Family Fun (Rock edition)

  Over the summer my kids had a blast finding, hiding and painting rocks in our area.    This is such a great time for the family.  The snow and cold weather has slowed things down but not stopped it.

  Hiding the rocks is a one of the fun parts.  We don't always remember to bring them with us to re-hide so sometimes we just re-hide the ones we find. 

We hide them on the sides of buildings!

Under trees in plain site in a high traffic area!

Along the side of a walking path!

Although hiding inside buildings is not acceptable some places are like the library. 

Rock selection is up to the person. 

 Decide what your going to paint and begin painting.

  Sit back and be proud of your rocks. 

Don't be surprised if you even make something that you can't part with.  

The rocks can be painted or made as elaborate as you like.  Even though you may hide them outside or inside the owner can keep them where ever so anything goes on a rock when it comes to the design of them.

Lastly, you have to hide some!  That's what makes this so fun.  It's all about hiding and finding them!

Rock groups are everywhere and if it's not you can easily start one.  Paint a rock and hide it. Start a Facebook group so found rocks can be announced and you can even share clues of where the rocks were hid on there.  

This is a great and somewhat cheap activity to do with your family. Rainy day, inside or outside activity.  Any age can play to because an artistic ability is not necessary.

I hope you enjoyed reading one of our family fun events! If you hide rocks I would love to hear about your experience.

Friday Fun

  Another toy of my youth was Lincoln Logs.  There's something about these logs that are very entertaining. Endless opportunities to build.

  The easiest thing I have found for construction of a log home is to get the pieces assorted.

  I will admit that there was initially a fight to grab all the big pieces because that's a requirement for a house but surprisingly one child took off in a different creative spin.

A rocket was made!

Then all of a sudden I had a parking lot full of cars.    My imagination as a child never went to these two creative spots.

 Let's decide what is going to be built and get building!

The foundation needs to be laid down.

Keep in mind where your property is going to be because you can't move the structure very easily once it's built.

More then one house can be built and located anywhere.  This one was not built under a table it was on a hill under the trees. 

Every town needs a store!

Now I have had these toys since childhood and they have survived.  The kids love when I pull them out because it's a new toy to them and it's fun to build.  Its neat to watch them figure out where to put pieces.  They haven't seen a real log cabin home in person that would be a fun family trip! After that experience they may ask for more logs to build more variations.

Were Lincoln Logs in your home? I think I even seem them in the store so that's nice that they are still selling them!

Color Institute Cosmetics Case review

  I received this case earlier this month as a gift for my birthday compliments of my children. It's not that I wear makeup daily but obviously when I wear it they notice. My daughter is always giving me compliments which is very nice. I'm glad all my hardwork is recognized.

 Well I hadn't broke into it yet and it seemed to bother my kids more then me. So after a lot of begging for a mom makeover I let it happen today. My son wanted to do my makeup and I let it happen.

 His sister has a pretend makeup kit. So he actually knew makeup goes on your cheeks, eyes, lips and eyelashes. He doesn't know the technical names and needed me to guide him in what goes where.

  He started with my lips, then my eyes, then added some blush.  Then he suddenly remembered my eyelashes.  Oh, OK of course you need to do that too.  Enter mascara!

He took his time picking colors.  He applied pink eyeshadow on one side and purple on the other.  He did better then I expected on all areas.  

This is the face of concentration while applying my makeup.

Now about the makeup case!  It is a 73 piece case.  The sides are snapped shot and there is a mirro.  2 drawers that pull out and a top open compartment.

This drawer consisted of 2 lipstick, 2 nail polishes, mascara,  liquid eyeliner, lip gloss and color correcting concealer.

Next drawer consists of 8 Satin lip gloss colors and 28 various colors of eyeshadows ranging in shades from pop, smoky and rosy.

The top tier does not pull out it just sits on top.    Inside this tray is 12 more eyeshadows, 2 contours, 2 highlights, 4 blushes, 4 bronzes and strobe cream.

There are a lot of colors which I like about this case as well as the case itself.  Even if I can't refill the trays I can stash makeup in here when everything is gone or repurpose it for jewelry!  

This would make a great gift for any makeup lover but what a nice fun gift for a girl whose allowed to wear makeup for the first time.

Couldn't end this post without the great reveal! 

Told you it wasn't that bad.  He may have potential.  If he can master the cats eye he will be my go to, lol. I have to let him use the eyeliner first and I wasn't that brave today.

Driving down Candy Lane

  There I was with my kids enjoying the movie Wreck-It Ralph when I released what a perfect idea it would be to make a car based on the fun candy car that Vanellope (The Glitch) raced with!

   Her car was made up with the gummy worm wheels, sprinkles, chocolate syrup, gumdrops, cookies and all other yummy things.  I thought how fun it would be to make one.  Enter Halloween candy! 

  Yep, and surprisingly my daughter had more then I thought!  I don't know how she managed to have so much.  When it was candy time I clearly asked her brother for candy and not her.  We will remedy this situation now.

  I let the kids grab whatever they wanted to use to make their car.  My daughter grabbed her one and only Rice Krispy treat. My son had to take more time and be creative with his.  I also joined in the fun with my own idea.

  My daughter had a head start on her car.  It was coming out great.  She had wheels, a driver, steering wheel.

 My son decided he was making a car boat!  He was the one guilty of the most candy consumption during this process but, definitely the one with the biggest imagination!

  After all my suggestions I had to jump into the fun too.  I had so many endless wheel suggestions but changed it up based on limited options.

 We all used a variety of candy to assemble our cars!  Tootsie Rolls, Gobstoppers, candy bars, lifesavers, gummy bears, Dots, Nerds and more 

Even though my son's surrounded his boat with water.

We had a race!

I applaud my kids for the good time they gave me.  They had fun, helped each other with suggestions for parts and there was no arguing!

The race was a three way tie but, our bellies won in the end!

When we were making these I thought what a fun idea for a birthday party activity or movie theme activity!

I'm not going to assume everyone else still has Halloween candy but, do you have Christmas candy left?  

30 Days to Peace (book review)

  What do you look for in a book?  A good plot?  Does it need to be a mystery?  Are you just a fan of the author?  Do you read only a specific genre?  What do you think about adult coloring books?  What defines a book? 

  I have read a lot of books this year.  More then I read last year and hopefully I will read more next year.  You can get so much from a book.  Information, relaxation, spiritual direction and self-help.

  30 Days To Peace is a self help book but, also a device you can use to document your life.  Although this book is only a peek at 30 days it's fun and inspirational.  Each day guides you in a different objective.

  The other pages have bible passages as well as motivating quotes.  Taking a peek at these before I start my day gave me a little more spark for my day.  Then ending my day with the prompt worked great for me.  A time to reflect before and after my day made this a good 30 days.

  This was a nice book and I enjoyed the concept.  It would make a nice gift for anyone as everyone could take a little time out and reflect on their day.  Finding peace in their day, in their space and in their daily routines.

  You can find out more about this book and find out where to purchase it here.


  I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  All opinions are my own.

Brickfest Live in Richmond

  This weekend Oct 7 and 8 from 8 am -6pm at the Richmond Convention Center located at 403 N. 3rd St. Richmond, VA 23219 is the Brickfest Live event!

  If you love to see sculptures come for the artistic beauty of it.  If your looking for a hands on experience bring your imagination!  

This will be a fun event for the whole family.  Plan on staying awhile as in addition to the sculptures you can see and build there are many interactive areas to include a Brickfest Derby and mini golf.  There will also be shopping available to add to your home Lego collection.

 My readers get to save $3 off your tickets with promo code  USFGTHREE.

Spring Foam Fun

  It's spring time and that gives us a chance to take a closer look at little creatures and appreciate colors and flowers.   I thought it would be nice to make our own spring scene on the window.

  I thought about what spring meant to me.  Flowers, sun, birds, clouds, ladybugs and spiders.  I am working on a couple more pieces that I'll add to it and I'm sure I will get special requests.

  I cut out pieces out of foam and colored some of them to fit my image.  I had foam on hand from separate purchases at The Dollar Store and Walmart.

  I was busy cutting and making details on like things like spots for the ladybug and legs for the spider to list a few.  It didn't take that much more effort but sometimes it makes me feel better when things I make can be identified without questions.

For these to stick on the window they need a little water. To minimize mess I added a small amount of water into a medicine cup and added a paper napkin. Just dip your finger in.

The medicine cup is just the right size for little fingers.  Dip your finger in the cup then wipe the water onto the foam.

Stick the foam piece on the window. It's all about the placement. So of course the clouds are getting placed in the sky.

This is a super inexpensive way to keep your kids constructively busy.  I will be using this as a learning tool for my son.

What color is this flower?

How many legs are on the spider?

What are the leaves attached to?

What shape is the sunrays?

We have previously played with foam pieces in the bathtub as well check that out here.

Next up I will be making a foam garden with vegetables! It will probably do better then a real garden tended by me.