I think the girls have everything ready for Hannah’s arrival

Ro and Ree made two welcome banners today (one for Catherine and one for Hannah), told daddy to please please hurry when picking their friends up from the airport, hung all their bestest dress-up clothes in the play-structure (so their guest would have easy access I guess), and then (while I was emptying the dishwasher) dreamed up and constructed a car/train vehicle so they have seats for three kiddos. Funny kiddos. Now all we have to do is wait for our Canadian friends to get here. Just a few more minutes...

Reading practice

I like the way Ree and Ro watch tv. It tickles my funny bone. They squeeze both little butts onto an antique footstool we had when I was a kid, hold hands sometimes without even noticing, and shout out all the words they can read on the screen (and that’s a lot of words now).

Ree is completely enamored with shrugs right now, like the white one she’s wearing above. The girls have quite an extensive collection (we bought them in every color when Target had a sale). She wears one with her bathing suits, her pajamas, her regular clothes (even when it’s over 100-degrees outside), and with any dress-up outfit. I guess it’s true that “You’re never fully dressed without a shrug...” Hee.

A quick, cute 4th of July banner

TubaDad is in Germany on business right now*, so the girls and I have been keeping busy with lots of water play and fun crafts like today’s so-easy-a-five-year-old-could-do-it 4th of July Banner.

It was Ro’s night to stay up late (we alternate every night so we get some one-on-one time with each girl and also so they go to sleep separately instead of partying together until the wee hours of the morning). So we broke out the new scallop circle punch and festive patriotic papers we picked out at Michael’s and made a fun 4th of July banner!

We punched out five scallops from each color, made a couple of holes in each one with a regular hole punch, then threaded the circles onto a long piece of twine. That was it! (Hint: I wrapped a little scotch tape around the end of the twine so it was easy to thread.)

Ro had a ball with this project and loved the fact that she got to do it all by herself (well actually I helped position the paper in the punch because I only bought one sheet of each color and we couldn’t afford to mess them up, but still...).

We didn’t use any glue or knots, just dragged the scallops into place and the thick twine held them neatly in position.

She was SO PROUD of the finished banner.

I think it’s pretty dang cute too. Good thing, because as soon as Ree spies this in the morning, we’ll be making another one.

Happy crafting!

Update from Tuesday: I was right, Ree wanted to make one as soon as it was her turn to stay up late. So now we have two. I like how they made different patterns with the colors. Now they want to make a few banners for their room, so we’re heading back to Michael’s today so they can pick out a few sheets of paper that match their room colors. It’ll be interesting to see what they put together.

* And he is actually going to the zoo tomorrow with Ro and Ree’s awesome twin buddies H2 and S2 who happen to be visiting Germany this very second. The girls CANNOT WAIT to see pictures.

Homemade moon sand (another fun summer project)

The girls have been dying to try this Homemade Moon Sand recipe that I found on Pinterest, so yesterday we gave it a whirl and found that it was fun and easy! (Oh, before I forget, I added Kid Projects to the nav bar at the top of this site if anyone needs ideas like this one.)

Directions: combine 4 cups of sand, 2 cups of cornstarch, and 1 cup of water, then play using your hands, cookie cutters, small kitchen utensils, or anything else you can dream up. Add more water, a little bit at a time, to get the consistency you want.

That’s it! Really. The stuff was great.

It behaved like doughy wet sand that holds its shape really well. The girls really liked using cookie cutters (just pack the moon sand in the cookie cutter and smooth the top, then poke it out of the cookie cutter). They played with it for almost two hours (!!!). And when it got a little dry from being loved half to death, we just added a little more water and kept going.

If you put it out in the sun, it dries whitish and kind of hard too (this discovery was a happy accident that elicited a little bit of squealing).

This project would best be done outside, but it was about 8000 degrees in the sun yesterday, and I couldn’t take it. So we put some containment towels on the kitchen floor and went to town with the moon sand in the nice cool house. Cleanup actually wasn’t too bad at all, just sent the girls outside to hose down their hands and the implements (you know they enjoyed that) and wiped down the art table and swept up any stray sand while they were hosing. Now that I’ve seen how easy the project was, I’d let the kids do it on their own on the outside picnic table and there wouldn’t be a lick of cleanup.

Happy crafting!

Tissue-paper bowls (a fun summer project)

Now that the girls are out of school, we’ve been getting our crafty on with a fun summer project every day. They love getting messy and creative (and I love the longer projects that give me a minute to sit down!). One of our projects this week was the tissue-paper bowl, and we’re really happy with the results.

To make your own, you’ll need a bowl (to use as the mold), saran wrap, cooking spray, tissue paper in a variety of colors (we grabbed whatever was lurking at the bottom of the gift-wrapping box), Mod Podge, and a brush.

Cover your bowl with saran wrap then spray it with cooking spray so it’s nice and slimy:

Put small, ripped pieces of tissue paper all over the bowl using Mod Podge as the glue. Make sure that each piece also gets a top coat of Mod Podge. (I just realized that I’ve been saying the name wrong for decades, by the way – I have alwaysalways called it Modge Podge. Hm.):

Keep doing this over and over until you have four to five layers of tissue paper. Here’s what it looks like wet:

Let everything dry. (We put our bowls out in the sizzling-hot California sun – it’s a cooker this week.) Put on more tissue paper and let dry again if there are any thin areas – our red-flowered bowl pattern still showed through in a few areas below, so we repeated the layering and drying until everything was all covered.

Then gently pry off the bowl and the saran wrap, trim any jaggedy edges, and you’ve got a cute tissue-paper bowl. The finished bowl will be delicate and bendy (see Ro’s below where she’s squishing it slightly):

When you’re all done, you can also put a coat of Mod Podge on the inside to make everything extra shiny. (We haven’t done that in these pictures.) Cheers!

PS: I just put our whole list of Kid Projects up above in the nav bar, so click on it and have some fun!

Happy father’s day!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day honoring the dads in your life. We had a little BBQ over here, with grilled steaks and loaded baked potatoes for TubaDad, BobBob, and the crew.

TubaDad was pretty proud of the grill marks he made on the meat, and I have to say they look pretty enough to photograph. Heh:

My folks tried to teach the girls to ride without training wheels before lunch, but it was kind of a bust. So the training wheels are back on, but raised up a little higher now so they can’t rely on them as much.

Does anyone have any great suggestions for teaching kiddos to ride without training wheels? Our girls don’t seem to have the balance thing down yet (although they have incredible balance on balance beams, tree limbs, the tops of monkey bars, etc.).

Anyhow, it was a fun day, and the little peeps are just looking so grown up now. (The little choppy area on Ro’s hair wasn’t a styling choice, by the way, there was a scissor incident and it is now being grown out...) I like how they accessorized their outfits with little contrasting belts. Can’t expect them to dress like everyone else. Heavens no:

Happy Father’s Day!

Plan a sparkling 4th of July party

I’ve found a whole bunch of neat 4th of July party ideas on Pinterest and on the web lately and have assembled a big ol’ party wishlist. We won’t do it all, of course, but oooo, this stuff makes me grin. If you’re planning a 4th of July celebration, here are some fun ideas (all pics link to their directions if you click through twice).

~~~~ PARTY FOOD ~~~~

Firecracker red, white, and blue cake:

Source: bettycrocker.com via M3 on Pinterest

 

 

Cupcakes in a cone, with red, white, blue sprinkles (can do this for any party, just change the sprinkle colors to match your theme):

Source: buddingbaketress.blogspot.com via M3 on Pinterest

Watermelon stars (how easy would this be with one of the zillion cookie cutters I own?):

Source: nobiggie.net via M3 on Pinterest

Awesome flag cake – I’ve been wanting to make (and devour) a flag cake forever. This is the year!

Source: tasteofhome.com via M3 on Pinterest

Red, white, and blue parfaits:

Source: marthastewart.com via M3 on Pinterest

Red, white, and blue fruit kabobs (irresistible):

Source: makeandtakes.com via M3 on Pinterest

~~~~ PARTY DECORATIONS ~~~~

Use wheelbarrows and wagons as ice buckets or cold foods displays:

Source: hgtv.com via M3 on Pinterest

 

Source: swanksweetsblog.com via M3 on Pinterest

 

Luminaries: Paint and punch designs in old cans for festive (and fire-safe) luminaries. By the way, I love the addition on light blue to the traditional red, white, and blue scheme:

Source: july.tipjunkie.com via M3 on Pinterest

Paper rosettes: Use crepe paper and old newspaper to make charming rosettes.

Source: countryliving.com via M3 on Pinterest

Pretty vases: Tape patriotic ribbon around old jars or vases for a simple, beautiful way to display flowers:

Source: thepartydress.net via M3 on Pinterest

Bandana tablecloth: Sew a bunch of inexpensive bandanas together.

Source: meandmyinsanity.com via M3 on Pinterest

~~~~ PARTY CRAFTS FOR THE KIDS ~~~~

Paper lanterns: A cute lantern craft for the kids to do during the party:

Source: marthastewart.com via M3 on Pinterest

Indoor confetti rockets (this one would be fun for the kids to make and experience):

Source: alphamom.com via M3 on Pinterest

Firecracker crowns: Crazy sparkler hats for the kids to make and wear during the party:

Source: familyfun.go.com via M3 on Pinterest

Fun stuff!!! So, anyone else planning a party? If you have any other cute 4th of July ideas, please share!

Sidewalk chalk paint

Psst, does anyone else think that summer days without school can be loooooooooong? Oh man, tell me I’m not the only stay-at-home mom who has ever looked at the clock at noon and thought “Really????? That’s it????” Today by that time, we had already read a bunch of princess books, cleaned up the playroom, made juice popsicles, painted some wooden dolls, done hair three times, done a load of laundry, played on the Slip N Slide, finished a summer project (twice), torn through and then cleaned up the dress-up area, had an outdoor lunch, and dabbled in the water table. Yup. Then we went on to swim lessons, the library, and the grocery store. By that time I was well and thoroughly cooked and gave the still-peppy girls tv dinners in front of a nice, long movie. Ahhhh.

Anyhow, our summer project today was homemade sidewalk chalk paint, and it was a big hit. We’ll definitely be doing this one again.

How to make your own sidewalk chalk paint: Get a bunch of cups (we used leftover paper cups from the grad party) and put them in something that will keep them from spilling (in our case, a large tupperware was perfecto). Put 1/4 cup of cold water and 1/4 cup of cornstarch in each cup. Then add a few drops of food coloring to each cup and stir gently.

That’s it. You’ve got sidewalk chalk paint and the kiddos can use old paintbrushes to create (washable) masterpieces on your patio.

As always, these little babes are quite serious about their crafting. Quite:

It cracks me up how they watch each other so intently. The twin stink eye rivals any quality-control system I’ve ever seen:

They can (and do) crouch like this for hours. If I tried to do this I’d be in traction:

Fun stuff:

Can you read what they wrote?:

Oh yeah, we’re splattered and we’re sassy:

Tomorrow Ro and Ree are trying out a new camp called Steve & Kate’s, and if they like it we’ll make it a twice weekly adventure. Has anyone tried it before? It sounds really neat.