A Spring Scene: Handprint Flowers

Yeah, I know...it's the second day of summer.  Spring crafts are of the past! We have flowers in the summer, right? Those that survive the blistering heat anyway. I guess I shouldn't jinx myself since it's been in the low 80s the past few days.

Autumn

Hannah

The background, grass, and flowers are made of construction paper.  The stems and leaves are foam sheets. I had some butterfly embellishments that the girls added around the flowers.

Don't you love how neat Hannah was with the "grass"? Autumn had yet to obtain that OCD quality. ;)

Redneck Waterslide

So it continues...the crazy Caulfields and our money saving ways. ;) I still give Ryan all the credit.  Out of the two of us he is definitely more of a big kid, so I save all this outdoor stuff for him.  While it is not picture I should also mention that we did in fact get the kids an actual pool, since Ryan finally decided to just throw the camper shell away.  He tried selling it for only $50 and still couldn't get rid of it.

As you can see the slide itself is a tarp, the tarp that was actually used to line our redneck pool.  Yesterday was a bit breezy, so Ryan used a couple of tire rims to weigh it down, adjusting the hose on one just so to create a fountain effect.  Autumn was not too keen on the waterslide.  Ryan pushed her across it, but she preferred to splash around in said pool.  Hannah sure loved it!  I will admit that Ryan and the girls got me to go on it a couple times (in a t-shirt and pj pants no less).  And no, there are no pictures of that thank goodness!

The "slide" is obviously not very long.  Ryan is already plotting combining this with another tarp he has and taking this to the steep hill on the other side of our yard. We shall see how that goes (or how high our water bill will be!).  Stay tuned...

Redneck Pool

The fact one of my kids  is wearing clothes just adds
to the redneck aspect, don't you think?

If you ever saw Kristen Wiig's skit from SNL where she is portraying Suze Orman (click here for the hilarity!), you will remember the crazy money-saving "tips" she gives.  This pool definitely makes me think it would have been one of them!

"Now listen to me my dears and dearies, first you take an old camper shell, line it with a silver tarp, fill it with water from the garden hose, pour in some Windex for coloring and you have yourself a swimming pool that exceeds...the...ever...popular...Doughboy!  And if the sun warms up the water enough you have yourself an...hot tub...perfect...for...that..hot...date!"

Okay, we didn't really pour in Windex. Don't think the ammonia would be considered very safe. :-p This whole thing was Ryan's bright idea.  He has tried to sell that camper shell, but to no avail.  He did this on a whim one day to keep the kids occupied while he was working on his car.  Qe do intend to buy a real pool for the kids. The past couple days the kids have loved it and have worn themselves out silly. Summer shall be lovely!



I know this looks awful, but I promise Autumn is not
falling forward!

 "And remember friends, if saving money is difficult then I am a sudoku puzzle on a Friday night!"

Handprint Sun Craft

As you can see craft time was nothing but thrills
and excitement!

I got this idea from Enchanted Learning.  It's amazing all the different ideas there are for crafts using cut out handprints.  The only one I knew of was the Christmas wreaths (no doubt we all made those in school at some point).

Materials:

glue stick/Elmer's school glue
yellow and orange construction paper
pen
scissors
googly eyes (I couldn't find our so the girls were stuck with drawing their own eyes...it was hard work but they managed. :-p)

Cute a large circle from the orange paper.  Glue on googly eyes and make a face.  Trace 8-10 hand prints and cut them out.  Trace out more for a fuller look.  Cut out the hands and glue them around underneath the sun's face with the fingers sticking out.  For a more sturdy result use a paper plate for the face and paint it either orange or yellow.

A great craft to display as a spring decoration and the fact there is very limited mess makes it even better!

Belated Birthday in Clarksville

 

L-R: Grammie, Hannah, me, Autumn, my mom
(Grendy), my sister Meagan, Emma

 We went to Clarksville last weekend and celebrated Hannah's birthday with family. A great time was had by all.  Hannah's "big" gift was a Power Wheels jeep from my dad, and she went 4-wheeling all over the yard. :) It has a passenger seat so Emma, Autumn, and Marianne had to restrain themselves and remember the art of sharing. Hannah wanted a polar bear cake, but I still had the pan from last year!  Hannah is already talking about having a black bear birthday next year. Oy.

All the pics were taken by Hannah's Nonna (my mom's BFF).



My mom made a mini version of Hannah's favorite bear
to go with her new American Girl doll (which you can
see behind her).



Hannah and Marianne are giddy about something :)



pondering what she will do with her life now that she
has passed the half-decade mark.



The cake!



"I wish...a polar bear will be our next president and
focus on conservation!"



"Slow down, Hannah!"



Hannah is 6!!

As of yesterday morning at 3:34 AM, Hannah Jo Caulfield is 6 years old! Hard to believe since I myself remember being six. At my own birthday party we did make up, which I remember very well. :) Ryan and I took the girls to the zoo on Saturday and had presents and cake at home. A very simple celebration, but we are also celebrating with family this weekend in Clarksville. Hannah is requesting a polar bear cake this time.  She already had a panda cake last year, so at least I can use the same cake pan. :)

Some pics from Saturday:

A Worthwhile Day

This day just flew by! First the library for an Easter egg hunt and then grocery shopping (with the girls since Ryan had to go to work).  I was so proud of the girls for behaving, considering they were probably starving from not having lunch yet. We didn't get home until 1:30. Even though I had the kids with me, I was still able to get some good deals!

1 - Wheat Thin Stix
2 - Ronzoni Healthy Harvest spaghetti
2 - Ronzoni Smart Taste spaghetti
2 - Ronzoni Garden Delight spaghetti
3 - Pillsbury biscuits, 5 ct. each
1 - Hunt's ketchup
1 - Banquet chicken nuggets
1 - Oscar Mayer turkey bacon
1 - Perdue Short Cuts chicken breasts
1 - International Delight coffee creamer
1 - Dannon Dan-o-nino yogurt, 6 pk

Retail: $38.36 +tax
Paid: $14.19 +tax

The retail and what I paid are always somewhat similar. I do not plan that in anyway! It's just weird. :-/ Then again I'm not complaining about 64% in savings!

What really helped me was a couple items were marked down because they were a few days from expiration. Not to worry since they are items (such as the biscuits) that will definitely not go to waste. :)

On the subject of couponing, I have finally getting a chance to watch Extreme Couponing.  I saw the first special and was naturally amazed. Although some people are just obnoxious about the whole thing. 60 bottles of mustard? Come on. I'm sure other people would like some mustard, too. :-p  I really admired the mother of 7 who paid $6 for $555 worth of groceries.  Even all her kids helped her out. Good stuff.

Okay, I will end this with something more interesting and that is pictures of the girls at this morning's egg hunt:

Workin' at the Car Wash!

The girls assisted Ryan with washing his car yesterday.  They had more fun playing in all the suds than anything of course!  Bath time came immediately after!

Excited for more bubbles!



Too excited to actual wash the car :)



Keeps going back for more!

Hannah was an awesome help!