Cooler than Classroom Chalk

Prep Time: 15

Materials :

• Toilet paper or paper towel tube, cut in half
• Wax paper or foil
• 1/2 cup water
• McCormick® Assorted Food Colors and Egg Dye or
• McCormick® Assorted NEON! Food Colors and Egg Dye
• 1 cup plaster of Paris
  

Directions:
1. Seal one end of cardboard tube with foil.

2. Mix water and food color in a medium bowl or disposable plastic container. Add to plaster of Paris to make a "pudding" consistency.
Stir until the mixture starts to thicken. Work fast!

3. Stand your cardboard tubes on end (on wax paper or foil.) Pour the mixture into the tube.

4. When firm, peel off the cardboard. Any cardboard left on chalk can be rubbed off with gloved finger or scraped off with knife blade.

5. Dry overnight. Go out to your sidewalk or driveway, and start drawing!

DO NOT EAT.

Test Kitchen Tips:

• Plaster of Paris may be found in Arts & Crafts supply stores.
• Make one tube of chalk at a time and store in an airtight container.
• Use a full squeeze bottle of food color for each tube of chalk for vibrant, lasting color.
• Wear latex gloves and protective clothing to avoid staining.
• Don't put excess down the drain! It will clog pipes.

Find more fun recipes for:

funny putty * 3-D paint * sparkle paint * goofy goo & more at McCormicks.com

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We're Famous!

Coupon for $2 off New Snuggle Creme fabric softener

Available in two indulgent scents - Sweet Almond and Jojoba Essence - rich, creamy textures and delicate fragrance designed to leave your clothes feeling smooth.

Autism has risen to an alarming 1 in 150 children!

I find this terrifying!

Please read up on how Autism is affecting so many precious & once "perfectly normal" children.
While it may be true that what causes Autism is unknown & open to much debate & speculation
if you have children you absolutely must have an open mind & be vigilant on what your child
eats & breaths in on a daily basis.

What is causing the increase in Autism? Nobody seems to know for sure...I certainly don't...but what I do firmly believe is has a direct effect on the health of our children and future generations is today's lifestyle.

As parents/grandparents our daily & seemingly mundane day to day choices determine the
quality of life our children will have and that is indeed a unbelievably awesome responsibility & priviledge.
And while some days may seem to drag on forever we have a minute time frame to do it in.

No matter what your child's age, habits, likes dislikes it is not to late to give them the ultimate gift that keeps on giving...
a sound mind & a healthy body. As overwhelming & daunting as that task may sound to be ,it is actually quite easy to achieve.
Just say no...no!...no!....NO!

The more you say it, the easier it gets.
No!
The more you say it, the less often you'll need to.
Soon it will become second nature to you & your entire family
..and you'll feel so darned proud of yourself.

Say NO!..
.............no more processed food full of sodium, unnatural colors & unpronounceable chemicals.

I know... that's a pretty all encompassing and admittedly rather unrealistic "no" and seeing that I too, live in the real world, admit that not everything I purchase/serve is 100% pure, unprocessed, organic or grown in my own backyard.
I open cans, nuke frozen blocks of "entrees", peel plastic off of "cheese",rip open candy wrappers and...shhhh...once or twice a year treat myself to a..gasp...a double whopper with cheese.

However.....

This truly is not the norm.
And it isn't hard to to either.

Stop buying in to gimmicks, so called convenience & in your face advertising by a bunch of profit seeking corporations whose only interest in your child is as a cash cow not a living, breathing, growing, amazing human being.

Read, research & be pro-active on what exactly is in your child's food, medications & vaccinations and
let the "powers the think they be" know you have a vested & vocal interest.

Be mindful
Be aware
Be strong
and be the foundation your child deserves to have

...after all their life does depend upon it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I have no direct contact or involvement with any one Autistic I am deeply disturbed & concerned with it's alarming rate of increase. I will continue to add any sites & information I feel may bring about awareness to the possible causes, concerns & treatments of Autism and I encourage everyone who reads them to pass them on.

Here is a good place to start.....
http://www.generationrescue.org/
Do they have the answers? Many will dispute them and it's definitely not for me to say but hopefully they will leave you with many questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Please watch for my post on how I keep my grandchildren healthy & happy & well fed while still enjoying all the conveniences of living in the real world.

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Kids &; Gardening

A great site "Building a Movement to Reconnect Children & Nature"

Children & Nature Network (C&NN)

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Articles: Free Web-Building Help from ELATED.com

Articles: Free Web-Building Help from ELATED.com

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Easter crafts

If you are looking for a little something different to read to your child check out
"Ten Speed Press" they offer a nice selection of reasonably priced books.
And while you're there get some for yourself. They also offer selections for cooks, mental & spiritual health, career & education & more.

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Easter Craft from 10 Speed Press

Holiday Eggs

Mexican Cascarones

Cascarones are dyed eggs meant to be broken over the head of a friend, spilling confetti and favors. Children take special delight not only in decorating the eggs but also in smashing them later.

You will need:
Egg dyes, hot water, distilled white vinegar
Raw eggs
Small bowls or cups
Spoons
Empty egg carton
Scissors
Colored tissue paper
Egg cutter or sharp knife
Trinkets, candy, confetti, or rice
Clear paper glue

To make:
Prepare several colors of egg dye with hot water and vinegar in small bowls. Dye the eggs in assorted colors as desired. Lift eggs out with spoons and let dry in the egg carton.

While the eggs are drying, use scissors to cut out several 1- or 2-inch square pieces of tissue paper, one for each egg.
With the egg cutter or a sharp knife, cut off 1/6 of each egg from its narrow end and pour out the yolk and white. Rinse the inside of the shells and let them dry.

Fill each dried eggshell with trinkets, candy, confetti, or rice. Cover the hole of each egg with a piece of tissue paper and glue the edges to the shell.

If desired, cut narrow strips of tissue paper and glue them on the shell for decoration.

Buy the Book

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Spring Project

This was found on Preston Bailey's blog

Easter is such a fun and colorful holiday to decorate for; it’s
the big kickoff for spring. After weathering the winter doldrums, we
are all more than ready for it!



This year my team came up with “Easter Chicks” for our theme. We
made little, floral peeps using styrofoam eggs that we shaved into baby
chick shapes, then we glue-gunned tiny silk flowers onto the basic
shapes to resemble their fluffy feathers. Their adorable feet are made
from shaped wire wrapped in raffia.

You can use these chicks for many different areas in your Easter
décor. Put them in your children’s Easter baskets, in nests around the house, or use them as accents to your centerpiece.

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FAIRIE TALES

How much will it cost them?

Does anybody really care?
Anybody who could actually do something about it?

Create a Family Website...free!

Recently I have been working on creating a few family websites. One each for my mother's & father's sides of the family and one for my husband's relatives. I thought this would be a great way to reconnect & keep in touch with the relatives I basically only see at funerals. So I fumbled my way around a few sites (I am by no stretch of the imagination a web designer) and settled on merging two sites.(more on them below) I am for the most part done with one. The others will be easier because I can copy & paste the finished site onto the other ones & then just edit the personal info.

My sites are private,for members only, but in order to publish an RSS feed I had to make the homepage available to readers. On these sites besides posting photos you can leave comments, start discussions,add files, chat, blog, leave notes and create groups on whatever topics interest you.

I decided on a Shutterfly's Share Site as my main site. It is incredible easy to navigate and set up. No knowledge of html is needed if you want to add videos or widgets/gadgets you just copy & paste. Member may add & edit content based on the owners (you!) preferences. You may also choose to receive email updates on new activity. There is an informative help section & sample sites to guide you. You can create a site just to for your immediate family members or a group. In order to participate on the site you must be a member of Shutterfly..it's free & you'll find many already belong.

*Actually Shutterfly helps here to: enter you your email account & they will check off those with accounts (not to worry they don't store your email info).

I am also halfway through a Shutterfly site for The Fabulous Adventures of Beanz & Bou.....stay tuned!

I have also linked the Family site to one on Ning. There you can create your own social networking site on any subject. This site works somewhat like Myspace & Facebook giving everyone their own personal profile page to customize along with areas for members to add & edit photos & such. I did find it a little frustrating going back & forth to edit pages but it isn't difficult. I mainly decided to keep the Ning site linked to the Shutterfly one because of the ability to add groups & so eveyone can create their on profile page. I am considering creating a social network site on Ning when I am finished with the family ones.

I also made (but decided not to use) a site at MyFamily.com.
This is also a great site and I may have gone with only it had I not worked so hard on the other ones before discovering it (and before I sent out invitations to join the other ones) **Lesson form me...thoroughly go through the sites you are considering & create a little something on all of them to see what best suits your family & make your choice and then...and only then send out the invites. All the sites are free so try them all.

*MyFamily does offer an upgraded version for $29 a year which isn't bad if you only have one site (different members can pay each year) but the free versions offers a great deal.

I'll be happy to help you out if I can.

How Twins Are Made

Now I understand!!

REAL MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?' and get their answer when a little
voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade...It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old fashioned.
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it.
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
55 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Spread the Word for Charity

Hotels Combined is (in their own words)the world's leading accommodation meta-search engine in terms of inventory and prices. They index the most hotels out of any other hotel price comparison website, and find the best price listed across more than 30 major websites. Using them, you don't need to visit different websites one by one to compare rates. They do it for you!

What does this have to do with charity?

Simply "become a fan" of their Facebook page and they will send $5 to a supported charity of your choice! Choose from...World Vision, World Wildlife Fund or Make-A-Wish. Mention it on your blog or website and they will give $20!

Why are they doing this?

Hotels Combined For Charity began with the idea to raise money for charity whilst at the same time spreading the word about their free hotels comparison search engine.
They thought it would be a great idea to offer a donation incentive to get your attention.

Well they got my attention and I got yours, now go on out their and spread the word.

Hotels Combined for Charity

World Vision (Facebook page).....Website

is a BBC site filled with kid friendly recipes, activities,crafts & more to educate & entertain young children (up to age 6 or 7). Along with games, stories, printables & songs there is a radio station & an area to "watch & Learn". At CBeebies your children will not only be introduced to lots of fun, new characters......





....but will also find many of the favorites here too....Clifford, Bob the Builder, Pinkie Dinkie Doo, Jakers, Lazy Town & Charlie & Lola.

Encourage your child to try new foods & learn basic kitchen skills with a plethora of fun, kid friendly food...
******the recipes are in the "Make & Do" catagory.



Send your child a personal birthday video
(it's free...just add their name).
Kids love mail (..ummm..email).

This site isn't just for the kiddies....there is a grown-up chat area, information on creative & mathematical development, literacy & language and special needs.

Check them out and be sure to sign up for the newsletter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CBeebies

Read Your Way Around the World

Go beyond the chain bookstores & broaden your children's horizons with a bounty of books from around the globe without ever leaving the comforts of home. The "International Children's Digital Library" is a free site containing 3,600 books from 60 countries & in 48 languages.

What's that?...your child can't read Croation?....
No problem. Many of the books have been translated. You can pick your preferred language, view in original language or just flip through & look at the illustrations.

Finding the perfect book couldn't be easier. The categories are quite extensive..age, length of story, genre, picture books or chapter, happy or sad, plays, comics or all books with blue covers.

Registration is not required however membership allows you to create a reading list and saves the page so you can read at your leisure.
Get each of your children their own "Virtual Library Card" with no worries of lost books becoming overdue.