Moving...Care to Join Me?

Does your blog-life resemble your real life?

In real life, I move alot. Probably from growing up as an Air Force brat.

I get antsy. Gotta keep movin'.

Anyways, I've started blogging elsewhere. Not very much, but enough to know that I don't want to keep two blogs. My new blog will still include any activities that I do with the kiddos, but it's a little more personal in nature. I feel more free to post about whatever the heck I want and not just kiddie stuff.

So, if you want me, I'll be over here.

:)

Rainy Day Paint Treatment

Don't you just love seeing ink on paper being splattered by heavy drops of rain? We decided to do some painting on a rainy day and let the summer showers put the finishing touches on Little Bit's artwork.

Using our customary pallet of primary colors (I like for Little Bit to see how they mix into other colors) she dipped, dabbed, and swirled the paint around the paper.

Here is the picture before we let the rain do its thing.

It was a good rain; not too strong, but heavy enough to be able to see immediate results. I put the paper on a flat cookie sheet so that I wouldn't have to peel a soaking wet piece of paper off of the concrete and risk tearing it.

It took a few hours to dry, but I thought the outcome was really cool. The water changed the tone of some of the colors, and the yellow ended up much more vibrant.

I love projects like these because I get to show Little Bit how flexible art is.

This activity was inspired by the book Science Arts. What are some other treatments we could do to a painted piece of work?

Soliciting Votes

Just wanted to pop in for a sec and ask y'all to go vote for Choosing My Own in the 5 Minutes for Mom Summer Photo Contest. She's an awesome blogger with some of the cutest kiddos I've ever seen, and her photos are always soooo good!

So, go on now.

Go vote.

Thanks. :)

Many, Many Thanks!

I've been slack in my blogging lately and have let some important things go unmentioned for a while. Please allow me to redeem myself.

First off, I am the ever-so-grateful recipient of two awards!

Jenny, at Daily Dose of Motherhood, has honored me with the Arte Y Pico award.

I have no idea how to pronounce it, but it sounds really cool, doesn't it? Makes me feel sort of cultured! Thanks, Jenny!

Also, Melissa at Chasing Cheerios passed the Brillante Weblog award on to me.

You ladies really know how to brighten a lowly ol' blogger's day! I can't tell you how grateful I am that you thought of me. I happily accept them with many thanks.

I shall now pass them on to a few other ladies whose posts I always find myself eagerly awaiting:

• If I Only Had Superpowers
• Our Green Nest
• Thimbly Things
• The Artful Parent
• Choosing My Own
• No Time For Flash Cards

Speaking of being a lucky gal...I won something! I'm not the type to enter blog contests just to enter, because I know I won't win. But if there's something I'd actually like to have, I'll usually jump through whatever hoops are necessary, even though I'm still pretty sure I won't win. But, wuddu-ya-know? I won a nifty embroidery pack from Needle N' Thread! My package arrived a few days ago, complete with embroidery floss, tea towel, stitching book, and needle. And, if I can get past the fact that I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to stitchery, I might actually do something with it.

If you're into that sort of thing, go check out Needle N' Thread. She has lots of tips, projects, and giveaways related to stitching. Thanks, Mary!

And thanks to all of you who pop in every now and then to see what we're up to over here!

Through a Child's Eyes

The other day Little Bit was so excited to show me the kangaroo she found on our back patio. Do you see it?

 

Tape Collage

Ordinarily, we all wake up together (i.e. a certain little toddler wakes up and makes sure that the whole house knows she's a wake) and we eat breakfast together then continue on about our day. This morning, however, I was able to get Little Bit downstairs before she woke up Bitty Baby. We went ahead and ate breakfast, but that meant that when Bitty Baby did wake up, I had to find something for the toddler to do while I fed the baby.

I remembered seeing a tape collage activity in this book and decided it was just the quick, non-messy activity that I needed. I grabbed all the different types of paint around the house that I could find and tore up some pieces. Then I grabbed a sheet of construction paper and set Little Bit up at the table.

Some of the tape was a little tricky for her to work with, but I think it just made for a more interesting piece. She enjoyed handling the sticky material and seemed very deliberate in deciding where to place each piece of tape.

When she was finished she wanted me to take a picture of her "artwork" but couldn't quite figure out how to hold the paper so that I could actually see it.

I showed her how to hold the paper with both hands in front of her and told her to smile. This strained, contorted face is her trying to smile big for the camera.

She kills me.

Freshly Squeezed Orange Popsicles

Go get some oranges and a few fun containers and make a delicious summer treat.

A few days ago, after juicing some oranges using Little Bit's juicer, I started thinking about how yummy it would be to freeze some OJ and make popsicles.

Then....I got this in the mail...

and, lo and behold, there was a whole article on making your own popsicle molds. While we didn't cast our own molds out of silicone, we did follow the mag's suggestion to use shot glasses (or other containers with interesting shapes) for freezing the juice.

We started from scratch and let Little Bit do some juicin'!

 

Then she did much of the pouring as well. Undoubtedly this was her favorite part...she loves to pour.

Next, I secured the popsicle sticks in place by taping toothpicks on either side of the sticks and then securing them to the glasses.

After just a couple of hours in the freezer (i.e. one toddler nap) they were ready for consumption.

Here you can see the two different shapes we got.

 
"Tasty."

I'll have to agree with her. They were quite tasty! We only used orange juice in our popsicles, but you could easily change it up by adding yogurt or combining different fruit juices.

Have fun and let me know if you try it...I'd love to see what cool shapes others can find!

Window Shopping

Have you ever started out somewhere and then ended up someplace completely different and have no idea how you got there? That is how I found this:

Sadly, I am in love with this lunchbox. Sad for two reasons:

1) My husband says I can't have it.

2) When I imagine buying this lunchbox I envision the teachers and other parents of Little Bit's daycare (she starts in August) "ooohing" and "ahhhing" over such a find...and I never thought I would be that person.

 

I've also been looking at patterns on Etsy. Is this not the sweetest little bunny you've ever seen?

I'm hesitant to buy the pattern because it doesn't have step-by-step pictures and I just don't think I'm ready for that yet.

 

And then there are these shoes, which I found poking around this store after reading about it here.

Now nine months old, I know Bitty Baby is going to be walking soon and I think these adorable shoes would be perfect for her first steps. (And just a note, if you like these check out the link- they're having a sale right now).

 

And lastly, I came across this old schoolhouse desk on Craigslist today. It makes me want to use the word, "darling." What a darling desk! Not a word I'd typically use, but a fitting adjective I think.

But what would I do with it? I have no idea. Maybe I could arrange it in our playroom somewhere and Little Bit could eat her snack there. Or maybe it could just stand alone as an example of beautiful craftsmanship.

 

Most likely I will pass on all of these items, but it's still fun to poke around and see what's out there. What kinds of things do you "window shop" for?

Not Quite the Beach

We had big plans to go to the beach by our house today. Imagine our surprise when we got there and saw a sign that read, "Swimming Area Closed" posted by the Health Department. Yikes! Nothing like a little pollution in the water to spoil your plans.

No biggie...we just moved our party to the clubhouse pool!

Aren't they just adorable. I think they are going to grow up to be best friends and it just warms my heart when they get all lovie with each other. :)

I wish I could have gotten more photos from the pool, but I really wanted to put the camera down and enjoy the cool water.

Look at that form. She's a natural!

After the pool we headed down to the ice cream parlor by the beach, as was originally planned. It's an old-fashioned joint and I just love it.

The ice cream was a perfect end to a fun afternoon. We were barely out of the parking lot before this little girl was sacked out in the backseat.

Success!

My First Doll

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I got a sewing machine for my birthday and in my excitement I promised pictures of my creations. Well, it turns out I was both ambitious and naive.

The first thing I made was an incredibly unimpressive "pin cushion." It's basically a felt pillow with a sloppily stitched heart applique. I was too embarrassed to post a picture of it so I avoided mentioning my new sewing hobby again and hoped you all would forget I ever wrote about it.

Since the pin cushion, I've done a practice run of a headband for Little Bit following these instructions, and I've sewn a valance for the girls' room. Sadly, none of these projects were bloggable. It was very discouraging.

But then, I was inspired by the Wee Wonderfuls "Archie" pattern and decided to give this little guy a go. My godson's first birthday party was coming up and this doll seemed like he'd make a good buddy. Despite MANY imperfections, including one leg sewn on backwards, he actually came out kind of cute.

Photo courtesy of my husband who was able to capture the doll's good side from this funny angle. Thanks Sweetie!

I was sad to see him go, but I think he'll get lots of snuggles in his new home. I'm really looking forward to making a couple more for the girls. In another week or so. :)