homemade watercolors

here is a fun recipe using arm and hammer baking soda for water colors they mix up in a snap

What You Need:
2 tablespoons ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 packet* dry unsweetened drink mix (any flavor)
2 tablespoons water

How to Make it:
1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add water and stir until fizzing stops. (Different flavors of the drink mix will yield different colors.)
3. For more intense watercolor, a few drops of food coloring can be added to the mix.
4. Paint with them right away, or pour into jar lids or plastic try to let harden for future use.

*Packets vary in size, depending on flavor. Use enough drink mix to make 2 quarts.
Remember the importance of adult supervision, especially with young children.

Bath Fizzies

What You Need:
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened lemon drink mix
• 1 teaspoon flour or cornstarch 4 teaspoons
• ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda
• 3-6 drops food coloring
• 4 teaspoons baby oil or mineral oil

How to Make it:
1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl
2. Mix baby oil and food coloring in separate bowl/cup
3. Slowly mix the colored mixture into the dry ingredients
4. Make small 1” balls of mixture. Place on wax paper to dry.
5. It takes 24-48 hours for Fizzies to dry completely.
6. Fill your bathtub. Drop in a couple of Bath Fizzies and enjoy a whole new way to get clean! They make great gifts too! Remember the importance of adult supervision, especially with young children

Infections

It all started over a week ago, I developed a sore on my leg that looked like a blister,and I knew what it meant another infection was coming and low and behold I was right. Within a few days the sore turned into two and my leg began to get red with heat to it, thinking that I could treat it at home with some leftover antibiotics I declared maybe i could avoid being in the hospital this time, I knew it was a cellulitis infection and after having over 5 of them in the past it was going to turn into a battle. After about a week of the infection not looking better I made a dr's appointment, after telling them my symptoms of nausa dyarehia and just over all not feeling well they knew it was a cellulitis infection as well but did some blood work and a swab of the sores to confirm, thank goodness it wasnt flesh eating virus just the regular staph that causes the cellulitis. So they wrapped both my legs up, the other had become infected as well, wrote out a script for antibiotics and I was on my way, the following week the Dr. decided i needed to go to wound care to have my sores taken better care of which was fine with me the wound care folks cleaned them,suggested a few things such as wearing stockings which they provided a low compression for me to wear during treatment. During my appointment the Dr. did a doppler test to check for blood flow in my legs now one leg sounded fine but the other we didnt hear the right things, could of been a malfunction but they decided to shedule an ultra sound and a pressure test to check for any blockages in the viens, i cannot stand ultra sounds of the leg its just the pressure of how they do it, I will have it done still just to be on the safe side. So one day after seeing the wound care dr i notice that my toe is deep red on the leg that they didnt hear the blood flow, the bottom of my foot is also reddend and the top is swollen, so  i went t see my regular doctor who says its just infected and to take some antibiotics for it and keep my foot elevated, so if its not better by next week i am going to have to go back, I am so tired of seeing doctors that i could do without for about a year lol. I am praying that everything turns out ok with my legs I cannot afford to be in the hospital with everything that is going on in my household,  if you are diabetic please do not think a sore will just heal on its on GO TO YOUR DOCTOR I cannot stress that enough.

I will post next week what my results were from the tests until then hope everyone is enjoying the rest of their summer

Girl Scouts

It is almost that time of year again for me to help co-lead a girl scout troop, Last year went great and this year should be even better. Although i am terrified to be leading a mixed troop of Juniors and Cadets I am sure that with my co-leader we will succeed. This year our troop plans on doing a canned food drive,a toy drive for a local foundation and hopefully holding a daisy girl scout event, they dont run very many daisy events through the year so this will give them a chance to dress up like princess's for tea and crafts!

Of course you cannot hide the fact that in your neighborhood local girl scouts will be selling those insanly good cookies oh how people love them, this year I am hoping our troop sells enough to go on a trip or have a bigger end of the year party either way I am sure we will be successful in our goal.

if your daughter is in girl scouts I am wishing you a great year and successful cookie selling and good luck!

zucchinni bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

the paci fairy

HI, I am sure all parents go through a stage with their child weither its a pacifier issue or the bottle or tippy they all have to go bye bye eventually :) After several failed attempts at taking away my nieces paci, I found the perfect solution in two websites that offer not only a letter from the paci fairy but one actually has a paci fairy book that you can read to your child, the first website nomorebinky.com offers a personalized letter sent to your email with your childs name stating that the binky fair will be coming soon to take the binky to babies who need it, you can substite the binky for whatever your child calls the paci my niece calls hers a chewgie so I will substitute with that,the other website paci-fairy.com offers a 7 step book and you can watch a video of the paci fairy taking paci's and leaving a gift both websites offer a letter with one being from your child to the paci fairy stating they wish to donate their paci to babies in need which I personally like but I also like the letter to my niece stating she is coming. I reccomend both letters so that your child can feel that they are really giving up their pacifier to a babie in need.  So no matter what your child calls his or her binky,paci,nuki or barney ect here are two aswesome websites to help you! I will post in the coming week how my niece did without her paci hopefully all goes well.

other uses for toothpaste

I have posted before that I used white toothpaste for getting marker off my walls (children love to do their artwork!) here are a few more useful tips,

1.shine sink fixtures,rub with a wet sponge
2.remove garlic or fish odor from hands
3.clean silver jewlery in a pinch
4.relive itch from a mesquito bite

I found these great tips in my heloise book!