Why I Don't Take Selfies With My Husband

Dialogue that accompanied this montage:

"Honey, will you please take a picture with me? Just turn your head towards me and smile."

"Honey, c'mon, look normal and smile."

"OK, you don't have to smile, but could you please look normal?"

"Ben, C'MON ON!  Open your eyes, and take a nice picture!"

"Benjamin, I said a NICE picture. You could at least look pleasant."

"You better take a nice picture or you will have to pack your own lunch for work tomorrow."

Homemade Gak {Slimey Science Fun}

Many of the Christmas gifts we gave last year were homemade, and this fun science experiment and texture toy was one of them. The girls and I had a lot of fun making gak for their boy cousins. It is kind of a cross between slime and Silly Putty--not as dry or firm as Silly Putty, but not quite as gooey as slime.  The properties of this stuff make it a lot of fun to play with.  You can shape it, break it off,  pour it, make noises with it...noises that little boys find quite funny. Of course, after my girls had such fun making it, they wanted some of their own.  We made theirs in pink of course.

Dump in (2) 4 oz. bottles of Elmer's glue --I used the regular washable Elmer's school glue. Fill the empty glue bottles with water; swish it around and dump it in with the glue.  Add a few drops of food coloring for a little excitement. The girls loved stirring in the food coloring.

In a measuring cup, add a teaspoon of borax to a 1/2 cup of warm water.  Stir well.  Add the borax water to the glue.   Borax can be found near the laundry and detergent products in most grocery stores.

 At first, you will think you have done something wrong because the mixture will be stringy and watery.  Keep working it.  I ended up using my hands as it seemed to be the easiest way to mix it evenly.

Eventually, the mixture will coagulate.  It can take 5 minutes or so.

 Squish it. Squash it.

 Shape it. 

 Our full product line.  We used empty peanut butter jars to store it.

If you're interested in some of the science and history of the stuff, check out Steve Spangler's Science Experiments.  He has a lot of other fun, simple science experiments that you can try out with your kids!

If you're concerned about the use of Borax in a child's play mix, you can read this well-balanced article on the properties of  borax.  Personally, I don't have a problem with it.

Something Fun Friday: Q-Tip Autumn Trees

Autumn, with its majestic color scheme and crisp morning breath, has gloriously swept into our little corner of the world.  We celebrated by making a simple rendition of the breath-taking color transformation we've been watching.

I got the idea for this simple art project from Pinterest--where else?!  The original inspiration is from an Italian teaching site called La Classe della Maestra Valentina; at least, I think it's Italian!  

I started with a couple pieces of cardstock.  I free-handed a simple tree trunk and used a cereal bowl to create a round tree canopy.

I was afraid of the potential disaster of 2 kids + 5 paint colors, so I used an old egg carton to dispense the paint.  I only let them dip one color at a time.  They wore those awesome bibs from Ikea, and we kept the used Q-tips contained to a peanut butter lid.  

Leah tired of this project pretty quickly, but Grace loved it.  So did I!  Very therapeutic!

Homemade Finger Paint {Something Fun Friday}

Grace and I read a Fancy Nancy book about the aspiring artist, so Grace has been begging me to paint.  I didn't have any paint, so I googled "homemade finger paint" and found this recipe from I Can Teach My Child.  It whipped up in less than 5 minutes, and the girls had a ball!

The recipe made about two cups, so I left half of it untinted and popped it in the refrigerator for another day.  Of which I am sure there will be one.  Grace is already asking to do it again.

 A clean palette

 Mm-mmm.  Tasty.

Clean-up sink party!

Little Victories {Little Ones and Housework}

Grace is now 3-1/2 but since the last time I posted about little ones and housework, we really haven't made any huge strides in the chore department. We've added just a few new things.

Grace now has the following responsibilities:

1. Pick out her outfit and dress by herself. Put away her pajamas, throw dirty clothes in hamper.
2. Make her bed.
3. Clear her own dirty dishes after meals.
4. Help me load the dryer.
5. Clean up her own messes and help Leah with hers.
6. Set the dinner table. (I make the plates, napkins and glasses accessible for her and she does the rest.)
7. Empty both bedroom and bathroom garbage bags. Replace with clean bags.
8. "Helps" vacuum and mop.

Leah's responsibilities:

1.   Carry the napkins to the hamper after dinner. (Work in progress)
2. Clean up her own messes.

Our latest victory with Grace was learning to make the bed.  When we first started, she would cry and give up.  I would help her, but then I realized that she wasn't really making the effort that she could.  So I simply told her that I  wasn't going to help her, but I knew that she could do it all by herself.  I stood nearby to step in to offer advice and encouragement. She wasn't happy, and when she finished, it wasn't perfect, but she had done it all by herself.  I made a huge deal about how good of a job she had done, and told daddy when he got home from work what a big girl Grace has become.

The next day, I told Grace to make her bed while I cleaned up the kitchen after breakfast.  You can imagine my shock when I went into her room a while later to see her bed made (see picture above)!  I had been hoodwinked into thinking her bed-making abilities were sub-par, but now I know better...

My goal is not just to teach my girls how to do a job, but to foster initiative.  I want them to see what needs to be done and do it, not wait for me to tell them.  I know I need to be an example of this and I think a daily routine helps, but I would love to hear any other suggestions!

Freezer Baking {Disaster Day}

A couple times each month I bake a double or triple batch of cookies and muffins.  I then freeze them in individual bags for Ben's lunch.  Today I got my act together to make a double batch of peanut butter cookies and a double batch of snickerdoodles.  The butter had been sitting on the counter since Monday night, but I just hadn't had a chance to make them.

Both girls wanted to help me, so I set Leah up at the kitchen sink with some pots and spoons and a little running water.  Grace is really into pouring in the ingredients and stirring (and licking beaters and spoons), so she stationed herself next to me.  We got the two cookie doughs made and in the fridge without a single mishap.  So far, so good.

Don't they look like little waffles?

Grace was uninterested once the dough was assembled and Leah went down for a nap, so I thought the rest would be a breeze.  Once the dough was chilled, I started rolling out the peanut butter cookies.  I had the brilliant idea to create the criss-cross top with a meat tenderizer.  Way easier and faster than the fork thing.  Fist pump!

Trouble started when my brother called.  I am not a good multi-tasker, so when the timer went off, I shut off the timer, but I forgot to take the cookies out.  For the record, burnt peanut butter smells very bad.

Poor Ben is going to have eat one semi-burnt cookie every day for the next  24 days.

Then I started on the snickerdoodles. I added a little holiday flair by rolling the cookie balls in sugar and pumpkin pie spice.   I put in the first batch...and waited...and waited...and waited.  They wouldn't firm up for anything.  After 15 minutes, it dawned on me that I had shut off the oven.  ARGH!  That created interesting cookies with hollow centers.

"Air-baked" cookies

The final disaster came when the next batch of snickerdoodles came out looking like crepes.  In fact, I picked up 10 cookies that had fused together in a fun little dot pattern. I think I forgot the last cup of flour since I doubled the recipe.  I added a little additional flour to the remaining dough, and the last 2 pans were fabulous.

Snickerdoodle crepes

I think I'll just stick with chocolate chip cookies next time.

What's your worst baking mishap?  Six dozen wasted cookies has earned top honors over the time I made brownies that were about 1/2" thick and burnt to a crisp. 

Autumn Window Dressing

The girls and I went for a walk to enjoy the colorful foliage.  The weather the past few days has been bea-u-tiful!  We stopped and picked a few of the leaves and talked about the colors, shapes and types.

 Being impatient, I wanted to make a little craft right now with our leaves, so I put the leaf drying time on fast forward.  I laid the leaves on a paper towel in the microwave with another one on top.

I put a plate on top of the leaves to keep the leaves flat.  We microwaved them for a minute to a minute and 10 seconds.  (If you try it, you will hear a bit of popping as the water vaporizes out of the leaves.) The leaves will fill dry and hard after you let them sit for a minute or two and cool.

To give it a little durability, I coated each side of the leaves with Mod Podge and let it dry.  Mod Podge goes on white but dries clear and leaves a nice shine.

We used 6 lb. mono filament to hang them up and tied it to the leaves with a knot on the stems.  I just taped the fish line to the wood.

David's Sling {Play Acting}

Grace is highly imaginative, and she loves to role play.  Yesterday, I read the story of David and Goliath in our devotions, and she kept begging to do "something fun" so we made our own sling.

I just took some scrap fabric and we colored it with markers.  Markers and scissors are still pretty high chips on the bargaining table, so I won huge mommy points with this.

I cut away the outer two strips, cut the middle strip into thirds, and braided it.

We used the cut away pieces to make a head scarf like the pictures of David in her Bible story book showed.

We used a pinecone for the stone.  I didn't want any broken windows or gashed body parts.

Grace just projected the pinecone in this shot, hence the "Whoa!" face.  I would show you a picture of Goliath, but it's difficult to take a self-photo when you're lying face down on the floor. :)

She insisted on posing like this for a picture.  Apparently, she was role-playing something else she had seen...

Vacation Goodness {Photos}

 

The Garden of Eden....in Ohio

Last Saturday, Ben's side of the family met up for a belated Father's Day gift for his father at the Rolling Ridge Ranch, an exotic animal farm in Ohio's Amish Country.  To be honest, I went expecting to be under-impressed.  However, I was absolutely blown away by this place!  There are approximately 500-600 animals and birds, representing over 100 species from around the world that you get to feed, pet, and see up close.  It was an awesome experience that I would love to re-live again and again.

 The covered wagon that transported us from reality to the surreal for an hour.

Humphrey, the camel, greeted us right inside the gate.

 There were several litters of pot-bellied pigs.  

 This little guy was only a day or two old--he was soooo cute!

 Some of the animals were making their demands pretty obvious.

 Grace took the reins on a quiet part of the ride.

From Peru to Nigeria in 10 feet

 Leah was enthralled with the ride and the attention.

This guy was gloating over his feed haul.

 I "steered" clear of these bad boys.

 The Brahma had some serious tongue action going on.

Mr. Bison was IN YOUR FACE.

 A few more exotic animals

He strutted his stuff as soon as we walked over!  Stunning.

Just for the record, I took over 550 pictures in 2 hours....

Come visit and we'll take you down!