all that and my beginner reader figured out how to read as many little books as he could and pull out his IPAD from his desk and test away. He was determined to stay at the top of the class with the most points even though his reading level was at the bottom. 

I was impressed with his enthusiasm  and determination. About 3 weeks into school his teacher had him try A Magic Treehouse chapter book and boy was that magical! He entered into the world of chapter books and can not stop! My son who probably read 3 books the whole summer reads like crazy! Only 4 months into 2nd grade and he has read and tested on 78 books!

Why I like Accelerated Reader:

Teachers, Parents and kids know exactly where they stand when it comes to their reading comprehension. Typically it is a program that helps the student make goals and complete them. In my son's situation he figured out how to be competitive towards the class. It definitely worked for him.

Whenever my son or daughter takes a test I am emailed the results. I love getting those emails and having a peak into his life at school. 

If you pay for a private school make sure you get one with AR.

If the school  you go to does not have AR start talking to the administration on why your school needs it. I was previously a 3rd grade teacher and it is such a benefit to the teacher, parent, and student. 

We were on a family vacation a few weekend ago and my son wanted a new chapter book at Target directly across from the toy section. At that moment I felt like I was in Mom Heaven all my dreams for my son succeeding were starting to come true. Now the book was Diary of a Whimpy Kid...which could turn him into a smart aleck but hey we will deal with that later. He loves to read!!!!!

Succulent Wreath DIY

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I made this video with my little helper. Just a cute tutorial on how to make a succulent wreath.
Get a bag of moss for $3 at home depot
A wire wreath frame for $2.50 at Michaels
A thing of wire for $1.95
The moss makes about 3 wreaths.
Succulents from your garden, friends, or home depot. :)

Just a side note if you want to hang it up immediately get flower pins.

If no pins it needs to lay flat for 6 weeks for roots to form.

Football Diaper Cake

I have had 4 kids in the last 9 years and I never received a diaper cake.  And then I meant a friend who makes diaper cakes so I made her one for her baby shower. I think she has received 5! A guitar, a football cake, quad/motorcycle, a 4 tier tower w/monkeys etc. She isn't going to need to buy diapers for a long time!
I found lots of info on the web on how to make the diaper cakes. I really didn't even know they were so popular. I chose to make it so the the diapers were in a pinwheel. You simply use two sizes of pans and a rubber band to keep it snug and then decorate it. I used fleece to wrap around it and I got a cute football outfit and hat for the topper. I put the lil jammie football outfit inside the hat and it turned out super cute.

Diaper cake directions

Halloween Candy sorting to the next level

Well with four kids we got a lot of candy! Really, we only did 5 streets! The kids sorted all there candy and then I had a great idea to make pictures with the candy. I did the rainbow first and then the circle while they were in bed. They were pretty shocked in the morning and just wanted to stare at all the candy. I'm trying to think up another picture before we take all this candy out of the house!