January at Our House

This is some pretty good stuff. I got a kick out of reading these quotes again, so hopefully you will, too.

January 3, 2014
Mia cut the eraser off her pencil and I asked her why.
M: "Logan told me to!"
Me: "Well, don't do what he tells you to do. He doesn't always know."
L: "Yeah! I'm a kid."

January 3, 2014
L: "Mom, are you on Candy Crush?"
Me: "Yeah, but I'm stinkin' at it."
L: "Oh, so that's what I smell."

January 8, 2014
It was the third snow day in a row and she was desperate to go back to school. She had just finished having a huge meltdown and was feeling remorseful.
M: "You're my favorite mommy. I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I was just over-tired, and I didn't get enough sleep last night."
Her favorite mommy? Last I checked, I was her only mommy. Wonder if I should be concerned?

January 10, 2014
L (after his bath, wrapped in a towel): "I'm drier than applesauce. I'm warmer than frozen applesauce, too!"
I suppose so, yes.

January 12, 2014
M: "Maybe some day I'll be a flying squirrel."
And some day I could be an heiress. Anything's possible.

January 16, 2014
M (On why I shouldn't cut her nails): "I like keeping my thumbnails long because it helps me take apart Legos."
Yep, makes sense to me.

January 16, 2014
M: "Is it okay to flush and wash?"
Me: "Yes. Why?"
M: "Because Netflix is down."
So if the Internet is down, our entire household stops functioning?

January 21, 2014
M (opening birthday gift from her uncle): "Ooh! Party pens!" (pens with plumes on the ends)

January 21, 2014
L (Overheard while he was jabbering to himself in the bathroom as he got ready for bed): "Doggie coleslaw."
I am not sure what this means, but I think it is a dreadful idea. I'm sure you will agree that we do not want to feed our dogs cabbage-based foods!

January 23, 2014
I was standing on a chair while taking down Christmas cards that were taped on the wall in the archway between the dining room and living room.
M: "That's so cool!"
Me: "What's so cool?"
M: "You!"
Me {flattered but confused}: "Why am I so cool?"
M: "Because you can stand on a chair!"
Really? That's all it takes to impress her? Whew. Hoping my "cool mom" status continues for a while...

January 24, 2014
L (on why he needs a Band-Aid): "I was scratching those bumpy things (scabs) and then those bumpy things tore open."

January 24, 2014
L (in the kitchen, while I am preparing to make a cake): "Mommy, can I lay the eggs?"

January 28, 2014
L (complaining of boredom on another snow day): "Being a kid is sooooooo rough!"
Really, it was hard to not make a sarcastic reply here.

January 28, 2014
L (on why he fell down): "I couldn't see backwards."
Obviously.

January 29, 2014
L (complaining on yet another snow day): "When can I play Frisbee again? It's been winter ALL day!"
Tell me about it.

January 30, 2014
L: "Did you know you can eat this part?" {shows me where he chewed it the plastic inner wrap from a Fruit Roll-Up}
Me: "Um.... No, let's not eat the plastic. Just eat the Fruit Roll-Up."
L: "But it tasted kind of good!"
Well, if it tastes good, then by all means... Okay, seriously. I don't normally have these in the house. I only bought them to make puppy tongues for the cupcakes. Maybe this is why he doesn't know how to eat one!

January 30, 2014
L (while getting ready to go to Math Night at Mia's school): "Math is so 'citing!"
{Pats self on back. Can almost see myself winning "Mom of the Year." Where to put trophy?}

Toilet Paper Tube Stamping

Today was snow day #3 and this was the second activity we tried since we were trapped indoors. The first one was science experiment. As another aside, just once I wish we would have a "snow day" during which the kids can actually be allowed to go outside and, you know, play in the snow! These insanely cold no-school days are getting quite old.

Happily, the kids were much more enthusiastic about this stamping project than yesterday's potato prints, which we tried kind of late in the afternoon when they were tired and crabby. I was smart enough to introduce this craft earlier in the day before they had a chance to get cranky. This idea (from Pinterest) is super simple and it's a perfect way to use up some of those toilet paper tubes that you have saved up (if you're anything like me you have a large stash of them -- They are such great craft items and they are completely free!) It reminds me a bit of the toilet paper tube octopuses that we made before, but I really love this one even more than those fellows. Plus, this one can be done with any age group from toddlers and up.

{Here are our stamps before paint was added...}

Materials:

• empty toilet paper tubes
• scissors
• paper (finger print paper works nicely)
• tempera paint
• paint trays (or bowls or plates)
• black Sharpie marker (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut notches along one end of a toilet paper tube. They can be any size or shape: rectangles, triangles, rounded "petals," or whatever else you can think of. My cuts were all around 3/4" to 1 1/2" long.
2. Protect kids' clothing and work surfaces, if desired. My children each have their own paint shirts, which are just old t-shirts that used to belong to me. I use a clothespin to secure Logan's at the back of his neck. For the table, they each had a vinyl place mat to work on.
3. Pour some paint onto trays. We used six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, with two colors on each Styrofoam tray. Note: In retrospect, I think this would have worked better if there was more room per color, meaning that I should have only used one color per tray.
4. Have kids dip the toilet paper tubes into the paint and then press them onto the paper to make impressions. Note: They can also invent their own techniques for painting. For example, Logan liked to swirl the tubes around on the paper and Mia discovered that she could used the tips of the cut-outs to make smaller designs. Both of them figured out that the paint was occasionally drippy so they used that in their paintings, as well.
   
5. Let paint dry completely before displaying their artwork. Note: I used a black Sharpie to write their names and ages before they were finished. This is mostly so I won't forget who made each one! Note: Kids may also wish to go back after paint has dried and add more details with markers. I know Mia mentioned adding green stems to the "flowers" and some faces to the ones that reminded her of a lion's mane.

Here are 10 more crafts to make with toilet paper tubes:

• Homemade Sidewalk Chalk
• Toilet Paper Tube Christmas Tree
• Holly-Day Wreath
• Indian Corn Craft
• Scarecrow
• Turkey
• Wind Sock
• Bunny
• Chick
• Advent Wreath

And, if you haven't done so already, please check out the Livingston Parent Journal's crowdfunding page! There are just a couple days left to contribute to a very worthy cause.

Snow Day Science Experiment

We are on our third snow day in a row. And once again, it was because of the extreme cold not the snow that school was canceled! Since it was too cold to venture outside, we ended up doing some indoor activities. First up was a science experiment: inflating a balloon with vinegar and baking soda, which I had heard about here. Our first balloon worked great. The second one was a flop, and we were done after that.

{We successfully inflated a balloon using science!}

Materials:

• empty plastic bottle (with a small mouth, preferably)
• vinegar
• baking soda
• balloon
• 2 funnels

Directions:

1. Using a funnel, fill the bottle about 1/3 of the way with vinegar. (Note: I first drew a line with a black Sharpie so that the kids would have a visual for when to stop pouring.) One child held the funnel and bottle while the other one poured the vinegar. (Note: Our bottle was an old teriyaki bottle that I pulled from the recycling bin. The neck is warped from the dishwasher, but it had the narrowest mouth of any bottle I could find in the bin, so it was the clear choice.)

   

   {Pouring the vinegar into the bottle}

2. With a second funnel (or the first funnel, assuming you have first dried it completely), add baking soda to a balloon, filling it about half way. They switched roles so that the first pourer was now the holder of the funnel and the balloon, and the first holder was now the pourer of the baking soda.

   

   {Pouring the baking soda into the balloon}

3. Carefully stretch the balloon's opening so that it fits over the mouth of the bottle. (Note: They can tear, so watch out for this.) Be sure not to spill the baking soda into the bottle while you are doing this. I did this step myself.
4. Kids can now lift up the balloon, allowing the baking soda to spill into the bottle. The chemical reaction makes the balloon inflate, which is fun for everyone! (Note: If your balloon happens to break apart while doing this, try to stop them from pouring in any more baking soda. Otherwise, you wind up with a volcano instead of an inflated balloon. While fun, too, this was not the science experiment I was going for, so I wasn't prepared for it!)

   

   {Adding the baking soda to the vinegar}

{I love his excitement!}

Frozen Water Balloons

Well, I only pinned this idea a year ago... Maybe I am on the ball, because, really, how many things do people pin and how many of those pins do they actually accomplish? (I've never thought about the rate of attempting vs. just saving ideas, but I bet my track record is pretty good compared to most people.) Anyway, this wasn't something that the kids could really help me with, which was a bummer, but we all enjoyed the results. It was just something fun for yet another "snow day," which was really a "way too cold to go to school day and, therefore, you can't go outside and play day" -- of which we have had far too many this year! I lined them up along our porch railing so that we can easily see them from the living room window.

{A row of pretty frozen "eggs" on my porch railing}

Materials:

• water balloons 
• food coloring
• water
• pan to hold balloons (optional)
• scissors (optional)

Directions:

1. Stretch out your water balloon. Add a few drops of food coloring. (I used 3 drops per balloon. I made one balloon for each color of pure food coloring: red, yellow, blue, green, neon pink, neon purple, neon green, and neon blue plus I mixed a few colors. For example, orange = 2 yellow + 1 red.) Tip: Do NOT use regular balloons. Trust me on this. You will just end up with a mess of colored water!
2. Fill the balloon with water. (Mine came from Dollar Tree and the package included a little nozzle to attach to the faucet. It didn't stay well, though, so I secured it with packaging tape. If you decide to do that, have a towel handy! Actually, you may want a towel handy, anyway, since a few of the balloons are bound to leak. We lost two at this stage.) Tie the end of the balloon in a knot.
3. Place filled balloons outside to freeze. This takes a few hours. Be careful not to move them too soon, or they may pop. (This happened to me when I was checking on them about 2 hours later. I figured with the sub-zero temperatures that they might be ready. They weren't. One popped and made a mess on the front porch. I didn't check again for another 4 hours or so just to be safe!)
4. Remove the balloons and display your frozen "eggs." You could use scissors for this. I just peeled them off with my fingers. (Here I lost a couple that had become frozen into the purple puddle from the popped balloon that I moved prematurely. They ended up cracking when I tried to chisel them away with my boot.)

{Neon colors are surprisingly less vibrant.}

NOTE: If you enjoyed this project, you might also like making Colorful Frozen Ice Shapes. On another note, there are just a few days left for the Livingston Parent Journal's fundraising efforts. Please stop by their crowdfunding site and see if there is a way that you can help out! Thanks so much.

Easy Cookie Cutter Potato Prints

Here's an oldie, but a goody: potato prints. I am not sure where I came up with the idea to use cookie cutters to make this process even quicker and easier, but it came in handy today when I was trying to prep for dinner and needed something to keep the kids occupied! Getting some potatoes out for roasting reminded me that I had just purchased some new cookie cutters that I found on clearance at Walmart -- a total steal, 6 of the little ones that are meant for fondant or something along those lines, and they were just $1.50. (Shhh! Don't tell Brett. I'm supposed to be cut off from buying any more.)

Have I mentioned that cookie cutters are one of my most favorite craft items? Really, they have so many great uses! I have always thought the small metal kind were nice for cutting cute cheese and fruit shapes, and, of course, for crafts. It turns out that they are quite handy for making potato stamps with precise edges in no time flat. Yep. Cookie cutters. What's not to love?!

{A finished potato stamp and a stamp in progress...}

Materials:

• potatoes
• small knife
• small cookie cutters (metal preferably)
• Styrofoam trays to hold paint (or plates)
• paper (finger paint paper works well)
• tempera paints
• paper towel/damp cloth
• paint shirts/smocks (optional)

Directions:

1. You may wish to protect clothing and work surfaces. My kids each have an old paint shirt that they wore. Plus, each of their work areas was covered with a vinyl place mat. If messes don't bother you, proceed to the next step.
2. Cut potatoes in half. I used 4 small red potatoes.
3. Press a cookie cutter into each potato half. You don't have to press it entirely into the potato, but you can press it that deeply if you want. Remove the cookie cutter, and use a knife to carefully cut away the outer edges, leaving the shape of the cookie cutter. It's faster and more precise than trying to freehand the shape! (We used a star, some hearts, some fall leaves, and an apple.)
4. Pour some paint onto Styrofoam trays and let kids dip their potato stamps into the paint and then press it onto paper. Tip: You can sterilize Styrofoam meat trays by running them through the dishwasher on the top rack. Tip: If you have more than one child, it is helpful to give each one his own tray. I just sat them next to each other so that they could share paint colors and potato stamps. Tip: It is helpful to have paper towels or a damp cloth handy for wiping the stamps off before switching colors (unless they want the colors to get mixed). Plus, you will need this for wiping hands when they are all done stamping.
5. Let paintings dry completely before displaying them. This technique can also be used to making greeting cards or gift wrap.

Here are 10 More Fun Uses for Cookie Cutters:

• Birdseed Treats
• Birdseed Biscuits
• Cookie Cutter Stamp Art
• Sandpaper Gingerbread Family Craft
• Gingerbread Boy and Girl Puppets
• Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments
• Christmas Sun Catchers
• Easy Foam Christmas Ornaments
• Cookie Cutters as Shark Party Favors
• Homemade Play Dough/Cookie Cutters Gift Idea

By the way, please stop by the Livingston Parent Journal's crowdfunding site and see if there is a way that you can help them with their mission! Thanks ever so much.

Make Your Own: Kool-Aid* Finger Paint

If you have been reading my posts for any length of time, you likely know that I adore homemade art supplies, particularly paints! I had wanted to try out this recipe for a few months and with the weather we have been having... Well, you know, no time like the present, right? (On a side note, was there ever such a thing as a polar vortex when we were kids? Doesn't seem like it to me. It's cold, people! I don't know if we need a special term for that. I believe it is used to be known as "winter.") So, back to the topic at hand. You need a "winter" weather activity to do with the cooped-up kids who don't have school again? This ought to do the trick!

{Little Man experiments with color mixing.}

Notes about the recipe: 
#1 I halved everything from the original (link above).
#2 When I say Kool-Aid*, I just mean any powdered drink mix. I used Kroger brand and made two batches, one with orange flavor and one with tropical punch flavor.
#3 Yes, this sounds a lot like a play dough recipe. This is almost all of the ingredients that we use to make Kool-Aid* Play Dough, although the proportions are different.
#4 It smells really nice.
#5 The paints have great vibrant colors! (And, I LOVE bright color, as you may know.)
#6 Despite sounding like play dough, the consistency is very good for a finger paint. In fact, I think I prefer this to the previous homemade finger paint recipe in that it is not at all sticky.
#7 This paint wipes up super easily with just a damp cloth, which earns high marks from this mama! (In case the other reasons stated above don't convince you to try it.)
#8 The only potential downside is that it makes quite a lot of paint, more than we need for just two kiddos. I plan to just share some with other families, so that solves that. It would work great for a daycare or a preschool class, also.

{Left: Orange, Right: Tropical Punch}

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid*
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons oil (I used EVOO. Whatever cooking oil you have on hand will work.)

Directions:

1. Place dry ingredients in a medium or large bowl. (I used two different bowls since I was making two batches.)
2. Add oil and boiling water and stir to combine. (I would say adults only since this involves boiling water.)
3. Use paint right away. (Don't worry. I checked and it was cool enough to the touch.) Finger paint paper is ideal, of course, but I imagine you could use any paper you have at hand. (I finally found that roll of paper that eluded me!)
4. The only thing I am not sure about is how long this lasts. Currently, we have it in sealed containers, and given its similarities to homemade play dough I am inclined to say it should last for several weeks or even months. (Our current batch of homemade play dough is 5 months old and still working great. Yes, you read that correctly. MONTHS! Really, I can't talk homemade play dough up enough!)

{My little realist creates jack-o'-lanterns.}

Chocolate "Pupcakes" for a Puppy Paw-ty

Once again, I saw a picture of something and thought, I can do that. Too bad mine didn't turn out as nicely as hers but at least I got to try this out for a fairly small family gathering before I attempted to make them for the entire first grade class! (Note: I will not be doing that. I have a simpler game plan in mind for the actual birthday-at-school cupcakes.)

The main problem I faced was that the cake was so wonderfully moist and the frosting was a bit dry, so those two didn't pair as well as I had hoped. While they didn't look as lovely as I had hoped, they were quite delicious! Here's how I made my chocolate "pupcakes."

Dark Chocolate Cake (makes 28 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used extra virgin olive instead.)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup boiling water (recipe calls for 2/3 - 1 cup)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare pans. (Recipe says two 9 inch rounds or one 9"x13". I was planning cupcakes, so I lined two muffin tins with brown paper liners that I had found on clearance at Walmart for $1.50.)
3. In a mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
4. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes at medium speed.
5. Stir in boiling water by hand. Batter will be thin.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes for cupcakes. (Mine were done after 18 minutes, and they were filled about 2/3 full.) For 9 inch rounds, the recipe says to bake for 30-35 minutes, and about 5 minutes longer for a rectangular pan.

No-Cook Fudge Frosting (recipe from my friend Jenifer)

Ingredients:

• 4 3/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients.
2. Add butter, water, and vanilla. 
3. Beat at low speed until combined and then for an additional minute at medium speed.
4. Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes. (Huh? Okay, I skipped this, so maybe that was why it came out dry? Also, she told me I probably shouldn't have skimped on the sifting. I started this, but gave up part way through... And now I know that if nothing else works, add more liquid.)

Decorating Pupcakes:

For the eyes: I used either brown mini M&M's or brown Reese's Pieces.

For the noses: For the faces with mini M&M eyes, I used a brown Reese's Pieces. For the others, I used a mini Reese's peanut butter cup.

For the ears and mouths: I used large pretzel twists and broke them (easier said than done) to make pointy ears. With the remaining pieces, I did my best to shape them into cute mouths (again, easier said than done. And just now, I notice that the original picture shows different types of puppy faces...)

For the tongues: I used my kitchen scissors to trim strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups into the proper shape.

All around, I had a problem with having decorated these pupcakes the day before they were to be eaten. The Fruit Roll-ups turned kind of melty. The pretzels became stale, oddly enough. And since that frosting was a tad bit dry, the eyes and noses really didn't want to stay in place whatsoever. Not my best cake ever, but probably not my worst either. Oh well, like I said, I have another idea in mind for the next round.