A Puzzling Idea!

I don't know about all of you, but my children LOVE putting puzzles together, and we have A LOT of them.  As with everything, I try to keep everything organized and together.  Nothing drives me more crazy than having toys lost or mixed up toys, but that's a whole different topic.  The kids were playing with the puzzles a lot, and of course the boxes for the puzzles were getting pretty beat up.  So my husband (I can't even take credit for this idea) decided that the boxes had to go!  And this is what he did!  Check it out!!  The man is a genius!

He cut the front cover of the box off so the kids could see what the puzzle is supposed to look like, and put both the puzzle pieces and the cover in a Ziploc bag.  We have over 50 puzzles, so this truly was a necessity.  It saves space, and keeps the chance of losing pieces lower because we no longer have to deal with broken boxes.  The man is a genius!!!  

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth!

I've said this once, and I'm sure you'll hear me saying it again and again - but, I can't believe how fast my two little girls are growing up.  Here is an example.  Jennah turned five the first week of May, and amazingly enough - has had a couple of loose teeth for a while now.  I don't remember losing my teeth this early, and of course, the cautious Mommy (or annoying Mommy) that I can be, did research on how early kids should lose their teeth.  Jennah fit right in the correct age brackets.  Anyhoo. . .as a child, I remember the anticipation of losing teeth, putting them under my pillow for the tooth fairy to get. . .Jennah wanted nothing to do with it.  She was being rather cautious, wouldn't loosen them more than they were naturally, and I think she was a little scared.  


Well, my two girls were playing upstairs.  We didn't hear any fighting or crying (which usually means that they are getting in trouble), but, I didn't want to jinx anything, so I let them keep playing without checking on them.  All of a sudden, Jennah comes running down stairs, bloody mouth and all.  She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, nor did she know what to say.  I finally understood that Jennah's teeth were gone, but she didn't know where there were.  I was scared that she swallowed them, which, I'm sure wouldn't matter anyway, so we rushed upstairs to look for them, and this is the story that I got:


Jennah and Kylee were playing when Kylee made Jennah mad.  Jennah decided that biting Kylee's blanket would "get her back" for making her mad.  Kylee didn't like Jennah biting her blanket and yanked the blanket away from Jennah.  Well, not only did she get her blanket back, she also gained a few teeth!  Kylee may just have a knack for dentistry in her future.  She is VERY proud for pulling out her sister's teeth.  

The point to my story is to share an idea that I came across.  And, I'm sure these are "old news", but they are new to me.  My mom was in town, and if you know my mom, you know that she is an amazing crafter, seamstress, knitter, etc.  I wanted her to make a little drawstring pouch for Jennah to put her tooth (not anticipating that she would lose TWO teeth) in to put under her pillow and as I was searching I found these cute little Tooth Fairy Pillows.  Jennah's really into mermaids right now, so on the front of the pillow is a mermaid princess holding a little pouch - and that's where you put the tooth.  On the back is two pockets; one small and one large so the Tooth Fairy can put whatever present (money, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.) in them.  You hang them on their bedroom doors and the Tooth Fairy finds them.  I loved the idea so much, I asked my mom to make one for Jennah.  Jennah has hers hanging on her closet door in anticipation of the next lost tooth.  Maybe this time she'll extract it by herself - or maybe, Kylee will get mad again!

"Let's Go Fly A Kite, Up To the Highest Height. . ."

I have SO many ideas and SO many crafts, activities, and projects that I want to do with the kids this summer, but the problem is that I'm so excited and I want to do them ALL right away.  The anticipation of watching the kids' faces as they explore or try something new is SO much fun and rewarding.  The last two days I've been expecting rain because the weather forecast says we are supposed to be getting some.  I won't complain that our days have been sunny and nice - but, doesn't Mother Nature know that rainy days are appreciated every time and again??  Or at least the weather forecasters should get it right so I my day can go as planned.  


Today I expected to be filled with house organization - instead, it was nice out so we went to the store and picked up the last bit of supplies we need to do all of our summer projects then came home to have some fun!


First - there was a great breeze - so we flew some kites!  It's crazy - most of the power lines are underground, so all we had to worry about were trees.  The kids had fun flying their kites and we had the perfect amount of wind to fly them a couple different times today.  Good cheap fun!

Then, we ventured inside and made our very own lava lamps.  I can't take credit for the "recipe" - but it was lots of fun.  AND - I scored some pretty cool water bottles that actually look like the old school lava lamps.  It's amazing what you can do with vegetable oil, water, food coloring, and Alka-Seltzer!  The kids learned that oil and water don't mix along with what colors to mix together to make different colors.  Lots of fun!

Items you need - liquid food coloring
would work MUCH better.  I learned
the hard way - but, still made the project
work.  Just put the water and food
coloring in first, shake well, THEN
add the oil.

Fill a water bottle 2/3 - 3/4 full of
vegetable oil.  Then fill the rest of the
bottle with water, leaving an inch at the
top.

Add 10 drops of food coloring.  DO NOT
SHAKE.  This is why I think you should
put water in first, then food coloring so
you can give it a shake, especially if you
have gel food coloring - then add oil.

Next, break Alka-Seltzer into quarters
and drop 1/4 in the bottle and watch
the "lava" float!  It's fun!

To get a better effect, only add one 1/4 sized tablet at a time
and then let the oil/water mixture settle.  The more
Alka-Seltzer you add, the more "shook up" the
water/oil gets.  But, my kids were having so much fun
we added a lot at first, as the picture shows above.  

The girls painting for the first time!
Well, in the tub at least!

We did one more thing that I just couldn't wait to do - and that was painting in the bathtub!  It's easy!  Shaving cream and food coloring - stir and paint!  It did not stain our bath tub at all - but the darker colors may stain the kids if you paint them on directly and leave on.  We painted Jennah all blue as a Smurf, then both girls wanted bikinis painted on!  Too funny.  It was amazing how long the "paint" lasted.  They were in the tub for more than an hour and never fought! 

Kylee's bikini!

Jennah's yellow bikini!

The house Jennah
 painted!

We were certainly busy today!  But, it was fun - and very memorable!  

Finding the Perfect Balance

Trying our straw bubble wands.
I think we need different solution as
 the ones we used didn't work well.

One of the things that I struggle with the most is balancing my time spent with my children and time spent on the million other things that I have to do in my daily life.  This summer, other than normal house chores; I'm trying to grow a garden in my greenhouse; I have to take a class online so I can advance to the next pay level; I need to start planning for the next school year because I'll be teaching a whole new subject; and I need to knit and crochet as much as I can to stock my inventory for a winter craft show I plan on doing.  

Jennah popping bubbles with her nose!

I've always been the one that is most successful with more irons in the fire - and of course, I need to be perfect in all aspects as well.  But, I notice that my time with my children gets put on hold more often than not.  Don't get me wrong - we spend a lot of time together, but I don't consider it quality time.  Today, for example, we went grocery shopping together - that's not something memorable for them.  And when we got home, we ate lunch and then I sent them outside to play as I cleaned out the freezer and fridge, then unloaded and put away the groceries, then cleaned the kitchen, then finally made myself go outside and play with them.  We didn't do anything spectacular - but the time we played was fun.  Bubbles and sidewalk chalk - never can go wrong!  I know that I will hit my goal of being a semi-perfect Mommy this summer - at least to my expectations.  It'll just take more planning - and the little voice inside that says, "play with your children!"

Preparing for Summer

"Summer" has begun for us here in Wasilla.  The snow is gone, the trees and grass are green, and school is out.  Having two little girls, Jennah - 5 and Kylee - 3, my goal is to make their summer most memorable.  I think the reality of them not being "little" for long has truly set in.  Jennah starts Kindergarten in the fall, she just lost her first two teeth, and every day I'm seeing more of a young lady instead of a "little" girl.  Kylee is no longer a "baby", but truly a toddler, and with having an older sister of only two years, she isn't far from being a "big" girl either.  She's incredibly independent and isn't afraid to let you know what she wants.  She's still small enough to get a "baby" cuddle, but that will be gone very soon as well.  I want to do as many things as I can with them this summer before it's too late.  And that's where this adventure begins.  


I have recently discovered Pinterest!  Whoever created that site is a genius!!!  I have found SO many great ideas for summer fun; finger foods, sidewalk chalk paint, giant bubbles, outdoor fun, glowstick baths, etc.  Each day we'll try one or two of the ideas that I've found on Pinterest, along with some ideas of my own, and share our adventures on this blog!