Windblown

I just grabbed this book off the shelf at the library and hoped that it would be one we would enjoy.It was on the New Books shelf and sometimes I can't resist a clean, creaseless book with a sparkling new cellophane (library) cover. Plus, the next time we take it out and see the smudged fingerprint on page four we will know that we were the first ones to put it there. (Sorry! Sometimes, books and glue don't go together! P.S. I pay my fines. I do!)

Anyway, Babe-O ordered multiple readings. So, it has made it to the best books list. And the book basically begs you to bring it to life. It's so easy to do! Windblown by Edouard Manceau is a book about seven scraps of paper arranged to depict a fish, snail, chicken, bird, and frog who all claim the scraps as their own. But the wind believes the scraps belong to it, and blows them along to the reader with the question, "What will you do?"

I cut out the shapes for Babe-O and gave him some white paper and a black marker.
He immediately constructed the chicken and then got creative with jellies.

 

I really like how the simple shapes became like a puzzle challange for Babe-O, and he enjoyed working with the marker to add details. Simple, easy, fun. And easy to keep some scraps, paper, and a marker on the kitchen table for spur of the moment creativity. 

Silk Dyed Eggs ? !

Who knew?
Not me.
You can dye eggs with old silk ties...

I found a few ties at the Thrift Store. Cut them open and cut a few squares. We blew out our eggs, because I had never done it before and Diet Coke Papa has. Fun! Babe-O even helped poke the holes in the eggs with a nail. And if it wasn't so much fun for babies and toddlers to grab eggs that are shiny and hanging on our egg tree we might actually have a few to save for future years.

We wrapped the eggs in silk squares (right side of the tie touching the eggshell). And then wrapped the silk wrapped egg in a piece of cotton (we used squares of an old t shirt). Use twist ties to close the wraps. Babe-O and Deo enjoyed helping with this part. 

In a pot, cover eggs with water and add about 1/4 cup vinegar. Boil for 20 minutes. Let cool. Or in my case run cold water over the "packets" because you can't stand to wait. Open each precious surprise with the kids and squeal with delight!   

Oooo! The red tie worked the best. It was our favorite.

 

 

For more detailed instructions on dying eggs with silk check out http://www.marthastewart.com/269788/silk-tie-easter-eggs

and for how to blow eggs out of the shell (hysterical video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE19g_OCZms

 

 

I used some wire and a few beads and hung them on our Spring Tree. To make them shiny I rubbed them with a bit of olive oil. Therein lies the rub, shiny bejeweled eggs hanging from branches. You'll have to imagine it because only a few have survived. Even so, we talk about them a lot since the tree is on the table and Deo has declared that this is the way we will be dying eggs every year.

 

So special! So fun!

Happy Spring!

 

 

 

Something Made

I am always making things.
In my mind.
I rarely get a second to actualize the plethora of creations that live in my mind.
But when I do it's usually pretty cool!

Just want to brag about this up-cycled t-shirt I made Babe-O.
I made the shirt from one of Diet Coke Papa's old t-shirts and one of my old t-shirts.
Then I did my first freezer paper print. It was so easy and I love how it turned out.
Here's the great tutorial I used.

We like to say it's "RID-DONK-ULOUS!" Because check out that jelly. It's just "RID-DONK-ULOUS!" And those colors just scream, "It's time for warm weather and beaches!"
Now I just have to figure out how to get it off him so I can wash it!

A few more of my creations will be posted soon. My plan is to make some springtime clothes for the kids.
Anything to lower the fever and look forward to No More Winter.

Baby Paint

A new favorite.
Creative, messy, and nutritious.
Completely uncontrollable.
A good chance to stand back and soak in pure baby joy...
followed by a bath.
A fun morning for all.

Baby Paint = greek yogurt + drop of food coloring 
It's that simple. It's that fun.

Nothing could be better than a walk around the pond with YOU.

It's 20 degrees today! A heat wave!
We have to get out of this house!

Babe-O has had a cold and with Diet Coke Papa's injury we have been holed up for a while.

This morning the birds were eating the remains of our bird cookies and when we opened the door to check the weather we could hear the calls of our old woodpecker friend.

So, when Babe-O wanted to go outside I quickly got us into our coats and boots ignoring the fact that we were still in our pajamas. We headed to the pond to search for birds and other winter treasures (and to peek at the train tracks that run behind the pond). Walks around the pond with Babe-O, Babe-ala, and Diet Coke Papa when he is home is my favorite thing in the world.

With cold noses and lots of energy we trekked around the pond and found the spot where all the birds were singing, the hole in the big oak tree where some squirrels live, we explored the pier, and the untouched areas of snow, and we saw a train car with special equipment for cutting down branches close to the train tracks.

Babe-O found some branches to make "a new house". So we drug them home with us. And...

well...

we built a new house.

No house work done today. No dinner made. Just a breath of fresh air and an amazing outside/inside structure to snuggle under and read books tonight... all the Babe-O's idea!

Bub Bub Bubbles!

It is cold. Freezing. Below freezing. -13 with a windchill of -25 to be exact.
What else is there to do than play with bubbles?

We saw this experiment here. So we had to give it a try during Babe-ala's naptime since it was a "snow/extreme cold day" and Diet Coke Papa was home.

Truth be told, Babe-O was interested for the first one or two bubbles, then his cheeks got too cold and he went inside to observe from the window. Papa and I had the most fun with this one. Although Babe-O was fascinated when the bubbles didn't pop as they landed on the snow.

We made our own bubble solution with dish soap and water. We added a few drops of food coloring just for the added fun and beauty of rainbow bubbles. We also had a bottle of Crayola colored bubbles. The Crayola bubbles worked the best: more bubbles per blow and they froze more quickly without popping first. We will be experimenting with our cold weather bubble recipe. We'll let you know if we perfect it.

We have also been blowing a lot of bubbles indoors these days because, well, honestly, what is better than babies and bubbles? 

Nothing. Nothing is better than babies and bubbles.

Simple Supplies

Hours of fun for Babe-O and Deo began with popsicle sticks.
Babe-O found a jar of popsicle sticks of different colors and sizes and began "writing letters" on the floor. A is his favorite. T and H are also goodies.

Soon he moved his sticks to the table to play with Deo. More letters were made and popsicle stick drawings were created too (lots of wheels, triangles and cars).  Then "Elibet" the crazy haired Mama doll showed up with some scrap yarn and some play dough. Soon "Elibet" was skiing, sledding, and maneuvering bridges and tunnels, as well as dangling from ropes.

Deo created this cool structure and decorated it with yarn.

Even Babe-ala had fun with popsicle sticks! It makes her so happy to do the things the big guys are doing!

So much fun had by all! Spur of the moment, Babe-O led, and with such simple supplies!

"We really let winter in!"

We have been reading Owl At Home by Arnold Lobel.

I confess. I picked it out at the library because it looked like one of those books that would put Elias to sleep at night. It's a chapter book and it's kind of a "quiet" read (not like the current favorite Batman, The Story of the Dark Night). I thought if I used my monotone voice it would be a good sleepy-time book.

Wrong. By the time we got to the story "Upstairs Downstairs" we were scream laughing!

Anyway, the first story is called The Guest. Winter pounds on Owl's door and he kindly invites Winter in for a warm up. Winter behaves badly, running around the house, blowing snow and wind all over. Owl has to throw winter out so he can get toasty warm in front of his fire once again. (Sorry I ruined the story for you.)

"Winter, you can't come in!"

It is brutally cold here. -12 degrees with windchill making it feel like -46. Yes, "ladies and jungelman" the Arctic Front is upon us! What better day is there to invite winter in to get warmed up?

We brought snow in on a baking sheet. Put on our best snowball makin' gloves and played with winter at the dining room table. (Messy and cold! But if your house looks anything like mine, you won't mind if snow and paint get on the floor cuz it will give you some motivation to finally wash it.)

Babe-O kept saying, "We really let winter in!"

To liven things up even more, we decided to make glowing space snow! We have done a few glowing projects in the past. Thanks to the awesome blog
Growing A Jeweled Rose and their recipes for all things glowing. We made some glow in the dark and fluorescent paint watercolors, added a black light, and got to "glowing up" our snow balls.

We stuck googly eyes and tooth picks into our snow balls. We built a little glowing snowman. Before long we had to smash winter out of our house! Babe-O had fun whacking the snowballs and our little snowman to pieces with tongs. Very messy and very fun!

Babe-ala also loved this project.She was enthralled with the radioactive nature of things when the black light was turned on. Here is a few pics of glowing Babe-o and his robot and outer space jams AND glowing baby!

New Year's Flags for Everyone!

Wanted to share our process and experimentation with making New Year's Flags here. This was a project, enjoyed by everyone: 2 adults (one very art phobic Hottie), a three year old (Babe-O), an eight month old (Neecy Bee), and a 23 year old with cognitive and physical disabilities (Deo). Everyone with their own abilities, visions, and attention spans took part in this project and enjoyed both the process and the outcome.

One of my favorite blogs to refer to for art and craft projects is The Artful Parent. I spied the Stained Glass Bunting project there a while back and have always wanted to try. Here's how we adapted it for our needs:

Everyone got a sheet of wax paper, large enough to fold in half and cut a triangular flag from.

Using tissue paper, newspaper, and other scraps everyone decorated their wax paper by cutting and pasting shapes. (Babe-O loved this. He is obsessed with using scissors these days. Today he cut a phone charger cord because he was searching for string to cut and couldn't find any. Neecy Bee loved this because, well, she loves, paper, any paper, that she can put in her mouth or crinkle between her fingers.) Next, we tried grating crayons with a cheese grater onto the wax paper. (Deo loved this. He was able to grate all by himself and the end result was so awesome). We also squeezed glitter glue sticks onto the wax paper. The glitter doesn't sparkle in the sunlight but it was super fun and messy to use.

We folded the wax paper in half so that the crayon shavings were pressed inside. I microwaved the whole creation for about 50 seconds, being careful to be there when the time was up, as the paper needs to be "pressed down" right away to help the melted crayon bind to both sheets of wax paper. (Using the microwave replaced the need for a hot iron with small kids around and a big kid with some unpredictable movements).

We made two flags each this way. We were having so much fun. Then we decided to experiment further. We used permanent markers to color on the wax paper. Creating yet another interesting and beautiful stained glass effect. This was a quick way for Deo to get a lot of color on the paper. Then we went ahead and grated more crayons. Experimenting with how much crayon we could melt between the wax paper before it turned to grey mush instead of speckled rainbow goodness.

I cut out our triangular flags, folded the top over a string and stapled the flap to the string. (Didn't want to use our time at the sewing machine. This went quickly and will serve us just fine for a while).

While we were creating we were also talking and thinking about a word that could describe our goal or wish for the year. Mine was nourish. Nourish my body, my children, my family. Nourish our creativity. Nourish my soul by being present with my kids, carving out time with my husband, making things. This word dangling in the window will help me remember my direction this year.

Once the flags were dangling in the window, catching the sun, I wrote everyone's words on the flag of their choice. Now during meal times through out the day we can see our words illuminated.

These first days of the year pass and the moisture from the window and elements will eventually degrade our flags and we will take them down. By then we will have a new project to do to revive our words and remind ourselves which direction(s) we are headed in.

The Best Things in Life are Free (or really, really cheap).

It's nap time at our house. Nap time is free and one of the best parts of the day. E is usually exhausted from a busy morning of playing, exploring, and learning. He settles easily and peacefully down for a nap. Mama gets a quiet minute to do STUFF that proves difficult to do with E at my feet (like use the computer, make dinner, wash dishes, or catch up on work and reflect on the amazing-ness that is my life with David and our family).

This morning was especially exciting because it is in the high 40's and perfect for running around the front yard (and the neighbors' front yards). Today we made a bird feeder out of a Diet Coke bottle and hanger (minus the birdseed it was completely free). E got to help fill the feeder (and the ramp) with bird seed.

Then we hung it in the tree and proceeded to call the birds to eat: "Babies (this means birdies, of course) num, num, num." After, we stood out on the ramp and waited for the birds to come. E sang some songs and bounced up and down and watched garbage trucks drive by. No birds have shown up yet, but I am certain that by the end of the day there will be creatures of one sort or another eating all the goodies that E left behind.



Where are those Babies?


These are the things that I never have time to record. These are the moments of our lives that fill our hearts with happiness and nourish our souls. These are the things we wish we could share with our family and friends more often.

Over the last six months, David and I have set some goals for ourselves that we have been slowly but surely accomplishing. We both accomplished some of our long-term weight loss goals.  Recently, we have set out to make order of the chaos and destruction that is our financial situation. (There will be more detail on this to come). In the process of making changes to some of the bad habits that have become second nature in our lives, like not taking our finances seriously, there have been realizations, enlightenment, and a new way of living. For example, instead of $200 music class, E now goes to Toddler Art Time at the library, FREE. And you can't tell me this isn't the BEST piece of artwork you have ever seen!



Notice the precise application of glue stick.
MASTERPIECE!



This blog is a way to record our journey as we recover from our financial mistakes and carve out the life we want to have: a simple life, where the best things are free (or super, super cheap like our raw-some bird feeder).

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