Homemade Crayons; How To Recycle Those Old Broken Crayons

What you will need:
Wax paper
Crayons
Bowl (use a throw away bowl)
Cookie cutters

Directions:
Peel off ALL of the paper on the broken crayons.

Place the crayons in a microwave safe bowl.
Melt the crayons in the microwave for 5-6 minutes depending on how many crayons you have in the bowl.

Place your cookie cutters on the wax paper.
When the crayons are all melted slowly pour the mixture into the cookie cutter filling it up 3/4 of the way. Make sure to press down on the cookie cutters as you pour to keep it in the mold.

Allow to dry and you have yourself a new crayon.

As I made these I realized I used too many dark crayons and not enough light colors. So, arrange them in the bowl (prior to melting) to allow an array of colors. As you color with the new crayons you get to see many colors come onto the paper and it is really quite neat! Have fun!

No More Bottle

Image courtesy of emeraldoriginals.com

I am always trying to improve on things in life and this is why I always post challenges. For the last two days I have had a huge challenge going on but I did not post it. I am weaning my 18 month old off his bottle. It has been three days since he has had a bottle and it has not been an easy task.

The last two days I have been running on nothing but two pots of coffee and my patience is running very thin. However, since this is the third day with no bottle, I'd say I have accomplished my goal and it will only get easier from here on out.

It is a breeze all day until he gets tired. Hayden loves his bottle when hurt or tired, and this is what sooths him to sleep. The first day he refused to nap and come 3:00 pm, he literally passed out he was so tired. I sat down in the rocker with him and he shut his eyes 1/8 of a second later, despite all the noise in the playroom. He slept sound but was very upset when he woke up and did not get a bottle. I had a good thirty minutes of crying to deal with then. It made me feel so bad, but I knew it needed to be done!

Night time was really hard. Although there was really not a lot of crying it took just shy of two hours to get him to go to sleep. Once asleep, there was three times he woke up. The worst was at 4 am. We were up for 1 1/2 hours.

It is getting easier and I am hoping that tonight there is more sleeping going on and less crying. I am hoping that this will help to keep him asleep in his toddler bed too. After all, if he doesn't have to wake up to find a bottle there is no need to wake up! Wish me luck!

Recipe Thursday: BBQ Meatballs

Image courtesy of flavourswap.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

1 egg beaten

1/s cup Monterrey jack or Swiss cheese

¼ cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

½ cup finely chopped onion

2 lbs. Ground beef

Sauce:

2 cups ketchup

2 tbsp. Mustard (spicy optional)

1 tbsp. Brown sugar

1 tbsp. Cider vinegar

1 tbsp. Lemon juice

1 tbsp. Soy sauce

(if making the sauce does not sound appealing or you are in a rush my favorite replacement is Kc Masterpiece Original BBQ Sauce)

In a large bowl, combine the egg, choice cheese, onion, and bread crumbs. Add beef and mix well. Shape into 2 inch balls and place into slow cooker.

In a small bowl, combine all sauce ingredients. Mix well. Pour over meatballs. Cover and cook in crock pot on low for 7-8 hours or until meat is no longer pink.

Side dish suggestions: baked potato, broccoli rice, steamed vegetables, corn on the cob.

Holiday Farts Guaranteed To Smell Up The Whole House

As the children were nestled all snug in their bed, their father lay there almost pooping his pants.

We had spent Christmas with my mom at her house and this one night I am about to share made a memory none of us would forget.

My brother, mom, and I sat in the living room watching television, enjoying each others company when arouse such a stink. Could it be? Oh, no Santa doesn't smell like that. I sat in the rocker getting a whiff of this awful stench once in a while. I didn't want to think it could be, but I could not kid myself. It was him. Oh my goodness. At my mom's house my husband lay asleep and farting up a storm.

I told my brother to be warned as he was not sitting far from me. He snickered. I do not think he knew what was coming. Shortly after I warned him he mumbled, "I think the fart is coming through the wall."
My mom and I could not contain ourselves as we laughed hysterically.

As the television show finished, my brother got up to use the restroom. He returned saying, "It is pretty bad when you have to plug your nose just to get into the restroom." Again, we burst into laughter.

I decided to check things out first hand. I entered the war zone, otherwise known as, the bedroom. Both of my kids were also asleep in this room. I wondered if they would make it out alive in the morning, or if they might die from the toxic gas fumes.

I had done it now! I had opened the door out out came the beast. The whole living room, dining room ,and hall way now smelled of my husbands tooshy. The air thickened as the fumes took over the whole house. All we could do is laugh.

At one point it was so bad I actually woke him up and asked him to quit farting. He rolled over and in a groggy tone responded, "Huh? I am not farting." With that, he rolled over and loudly farted two more times!

About another hour passed and I was ready for bed. I laid down and was back up less than a minute later. I had to grab the air freshener. If it was not so cold out, I would have opened a window.

The next morning we had to give him a bad time about stinking up the house. Luckily, my husband has a good sense of humor and he was able to laugh with us.

This was a smelly Christmas to remember.

*Note, my husband gave his permission to blog this story.

Homemade Lava Lamp

What you will need:
Plastic container
Oil
Food Coloring
Water

Directions:
Fill the plastic bottle 3/4 full of oil.
Mix 2-3 drops of food coloring a cup of water.
Slowly add the water to the oil.
Place the cap back on the bottle.
DO NOT SHAKE.
Slowly, place the bottle on its side and watch the oil repel against the water creating the colored bubbles.