The Color Orange and A Big Round Squash

Today I had a moment of creativity. I pulled out my construction paper, glue and scissors, brought my kids to the kitchen table where we started making jack-o-lanterns.

I started cutting out a bunch of shapes: triangles, squares, circles. I told the kids that we would be using shapes to make the pumpkin's face. Noah knows his shapes, but Clara really doesn't, so I thought this would be a fun way for her to start learning them. Even though does know them, it was still fun for him to see how you can create different things using shapes. We did use some ovals, which was a shape he didn't know very well, so he still learned something new.

As we made them, I'd ask Noah, "What shape do you want to do for the eyes? For the nose?" etc... One time I told him he didn't have to do the same shape for both eyes. He liked that idea and did a circle and a square. After that he started to get more creative.

Clara had fun rubbing the glue stick all over everything for a while, but her attention span quickly ran out, so I had to entertain her with some stickers. But Noah LOVED it! He loved gluing and creating, and he even cut some of the shapes (like, the huge stems). He made pumpkin after pumpkin, even getting really creative and doing a pink, a blue and a green pumpkin. Who cares that they don't exist in real life! Being a kid is about being imaginative. I loved watching him create a different jack-o-lantern each time. Each one was unique- just like him!

Here are some of our pumpkins we made. I love the green one and the one with the humongous stem.

When we finished cleaning up, Noah helped me hang up our pumpkins all around the house as part of our Halloween decor. I know displaying his artwork always makes him feel so good, and I love seeing them around. Every time I see them I feel warm and fuzzy all over.

When the activity was over I didn't really want to stop playing with my kids. I was having just as much fun. Plus, I wanted to do something that Clara would really enjoy, since she didn't get as into the pumpkin thing.

So, I found my Halloween CD and stuck it in the CD player. Clara immediately started dancing and kept saying "more" when a song would end. She loves music, and she loves dancing. She twirls, kicks, wiggles, bobs her head to the beat, shakes, and laughs. I had fun dancing too to all the silly kid-friendly Halloween songs.

After the kids had lunch, I grabbed some pumpkin/Halloween books to have a little story time to help wind them down for nap/rest time. As I was getting ready, I realized there was a theme emerging from all my last minute play time ideas. The pumpkins were orange, the leftover mac and cheese they had for lunch was orange, the blanket I grabbed for reading time was orange and came with a small round orange pillow that looks like a pumpkin, and the books I grabbed were all about orange pumpkins. I pointed this all out to Noah, asking him what color everything was. He was very excited to see the similarities in everything. And when we read our books, I let him hold the pumpkin pillow.

At the end of all this, Noah collapsed onto my lap. I told him how much fun I had, and he said, "Me too, but it made me tired." Mwuah-ha-ha! My evil planned worked!

Cupcake Day

I know that cupcakes are the rage right now. There are so many cute ideas out there, and they just look like so much fun that I want to try my hand at them. But they're not something I want to do all the time because first and foremost, I'll "blow up like my Aunt Roberta" and second of all, they just take too much time. So, drawing from my sister's "cookie day" idea, I thought I could do a "cupcake day" once or maybe twice a month. The kids can help decorate and we can share our goodies with friends and family in order to avoid the whole blowing up part.

I couldn't sleep tonight (hence the late night post), so I skimmed through Betty Crocker's cupcake ideas. I found some really cute ones. These ones are my favorite. They're called Surprise Cupcake Cones. They're so stinking cute and look easy peasy to make too. I think I'm going to make them for Clara's birthday. The cupcakes at the top are called Dalmatian Cupcakes. They look yummy!

If any of you have any favorite cupcake idea sites let me know. Here are some that my friend has on her blog:

Bake It Pretty

Cupcake Swirl

A Spoonful of Sugar

I have had such a long absence from posting that I don't know how to do it anymore. I don't know how to get back in the swing of things. I feel like every post idea I do have is lame, so I don't want to take time away from reading my book (These is My Words by Nancy Turner- you have to read it if you haven't yet!) to write something even I don't want to read ever again, so why would anyone else? But, I've got to post something or I'm never going to get out of this slump. So, here goes nothin'.

A while back I had a moment of motherly inspiration. You know, when the heavens smile upon you and grant you a bit of wisdom telling you exactly how to handle whatever it is you happen to be trying to teach your child in that particular moment. I love those times. They happen to all of us. We just have to be listening, but unfortunatley, I'm not always a very good listener.

This particular moment I was getting ready to do the dishes (Yes, I have a dishwasher, but I like to wash my pots and pans the old fashioned way.). As I was about to start the hot water and pour the bubbles into it, I realized I had never done the dishes with my kids (at least this way- they've emptied the dishwasher with me before). I remember learning how to wash dishes and thinking it was so fun. I figured it was about time Noah washed some dishes.

I knew he would never want to do it if I bluntly asked, "Hey, Noah. You want to help me do the dishes?" The only reply I'd get with that request is, "No."

So, I thought of what else I could say. This is where the inspiration came. I asked Noah, "Would you like to play with bubbles with me?"

His eyes got wide and curious. "Yeah," he said. "Okay," I said, excited that he'd fallen into my trap. I grabbed two chairs, one for Noah and one for Clara, and put them on either side of me. Then I proceeded to teach them about washing dishes in the sink, the old fashioned way.

I told them how you need hot water and soap to get all the food and germs off the dishes. Then you need to scrub them with a rag. The most important lesson they learned, however, is the importance of playing with the bubbles. I scooped up some bubbles in my hand and blew them toward their faces. They laughed and of course wanted more. Noah blew bubbles of his own and Clara splash the soapy water around. By the end of our lesson in dish washing, there was soapy water all over the floor and counter (luckily my pans weren't very dirty, so the water was still pretty clean).

Noah not only loved playing with the soapy water, but he enjoyed using the rag to clean the pots and pans. I think he was so distracted by the fun of it that he didn't realize he was "working." All it took was a little sugar.

Like I said, this was a moment of heavenly inspiration for me. I admit that I don't always slow down and take the time to make everyday life fun. It's not always convenient to work this way. I had a watery, soapy mess to clean up, but that only took a second to wipe up (I think Noah helped with that too). I could have done the dishes myself, but here's how that scenario might have played out:

Noah: "Mom, will you play dinosaurs with me?"

Mom: "Not right now. I need to do these dishes."

Clara: Stands at my feet, bawling to be picked up.

Noah: "Mom, I want some milk."

Mom: "Either wait or you'll have to get it yourself."

Clara: Still bawling because she's being ignored.

Mom: Frazzled at trying to meet the demands of the house and the demands of those darn kids.

I think we've all had moments like this. Thankfully, I avoided this stressful scene by letting my kids work alongside me and having some fun along the way. I learned three things from this experience:

1. Stop and listen to those inspiring nudges
2. Have fun with your kids, even when you're "working," and they'll learn that work is fun when we do it together.
3. Mary Poppins was right.

Thursday Activity: Playing with Jell-O!

I know it's Friday, but I have a fun activity to share that I've been meaning to blog about but haven't done. I haven't been in a huge blogging mood lately, which is very weird for me. Anyway, here's the fun activity. Enjoy!

The activity is another one from The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner. It's on page 138, and it's called Jell-O Jumping. Here are the EASY instructions:

• 4 large packages of Jell-O


• baby bathtub (or any kind of tub or big bowl)


• Prepare Jell-O according to package directions. Place it in a bathtub or small basin and let your child stand in it, sit in it, run his fingers through it, or paint with it.

This was so much fun! Clara was a little skeptical at first, but she loved it. She was very girly about how she played with it, while the boys (Noah's best friend also joined in on the fun) dug right in just as boys do. They all had fun smooshing the Jell-O between their fingers, standing in it, eating it (Oh, well. What can ya do?), and I think the boys even threw it at each other. We had the sprinkler on so they could easily clean off, although they all definitely needed a bath. That in itself was fun because the red Jell-O turned the bath water pink.

Some tips:

• take the Jell-O out of the fridge and let it warm up a little before you let your kids play in it. Ours was quite cold.
• 4 packages was oodles! If you only have one child, 2 packages will probably be fine.
• do this on a day when you have nothing to do and don't care about making a mess.

Hope you try it! It was a lot of fun!

Please feel free to share any of your favorite summertime activities. Thanks!

Illustration Friday

Even though I already posted today, I am just so excited to share two things with you all. One day while enjoying the blog Bookie Woogie, I noticed the cute family had another cute blog- Chicken Nugget Lemon Tootie. It's a blog where the three kids display their wonderful, creative works of art. Their stuff is really impressive! You really need to check it out. It gave me some fun ideas to do with my kids.

The other thing I wanted to share I discovered on Chicken Nugget Lemon Tootie. It's Illustration Friday. I went to the website and found a blog for amateur and professional artists, and every Friday they give out a theme for everyone to portray in their art. If you want to be sent them theme every week, you just give them your email address, and you can participate too. Chicken Nugget Lemon Tootie bloggers participate in many of the themes. Click here to view their very creative takes on the themes given. Some of their entries blew me away.

This was the first week Noah and I participated. I was nervous to do it, as if ten professional artists were standing behind me, critiquing my very amateur work. But that's the cool thing about this whole thing- no one has to see it. You can just do it for fun. This week's theme is Contagious. That's a new word for Noah, and a big one too. I wasn't sure if he'd understand it or not. I tried explaining that's how people get sick, but from the vacant expression on his face I could see that didn't work. So, I went to smiling and laughter, and that's what our pictures are based on. I started drawing mine, and Noah got inspired. Here is his first:

I call it "A Contagious Smile"

His second I call "If You Chance to Meet a Frown"

This next one is a little embarrassing, but I don't care. Just don't laugh.

I call it "Catching."

Kind of a fun thing, huh? I do think this might work better for older kids, like kindergarten or first grade and up. Noah's mind didn't focus on this as long as I hoped. It was on more important things, like spiders outside that needed feeding. He likes to help spiders get food by putting poor, defenseless bugs near their webs. I don't know how spiders have survived all these years without Noah to help them eat. I'm hoping he'll have more fun with this on weeks that the theme is more understandable for him.

Check out both websites and let me know if you start participating in the Illustration Friday and what you think of it.

Fruit Smoothies

I decided that Wednesday is going to be my Recipe Day. I'll try to post a kid-friendly recipe (hopefully something they won't wine about or gag on) every Wednesday, but some weeks I might not have anything. Those would be good weeks for my contributors (and wanna-be contributors) to post there own recipe (hint! hint!).

On my post about eating healthy, I made a comment that I often make fruit smoothies in an attempt to get make crazy non-fruit eating children to ingest some of the healthy, yummy goodness that is fruit. Someone requested that I post my recipe. So, here they are (I have two). There's really nothing fancy about them.

Mixed Berry Smoothie

• handful of fresh or frozen mixed berries
• 2-3 ice cubes
• splash of orange juice
• half a banana

blend until fruit and ice cubes are crushed and mixed.

Yogurt Smoothie

• 2-3 large spoonfuls of plain or vanilla yogurt
• handful of berries (any kind you want)
• half a banana

blend until fruit is crushed and ingredients are mixed

*Keep in mind that I use a Magic Bullet, which is a lot smaller than a regular blender. So, you may need to adjust your measurements.

*For both these recipes, you really can add whatever fruit you want and how much of it you want. I really just throw stuff together.

Great Idea

My sister had a really good idea. You can buy trays for making your own pop-sickles. My mom got some at Ikea (Good luck finding them on the website. I tried and failed. Let me know if you find them.), and they're really fun because they're tall like a real pop-sickle. Others I've seen are short and squat. Anyway, my sister's idea was to make fruit smoothies and make them into pop-sickles. It sounds delicious and fun for the kids to help make. That might be a fun summer activity.

I'd love for you to post your favorite smoothie recipe in the comments. Maybe one or two will make it in a later post.

A Cute Blog and A Cute Book

I really shouldn't be posting at this late hour, but I was just introduced to the cutest blog! I was on Shannon Hale's blog (another good one), and she wrote about a blog with her favorite review of her graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge. The blog (man, I've said that word a lot!) is called Bookie Woogie, and the writers are a dad and his three young kids. Every Monday they review a book and create some accompanying fan art. Their review on Hale's book was the stinking cutest thing I've every seen! What cute kids and what a great dad they've got! You need to read this.

I wanted to tell you all about this not only because it's darling, but it's a great idea! They read a book together and make their own art work about the book. That's such a simple but fun thing we can all do with our kids. I'm excited to try it with N tomorrow. He loves to draw, so I'm pretty sure he'll have a lot of fun trying to depict what he reads in a book.

Now, I'll give my own review of Rapunzel's Revenge. We actually checked it out from the library today. I got it for me to read because I LOVE Shannon Hale, but when I opened it and saw all the pictures (it looks like a comic book) I realized N would probably like it too. I was right. While I was feeding C some dinner, N grabbed the book on his own and started reading it (by reading it, I mean he looked at the pictures and imagined his own story in his mind). He "read" the whole thing (it's not that short), cover to cover. Then, after C was in bed, he wanted me to read it to him for real. We haven't finished it yet, much to his disappointment, but we'll definitely start up again tomorrow. I'm glad he's interested in it because it's totally different than anything I've read to him. It will give him a whole new experience in reading. And I'm so excited to have him do some fan art when we finish it.

So, check out the blog and check out the book! And have fun with your kids!

Pure Imagination

N isn't doing preschool. My reason for not enrolling him is because I didn't want him over scheduled. I have him in Kindermusik, which is once a week for an hour, and he also does speech once a week for a half an hour. I felt like adding one more thing would be too much for a 4 year old.

Although I generally feel fine with my decision to not put him in preschool, I occasionally feel a little guilty. This feeling only comes when I hear of other moms who took their kids to preschool and whose kids loved it. I wonder if I cheated N on a great opportunity for him to learn and grow. I know I shouldn't compare myself, but it's so hard not to!

I had a wonderful talk with N's Kindermusik teacher, Ms. Susan, and she helped me see that I don't need to feel guilty. I value her opinion greatly because not only is she a wonderful Kindermusik teacher, but she also has a degree in child development, raised great kids of her own, and is constantly studying about children and their development- especially how the brain develops. She talked to me about how at N's age his imagination is going wild (boy is it ever!) and the best thing I can do is foster that even more. She gave me some suggestions on what I can do at home to help develop his little brain. I was happy that I already do some of them. Here they are:

• Give him a pen/paints and a blank piece of paper- no lines that would inhibit his creativity
• Give him play dough with no play dough accessories and let him sculpt to his heart's content (this is one of his very favorite things to do)
• Let him go outside and explore the world
• When reading, don't just read the story. Talk about what's going on, ask "what would happen if...", or make up a surprise new ending to see how he reacts
• Make up stories
• Talk about things and ask him questions, questions like: what's the weather doing today?

All these things encourage your child's brain to explore different possibilities, to branch out and make new discoveries.

Yesterday I put her advice to action. N was drawing and I sat down with him and drew my own picture. I drew a picture of a Christmas tree and started drawing presents of various sizes and shapes under the tree. He was, of course, very interested in my picture. I asked him what he thought was in the presents. It was so fun to watch him think. I could see the wheels turning as he thought of what treasure could be hidden inside the boxes. I can see that opportunities to do things like this with N are everywhere. I just have to pay attention to them.

N's imagination really is going wild right now. Sometimes it's not good because he imagines scary things and gets very worried if he doesn't know where I am (this I don't understand- we live in a very small house. I can't go far). But for the most part, I'm very glad he has such a vivid imagination because I know his brain is developing in wonderful ways. I love watching his imagination at work. I try to make sure I play with N each day, but I also try to make sure he has alone time to make his own fun. Ms. Susan helped me understand that doing that will help him so much right now. The more I encourage it the better off he'll be.

So, I'm not going to feel guilty anymore. If I was letting him sit on the couch and eat potato chips all the live long day then I would have good reason to feel guilty. Instead, his favorite things to do are drawing, sculpting play dough, making up stories with his toys, painting, and, of course, a movie no more than twice a day (I need a break sometime!) N's learning tons just by letting his imagination expand. Lets all help our kids grow by letting them use their imaginations and color outside the lines.

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

I decided this year that I wanted the ornaments on our tree to be homemade, and I wanted most of them to be ornaments that I could make with N. So, I went to the craft store, got my supplies, and in less than a day N and I made these creations. I wasn't worried about how perfect they looked. I just wanted N and I to have some fun together. We haven't put our tree up yet (my hubby forbids it!), but I know N will be so excited to hang ornaments that he made.

Supply List:

Acrylic Craft Paint

Glitter Glue

Fun Foam

Craft Sticks

Red pom poms

Jute or ribbon

Scrap fabric

Googly eyes

Hot Glue Gun

Sticks gathered from yard

Fishing line

Wreath Instructions:

These are just unpainted wood ornaments you can buy at Michael's or any craft store. They were 99 cents a piece. They were pretty fast and easy to put together. It was cute to see N paint them. I think you can see which one is his (at least I hope you can!). It was good for him because he had to follow my instructions of only painting the bow red and the the rest green. He was so proud of himself.

Snowman:

1. Paint stick white front and back.

2. While drying, take your fun foam and cut out top hats. Glue on with glue gun when paint is dry.

3. Use the stick end of the paint brush to make eyes, mouth and buttons for snowman. Using brush end paint a carrot nose.

4. While drying, go outside and gather sticks. Your kids will love this part!

5. Break twigs to desired length and glue on. Let dry.

6. Tear small strips of fabric and tie on your snowman's neck.

7. Glue on a small loop of jute or ribbon behind the top hat for hanging.

Reindeer Instructions:

1. Paint front and back of stick brown. Let dry.

2. Glue on googly eyes and pom pom. Use stick end of paint brush for the mouth

3. Gather more sticks if needed. Break to desired length and glue on. Let dry

4. Rip more fabric for scarves. Tie on.

5. Glue a small loop of jute or ribbon for hanging.

Snowflake Instructions:

1. Paint 4 sticks per snowflake (I decided to paint mine blue) front and back (if desired). Let dry.

2. Using hot glue gun, make two crosses. Then glue the crosses together as in the picture. Let dry.

3. For the glitter, I just used white glitter glue. Make sure you let it dry.

4. Use fishing line for hanging or ribbon.

These ornaments were so good for young kids because the painting part was really easy. By the time we got to the detailed parts, N's attention span was done, so I did the finishing touches. These ornaments were also easy to mass produce because while one thing was drying, you could work on something else.

As we get closer to putting up the tree I have a couple other ornaments I want to make, and I also have some I want to save for next year. I think I will make this a tradition- make a new ornament with my kids. I had fun, and so did N. That's what it's all about!

Here's a list of some other great ornament ideas and instructions:

Popcorn Cranberry Garland

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

Pipe Cleaner Ornaments

Peppermint Candy Wreath and More

Do you have an ornament suggestion? Or what is something fun you like to do with your kids during the holidays?

Homemade Play Dough

My sister-in-law, Sharlee, in her comment in the last post mentioned making play dough for her son. Isn't play dough the greatest invention for kids? My son sure loves it, especially as of late. His imagination goes wild, and sometimes I spy on him while he's playing and laugh to myself at his make believe. The things he says are so funny, and sometimes his snakes he makes have names. Like, one day he named one after his cousin, Tevya. So cute! I love it when I see him use his imagination, and I think that's when kids learn the most.

Homemade play dough is sooooo much better than store bought. It's super easy to make, hardly costs a thing, makes a lot, and lasts for along time (provided your son puts it away when he's done! I've gotten mad at him enough times now that he's much better about it). So, just in case there are any of you who have never made your own play dough, I'm providing a recipe. It's a really good one (granted, it's the only I've tried).

2 1/2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons oil
1/2 cup salt (I discovered the hard way what happens if you forget the salt!)
1 Tablespoon alum or cream of tartar (I have no clue what alum is)
2 cups boiling water
Food coloring

Stir ingredients until mixed. Add food coloring (I add a lot because I like the color to be vibrant) and mix with your hands (It gets pretty hot. You can use gloves or tough it out- your hands get used to it). Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container and it will last a long time.

Happy play dough making and sculpting!