Monday, January 31, 2011

Studing Spelling Words ;)

Ok, I'm sure my house is like yours: WE HATE homework!! LoL, please do not tell any of my kids teachers. But we do, and what is really sad about that is: I used to be a teacher!! I do understand and appreciate that we have it, but I really don't like it!! Anyway, as you have seen in some of my recent post I am going to start sharing some of the crazy things we do around our house (ex: throwing Koozies together in 1 night, spending an afternoon with a sick kid making 100 day Mats, etc..). One of the fun things we do is Study Spelling words. I know right, how is that fun, we here at the Shirley house we make it fun!! We do a different "Out of the Box" way to study them every night.

Tonight we "Powder Sugared" our words. I take a cake pan, we used circle, you can use what ever size or shape you have. I do recommend one with higher sides, you don't want the powdered sugar to get everywhere. Sprinkle in some Powered Sugar and let the kids write the words in them. I call the words out 1 at a time, the kids have to say the letter as they are writing it. When they are finished if the word is spelled correctly then they get to lick their finger ;). Give the pan a shake and start on the next word. This also works well with flour, shaving cream, or foamy soap. My kids love the powered sugar, and they love spelling their words correctly LOL.

Other things we do:
*magnetic letters - on the fridge, or a cookie sheet.
*markers/special paper - who knew markers were so fun to study with, LOL.
*Shower Doors/foggy mirrors - the only way to take a shower and study at the same time ;), this also helps with congestion too LOL.
*Loose letters - if you have a cricut, or you can buy Poster Letters ($2-4 @ Walmart or Dollar General) they love to rearrange the letters to make their words
*Dry Erase Board or Chalk Board - you can buy a small on at WalMart super fun ;)
**And the list can go on and on. The key is just to not get stuck in the same old boring homework routine. Make it fun! and surprisingly the kids will love it, and learn it!! Feel free to add more in my comments, I will as I think of more to add ;)

Snagz concentrating on spelling her "big words."


Tracer getting through the list.

Trace got one right :)

100 th Day of School

Today Tracer's Primary school is celebrating the 100th Day of School. How exciting, it is to be in school 100 days!! I miss teaching and getting to count to 100 at least 1,000 times today. He is sooo excited. In his backpack today is: 100 pennies for class activities, 100 Fishin Worms as his 100 Collection, A 100 Piece Puzzle as a surprise for the class to work on today, and a box of Cracker for 100 Day Snack. I'm not sure about this year but in years past the school has had a drawing for prizes every 100 minutes, with at least 100 kids winning things. When I was teaching we would measure 100 steps, write 100 words, see what we could color in 100 seconds. We would do everything 100!! Such a fun unexpected day!! I love and miss it!! I pray his class has a very blessed Fun 100th day of school!!



Last week while Trace was home with a stomach bug, we made his class 100 mats, to help sort all the things they will count today. He LOVED helping me make them, and was a very proud boy to take them to his teacher.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Team Mom Fabulousness!!

Ok, it's no secret my kids love sports!! I love to watch them, and love to be their "Team Mom." So with all the sports we have going on, I decided to share some of my FABULOUSNESS!!

Our 1st weekend of Xcel volleyball was super exciting. We had no expectations and had a wonderful time. It was really a great day! But our girls got thirsty and they didn't have a way to tell where there drinks were. They all got mixed up, and we didn't' know ours from the other teams (some of the girls aren't as wonderful and they didn't pick up their mess, like we do). Anyway, to solve this "problem" I made the girls Koozies! Check them out, they match there uniforms and were the hit of the gym. None of them are perfect, but the girls were proud and loved them anyway ;)



How to make them:
*You need a koozie (Walmart has some, but usually not enough, I got mine at Dollar General for $1 each)
*Fabulous Material :) I made 10 with less than 1 yard
*Wonder Under (I'm sure it has a different name now, but I still call it Wonder Under, LOL)
*1 - 2 types of trim

Basic Materials you prob already have:
Iron & Ironing board
Glue Gun
Scissors & yard stick or measuring tape
Creativity

1. Wash and dry material. Following "Wonder Under" directions and attach it to the material. Let the material cool completely (2-5 minutes) before moving to next step.
2. Measure and cut the material to fit around the koozie. Mine were 4 inches high. So I cut my strips 4 in by 12 inches.
3. Iron, yes I said Iron it to the Koozie ;). I know this is weird, but it was super quick and easy. I just tilted the iron, and put my hand in the koozie and worked the material around it.
4. Now is the fabulous part. Attach your trim. I used hot pink feather boas and black sequins. Use the glue gun and have fun!!

Friday, January 28, 2011

I've been told it's the Best Potato Soup Ever!!


So my wonderful Hubs and Mrs Jenny both agree that this is the "Best Potato Soup Ever!!" And since it is "Soooo Good" I thought I would share the recipe ;) Here it is, hope you enjoy!!

1 Small Bag red potatoes (I like the tiny ones, no peeling, just rinse them)
3 Cans Cream of Mushroom (I like the roasted garlic kind)
1 Small Block Velveeta
1 lb pan sausage
Ranch Dressing a shake (not a whole bag)
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Salt
1 Medium Onion

Ok, this can't get any easier. Boil your potatoes, brown your sausage and onion in skillet. When potatoes are tender drain, leave just enough water to cover potatoes. Add all ingredients including sausage and onions (I don't drain mine, which make this a very healthy recipe, LOL). After the Velveeta is melted it's done. Ron loves it!!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

We are sooo Blessed!!!

Ok, so I know we are totally blessed!! My family wakes up every morning in cozy beds (most of the time mine, LOL), we have clothes to wear, food to eat, more LOVE than you can imagine and an Amazing God that is always GOOD. I list these things because today my sweet heartbroken daughter came to me upset. One of her New Friends at school has been talking to her lots and telling her about her life. This little girl, just moved here after Christmas, she has only been here for 3 weeks. She is already moving, because "Her mom can't afford her." So she is moving to Anahuac, then Alaska with her Dad. She has also told Meg how she doesn't have food at night to eat. My sweet Meggie is just upset and totally doesn't understand and why would she, they are only 8. She is so upset her new little friend is moving, but more importantly she is upset because she doesn't understand. We are soo lucky we can talk openly about life with our kids, and the power of prayer. Meg asked if she can give her friend a good by gift, we said yes of course. She packed her a gift bag with books, bows and a picture of herself. I made sure she wrote down our phone numbers for the little girl. Ron coached Meg in how to pray with her tomorrow at school, before she leaves. I know tomorrow will be a hard day at school for Meggie, saying good bye is never easy. But hopefully this little girl will feel loved, even if it is by friend she might never get to see again. I hope she is as touched by Meg's love as Meg is by hers.


I know this isn't a recent picture of her...but I just wish she could stay this young and innocent forever!! I pray that her heart is always open and ready to Love big!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Fun times with Fun Famiies

Well this weekend was all about hunting!! It's amazing, I really don't like to go "hunting" I just like to ride around and take pictures, but none the less I had a blast. We went to our Lodge in on the River Bottoms with 4 other families, the Lamberth's, Hollingsworth's, Boody's, and My Brother In Law Rob and niece Bekah. There were 9 kids and they had a blast!! Everyone, got along soooo well and just played and goofed off. We started the afternoon on Friday (I checked my kids out early shhh), then headed down. Trace was sooo excited, and Meg was a little, even though she had to miss a birthday party. We unloaded the cars and groceries and hopped on mules and left. The kids were all smiles the entire time!! Such a blessed weekend! Saturday night the kids played until they just couldn't anymore and the "grown ups" sat around and told stories from our younger years. We all laughed soo much and just had a great time!! Sunday was bitter sweet, we all packed up and went our separate ways. Well not really, we saw the Lamberth's a few minutes later at Church ;), and everyone else we got to meet up with at the Baseball fields. We are soo lucky to have such amazingly fun people around us!! I'm blessed!!

Snagz, I just love to look at those eyes!! I just wonder what she was thinking ;)



Ron = the big Bow Hunter!! (BTW he was showing off, and missed ha!! ;)



Trace and his "Did I get it" moment. I love the expression on his face ;)




All in all they killed 14 hogs. We will all be eating pork for a while now ;)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Wordless Wendesday ;)

Just a few more Christmas Pics :)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

New Traditions

Ok, so I have already mentioned we had the flu at Christmas, and how it was actually not that bad. But I haven't had a chance to tell about our amazing trip to The Ranch. Usually we get to go with Ron's family. It is always fun! My kids LOVE everything Del Rio has to offer!! We love staying in the old house, walking around the rocks, riding in the jeeps, feeding the animals with Mr Raul, eating something delicious every night!!!, and just being away from our busy crazy lives. But this year it was the funnest!! Since we missed the family trip (they leave on Christmas day and we were sick) we got to go out with some family friends, The Rouses. It was a blast!! The kids (especially Meg) has soo much fun just being kids. We road around in jeeps everyday exploring the Ranch. I took Trace and at least one of the Rouse girls "Dove Hunting" every afternoon. We slept LATE everyday. Meghan got a video camera and they taped themselves "remaking" The Wizard of Oz (I will post the videos later when I figure out how, LOL). We saw tons of deer and who knows how many miles of Del Rio scenery. We truly had an amazing time. Anyway, starting some new traditions turned out to be a total hit and hopefully next year we will be able to go back with Rouses again!! not to mention Ron and Shane already have some fun trips planned for us this summer..camping,and at least one trip to The Bay (my kids LOVE LOVE the Bay House).

Just of few of my fav pics from our trip: