Adventures with Paint

It was a Discovery Museum day for the boys and me yesterday. Poor Bunny had to go to school. (But she did have a very fun play date after school, so she had a nice day, too.)

Right off the bat Carter wanted to go up to the Wonder Closet, and the little art room was where he wanted to go first. He got to paint with toys!

He had a super time ‘making tracks’.

I think the plane was the ‘paint brush’ he likes best. He’d fly it around, making a noise that required this face here (haha), then the plane would land on the paper and make more tracks. Carter loves to paint, but does not like to get more than just a little messy. He goes to the sink every few minutes to wash his hands. Dirt? He’ll bathe in it and stay muddy. Paint? Not so much.

Cole is not that way.

Yesterday was the first time he held a paintbrush. The painting wall in the Wonder Cabinet is perfect for him-the pots of paint are at just the right height, the brushes are plentiful, so he can double fist, and when we got there, the wall was mostly clean, so Cole really saw what he was making happen.

Plus, I mean… come ON! This is adorable. I spend about 23.5 hours a day with him and still could just eat him up looking at this photo!

Well, no. Probably not now.
Name the movie! Name the movie! :)

After he was done ‘making tracks’, Carter joined his little brother at the painting wall.

I encouraged Cole to see what happened when he touched the paint—how he could make lines and handprints in it.

He had no problemo complying. It felt neat, and was fun!

In between frequent hand washings, Carter preferred to stick to the paint brush. Sure, he got some paint on his pants, but he really didn’t want his hands to get too ‘painty’ as he put it.

I think we will be spending more time at this wall.

Conversation with Carter

Yesterday as we were going to pick up Bunny from school.

Carter: Mama, next time can I drive my own little car behind you?
Me: Your toy car? I think you’d get scared on the road in that. Grown up cars are fast and noisy.
C: No! (laughs as if I am SO STUPID) I want my own tiny REAL car!
Me: Oh! I’m sorry honey, but you’re not old enough to drive a real car.
C: Please? I can do it! I can do it, mom! Please?
Me: Carter, I am sorry, but it’s against the rules. People have to be SIXTEEN years old to drive.
C: I’m three and a half! (said as if this is clearly old enough, not despairingly at all)
Me: I didn’t make this rule. The police won’t let little boys drive.
C: I’m a big boy!
Me: You’re right, you are a big boy. But you have to be older to drive.
C: You’re poo poo. Stinky poo poo diaper baby.

Can’t help it…

I was straightening Bunny’s desk this morning when I spied her ‘journal’, open to a page. Normally I just close it and put it aside while I corral her crayons, markers, and pencils, trying to sort the gum wrappers and debris from the nontrash.

But this entry from a couple of months ago is hysterical, so I had to scurry off and scan it. Sorry, Bunny!

For those not accustomed to reading phonetic spelling:

4-13-09

My brothers are borthering (bothering) me a lot. the bad news is I had to do a lot of homework. even worse my brother wacked me in the fais (face) with a snacke (snake) and it was ruber (rubber). what a dummy. Oh hel (he’ll) get it. Hel (He’ll) get a big nuckl (knuckle) sandwich! and Cole he ran into my room 10000 times. p.s. dummy!

I think I remember this day. She was in the WORST mood that afternoon. It was spring break, but she had a week’s worth of makeup work piled up, and I forced her to do some that day. Good times.

Little Helper

026, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

Carter is at that age where 'helping' is important... very, very important.

School aged kids love to feel helpful, too, and even toddlers love to clap for themselves when they have 'helped' by *not* taking every book off a shelf or *not* unfolded all the laundry.

But preschoolers--and for simplicity I call Carter that, though he doesn't begin preschool until fall... they just live to help. I clearly recall a time when Bunny was 3 and she made a mess willfully. I have blocked out what the mess was, but I recall she really wanted to help clean up. At that time cleaning was F-U-N, so I 'punished' her by not allowing her to help. "B-b-but... I'm a good helper!" she sobbed the whole time.

Carter's favorite helping opportunities are watering plants (and himself) and using the dustbuster. Whenever I vacuum I have to allow him to have the 'bustbuster' or I can hear him over the noise, screaming that he needs to help, too!

Sadly, I am pretty sure by the age of 10 or so this will wear off.

Wall Friendly Graffiti

A friend ‘wrote’ this message on Bunny’s wall the other day. And I was delighted! See, it was done with Bendaroos…

Most of the ‘crafts’ they have commercials for are utter crapola. Blendy Pens became Ugly Mixed-Up Colors Pens in about 5 minutes. Pixos, formerly known as AquaDots (now 100% date-rape drug free!), are gluey messes, even if they are supposedly safe. However, if you’re looking for something to TRULY clog the bathroom sink, these are for you! Someone gave Bun Pixos for her birthday, so we know this from experience, even the sink part.

I must say Bendaroos are quite nice. They’re simply string coated in colored wax, and they stick to whatever hard surface a child whishes then come off clean. They’re also reusable, but once they’ve been balled up really hard, they may be hard to unwind. All in all, Bendaroos may be the one ‘made for TV’ toy that is worth buying.

Bunny even decorated a vase I used to corral chocolate coated strawberries for her party with Bendaroos.

Musings… The Creative Family

As a little Christmas gift to myself, I bought Amanda Soule’s book, The Creative Family. It’s really a great investment, if you’re into crafts and ‘quality’ time… into unplugging, I suppose you could say. If it’s not your bag, then, that’s okay! It takes alllll kinds in this wide world of ours, right?

I guess I should clarify. There is no anti-technology dictum to enjoying the Soule Mama way of ‘being’. It’s just not a buy-the-newest-gaming system way. My kids have their Leapsters, and I can feel my resistance to the Wii wearing down (the WiiFit really looks pretty damn cool).

But see, I grew up with hand crafts. DOING them. I could spend hours just sorting my threads for cross stitch and embroidery. I still can find time flying by as I look at and finger yarns. (The kids, sadly can not – and I do recall that boredom as my sister and I passed time at the local notions store while we had to suffer through what felt like seventeen whole eternities while our mother chose whatever it was in there she was choosing that particular trip, so I try to spare them that torture—when I can help it!).

With Littles around, it’s been, shall we say… challenging for me to set up and maintain any order for my own yarns, etc. I can, however recall a time, before Carter was born, in that wonderful time when Bunny was three (and able to keep herself more or less out of MAMA’S stuff), when I had projects going. So, I know it looms for me. Parenthood is nothing if not a wonderful exercise in patience, and putting one’s own needs and wants aside—for a while, and not always gracefully. If only I were consistent and always understanding, like, say, Little Bear’s mother. But too bad for the kids… I’m just not, haha.

Anyway, that does not prevent me from doing some things to help foster that love of creating in the kids. It’s a win-win… I get to use my creative leanings, and also know that someday they’ll be busy with their crafts while I do my thing at their side. I believe the development experts would call it parallel play… or in this case, parallel crafting.

Gathering and collecting good supplies means I have to find places to put all this STUFF. While someday I want a large armoire with oodles of shelves, putting off until someday makes for a lot of mess today. So, I decided to think outside the box and repurpose things around the house.

I have a hutch that I picked up along the way, which was really a holding place for serving bowls and dishes, as well as linens. It’s nice to have that place for them, but in reality, they mostly collected dust, and I’m not good at remembering to dust. So I began collecting $1 containers of various types to contain categories of craft supplies and other kid stuff.

I’m not expecting House and Garden to request a photo shoot anytime soon, but I very much like that I can pull out all the painting supplies, or the Play Doh quickly. It lends to their frequent use, I am finding.

Let them eat cake…

…after they decorate it themselves! Bunny wanted a doll party, and in keeping with the theme she wanted a ‘doll’ cake. You know, doll torso, skewered into a dome shaped cake.

I was unable to wrap my mind around buying a cake pan for the skirt, as I am pretty close to positive I’d never use it again. However there is a cake pan that makes 4 mini domes. They can be doll skirts, but also can be used for other things through the years to make them not a completely stupid purchase. My initial thought was that each girl could have their own cake. My friend Christi had a much better idea: let them decorate their own doll cakes! Yes – a dessert and activity in one!

I baked the little cakes and each one was frosted in white as a ‘base’, then set out different colors of frostings and candies, etc. to adorn, then let them have at it.

Each girl had her own ideas about what to do, and their personalities came through both in how they decorated as well as what the final result was.

These two here were methodical and careful. Their finished cakes were thoughtfully arranged.

And then in the opposite corner, we have this!

Not too surprisingly, the girl who made the above beauty is the older sister of this masterpiece’s creator.

They crack me up.

The girls realized they could incorporate MORE candy into the scene if they 'landscaped’ the plates.

All in all, this was a great activity for the girls. Messy or neat, the cakes were all yummy.

Also, it’s a good idea to do this outside. A VERY good idea.

The Scene is Set

The ‘inside’ table for Bunny’s party, where the girls will eat their snacks. I love these paper lanterns, and so does Bun. And they’re not ‘throw away’ decorations, which I try to limit.

Also, we got this lantern string of lights, and we’ll put it in Bunny’s room somewhere just for fun.

Perfection Salad

Perfection Salad, originally uploaded by MADsLucky13.

I just had to share this feast for the eyes.

Many, many apologies to anyone who's not wanting dinner after looking at this. Unless you're looking to skip a meal. Then, you're welcome!! :)

Think if you call it a party, the kids will help?

Because I love a party, and I need to clean. Actually, I need to deep clean, not the quarterassed cleaning I generally manage to squeeze in while Cole is sitting in his high chair and the others are eating or otherwise occupied.

So, wheee. Party on.

Just add dirt.

Today the boys and I went for a too-quick (in Carter’s opinion) trip to the Discovery Museum. The garden has been opened for the season (finally!) and I decided it made perfect sense to let them go out after fully soaking themselves playing the waterworks area. I figured it would be nice to be in the warm sun and they might dry off, instead of forcing me to get out the dry outfits I had for both of them in my bag.

Wrong. Dirt + water… you get my drift. But hey, I did have those spare clothes, so I really didn’t care. It’s not like their hamper is not already a piquant mix of aromas, why not add in some earthy smells? ;)

See, last time we were there, there was not this AWESOME digging area. And they did love it dearly.

Right about here I should add that Carter kept correcting me about something. I call it dirt. He says it’s soil. SOIL. Sheesh.

Anyway, their clothes started to get a great muddy sheen to them. Cole is not one to hold back, and he really got into the digging.

Who needs tools?

Not him, that’s NOT who. Then, the inevitable happened.

Oh dear.

Um. Yeah.

Huh.
Sweetie, you have a little something on your chin…

Well, as long as he’s not upset… might as well let it be. Seeing as my wipes were not handy at the moment, being at my stroller ~20 feet away.

Dirt has minerals and vitamins, right? Oh, sorry, I forgot. SOIL…

Where did the baby go?

I mean, come on! This is not a baby. Who told him he could grow up like this, so quickly? I know some people do *not* miss the baby stage, and there are certainly things about growing older I appreciate (I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where grooming myself may even be a daily occurrence). However, it seems like just yesterday when Cole was more like this:

Little baby in swing. In arms. In-anything… except INdependent.

Now, Cole is far, far from independent. He still spends a lot of time being held, snuggled, and loved. But he’s also… well, look.

Now, don’t even get me started about this guy here. I’m not even thinking about how big he’s getting.

Another oldie but goodie

00006 HOMEMAKING COURSE, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

WHY IS MY GRANDMOTHER SWINGING A PICKAXE?

This photo has the note 'homemaking course' on it. Was digging a foundation part of 'making' a home? I need to ask my dad if he knows. One thing I do know, my grandma was not overly prone to physical exertion.

She did have great hair, though! Never have I swung a pickaxe, and surely it would not be wearing a bathing suit, or with my bob 'just so'. (She's the one person whose face you can clearly see in this photo.)

Obviously a staged photo

00008 New City - July 1930, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

I like this old photo of my grandmother and some unknown lady. It's a nice photo. It's also funny. Why? My grandma could NOT drive.

Cool, Sweet Treats Beat the Heat

Today’s post brought to you by rhyming!  The fun with words game!  :)

Anyway….
 
I make homemade popsicles.  It’s a nice way to make a somewhat healthy treat, and I also can sneak a lot of goodness into them (protein powder, fruits my picky 3 yr old would NEVER touch much less eat, yogurt).

Yesterday I made some Jello Pops.  I took a single serving container of vanilla yogurt, added some cooled—but still liquid—Jello, some protein/vitamin powder, and blended it up before pouring into the popsicle molds I got at Target a few years ago (totally worth the $2 each or whatever they were).   They’re cold and creamy and YUMMY.

First Beach Outing of the Year!

Saturday we packed up the fam-fam and headed over to Santa Cruz. Though Cole’s been many, many times, I knew it would be *like* a first for him. He was pretty small last summer when we went all the time for Little Guards.

While he was a little apprehensive of being put down at first, he warmed up to it. As long as the water from the cold, cold, Bay didn’t touch him. He loved sitting in puddles from holes dug right near the water’s edge though!

I’d say we have a threesome of beach loving kids here.

Oh, and as you can see, Bunny wore her thermal top and was bodysurfing in that cold water. I didn’t even like it touching my feet. She has ice in those veins.

Menu 04/20/09

Happy Monday!
It's HOT here today and tomorrow, so I am going to be keeping the kitchen cool as I can for a couple of days.

Sunday: Out to dinner
Monday: Burgers/Dogs on grill
Tuesday: CORN
Wednesday: Bolognese sauce
Thursday: Grilled Herbed Chicken drumsticks
Friday: Taco Salad
Saturday: CORN
(CORN = clean out refrig nite--we're not just eating a ton of corn)

Two Years

Hoos for Hokies, originally uploaded by Kevin Mad Dog Inman.

I have not been very bloggy since being sick, but wanted to take a moment to remember the poor kids who were slain two years ago today.

Here a tooth, there a tooth.

Two down, eighteen to go. If she loses 2 more very quickly, then she can live on baby food, yay! ;)

Bunny totally lost this tooth. We think she swallowed it. But the Tooth Fairy must’ve found it anyway, and gave her her payment. Hey, if “TF” can sense there is a tooth to be gotten, then surely she can also find it!

Pardon us, we have The Plague

Oof, we’re sick. Just a family tummy bug, but it’s sucking. I’ll be back when we’re not otherwise occupied lying around and whining about how bad we all feel.

Happy Easter Cake Pops

Happy Easter Cake Pops, originally uploaded by Bakerella.

Good Golly Miss Molly, these are cute. But I think I am cake pop pooped. :)

Mommy Follies

I love making cute things, and if they’re sweet cute things, then YAAAAYYY!

So, I had to give the cupcake pops a go.  Since there are excellent instructions HERE, I will not try to make this be some redundant recipe.  More like, my thoughts and observations as I made some.

 
First, it is an ODD thing to make a perfectly good cake (and this one came out really perfectly), then rip and tear it apart.  It was kind of fun.

It looks like I could use this to top my tomato plants, doesn’t it?

 
I tried mixing the frosting and cake the neat way, then resorted to using my hands.  Soooo sticky!

 
Carter helped in the one way he could.  He helped clean the bowl.  This kept him occupied for long enough to allow me to form the cake ‘balls’ and put them on a couple of baking sheets to firm up.  I let them stay in the fridge until the evening, then formed them into the cupcake shapes, and let them go back into the cold until the next morning, as the instructions caution you that the coating will weep and become wet if you put finished pops in the fridge – and I have a cat who’d love to lick anything left out overnight.  I thought I’d spare the kids some special kitty saliva.  :)

Dipping these guys was not hard at all. 

My main observation would be to only dip a few at a time, then make sure the sticks are inserted before the candy coating hardens up, or I think it could crack.

I did have a time of it getting the chocolate up to the right level, and these I photographed were before I figured out how to do that.  :)

Using the side of the bowl helps to control where the coating goes.

The good news is they do set up really quickly, so by the time you’re done making the ‘bottoms’, you’re ready to flip ‘em over and dip the ‘tops’, which is where the real fun was.  I used blue and pink, as per Bun’s wishes, and she chose the little candies that I placed on the very tops.  I love sprinkles, and always have some on hand here.  :)

 

 
A totally worthwhile, and impressive project.  They were yummy, and Bunny was happy with them.  Her friends loved them, too!