Colored Rocks!

This is another fun, quick, easy, and almost free craft to do with your little ones! The outcome is super neat.

Materials-

1. Rocks (river rocks work best, and hold heat the longest- don't ask me why)
2. Pan, oven mit, oven
3. Crayons (old ones you don't mind ruining)
4. Old plate or similar

We went out on a walk and let M find the rocks she wanted to use. Nothing like crazy looks from neighbors as your 3 year old plucks a rock from their drive way or walk way.......

After you get your rocks home, clean them up good and arrange them on a baking sheet. Set the oven to 350 and let the rocks "cook" for about 30 minutes.

Once they are good and hot pull out a few. We did a small batch and Miss M and I did them all at the same time. However, if you are doing a lot at a time you will want to take them out as you need them, so they don't cool down.

Use an oven mit to move the rocks! They are smoking hot. Also, BE SURE TO WARN YOUR LITTLE ONES, THEY ARE HOT, HOT, HOT. If you don't think you can trust your kiddos to NOT touch them, please do not try this, wait until they are a bit older.

We put them on an old plate for Miss M to color.

Watch your kids as they discover what happens when they start coloring. As you probably figured out, the wax crayons melt. But, even knowing what would happen, I was just as astonished as M the first time we did this. The results are beautiful, drippy, shiny, colorful rocks.

Rocks still wet.

Half of these are starting to dry, half are still wet. How cool is this?! We are using our rocks for a sensory bin I'm making M. (watch for the post) I also colored a handful, but who wants to see mommy colored rocks? What could be more fun than this quick, easy art project..............

Playing with the oven mit of course! Just when you think you have the most fun, amusing project, your little one 1-ups you. lol She had more fun trying to pick up the (cooled) rocks with mit than she did coloring them. Ah, to be young.

You could also put these out on a walkway or gravel driveway. Something for your little guy or girl to be proud of every time you go outside! Give this a try and let me know how it goes! Come on, I know you have a "collection" of rocks laying around from every time you take your wild one on a walk.

The Skatepark, before, durring, and (proposed) after

As you know, I posted a little earlier about my husbands work in bringing a skatepark to our area. So here's the scoop-

My (gorgeous) husband, Nick, has been seriously skateboarding since he was 14 years old. It was an everyday hobby, after school recreation, and a form of transportation. And, my all time favorite, the way I met and fell in love with him. However, that last fact has little to do with this story. (poo)

He and his group of friends would skate everyday, all over town. Until they were eventually kicked out of the downtown square. Other businesses and residents seemed to follow suit. They weren't really welcome anywhere. As an adult now, we, and most of the rest of the group, understand how and why most places would have that reaction. Insurance, possibility of injury, possibility of damage, and the like. Not to mention they looked like a group of no good hooligans. I would know, as I basically stalked the poor boy most of his teen years. (and just a little fyi, the hooligan part is why I adored him so)

Well, after having enough of the shunning and being kicked out, not to mention skateboarding tickets, Nick and a group of his buddies got together and went to the city to ask for a park specifically for them. Long story short, it worked, and the first skatepark was born.

Years later (poo) Nick and I got together. By then the park had been vandalized, worn down, and all together trashed. After we were married we got permission from the city to have a fund raiser to add more material to the park. We set up cans at gas stations and businesses and got enough money for materials to build a new box and rail. (don't know what these are? don't feel bad, just google it!) My daddy (who is,by most means, anti-skateboarding) built the box and rail for Nick. Love can do crazy things, even to father in-laws :) .

Nick and Miss M, who is 2 years old in this pic!

Nick and M on the torn apart pyramid

Nick and M

Nick and M this summer

These new additions lasted a few years, but the box was heavily used and was soon as dilapidated as the rest of the park. Sorry folks, I have no good pictures of the old park in real use. Just a few of fam playing around.But, I can't resist an opportunity to show off some of my favorite people! However you can search it on youtube and find a young man skating it. I was going to link it here, but the music chosen in the video isn't exactly family friendly. So, besides the rail, they were back to square one.

Nick wrote a letter to the city, explaining his feelings toward skateboarding and the park, and asking for their help. This is the article that was written after they responded- http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/highlight/x675816378/Skateboarders-return-to-City-Hall

After that he, and sometimes a friend or 2, attended meetings and such and eventually got something hashed out.

http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/x2138759310/Bid-for-skate-park-awarded

http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/x1581725339/Going-big-on-the-skatepark

These are a couple of articles that were written about the following meetings. We are still waiting (Nick a lot less patiently) for the parks completion.

Holes cut for the new ramps.

If you check out the articles there is a picture of what the park will look like once it is finished. Until then, the boys will be back on the streets (and still be harassed by police- don't ask). You didn't expect a little construction to halt the favorite past time of my hooligan did you?

Disappearances are a must.......

I know, I know. How long since my last post? Well, I'm not even going to look. A long time, I can tell you that. It does, however, seem to be the norm in the blogosphere to disappear every now and again. Sometimes, never to resurface again. I like to keep you guessing. That, and I have been busy with a hint of lazy.

Now that I have given you a quick explanation of my absence, how about a quick update?

Honestly, I do not even know where I left off. Life is insane with children and babies. Good insane, but insane none the less. So- first an update on those of us living at our urban farm.

Possibly the cutest of the farmers, Baby R and Miss M

Well, my little Baby R is now an (almost) graduated sitter, baby food eater (homemade organic when possible), public speaker of the baby basics (mama,dada,baba), and all around cutie. I am proud to announce she is on track with all growth and development, and is a happy happy baby (most of the time). :) She almost 7 months!

Miss M. Oh, my Miss M. Where to begin? M has just recently turned the ripe old age of 4. She is in a combo dance class this summer and getting ready to start her 1st year of school (pre k). Ah, where has the time gone? Where the lively Miss M is small for her age, she makes up for it with a larger than life attitude. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Her current obsessions include Tangled, dance, playing vacation bible school, and dress up. She is also in Chocoholics Anonymous. ;)

Nick- Passing on his favorite past time.

My lovely husband......The love of my life, father of my children, head of our household, skateboard extraordinaire, loud annoying music lover, and Miss M's inspiration. And where as that last part may sound sooo sweet, don't let it fool you. They are conspiring against me ,I tell you. They enjoy picking up each others less than appetizing behaviors and testing them out on yours truly. They drive me mad some days and melt my heart others. I just pray for more heart melting. :)

Anywho, Nick is doing great. Since last posting some positive things have happened for him. He has finally seen his dream of a real, quality skate park (almost) come true. He started propositioning the city, and then working closely with them, to get a concrete, professional quality skateboard park brought to our hometown. (He, and his friends, also are the reason the first skate park was brought to this town :) ) I must say I am quite proud of my man. On a side note, the park is not yet here. Expected completion was end of June, then July, and now, hopes are by end of August. I will post pics of the progress! As well as some links to the articles written on the subject.

As for me...(sorry for lack of pic! I have none that are recent) Not a whole lot of new here. I'm a crazy, busy, lazy, book loving, tired mama. As with most mothers, I am in a constant battle with diet and exercise (they seem to win most days...meaning I avoid anything to do with them). Mainly I am just busy raising babies, cleaning, driving them to and fro from function, appointment, etc., and occasionally crafting. I have also recently allowed my love of books and reading to resurface. Oh, how I missed you. I rarely have the time to sit and really enjoy a book, or reading, but when I do, well, its pretty great. I've been stuck on romance and fiction novels lately. Someday I will realize my dream of being a (paid) book reviewer. Someday........
Also, on the note of naturals and organic. I have stopped uv tanning all together. Which I know I should have done forever ago. Cut a girl some slack. I have, however, been engaging in the occasional spray tan. I really enjoy them. I am sure they are laden with chemicals, but I will not think about that. As for personal hygiene- I have stopped making my own shampoo. It was stripping all of my color out, and because I had recently lightened it, (from black to blondish brown) it was turning a horrid color. Also it seemed to go back into the transitional stage every few weeks or so. Odd. So I gave up. Yup, I admit it. I'm much to busy (and lazy) to keep trying and looking gross in the process. We are still making our own body wash and laundry soap sometimes. When convenience rears its ugly head, I go ahead and buy some. We are still mainly using naturals and natural cleaners for everyday messes. They seem to work just as well. I am also going back and forth from making baby wipes to purchasing them (all depending on the need for quick and easy convenience). I feel that honesty is the best policy, especially when speaking of my own life and experiences. So, where as I may not be the staple person for a clean, natural, organic lifestyle, at least I can give my honest, experienced input.

As for the garden. The weather is killer. Tons of heat (weeks at a time of over 90 degree temps, 100 degrees most days) and very little to no rain. My water bill is definitely suffering. My cucumbers died, as well as my squash. My potato plants died but we still harvested about 5-8lbs of  delicious yukon golds. I also harvested a large amount of carrots. My green peppers have stunted growth and never did anything. The tomatoes have produced a minimal amount of fruit but are still alive and trying. We have also gotten 3 good batches of green beans, and they still seem to be producing. Slowly but surely. My watermelons also look well. I have 5 small variety watermelon on 2 watermelon vines. I sure hope they keep it up. And, last but not least, my herbs. They seem to be doing well. Water deprived, but well. The constant watering is killing me.

And don't even get me started about the darn birds. They are another post entirely.

Oh, and Shug. He's doing well. Alive and kicking, and not scaring away fox, raccoons, or stray cats. More on that later.

phew! That's a lot of information to process. I'll let you chew through that for now. Keep an eye out, you never know when I'll reappear. :)