A Day at a County Fair


Life has been a bit crazy at our house this week. My parents came in from Arizona and are going to be here for a week. This means that I am behind on everything again. It always seems like when I get great ideas and new things that I want to add to the main website I get too busy to get anything done. I am really excited about some of the new things for the website so it is killing me that I do not have the time to get to it all.

Well, Monday my parents got into town in the afternoon so we just sat around looking at pictures and videos. We grilled some brats and corn on the cob for dinner and then played Charoodles until bedtime. Tuesday night we grilled chicken breasts, watched America's Got Talent, and then played Charoodles until bedtime again. Notice a theme? My kids love Charoodles and we have not played it much lately. They loved having new people to play with.

Charoodles is kind of like Charades. You get cards with things to act out but the game comes with props to use. My girls love how silly the game can get. They also love seeing normally proper adults being silly too.


Yesterday we went to the Jefferson County Fair. We ended up getting lost on the way there because there are still a lot of detours. The city of Jefferson had very bad flooding and is just starting to get back to normal. It was sad to see all of the houses with sand bags around them still. We had to go over a few bridges in the town so we could see that the rivers are still flooded. There are the tops of trees just barely poking out of the water.

The county fair had just opened yesterday so they were still setting up the rides. That was fine with me because I really have no interest in rides that travel. When I see all the missing screws and bolts after I move I do not want to know how many they have lost with all of the moves. :)

We had fun anyway. We went through all the animal barns. This was the largest amount of animals I have even seen at a fair. They had huge buildings full. We went through them all. They had one building for each animal type... goats, sheep, pigs, cows, horses, chickens, and rabbits.

The cows were a bit scary. They were not in cages like the rest of the animals. They were all just tied by the head onto long metal bars. You walked through rows of them. So it was rows and rows of huge cow butts on each side of you. I did not think they came that big! The cows they had were about 7 feet tall at the back.

The chickens and rabbits shared a barn. I have never seen so many types of each. Some of the chickens looked furry and some of the rabbits were the size of dogs. There was also a barn with the arts, crafts, and photography. I was shocked at how big of a county fair this was. I have been to county fairs all over the country but this thing had more buildings than any I have ever seen. I guess all these little small towns do not have much to do so they really go all out for the fair.

We also went through the buildings that were full of things being sold. The girls bought a pack of gum that snaps your finger when you pull out the stick of gum and a whoopee cushion. Yes, my kids are goofy! I found a replica of an old metal coke sign for only $10. I have seen them for a lot more so I had to buy it. My kitchen is red and black with coke decorations.

That was about it. The girls were complaining that they were tired so we got ice cream cones and headed home. My parents stayed at the fair since we took two vehicles. They are staying in a town closer to the fair so there was no point in them driving all the way back to our house and then back to the town their hotel is in. Our town is too small for any hotel or motel.

Make Your Own Window Clings

Window clings are loved by kids during the holidays. What about the rest of the year though? These window clings can be used all year long and be as beautiful as stained glass. All you need is a picture and the ability to color between the lines.

Kids can make things from their favorite coloring book and adults can make things that match or enhance the room it will be in. If you would like to see the full instructions with extra tips or an easier method for younger kids check out the Window Cling page on the main website. You will also find more ideas of places to use window clings. They do not have to just be used on windows.

You will need

Plastic page protector

Picture

Toothpick

Q tips

Paints - You can use any craft paint that comes in a squeeze bottle. Some brands make tips that you can screw on. You can use fabric paints if you do not want the sun to come through. For a sun catcher or stained glass look they make paints just for this purpose. It all depends on how much you want to spend.

Instructions

1. First you need to find a picture. The easiest to start with are coloring book pages. Usually you can easily find your kid's favorite characters in coloring books. You can also find printable pages online.

2. Place your picture inside of the page protector and tape it down to your surface. You do not want it to move around while you work.

3. Start with just outlining the picture in paint. Usually this is done with a black or a "leading paint". Leading paint is made to look like the lead that is in stained glass windows. Make sure you have a good outline because these are used to hold all the liquid when you fill in the colors. Let the outline dry for at least 2 hours. I prefer to let it dry overnight.

4. Now you are ready to fill in the colors of your window cling. Completely fill in the areas with paint. It should look like it is about to overflow. Make sure the colors go completely up against the outline. You can use the toothpicks to make sure of this.

5. When your window cling is all filled in completely you can set it aside to dry for 24 hours. During this time clean your window with vinegar and let it dry.

6. You can now carefully peel your window cling off of the page protector and place it on a window.

Scribble States

Okay so with all of the 4th of July celebrating at my house I almost forgot that it is also Friday.

Oops!!! Well here is your Friday game.

The game looks blurry right now but when you click to play it is all as it should be.

Baby Borrowers



Baby Borrowers on NBC


I do not normally watch a lot of television. This means that I do not normally talk about much television. I HAVE to talk about this show though. There are TONS of reality shows that have absolutely no family values. Most reality television is completely about ratings. Ratings are usually the best when people are at their worst. This show will not only bring in ratings but it will also turn reality television on it's end. It is reality television with a purpose. A BIG purpose.

These days "kids having kids" is becoming less and less shocking. This show has brought together young people that wanted to hurry up and have a baby with just that. There are 5 young couples that truly believe that they will be together forever and they want to have a baby right away.

The show started last week with the 5 young couples moving into a houses as neighbors. I do love the show but I think that if they wanted it to be fully realistic they should not have been neighbors. It would have been more realistic if they could not depend on each other.

They first had to start with a pregnancy belly. They had to go to prenatal classes and set up a nursery. Right from the beginning one girl locked herself in a bathroom and refused to wear the belly because she felt that her boyfriend was thinking she was fat and making fun of her.

Then the babies came...The young couples had to deal with sleepless nights, holding down a job, crying babies, puking babies, nasty diapers, and angry parents. One mother went in right away to yell at the couple. One mother went in upset because her baby was not bathed or changed for bedtime and the young couple said they should just let the baby cry. Another mother went in and sympathetically tried to help. The one that touched me the most was the father that wanted to go in because his baby girl had not smiled for so long.

This week on the show the babies left the house so the couples were visited by their own mothers who told them their opinion of how they did. Then the parent's of the babies came to pick up the babies and tell them what they thought.

Through the course of the show the young couples will have to go through being pregnant, having a baby, having a toddler, preteens with a family pet, teenagers, and then the show ends after they have to take care of a senior citizen.

The girls and I have been anxiously awaiting the show to start since we saw the first commercial a month ago or more. We have really looked forward to the new show each week. I love the show and my girls have absolutely no interest in having kids for a very long time. LOL

Okay, so have you seen the show? What do you think? Do you have an opinion?

Summer Desserts


Well it is almost the 4th of July so I figured this would be a great time to talk about summer desserts that your kids will love to make and eat. Kids love anything frozen it seems. During the summer I always keep containers of frozen fruits handy. We love to freeze green grapes, bananas, melon balls, mangos, and papaya. Shhh do not tell anyone but I can even get my kids to think frozen peas are a snack food.


Some times we just eat the fruits frozen. Other times we throw them in the blender with some ice, juice and fresh berries. You can throw some yogurt in also to add some added nutrition. We do not because my girls are lactose intolerant. Frozen fruit drinks make any day special.



Ingredients

2 teaspoons lemon zest
4 to 5 lemons
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from the lemons)
3 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar

1. Scrape the 2 teaspoons of zest from one of the lemons, then cut all of the lemons in half and juice them. Measure 1 cup, reserving the rest for another use.

2. Use a melon baller or spoon to remove any remaining pulp.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the water to a boil, then add the lemon juice and zest and boil for 2 minutes.

4. Transfer the liquid to a mixing bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature. Place the bowl in the freezer until the mixture begins to freeze, several hours or overnight. Use a fork to break up the ice, then stir it until fluffy.

*NOTE - If we have berries that are getting too ripe we will cut them up and add them as we boil the liquid.


Coffee Can Ice Cream

I know a lot of your are afraid to make homemade ice cream because you think it is too hard to do. This is a way to get the kids to do the hard work and they think it is fun.

INGREDIENTS:

(1) 1-pound coffee can with lid
(1) 3-pound coffee can with lid
1 pint of half and half (milk can be used instead)
1 egg, beaten (optional)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup, or 1/4 cup of strawberries

PREPARATION:

Add all of the above ingredients to the 1 pound coffee can; mix well. Put the lid on the coffee can and secure with duct tape. Place the 1 pound coffee can into the 3 pound coffee can. Surround with crushed ice and rock salt and place the lid onto the 3 pound coffee can.Have your kids sit on the ground and roll back and forth 3 to 4 feet apart.Roll for 8 to 10 minutes.(The kids can kick the can back and forth as well.)Check to see if the ice cream is hard; if it isn't, replace the lid, add more ice and rock salt. Roll for another 8 minutes. Remove the lid to the 1 pound can and serve in bowls.

Serves 4-6 people.

Cool Product

Okay after all this time of us making coffee can ice cream some brilliant inventor came up with this and probably made it rich. I saw it a few months ago and keep forgetting to buy one. It would make it all so much easier. The kids would still have fun rolling it around too.




Some July Deals


Apple Online Store

Summer is in full swing so some of the Your Fun Family sponsors are doing summer sales and some are already doing back to school sales. This year is really flying by.


Promotional Link_468x60


July DVD Sale


www.CrayolaStore.com!

Passing on an Award


The other day I received this award from Irene at Try and Try Again. It has taken me a couple of days to pass on this award. It was really hard to choose just 5. I have found so many new blogs to love on Entrecard. If I did not choose you, I am really sorry. Please do not think that I do not love your blogs also. Rest assured that I feel some guilt in having to pick just 5. If I did not love so many blogs that are on Entrecard I would get a lot more work done on my websites. :)

Please do not feel you have to pass this on especially if you have already received it.

So here are the 5 I have chosen...

Guardian Angel @ Happy Family Matters
 
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