Creating houses

I found this fun website a couple days ago. She has so many fun ideas for little kids...So we learned how to draw houses today. We used graph paper, and just followed her instructions. It was really fun. I think I should have done an example before sitting down with the girls. Aimee did the two on the bottom. She wanted to put a fence in hers, but discovered when she tried to color it, that it was a little too intricate for crayons...so she did a second one....Tomorrow, we are planning on painting (another project from her website). I also want to try to do some more projects to get the girls to work on straight lines.We also did a science experiment today. We talked about molecules and how they move faster when they are warm, and slower when they are cold. We heated water in one glass, and put ice in water in another, then we added food coloring (after taking the ice out of the cold one). I didn't get a good picture...so you'll have to do it with your own kids to see what happens ;) Be sure to have them make a hypothesis before you put the color in.

Sparklies

Ok, so this was mostly going to be about doing crafts with my kids...but I love doing some projects that my kids just aren't big enough for yet...and I still want to share them. So, you get big girl crafts too :)
I picked up this book in the library...I basically wanted something with new decorating pictures (I've been though mine so many times....) and I'm glad this was the first one I grabbed. She has some really fun ideas. (The cover is hard to read....Dime Store Decorating by Jill Williams Grover). She did this in her book. Mine didn't turn out quite as nice has hers (good thing I don't have as quality of photos, and you're not looking at mine and her's side by side), but I'm really happy with them. She also put her's in little clay pots painted in coordinating colors, but I didn't like the look of the pots, so I just did the glasses. And I didn't have all matching glasses...which I think is fun. I just did this with acrylic paint, so I can wash them off and do something different if I ever want to. I put them in my kitchen window, and they add such a nice burst of color and sparkle. Perfect for when we are waiting for spring to show up.

A valentine's day surprise

We wanted to do something special for daddy for valentine's day, so, out came the scrapbooking supplies so we could make cards. I couldn't post them before we gave them to him, so you are getting them now. It was interesting that with all the stuff I had out for them to use, all they wanted to do was use the markers and draw...oh, and put stickers on. Guess we need to do more drawing.

Valentine's Cookies

Well, as life goes, our party got canceled because Aimee woke up with a fever. I (being the mean mom that I am) made her stay home from school and miss her class Valentine's day party...but I know she was sick because she didn't fight me on it too hard. We had planned on cookies though, so we did cookies anyway. Nothing terribly creative...just frosting and sprinkles on heart sugar cookies. They still were fun for the kids, and turned out pretty. I put aside a plate for our neighbors (who were going to come to our party). Then we had some other neighbors bring us some cookies, so we sent them home with some of ours. Overall a productive day.


And what does a baby do during a cookie making activity? Well, she plays with the cookie cutters that spilled on the floor when the box got picked up upside-down.

A New Year's resolution...just a little late.

This year, I made a New Year's resolution to do more fun projects with my kiddo's. At the time we were moving. We weren't going to have a lot of furniture, but thinking about it, I realized that I don't really care...who wants to spend a lot of time sitting on a couch anyway...I'd set up a great area for crafts (and we have a great chair for reading and bean bags for when we do want to watch TV.)
Well, with the chaos that goes along with a big move, I hadn't gotten any of it done, and I felt like my kids were watching way more TV then I'd like. They have been fighting a lot, and I feel that is a sign of boredom. So, I re-resolved to create activities for my girls. And look at what I got done today! This was all in boxes this morning. Now I have a large chunk of the office/storage room cleared(not pictured here...it's still a large mess...just a little less of a large mess), and we'll be able to craft! Yay! :)
Originally, my plan called for a long craft table, with some kind of shelving for storage...well, I don't have all that yet, but I did have an extra small dining table. It will hold our supplies so they are easily available...the little table that is the girls' tucks nicely underneath when we're not using it, or we can use the kitchen table. I *think* I got all the craft stuff out of boxes...gosh, for the small number of crafts we've been doing, I sure have a lot of *stuff*...
So, I'm creating this blog...it's my special project blog. I'm promising to post something crafty, a fun activity, science experiment, book we're reading or adventure...with pictures if I can. I'll give how-to's when able, and give links to inspiration. I resolve to post on this blog at least 4 times per week!

Also, with this resolution in mind, we went and got library cards yesterday! The girls each got their own even. It was so exciting for them, and they were both so proud to be able to write their own names on their cards. Well, we each got to pick up some books. I'll let you know if I find any that are simply amazing. Well, I did! My sister in law introduced us to My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett a while ago, but we've only read the first one. It's the first book with chapters I've read to the girls and they loved it. We got it as a refresher, so we can read the rest of the trilogy soon. If the rest is as good as the first, I'd highly recommend the for any kid who likes to be read to...and maybe some who don't know they like to be read to yet ;)

So, coming up tomorrow! We are having a cookie decorating party with our neighbors. We may do some cards too. Fun stuff!