Colored Rice Pictures

I did these pictures with the girls the other day. Since I had a rough day at work, I don't want to blog about my rough day... So, on to happier times :0)
To make these pictures, the night before, this is what we did:
6 bowls filled with 1/2 cup white rice
add 1 tsp of vinegar and 6 drops of food coloring to each bowl of rice
These are the colors we did:
blue
green
red
yellow
purple (mixed the red & blue)
pink (put less red drops in the rice)

The girls each took turns stirring the rice to coat it evenly (or unevenly) with color. Then, we spread the rice on foil on a baking sheet. We kept our colors separated, so I had to use two baking sheets. Then, we baked it at 250 degrees for 30 minutes to set the color.

The next day, I put the rice into cups. I drew the hearts on their paper, and filled the heart with a thin coat of Elmer's glue. They did the rest themselves. They poured a little blue on, and then a little red, and so on. They loved this project, and the mess really isn't that bad (just a quick move with the hand vac).

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Slick Days

Yesterday was the start of the ice. These are all pictures from yesterday. Jaden called this snow, but I don't know, it was rock hard! LOL!!! Anyway, it was like this again today. Today we actually did see some snow in some parts on the metroplex. I got some pictures of the snow on my phone, but have no way to transfer them to here... So, all you get is yesrterday's pics.
This morning was horrible on the roads because they had what the call "ice fog". So, we had ice and fog at the same time with just over 0% visability... So, that was fun. It took me 3 hours to get to work (of course, I had to make 2 stops~ 1 to drop off LeCount at work & the other to drop the girls off with Grandma Leslie). The girls were with me in the car for 2 1/2 hours of the drive, and they were both ready to get out!! It is frustrating when you are just stuck and there is nothing you can do to get there any sooner.
We are home safe and sound now, and for that I am grateful!!

The Birthday Cake

Ok, I have to explain this one. Everyone was in the other room talking and someone had already lit the candles on the birthday cake. I knew that Morgan needed to blow them out, and that I had to get everyone from the other room into this one (we couldn't move the cake because of technical difficulties). So, I stood by Morgan to make sure she wasn't going to blow out the candles yet, and then, I called for LeCount to get everyone into the kitchen. When I yelled, "LeCount", Morgan burst out crying. I don't know what was going through her head, but whatever it was, it upset her. She didn't even want anyone to sing to her, and she didn't want to blow out the candles... That is, until, she heard Aunt Roxanne say, "Blow out the candles, and then, you can open up your presents."

A Wiggly Ballerina opening up presents

For those of you who are not familiar with the Wiggles, there is a character on the show names Dorothy. Dorothy is a dinosaur, and she usually has a tutu on. So, imagine Morgan's surprise when one of her gifts was a tutu! She put it on immediately & began twirling around! Then, she continued opening up presents with it on. She loved all of her gifts, and Jaden was even included on some of them. For example, matching shoes, outfits, and Aunt Amy is even going to make Jaden a tutu, so she can twirl with Morgan. They are going to go with Grandma Leslie one day soon to a ceramic store to make their own projects (that was the birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa).
Amy shared the link to the site with directions to make the tutu. Here it is:

Wiggly Party

Kacey and Jaden comparing Wiggles shirts
Jasmine with a sucker from her goody basket
Morgan and James
Morgan and Jaden
Morgan
James
Gavin playing with the Wiggly play-doh
Uncle Bryan and James making footballs out of clay
Morgan getting ready to blow out her candles
Morgan eating the yummy cake

We had a great time at the party! Morgan was very happy to see all of the people that came to celebrate her birthday! I still have more pictures & a couple of videos that I will post tomorrow. Just one more thing: I want to say thank you to everyone who came for their companionship, presents, and help in making the party a success!

Getting ready for the party

The items in the favor buckets
The favor buckets
Of course, the party has been in the works for weeks. Morgan said she wanted a "Wiggles" party, so I ran around trying to see what I could find. It turns out that none of the stores carry Wiggles party items anymore... So, that left me with the only other option~ get creative!
I started at Dollar Tree and picked up Valentine's Day items (the heart buckets and Valentine's Day candy). Then, I found the books there, too. Oh, right, I, also, got the cups (in Anthony blue), plates (in Jeff purple), napkins (in Murray red), and utensils (in Greg yellow)...
Next, I stopped at the Wiggly Play Center and found their Racing to the Rainbow tour shirts (which, incidentally was the tour they were on when Morgan was born) on clearance for 99 cents! So, I bought each child one for their bucket.
Then, I got the drinks, 2 of each:
Jeff is purple, so I went with grape soda
Greg is yellow, so I went with pineapple soda
Anthony is blue, so I went with blue powerade
Murray is red, so I went with fruit punch

My Wiggly Play-Doh was made so that if it was eaten, it would not be disastrous. You can find this recipe and other great ideas at Amazingmoms.com:

Play Dough Recipe

You'll need:
Flour 3cups
Salt 1 1/2 cups
Water 3 cups
Vegetable Oil 2TB.
Cream of tartar 1TB.
Food coloring few drops or unsweetened "Kool-Aid" 1pkg.

Mix ALL of the ingredients in a large saucepan.
Cook over medium low heat, until the dough comes away
from the edges of the pan and it becomes difficult to move the spoon. Remove from heat. Cool until it can be handled.
Place on counter or wax paper knead 3-4 times.
Store in an air tight container.

For the Wiggly Play-Doh, I used the 4 Wiggle colors in Kool-Aid:
Jeff is purple, so I went with grape
Greg is yellow, so I went with lemonade
Anthony is blue, so I went with blue rasberry
Murray is red, so I went with cherry

Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Lyale took care of the rest of the party! They got Morgan a Wiggles birthday cake (which was near impossible to find~ an adventure in and of itself), balloons to match the Wiggles colors, and LOTS of food!!! We all had so much fun, but I am saving the party blog for later because I have to go get ready for work.

My new venture~ Baby Pictures

First, I will start with Morgan's stats that we got from the doctor yesterday. She is 23 1/2 pounds (every half of a pound counts), 33 1/2 " tall, and she has an 18" head circumference. We are having her party today, so she is very excited about that. I got up at 5AM to get some things ready (some play dough and a few other activities).

We are leaving the house at 8AM because I have to be at work at 9:30AM! I am starting a part-time weekend job (to do along with the other stuff I do). I am hoping it will be fun and bring in some extra cash. I will, also be able to take on extra days during the week as needed. I like that kind of work because it allows for flexibility. If no one can watch the girls at the time that the extra shift is offered, then, I can't take it~ but, if I can find someone, that helps us make ends meet. So, it will be every weekend for sure that I will work, and then, during the week they will call me as they have extra days.

Hopefully, it will be a fun job that I will learn something from. The picture that I put on this post is a few of the picture poses similar to what I will be taking as a newborn photographer at the hospital. Now, they provide 4 days of training, so I guess, in that 4 days I will learn everything I need to know (*cringe*)

Anyway, I am anxious to start the new job, and hope that it helps provide for my family.

A surprise birthday cake!

LeCount came home at 4:30 PM yesterday with a birthday surprise for Morgan and me. A mini-birthday cake! So, he put two candles on it, and Morgan enjoyed blowing out candles again. We, also, opened our birthday cards that everyone sent. Morgan even gave Jaden one of her cards to open, so that she wouldn't feel left out! Wow!!! Where has the time gone, and what happened to my itty-bitty baby?!?!? I am taking her to the doctor this afternoon, so I will have her updated stats posted tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Morgan!!!!

Jaden, Morgan and I had a mini-party for Morgan this morning. Morgan opened her present (The Wiggles in their Big Red Car), and I baked cinnamon rolls. I put 2 candles on top of the cinnamon rolls, and we sang "happy birthday".
Now, to explain the girls hair... I decided I was going to put their hair in cornrows for Saturday's party. I washed their hair yesterday, and then, started braiding last night. I got one braid in Jaden's hair and 2 braids in Morgan's hair before I couldn't take their moving tantrum/screaming fits. So, I decided to stop, and they got to wake up with hair partially braided. I will try again today. I know that the only way they will get used to the feeling of someone braiding their hair is by having it done a few times, but it is frustrating when I have almost finished the braid and the yank their head away (and thus, I have to start all over at the beginning)... Hopefully, I can get it braided by Saturday. LOL!!! Or, they will go with pony tails.

Store Audits

OK, I LOVE the part time work I get to do while spending more time with my kids. I remember working on a job at an actual work-site, how it used to bug me to hear people who work from home complain about it. Common complaints:
"My workday never ends"
"My kids don't let me get much done"
"I need to come to the office just to get a break" (Yeah, RIGHT!)
And on and on... I remember thinking if it is SO bad, come back to the office, and I WILL GO HOME!!
Of course, I never had a job where I could work from home until... It appeared. When we were laid off back in 2007, and I had to find a way to bring in income. If I had to start it without being laid off (and kind of having it forced upon me), I would have been too scared to try it out.

So, here comes my complaint. One of my jobs that I have been able to get recently is doing a 2 day audit in an electronics store. There are several locations, so I have done 6 days (or 3 stores) so far. They are rolling out more stores every week, and the stores that I get, I will be able to keep on a 2 year contract (on an every other month rotation).

Luckily, the first store that I went to was not in bad shape. There are 35 pages of audit instructions and 45 pages of questions to fill out. At the end of my second day, when I return home, I must enter the data of the 45 page questionnaire as well as the data of any items that were found lacking on the floor. I say "luckily" it was not in bad shape because if I had done yesterday's store first, that would have been the END of it for me!!

OK, the complaint is really coming now. I had 80 pages of data entry to do last night! I was even trying to help the store out, but some people you just can not help. I skipped everything that they would have gotten deducted for on Monday, and gave them a chance to fix it by the time I came back in on Tuesday. I told them EVERYTHING that I would be checking... And, do you know it looked the same as when I left it the day before!?!? So, because they were in such bad shape, that led to more data entry for me, endless pictures that I had to take of violations, and a pounding migraine! No more misses nice girl any more! LOL!!!

Books by Jodi Picoult

Publisher's weekly:
Picoult bangs out another ripped-from-the-zeitgeist winner, this time examining a condemned inmate's desire to be an organ donor. Freelance carpenter Shay Bourne was sentenced to death for killing a little girl, Elizabeth Nealon, and her cop stepfather. Eleven years after the murders, Elizabeth's sister, Claire, needs a heart transplant, and Shay volunteers, which complicates the state's execution plans. Meanwhile, death row has been the scene of some odd events since Shay's arrival—an AIDS victim goes into remission, an inmate's pet bird dies and is brought back to life, wine flows from the water faucets. The author brings other compelling elements to an already complex plot line: the priest who serves as Shay's spiritual adviser was on the jury that sentenced him; Shay's ACLU representative, Maggie Bloom, balances her professional moxie with her negative self-image and difficult relationship with her mother. Picoult moves the story along with lively debates about prisoner rights and religion, while plumbing the depths of mother-daughter relationships and examining the literal and metaphorical meanings of having heart. The point-of-view switches are abrupt, but this is a small flaw in an impressive book.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Picoult's fluent and absorbing storytelling will welcome her new novel, which, like Harvesting the Heart, explores family dynamics and the intricacies of motherhood, and concludes, as did The Pact, with tense courtroom drama. In the small town of New Canaan, N.H., 33-year-old Mariah discovers that her husband, Colin, is having an affair. Years ago, his cheating drove Mariah to attempt suicide and Colin had her briefly committed to an institution. Now Mariah's facing divorce and again fighting depression, when her eight-year-old daughter, Faith, suddenly acquires an imaginary friend. Soon this friend is telling the girl how to bring her grandmother back from the dead and how to cure a baby dying of AIDS. As Faith manifests stigmata, doctors are astounded, and religious controversy ensues, in part because Faith insists that God is a woman. An alarmed Colin sues for custody of Faith, and the fear of losing her daughter dramatically changes meek, diffident Mariah into a strong, protective and brave woman & one who fights for her daughter, holds her own against doctors and lawyers and finds the confidence to pursue a surprising new romance with TV atheist Ian Fletcher, cynical "Spokesman of the Millennium Generation." Though the novel feels a bit long, Picoult's pacing stabilizes the increasingly complicated plot, and the final chapters, in which Mariah fights for Faith's custody in court, are riveting. The mother-daughter relationship is all the more powerful for being buffeted by the exploitative and ethically questionable domains of medicine, media, law and religion; these characters' many triumphant transformations are Picoult's triumphs as well. Agent, Laura Gross.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


***I have read several books by Jodi Picoult. They are hard to read sometimes, as they deal with tough issues. However, they always show the other point of view that you never thought about. For example, in her book "My Sister's Keeper", a baby was born in order to give a transplant to her sister. The child/donor decides, when she turns 13, that she wants the rights to make her own decisions about what can and can't be done with her body. She was the baby that was born solely to keep her sister alive, and she wants to not have to do it anymore. It is much more complicated than that, of course. That is just a synopsis. From my view, I automatically think who could sit back and watch their sister die, knowing that they have the organ inside themselves to keep that sister alive. So, like I said, it shows another point of view that you usually don't think about.

As for the books I have posted above, the last book I read "Change of Heart", is equally as hard to read. It kept me up at night. Very disturbing. I did learn some new things, and the twists and turns kept it interesting.

I put "Keeping Faith" on here, too because a couple of the characters from the "Keeping Faith" book wind up in "Change of Heart", so you may want to read the other one first (though, it's not necessary).

Anyway, I think I will go read something about gardens or lullabys now... I am beyond disturbed. I don't want to give any of the details away, but "Change of Heart" is a good book. I will just leave at that.