Book Review- The Hourglass Door Series

It's a little after 1AM, so I'm just going to post the official book trailer from YouTube. I know, I know. Lazy me. But these books are honestly so good. Trust me, once you start, you are NOT going to want to put them down. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to read them, because you will possible be confused. I was at parts, but you are supposed to be. It's part of the way she writes. I would go as far as to say that Dante is the Italian Mr. Darcy. ;)
I absolutely love these, and I hope you do to!

-Lauren

Embroidery Floss!!

Hey guys!

With school out and long road trips or flights in your near future, you might need something to entertain yourself with :). Well, I'm here to tell you about the wonder of embroidery floss! It's super easy to pack and do while traveling. Bracelets, anklets, necklaces, hair wraps, you name it!! Embroidery floss is sold at any fabric store and I'm pretty sure your local Wal-Mart might have some too. Grab 6 or so of your favorite colored threads and also a hard back book and a chip clip or a clothes pin.

Bracelets, Anklets, and Necklaces
There are a couple ways that you can make these bracelets, anklets, and necklaces. These bracelets do stretch a lot, but make sure that it won't cut off circulation by putting one finger in between the bracelet and your wrist before you tie it off.

How to tie off: Knot the end of the braid and then get some help putting it on! Be sure to tie a double knot so that it won't fall off.

Braids:
Take three pieces of embroidery floss and measure them around your wrist. Make sure that you have two or three inches extra on the end so that you can tie it off. Tie a knot at one of the ends. Pull it super tight so it doesn't come undone! Clip the floss to your hard cover book using the clothes pin. Separate the different colors and start braiding! Once you think that it's at about the right length, measure it around your wrist. If it fits loosely enough to put one finger in between the bracelet and your wrist, you're good to go! Tie off.

Knots:
Take two pieces of embroidery floss and fold them in half (Make sure that these pieces are a couple inches longer than your wrist is while folded in half). Tie a knot at the point where the floss is folded so that there is about a half an inch loop. Clip it to your book. Separate the floss so that the two separate colors are together (i.e. both pieces of pink floss on the left side, and both pieces of blue on the right). Take one of the pieces of floss on your right and fold it over all the other floss so that it looks like a backwards 4. Pull the end of the 4 shaped string through the triangle part of the 4. Pull it tightly. Separate the floss by color again, keep it on the same sides as it originally was. Now reverse the process. Take one of the pieces of floss from your left and fold it to look like a 4. Pull the end of the floss through the triangle part of of the four. Pull tightly. Once you've done these, switch to the slightly longer pieces of thread, alternating between the pieces. Repeat this process until the bracelet is long enough for your wrist :) Tie off.

If you are really into making these bracelets, check out this book, it's awesome!
http://www.amazon.com/Friendship-Bracelets-Klutz-Laura-Torres/dp/1570540535


Hair Wraps
This usually works better on hair that is at least ear length, I sadly can't do this right now :(. Anyway, this is great for summer and way cute!

Take a small section of hair, only about a pinch worth. I usually take this section from behind my ear. Pull the rest of your hair back and braid this section. Use a small rubber elastic to tie off the end of the braid. Cut two pieces of embroidery floss that are at least twice as long as the braid is. Fold these in half and tie them into a tight knot at the top of your braid. Grab on piece of floss, let's just say it's purple, and begin to wrap it around your hair. Hold the other floss underneath the purple floss, directly against your braid. Make sure that you can't see any gaps through the floss and wrap it tightly. Do this until there is about and inch of purple floss at the top of your braid. Pull it down into group of floss and pull out on strand of floss from the other color, this one's green. Start where the purple floss left off and wrap it around the braid and the other floss. Again, do this until there is about an inch. Switch to the purple floss now and make sure that you are using the piece that is the longest of the two. Repeat this until you come to the end of your braid. To tie this off, take to strands of opposite colors and tie them in a double knot. Do the same with the other two pieces. Take another small plastic elastic and wrap it slightly above where the two knots that you just tied are. You're done! This will last for about three weeks. Wash your hair as normal.

To take it out pull the covering elastic out and carefully cut the embroidery floss knots at the end of your braid. Start unwrapping and pull it out :)


Have an awesome summer you guys!!
Emily

Where The Wild Things Are

There is this great website named MADE http://www.dana-made-it.com/ that I have been enjoying becoming aquinted with. I is full of ideas for crafty/sewing girls like us. (Okay, maybe a lot of them are a lot better than me, but probably not some of you!
They feature other crafty people, like right here:
 http://www.dana-made-it.com/search?updated-max=2011-03-14T08%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=4

Scroll down a bit till you see :
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tetertotter/4353578547/in/faves-40972415@N00/
This is the artists flickr stream, beginning with these adorable TP Roll creations!

I thought since Suzanne and Em have a very cute collection of critters from this book in their house, that maybe my family might make this version; I think it might be more affordable. :)

A Pickle for a Nickle

If you have a younger sibling, this is a cute book to read to them. My 2 year old likes to offer a pickle for a nickle- real and the plastic one in her toy food. If she forgets the nickle part we ask if she wants a pickle for a nickle, because it's just so fun to say. Don't you agree?

This picture I found on Amazon.com. We have an identical copy we got at a yard sale, but I didn't want to take the time to take a picture and upload it. Thank you Amazon!

Pickles- we sure like them around here. My girls- all 4 of them, and I, eat them with a paper towel wrapped around them to soak up the juices. It makes a great snack between lunch and dinner. My husband cuts them for his tuna fish sandwiches, with Miracle Whip mind you - my daughter and I prefer mayonnaise (olive oil variety these days). I find it funny that my mother and father had the same varied opinions for which to put on their sandwich.

Another thing I like about Pickles, are pickle jars- especially the huge ones! I have tried to wash them out to get the smell out in the past, because I think they would be cute for storing stuff in, but have been unsuccessful. So today I googled "how to get the smell out of a pickle jar" and found a few good ideas, but this one had a scientific hypothesis to it so I liked it best! Little things make more sense if there is a scientific reason behind it. I am constantly thinking up my own hypothesis to things with my son. He's does it a lot more than I do though. :)

I'm going to try this:

I'd add 1 tsp. of bleach and two drops liq. Dawn, then add boiling water and let sit 1 hour. Principal is that because pickles in vinegar, a mild acid, likely added to jars while hot, the glass expanded and soaked up the odor, one reason it may not be easy otherwise to just "wash" it out with this and that. If you heat (expand the glass), and add alkaline soap/bleach, it should not only neutralize the vinegar residue, but also remove the odor. Remove that the glass will be hot at first, cooler at the end of the hour, so be careful handling when hot.

I would suggest putting the bottle somewhere safe before you put in the hot water, then just leaving it be for an hour.

I don't know what I am going to put in it if it works, but I will think of something. If it is cute enough I will share a picture of it later. If you find something you can put in a pickle jar and take a picture, send it to Suzanne! She may already have something cute in a pickle jar, you never know; she knows a lot of fun stuff! If you have a good recipe let us know too!

The Nancy Drew Cookbook

I don't know about you, but there are some books I love to read that have survived the test of time and Nancy Drew mysteries fit the bill, from The Haunted Bridge to The Mystery at Lilac Inn and many other books too. Look for "The Nancy Drew Cookbook - Clues to Good Cooking" the next time you're at the library. Read More about the cookbook and get a couple of recipes to try from Mr. Breakfast. (Recipes include: Crumbling Wall Coffee Cake, and Phantom Eggs)

Suz

Something Fantasy

The final installment of one of our family's favorite books is about to be released on Tuesday, March 23. Fablehaven Keys to the Deamon Prison is the 5th book in a series by Brandon Mull. If you are in the Salt Lake area- which WE are not- maybe you can check out the launch party at Cottonwood High School. It's free to get in and there is usually a good show, from what I have seen online. Just go to the Fablehaven website for information. Or you can find Brandon Mull on Twitter, at least that is what his Facebook wall said... I am not a tweeter, so I don't really know much about how the tweets work.

This is a series I would highly recommend to all of you Tweens and older. If you haven't started reading the series yet, now would be a great time to start. Maybe by the time you finish them you might be next on the waiting list at the library! That is, if you are not planning on purchasing a copy. I'll tell you what, it's going to be a competitive game of Rock, Paper, Scissors at our house seeing who gets first dibs! There are 4 of us waiting the arrival!

Until then, would you like to see the video we made in hopes that ours will be selected to be played at the launch party? It stars my wonderful kids, and I am the person behind the camera, as usual. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQvDNNeFuc

Something Real.

"Teach Every Child About Food"

Jamie's talk is only 22 minutes. Things to watch for:

• The sugar wheel barrow, & pile of sugar related to chocolate milk
• The "plus size" coffin both shocking and sad
• Elementary school kids who can't identify a potato (He then helped teach these kids about veggies)

Have you heard that kids will teach grown ups about things that are good for them? I've heard this a bunch. Have any you seen "Wall-E"? Remember the people? (screenshot) I just watched Jamie Oliver's talk, he's a cheeky, caring English chef who believes we can make changes that will save lives - and increase how long you will live. Jamie's not judging anyone, he's educating us about just how serious things are.

"I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity." - Jamie Oliver, Ted 2010

If you have a Family Game Night, Family Home Evening, Family meetings... whatever your family calls it, see if you can be in charge of it for a night and watch Jamie's talk (and maybe Wall-E for fun after!) brainstorm how you can make changes. We have choices - we can cook at home, we can eat fresh food.

Share the link to this movie with your friends and family: http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

xoxo, Suz

USB Robot Owl - "Cuuuute!"

USB Robot Owl at ThinkGeek.com

A Shirley Temple to drink while reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians!

hi guys! lauren made me jealous by her AWESOME post (i love that series!), so i decided i had to share a super delicious drink to drink (sounds weird, doesn't it?) while reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series!

Shirley Temple

1 can of Sprite or Sierra Mist
a jar of maraschino cherries
a big glass

optional:
ice cubes
fancy little umbrella :)

alrighty, to begin, take the big glass (if you're going to add ice cubes, now is the time to do that) and pour the can of Sprite into it. then, open the cherry jar and pour about 1-2 tablespoons of the cherry juice into the Sprite. take a few cherries and drop them into your beverage and ta-da! you have made yourself a Shirley Temple! feel free to add a fancy umbrella to your glass! :)

Cheers!
Em

Sorry guys, I have really been slacking with this whole book review thing. Oops :) But now, for the review, one I'm sure Em will be VERY happy about! So, for quite a while, Em has told me to read this series. I was going to, but then my little brother told me to read them. If you know me, then you know that if someone tells me to do something (especially my brother) it just makes me want to do whatever it is less. But then my friend Henry told me to read them, and I think very highly of his opinion (he loves the Fablehaven books too;) So I finally got the first one (borrowed from a friend), then bought the second one, and my brother got 3 and 4 from his GATE library and, thanks to Em, we have five. Now on to the review!!

*PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS*

These books are amazing! Between books 1 & 2, when I couldn't get the second one, I was dying! Luckily, I didn't have to go through that again. But anyways...these books are SOOO good!!! There are five, Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse, Battle of the Labyrinth, and Last Olympian. I would *highly* recommend these books to ANYONE!!

Instead of doing a review for all five books, I'm just gonna do one for the whole series. But first, a little background info. Percy is a demigod, or a half-blood, which means he has a mortal parent and an Greek god parent. He happens to be the son of Poseidon, who wasn't supposed to have any more kids, because the kids of the "Big Three" (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) were super powerful. Now...

In all five books, Percy, Annabeth (daughter of Athena), and Grover (a satyr) go on quests to save Olympus. In the first one, they have to get Zeus's main lightning bolt back. In Sea of Monsters, they have to get the Golden Fleece to save their camp, and save Grover from a cyclopes. In Titan's Curse, they team up with Thalia (daughter of Zeus) and have to escape an old friend turned enemy. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, is coming back to power. Time is running out. Then in Battle of the Labyrinth, the Titan army is growing stronger, and it's again up to Percy, Annabeth, and Grover to save Camp Half-Blood. They travel through the labyrinth, and eventually, they end up back at camp and then have a battle with part of the Titan's army. And in the Last Olympian, Kronos is back in power and it's up to the demigods of Camp Half-Blood to protect Olympus. The gods are fighting Typhon, trying to keep him away from Olympus, and they are having a very difficult time. With some surprise twists, and the help of some "party ponies", the final book in this amazing series ends amazingly.

I was pretty upset when I finished Last Olympian because the series was over. Honestly, these books were the most amazing books I've ever read, after Harry Potter of course. ;) Fablehaven also is up there with these two series, but I'm not sure where quite yet. That depends on Keys to the Demon Prison. That'll definitely be a review I will do! Anyway...READ PERCY JACKSON. That's all I have to say.

Till next time, peace out!

*lauren*

p.s. who else is insanely excited for the movie???? Feb. 12 baby!! one week from today!!! AAAHHHHH!!! here's a trailer for the movie from

ASIMO

Meet a real robot http://asimo.honda.com/

Sesame Street's Top 10 Environmental Videos

Walk down memory lane with Sesame Street, with a "green" take on things. Cute short videos courtesy of Tree Hugger. Follow a soda can through it's recycling journey, watch "Fur Jam" sing about saving water for the fish, and the first lady plants a garden.

Check This Out!

http://www.clouds365.com/
(read the "About" section)
And Happy New Year~ I hope you find/do something you love this year!

Pursue a talent, make a goal, find a new interest, be a better buddy!



Speaking of clouds...This is my sunset I chased on Christmas Day (I loved the glow of the cloud and maybe some jet stream). I added the words on Picnik http://www.picnik.com/app#/home/welcome - a very cool photo editing site Lauren discovered! (that would be Lauren who has a bunch of books she could tell you about!)

Stella's Day

Stella's Day from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Very cute video. Hope you have time to watch it. Merry Christmas everybody!

Suz

Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs

What do happy chickens have to do with a 12-year-old boy who lives near Boston? Check out Orren's blog "Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs." He talks about raising chickens, where our food comes from, and some other cool things, like a link to a surfing movie about appreciating where you're at. Here are some quotes from what he's writing on Twitter:

"Most kids my age would rather talk about and think about their gaming systems than what they are eating, oh well. Night."

"Just read that cows with named produce 6% more milk, (NYT Year in Ideas) 'Named cows are often treated nicely...happy cows make more milk'"

Here's the link to his blog: http://happychickenslayhealthyeggs.blogspot.com/

Here's the link to where you'll find him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/HappyChickens

Suz

(Photo Source: http://happychickenslayhealthyeggs.blogspot.com/, photo taken by Orren's friend Morgan.)

Disney Christmas Special

Grab the popcorn my friends! Tonight there's a Disney Christmas special - ABC, 8:30/7:30C "Prep & Landing"http://tinyurl.com/yhyoscf

Starbucks Love Project

Starbucks is known for coffee, but you can get hot cocoa, steamed milk (with different flavors like raspberry) and even fruit/creme frapps (like a milkshake). They have a project going on right now to raise money for AIDS relief in Africa called the "Starbucks Love Project." You can participate in 3 ways.

• Free: draw a "Love" related picture (online using their art tool). They will donate $.05 cents for each drawing. (I drew, er painted, ummm moused, the picture above)
• Singing on December 7
• Purchase: Spend $15 at a Starbucks store, get a "Love" CD, and they will donate $1

Read more about the Starbucks Love Project.

Homemade Cards

Here's a Christmas card challenge:

1. Choose a holiday subject you like. In the photo above I picked "Hot Chocolate" because I love the song, and the drink!
2. Sketch your subject in the center of the page.
3. Write on the picture if you want. I wrote "Hot Chocolate" in the mug handle.
4. Next surround the subject in "Christmas-sy" shapes you can scatter them in a shape like a heart around the subject - or just cover the sheet. If you want to give the impression of a shape draw a guide to help you know where to "scatter" the tiny images. For the picture above the shape is a heart. I lightly sketched an outline of a heart to know how far out to draw and erased the shape when I was done.
5. Sketch (draw lightly) in pencil first so you can fix any mistakes. Then outline in felt-tip pen. Erase the pencil and color.
6. Scan to e-mail, or copy to mail out.

Have fun and feel free to share any pics with us of your cards! I know it's still November, but Happy Holidays anyways!

Suz

The Daily Wag

Like pets? How about dogs? Read "The Daily Wag" a blog about two Frenchies (Francesca & Sharkey) who live with Martha Stewart, for a playful look at the world through their eyes.

Suz

(Picture source: The Daily Wag blog - marthastewart.com)

Hurry!

I found some beautiful pink and red and even white leaves the other day on the sidewalk from a neighbor's pretty red- leaved fall bushes. I think in the shadier spots the leaves go pink to even creamy white. I grabbed an empty cup from my van that previously held paper trash and used it to gather as many as I could, then brought them home and found a big book to press them in. I hope to be able to put them on some cardstock, maybe some craft paper, and make names with them, then find an inexpensive frame to put them in.

Recently I printed some names off of my computer for a small group of girls and had them glue some old fall hued lilac bush leaves I'd pressed last year, around their names, then we used contact paper to cover them. The paper was brown and their names in dark brown, almost black, and all of the leaves were deep purply browns and golden yellows. I think they turned out nice book marks.

So before the leaves all leave, try to find some to press and maybe you can make some Christmas presents with them for your besties or your favorite Aunt (like Suzanne). Maybe even your family's last name with leaves surrounding it in a frame would make a nice addition to your Thanksgiving decorations.

I will have to take some pictures when I get going on my craft and show you how they turn out. They need to dry first. They were pretty papery, but still soft, when they had fallen, so it might not take long. And with all of the beautiful leaves this year, I have a lot to play with. I have many from my maple trees in my front yard as well. Right now I am afraid to look out the window and see the state of my lawn because after raking all of them in a great big pile yesterday with my kids (then playing in them :) the wind was fierce last night! The good new is though, I have a great tip for the leaf clean up we discovered yesterday that my 10 yr. old daughter thought was great, as it is her job to rake and bag the leaves : Instead of using a rake, use a push broom and push it across your lawn for a quick pile. You might have to get the strays with a rake, but it saves your back a lot of ache not twisting, and it is so much faster. Our front yard was almost completey covered from our 3 big maples, but we had it piled up in no time.

If any of you make something with your leaves you'd like to share, or have another idea to make something with them, please share them with us!