OMSH

A while back I posted in my brain bits about the alphabet and number molds I saw blogged about at Let’s Explore. I showed my kids and though we searched for molds here in our own town, and even in the next town over, we couldn’t find them. No surprise there, really. So, we placed our order online and looked forward to making our own Alphabet Crayons.

Today we did. :)

The blog entry I read said NOT to use washable crayons. That confused me. There are washable crayons now? Where have I been? Why is this important? Were the crayons I used in my childhood NOT washable? So, if these newfangled crayons are accidentally left in a child’s pant pocket they’ll make it through the wash without staining everything else? OR is it that now crayons will wipe off walls, furniture, bodies, etc…because if that’s the case they probably stink as ACTUAL crayons.

I’m sure I could Google all of that, but then what would I have to ask you guys? EXACTLY.

Now, we had no idea which crayons were washable and which weren’t because our collection of broken and nubbed crayons were out in two boxes in the garage. TWO BOXES. We have a thing for crayons around here, but no one wants them once Kenny’s used them and they are flat. Oh, and those crayon sharpeners? They don’t work.

No, they really don’t.
Nope, not even the ones built into the box.
Seriously, don’t argue the point – I tried it already.

So, Kenny and Meredith started peeling the paper off the crayons.

Note to self: Now that I’m looking at that box it seems as if some of those look to be in perfect condition. Hmmmmm.

Let’s just say that the peeling part? IT TAKES FOREVER.

Just ask Kenny. I mean, doesn’t he look elated here?
I chose to interpret his scowl as concentration.

After a while, Meredith grew tired of peeling and started placing hers in the actual molds. She would measure them out and try to break them just right. For the record, it is MUCH easier to use the kitchen scissors. Also? There is that added ’something’ that feels very rebellious when one uses the kitchen scissors to cut crayons. It reminds me of that time when I used my mom’s Gingher’s to cut…oh wait, my mom reads this blog.

“Hi Mom! I didn’t do anything! I’m totally innocent! I swear I DID NOT use your EXPENSIVE GINGHER SCISSORS to cut into anything other than 100% cotton fabric.”

In the meantime, Emelie made up a batch of blueberry muffins.

She was so funny. She walked out of the kitchen, walked up to me with the Betty Crocker box and a smerk on her face and said, “Did you want me to make muffins for you?” Now, most mothers would say, “Oh no baby, I’ll make the muffins, you play with your siblings.” But not me. Nope, I’m a brat. I said, “Would you? Oh that would be sooooooooooo nice.”

And I didn’t even CARE that we were out of fresh blueberries and had to use the canned ones in the box. Nope, not at all.

In a few years I’m gonna have to up her allowance, I can tell already.

So, after we noshed on blueberry muffins (not just me – ALL of us), Emelie slid the crayons into the oven (about 275-ish), turned on the oven light, and watched them melt.

It took a good deal longer than the 20 minutes we read it would take. Ours were more like 30 minutes and I think two of them could have gone longer. But hey, it was all a grand experiment and we were having fun.

And look how fun they are! I broke 2 of the letters and Emelie broke 1 of the numbers as we were trying to get them out. After looking, I think that either that part wasn’t cooked long enough OR it wasn’t thick enough (not enough crayon to melt in that area) and so, it was weak. The molds are really easy to use – very flexible.

Oh, and see this one? This is a reason not to use the washable type crayons – the wax floats to the top and gels there.

I’m wondering if there is some way to skim that off the top in the process. Hmmmmm.

I put the numbers and letters away in a bag to use for school with Kenny. Hey, any chance to find interesting manipulatives is nice, right?

Since it seems we are always going to birthdays for the kids’ friends, I thought it would be fun in the future to wrap a gift with a bag full of alphabet or number crayons OR just with the child’s name spelled out…or even a bunch of 6’s if they are turning 6; we’ll see.

Remember when Grease 2 came out?

Though I can’t say I thought that Maxwell Caulfield was the hunk that John Travolta could have been in the same role, I gotta tell you I was right there with Michelle Pfeiffer when she sang Cool Rider. Now, granted I think I was 10 when the movie came out and really should have been thinking about American Girl dolls and My Little Pony. Instead, I was cruising all over my Grandma and Grandpa’s pasture on an old beat-up go-cart with my cousin singing these lyrics as if my entire soul was hanging on every word.

If you really want to know
What I want in a guy…
Well, I’m lookin’ for a dream on a mean machine
With hell in his eyes.

Hmmmmmm…there is something very…ummm…true about those lyrics.

Oh, except I don’t really want “hell” in his eyes. I want the look that says, “I would go through hell and back for you.” in his eyes. We’ll just use our literary license here in OMSHville to switch that up a bit.

I want a devil in skin tight leather,
And he’s gonna be wild as the wind.
And one fine night, I’ll be holdin’ on tight…

To a coooool rider, a coooool rider.
If he’s cool enough,
He can burn me through and through.
Whhoa ohhhh
If it takes forever,
Then I’ll wait forever.
No ordinary boy,
No ordinary boy is gonna do.
I want a rider that’s cool.

Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?
Just me?
O-kay then…

That’s the way it’s gonna be,
And that’s the way that I feel.
I want a whole lot more than the boy next door,
I want hell on wheels.
Just give me a fine motorcycle,
With a man growin’ out of the seat.
And move aside, cause I’m gonna ride…

I don’t want no ordinary guys,
Comin’ on strong to me.
They don’t know what I’m lookin’ for,
They don’t know what I need.
They’re gonna know when he gets here,
Cause the crowd will be shakin’.
I’ll do anything to let him know,
That I’m his, his for the takin’.

I want a coooooool rider,
A cool, cool, cool, cool rider.
I want a coooooool rider,
A cool, cool, cool, cool rider.
I want a C-O-O-L R-I-D-E-R.
I need a C-O-O-L R-I-D-E-R.

And then she hopped around all over the stage in tight black skinny jeans looking foolish, but somehow EXTREMELY cool too (because Michelle Pfeiffer ALWAYS looks cool).

And I remember thinking that there was hardly anything cooler than a guy on a bike.

I haven’t changed much.

A new school year is upon us and as most of you know we are homeschooling this year. It has been 3 years since I last homeschooled the kids and though I’m sure it’ll be an adjustment, I feel really relaxed about it all. I know my children’s learning styles and even though they’ve been schooled away from me the past few years, I have been actively involved in their education and homework, so it really is no big deal.

Plus, it was just time. There are a few things we aren’t in agreement with in our local school system, and this way we can structure our day’s more smoothly and get the type of learning we desire – a more literature-based/classical approach.

Emelie was thrilled when all the books came in. She would have torn into the 4 large boxes way before I did, but I knew the kind of inventory necessary for a stash of books and supplies that big, so I put it off a while. Sunday we began unpacking and she couldn’t hardly stay away. She begged me to start school TODAY, but I wanted another week to get on my new work schedule and lay by the pool, so we’re starting after Labor Day.

Meredith, on the other hand, was taken aback by the stacks all over the living room floor. I wish I could have captured her face when she came running through the front door to get a drink of water. She caught one quick look and heard Emelie say, “Look Meredith! These are all YOUR BOOKS!” She looked at the books, then me, and then the books again and said, “Summer’s over?! ALREADY?!”

If you ask Meredith her favorite subject she doesn’t even have to think about it. “P.E.!”

She was switched at birth, I just know it.

Today, she busied herself with protecting the home from scavengers of some sort. When Kenny wouldn’t play along, she dropped that game and decided to protect the chickens from wild beasts instead.

Gun slung over her shoulder, she’s the perfect NRA poster child. Can’t you see the tagline?

“This princess can protect her own castle; can yours?”

The school year should be interesting. Bribing her to come INSIDE is about the same difficulty level as bathing a cat.

Ever tried that?

EXACTLY!