Why You Should Go To Mass

I just received this link via a listserv that I am on. This video was made by a (homeschooled) teenager, and the assignment was to make a "commercial" (60 seconds or less) for encouraging people to go to Mass.

I think it was really great, and wanted to share it!

Recycling Old Crayons: Fun Art Project

I have read about recycling crayons into new, rainbow colored crayons in at least a couple of different magazines. Oh, and then there are about four posts about it from blogs that I saved too. But, I still put off doing it.

Finally, about a week or so ago, I spent part of a morning (while the boys were working on school) peeling paper off of broken crayons. I let the kids break the crayons up even more, and then throw them in a bowl together.

Shhh...don't tell the crayon police. But, we even broke up some crayons that weren't broken, but whose colors we just really liked.

We filled our mini heart muffin cups with the broken crayons while our oven preheated to 275 degrees. The kids loved filling up the cups.

On a side note, in the future, I would be careful about putting too many dark crayons in the same cup together. Too many dark colors together kind of overtook the crayon.

We left them in the oven for about 10 minutes. I kept an eye on them throughout. Here they are partially melted.


Let the crayons cool down before you try to pop them out of the cups. (You can actually melt them in paper cups as well -- I just wanted mine to be heart shaped.)

Enjoy your cute new crayons! Maybe even share them with some friends, depending on how many you made. (In Family Fun Magazine, the craft actually went along with putting these mini heart crayons on homemade Valentines.)

The Week in Links: October 4th Edition

Some great links from blogs that I enjoy this week...

Michele, from Sparks and Butterflies, wrote an article explaining IEPs at Blissfully Domestic. This is a great resource for those new to special education!

Mindi from Moms Need to Know wrote a great article about using cash for budgeting and envelopes. Yeah, I know, I've read a million of those kinds of posts too. But, I liked how she talked about it enough to think about it.

Whether you homeschool or not, you'll have to agree this is a fun idea! Julie from Homeschooling-ideas.com published an article at Blissfully Domestic about making an animated film using a digital camera. This looks way too fun!

Oh man -- there are some *super* cute crafts over at Chasing Cheerios using Mod Podge and some Michael's finds!

I loved all of these fabulous ideas for keeping preschoolers busy during dinner preparations over at Let's Explore - Creative Activities for Preschoolers.

SouleMama is such an awesome blog, of course. And, I always love these run downs of ten things that she is loving right now. This article will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

I haven't tried this Pizza Hut crust recipe, but I'm interested in giving it a try. Thanks to Frugal Upstate for posting it!

A few more must check out postings:

• Sewing Your Own Receiving Blankets - Feels Like Home (Posted at Blissfully Domestic)
  
• Gingerbread Waffle Recipe - Ali from Divine Domesticity
  
• Getting Your Home Ready for Fall - Blissfully Domestic's Megan Smith
  
• {Classic Cookbook} - One Happy Wife (my Mom has this cookbook, and when I think of the word "cookbook," it's the one I picture in my head. I love that cookbook.)
  
• Are you up for a 365 challenge? - Mishelle from Secret Agent Mama (I would love to try this, but I'm afraid that I would need to buy a camera that would be small enough to fit in my purse, in addition to my Canon 30D.)
  
• {Organize This!} - One Happy Wife (These organizers look amazing!)
  
• {Wrap It Up} - One Happy Wife (Proving even inexpensive gifts can look beautiful!)
  
  
  

  

Why do kids have to have such unusual names?

Jack has a newer friend whose name he just can't remember. And, here's the thing -- Jack has a really good memory. It amazes me. But, this new friend -- he just can't commit it to memory.

You know...a kid can handle having friends named Regina, Delaney, Francesca, and Leif. But, every kid just has to have his limits. And this new friend has tested those limits.

"What is that boys name again, Mom?" Jack questioned me.

"Which boy, Jack?"

"You know, the one from church. The one that we played with at McDonalds," he said with his signature scrunched brow expression.

"You mean John?"

"OH YEAH! JOHN!" he exclaimed.

And, do you know what? This wasn't the only time that we had the exact same conversation.

But, you know, who can blame him? Every kid has to have his limits with all these unique names.