Water Play

Somebody who must have small children once said, "I'm not asleep... but that doesn't mean I'm awake."  That pretty much sums up the sleep at our house this week, so you get an uninspired entry.

At the beginning of this month I made red hearts and red flowers from water and food coloring and forgot about them until this past week.  I took them out and put red things that float and as the ice cubes melted it turned the water red.  The Wee One liked throwing the ball into the water, but it was Ladybug who enjoyed the water play the most. 



A Summer Treat

Early this summer we stood in front of the popsicle freezer section looking for popsicles.  Ladybug and Mister were pointing and telling me which ones they wanted and I would read the ingredients.  All but one had high fructose corn syrup and a whole host of ingredients I wouldn't want in my body.  I finally settled on a brand without high fructose corn syrup and we went home.  Two months later the box of 12 popsicles has 10. 

After the popsicle failure we have been experimenting with making our own popsicles.  We did red popsicles for the Wee One and they turned out great.   

• fresh pineapple - a little overripe
• frozen strawberries
• a squeeze of lime

Blend them up and freeze.  Real ingredients, no added sugar, and a wonderful treat.

A Case of the Lazy

Slowly I have been making each room a bit more Ladybug, Mister, and Wee One friendly.  They have always had access to any cabinet or drawer except the cleaning supplies and medicine, but they haven’t had any bins to call their own.  This creates messes beyond you want to see, but when they pull the books out of the built-ins and play library or laugh hysterically at the Nutty Professor DVD cover, how can I get mad?

Every night I sit down and look at these two bins and tell myself I should really clean those out.  I try to convince myself by saying it will only take 10 minutes, but I am tired by the time 8 o’clock comes around.   I look at the bins and tell myself tomorrow.  Well, tomorrow finally came.  Our library books have a home and there are writing supplies ready to go.  I used the lowest shelf and Mister and Ladybug have no problem getting out the bins.  Now if I can only find some seating and get a small basket for the Wee One we will be set.  I will get on that tomorrow or when the Wee One starts sleeping through the night. 

Also the dirty dish into the sink problem has been solved and for $1 and some change. 

"Women belong in the house... and the Senate." Unknown

And in trees and boys belong on Pinkalicous bikes.

Mud Pies Don't Have Sugar!

One day my father was marvelling at his recent thrifty find and asked my mom who was thriftier than him?  My mom replied that my husband was thriftier and my dad said, "John?!  John isn't thrifty, he is cheap.  John is the cheapest of the cheap."  Do you know what happens when you marry someone who is thrifty?  You become the same way.  So, every timeI look at the Little Tikes Mud Pie Kitchen I know we don't need to spend money when we have the same thing right here.

While I was digging out to put in some edging, I had Mister and Ladybug put the dirt into their green bucket.  Not only did it keep them busy, but they loved getting their ingredients for their mud pies.  I set up the pool in and gave them their cookware.  I sat back and watched for an hour as the three of them cooked muffins, a pie, and mud soup.

• a pie pan
• a muffin tin
• an old spatula
• an old wooden mixing spoon
• a watering can
• a bucket

The next day we reviewed our making mud pie pictures.  I had Mister and Ladybug tell me the steps to make a mud pie.  They each drew the picture and I wrote their steps.  I encouraged them to use order words.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other

One of these things is not like the other.  Can you find the one that is different?

We have our first and second broken cup.  I could not believe that it already happened because we have had them less than a week.  What I couldn't believe more is that I broke both of them.  Apparently I need a less on being careful.  I brought home the new cup and not 5 minutes later, I broke another one.  Good thing they are $.49 at Goodwill.

These are our new place mats made from cardstock and had them laminated.  I think they turned out pretty cute and they wipe down. 

Boom! Boom!

Last week I told Mister and Ladybug that we were going to make firework art.  When they looked at me with a big question mark I realized they had no idea what fireworks are.  My sweet children have always been in bed before the fireworks start at 10:20. That's when I was thanking You Tube for helping me out.  We watched a few firework videos and then we were ready to make our art.

I think I saw this in Family Fun.  You put drops of paint on black paper and use a toothpick to draw lines through the paint. 

And to show you that arts and crafts often do awry with the boy.  His paper was a big streak and his clothes were worse.  It's washable.  It's washable.  It's washable.