Rainbow Crayons

Here is a fun and easy project for the kids - melting crayons. Just save all those broken crayon pieces through the year and you can turn them into "Rainbow Crayons". The kids love watching them melt in the oven and then drawing with them when they cool.

For directions, check out: http://www.ehow.com/how_5131829_fun-melting-crayons.html

Jacob the Artist

Jacob has discovered a love of art. He now wants to draw, paint and sculpt (okay- more like play with playdoh) all the time. The only problem is that he is not really understanding the concept of appropriate canvases...

The television...

The wall behind the sofa...

His bedroom wall...

The play kitchen...

The computer...

I hope my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works as well as I am anticipating. To give him a little bit of credit here is a piece of his "respectable" art ;)

Caterpillars

The other day I was VERY disappointed to find caterpillars on my tomato plants. I am striving to keep my plants pesticide-free so I wasn't sure what to do. So I did a little Internet research. What I found out was very interesting (though some might find it a little gross).

Here is one of the"critters". They are actual the very common tomato horn worm. The can devastate tomato plants ( and other plants) by eating foliage and fruit.

The good news is that those white eggs are not caterpillar eggs but a type of Wasp larvae. Eventually the larvae will kill the caterpillars and grow in to more mature Wasps. Thus eradicating my caterpillar problem! Therefore it is recommended to leave the caterpillars alone (as long as they do have larvae) and let good ole' mother nature do her thing. This species of Wasp turns out to be very beneficial to the garden - they not only prey on caterpillars but also other crop destroying pests. So far, so good, no chemicals!

Here are the first few of my tomatoes. I had more but Jacob squashed them. :(

Jalapenos!

The kids have been harvesting Jalapenos for me. That means it is time for stuffed peppers!

These are sooooo good. I can't wait to make them with my home grown veggies!

Try this recipe, you will not regret it:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Paula-Deens-Chicken-Quesadilla-Stuffed-Jalapenos-192325

Here is the finished product, so yummy.