"How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?"-Fun with books

 We haven't enjoyed this book since 2009....you can check out those posts over  here.

I can't believe how little the kids look in the old posts.

Well, I got How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?.  Kim and Luke do not remember this book, so it was fun to have them guess at the outcome of the story. (They didn't guess correctly).

After reading the story we got busy counting our own pumpkin seeds...(and preparing to make a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin..not a can.

 The first step was to get the seeds out of the pumpkins.

 I eventually cut the pumpkins in half.  For ease of seed removal and also because we are going to cook the pumpkins in the oven to make pie.

 Looking back at the photos from 5 years ago...Luke wouldn't even touch the "pumpkin guts"

 This year he made a pumpkin pulp bomb....which he took outside and splattered against a tree.

 We kept each kids' pumpkin seeds separated.  Kim guessed her pumpkin would have 300 seeds.  Luke guessed 500 seeds.  After scooping our seeds we wanted to dry them out.  Amy looked up recipes for roasted pumpkin seeds....she found a good one.  Nothing goes to waste in this house.

 Kim and Luke both decided to put their seeds into groups of ten for ease of counting.

There were A LOT of seeds, but Luke was the winner with 412 seeds.  Kim had 375.  Both came close to their guesses...I was very impressed.

Melted Crayon on Canvas

 We have been wanting to do this art project for quite a while now.  It is the melted Crayola crayons on canvas project.

 The first step is to hot glue your crayons to the top of a canvas...make sure the Crayola logo is on top (I like the look of it). Grace did random colors.

 We used the blow dryer on high heat.  I put newspaper down on the floor to catch the drips.

 And the magic began to happen...aim the blow dryer with a downward slant.

 Laura made a rainbow of colors.

 I loved the look of the liquid crayon as it mixed on the newspaper.

 The final results.

Great job, Grace.

My Halloween Lights

 With the wedding behind us it was time to dig into our Halloween Kiwi Crate.

 Our first Halloween project was "My Halloween Lights".  As in all the Kiwi Crate boxes, absolutely everything is included--all the was down to a little paper paint dish and flickering lights for the project.

 This was labeled at very messy, but it wasn't as messy as I expected.

 I do have one child that doesn't want anything "sticky" on his fingers.  He used one of  the plastic bags in the crate to keep the Modge Podge off his fingers.

 Luke's completed bat.

 Kimmy's pumpkin.

 All our friends lined up on the book shelf.

Ohhhh....spooky!

Thanks Kiwi Crate for another great project.

Introducing Private and Mrs. Matthew Collins!

Matthew and Alexis Collins

October 12, 2013

Rehersal time

 Our family, included our soon to be newest member

 When Matt left for the army Mark was shorter...not any more.

 

 Becky has the bridesmaid walk down!

 Practice makes perfect

 The happy couple

Kim and Luke trying to figure out the whole linking arms thing...LOL!

He's Home!!

Matt's home and Luke's hug says it all!!

It's a quick visit, complete with a wedding tomorrow.

Then the happy couple will be heading south, probably at the end of the week.

Even though it is a short visit...getting to hug him was worth it.

Opening our Halloween Kiwi Crate

 We are just loving our Kiwi Crates. I thought it would be fun to take you on a little tour of our Halloween crate.

The crate always arrives in this sturdy green box, and in this house the Kiwi box is an exciting package.

 The Halloween crate is a individually purchased crate.  We are subscribed to the monthly crates (plus a sibling add on).

This crate is an individual crate, priced at $19.95. 

The Halloween crate is now out of stock, but I see a very cute individual Thanksgiving crate.  I will definitely be purchasing this soon before it is sold out.

 If you flip over the top page of the crate, you get a little scene to color and play with on the bottom of the box.  It also has a sticker to add to your sticker chart with comes in the first kit when you subscribe to the monthly crates.

 There are two activities in the Halloween box.  "My Glowing ghost" and "My Halloween lights"

The instruction cards show the messiness of the project, the parental participation needed and the skills used in completing the project.

The instructions are very clear, with plenty of photos in step by step progression.

 Every single thing needed for the projects are included in the box. You even receive scissors in the first Kiwi Crate box you subscribe too.

 Everything needed for the glowing ghost.

 Plastic jars for "my Halloween lights".  Also, there are 4 battery powered lights to go in the jars.  (No candles needed)

 Mod Podge and little colored paper squares for decorating the jars.

 Pipe cleaners and sticky, sparkly foam for decorating the Halloween light's jars.

On the bottom of the box, there is a little scene in which you can play with the Kiwi cut out shown at the top of this post.

As you can see, Kiwi Crate is chocked full of fun.  It is so handy to be able to open up the box and be ready to craft. It states it  is for ages 3-7.  Luke is 8 and he loves all the projects we do.  In fact, there is an option when you order a monthly subscription to include a "sibling" to your box, so we receive plenty of materials for both Kim and Luke to make all the projects. 

Carefree Crafts and Art Projects for Kids

 Ok, I have to admit, we are having a bit of homeschooling burnout around here.We are on week 12 of the school year (well ahead of public schools) so I have decided to slow down and have some fun.

I found this great subscription craft club: Carefree Crafts.

It is a monthly craft club for kids that supplies everything you need to complete 5 crafts.

 This cute owl was part of the September package.  I love the fact that everything is included.  It even had glue dots to use on this activity.

 I have ordered from Oriental Trading Co. and have enjoyed their products, but when I order I would have to get 10 or 12 of each project.  Carefree Crafts supplies just what we need and nothing more.

 Gracie didn't want to be left out of the fun, so I headed over to my favorite crafts for kids sites: Art Projects For Kids.

 A lesson in positive and negative shapes and symmetry.

I just love how our "day off" crafting helped decorate the house to autumn.

Happy Fall,Y'all