April Showers....

The Frog Princess has been
keeping a weather calendar
on our fridge this month.
She is supposed to add up
the rainy days for April.

It has been fun
listening her little
weather reports each day.
The calendar has also been
a handy reminder for my
own garden watering needs.

It's quite handy for senile moms!
If I can't remember how many days
it has been since our last rain,
I just check her calendar.

We may continue this
little lesson for the summer.
It would be
fun to do for a year
and then continue
the following year like a
home-made Farmer's Almanac!

Rainy Day Rainbows

Today

we are having some

April Showers.

So we're looking for

rainbows indoors...

Eco-Felty Goodness

Love that Crayola Smell!

Yummy Yarn

Colored Pencil Heaven.

The Mug I painted on my date

with the Frog Princess last weekend.

Hot Coffee.

A new little girl in our family,

(my niece was born over the weekend!)

Early Release Monday from School.

One-on-One art time

during Mini-Saurus' nap

for me and the Frog Princess.

A fairy doll making kit for

us to work on together.

It all adds up to a

lovely, rainy Monday afternoon.

Life is good.

Spring Garden Felt Board

I was so inspired by the adorable
Garden Felt Board post
at Sewing School
(check them out on my side bar!)
that I had to try to make my own with the Frog Princess.

We actually made two,
one to keep, one to give as gift to one of our favorite toddler friends.

The best part is this garden doesn't need to be watered or weeded!
Unless you want to....

We plan to add more shapes as the seasons change.
Fall squirrels and leaves.
Winter snowmen.

Happy Gardening!

Nature Crafts: Lasting Impressions

So I spent Spring Break in beautiful Colorado
last week with my two children.
While my husband stayed home for work.

We invaded my relatives.
It was really fun to eat green chili, enjoy a week of Colorado sunshine,
and catch up with family I don't get to see often enough.

Who says you need to buy or bring toys?
This would be a picture of my children in a pop-up lawn and leaf bag, in my Aunt and Uncle's back yard.

Children's Museum in Pueblo -- Cinderella's Carriage
I thought it would be better to be home from school for a week in someone else's house....

Virtual Spray Paint at the Children's Museum.

It was a long and busy week.
We visited Museums, Zoos, and Relatives in two cities,
Best of all, we spent quality time with both Great Grandmas.

My children are angels, but it was A LOT
of time to spend as a single parent, co-sleeping every night
with feet in my face, and elbows in my back.
I have a newfound respect for those of you mommies who do it alone every day.
I had to get creative, and come up with stuff to keep the girls entertained.

Thankfully, I read this post by the artful parent
about Sculpey Nature Prints before I left for the trip.
Her project is in this month's Family Fun Magazine.

I grabbed a package of
white Sculpey modeling clay at our local Walmart.
Then, the Frog Princess and I went on a
Nature Walk in great grandma's garden
and collected specimens of our favorite Colorado plants
including her Morning Glory Vine,
a Tumble Weed, and one of the
yummy Clementine's we snacked on all week.

We rolled clay balls, pressed in our plants, and baked our own
home-made souvenirs of our trip.

They are currently residing in a beautifully woven African basket on my coffee table.
They would be a lovely
addition to a nature table.

We plan to make more soon in our own yard and when we visit
both sets of grandparents.

Wash Those Hands and Have Some Fun!

Here is what you will find
in my kitchen
after a rousing adventure
at the Sand Table on the deck,
or a session of digging for wormies
in the back yard,
or generalized gooey art projects.

Mini-Saurus standing in her learning tower
wearing my favorite water proof apron,
and playing in a tub
of warm soapy water.

I toss in some small glass stones,
an infant wash cloth,
a few polly pockets,
a stray farm animal...
whoever will keep her happy.

This is SO MUCH EASIER
than trying to hold her at the sink.
Especially when she has grime
under her microscopic fingernails.

And yes...
That IS a dinosaur
eating lettuce out of my Aero Garden
...why do you ask?

Felt Eggs Sunny Side Up

What do normal people do when they have 20 minutes of down time?

I don't know because I'm not normal.
Secret confession time:

I spend my time grabbing felt from my studio,
Cutting out three white blobs,
three yellow circles,
and grabbing some "fluff" from my quilting stash.

I made three of these felt eggs
for the girls to play with in their play kitchen.

They have plastic eggs that crack open
and I thought it would be more fun if they could have
real eggs to stuff inside them.

So viola...here you are.

How cute would these be hidden
in your kid's plastic easter eggs this year?
Hmm...I guess I should have saved them.

Preschool At Home: It's Hammer Time!

You can't touch this...

Okay, now that I've got that tune stuck in
your head, as well as mine,
I can continue my post.

Between bad weather and sick kids,
we spent a lot of time
stuck inside the house
for the past two months.
I realized I was going to have
to start organizing some more
novel activities to keep the girls occupied.

Their brains were beginning
to get mushy
from watching
a million episodes
of Arthur and Little Bear on the DVR.

I decided the Mini Saurus might be
big enough that we could try our Haba nailing game again.
It's been in the "choking hazards" bin in our garage
since our move last winter.

I don't know what this game is actually called...
It comes with little wooden shapes
(with pre-drilled nail holes),
a wooden hammer,
a piece of cork board,
and mini nails.

I let the Frog Princess use my small "real" hammer
so we could give the wooden one to Mini-Saurus.
Then I dug up a scrap of foam core from my art studio
so they could work on their own pictures
and keep the peace at the kitchen table.

End result:
Two Happy Kids
No TV
45 minutes of
learning, art, and entertainment.

One cup of hot coffee for mom.

My kind of a morning.

You can do this too:

I used to do this project with the frog princess when she was small.
We would get out her play tools set,

a block of styrafoam,
and some wooden golf tees.
She would have a blast hammering her "nails"