Hoopla Jars

 Allow me to define what is contained in this little jar of fun...
Hoopla: excitement; bustling excitement or activity; commotion; hullabaloo; to-do. 

Synonyms: action, activity, bustle, buzz, stir, thrill, elation...

What is all the hoopla about you ask? In each jar there is a scroll. On each scroll there is a surprise. Each surprise is bustling with excitement... hoopla in a jar!  

Family night is a regular occurrence in our home. To add to the fun and memory making aspect of it all I came up with Hoopla Jars. On each scroll, in each jar contains a different thing to do as a family. From Hide and Seek to going out for ice cream, indoor family camp out, game night, movie night or even family craft night, in each jar there is sure to be hoopla... excitement. For my scrolls I came up with poems or riddles that lead up to the fun activity spelled out at the end of the scroll.

You can simply roll your scrolls, but I found using a wooden dowel (1/4") made it a lot faster and easier. 

 Here is an example of how I wrote out the fun activity in rhyme.

 Binder clips hold the scroll in place...

So a ribbon may be easily tied to hold it closed.

I used baby food jars and just spray painted the lids. Even if you don't have a baby, to buy several jars it will only be a few dollars. The numbers are scrapbook stickers.
We are taking turns choosing a jar. My girls get to choose the number jar they want to open. For us family night is on  Thursday nights, so needless to say the anticipation of opening a Hoopla Jar lasts all week! You could also roll dice to see which jar you will open or just open them in numerical order. After all the jars have been opened, mix up the scrolls and replace them in the jars or take family suggestions for new fun ideas. Hoopla Jars most definitely will be full of lasting memories!

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Haystacks

Simple. Delicious. Fun. These yummy treats are so easy to make, even a child can do it. In fact a child did make these. All week long my girls have been taking turns preparing dinner and dessert. My two younger girls paired up for this tasty treat called Haystacks.  The Internet is full of variations of Haystacks. We used a recipe from one of our favorite kid's cookbooks and want to share it with you!





Haystacks
2- 6oz. pkg. butterscotch chips
3/4 c. chopped or slivered almonds
5 oz. can chow mein noodles

In your slow cooker on High heat, melt the butterscotch chips. Using a wooden spoon, every few minuets stir the chips until they are melted.  When the chips are completely melted gently stir in the chow mein noodles and the almonds. When the Haystacks are mixed well, roll out a sheet of wax paper. Carefully scoop a spoon into the mixture and drop a spoon full onto the wax paper. Keep the Haystacks on the wax paper until set. You may speed up the process by placing them in the fridge.

Super easy and "kids" of all ages will love them.


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Indoor Hopscotch

As a child I loved, adored was thrilled by the simple game of Hopscotch. My childhood school yard like so many had this wondrous game. As I ran from one part of the playground to the next if I passed over the Hopscotch, I did not simply run over it. I  hopped through each square at every passing. My neighborhood sidewalks often were adorned with chalk drawn Hopscotch.
So what to do on those cold or wet rainy days when Hopscotch might just wash away or be covered in snow? Bring it INSIDE!

Using painters tape (so it easily removes) I created an indoor Hopscotch.

 We have graced our entry way floor with this game for over a month now and there is NOT a day it does not get hopped through. Even as an energy release during our homeschool days, I send the girls through the Hopscotch.

 Visitors have come over and it has been fun to see them return to carefree childhood days as they hop their way into our home. It may not be beautiful... but it sure is FUN!

 Fun links make for great individual Hopscotch markers.


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Ouiet... Peace... Peace and Quiet

Thirty minutes of quiet! Does not sound like anything wonderful, unless you picture five kids from ages nine to 4 months and one mommy all day every day. Then 3o minutes of quiet sounds like bliss!
Every day my goal is to have my kids spend 3o minutes in their rooms on their beds being quiet. Reading books, napping, resting without sleeping, reading the Bible, makes no difference how they choose to spend those minutes, just QUIET!
Oh how long those minutes seem to the little ones and oh how fast they fly for me. My thirty minutes are also spent being quiet and not cleaning anything!! My rule for myself is to treasure these minutes at rest as well. Being still before the Lord, just breathing easy and not answering a flurry of questions. Taking time to write with out chatter in the background. Thirty glorious minutes of quiet!
I know a day will soon be upon me when all is quiet around me and I will long for these boisterous days. But for now thirty minutes in a quiet home is just plain wonderful!



So may I encourage you, if you too are in the stage of continual noise in your life, to find thirty minutes in your day to just have quiet. You will be so glad you did! 

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A Post For Post Sakes

As you already know... school is back in session! Homeschooling four little ones with a newborn, let me just say, EXHAUSTING! My brain has been on mental fry for the past week now! I have tried several times to sit down and put a post together, only to stare at a blank white screen. Yup, my brain has been blank. Not because I have nothing to share, because I do. I have, wait let me count... twelve, yes 12 projects in the works, but the words just have not been there. So I decided I would share with you a couple high lights of what has been going on around my Created Home. Let me just say what  has not been going on, is folding laundry, because my clean towel pile is taller than my three year old! Really quite impressive, but time to purge some towels I realized. See there... see what just happened? My brain is all over the place... mental fry... also explains the 12 projects at one time. Any how here are just a couple fun things.

Okay what was your first thought upon seeing this picture? The smiles suggest it is not something torturous. Well my little one on the far right would have said otherwise at first. Notice her nervous smile? This was a blind taste test. We were doing a science experiment about the tongue and how your taste buds (or as one of my daughters calls them, taste bugs) work. This was a blast! I highly suggest it for good laughs! The key: salty, sour, sweet and bitter

 Obviously my three year old dressed herself... not only does she not match, her shirt is even on backwards. Four months ago (baby is four months) I would of had her shirt turned around in a jiffy, but hey that is just one more thing to do right?

She posed like this on her own. Cracked me up. This is her Rapunzel tower. She proceeded to tell me, "mommy, don't worry! Don't worry! My tower will not fall down... I glued the boxes together." To which I replied, "glued?" 

Her: "yes glued." 

Me: "glued?"

Her: "yes mommy, glued. I used our new school glue you bought us."

Sure enough she glued the boxes together with white school glue. Not just a little glue, you know a lot of glue is needed when you are building a princess tower. 

Need I say more? This is a good explanation as to why my brain is on fry, my laundry is unfolded and dishes most days can be found in my sink. All of which though exhausting and challenging at times is the BEST blessing!

Hope you enjoyed a peak into some of the fun we have been having around our home. 

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Hanging Fabric Pocket Organizer

 Homeschooling my children is a wonderful blessing that bares with it a great responsibility. With so many different roles (wife, mom, teacher, homemaker etc.) that I play around our home organization is key to keep things running smooth.
Often times the way school lessons break down in a day, one side of a worksheet is completed that day, leaving the other side for the next school day. What to do with all those papers for different children? What to do with them so they are not forgotten or overlooked? Where to put them so each child knows what they have for that day? What to do with them so they are not in the clutches of the youngest sister who wants to try her hand at her big sister's worksheet? These were the questions that inspired this.

 Individual pockets adorned with ribbon. Perfect for holding school papers to be done or to be completed, corrections to be made or homework.

Eyelets make this possible to hang over the door from metal hooks. You can purchase eyelets at any fabric store, I got mine at Hobby Lobby. I then used ribbon to hang the organizer to the height I wanted. 

Now for a peak of what is hiding under the fabric. How I made it.

I used a large Diaper box from Costco. I trimmed off the flaps or edges and this created the base for my organizer. I cut out pockets to the size I wanted, (keeping in mind they will be hemmed and turned under so that in the end it is at least big enough to fit a piece of paper) and then turned the edges in and sewed a thin hem. I then placed the pockets on my main piece of fabric. I turned under each edge excluding the top opening. I pinned the pocket to the main fabric and then pined on my ribbon wrapping it around the pocket. I sewed on each pocket and only sewed the ribbon edges to the main fabric. Once the pockets were all complete, I then used my hot glue gun to glue the main fabric to the cardboard box (only warping and gluing the edges to the back side of the cardboard). I also used the hot glue gun to glue down the middle or center part of the ribbon onto the pocket.There you have it... very simple. You could hot glue the whole thing if you did not want to sew.

 This organizer will most likely hang on the inside door to my classroom closet. The closet door remains open during school time. The top pocket for now will hold my oldest daughters books. The one she is reading for her book report and the one I am reading out loud to her. The other pockets hold school papers! Yay! A wonderful solution! You could also use this for printer paper, notebook paper, construction paper, story books, coloring books, magazines, mail, bills, school or craft supplies and anything else you can come up with! Labels or numbers on the pockets are possibly in this organizers future. If I do then I will show you the update in a later post.

Now for a bit of an update. Here is what now fills my Mason Jar by my chalk board... because I know you have just been dying for this update. :)

I am linking to these parties as well as the ones listed.
Today's Creative Blog

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Guest Post - Place Mats

 Hi all! I am super excited to introduce you to a very dear old... um let me rephrase... a very dear, long time friend. We grew up right next door to each other for many years. Life took hold of both of us, we lost contact only to be brought back in touch over a year ago. Oh glory day! As many of you know I have a three month old little boy... well my wonderful friend has a three month old little girl. Our babies are the best of friends even though we live a thousand miles away from each other oh and they have never met. Minor detail. Any how my amazing friend Diane is a mother to three beautiful kids! She blogs over at Cherishing All Our Moments and had her little ones make the place mats I shared with you awhile back. See post here. I just love that her sweet little ones had a blast making them. They turned out so darling and I just had to share them with you. Hope you enjoy. And now my friend Diane...

Thank you so much Carrie for the wonderful idea of making place mats!! Gavin and Emma really really really loved this project and they have such great conversations now about their beautiful work while they eat. It is so neat to see how something so simple can be such a huge deal in their eyes. Here are pics of the place mats they made...I included a photo of each side...they had fun picking out a few different pictures that I had in a stack for their place mats.The sequin idea was the icing on the cake. Emma put hers on in piles and Gavin was very meticulous.

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Back to School

 The summer season is almost behind us, as free summer days have now turned into school days. I am in disbelief that my youngest daughter is already in Preschool as my oldest is now in fourth grade! The years seem to be flying past leaving only memories to hold onto. As this school year approaches for some and has arrived for others, may I encourage us all to treasure these days. Treasure them as your children absorb new nuggets of knowledge. Treasure them as questions seem unending and homework or homeschool work seems increasing. Treasure these school days for they fly by so fast leaving only pictures, snapshots, mental memories of days gone so fast.

 Note: The coffee is mine not my girl's.
Here is how the first part of our school day runs so smoothly...
baby swing + LOTS of "D" batteries= productive school day!

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Alphabet Gallery Wall

Remember my previous post where I shared with you the changes to our homeschool classroom? Remember that I said I had something  fun planed for my gallery wall? Well here it is.

 Now for a closer look so you can really see what I did.

 Since this is our classroom in our family room I decided to make an alphabet gallery wall. Oh and in case you were wondering, the frame to the right of the chalkboard is a burlap flannel board see post here.  Now for an even closer look.

Did you notice how each of the photo collages went along with one of the letters of the alphabet? Okay I am kinda excited about this one can you tell? Did you sing the song while browsing through? I can't help it... most often it is in the tune to the kid T.V. show Super Why. Funny! Funny... and now annoying. :)

P.S. I made the pillows... thinking they need some snazzing up.

I am linking to these parties.

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