40-4-Steve: Walt Disney Museum

Next up on the 40-4-Steve birthday challenge: a visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio of San Francisco!

 

We'd been wanting to visit it for years, but friends who'd gone when it opened said that it wasn't very child-friendly. And they were right. Other than 3 or 4 hands-on displays and some videos, the vast majority of the museum is memorabilia and a lot of reading. It's also important to understand that this is a Walt Disney museum, not a Disney or Disneyland museum. It is arranged in galleries that follow Walt's life, from his ancestry and early childhood through his death. Obviously, the familiar characters and theme parks Disney created are there in the appropriate galleries, but they are not the main focus of the museum.  

That said, we loved it! The beginning of Walt's studio and its focus during war years were especially fascinating. It was really cool seeing his many Oscars, particularly the Honorary Oscar for Snow White with the 7 dwarfed Oscars that accompanied it. Trevor liked seeing the early models for Disneyland and Walt's plans for EPCOT. Our favorite hands-on activity was one where we worked together to create the sound for an early Disney cartoon.

That's 6 items off the list. 34 more to go!

Lemon Bread Pudding

We have a bounty of lemons, courtesy of my parents' prolific tree. I love making bread pudding as a way to use up bread heels, so I set out to see if I could make a yummy lemon version. The verdict was a clear YES. It was so good. My new mantra: When life (or your mom) gives you lemons, make lemon bread pudding! 

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Lemon Bread Pudding

                        Base: 

• cubed bread heels (about 1 loaf worth)
• 4 eggs 
• 1 c. cream
• 1 c. milk
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3 T. lemon zest
• 2/3 c. lemon juice 

                        Glaze:

• 1 T lemon zest
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Butter a 13" x 9" baking dish. Add the cubed bread to the dish. In a bowl, beat the eggs thoroughly, then stir in milk, cream, and sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add lemon zest and lemon juice. Pour the mixture over the bread, being sure to moisten all areas. Bake at 325° F for about 45-50 minutes. While the base is cooking, make the glaze by combining lemon zest, lemon juice and powdered sugar. As soon as the base comes out of the oven, pour the glaze evenly over the top. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

 

I assure you that bread heels never tasted so good.

Giveaway Sneak Peek

I just wanted to pop in with a sneak peek of some of the CHA goodies I'll be giving away to celebrate 5 years of blogging! All the details are here. 

Do you see anything in the photo that you'd like to have? Leave me a comment saying what has caught your eye. If you're a winner, I'll be sure you get your favorites!

Eagle Scout Court of Honor

On Saturday, we had the pleasure of attending an Eagle Scout Court of Honor for a young man from our church. This is the card I made for him:

 

Before the ceremony began, I took a photo of Trevor with Garret. 

Garret's was the first Eagle Court of Honor Trevor has attended since starting Cub Scouts in July 2012. Seven months before starting Cub Scouts, Trevor attended his cousin Ian's Eagle Court of Honor. 

Trevor loves Scouting and I have no doubt that he will go on to become an Eagle. It's going to take hard work and dedication, as well as support from many, but he'll get there. 

While there were quite a few Boy Scouts and Venturers at Garret's Court of Honor, Trevor was the only Cub Scout there. Garret made a point of introducing Trevor to three friends who have grown up with him in Scouts, all the way from Tiger to Eagle. I asked the four young men what advice they have for a Webelos Scout who is Eagle-bound:

• Don't leave your paperwork until the end. The paperwork is less fun than everything else, so get it out of the way whenever possible. It's really annoying to be done with the good stuff and still have to do all the paperwork.

• Don't be afraid to ask people for money. People want to help you and support you, especially with your Eagle project. I was amazed how many people gave me money or volunteered their time for my project. I just wrote a letter to the people in the church and the money came pouring in.

• Ask for whatever you need, not just money. There are so many leaders who will help you with anything, not just for Eagle projects, but along the whole path to Eagle. Other Scouts can help too. For your Eagle project, ask stores for help. Stores like Lowe's will give you supplies really cheap and will give you rental equipment to use for free. Everyone really just wants you to succeed.

• Don't lose the fun. Scouting is a blast and there's so much you can do. Enjoy every minute of it.

Wise words from some very impressive young men. Thank you for serving as excellent role models and providing an example to Trevor of what he can achieve through hard work.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Pencil

Who loves Eric Carle? Everyone, that's who! I love all of his books, but like most people, my favorite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In fact, that was the theme for Trevor's 1st birthday party! I had so much fun designing and making the cake way back when. This Very Hungry Caterpillar Pencil would have been such a fun party favor. Too bad I thought of it nine years too late.

 

The inspiration for this project came from Easy Foam Crafts (affiliate link here and below). The project in the book is the Inch Worm Pencil. I made a few tweaks to the directions to turn it into a Very Hungry Caterpillar Pencil.

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Very Hungry Caterpillar Pencil

Materials: 

• pencil 
• craft foam (green, yellow, purple)
• red pom pom 
• scissors
• hole punch
• hot glue

Steps: 

Begin by cutting the green foam into a long, narrow strip. Mine is around 9" x 1", but it's certainly not exact. Round off the corners, then use the hole punch (I used my Crop-a-Dile) to punch holes. Once again, it's obvious I didn't measure. Close enough! Cut the green scraps to make a roughly gumdrop-shaped nose and two oval inner eyes. Cut two oval outer eyes from yellow, then two antenna from purple.

Thread the green body piece onto the pencil, leaving the writing end free. 

Fold the end of the body over and glue it to the top of the pencil. (Skip this step if you want the eraser to be accessible. I used a color pencil without an eraser.) Glue the head in place. Add the eyes, nose and antenna.

I'm really happy with how my caterpillar looks. I might need to make some foam foods for him to enjoy....