Arts and Crofts

Clean Fun

2012-01-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

For as many times as I catch Mr. Three getting into the soap,

just to wash his chubby little hands again and again,

to splash and make bubbles in the sink,

I sure hope that this desire to keep clean continues into teenage-hood!

I adore this soap-loving little guy!

Banana Bread

2012-01-30T13:13:00.001-07:00

The other day, Mr. Two was eating a slice of banana bread and he started singing. He was using the tune of the Muppet show skit, "Mahna Mahna" but substituting the "mahna mahna" for "banana bread."

Now I can't get banana bread off my brain. So, I bought some bananas and had to wait several days for them to ripen up enough to make some (ironic, since most of the time I am forced to make banana bread just because I have over-ripe bananas in my house).

I found this recipe on Becoming Betty, and wanted to try it out. I was intrigued, especially because it has no eggs. I thought that was odd, but I made it anyway. Big mistake. It was a crumbly mess. Turns out, they left out the eggs on accident from the recipe, and then quickly corrected the post.

Sigh. Another four days went by, waiting for bananas to ripen...

On the second try, the Becoming Betty recipe was really yummy, and I like that it uses butter instead of vegetable oil. I will definitely be using this recipe as my new stand-by.

I've blogged about banana bread before, so if you missed it, here's the link to my post about tropical banana bread. Another yummy alternative to the standard banana bread.

One last recipe for all of you that now are craving banana-baked goodness. This one is from my mother-in-law's recipe collection. My husband loves these family favorites.

Banana Bars

1/4 cup softened butter

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg, beaten

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 6 oz. package chocolate or butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add beaten egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in bananas. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into cream mixture. Beat well. Mix in chips. Spread in a greased and floured 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cook and cut into bars or squares.

Go bananas! Don't forget to let the kids in on the fun. My boys especially love peeling and smashing the bananas to help.

An Arizona Snow Day

2012-01-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the kids and Mike had the day off. We had our own version of a snow day here in sunny Arizona.

My brother and his family were in town with their two little boys, so we had some extra cousin time this weekend. We had a yummy lunch of In 'N Out burgers for the dads and Ned's Krazy Sub sandwiches for the moms and kids at Grammie's house. Then, we spent some time in the "great outdoors", indoors at the giant Bass Pro Shop. The boys had fun exploring the tents and atv's, looking at the giant fish and stuffed animals and roaming around the store.

We also made snowmen, with play dough. We made snow dough, using this play dough recipe, only I added some orange extract (Mr. Two wanted that instead of peppermint) instead of the kool-aid mix. I also added some fine silver glitter to give it some sparkle.

I gave the boys carrot shaped buttons and round buttons, pieces of ribbon and wiggle eyes to make their own snowmen. They started out making traditional snowmen, with three round balls for the body, scarves, carrot noses.

Then, it quickly turned into melted snowmen (by squishing them) then a giant mass of button encrusted playdough. This turned out to be a great fine motor skill practice as I had them pick out all of the buttons from the dough and poke all the remaining dough out of the button holes with toothpicks.

Basically, the clean up took a lot longer than the actual play time, but they seemed to have fun with the cleaning too. Well, maybe not so much for Mr. Three...

I found this idea on Pinterest and decided to adapt it to go along with our snow day. I gave the kids a small container of water and sponge brushes to paint some foam snowflakes I had on hand. Then they stuck the flakes all over our sliding glass door.

They loved this and stuck with it for well over half an hour (which was great so that I could fix dinner). They had fun pretending they were looking out the window at a real snow storm.

That night, after soup and grilled cheese, we went to Bahama Bucks to have a tasty snow treat. Mr. One and Mr. Two shared a shaved ice with cotton candy and strawberry flavoring, and Mr. Three had a great time eating Mike's and my shaved ice. Yum!

We may not have typical snow days here in the hot southwest, but we can still enjoy them in our own way!

Looking for some snowy day good reads? Go here for my list of snow favorites. You can also try here and here and here for some favorite winter activities we have done in the past.

Happy winter!

Play Dough, Legos and Doctor Visits

2012-01-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

I had a doctor's appointment this morning and took Mr. Two and Mr. Three along. Thank goodness my office loves kids (I guess they should, considering they make a living delivering babies...). In order to keep them entertained with something other than the biohazard garbage cans and various medical contraptions, I brought a big bag of little things for them to play with. Here's the contents of my bag for this visit: Color Wonder coloring book and markers, a plain notepad and package of stickers, crayons, some little cars for Mr. Three, and Mr. Two's "purse" of little animals, and two fruit roll ups. They scattered the contents of the bag all over the floor in the room, but they kept busy and out of major trouble, so I consider that a victory.

Good news: My labwork from the blood glucose test came back normal. Hooray! Even though I don't have gestational diabetes, it was good for me to be a little scared so that I could examine what I was eating and try to make better choices. Now I just need to kick some nasty lingering cold/allergies so I can breathe better and stop coughing.

The rest of our day consisted of thrift store and grocery store shopping. No real luck in the thrift stores, but I filled my fruit and veggie bin again.

At home, the boys entertained themselves with Legos and we made homemade play dough for Mr. Two's preschool class. I don't think I've posted my favorite recipe for play dough here, so I'll share it with you now. This came from Mr. Two's preschool teacher, and it is almost the same as the dough I made growing up, but you add Kool-Aid for color and a nice scent.

Favorite Play Dough

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium pot. Mix water and oil together in a seperate bowl, then add to your dry ingredients. Stir well. Put on stovetop and heat mixture on medium low to medium, and stir for three to five minutes until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Remove dough from pan and knead until the dough becomes soft and smooth.

One of the nice things about this recipe is that it fits perfectly in an empty frosting container for easy storage. Gotta love that! So there's our day so far. Now I'm off to start dinner and clean the house a bit.

Sugar High

2012-01-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

I had to go in and do the three hour blood glucose test on Friday (my levels were too high on the normal one hour test), and since then, I have had this strange love-hate relationship with sugar. After consuming what tasted like a can of Hawaiian Punch concentrate in five minutes, with nothing else in my stomach, I didn't really want to eat anything sweet for the rest of the day. I am scared that my holiday sweet binging is causing my problems. So why is is that I keep pinning sweet treats? I think I am torturing myself! Then there is the cherry cheesecake in the fridge and pie from Mike's birthday that keep calling my name...

Here's hoping that I don't have gestational diabetes. Stinkin' sweet tooth!

On another sugar-related note, we helped clean the church building on Saturday. We have a little tradition of going and getting donuts after we help clean as a little incentive for our young boys to be good helpers. Don't worry, I make them drink a healthy fruit smoothie with the donuts. Does that make it a healthy breakfast? Probably not.

As we placed a cinnamon-swirled donut in front of Mr. Three, he grinned ear to ear and simply said, "Happy!"

Life is sweet.

Merry Christmas, 2011

2012-01-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

I have been MIA here for a few weeks, spending time with my family and enjoying the holidays. The boys are back in school and we are trying to reestablish our routines and get organized. Here's a recap of our Christmas fun.

Christmas Eve, the boys enjoyed some cousin time and helped make our Santa cookies by unwrapping a bag of Hershey's Kisses.

Some little helpers sampled a few in the process. We need quality control right?

We had a yummy Mexican food dinner together, then put on the annual Nativity play. We had to get a little creative with our play, having five boys and no girls. Thanks Aunt Jenny for being a good sport and playing Mary! Isn't Mr. Three the cutest little blinged out cherub?

We opened Christmas Eve gifts (pajamas and new tee shirts) and had a little before-bed cookie before hitting the road to look at Christmas lights.

Then, we headed home to put the kiddos to bed and finish last minute Christmas wrapping, etc. After staying up late two nights in a row, we thought maybe the boys would sleep in a little. Not really so. Mr. One was up and in our room, wide-eyed, at 6:00 am, followed by Mr. Two at 6:20, then finally Mr. Three was up around 7:00. I'm not complaining. I know this is sleeping in for most families on Christmas morning. Plus, they were so good and didn't touch a thing until we were all in the room together, just lots of looking and guessing.

Mike and I loved watching the boys opening their gifts one by one. They were genuinely excited about each present, from the small and inexpensive, to the larger gifts. Mr. Three especially loved ripping into the wrapping paper and not getting in trouble for it!

Mr. One and Mr. Two wanted Legos, Legos and Legos, and a few car items. Mr. Three loves things that light up and talk, especially phones. We tried to accomodate those wishes as best we could, and Santa always picks out one special item that we know they really want. For Mr. One, it was a Hero Factory robot, for Mr. Two, a different Hero Factory robot (he asked for a remote control car, but was lucky enough to get one early for his birthday), and for Mr. Three, a toddler-friendly cell phone.

As a big gift, the whole family got a Nintendo wii. We've been debating on getting one for several years now, and the price was right this year. We got Mario Kart, a Hot Wheels game and Toy Story Mania. It will be something our whole family can enjoy together. (I admit Mike and I have been playing after the kids go to bed, too. Gotta love Mario Kart!)

I can't help it, I love the matching pajamas. I can't resist and will keep this tradition up as long as I can!

We had Mexican sweet bread and hot chocolate for breakfast before getting ready for church. Yum!

We had a wonderful time attending church that morning and felt the Spirit so strongly (I think I cried through most of it). Mr. One declared that Christmas day was the best day ever because Daddy didn't have to go to meetings that Sunday. To have Mike home was my favorite gift this year.

We went over to my parents' home after church and had a traditional Christmas dinner with ham, rolls, green bean casserole and all kinds of sweets. It was so good to be surrounded by family and to just sit around and visit. We were also able to Skype with my brother who is serving a mission in Brazil. I think he was a bit weirded out by how big the boys are getting. It was good to see him and hear his voice. He is working hard and loves the people he serves. We're looking forward to seeing him when he comes home in February.

We also spent a lot of time building Lego sets with the boys. (OK, Mike spent a lot of time helping them build, I just watched.)

We made the decision to keep Christmas morning to ourselves, just our little family for a time before going to see the extended family. It was nice to let the morning unfold at our own pace and really experience Christmas together, then to join in all of the fun with our extended family. I feel blessed to have enjoyed the quiet times and the noisy times, to have create some magic for my children and be in the moment. I love creating our own traditions with Mike and carrying on some of our childhood traditions as well. It is times like these that make me so grateful to be a wife and a mother. I am always a little sad when Christmas is over, just because this time is so precious.

Hoping all who are reading had a joyful Christmas as well and I'm wishing you a fantastic New Year!

A Few Christmas Odds and Ends

2011-12-20T11:20:00.002-07:00

I have been spending as much time during naps and kiddo's bedtimes catching up on Christmas projects. We've been baking, sewing, crafting, cleaning, budgeting, and planning at our house.

I have the teacher gifts completed.

I still have a few more handmade projects to finish (or start...), starting with a stocking for Mr. Three.

We baked treats for my extended family Christmas dinner (yummy Mexican food) that was this past Sunday. Here's a snippet of what I made. Warning, share these babies, because you will be tempted to finish them off yourself, and your waistline will not be happy!

From the top going clockwise: cran-pistachio cookies, white chocolate cashew fudge, double dark chocolate pomegranate cookies.

We watched these two Christmas videos last night for FHE to put us in the Christmas spirit. They are reminders that the best gifts we can give to the Savior are gifts of service and love for our fellow men.

Wise Men Still Seek Him and The Coat

I'm looking forward to having my kids out of school and for Mike to have some time off of work so we can enjoy being all together.

Hoping everyone is enjoying a wonderful holiday and remembering to spread Christmas cheer all through the week!

Christmas Tree Lights Game and Some Sewing

2011-12-15T12:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I pulled out this Christmas game for my boys to play before bedtime. It was such a hit that Mr. Two immediately pulled it out and wanted to play with it again this morning! Thanks to Joyfully Weary for some great activity ideas here.

I found the green foam cone and some plastic light pegs at Michael's for half off.

I put 25 light pegs into each glass custard cup and had the kids take turns rolling the dice and putting that number of lights on the tree. Whoever uses all of their lights first wins.

Mr. Three had lots of fun rolling the dice while the others played.

After the older boys went to school, Mr. Three tried to play the game on his own. It was so cute to see him roll the dice, stick a light in the tree and roll again. Then he discovered how much fun it was just to play with the lights, letting them jingle in the bowl and spill through his fingers. I forget how much he is growing into a little boy. Not a baby anymore.

The only drawback to this is that the pegs leave large holes in the Styrofoam, so I don't think it's going to survive more than one year. Maybe I'll try covering it in play dough or clay to reuse it.

On another note, I got back into sewing mode last night and finished my boys' bow ties for church. I think they'll look very dapper indeed!

Beginning Sound Blackout

2011-12-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

Mr. Two is really into beginning sounds right now. We played a Christmas blackout game today that I had already made up. We took turns drawing a card and matching it on our board if we had the beginning sound for the card (I used stickers for my cards). If we didn't, it went back to the bottom of the stack.

Keep playing until one player has all of their letters covered for a blackout. To make my game self-checking, I wrote the name for each picture and the beginning sound letter on the back of each card.

Then I thought about all of the little Christmas miniatures I had on hand. For a different variation, place one object in a small bag to match each letter on the game board, then instead of drawing a card and matching it onto the board, choose an object to match.

Christmas (Playing) Cards

2011-12-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

We have several sets of Christmas playing cards in our house. Mr. Three loves to open things up like that and dump them all over the floor. While I was cleaning up one set of cards, I noticed that the Christmas shapes that were used for the suits were all shapes that I had foam stickers of as well. That got the wheels turning in my head. For once, I'm happy that my little mischief-making Mr. Three made a mess, because I came up with a fun little preschool game.

First, I dumped out all of the foam shape stickers and had Mr. Two sort them, putting any shapes that didn't match the suits of the cards in a little bowl to the side of the sorting tray.

After we had our four shapes, I placed the set of playing cards (the snowmen) in the center section of the tray (pulling out all of the non-numerical cards and putting them aside first).

Mr. Two drew a card, and placed the corresponding number of shapes on the rectangle tray. When he was finished, he put the shapes back in the sorting tray and the card in the small dish, then drew a new card. This was a fun way to practice counting.

I may try and pull this out later and have him play with his older brother or myself, each person drawing and card and counting out the number of shapes to compare. Or maybe we'll just play war with the cards!

Mr. Two's Birthday and a Christmas Piano Recital

2011-12-13T14:03:00.002-07:00

This weekend was a combination of birthday celebrating, some Christmas shopping and a holiday piano recital.

Friday was birthday time for Mr. Two. My mom watched Mr. Three so I could help in Mr. Two's classroom that afternoon. He loved having me there, and I loved being there with him. I helped the class do some crayon art and helped pass out birthday cupcakes.

Mr. Two wanted two things for his birthday: an army cake and hot dogs. It was a perfect dinner for him. Want to know how I made the cake? Go here. I was so excited to see how well it turned out.

One of his gifts was a little bag of toy solidiers. I made the bag out of unbleached muslin that I added a freezer paper stencil to. I used the Dock 51 font for the lettering and Mike helped design the star logo.

As he opened each present, he seemed genuinely excited about each one. I love how grateful this little guy is. He liked each gift he unwrapped and played with all of them.

Mr. One was really excited to help him build this Lego set we found for Mr. Two and they played with it for a long time together.

The Hot Wheels Toy Story track and remote control car were also big hits. There have been lots of shouts of, "To infinity and beyond!" and big giggles at our house for the past several days with these two toys alone.

Saturday was the Christmas Piano Recital. Each student played a different Christmas song. It was nice, short and fun to listen to. Mr. One did a wonderful job.

Here's video of his song (for those that are interested). He played Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.

After the recital, my parents and sister were nice enough to watch the kids so Mike and I could finish up some Christmas shopping. (Thank you!) Ahh, alone time, even if it's running errands!

Then we all headed to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. A family favorite.

Our Christmas shopping is almost done. Fingers crossed we can be finished in the next few days! Then I can focus on the wrapping and finishing up a few homemade projects.

Note to Self: Toddlers, Icing Colors and Camouflage Cake

2011-12-09T09:05:00.001-07:00

*Mr. Two's birthday is coming up, so we are shifting gears just for a few days and doing birthday fun, then we'll resume the Christmas cheer!

Dear Self,

The counter is not a safe place to put 12 little bottles of gel icing coloring that you borrowed to make a birthday cake. Mr. Three can reach lots and lots of things on the counter. When there's a will, there's a way.

If said toddler finds this little box of bottles, be prepared for one colorful adventure. Count on colorful fingers and tongues. Also prepare yourself to do a little detective work to figure out which of the twelve bottles matches the twelve color-labeled caps.

Good times I tell you!

Note taken. Now on to the cake!

After figuring out which colors were which and recapping all bottles, I worked on Mr. Two's birthday cake. He wanted an "army cake" so I decided to try my hand at making a camouflage cake. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out.

Here's the lowdown:

I used a white cake mix, following the directions to make the batter.

I divided the batter into four bowls and colored each bowl a different camouflage color. I used green, a combination of green and teal, brown, and then I tried to use the copper coloring, but it looked so bad, I just added about 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder to the batter to make it darker and fix the color disaster.

Side note: I think if I would have re-mixed the batter again (to get more air in the batter) after coloring it, the cake may have risen better (the box said to immediately pour the batter into the pans and bake after mixing).

Next, I randomly placed blobs of different colored batters in my two pans to create a camouflage look, then swirled the whole thing very gently with a knife just once (too much swirling and you'll end up with a yucky mess).

Bake and cool.

It looked so great, I'm almost tempted not to frost it, but let's face it, who wants to eat an unfrosted cake?

So a layer or two of chocolate and some plastic (washed) army guys on top, and we have ourselves an army cake!

Happy Birthday Mr. Two! We love you!

Candy Cane Treats

2011-12-07T20:23:00.001-07:00

Today was a half day for Mr. One, so I was able to have all my boys home to do some activities during the day.

I decided to stick with a candy cane theme when I came across this recipe for Peppermint Bark Rice Krispie Treats. Oh, yummy!

I couldn't find the peppermint marshmallows at my grocery store, so I used mint extract. They still turned out delicious.

This was such a fun recipe for my kids to help make. They loved mixing and dumping the ingredients. They enjoyed sampling the marshmallows and chocolate chips. The best part was crushing the candy canes into sprinkles. They could have pulverized candy canes (with lots of pausing to taste their creations) all afternoon!

They also played a few rounds of candy cane concentration and made a candy cane wall hanging. I changed it up a bit from two years ago and had them glue tissue paper squares onto waxed paper so we could hang them in the window for an easy decoration.

I even squeezed in three badly needed haircuts during Mr. Three's naptime (he woke up half way through, so I went ahead and clipped his hair too). (Mostly) neatly trimmed and clean, all before dinnertime. Not too shabby.

All in all, it was a pretty sweet day!

Christmas Game Fail

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

I found this cute Christmas tree game last year, laminated it and had it ready for my boys to play. They weren't interested then, so I pulled it out for the family to play tonight. It started out fine, but Mike and I soon realized that there were just as many "go back" cards as "move forward" ones. Needless to say, we were stuck at start and not really moving as we went through the cards a few times. Not fun.

Game fail.

I'm ditching the cards next time. I'll either be making my own (with just 3 or 4 bad luck cards and at least 12 good cards), or just using a cube with numbers 0 to 4 and one lose a turn space to determine how many spaces to go. So, fair warning: If you want to print this game out, the game board is cute, but be prepared to do some modifying.

Decorating the Tree

2011-12-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

Monday night was Family Home Evening. We used this lesson that I had made a few years ago to talk about the symbols of Christmas. Then we decorated the tree.

The boys loved hanging up all of their ornaments in the front and center of the tree.

Mr. Three loved pulling them off. After it was decorated, we stood back to admire our work.

My mom found these glasses at Walgreens several years ago. If you look at the lights, they will project snowflakes, Santas or snowmen on the lights.

The kids love to put them on and stare at the Christmas tree.

After some scripture reading and our Christmas bedtime story, we had a cup of hot chocolate and went to bed. It was a nice cozy night together.

Now I have to keep Mr. Three away from the tree. I think we will be doing more errand running while he is awake during the day.

Breakfast with Santa, a Trek to Bethlehem and a Christmas Devotional

2011-12-05T09:03:00.001-07:00

This weekend we participated in several Christmas activities.

Saturday morning, Mike went to help set up for our ward's Christmas party that evening. I took our kids to my parents' ward breakfast with Santa. They enjoyed the pancakes, but were really just looking forward to sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what they wanted for Christmas.

Mr. One promptly smiled and told Santa exactly what he wanted.

Mr. Two got shy and tongue-tied and didn't say a word.

Mr. Three hopped right up onto Santa's lap with no trepidation, then took a confused look at Santa while he talked to him. As soon as he got his little gift bag, he quickly hopped off and was done. It was so cute!

Thanks to Grammy and Grandpa for inviting us. It was a great morning.

While I went with my mom and sisters to the movies, Mike stayed home with the boys and put the lights up on the house and tree. Now our home really feels Christmas-y. All we have left is to decorate the tree with our ornaments (that's the plan for FHE tonight). The boys loved spending time with Daddy.

That evening was our ward party. They had planned a wonderful Night in Bethlehem for the ward, with family and neighbors welcome. We were encouraged to dress up in Biblical attire. It was so cold, we wore lots of layers under our tunics and robes. (Can I just say, it's amazing what you can do with old bedsheets and bath robes?) There were booths with middle eastern food to sample (hummus, pita bread, shish kabobs, dates, etc.) and activities for the kids (making clay pots and games), pictures with the Wise Men, a soup dinner and time for lots of mingling and wandering. During the last hour, they had a group of a capella singers seranade us with Christmas songs, then a live Nativity play with special musical numbers and audience sing along's. (I don't have pictures of our great costumes. It was too cold and dark, and our kids too excited to explore. Maybe we'll put them on later and take a family picture.)

There was a wonderful spirit of friendship and love for our Savior that night. It was such a beautiful evening. We even witnessed a little miracle: All that day, it was cold and rainy. We were thinking they might have to cancel our ward party with it being completely outdoors. Just before the party started, the rain cleared up and it stayed dry. As the final program was wrapping up, it started to drizzle, then began to rain heavily for the next hour. It made for a very wet and cold clean up, but we were dry for the activity. It's so comforting to know that Heavenly Father hears our prayers and gives us those little tender mercies we stand in need of.

Sunday was the annual Christmas Devotional by the First Presidency of our church. It was beautiful as always, and really helped me forget about the stress of the season and remember the really important things of Christmas: remembering the Savior, serving others, spending time with family. You can watch the broadcast here if you missed it.

Now I need to pull out my copy of A Christmas Carol and find The Mansion...

I am looking forward to more Christmas fun with my family. What are you looking forward to doing with yours?

What Christmas is Really About

2011-12-02T19:35:00.001-07:00

We sincerely want to help our boys understand that Christmas is about so much more than presents and goodies. We want them to know about Christ's birth and life and to reach out and care for others as He did and still does for us.

We were able to pick out an ornament off of the angel tree at school to help some of the needy families in our community. Tonight we wrapped the gift and got it ready to drop off on Monday. I hope they feel good inside knowing they could help someone have a nicer Christmas, even if it is just one small gift.

This past Monday for Family Home Evening, we spent time talking about the Nativity. We have a Little People nativity set and a nativity magnet set that our boys can play with. Mike had them find and hold the different pieces as he told them the story of Jesus' birth. I think it was the perfect beginning to the Christmas season.

Last night, we found the Little People nativity set up just like this. I noticed Mr. One playing with it last evening before bed, but didn't notice how he had left it. I love how he placed all of the pieces to look at the baby Jesus. Isn't that perfect? I hope we can continue to have that spirit of worship and reverence in our home.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-12-01T10:53:00.001-07:00

Are you ready for Christmas? We're decorating the house, hoping to get the tree up soon, and I have visions of sugary sweets dancing in my head.

Our book advent is ready (you can see by this picture that Mr. Three couldn't wait for the fun to begin, so our first story is unwrapped).

Our scripture advent is hung and ready to use.

I'm going to attempt to post at least one fun activity we have done at our house to celebrate the season each day, so I hope you'll come back and visit!

Here's a little activity I did with my Mr. Two who is almost four years old.

You will need:

small seasonal items (I have a bunch of miniature ornaments and some holiday shaped buttons)
a paper and pen/pencil to make your letters and boxes

I chose six items that started with different letters to begin. I wrote each letter above six boxes.

We went through the items, naming each one (I knew he wouldn't know holly without help).

He then named each item and placed them in the correct box. He really seemed to like this activity, and it was fairly simple, so I decided to expand it.

Next, I gave him a pile of miniatures and let him go through to find other items that started with the six letters on his sheet. This was a much bigger challenge, but he enjoyed finding more items to go in his boxes.

Hope your holidays are off to a great start!

Thanksgiving Fun

2011-11-29T10:08:00.001-07:00

We traveled to California to have Thanksgiving with Mike's family this year. I don't have many pictures, but here is a run-down of the fun we had.

The first part was not so fun. Driving late Wednesday afternoon. The traffic out of Phoenix was brutal, so we added an hour onto our drive time. The kids were fairly good in the car. The promise of a Happy Meal at the mid-point of the trip always helps!

Turkey day was filled with lots of good food, game playing and several Nerf gun battles. The boys were totally happy.

I don't know why I don't ever take pictures during the actual dinner. I guess no one wants pictures of themselves stuffing their faces! After dinner, we put in a movie and played games, making sure to sample all of the yummy pies and cookies for dessert throughout the night.

Friday morning, I woke up before 6 am to make it to the JoAnn's black Friday sale. Mike got major brownie points for driving me there and then staying and helping as I waited for 3 hours to get my fabric cut and purchased. (Big thanks to Mike's family for watching our kiddos while we were gone.) We also found a new Nativity ornament and a few other little Christmas items. I have the best husband! It was actually fun and most people there were in a great mood and chatty. I met a lady who had a son who served a mission for our church in Arizona and even served in my home town. What a small world!

After lunch, the girls set out for another round of shopping. Target and Old Navy were surprisingly calm. I guess it helps to go later in the day, although the selection is limited with some items. I found most of the few things that I was looking for, so it was great. The boys and kids had fun playing at the nearby park, more Nerf gun battles, and watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving and other kid videos at Grandma and Grandpa's house during the day. The boys just couldn't get enough cousin time!

Mr. Three also managed to have a little fun with my eyeliner and mascara. He needed a little battle paint, I guess.

After a dinner of tamales and leftover pie, we played some more games and visited. After 11:00 pm, I finally had to exit the fun to get some sleep. This pregnant body couldn't stay awake any longer, so I retired early to my bed.

We headed home on Saturday full of good food and memories, grateful for the time we could spend with the whole family gathered together. We are blessed to be able to travel and be with our Croft family at least a few times a year. We just wish we could see them more often!

I hope your Thanksgiving was happily full as well.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hope you all are having a wonderful thanksgiving, with lots of delicious food to gobble, gobble up!

Miscellaneous Pre-Thanksgiving Items

2011-11-22T09:39:00.001-07:00

This weekend, the fall baking bug bit hard.

I made Baked Pumpkin French Toast for Sunday morning breakfast. Yum!

I also found some beautiful ripe pomegranates at the store and couldn't resist getting one. Mr. One loves pomegranates. I had to try out this recipe for double dark chocolate pomegranate cookies. They were even better than the gorgeous pictures showed! I won't admit to how many I've eaten in the last few days. I'm eating for two, so a few extra are warranted, right?

A little hint about getting the seeds out of the pomegranate: After cutting your pomegranate open and into large sections, try pulling them from the peel under water, then you won't spray juice all over yourself and your kitchen (or at least it will minimize the damage). Trust me on this one. I have a purple stained white tee and a purple-pink speckled kitchen to prove it before I figured this out...

I also printed, laminated and cut out some of the activities from this Thanksgiving preschool pack for Mr. Two to use. He and I especially liked the puzzles and the pre-writing trace pages (I laminated them so that he could use a dry erase marker on the pages and wipe them off).

Here are two of the cheapest toys (and by cheap I mean free because they were made from things around the house) I've made to date. Mr. Three loves both of them almost as much as our cell phones, remote controls and car keys...

The first toy was an idea I took from my sister in law Jenny. She had made one for her two year old and I loved it. Clean an empty Parmesan cheese container and grab a handful of pipe cleaners. If you fold the pipe cleaners in half and twist them around each other, folding the ends in (so your kiddos don't poke their hands), it is the perfect size to fit into the container. It also makes them sturdier to handle. Then your child can poke the pipe cleaners into the container through the holes in the lid. If they struggle to poke them into the small holes in the lid, open the other side with the wide opening and they can put the pipe cleaners in the container this way. They can also shake the pipe cleaners out by opening the wide side of the lid to play again (or just unscrew the lid...).

The second toy is just an old wipes container with an oval slot in the lid. The oval is just the right size to fit the mini playdoh lids through. I also had some small foam blocks that another sister in law found in the Target dollar spot that fit perfectly as well. (Thanks Carla!) Mr. Three loves putting his shapes into the container and dumping them out again.

Don't you just love toys that don't cost a thing?

Hooray for two more activity bag ideas for my toddler. These are great to throw in my church bag as well.

Now I need to get off the computer so that I can work on Thanksgiving pies and other preparations. Oh, and maybe actually mop my floor...

What's in Your Treasure Box?

2011-11-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

I love organizing things. Having all of my boys' toys organized is a high priority. In order to contain all of the little "junky" or just miscellaneous toys that my kids accumulate, they each have a treasure box to place these items in. The rule is, if you add something new and the lid won't close, you have to give something away so that it will fit.

I love looking inside their treasure boxes to see what they want to keep. It's a little window into their personalities and interests.

Mr. One and I have not been on the best of terms this week. Our mornings have been particularly rough. He's reluctant to get up and do his chores. I get frustrated. There is general grumpiness and groundings. I want to figure out how to make our mornings more peaceful.

Yesterday morning was particularly grumpy. I did manage to send him off with "I love you's" and at least half-smiles at the door.

Mr. Three found Mr. One's treasure box later in the morning and accidentally dumped it onto the floor. I took a deep breath and tried not to be exasperated as I turned to help him pick up the contents of the box. Then I found a slightly rumpled family picture (a print that Mr. One wanted to bring to show and tell earlier in the school year) in the midst of the silly bands, super heroes and Toy Story figures. It melted my heart and made me realize that our family is a treasure to him.

They are a treasure to me. How lucky I am to have such a sweet little boy in my life. I want to make sure he knows how much I treasure him.

Activity Bags, Continued

2011-11-16T08:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning, Mr. Two was really interested in using some of the activity bags that I have made. He started digging deeper into my box and pulled out a few that I had forgotten about. I thought I'd share two that were big hits.

Silly Putty Treasure Hunt

In the bag:
silly putty with small tri-beads hidden inside

Mr. Two found this and started to play with the putty, quickly realizing that there were things inside of the putty. He excitedly declared, "Pirate treasure!" and spent a good amount of time digging for treasure and re-burying it to play again. I am finding with him, anything pirate-ish helps increase interest as of late.

I got this idea from a friend who worked with special needs children, many of whom had fine motor skill challenges. This simple activity strengthens the small fine motor muscles in fingers and hands as the pull and stretch the putty and pick out the small beads. Exercising these muscles is critical to improving writing skills.

This was a favorite of Mr. Three (who is 19 months)

Egg Carton Sort

In the bag:
one egg carton (I happened to have an 18 count egg carton, so there were more pockets to fill)
small plastic items (I used soft plastic farm animals)

Mr. Three loved placing one farm animal in each carton pocket. It was funny to see him start out by grabbing a handful of animals and cramming them into the carton. With just a little guidance, he began to place each animal in their own pocket.

This was a great introductory activity to develop one to one correspondence. You could extend this activity for older children by having them make patterns with the animals in the rows, organizing by color or type of animal, or even having them place matching pairs in each pocket.

I am excited to see that my toddler is interested in some of the learning activities I have made for my older boys. Now I need to think more actively about activities to engage both Mr. Two and Mr. Three. Let the fun begin!

Five Crows

2011-11-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

I have a cute scarecrow/crow illustration that my friend and former teacher's aide drew for me for a fun little song I used to use in Kindergarten for my Fall unit. I've always wanted to post it to share, but I don't have a clue how to put it up for someone to download/copy. (I am technically challenged. Help!)

Here's my original.

When I saw this adorable free printable counting crows activity (and some more great printables) from Michelle of Musings of Me, I thought it was a perfect fit for my little song. So, if you'd like a cute scarecrow and crows to use for the song, you can go here to download the file. Or you could make your own (or sweet talk an artistic friend into making you one, too).

Here's the song:

Five Crows All Shiny Black
(to the tune of Five Little Speckled Frogs)

Five crows all shiny black,
sat on a scarecrow's back
eating some most delicious corn, "caw, caw."
Scarecrow winked and shouted, "Boo!"
Scared one crow, away he flew.
Now there are four black shiny crows.
(You continue the verses until you have no crows left)

I laminated my scarecrow on construction paper with the printed song on the back. I also laminated my five black crows. I then attached five squares of sticky velcro to above the scarecrow so the crows would sit on its arms, and a strip of velcro to the back of the scarecrow page so they could fly away (and not get lost). Then, I added velcro to the bird backs.

My kindergarteners loved this, and I have used it with Nursery aged and preschool aged children as well. It is a favorite Fall song. Thanks Michelle for an awesome printable to use with this!

*linking HERE

Pumpkins, Playdough and Pinterest

2011-11-10T10:55:00.001-07:00

Besides craving potatoes, I have also been on a big pumpkin kick.

(all of the sweets to decorate our pumpkin cookies)

We have already made pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cookies and tonight we're having pumpkin treats for our Relief Society meeting. I can't wait! By the way, Sees has pumpkin pie truffles that are the perfect bite of pumpkin heaven, and Sonic's pumpkin pie shake is another great sweet fix.

Mr. Two and Mr. Three had fun playing with playdough yesterday morning.

Mr. Two made some fine feathered turkeys, too.

While the boys played with their playdough, I pinned some Thanksgiving/Fall ideas. Is anyone else on Pinterest? I love this site! I can catalog all of the great ideas I find online and save them in one place without having to make my own word document lists. As an added bonus, you can search for other great ideas that others have pinned. I am here if you're interested. (Yes, I know I need to upload a picture. I'm working on that...)

While Mr. Three napped, Mr. Two and I played this cute dice toss game. He loved it (especially the candy corn eating).

A funny side note: Mr. Three burped yesterday at lunch and said, "'Scuse me." It was so cute! I love the starting-to-string-words-together stage.

Baby Update

2011-11-09T10:06:00.002-07:00

We just found out that baby #4 is going to be....

another little Mr.

I will admit, I cried when I saw the proof and I was disappointed. Maybe a tad angry.
I know this is selfish and narrow minded, but it's how I felt and I'm being honest.
I have always wanted a little girl, and now it seems those dreams may never be realized.

I drowned my sadness in potatoes that day (potato casserole and baked Lays potato chips) and a good cry. I called my close friend and cousin who also has four little boys and we chatted about being daughter-less and the joys and pitfalls of being surrounded by males all day.

I began to feel better. I tried to unloose the grip that self-pity had on me.

The thing that really helped the most was sincere prayer and reflection on the blessings that are already in front of me. I have four healthy boys. I have a loving husband. I know I am a daughter of God. I know the Savior loves me and has suffered not only my sins, but my sorrows and pain. I have family and friends who love me. I have a safe home and faith to cling to in difficult times. I have scriptures to study and inspire me. I have lots of chocolate left over from Halloween. I could go on.

Then, yesterday, I gave away all the boxes of little girl clothes that I had been keeping (hand me downs from a good friend that I had just in case). I think this started out being the hardest thing of all because it was an acknowledgement that we may never have a daughter. Then, when I handed them over to friends I knew needed them for their daughters, I felt so much better. Literally, a load was lightened.

Now, I look forward to seeing this new babe. To touch his soft face and hear those newborn noises. To feed and diaper and hold him close. I am truly excited. He is already loved. I am blessed.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T14:38:00.001-07:00

How was your Halloween? I hope it was all treats and no tricks!

Here's a few fun things we did to celebrate.

Friday night, we opted out of the school carnivals and enjoyed a pumpkin filled evening at home. We picked out two plump pumpkins to carve, munched on See's marshmallow pumpkins after dinner (a favorite childhood tradition of Mike's), and watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown with lots of popcorn.

Here's our finished pumpkins from a few days later. I cannot claim any credit for these. The boys wanted to make Lego Hero Factory pumpkins and they helped Mike pick out which characters to carve (Surge and Witch Doctor). They scooped and cleaned, and Mike carved. Pretty fierce!

Saturday night was our church carnival and trunk or treat. The little boys spent the majority of the night jumping in the bounce house, almost missing the trunk or treat. Even thought they may have missed the other games and treats, they had a ball! Mike and I had fun watching them and visiting with church friends. We decorated our van like a pirate ship. Unfortunately the sail didn't make it that night (it was too big to fit in the car). We set it up and took pictures later. :)

The whole family: Mike is the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride, Mr. Three is the parrot to my pirate, Mr. Two is a monkey pirate and Mr. One is a Lego Space Police officer. Gotta love my kid's imaginations!

Parrots love their candy!

Monday night, we headed to my parents' house for our traditional spooky Halloween dinner and took the kids trick or treating. They came home a lot less tired than they should have been (sugar anyone?). Luckily, they hit the sack with little complaint.

Oh, and one more little treat: In case you couldn't tell in the pictures (and you haven't seen me in person lately), baby #4 is coming in April! We are very excited. Hence, the infrequent posting. Sorry about that. We'll know soon whether it is another Mr. or a Little Miss soon...

Ten Timid Ghosts

2011-10-28T11:01:00.003-07:00

Here's a few last minute Halloween activities Mr. Two and I enjoyed today.

I saw this post from Chasing Cheerios and loved the lima bean ghosts. I knew my boys would love them also.

We started out replicating the spooning activity. Then my mind began racing, thinking of all the other fun things we could do with our ghosts.

I got out some counting cups (numbers 1 to 10) I had made previously and had Mr. Two count out ghosts into each one.

He really enjoyed doing this and I was excited to see that he recognized and counted out the correct number of ghosts for each one.

Then I remembered one of our favorite Halloween books, Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O'Connell. We had our ghosts, and I had our Halloween math book that was shaped like a haunted house, so we used them to act out the story. It was fun to have each ghost fly away and re-count to see how many were left.

It's so fun to see another person's great idea and then be able to use it as a springboard to new activities and learning opportunities.

As an update, my house is starting to look more presentable and I am about 85% finished with costumes. Hooray! Halloween, here we come.

Checking In

2011-10-24T09:42:00.003-07:00

In case anyone wondered how the costume progress is going, here is my kitchen table this morning.

Yup, still not done, but making progress. Mr. Two's costume is finished and Mr. Three's is about 1/3 of the way there. Mr. One's costume is in the works, but far from complete. At least his requires minimal sewing... I have to finish Mr. Three's costume tonight for the Halloween parade/story time at the library tomorrow morning that Mr. Two and Three want to attend.

I woke up late this morning. Here is a view of what awaited me in the boys' room as I went in to get Mr. Three out of his crib. (This, plus a very wet little pajama-clad toddler who was begging to be changed.)

My boys have been busy too.

Then there is a mountain of laundry that needs to be attended to...

I'll check in tomorrow when I have things under control around here.

Witches' Warts

2011-10-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a simple activity I made for my preschooler.

I found my witch graphic here, printed it, reduced it to 60% and made four copies. I colored the witches with faces and hat bands to match the Halloween mini pom poms I found at the craft store, cut them out and mounted them on cardstock. (I still need to laminate these babies so they will last.)

I put the pom poms in a little plastic pumpkin and gave Mr. Two some tweezers so he could give the witches some warts. A great little Halloween activity for color recognition and fine motor strengthening.

I am only 1/3 of the way done with Halloween costumes so far. Wish me luck! I will be in sewing mode for the rest of the weekend...

Note to Self: Water Bottles and Bathrooms

2011-10-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Self,

Remember several years ago when Mr. One had a banner day and ate out of the garbage can, then followed that up with lapping water out of the toilet like a puppy? Remember how you recognized that many a child has taken a drink out of the toilet? You figured that this would be the worst of it.

Oh how you were wrong.

You didn't know Mr. Three then.

Don't assume that Mr. Three swishing an empty plastic water bottle in the toilet will be the worst of your toddler potty woes. Especially when you foolishly leave said dirty water bottle in the bathroom garbage can.

Remember that Mr. Three is an expert when it comes to sneaking into the bathroom to wreak watery havoc. Do not allow him to creep into the bathroom, when an older brother is using the commode. The sound of an opening toilet lid should be your alarm to run and collect Mr. Three or you will very soon have to deal with this unpleasant scene.

Start with Mr. Two yelling something about a toilet and a water bottle and drinking. You will rush in to see Mr. Three with a full water bottle (assume there has not been a prior reassuring flush), drinking away. You will then yell for him to stop drinking, scaring your toddler sufficiently so that he will spray water all over your bathroom floor and himself (but at least he will stop drinking). You will then have to delay getting everyone into the car to pick up Mr. Three from school so that you can clean up your toilet water-soaked child.

Then brace yourself to explain to the principal and fellow teachers (with lots of laughing from both parties) why you are slightly late picking up your first grader, as you had to sanitize your toddler before securing him in the car. (Forget about sanitizing the bathroom for now.) Thank goodness they will have a sense of humor and understand (being parents themselves).

Oh, and thank goodness at least you had cleaned the commode earlier that morning...

Five Little Monkeys

2011-10-04T16:44:00.001-07:00

When I saw this post on Homemade by Jill, (thanks Jill!) I knew I wanted to make a set of monkey/crocodile puppets. My boys have always loved this little fingerplay. The only thing I wanted to change was the crocodile. It would be so much more fun to actually have one with a mouth that could really snap those monkeys. Here's what I did.

I followed the pattern for the monkeys. So cute!

For the crocodile, I took the template she provided for the monkey bodies and put them end to end to make an elongated oval (are you with me?). I traced another monkey body with the tail piece, widening the tail to create one long piece. I also cut one monkey body out of green felt and then used the top of the original alligator piece to cut two seperate eye pieces. I cut two ovals out of white felt, layered it inside of the mouth pieces and cut out triangles to make the teeth and cut a long red tongue out of red felt.

I stitched eyes onto the front eye piece, then sewed the eye pieces together. I pinned the eyes onto the top of the alligator body and sewed the bottom edge to the body so the eyes would stand up.

I pinned one set of teeth between the top body piece with the tail and half of the elongated oval and stitched around the curve.

I sewed the tongue into the middle of the elongated oval.

I sandwiched the second set of teeth between the elongated oval and the small body piece and stitched around the outside edge. There you have a snapping alligator!

My boys have had lots of fun playing with this little set. Hopefully they won't be too rough on them, so that they will last for a few more years to come...

Go on and make your own set for your little monkeys!

Pardon the Dust

2011-09-27T16:21:00.002-07:00

Does anyone else feel like their home threw up on itself? Anyone?

(and this is the better room...)

Excuse the lack of posts while I try to put my home back in order...

Wish me luck.

I'm gonna need it.

Because the Orchard was Closed This Year...

2011-09-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

The orchard we go to pick apples during Labor Day was closed this year. No fruit. What?! Who's ever heard of an orchard with no fruit?! Seriously.

I am really going to miss those freshly picked apples this year. At least the ones in the store are pretty decent right now.

Now I have apples on the brain. If you haven't seen this post with my favorite apple recipes, you won't be disappointed.

Here's some of the apple activities I have harvested to do with my boys at home.

I had Mr. Two pick apples (sort and collect the apple colored pom poms) so that we can use them in some future activities. I gave him a huge bowl of pom poms and he loved finding the apples.

I found some great apple activities on Making Learning Fun that are on our to do list. I love this 100 apples activity. I also found an apple pom pom match game.

Musings of Me has a cute apple mini unit that has some good stuff included.

I have a fun apple game in the works, hopefully to be posted soon...

If you missed these posts, here are a few more apple activities here and here we have done in the past.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2011-09-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I love pumpkins, and pumpkin recipes. Here's my favorite pumpkin pancake recipe. I used a recipe found in Better Homes and Gardens magazine several years ago, but added a few extras to make them even tastier.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoon cinnamon (I would use smaller amount if using chocolate chips)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (use 1/4 teaspoon if using chocolate chips)
(You could also substitute 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg if you have it on hand)
1 3/4 cups milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup cooking oil
* package of semi sweet mini chocolate chips (you will not use the whole bag)

In a large bowl combine flour and other dry ingredients In a second bowl combine eggs and remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture unil slightly lumpy.
Heat lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. Pour batter onto skillet and cook until golden, turn when tops are bubbly and edges are slightly dry. Makes 16 large pancakes (or about 20 smaller cakes).

*Now, if you want to give them more pizzaz, sprinkle a small handful of mini semi sweet chocolate chips over the tops of your pancakes after you pour them onto your skillet.

You can top these babies with good old butter and maple syrup, or if you want something really decadent, try adding my favorite buttermilk syrup (recipe from my Aunt Shelly, who has a serious talent for baked goods...)

Aunt Shelly's Buttermilk Syrup

2 cubes (1 cup) butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Boil ingredients together in large saucepan for five minutes. Remove from heat. Add about 1 teaspoon vanilla if desired. Serve over pancakes, waffles or french toast.

Are you hungry now?

More Monster Fun

2011-09-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Remember our little monster play date? Well, I guess there are lots of others who have had monsters on the brain (Halloween is just around the corner...) as well.

Here's a cute monster glove puppet and magnetic monsters I found online. These are on my to do list.

I was thinking about the monster eye sort activity that we did earlier, and I wanted to somehow turn the basic concept into a game for my boys. Here's what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it with your own "little monsters."

Make a Monster Game (um, I am running out of creative game names...)

You will need:
playdough (make some of your own or just grab some at the store)
number die
color die
colored wiggle eyes
dish to place eyes in (so they don't end up all over your kitchen floor...)

How to play:
First, color a blank wooden cube with corresponding colors from you wiggle eyes (I only had 5 colors, so I left one blank). If you want to be able to reuse your die, just color white dot or square stickers the colors you want, then stick them on.

Make a monster body out of playdough for each player.

Roll your colored die and number die together.

Add the same amount of eyes in the color your dice show.

If you have only 5 colors like me, you have two options. You could color the blank space rainbow, and let your monster have rainbow colored eyes, or you could simply let them re-roll to get another color or choose any color.

Remove the eyes before rolling again to create a new monster on the next turn.

To extend this activity, compare your monsters. Who has the most eyes? Which monster has the least?

This is great counting practice, but also a good activity to strengthen those little fine motor hand muscles. Pinching and placing the eyes will exercise those fingers.

Mr. Two loved playing this game, and told me he wanted to play it again another day. Success!

The Great Race

2011-09-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

During Curriculum Night, this is the game that Mr. Two's preschool teacher had out to play and take home. Although Mr. Two didn't want anything to do with playing it at the school, he really enjoyed playing this one at home. Go figure.

Here it is: (I take no credit for this idea, but I'll take credit for recognizing a good thing when I see it! :))

The Great Race

You will need:
one lima bean "die", with a 1 on one side and a 2 on the other (write with a sharpie)
game board (The game board is a line of ten boxes, numbered one to ten on a half sheet of cardstock.)
game token(s), which could be just another unmarked bean (oh, a tiny car would be fun as well)

How to play:

Each player takes a turn shaking and dumping the lima bean die. The player calls out the number that is face up on the bean, then moves the token accordingly. The first player to get their token to the number 10 wins.

Here's the most important part:

When a player moves his/her token, he/she doesn't count the number of spaces he/she is moving. Instead, he/she names the numbers on the spaces through which he/she moves.

Example: Let's say that my token is resting on the "3" box and I have "rolled" a 2. As I move my token along the game board, I say, "4, 5." If I "roll" a 2 on my next tun, I move my token and say, "6, 7."

This is a bit counter-intuitive, and kids will sometimes forget the rule. If a child makes a mistake or forgets the name of a number, give him/her a reminder and hep him/her repeat the move correctly.

Have fun with this simple activity that creates stronger number sense.

Museum Fun with the Peanuts Gang

2011-09-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

This Saturday we headed back to AMY for their Peanuts Play Ball exhibit. Mike and I grew up reading Peanuts as kids and we love to watch the Charlie Brown movies during the holidays. When we heard that they were doing this exhibit, we knew that we wanted to take the boys to explore. They had lots of the comic strips hanging on the walls, as well as details about the Peanuts gang and their creator. It would have been nice to go through the exhibit without kids for a bit to read all of the information, but our kiddos just wanted to get to the activities!

We made glow in the dark masks and played in the pumpkin patch dark room. Mr. Two loved his mask and wore it through the rest of our time in the museum, until it ripped and he got a bit upset. Good thing we have tape at home!

The boys had fun pretending to be Snoopy aka the Flying Ace.

This picture is for Grammy, our favorite piano teacher. The boys loved the trying out Schroeder's piano, which played Fur Elise. I couldn't resist striking a Lucy pose.

The boys threw out a few pitches.

Anyone need some psychiatric advice? Mr. Three just wanted to swipe the wooden nickles and play with them throughout the rest of the exhibit.

Sending a letter to Snoopy.

Mr. One had a great time building his own kingdom, guarded by a loyal knight and a fierce dragon.

Mr. Two and Mr. Three tried their hand at some sketching.

Thank goodness they have a play area just for the under four years old set. Mr. Three can only handle the older kid exhibits for so long. Everything in this area is hands on, so that made him a happy toddler! There are giant soft blocks for building, a puppet theater and a large play house to explore. I didn't get any pictures. I guess by the time we got there, I was a bit tired out!

It was a fun day to spend together as a family.

Note to Self: Pizza and Toddlers

2011-08-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

Note to self:

Do not leave a warm pizza on an accessible counter with an unsupervised and hungry toddler.

This is what happens.

Spilled pizza. Messy kitchen floor. Hysterically laughing older brothers. Slightly annoyed, but amused parents. Happy toddler.

This baby loves his pizza!

Cookies, Please!

2011-08-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

At the grocery store yesterday, I quickly walked past the bakery to continue my shopping. Normally my two older children ask to stop and get a cookie. Because I only had Mr. Three with me, I assumed he wouldn't really care if we stopped or not. As I continued on towards the meat department, a tiny voice sweetly said, "Cookie?" I looked down and saw that darling chubby face and said, "What do you say?" He answered, "Eese?" (That's please in Mr. Three speak.)

How can you not go back to the bakery for a cookie after that? That boy has me wrapped around his finger!

Simple Logic Game

2011-08-22T17:21:00.002-07:00

I have about an hour to an hour and a half of time in the morning where Mr. Two and I have some one-on-one time together, during Mr. Three's nap. I do love this little bit of time to play games and do chores together with Mr. Two.

Here's a fun little game we played this morning. You could easily adapt this to use any small items you already have in your home.

What's in my Hand?

You will need:

two matching sets of small objects (we used turtles and frogs, but you could also use plastic dinosaurs, beads, pom poms, buttons, etc.)

a small bag to hide the objects in

Here's how you play:

First, divide your two sets of objects, placing one set in your bag and the other on your table, floor, or wherever you are playing.

Have one person reach into the bag and choose one object to hide in their hand. Leave the remaining objects hidden in the bag.

The other person needs to ask yes or no questions to determine which item is hiding in the other person's hand.

As each question is answered, the person asking the questions removes all of the items that are now not possibilities for what is in the other person's hand.

When the questioner has narrowed down the items to one, the answerer opens their hand and they check to see if they match.

Here's one round of play with Mr. Two to give you a better idea of how this is done.

I didn't take a picture of the group of turtles and frogs all together, but at the start of the game, Mr. Two has selected one creature, which is hiding in his hand, and the other animals are hidden in a bag. The second set of turtles and frogs is on the couch.

Me: Does your animal have spots?
Mr. Two: No.
I remove all the animals with spots from the group.

Me: Is your animal a turtle?
Mr. Two: No.
I remove all of he turtles.

Me: Does your frog have two colors?
Mr. Two: Yes.
I remove all of the solid colored frogs.

Me: Does your frog have a skinny stripe on its back?
Mr. Two: No.
I remove the frog with the skinny black stripe.

Me: Does your frog have blue on it?
Mr. Two: Yes.
This narrows it down to one frog. We check to see if this is the same frog Mr. Two has in his hand.

We made a match! Now we can switch roles and play again.

You can increase or decrease the level of difficulty by controlling the number of objects you are using. You could either use like or not alike items in your sets. You could make sets with only plastic dinosaurs, or you may have many different small plastic items in your sets, such as beads, farm animals, wiggle eyes, pom poms, and dinosaurs.

For very young children, you will want to use items that only have one or two differences to make the questioning easier for them to begin. (Example: you could use colored bears that are large and small, so they would only have to ask about color and size, instead of being overwhelmed with too many variables.)

Have fun building logic skills through play!

* Linking here and here.

Color Sorting Mat

2011-08-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

When I saw this mat on Frugal Family Fun Blog, I knew I wanted to make something similar.

Here's what I came up with:

Fold-up Color Sorting Mat with Pocket

I found fat quarters in the basic colors and cut 6" squares of each of the 10 colors. I sandwiched in a layer of felt between the muslin backing to give it a little more structure, and added a simple side pocket and ribbon closure.

It folds and ties for easy storing and carrying.

I love the pocket at the end to store sorting treasures. I think when I make another, I'll opt for a full zipper instead of velcro. If I post a full tutorial, I'll be changing that.

Mr. One had a good time sorting beads on our new mat.

My boys had fun sorting our tub of frogs and turtles using the mat as well.

Have fun sorting!

First Day(s) of School

2011-08-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

School is back in full swing here now. Mr. One is now a first grader and Mr. Two is in preschool.

The boys started school on different days, so we got to have two first days.

They are both loving their teachers and making new friends.

Here is how I was greeted on the morning of Mr. One's first day of school.

I have some very creative dressers on my hands.

Luckily, it didn't take too much convincing to get at least Mr. One in more school appropriate attire. (Don't you love how Mr. Three had to get in on the photo taking session as well?)

I'm so relieved he still lets me pick out his clothes. I realize that this will not last. He is just so handsome in his preppy clothes and Cars backpack. This kid is growing up so fast, I can hardly stand it. I can still see my big eyed, chubby cheeked babe in his face sometimes, but the cheeks are melting away to reveal a more mature little boy, who pays more attention to the world around him. Maybe a little too much attention...

After his first day, Mr. One said his day was, "Awesome!" He truly loves school. I hope he keeps that enthusiasm.

He has several friends from kindergarten in his room and a wonderful teacher. I taught 3 of her 4 children in kindergarten, and she was my aide in the morning the last year that I taught. She then started teaching full time the year I left to stay home. It has been fun to see the tables turn and to be able to help her out this time around, as she was an amazing support for me when I taught.

Mr. Two took a little more convincing to get excited about preschool.

Even though he talked excitedly about going to preschool all the previous week, I had to nearly drag him into the classroom at the beginning of the day. When I picked him up, he was all smiles in the room, but grumpy in the car. He was upset with me because he didn't get to eat lunch in the cafeteria (they eat their lunches in the classroom as part of the program). I mistakenly told him he would be eating a cafeteria lunch at school, so naturally, he figured they'd eat it in the cafeteria. My bad. Overall, he said he had a good day, and decided to keep going, even though he didn't like all the singing.

The only item Mr. Two requested for "school supplies" was a Mater water bottle. If that's all it takes, he can have it! He was so excited to go to Target and pick one out. Simple pleasures.

Mr. Three and I have a little stretch of time alone together. He is a little confused sometimes that his brothers aren't around. When we went over to my parents' house after dropping Mr. Two off at school, my mom jokingly asked Mr. Three where his brothers were. He started wandering around the house looking for them, then getting confused when he couldn't find them. It will be nice to have some one-on-one time together and errand running will be much quicker with only one person to strap into a car seat!

Happy new school year to all!

Summer Vacation 2011: Car Day

2011-08-13T23:08:00.000-07:00

Friday was Car Day. We started off the morning visiting the auto mechanic shop that is literally across the street from Joe and Jenny's house. The mechanics there love Cate and they revved up an engine for us and chatted. My boys loved looking around in the shop. Like Doc's shop from Cars!

We drove into L.A. to go to the Petersen Automotive Museum. Can I just say my boys (all four of them) were in heaven?! So many cars, so little time to drool...

We arrived later than we originally planned, at about 11:00am. L.A. traffic is no joke! There were so many cars and exhibits to explore. The boys were completely mesmorized and I was a bit surprised at how well behaved they were with all the looking and no touching. It helped that there was an escalator and an elevator and few people inside so they had a wider area to explore under our supervision.

There is a classic car area at the beginning of the museum that takes you through a history of the automobile, with lots of vintage automobiles and a Southern California streetscape.

We saw lots of super cars.

I would like one of these please!

This photo is for Clayton, the Lamborghini Countach.

Mike would like this one under the tree from Santa...

We even saw one of Elvis's cars that he shot in frustration. The bullet holes are still there.

There is a whole Hollywood exhibit with famous cars from films.

A car from The Great Race. Classic car movie.

Of course, one of the Batmobiles.

We even saw the Speed Racer, but somehow forgot to snap a picture of it.

There were lots of motocycles and scooters.

Then there was the Hot Wheels exhibit.

All time seemed to stand still for a bit while the adult boys reminisced about past cars and childhood adventures, and the little boys dreamed of playing with all of the cars.

They had every model ever made from the beginning of Hot Wheels on display (not every paint job, but every model). They had some molds that were used to cast the cars and videos showing the process.

The boys were mesmorized by the giant tire track in the entrance that lit up and had hundreds of cars adhered to the tracks.

After peeling the boys away from the Hot Wheels, we headed back downstairs to Johnny Rockets. It was perfect to have a diner inside the museum. With the weather so beautiful, we ate outside. This is a great choice for families. The prices were reasonable, and what kid doesn't love diner fare? Hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches, fries and shakes all around!

Hmm... What to get...

Yummy!

Peanut butter fudge shake heaven!

Mr. Three is plain worn out with all this eating and looking at cars.

With everyone happy and fed again, we ventured to the third floor of the museum with the kids' exhibits.

There was a police motorcycle to sit on (we all had to have a turn), hot wheel and pinewood derby tracks, and other interactive opportunities.

Mr. One and Mr. Two loved putting on a helmet and riding in a real race car. Mr. One sat in this a long time, dreaming of racing on a track.

Mr. Three liked the mini fire engine, but wouldn't stay sitting for a photo once he discovered the bell in the front.

There were markers to color on the walls, toy cars to play with, and car books to read. This was the perfect last stop for our car day.

Reluctantly, we gathered the worn out, but happy children and got a quick souvenir (a flat penny with the museum name and a car or motorcycle imprinted) and a promise to let them choose a Hot Wheel at the nearby Target.

They slumbered, dreaming of roads and speed as we navigated the thick L.A. rush hour traffic to get back.

That evening, after our Target stop, all of Mike's family that are in California came over to celebrate Cate's 2nd birthday with a pizza dinner at the park, singing and presents, with cupcakes afterwards. Joe and Jenny even found Cars cupcakes, so my boys were beyond happy. It was fun to have everyone together and to visit some more.

The next morning, we packed up and headed for hot Arizona again, thankful for a fun vacation with family and the memories we were able to create together. We are so blessed to have family that graciously welcomes us to stay and for the good times we always have.

Summer Vacation 2011: Kickin' it in LaVerne

2011-08-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we drove to stay with Mike's brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Jenny and their cute Cate. We stopped for McDonald's on the way and they gave us "girl toys" in the boys' happy meals. Big disappointment. Apparently they ran out of the Star Wars toys. We were told we could exchange their toys at any other McDonald's. Out with Strawberry Shortcake and in with Smurfs. What's up with the 80's revival kid stuff?

When we got to Joe and Jenny's we went to a nearby splash pad/park and let the kids play. What little boy can resist riding a shark?!

They loved getting wet and running about with their little cousin.

All bundled up and drying off. I love this shot.

The boys also had fun in Joe and Jenny's back yard, playing with the water and sand toys.

My sister in law is so good at finding inexpensive things and using them for play. She is also a talented thrift/consigment/yard sale hunter. I'm a little jealous of her great finds! Great tip: Buy big paint brushes at the dollar store and let the kids paint with water outside. They loved doing this, and using the big "real" brushes was better fun than the wimpy watercolor brushes I gave them at our house to paint the sidewalk with.

We had a quiet dinner and then put the kiddos to bed so the adults could stay up and play games. We had so much fun laughing and playing Blokus and Quiddler, staying up a little too late. At least the kids were better rested for the next big day of fun!

Summer Vacation: Wednesday at Old Town and the Beach

2011-08-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was going to be our "spend the day at the beach" day. Renee and Kamuela's family drove over to hang out for the day and go to the beach with us. My boys were thrilled to have their cousins there to spend another day together. Their kids are quite a bit older than ours, but that doesn't matter one bit when they are together. They just play and enjoy being kids, regardless of age. I love that.

Well, it started out totally overcast and foggy. The weather report predicted the sun coming out only later in the day, so we headed off to Old Town for the late morning/early afternoon. There are lots of little museums and shops in Old Town.

We found the little Mason School (first public school) and a big garden behind the La Casa de Machado y Stewart, an original adobe home.

They boys loved the blacksmith shop, where they were doing some metal work demonstrations.

They also spent some time climbing on an old out of use cannon in the middle of the square.

We headed back to Carla's for a quick lunch and then drove to the beach. We got there after 2 pm and the sun was out. The water was the same temperature as the air (in the 70's), so it was just a tad cold for this desert girl, but not uncomfortable. We weren't there for as long as we had hoped we could be, due to the fog, but we took advantage of the afternoon we had there.

The boys loved digging and splashing in the waves with their cousins.

Mr. Two actually boogie boarded and was quite the little "surfer dude," thanks to help from Auntie Carla. He seemed to just float on top of the waves like a feather. He loved it. Mr. One tried to stand on a boogie board as the waves came in, toppled over, declared there was salt water in his mouth and put his surfing aspirations on hold yet again (remember this is the child who declared he would only go boogie boarding when he was thirty?). He decided that standing in the waves on his own two feet was adventure in the ocean enough.

Mr. Three did not like walking in the sand, but did like the water and the wet sand along the beach. We were hard pressed to get him out of the water.

The kids also had fun riding in an inflatable boat that Carla had brought. Mike got to go out boogie boarding and I watched the kids play. I love sitting on the beach and getting my feet wet, but no swimming or boogie boarding for me! We got the kiddos exhausted and then grilled a simple hot dog and veggie dinner and put them to bed with little complaint.

One more item of note: Mr. One lost his second front top tooth (with a little help from Daddy). Don't you just love that smile? The tooth fairy almost forgot to stop by, but luckily made a quick dash for the tooth in the morning after everyone was out of the bedroom. ;)

Something I love about having Mike's sister Carla around is that she really listens to my kids and spends time being on their level. They love to bombard her with stories and questions and she takes it all in and savors being in the moment with them. I always leave her house with a renewed desire to be more like that with my family. She just loves my kids and makes them feel so important. We always look forward to visits with her.

Summer Vacation Continued: Tuesday in San Diego

2011-08-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

We drove to San Diego to stay with my sister in law for the next part of our trip. Carla just purchased a home in San Diego, and even though it is still in the middle of renovation, it is already so cute!

Tuesday after lunch, we headed down to Imperial Beach, along with Mike's brothers Dan and Josh.

First stop, Cow-A-Bunga Micro Ice Creamery. Oh yummy!

I had peanut butter brownie and mint cookie in a waffle cone. Mr. Three loved it as well!

The boys gobbled up some rainbow sherbet.

Mike had the cheesecake and pistachio. Their flavors are not overly sweet, but full of flavor. After our ice cream, we wandered along the pier and saw a group of dolphins.

Can you see them in the picture? Squint a bit. There they are! There were lots of people fishing off the pier. My kids were so excited to see some freshly caught fish as we wandered.

We had to play around on the rocks and sand and then pose for the camera at the Imperial Beach entry sculpture. It was much too breezy to get in the water.

Next stop was the Mormon Battalion Museum. They have recently redone the entire building and it is more kid-friendly. The first thing you do is to go on an interactive video tour of the Mormon Battalion trail. There are talking pictures and sister missionaries who guide you along the trail and explain some of the things that happened. You move through rooms, representing the different points of the journey, and at the end, there is a picture spot, some computers set up to see more history and geneology of members of the Mormon Battalion. Lastly, outside, you can wash some clothes on a wash board, pump water, pan for gold, build with bricks and take a climb up to a lookout tower to see all of Old Town.

My boys loved the outdoor activities.

Mr. One and Mr. Two had fun panning for gold and building with the bricks.

It's never too early to instill the importance of washing the laundry.

I couldn't get Mr. Three away from the water.

Outside the museum is a covered wagon and statues, so of course, we had to take a few pictures.

That evening, we met up with Mike's parents for dinner at Casa Guadalajara. All of the reviews were positive, praising the authentic Guadalajara cuisine. The place was very busy, and the building was lovely, so we thought this would be a great spot to eat. Mike and his dad (who both served missions in Guadalajara, Mexico) were especially looking forward to the food.

Patiently waiting.

Still waiting...

Let's just say the wait was long (as in over an hour to get seated). The service was really awful (30 minutes just to get drinks and take our order). The food was ok (definitely not authentic), but the restaurant itself was beautiful. The weather was perfect, and the company was wonderful. Next time, we'll be researching for a better dinner spot. The rest of the day certainly made up for the little disappointment in our end of day meal.

Summer Vacation 2011

2011-08-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

Excuse my lack of posting for the past few weeks. Last week, we spent time in California with family and I have spent the majority of this week getting settled back in and getting ready for school to start NEXT WEEK!

Our first vacation stop was in Calimesa to spend a few days with family there. We drove over late Sunday night and crashed. On Monday, we basically hung out, playing games and visiting all day. Mike got his Risk fix with a marathon game that lasted hours and hours. The boys loved playing Legos and running around with cousins. We headed to a nearby park for a picnic with hot dogs and s'mores. Wow, was it amazing to be outside in the early evening and have such perfect weather!

The kids loved playing on playground equipment that didn't scorch their little rumps and climbing the trees.

I loved sitting in the sunshine without sweating and watching my kids have so much fun. Of course the chatting and the s'mores were a big bonus as well.

The boys may have eaten more than their fair share of the marshmallows during the s'mores cooking.

Lego Tips from my sister-in-law!!

While in Calimesa, my boys poured over some Lego magazines that their cousins had in the house. My sister in law clued me in on some great Lego "insider" tips. Did you know that Lego puts out a magazine, and you can order a FREE 2 year subscription here? Yes, it's mainly a big advertisement for their products, but my boys loved reading and rereading them at their cousins' home. There are building tips and comics and lots of other Lego activities inside. They have a version for younger children and one for the 7+ set. Also, if you have lost or have broken Lego pieces from recently produced sets, you can reorder those pieces here. Hooray for that! Thanks, Renee!

It's the Dog Days of Summer

2011-07-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't resist using "the dog days of summer" in a post. Here's a simple and fun play date I set up for my boys this summer.

You know we can't start off anything big without a book, or several books!

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

Poor George can't bark and his mother is worried. All that comes out is sounds from other animals. A trip to the vet should sort this mess out. Simple and funny with a great little twist at the end. This book is my favorite dog book so far.

Move Over, Rover! by Karen Beaumont

Rover's in the doghouse, and some unwelcome visitors decide to join him during the storm. See what drives them all quickly outside, rain or no rain! Repetitive and rhyming, this is a good one for the preschool set.

The Stray Dog by Marc Simont

This lovable stray dog may have just found the perfect family in this simple story with a sweet ending.

Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell

Confession time: I think Clifford is quite silly and not the best literature. In a world of amazing children's books, I didn't really think they were worth my consideration. However, my boys find him totally endearing and so we read Clifford books. Lots of them. I admit, they have grown on me and I do like that the simple text makes good reading material for Mr. One. You also have to appreciate the simple story lines and emphasis on being kind and a loving central family.

Hondo and Fabian by Peter McCarty

If not for the story, this book is worth a read to gaze at the soft, warm illustrations. This book takes us along on a day with Hondo (the dog) and Fabian (the cat). While it seems that their individual activities should be quite different from each other, they, in fact, share many similarities.

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

Harry goes on an adventure and gets very dirty. So dirty, that his family doesn't even recognize him! Poor Harry. Luckily a good scrub in the tub will reveal his true spots. (It would be fun to get a few plastic dogs or washable stuffed ones, let them roll in the mud, and give them a good scrub after reading this story.)

There is a great collection of printables and activities that go with Bark, George on Making Learning Fun. Mr. Two loved the shadow matching game, and Mr. One and Mr. Two liked the George Barks emergent reader. I tried to convince Mr. One to use the Bark George outline and create his own animals to put in his belly and write their sounds on a speech bubble, but he wanted to play with his legos at that point. (Just keeping it real, folks!)

We made our own doggie bones using this breadstick recipe, and knotting the ends instead of twisting the whole dough strip. (So yummy with fettucini alfredo.)

We made doggie ears from some white construction paper and stamped circles of paper with my boys' doggie names for their collars. Super simple. Here are "George" and "Benji" (yes, they chose their own dog names).

Then, I tested my doggies on their keen digging and retrieving skills. They dug through our foam bath letters and numbers for the item I requested, then dropped it into their doggie dish and barked the name of the letter or number.

Obviously, I need to help Mr. Two with the whole number/letter concept.

Don't worry, all that hard work was not left unrewarded. Each obedient doggie was given a doggie biscuit (graham cracker shapes).

I also thought of playing doggie doggie where's your bone? but let's face it, it's not that challenging to figure out who's hiding the bone when there are only three of us...

A few other places to find some fun doggie ideas.

Oopsey Daisy has a dog themed mommy school post.
Making Learning Fun has a whole section on a pet theme.

Enjoy these last few dog days of summer!

Note to Self: Yogurt and Babies

2011-07-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Note to Self:

No matter how adorable your one year old is, no matter how he bats his eyes and babbles to you, do not give in and let him feed himself a tube of yogurt. In case you need visual motivation, see here.

Bad idea. Yogurt in the baby: 5%. Yogurt on the baby: 95%.

On the other hand, just to remind yourself how sweet above-mentioned baby can be without his own tube of yogurt, see here.

He already loves the scriptures. You have to be happy about that!

Me and My Sweet Tooth...

2011-07-18T13:34:00.001-07:00

Two clues as to why I can't seem to lose these last... several... pounds of "baby weight". These are both amazing, but loaded with butter and sugar. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Creme Brulee French Toast. Need I say more?! Find the recipe here.

Homemade Twix bars. May be even better than the real thing... recipe here.

I need to work on finding and trying out some more waistline-friendly recipes. Help!

Things that Make Me Giggle

2011-07-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

My sister in law Jenny tipped me off to this delightful board book. Our local library summer reading program gives each child who completes it a free book. They get to choose it online and then the book choice is shipped to your home. There's little else more exciting than packages in the mail for little boys. This book was on the list of board books for Mr. Three. I happily snatched it up for him. My boys laughed and laughed as we read this together. Mike and I had a good chuckle reading it too. Nothing like a naughty baby to bring giggles in our house. Seriously, if you have a baby/toddler, you will want this book!

Mr. Two is our most creative dresser. Here's his latest dress up costume. I think he told me this was his "caveman outfit." (Who knew caveman wore scrub pants, firefighter helmets, eye patches on their mouths and super hero capes, and carried a sword and shield?) How could you not smile at that?!

We are reading our second Beverly Cleary book this summer. We finished The Mouse and the Motorcycle and are now reading Ribsy. We all giggled when poor Ribsy had to endure a gigantic violet scented bubble bath. I loved the Ramona books as a young girl and am loving the more "boy-centered" stories now with my children. Have you seen the movie "Ramona and Beezus"? It is so adorable! My whole family enjoyed it.

What's making you giggle this summer?

My Little Scientists

2011-07-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

Have you been to Frugal Family Fun Blog? Love it. Need to add it to my sidebar, along with lots of other updates on my site...

I saw this post and knew my boys would love it. And love it they did! Who knew a bunch of colored water and stuff around the house could provide such a wonderful dramatic play environment?

Mixing colors.

Using funnels.

Sucking up water with medicine droppers.

Spilling and splashing.

Playing with color on cotton balls.

Studying the color combinations.

In the end, they finished with a big brown-hued bottle of water, which they tried to get each other to drink. Gross.

This kept them happy for over an hour. I would have let them stay out longer, but it's just too hot here (even in the morning). This is one activity I'm sure will get lots of repeat requests.

Slip and Slide

2011-07-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun playing on the slip and slide at my parents' house a few weekends ago.

Here's some pics from our fun day.

Mr. One really got into the sliding, surfer style on his shins. He actually slid on the slip and slide. The younger set had a harder time figuring this out.

Mr. Two in for a splash down. You really have to see him in action to get the full effect, but he would run full speed to the slip and slide, jump onto it, stop, and then army crawl his way to the splash pool at the end. Hilarious!

Mr. Three loved splashing in the water, but didn't really want to slide. He did enthusiastically shout, "Go! Go!," while the other boys were running and sliding.

The boys had so much fun playing outside and getting wet with their cousins. Thanks to Aunt Eva for bringing the slip and slide and setting it up. It was the perfect hot weather activity!

Mini Monster Play Date

2011-07-08T09:29:00.002-07:00

This weekend, we had a little play date with our cousins (actually this whole month could be considered an extended play date, as we have had the kids together most days).

I found these great posts about monster play dates and decided to use them as a springboard. First is this monster play date from Oopsey Daisy. Second, is this monster lesson plan from Mrs. Home Economist. There is some seriously good stuff there!

To start any good activity, you know I need some books. Here are my monster book picks:

My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck

Sweet rhyming story about why a monster mama loves her child. Be sure to look for the hidden items in each picture.

Monster Math by Anne Miranda

One little monster is having a birthday party. Watch as the party grows, by ones, then by tens as more monsters join in on the fun.

Jeepers Creepers A Monstrous ABC by Laura Leuck

A silly alphabet adventure with 26 colorful monsters. A fun little twist at the end of the story awaits.

Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly

A great simple book to reassure little ones as they build a monster page by page, then watch the scary monster disappear one piece at a time.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Classic story about a little boy Max, who is banished to his room for being too wild and his colorful imaginary (or was it real...) journey to the land of the wild things.

There was an Old Monster by Rebecca Emberly

A fun twist on the I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly story, only this time with a crazy critter eating monster.

Here are the activities that we did after our stories.

Monster eye sorting

I found the sorting cards here. The kids had fun sorting the colored eyes onto the monsters. I will mix the eyes into a big ball of playdough like Alison did next time. I think my boys would have fun playing with the playdough and creating crazy monsters with it.

Monster candy bracelets

I found this candy jewelry kit on clearance after Halloween. The boys had fun stringing on the candy beads and eating their monstrous creations afterwards.

Additional Ideas

I also found this monster coloring page from Ed Emberly's website that would be fun to color.

There is also a flannel board pattern to recreate the big green monster on Making Learning Fun.

Making Learning Fun has a bunch of literature based monster activities as well.

1+1+1=1 has a Monster tot book printable.

File Folder Fun has a great Monster Manners game.

linking here

and here

Pizza Post

2011-07-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

At storytime this week with Andrew's previous preschool teacher, we had a pizza day. Here are two of the fun activities we did there. If you wanted to do these at home, why not add making your own pizza(s) for lunch or dinner afterward?

Pete's a Pizza by William Steig

My kids loved this book and activity. As the teacher read the book, which is about a grumpy boy whose father decides to cheer him up by making HIM a pizza (rolling him out, sprinkling him with cheese...), we acted out the story with the kids. There were so many giggles and squeals of delight! You could not finish making your kids into a pizza without smiles on faces all around. So clever, and the author was 90 years old when he wrote it!

This is an adaptation to the "Five Brown Buns" chant, but changed to "Five Slices of Pizza"

Draw five pizza slices on a white board and add your own interesting toppings (shapes, letters, sight words, numbers, etc.). As you repeat the chant, have your child erase the corresponding pizza slice.

Down around the corner at the pizza shop
Were slices of pizza with interesting things on top
Along came (insert child's name) with some money to pay
and saw the one with (insert chosen topping) on it and took it away.

This story time made me hungry!

Splish Splash

2011-06-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying some time outdoors with water this month. It is officially summer, which means we are now in almost perpetual heat advisory mode until September.

A few weekends ago, we had a giant water play date with cousins. We gave the kids squirt guns and water balloons. We turned on the sprinklers, thinking they would like to run in them, but it only scared them and they ran away. They did like being squirted with the spray attachment on the hose however. Mr. One and Mr. Two have asked several times if we can do this again.

Mr. One and Mr. Two took a session of swim lessons at one of the city pools and are making progress. At least they only cried one day instead of the whole time (like last year) and they started gaining confidence in the water. This was a huge step for Mr. One, who has been very afraid of the water. He had a sweet high school aged boy as his teacher who was incredibly encouraging and helped him overcome some of his fears. He even ventured away from the wall in the deep end and tried to swim a little bit out to his teacher, which is something he wouldn't do last year and was very worried about doing this year. I truly feel like he had the perfect teacher for him. That was a huge blessing. I'm going to try and get them into at least one more session this summer.

Earlier this week, we went out to Tempe Town Lake to their splash pad. I love this place! It was just big enough for the kids to wander and have fun, but small enough for me to keep a good watch on them. There is a small water slide, some waterfall features and lots of puddles and squirting water. There is a large shaded picnic area nearby for eating. There are lifeguards on duty as well. I only wish there was a bit more shaded seating for the adults right on the edge of the water part. My older two boys loved playing and I had a hard time getting them to leave.

Mr. Three didn't like it so much (I guess it was too much like a giant shower for him), and he fell and hit his little noggin pretty hard on the ground. He was much happier being carried.

Next time, I'll wear my suit and cover up so I can get wet and help Mr. Three better. We'll bring lunch too, so that we can stay longer and play.

I have a feeling we will be spending more time this summer playing in the water!

* all pics from Tempe Town Lake Splash Playground

Make a Match Game

2011-06-14T14:41:00.001-07:00

Here's details to one of the games we played together during our game day from my previous post:

I found the original idea for this game in this book, to use with the funtastic frogs* bucket. I have adapted the game to play without a game board and to use more manipulatives. It can be played as a partner game or with more players (2-4 players would be best).

Take a small handful of frogs and count out 10 frogs. Put the rest back into the bucket.

The first player places one frog on the table. The second player has to make a match with one of their own frogs. You can match them by color or size.

Players continue to match one of their frogs to the last frog played. If a player does not have a frog to match, their turn is skipped and the next player can match their frog.

Play continues until either both players cannot match any of their remaining frogs or a player matches all of their frogs.

* If you don't have the frogs, don't worry. You can adapt this game to use a variety of items you have on hand, just make sure that the objects you are using have two attributes that you can match them with. (Size and shape, color and shape, etc.) Here are some things you could use: buttons, colored pasta shapes, plastic beads, or foam shapes. This was a game that was fun for both my six and three year old to play.

-linking to ABC and 123 Show and Tell

Game On!

2011-06-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Last week, one of our activities was to create some new game boards and play games together. I have several game board pattern books from teaching. I had the boys look through the books and choose a game/ game board they wanted to use, then copied them. I had them switch game boards, so that they worked on making the game for their brother. They colored and then we played together.

Mr. One liked making Mr. Two's board, but Mr. One wasn't so thrilled with the coloring job that Mr. Two did on his board. We had to have a talk about being appreciative and encouraging.

Mr. Two's board was simply a matching activity (they matched the same colored and sized frogs on the board). Mr. One's board was a race track with two lanes that you could play a variety of games on (more on this in another post). The third board was one I chose, and it was a matching and critical thinking game that I thought would be appropriately challenging for Mr. One (more on this in the next post). Mr. Three enjoyed a nap while we played.

The boys had so much fun making new games and playing. We will have to repeat this activity.

While Mom's Not Looking...

2011-06-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

This is what I saw as I walked into the kitchen after hearing an eruption of giggles from my older two boys:

Seriously, that baby is so fast at finding chocolate!

Note to self: Don't ever leave the pantry door opened when Mr. Three is awake. Or step away from Mr. Three while he is awake. Or leave chocolate within reaching distance of Mr. Three while he is awake...

Computer's Down!

2011-06-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

You'll have to be patient with me. Our computer is down. Hopefully it'll be an easy fix and will be up and running this weekend. I had a few simple repurposing tutorials and activities to share, but they'll have to wait. In the meantime, I'm sneaking in a bit of computer time at my parents' house while the kiddos play with cousins. I have our 10th anniversary this week to celebrate and lots of cleaning and projects to work on... Fun times! Hope your summer is full and fun so far!

Cupboard Capers

2011-06-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we jumped back on the cleaning wagon, starting with the kitchen cupboards. The boys giggled as I let them actually get inside the the cupboards to clean. This may have defeated the purpose, with little feet planted on the shelves, but I tricked them into thinking cleaning is a grand adventure yet again.

After cleaning, we sat together and read, starting The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. This was one of the books Mike enjoyed as a child, and I loved the Ramona books by the same author.

After a successful evening of swim lessons (Mr. One was the only one in his class that night, so he got lots of one on one instruction), we had Summer Chicken Salad (with avocados and cherries) on croissants with watermelon for dinner. (So. Yummy.)

P.S.- We only cleaned two cupboards before Mr. Three awoke from his (much too short) nap. Maybe we can actually finish today...

Summer So Far

2011-06-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

Here's a little listing of what our summer has entailed thus far.

Friday through Sunday was a family filled adventure camping up on Mt. Graham. My boys were covered in dirt, from head to toe and they loved every minute of it. I enjoyed the company, games and food, but mostly, the long shower when we got home. If I get some extra time, I'll post some more pics and details later...

Monday was Memorial Day. We spent our day moving my little sis into her new apartment, cleaning out the fridge (that was work I tell you!) and dining room, and looking at new dryers.

A fun little unplanned activity was finding a ladybug in hibernation mode in the fridge and watching it thaw out and releasing it onto our rose bush. The boys were fascinated and delighted by this little visitor.

Sadly, we didn't do anything very patriotic, and we ate Pasta Roni for dinner, not even a BBQ. We did manage to squeeze in an after dinner trip to Cold Stone (I had a coupon), where the boys got cotton candy ice cream with gummy bears (yuck!), and Mike and I tried the fruit sorbets (yum!).

Tuesday we bought a new dryer. I cannot even tell you how excited I am for this. I have been researching and comparing and pricing for so long now, and we got a great deal. Fingers crossed this reduces our electric bill and makes for faster laundry days.

I took the kids to the library to sign up for the summer reading program and lucked out because they were doing a fun bubble activity upstairs. The kids could blow bubbles in a giant kiddie pool filled with bubble solution, color bubble pictures, and they even had a pool set up where the teen library volunteers used a hula hoop to make a bubble around the kids. Mr. One loved playing with the bubbles. Mr. Two would have nothing to do with that, but had fun coloring. We checked out a large pile of books to read together and headed home for lunch and an afternoon of laundry sorting and folding instruction.

In the late afternoon, I told the boys to get on their swimsuits and get ready to swim. They were so excited. After they were securely buckled in, I gave them the rest of the story: they were going to swimming lessons, not a pool party. Mr. One cried and Mr. Two refused to get into the water for the first 10 minutes. Did I mention my kids don't like swimming lessons? By the end, they seemed like they were almost having fun.

I actually cooked a real dinner (Thai Peanut Noodles, strawberries, and Pot Stickers), which my kids hated and Mike and I loved. The boys had peanut butter and honey sandwiches and went to bed with little complaint.

Wednesday was movie day. The local theaters run kid-friendly movies each week in the morning for a discounted price. A friend with two boys close in age to mine and I bought summer passes. Each Wednesday, we stuff our purses with treats and head to the movies. This week was Clifford's Big Movie (a snooze for adults, but great for the kids). I forgot to bring water bottles and the popcorn was way over-buttered and over-salted. Mr. Three lost his shoes before the movie even began and insisted on walking the stairs barefoot for the last 20 minutes of the movie because he was done with the snacks and bored. We also had to wait an extra 10 minutes or so after the movie ended for the theater lights to come back on and find his missing shoes. During that time, the kids ran up and down the theater and Mr. Two peed his pants. Awesome.

After the movie disaster, we ate lunch at Grammy's and headed grocery shopping. For the most part the boys are good little shoppers. They like helping to pick out produce and steer the cart. However, they weren't cooperative the whole time. My kids also managed to run around the stores, point and make shooting and sword swishing noises at passing people with their little fingers. Mr. Two even voiced a few impolite shout outs to the "little old ladies" at the store. I would have hid if there was anywhere to hide. (We will be working on politeness and manners this week.)

I walked into the house with bags of groceries and felt an ant bite on my foot. Looking down, I saw my kitchen SWARMING with ants, as well as the garage. What?!!! I just mopped the night before. Poor Mr. Three had to go into the high chair for 45 minutes while I sprayed, swept, squished and silently cursed the swarming ants. I had "clean out the pantry and kitchen" on my summer to do list, but that really wasn't the plan for Wednesday.

I took the kids to swim lessons with Mr. Three protesting (he was fed up with being held and restricted by this point, but you can't let a baby wander a public pool area). The boys actually cooperated at lessons this time. We had hot dogs for dinner.

Today, we get to pick up our new dryer and hopefully do some reading and kitchen cupboard cleaning. So far, we aren't even finished getting dressed and it's past 11:00... Wish us luck!

We Must be Doing Something Right...

2011-05-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

After lunch today, my kids asked for a movie for quiet time. We haven't turned on the TV for several days, so I said yes. I figured I was in for another viewing of Cars or How to Train Your Dragon. They both eagerly asked if we could watch the Old Testament Stories DVD. They sat, completely absorbed in the Bible.

I don't know what we did, but we must have done something right!

Summer Plans

2011-05-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

This summer, I have three goals for my family. We are going to work, play and learn together.

1. Clean the house like it's never been cleaned before. This includes daily "deep cleaning" in a specific area of the house and (hopefully) implementing a new chore chart/schedule for daily upkeep. I want to teach my children how to do their chores correctly so that when school starts, they will know what to do by themselves. This is going to be a big project.

2. Every day, we will do something fun and out of the ordinary. The activities will mainly be simple and inexpensive things, but I want summer to have a little extra excitement. It may be going out for ice cream, making homemade playdough, or something more involved like having a "monster day." If I focus on just one extra fun thing, then hopefully the kids won't feel over-scheduled and I won't get overwhelmed. I'm also trying to vary the activities so that some can be done when Mike is home from work, that way, he can join in the fun as well.

3. Do simple things to keep their minds active. I'm thinking at least two "educational" activities a day. One will be to read every day, and then hopefully find a little time to do a journal entry, writing practice, play a math game, count, or sort, etc. I'm looking for some good read aloud chapter books for my boys as well. Any suggestions?

Overall, I want to really enjoy being home with my kids and doing things together as a family. I am excited to have them home full time for these next few months and looking forward to some vacation time in there as well. I'm hoping to achieve a balance between structured and unstructured time for each of us. Do you have any summer goals? Happy summer!

Apples for the Teacher

2011-05-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

Today is Mr. One's last day of kindergarten. He had such a wonderful year. We chose to send him to the school I taught at before becoming a stay at home mom. I shared an office with his teacher and consider her a friend as well as a colleague. It was fun to be in the classroom to support her and to see my oldest blossom. She has a gift for making the kids laugh and love learning. She has a passion for writing and science. The kids stretched to do their best, and met some high expectations. I had the privilege of helping out in his room, as well as subbing a few days for his teacher. Although there were almost twice as many boys as girls, they were such a mild mannered and kind group. I wish they could all stay together for first grade. I am so grateful he had such a good start to elementary school.

Here's what we put together as a little thank you from our family for Mr. One's teacher. I found the idea for the adorable apple mini oreos here. I put several in a small canning jar and tied it with some fun apple and owl fabric, and added a thank you from Mike and I and another from Mr. One himself. (Seriously, one of these days, I am actually going to take better pictures...)

I can't wait for our summer together as a family and a more relaxed schedule. More on our summer plans coming soon!

Pianos, Ponds, and Teeth

2011-05-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday began with Mr. One's piano recital. His song is entitled, "The Wooly Mammoth" and he played so well. Move over, Beethoven! I love his dramatic dynamics, the little swinging legs, and the way he quickly ducked/bowed at the end (I think he was really nervous). I am so grateful that Grammy is so willing to teach him. He is really enjoying playing the piano (and I love hearing him).

That evening, Mike and I took the kids to Sweet Tomatoes (a favorite family spot) for dinner. My boys gobble up the macaroni and cheese, jello, pizza, and the muffins. We make them eat a healthy salad first, but they don't complain if they can have unlimited amounts of the other stuff, not to mention the ice cream bar...

We sat next to the window and the boys noticed a little grassy park area outside with a pond and asked to go explore it. We walked over after our dinner and they happily watched the ducks (pointing out which ones were mallards), the koi fish, and the little box turtles swimming together. As we were nature watching, a cute young couple approached us and asked if we would like some bread to feed the ducks. They had some left over from feeding them at the other edge of the little pond. Of course the boys were delighted, so they gave us the rest of their bread, we thanked them and they went on their way. I hope the sound of the boys' happy giggles in the background put a smile on their faces as they walked. The simple kindness of strangers reminds me of just how much good is still in the world today.

For such a peaceful looking animal, Koi fish are especially aggressive animals when it comes to food! They would swim over, under and push away the turtles and other fish for a bite to eat. The ducks didn't even mess with them. We'd give a little cheer when a tiny turtle would eventually get their own bite before the fish attacked. Mr. Three was especially giddy about the animals. He laughed and laughed as they would race to the bread and fight over each piece. We left as the sky began to darken, headed home for baths, scripture reading and bedtime prayers.

On Sunday, Mr. One lost his second tooth. Only this time, it came out during Sunday dinner at my parents' house and unexpectedly became part of his dinner... Oops! The poor guy was so stricken that he swallowed his tooth. After being assured that others had done it and lived through the ordeal, he then worried about the tooth fairy. How would she know, because he couldn't put his tooth under his pillow? Luckily, Aunt Jaimee chimed in and said something to the effect of, "Don't you know that the tooth fairy has a beeper that goes off so she knows when you lose a tooth? She knows even if you swallow it." Thanks Jaimee! You saved the day.

I am loving his new "whistle talk" with his new front tooth gap. SSSSSweet!

Monday morning, sure enough, the tooth fairy pulled through with two new quarters for the "squeeky" machine. I am happy to report, he still plans on getting one for himself and one for Mr. Two. In fact, when I asked him if he would get two for himself, he looked a little offended that I would even think that.

It's weekends like this that remind me that I have much to be grateful for.

Happiness is doing simple things together as a family, and taking time to really enjoy the moments.

Special K Treats

2011-05-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I shared a recipe here, so I'm posting a family favorite today. It's an easy, no bake dessert that is kid-friendly. Perfect for a hot summer day, when you want to cook up something sweet with your kiddos and not heat up the house.

This creation was made famous (in our family at least) by my Aunt Annabel. No family gathering feels complete without seeing her tote in a brightly-hued Tupperware container with these little gems cut into itty bitty squares, ready to be devoured. This is her recipe, but I think she has magical abilities, because hers taste even better than the ones I make at home (and those really are mighty tasty). Maybe it's the wonderful company that is the special ingredient...

Special K Treats

1 cup white sugar
1 cup light Karo syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Special K Cereal
approx. 12 oz chocolate chips (or you could use half butterscotch, half chocolate, or peanut butter swirled chocolate chips are awesome too)

Put your sugar and corn syrup in a large pan and heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Once boiling, add your peanut butter and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and add cereal. Mix well and press into a 9x13 pan. Melt your chocolate and pour over the cereal mixture. Spread out evenly over top. Cut into small pieces (think 1-1 1/2 inch squares) while still soft. Place in fridge until the chocolate is set. Trust me, you'll think they're too little until you eat one and realize it's a bigger bite than you thought. Besides, if you cut them small, you can eat more than one and not feel as guilty! :)

Here's to a sweeter day!

Mother's Day Snapshots Without a Camera

2011-05-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Some Sundays, I just wish I could use a camera in church.
To preserve those priceless little memories of my children.
To scrapbook them and save them for the time when I can use them.
Use them to show my children exactly why I have gray hairs.
Use them to explain why their own children are doing exactly the same thing.
And why then I will be laughing and not feel guilty about it.

Here's a little snapshot of our Mother's Day sacrament meeting.

Music quietly starts and sweet little children start to walk calmly and reverently to the pulpit to sing to their mothers. Mr. One hides under the bench because he doesn't want to sing. Mr. Two looks at me with confusion, like, "What is going on here?" and "Do I have to go up there if Mr. One doesn't?" I forcefully whisper in Mr. One's ear that he needs to go up there and take his brother with him. Now. Reluctantly, he decides to cooperate. As long as he can drag his brother up to the front with him.

While the rest of the children sing lovingly to their mothers (or at least just stand still and smile), Mr. One and Mr. Two are up there, front and center, not singing, but digging for buried treasure (aka, picking their noses with zeal). As I finally get their attention and give them the "you better cut that out" stare-down, then fiercely smile and mouth, "Sing. Please," Mr. One decides to stop picking his nose and glare at me for the rest of the special musical presentation. I watched on with tears in my eyes, partly from humiliation, partly from the pure humor of the situation, and partly because, even in the midst of it, I love those crazy little boys. Oh the complex joys of raising children.

Marjorie Pay Hinkley put it perfectly: "The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

Happy Mother's Day, indeed.

Another Sticker Activity

2011-05-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

One more sticker activity to add to your little bag of tricks:

Write your child's name (or sight words, letters, etc.) with a bold marker. Have them use stickers to cover the letters, making a sticker name.

Happy sticking!

Sticker Counting

2011-05-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here's another simple thing for your preschooler to do with all of your little chart stickers: Sticker counting.

I used to make these sheets for Mr. One when he was a preschooler, and it would keep him occupied for large amounts of time.

Just use a marker or pen to draw boxes with numbers, and let those little fingers get to work sticking and counting. Throw a sticker pad and several of these sheets in a baggie, and you have another easy activity bag!

Love is... Baby Teeth, Quarters and Sharing

2011-05-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

On Mother's Day evening, Mr. One pulled out his first loose tooth. I love that he made sure to brush his teeth before pulling his loose tooth out. "It needs to be all clean for the tooth fairy," he told me.

He was so excited to stick his tiny tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy to collect, that he had a hard time falling asleep.

Waking before 6:30 am, he bounced into our room, declaring, "The tooth fairy left me TWO QUARTERS!" This would have been much more exciting if he could have waited for at least a half an hour longer...

Oh, how I love the magic of childhood! Believing that sweet fairies can sneak into your room and swap out dainty teeth for shiny quarters...

Then, the real magic of the moment began.

Without so much as missing a beat after his first exclamation, he said, "Oh, I have two quarters! That means I could get one squeakie for me and one for Mr. Two. Can I use my tooth fairy quarters for the vending machine at school, Mommy?" (Do you know about the sqwishies or squinkies or whatever? They are tiny animals that are made of squishy plastic that are apparently all the rage with little grade schoolers here. I have to admit that I think they're cute, too. I loved miniatures when I was in elementary school.)

I adore that he immediately thought of using the second quarter for his little brother and didn't think for one second about just getting two for himself. It was so simple and selfless and it made me love him even more. I wish that I could say that my instinct would be to share.

Oh, the joy on their little faces as he brought two little creatures home, one tiny goat for the toothless wonder himself and one squishy green frog for his little brother. It made me want to put two quarters under his pillow every night for a week!

Love is unhaltingly sharing your treasures with one you love, just because you want to bring them joy.

Little Mister Bowties

2011-05-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

My brother was married in March. All of the nephews and my brother wore bow ties for the wedding. They looked adorable. Since then, my boys only want to wear bow ties to church. For Easter, I wanted to make them coordinating ties in spring colors.

I found this great tutorial on Delia Creates. I followed her directions, except for one major step. I didn't measure their necks with their collared shirt on, instead I just estimated. This resulted in much too small bow ties. As in, this wouldn't even fit Mr. Three's baby neck, too small.

This ended up being a good mistake because I had to modify the pattern to make them fit and I think it actually made them better. Instead of attaching the swimsuit hook to the ends of the fabric, I added approximately 3 inches of elastic to one end of the tie. I sandwiched the elastic between the layers of fabric and zig zag stitched it several times to secure the elastic and minimize fabric fraying. I folded the exposed end of the elastic into a loop and zig zag stitched it in place. I attached the swimsuit hook to the other end of the bowtie fabric and zig zag stitched it in place. This made the tie easily removable (without having to re-tie the bow each time), and gave it the extra length and stretch to fit all three of my boys' necks.

I love these dapper boys!

Check in later in the week (hopefully) for a quick tutorial for turning the tie scraps into a cute flower pin for the girls (or in my case, for me, since I don't have any daughters :)).

Mother's Day Cards

2011-05-06T11:13:00.001-07:00

*Spoiler alert!!!!*

If you are one of the grandmas in our family, stop reading now!

For Family Home Evening this week, we made Mother's Day cards for our grandmas. I put out scrapbook paper, glue sticks, pens, hole punches and decorative scissors and let the oldest two make cards.

They loved cutting and arranging the papers to make a card for each grandma.

This was a simple project and I love that they were in creative control. Happy Mother's Day!

Puzzle Blocks

2011-05-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Mike's parents had a set of puzzle blocks in their toy chest. I have wanted to make a set for years, but never got around to finishing this project. For Easter, I wanted to add something new to our church bag for the boys to play quietly with. I came up with the idea to make a set of puzzle blocks with pictures of Christ. I tried to pick pictures that told a story. Christ's birth, sitting with his mother Mary as a child, his baptism, blessing the children, Christ as the good shepherd, Christ calming the sea. I figured, if they were going to play with something in church, I could at least make it something that would remind them of why we are at church in the first place...

Here's what I used:

one set of 1 inch wooden blocks (you can find them at most big craft stores)
Mod Podge and sponge brush
6 small cardstock prints (I found mine at Deseret Book and they were about 4"x3" each)
ruler and pencil
paper cutter, or scissors

First, the pictures I found were slightly larger than 3" by 4", so we trimmed each picture to those dimensions.

Mark lines on the back of one picture 1 inch apart to indicate where to cut. You will end up with 12 1" squares. Use paper cutter or scissors to cut squares.

Mod Podge the squares onto the 12 blocks. Work on one picture at a time, gluing one piece of the picture onto each of the 12 blocks. (That way you won't glue two pieces of the same picture onto one block.)

Repeat process with remaining 5 pictures. When you are done, you will have one set of puzzle blocks to build six different pictures.

Let dry completely.

Mod Podge a thin layer over each block the to seal your puzzle. (Make sure that the side you are placing down is completely dry before setting down. I speak from experience. I have nearly ruined many a project because of impatience...)

A few tips for a better puzzle:

Choose pictures that have different coloring and/or backgrounds from each other. The more unique each picture is, the easier it will be for kids to find the correct pieces. One picture had a light sky background, another had a dark sea, another a dark interior background.

If you have two pictures with very similar colors, try and mix pieces on individual blocks to make it easier to identify which picture each side goes with.

Here are pictures of each side of one block to help you better understand what I mean (sorry for the blurry picture quality).

The busier the scene, the easier the puzzle will be to put together. Find pictures with lots of color, lots of details to the scenery (people in the background, animals, brick walls, instead of just dark color). If you choose pictures with lots of solid background color and little detail, it will be much more difficult to assemble.

Now you will have a great small activity to put in your bag for your kids to enjoy. Have fun putting your puzzle together!

Lacing Card Tip

2011-05-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

Do your kiddos like lacing cards*? Do they get frustrated when their lace end keeps slipping out of the holes, like mine do?

Here's my simple solution. Tie a bead onto one end of your lace.

This will keep the lace in place for your kids.

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

Happy lacing!

*Want to make some lacing cards of your own? Check out this past post.

Easter 2011

2011-04-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Easter weekend. The weather could not have been more perfect: sunny with a light cool breeze. We had my sister-in-law in town to celebrate with us, to play with the boys and read them stories, and to stay up and visit with Mike and I until the wee morning hours. The kids got to participate in three Easter egg hunts.

We spent time with family, had a picnic and enjoyed some delicious food.

We dyed eggs.

Our Sunday service was a perfect reminder of the importance of the Savior and his atonement and resurrection in each of our lives. Mike had shortened church meetings so he could be with us the majority of Easter day.

I finished all the Easter basket projects early. Bunny pattern here.

My boys looked adorable in their new bowties. (More on these later.) There were Cadbury eggs and Sees chocolates aplenty. My kids were well behaved... for the most part.

Like I said, it was lovely. We are truly blessed.

Fathers and Sons Outing

2011-04-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, Mr. One, Mr. Two, Mike and my dad went on the annual Fathers and Sons outing with our ward (church). They talked non-stop about it until they finally went. They were so thrilled to be going on a boys only camping trip. This was Mr. Two's first time going and Mr. One filled his head with the wonders of this annual event: the food, running around in the dirt, shooting bottle rockets and sleeping in tents.

The weather report predicted lots of rain, wind and cold conditions. Rain or shine, the event would still go on. The reports were accurate, and they were in for a cold and wet evening and morning. Thank goodness for tents, SUV's, tarps, thick sleeping bags and warm clothes.

The plan was to come home late in the afternoon Saturday. They were home before lunch.

Here's the only pics from the outing. The boys were nice and snug in extra layers and sleeping bags.

From the boys' perspective, it was a perfectly good outing. They got to eat at a "restaurant" (Happy Meals at McDonalds), have ice cream at the campfire devotional (who decided on ice cream over s'mores?), sleep in a tent with an air mattress and sleeping bags (I think they were having more fun jumping and sliding around on said bed...), got pancakes in the morning, and they got to pick a drink at the convenience store (Batman juice and orange soda) on the way home after breakfast. Best of all, they were able to spend time with their daddy and grandpa. Just the boys.

If only we could see the world through a child-like lens. I know we would all be a lot more content.

Easter FHE

2011-04-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the Resurrection Eggs that are all over the web right now? Here's just one example. Do you have your own? I have two sets that were given to my by friends in years past, and they make a perfect Family Home Evening lesson for Easter. We take turns opening one egg at a time, examining the object inside, reading the scripture and discussing the events of Christ's death and resurrection.

I am amazed at how much my children already know about these events. Mr. One knew almost all of the details as we opened each egg. Even Mr. Two remembered the basic story. After going through the eggs and singing a few Easter songs, we had our treat. We made these sweet rolls, but used them as an object lesson for the empty tomb. The marshmallow melts and leaves an empty center to the roll, to remind us that Jesus's tomb was empty after three days, that He lives. They loved this!

We're heading to the Easter Pageant later this week with our family. I can't wait!

Easter Basket Sorting

2011-04-18T13:57:00.001-07:00

I found these cute rainbow colored mini baskets at the 99 Cent Store and the bunny confetti at Hobby Lobby. They made the perfect materials for a little color sorting and fine motor grasping activity this morning.

Easter Ideas Collection

2011-04-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

I have Easter on the brain big time lately.

I have even found myself feeding Mr. Three baby bird style, just because it's cute. (Well, minus the regurgitation, just the open-wide-and-plop-food-in-your-cute-baby-mouth-while-you're-standing feeding.)

In the last few days, I have found a collection of great Eastery ideas for my kiddos. I am excited to use some of them.

Here are two wonderful printable Easter units. Musings of Me has another great Easter unit. Oopsey Daisey has a Mommy School Easter unit. I especially love the Magic Egg story. I am pulling out my felt stash right after I post this to put it together.

I just want to borrow a dozen chicks and snuggle them, like they did here.
But I know what they turn into when they grow up. And what they smell like. And what they do to floors. I think we'll stick to our chenille chicks for now.

I want this book! I think I may have to get a copy and paint some shoes. I'm a sucker for a good book.

My Montessori Journey has two more wonderful egg activities that I am going to try and put together this weekend. Go here and here.

I think this snack idea is genius. I'm not sure how much of the veggies my boys will eat, but one can hope...

Here are some of my past Easter related posts, here and here, just for fun.

What Easter-themed fun are you participating in with your families?

Mr. Three is One

2011-04-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

My baby is now a toddler. Walking and babbling and getting into all sorts of trouble. Then again, how could you not love this adorable face?

The phrase "time flies by" just sounds cliche, but that's how I feel. I can still remember holding him as a tiny newborn on Easter weekend, and it feels like such a short time ago.

Mr. Three had a fun and simple birthday celebration last week. Presents, cake, ice cream, and lots of extra attention. Just what he wanted!

He loves:

knocking down towers
noisy toys
putting things in pans and containers, then dumping them out
food, especially strawberries, cereal, string cheese, crackers and cookies
giving wide mouth frog kisses
carrying things around the house in his mouth or in his hands (this is quite entertaining to watch)
shadowing his brothers
books and magazines (which he loves to rip and chew and throw...)

Can I just say that I love Amazon.com?! They had all the presents we wanted to get for our little guy, and at unbeatable prices. He loved his peg board and fill and spill bug jar. Grammy and Grandpa got him a baby band set that he loved as well.

He really had a blast ripping the paper on the presents. I think he had just as much fun with the packaging as the gifts themselves.

I had envisioned making a fabulous city scape/ tower cake for him to topple over. I had a cute little dino hat for him to wear, and I imagined him stomping his beautiful cake like Godzilla and laughing in glee. This was a fantastic idea. In my head.

Let's just say that reality didn't exactly echo my vision. He hated the dino hat, and refused to wear it. The cake kept crumbling and ended up a huge mess, despite our best intentions. He didn't really like the cake (note to self: spice cake is not a baby favorite). He kinda stuck his fingers in it and nibbled, but grew tired of the massive mound of sugar on his high chair quickly. I guess I should be relieved that he didn't want to eat the whole thing...

Happy Birthday Mr. Three! We are so blessed to have you in our family and look forward to many fun times together.

Spring Flowers

2011-04-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Over seven years ago, when we were just settled into our little home, we noticed a strange looking plant growing in the bare flower bed along the brick wall on our front porch. It was tiny and green and fan-like. It was probably a weed. It was unsightly and odd. My first instinct was to yank it out.

My husband thought better. After examining it, he suggested that it might be fun to see what it grew into. It most definitely wasn't a weed. Maybe an onion. Or a flower. He wanted to give it some time.

I reluctantly agreed, thinking that we may end up with an onion patch on our front porch, stinking up the neighborhood.

It took several years, but one early spring morning, we noticed a shoot. Soon after, there were buds. They grew and turned purple. Finally, one perfect morning, a beautiful iris bloomed. Now, a few years later, we have a purple-hued array of irises every spring. The blooms are delicate and only last a little while, but they are splendid when they arrive. Mother Nature's testament to new life, a perfect reminder of Easter. New life. Resurrection. A hope in better things to come.

I can't help but think about my little slow growing flower bed and how it relates to life. So often, things come up that seem odd, bothersome, unexpected. My instinct is to rip them out. Fix the problem. Make drastic changes.

My husband knows better. He is the patient one. The one who sees the flowers in the small green shoots.

So often, the better solution is to let changes come. Give them time. Let them grow. Work with what is given and be content. The weeds and problems that I see today aren't always weeds. Frequently, they turn into the beautiful irises of tomorrow.

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows what each little seedling can become. A Father who plants unexpected things in our path. In our own challenges and struggles, may we all grow and see the beauty, and the divine potential, that is in each of our lives.

Ladybug Math

2011-04-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

I love these plastic ladybugs that I found several years ago from Oriental Trading! Unfortunately, they don't sell them anymore, but you could use ladybug erasers, foam shapes, beads, etc.

This is a simple addition activity that my kindergarten students loved. Just spin, count out your ladybugs onto the leaves, then say and/or write an addition problem.

I recently pulled this out for Mr. Two (who is three) and modified the activity. I spun one spinner and Mr. Two the other. We counted our ladybugs onto our leaves, then pointed to the group that had more (or less).

Five Little Aphids

2011-03-31T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here's my buggy twist on the classic "Five Little Monkeys Swingin' in a Tree".

Five Little Aphids

Five little aphids, sitting on a leaf

teasing Spotted Ladybug,

"You can't catch me.

You can't catch me."

Along comes Spotted Ladybug, quiet as can be,

then...

SNAPs one aphid right off of the leaf!

Creative Dressing

2011-03-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

This is the outfit Mr. Two has insisted on wearing the past two days. I tried to reason with him, hoping he might change into something a little more coordinated.

Me: Do you see any red in this shirt? Maybe we can find a shirt with red in it to match your pants.

His answer: Well Mom, I just pretend that this yellow on my shirt is red.

Well, how can you argue with that?

On Being Entomologists

2011-03-28T13:59:00.001-07:00

This week, we are entomologists (or as we also like to say, "Bug Scientists"). Mr. Two is loving to classify our bug collection.

We have two groups: insects and not insects. (Yes, we are very scientific in our classifications, and we usually have to have at least one car to help us in our discoveries.)

The insects go in the bug catcher.

The others go back on the grass.

How do we know which are the insects?

We count of course!

Six legs? Check!

Three body parts? Check!

Antennae? Check!

Perhaps a pair of wings? Check!

Well, then, you have yourself an insect!

Want a little song to help you remember? Well, we're happy to oblige!

(sung to the tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes")

The Insect Song*

Antennae,
Head,
Thorax,
Abdomen, abdomen.

Antennae,
Head,
Thorax,
Abdomen, abdomen.

Six legs to help me move all around.
If you see me on the ground,
Don't step on me!

*I think this little tune was something I found in a primary grades activity book from Creative Teaching Press several years ago (sorry, I don't remember the source.)

Linking here and here. Join the fun!

Notes to Self: Feeding the Baby

2011-03-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

Note to Self:

When looking for ways to multi-task near dinner time, remember this: Six and three year olds do not make reliable baby food dispensers while you are trying to finish up dinner.

Enough said.

Bug Soup

2011-03-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

I pulled out the Bug manipulatives and props for some Spring learning. Before using any new manipulative with children (especially preschoolers), it is important to let them have some time to explore and use them in a free play setting. Let them have fun discovering, then use them in more structured learning later. It is fascinating to see that they will sort, pattern, count, and label things all on their own.

I found some fun bug catcher sets at the Dollar Tree a few weeks ago. They have a little magnifying glass on the top, a pair of tweezers and a mini net. I added them to the pile of bugs to explore. Mr. One and Two started off just throwing the bugs at one another, scaring each other, with lots of screaming, laughing and crying. At that point, the bugs got a time out.

A few days later, I got them out again for Mr. Two and the little three year old I babysit part-time. They got out the pots and pans and had a grand time sorting, counting, naming and playing with the bugs.

Bug soup, anyone?

In the next few days, I hope to do some more structured learning with our little buggy friends.

If you are interested in where I found my bug collection, many of them came from Oriental Trading Company (here and here), and others were found during visits to dollar stores, Target dollar spot, etc. Oriental trading also has a fun assortment of foam bug shapes, beads, tongs, magnifying glasses, and more that would be great to add to your collection.

Rainbow Pasta

2011-03-22T22:02:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was the first official day of spring. It was overcast and wet all day. Kind of ironic, since we live in the perpetually sunny state of Arizona. Today the sun is out, and I'm feeling the need to add some more color to our days. I've enjoyed the rain, now it's time for some rainbows.

My cousin's creative wife shared a fun idea on her blog for rainbow mac and cheese.

We colored the pasta this morning with vinegar and food coloring. Mr. Two loved stirring the food coloring into the vinegar and watching it change, then squishing up the noodle filled bag to color them. This was a fun mini lesson on color mixing for him.

This evening, we turned our rainbow noodles into dinner. I used a slightly different recipe for the sauce. This is from my sister in law Carla. We jokingly have referred to it as "Auntie Carla's Yucky Macaroni and Cheese" because Mr. One didn't especially like it the first time we tried it. Rest assured, it is not yucky in the least, and the rest of us think it is delicious.

Auntie Carla's Not-Yucky Macaroni and Cheese

Cook 2 1/2 cups noodles. Add a dash of salt to water and boil 8 to 10 minutes (or just a minute or two shy of the directions on the box).

Shred desired amount of cheese (I used about 5 oz of cheddar jack cheese).

Melt 2 Tablespoons margarine (I used butter) on medium high heat.

Add 2 Tablespoons flour and mix.

Add 2 cups milk and whisk until smooth and thick.

Turn off heat and add

1 teaspoon salt

1 big shake of Worchestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard (I skipped this)

dash of pepper

Mix noodles in sauce, pour into casserole dish and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes (until cheese is melted and starting to bubble).

Yum! Have fun eating a rainbow!

linking to ABC and 123 Show and Tell
Tot Tuesdays at Delicious Ambiguity