Doll Christmas Party

With some clay, fabric, and a little patience, I hosted a party for my dolls.  They all had a great time, and now yours can too!  Here's how I did it:

I used some things I found around my room to make the treats at the refreshments table.  I used scraps of yellow yarn to make the lemonade, and clay to make the spoon, cookies, mistletoe, gingerbread house, and ice creams.  For the fork container, I used an empty container and dumped mini plastic forks in it.  I put Lego pieces and clay shapes into the cap and put a clay spoon in it to spoon the "candy" out.

This is my doll, Kimberly.  She is opening a present that Saige gave her.  It is actually an American Girl Mini Lea Doll.

This is Saige, the American Girl Doll of the Year, from 2013.  I made her dress and shawl from gold sequined fabric and blue ribbon.  No sewing required!

This is my doll Flower, sampling a chocolate chip cookie.  Yum!

My dolls had a blast at their party!  What will you have at your doll's party? 

Baby Girl

Hatchet Book Review

What would a teenage boy do if his plane crashed and left him stranded in the forest? To find out read "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen.

Thirteen-year-old Brain Rodeson is riding on a private plane to see his dad who lives up North. When the pilot dies from a heart attack and the plane crashes in the Canadian forest, Brain has to fend for himself. He needs to steer away from animals such as bears, wolves, skunks and porcupines while trying to find food, shelter and warmth.

If you like books where a kid get stranded in the wilderness then you should read "Hatchet". It is funny, full of action, and a good book in general. If you like any of the things listed then you will like this book.

 

I liked the book because of the way it was written. At the end of each chapter I wanted to read another. In my opinion those are the best kind of books.

Dude

Baby Girl Reads: "Finally" by Wendy Mass

Okay, so maybe this isn't exactly a review... It's more of a behind the scenes, I suppose.  I'm doing my "Who this book is for and what it's about" on Finally by Wendy Mass.

What will happen when Rory Swenson finally turns twelve?

Well, a lot.  Rory has a very long list of things she can finally do or get when she turns twelve.  A few of them include: Drinking coffee, getting a pet, and getting her ears pierced.  But soon things start to go wrong when she gets super caffeinated drinking two large cups of coffee and loses her new phone.  Rory eventually decides some things can just wait.

I recommend this book for middle grade audiences and kids twelve years old, though it would be just as funny and adventurous to adults as it is to kids.

I enjoyed reading this book because Rory's adventurous spirit relates so much to mine.  Well, maybe not having a list of about twenty things I can do when I'm twelve and getting hurt all the time.  I also enjoyed reading this book because it has a small twist with a small amount of magic, even though I'm not the wizard book type.

What books do you like to read?

Baby Girl

Minecraft Biomes

Little warning: This is a very long post, in fact it is the longest post so far, so you may need some patience to read all of it.

Minecraft is split up into little areas of land called biomes. Each biome has different structures, mobs and general appearances.   

  Plains

Plains are biomes that have very little or no trees. Lakes, lava pools and caves are often found in plains. Plains can be useful for farming because of the abundance of grass.

Unique features: None

Structures found: Villages

Is this biome suitable for a base? This biome is great for a base on the edge, next to forest, because if you built a base in the middle of one, you would be making long trips for wood. 

Forest

Forests are biomes that consist of oak and birch trees, a LOT of them.

Unique features: Wolves live here, but that is not unique.

Structures found: None

Is this biome suitable for a base? Yup, with all that wood this is the place to be.

Desert 

Deserts are large areas of sand with cacti and dead bushes growing on the surface.   

Unique features: Husks (Husks are a type of zombie that only spawn in deserts). 

Structures found: villages and desert temples

Is this biome suitable for a base? Only at the edges by a forest.

Jungle 

Jungles are biomes that consist of very large trees and an abundance of ferns and vines.

Unique features: Melons, cocoa beans, parrots and Ocelots

Structures found: Jungle temples

Is this biome suitable for a base? Yup, with trees that size you will have piles and piles of planks. I would recommend either building a tree house or a house on the jungle floor next to a lake. For easier access to the lake you can make a deck that extends into the water.   

      Taiga

Taiga are biomes that have very little life and not much food. Tall ferns are found here.

Unique features: Rabbits and wolves live here, but that is not unique.

Structures found: Villages

Is this a biome suitable for a base? It's okay, there is plenty of wood, but you might want to import in crops.

Snowy Taiga

The snowy taiga is just like a regular taiga except that, well...it is snowy.

Unique features: Wolves and rabbits live here, but that is not unique.

Structures found: Igloos

Is this biome suitable for a base? No, all water for farming freezes.

Extreme Hills

Extreme hills are pretty much mountains. You can often find caves, waterfalls and lavafalls in or on them.

Unique features: Llamas and emerald ore are found here.

Structures Found: None.

Is this biome suitable for a base? It's okay, but there are no trees. One idea is to collect saplings and find a alpine lake just under the snow line. Plant the saplings to make a small forest up there and then build your base.  

Mesa

Mesa biomes are fairly rare and spare of life except the monsters that come out at night. Cacti and dead bushes grow on the red sand.

Unique features: Red sand and sandstone.

Structures found: None. 

Is this biome suitable for a base? Only on the edges.

Savanna

Savannas are dry biomes that get very little rain. The bent up trunks of the acacia trees provide orange wood that you can use in your builds. There is a lot of grass for wheat.

Unique features: Acacia trees grow here and llamas live here.

Structures found: Villages.

Is this biome suitable for a base? It's okay, there might not be enough trees though.

Swamp

Swamps are biomes that consist of oak trees, lily pads, mushrooms, and flowers. Little pools of water are scattered all around the biome.

Unique features: Lily pads, and slimes spawn here.

Structures found: Witch huts.

Is this biome suitable for a base? It's okay, but you might want more trees.

Mesa Plateau

Mesa plateaus are like mountains inside mesa biomes. They are made up of hardened clay. You can sometimes find mineshaft entrances on the sides of mesa plateaus and gold is found at all levels here.

Unique features: Gold is found at all levels, and this is one of the only places you can find hardened clay.

Structures found: Mineshafts.
Is this biome suitable for a base? No, there is no wood and building on the plateau can be difficult.

Bryce

Bryce biomes are a rare version of mesa biomes with giant pillars of hardened clay all over the place.

Unique features: None, though the pillars are really cool looking.

Structures found: None.

Is this biome suitable for a base? No, there is no wood and it is hard to build due to the pillars.

Roofed Forest

Roofed forests are very lush forests named for their canopy of leaves that cover the ground like a roof. Giant mushrooms, as well as dark oak trees, grow here. Dark oaks are not the tallest trees, but they are the widest. Most trees are one block wide. Giant spruce and jungle trees are two blocks wide, and dark oaks get up to five blocks wide. Dark oaks are by far the widest trees.

Unique features: Vindicators, evokers, and vexs live here.

Structures found: Woodland mansions. 

Is this biome suitable for a base? It is good if you like to fight monsters day and night. The leafy roof  blocks out enough light so monsters can spawn.    

Birch Forest

A birch forest is pretty much just like a regular forest, except there is no oak trees and only birch trees.

Unique features: None.

Structures found: None.

Is this biome suitable for a base? Yes, there is a lot of trees and some space. You just better like the color of birch planks.

Flower Forest

The flower forest is the prettiest biome in my opinion. It is like a regular forest, but with a whole lot of flowers added. If you take a flower forest and add some hills and lakes, like in the picture below, you get a real pretty setting.

Unique features: Lot of flowers.

Structures found: None. 

Is this a suitable biome for a base? Yes! There are a lot of trees and you can make lots of dye from the flowers. 
  

Mega Taiga 

Mega tiagas are one of the most interesting biomes in the overworld. Giant spruce trees loom over the small mossy cobblestone deposits. Podzol, as well as grass, cover the forest floor. What's really interesting about podzol is you can grow mushrooms on them in broad daylight.

Unique features: Mossy cobblestone and podzol.

Structures found: None.

Is this biome suitable for a base? The only food commonly found is rabbit meat and mushroom stew, so you will want to avoid living here.   
  

Ice Spikes

An ice spikes biome is kind of like a snowy taiga, just replace the trees with huge spikes of ice. The spikes' height can range from a small nine blocks tall to around a whooping fifty! The few living creatures here include polar bears, rabbits, and strays. Strays are a type of skeleton with glowing white eyes and tattered iron armor. They shoot arrows tipped with slowness at you.
Unique Features: Snow blocks, ice blocks, Polar bears, and strays.
Structures found: None.
Is this biome suitable for a base? Not at all, there is no wood and water freezes.
      

Ice Plains

Ice Plains are biomes covered in ice and snow. Grass is commonly found peeking up out of the snow. You can sometimes find a few spruce trees.

Unique features: Polar bears and strays.

Structures found: Igloos.

Is this biome suitable for a base? Although sugar cane grows here farming is still hard because water freezes and there is little in the way of wood.   

Rivers

Rivers are strips of water running through different biomes and in to the sea.

Unique features: None.

Structures found: None. 

Is this biome suitable for a base? Not in the river, on the bank is okay depending on the biome. 

Beach 

Beaches are biomes that include strips of sand running along ocean sides.

Unique features: None.

Structures found: None.

Is this biome suitable for a base? It depends on the biome it is by.   

Ocean

Oceans are biomes that hold tall mountains and deep crevasses under the water. Sometimes the mountains get so tall they reach out of the water forming islands.

Unique features: Squid and guardians live here.

Structures found: Ocean monuments.

Is this biome suitable for a base? No, unless you build a under water base. 

Crevasse

Crevasses are large cuts tearing the landscape around them in two halves. Coal and iron can often be found. If the crevasse is deep enough you might find gold, lapis lazuli, redstone, diamond, and emerald. 

Unique features: None.

Structures found: Mineshafts, dungeons, and strongholds can intersect crevasses.

Is this biome suitable for a base? It depends on the biome. Do not build inside a crevasse! Building inside a crevasse removes you from resources such as wood and food. You can make an emergency base inside a crevasse, but I would recommend building a base on the ground above and have a mine in the crevasse.           

Cave

Caves are little holes and tunnels winding under the ground. Lot of monsters can be found in caves. If You are walking through a plain in the middle of the day and you hear a zombie, but can't seem to find it, it is probably in a cave under your feet. Caves can hold every ore in the game in tunnels, so they are great for spelunking.

Unique features: None. 

Structures found: Mineshafts, dungeons, and strongholds can intersect caves.

Is this biome suitable for a base? It depends on the biome. Never build inside a cave.

Mushroom Island

Mushroom island is an island inhabited by red and white cows called mooshrooms. Giant mushrooms grow on a gray grass called mycelium. What really stand out about the island is that no monsters spawn at night here!

Unique features: Everything.

Structures found: None.

Is this biome suitable for a base? It does not have trees and the only food is mushroom stew, but who can resist no monsters! Just make a high speed railway to the mainland and you will be all set.  

The Nether

The nether is a dark and fiery land where everything wants to kill you. You can only reach it by portal. Netherrack covers the ground, as grass would in the overworld. Lava, fire, and glowstone light the dark landscape. Only one type of ore is found and that is nether quartz ore.

Unique features: Everything.

Structures found: Nether fortresses.

Is this biome suitable for a base? Not really, although is it possible. 

The End: Outer Islands and the Main Island

The end is a cluster of floating islands in an empty space of nothingness called the void. The main island is where the ender dragon lives and where you will appear after you jump into the portal. The main island consists of a ring of pillars made of obsidian with the exit portal sitting in the middle. Just outside of the ring is the portal to the outer islands.

The outer islands are a cluster of small islands one thousand blocks away from the main island. To get there and back you must throw a ender pearl through the portal.

Unique features: Everything.

Structures found: End cities.

Is this biome suitable for a base? It's okay, if you don't mind transporting materials there.     

Now you know all of the biomes in Minecraft and what they contain in them. What biome will you build your base in and which ones will you gather treasure in?


Dude

Baby Girl's DIY No Glue Slimough

Okay, you're probably wondering what Slimough is.  Slimough is an easy to make slime-dough.  When you first start mixing, it will be a sticky, oozing slime.  After a little mixing, however, it will turn into a dough that sticks to everything.  The only odd part is, only a small speck will be left on your fingers.  Read on for instructions.

To make Slimough, you will need:

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup water
a plastic spoon
a plastic baggie
glitter
and a paper bowl

The first step is to pour the flour into the bowl.

After the flour is in the bowl, pour in just a little under 1/3 cup water and slowly stir with the plastic spoon.  The result will be your very own Slimough!

Now comes the fun part: Adding the Glitter!  Take your favorite color of glitter and use your fingers to sprinkle on your desired amount.

Slowly and carefully knead the glitter into the Slimough.



Keep your Slimough in your refrigerator for about 3-5 weeks.

Read what happens to the Slimough when it's refrigerated below:

I made green Slimough and Confetti/Rainbow Slimough.  The Slimough I did this post on was when I made the confetti slime-stuff.  The green Slimough was a week old when I took the pictures.  What color will you make?

Baby Girl

Grow A Frog Kit Review

We got Squirmy, an African Clawed Frog, in a tiny box with a Grow a Frog Kit in October of  2015.  She came in the package with a one gallon plastic tank, but a year ago we gave her a five gallon glass tank.  Squirmy spends her days swimming around and eating.

HOW TO CARE
Your frog may look hungry all the time, but it probably only needs to be fed every one or two days.  Our frog likes Reptotreat dried shrimp for treats, but her main food is Reptomin sinking granules and floating food sticks.  If algae starts building up on the sides of your frog's tank, get a few snails (the snails will multiply, so get only 2 to 3) or clean off the walls with a strong kitchen scraper and water-proof gloves. We don't use filtration on our tank.

VIDEO

Watch a video we made with Squirmy at YouTube or view below:

Baby Girl's Observations
Our frog lives in a five gallon tank with a ton of tiny snails and a large Bamboo shrimp.  She enjoys playing in the green water plant, kicking the glass in the bottom of her tank, swimming through the red arch, and standing on the miniature castle.  Another of her favorite activities is knocking baby snails off the wall.

Squirmy's olive green skin blends in nicely with the small patches of algae on random objects around her tank.  She likes to use her delicate lime-green webbies to propel her through the water.  She normally uses her mouth to breathe, but sometimes it's used to eat her favorite food: FINGERS.  One of her most favored activities is eating the tip of your finger, or really anything that she can get her mouth on.

Squirmy doesn't want a roommate that's any bigger than your thumbnail and she's made it clear.  Over the past year or two, we have tried putting in fish to clean out Squirmy's tank.  She killed (she doesn't have teeth so she can't eat them) every fish except one, which mysteriously disappeared.  After all that mayhem, we decided we would try snails.  For the first time besides shrimp, Squirmy didn't eat them.  At least, not too many.

Squirmy's food sources (fingers, fish, snails, etc.) might not be the best, but she's a really nice frog.  If you want to pet her she normally won't try to eat your fingers, and she has learned to clap.  She will watch you clap from inside the tank and will eventually catch on.  She may or may not like clapping, but she always depends on one thing: a dried shrimp afterwards. 


Dude's Observations
Squirmy, a African clawed frog, lives in a five gallon glass tank (the kit will come with a one gallon plastic tank but the frog will outgrow it fast.). Tiny snails and a bamboo shrimp keep the walls of the tank and any fish castles or other decorations clean. We do not recommend fish to clean the tank because they will most likely to become frog chow. We learned that the hard way.

Squirmy eats a variety of things including, reptile sticks, turtle and frog pellets, dried shrimp, and even beta food, but her favorite thing to eat of all time is... fingers! She likes to wait at the bottom of the tank waiting to jump up and nibble on unwary fingers. When she was a tadpole she ate a food that dissolves in the water. Now that she is all grown up she will eat pretty much anything.

You can often find Squirmy rooting around in the marbles at the floor of the tank or climbing fish castles. Her favorite thing to do is to eat and her second favorite thing to do is to bob. She likes to swim from the bottom of the tank to the top and back down and up and down and up and down etc.    She can bob very fast.

Squirmy's talents are clapping and swimming very fast. To get her to clap you have to walk up to the tank, get at Squirmy's eye level and start to clap, it might be a little while till she actually claps. She some times swims so fast she doesn't take counter of where she is and bumps into stuff or gets stuck in the hole in the rock arch.

Are you thinking of getting a frog?

Dude and Baby Girl

                                                                                     

How to Make a LEGO Cottage

Have you ever wanted to make a house, but couldn't figure out how to make the roof? If you ever had that problem then this is the post for you.

First you will need a base plate. The plate can be any size as long as the house can fit on it.

Next you will need to make columns. I made my columns five bricks high. Use 2 by 4's to make the columns. I put windows in two of mine.

Next, set the columns of bricks in a U pattern and leave a four stud space.

In the small four stud space place a door. If you don't have a door piece then you can make your own.

On the open side of the house you can either make a large window or just add more walling. whichever one you picked it must six bricks tall.

Make the three other walls six bricks tall too.

Add the furniture before you add the roof. I put in a bed, a dining table, a chair, and a TV.

Next start the roof. I used the three stud long slopes. Add small eaves for more realism (offset from the wall).

Add small beams running under the slopes to make the roof more stable.

 Add the rest of the roof. ( The orange slope is there because I ran out of reds.)

Add a skylight or chimney for extra decoration.

If you want to you can make a back porch. You can make picnic table and barbecue.

Next, add a path way headed to the house.

Lastly, add hills, flowers, trees, and ponds.

What kind of houses will you make and how big will they be?


Dude