Field Trip Fridays

I decided that since we weren't really going on vacation this year that I would plan some fun day trips around the area that we live.  Nothing expensive (although there are plenty of attractions like zoos, theme parks, museums, etc...in the surrounding areas), I just wanted to do some good old fashioned exploring with my kids.  Places that were free or cheap and things we have never done before.  I actually took the kids to our destination on Wednesday, so that I could post about it today.  I thought it would be a great idea if we went to at least one place each week and explored our countryside and shared it with all of you.

This week we went to.....Cooper's Rock, WV.  This gorgeous state forest is actually only 45 minutes from our house.   

(photo courtesy of their website)

 From their website:    

"Coopers Rock State Forest gets its name from a legend about a fugitive who hid from the law near what is now the overlook. A cooper by trade, he resumed making barrels at his new mountain hideout, selling them to people in nearby communities. He lived and worked in the forest for many years.  

During the Depression, between 1936 and 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built numerous structures in the forest, often using durable American chestnut wood from trees that succumbed to a blight that nearly wiped out the species. Eleven of these structures, including the rustic picnic shelters near the overlook, have been included on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bands of rockcliffs line the Cheat River Gorge and provide numerous overlooks. The centerpiece among these is the main overlook, which furnishes a panorama of the gorge and distant horizons. A maze of enormous boulders and cliffs fascinates hikers, and the trails are especially lovely in June when the rhododendron and mountain laurel are in bloom. Several trails wind through forest valleys and over ridges, and a number of creeks beckon the explorer. Glade Run is dammed to form a 6-acre pond that is regularly stocked with trout. The observant hiker can hear and sometimes see squirrels, chipmunks, hawks, owls, turkeys, turkey vulture, songbirds, fox and deer throughout the forest."

The big attraction (other than "Rock City") is the scenic overlook.  And let me tell you, it does not disappoint. The view is amazing...God's country is beautiful.  

The kids had a blast exploring the caves that the huge rocks and boulders had formed.  They "rock climbed" and ran through the trees, while I was screaming for them to come back and texting them to stop running off....some "family adventure", eh? LOL! The older boys probably had the most fun, not only because they could climb the rocks, but they kept trying to run ahead of us and doubling back to scare us from behind.  Only, Zach forgot to set his phone to vibrate and we could hear it beep every time I texted him haha.

Cooper's Rock has a campground, several picnic areas, pavilions, a fishing area, lots of hiking trails (from easy to difficult) and it's close to Cheat Lake (for swimming and boating).

We had a lot of fun exploring our way through the woods and rocks.  A few of the kids were bored (you can guess which ones) and a few of them didn't want to leave (again, guess who)...all in all a fun, family adventure that we will definitely do again someday.

And what family adventure is complete without a stop at the playground.  There are several play areas throughout the park.  We actually found an old swing set in the middle of the woods. 

And as with any family....somebody always has to get hurt

(watching them climb around on those huge rocks - I had visions of broken limbs running through my mind. So I'll take a little scratch or two).

Be sure to come back next week for another installment of "Field Trip Fridays", where we will explore another local landmark.

Also, check out the "photography" tab on the side bar for more pics of Cooper's Rock.

because sometimes it's fun to break the rules. . .

Ice Cream Sundaes at Midnight

Winner of the Tiger Tales Books

Drawn through Random Number Generator is. . . . . #9 

"One of my most favorites was "Little Luv Angel" by Toby Bluth, I have my old copy for my girls, which is a good thing since I haven't seen it in print other than mine in years. chewbybell@hotmail.com"

Congratulations, I will get them in the mail to you soon.

Thanks to all who participated!

Not Sure How I Go About This....

As you all know, Amanda graduated high school and will be going to college.  Granted, she's only going to be 30 minutes away, but she will still be leaving to live in a dorm.  Now, I may complain and whine alot about her behavior, but it doesn't mean that I love her any less.  I love my girl, I just don't love what hormones did to her (or to any of us for that matter).  Amanda is usually a pretty good helper when she wants to be and a pretty good sister too, when she's not being annoyed endlessly. 

I've known for years that she would up and fly the nest and leave me....doesn't mean I'm any more prepared for it, now that it's happening.  Why do kids have to go and grow up on us?? I hate this part of parenting, just as much as the disciplining part.  I've mentally prepared for her leaving.  I've even gone so far as to rearrange the kids bedrooms...not trying to take away her place in our family or her space, but it seems stupid having Sarah in the largest kid bedroom by herself.  So, I'm moving the little boys into the girls' bigger room and Sarah back into her old bedroom.  And leaving Amanda's bed in the big bedroom with her younger brothers for now - so that when she does come home for the weekends or during breaks she will have a place to sleep and put her stuff, without sharing with her sister (since they have been fighting quite a bit lately).

My real problem with this whole thing is getting all these "dorm room" flyers in the mail.  PB dorm style, Target dorm sale flyer, college flyer with sheet and comforter sets.  It makes the whole thing more...real.  I get teary eyed every time I look at those stupid flyers.  I will miss my little red headed, pig tailed girl.  The child with the brightest smile, the one who encouraged me to go on late night walks where we'd talk about boys and she'd hold my hand and pulled me along when I wanted to sit down on the sidewalk and rest.  It's weird how full cycle life is....you know it happens, but when it happens to you, it's so surreal.  I remember being the one gently pulling her along into her kindergarten classroom many years ago.  And then standing in the hallway outside her classroom crying.  In a little over a month, I'll be crying in a hallway again, this time at a college dorm.

Rich laughs at me and says...think of all the times, she stole your shoes and lost them or "borrowed" your perfume and wasted it all, or all the dumb fights you've had over the years.  The last five years or so have been rough with all the hormones and junk that goes with puberty and growing up.  We were finally getting to the point where she confided in me about life and asked my opinion and now she's gonna leave.....how dare she!?!

Parenting Sucks....really, really Sucks!

Linking to Shell's

Rainbow Love

Love me some Rainbows.....

I made two of these to hang outside and another smaller one for the inside.

It didn't take long at all to make them.  I bought 7 fat quarters in rainbow colors cut them into 4 triangles to make the outside pennants.  

(I ended up not using the rainbow ribbon or the white twine, I used brown twine instead)

Ran a quick stitch up the sides

And attached some plain twine to the flags to sew them all together.

Then I bought 7 more fat quarters in the same colors to make another pennant for inside.  This time I only made one of each color and saved the scraps for another project.

Now I have some rainbow love inside and out...

I took the leftover fabric scraps and cut them into strips to make a rag wreath.

I bought an embroidery hoop (14") at a thrift store for 50 cents to use as my wreath form.

I was going to use the rainbow ribbon (from the above pic), but I found some really cool tie dyed rainbow ribbon and decided to use it instead.

Rag wreaths are super easy to make (just buy a wreath form or use an old wire hanger) and then tie on strips of fabric.  It looks cute and like you spent alot of time making it, but this one only took me about 20 minutes start to finish.

My husband and friends say I live in a "Rainbows, Sunshine and Lollipop World" and now I really do hahaha!

Linking to....

Two Tiger Tales Books Up for Grabs...

I have two Tiger Tales books to giveaway.  They are paperback copies of The Ice Cream King and A Little Bit of Love.  I received a few extra copies in paperbacks of a few titles from Tiger Tales and wanted to share them with my readers. 

If you would like a chance to win, just leave a comment telling me your favorite childhood book...that's it!  I'll leave the giveaway up for the weekend and pick a winner on Monday, July 11 at midnight EST.  Please leave your email with your comment, so I have a way to contact you if you win.

Sorry this is only open to U.S. residents.

*Disclosure, I received these books for review purposes and received a few extra copies...this giveaway is Not sponsored by Tiger Tales, just me sharing some book love.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED - Thank you for participating!

Must Have Art Supplies for Kids

I have felt for a really long time that doing arts and crafts is a great way to incorporate learning in a fun way and give kids the chance to be creative as well.  I've been doing crafts with my kids ever since Amanda was little.  She loved coloring (still does)...could be why she once took a RED crayon and colored all over our white refrigerator at age 3. 

Although I have a whole closet filled with just kids' art supplies, I thought I would compile a list of basic items that you can use to make some fun crafts with your kids.  Art is just an imagination gone wild.  It stimulates their minds.  And is a much better use of time then video games or tv watching.  When I was a little girl, we would play outside all day long...making up games.  We'd leave the house in the morning once our chores were done and wouldn't come back until it got dark or we were hungry.  We made up our own fun....our minds were stimulated by good old fashioned imaginations.  I think that's something lacking with today's kids.  Which is why I love doing art projects with my kids.

I get inspiration for crafts everywhere I look, magazines, children's books, catalogs, the internet, etc.  Lots of times, I'll be looking at a book and my mind will just start buzzing with ideas.


Here's a list of basic supplies...

*Crayons, markers, chalk and colored pencils are a given. 

*Glue - school glue, tacky glue, glue sticks, mod podge, glue gun.

*Paints - water colored paints, finger paints, poster paints, acrylic paints, etc.

*Paper - construction paper and plain white paper (we buy a reem of white paper from Walmart for the kids to use).

*Scissors - we love using crafting shears with zig zags, etc.

*Foam board - foam board comes in all shapes and sizes.

*Paint apron - trust me, you'll want one of these with little ones (I purchased Nathan's at the Dollar Tree, but you can find them anywhere art supplies are sold).

*Newspaper or plastic table cloth - to cover your table, especially for painting projects.

*Lots of different sized paint brushes, including sponge brushes.


Other fun stuff...

* Wiggle eyes, pom poms, beads, sequins, buttons, feathers


*Sponges and Stencils - did you know that you can make your own paint stencils, by cutting a pattern out of a sponge? Or that you could use your cookie cutters as stencils by tracing them or dipping them into paint?


*Paper plates - large and small size...we use paper plates as faces, and other fun stuff
 
*Styrofoam bowls - these are great to pour paint into, to keep little ones from mixing colors together in the bottles.


*Pipe cleaners

*Stickers

*Yarn, ribbon, string

*Tissue paper (in all colors)

*Felt

*Cotton balls

*Stamps (with an ink pad)

*Crepe paper streamers - we use streamers alot for windsocks and other crafts

*Empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls - using your imagination you make tons of stuff...snakes, trains, etc.

*Egg cartons

*Straws

*Glitter and glitter glue

*Old magazines


You can even use food as craft projects...

*Salt (left white or colored)

*Pasta (different shapes and sizes)

*Rice (can be colored by using food coloring)

*Dried beans, etc.

The possibilities are endless!  Let your imagination go a little wild and have some fun today!

Uncle Sam Wants YOU!

Made this cute little Uncle Sam craft with the boys for the 4th of July.

You will need red, white and blue construction paper.  A paper plate and flesh colored paint.  Wiggly eyes, a mouth, nose, cotton balls and glue.  White paint and a star shaped cookie cutter.

Paint the paper plate with flesh color paint

Cut out a hat form with the red paper.  Also cut white strips of paper and a small rectangle strip for the hat band and glue the hat together.

Using the star shaped cookie cutter, dip it in the white paint and stamp it on the blue rectangle.

Glue wiggle eyes, nose and mouth (we just used construction paper to make our faces, you could draw them, if you wanted to).

Glue the hat to the top of the plate and some cotton balls to the face for the hair and beard.

(Uncle Sam)

We also made the Stars & Stripes Windsocks again (a repeat craft from last year)

You will need blue construction paper, red and white crepe paper streamers, a star shaped cookie cutter, white paint and red yarn.

Using the white paint, stamp star shapes on the blue construction paper, put it aside til dry.

On the back side of the paper, glue several strips of red and white crepe paper streamers, we used two different lengths.

Run a strip of glue on one side of the paper and press the seams together.

You could also tape it to ensure that it sticks properly.

Using a hole punch, punch two holes at the top and tie on the yarn.

Fourth of July Round Up

We had a really great day yesterday.  Fun, Family and Fireworks...Love!

I made a 4th of July bunting.

The boys made crafts (to be posted later).

I made Red, White & Blue chocolate covered pretzels

and Cupcakes.

I took too many fireworks pictures.

We sat right across from the display.

Nathan, Nicholas, Sarah, Amanda and I went to watch them.

We wore our glowstick necklaces and bracelets haha...can't watch fireworks without them.

We ate hot dogs and hamburgers, macaroni salad and deviled eggs.

And we still have sparklers leftover...

guess what we'll be doing later tonight :-)

Hope you all enjoyed your Fourth as much as we enjoyed ours!