Fingerpaints never get old in our house.  With the purchase of some very inexpensive art smocks from Ikea, it’s easier than ever to clean up!

 My little Picasso!

 Both of my kids just LOVE squishing their hands around in the paint.  Evelyn still wants to eat everything – thank goodness for non-toxic Crayola products.

 I keep a big pack of baby wipes on hand and a rag to clean as we go.  I found out that the paint glides on fingerpaint paper and that excess paint can be wiped up with a wet wipe.  This came in handy when Evelyn had a big paint puddle that she kept smacking and splashing everywhere.

Look at that face!  It’s hard to believe that something so simple can cause so much happiness.  It makes me want to roll up my own sleeves and squish away!

 When the weather is bad outside, we go Play inside!  I think Oliver’s favorite place on earth is Play.  Evelyn is old enough to enjoy herself as well.

 We get to pack our own drinks and snacks.  They get to fill up their tanks and go back out for more fun.

 Evelyn loves the rice table (must be the Thai in her!).  She holds her own with the big kids too and doesn’t let anyone push her around.

And their most favorite part?  Jumping on the trampolines!  Makes me wish I could do it too.

I love it!  My two men working hard out back.  Oliver likes helping out, especially when it involves his daddy, the outdoors, and a shovel.

Kids want to feel useful and contribute to their families.  If you give them the “tools” to succeed, it’s amazing what they will accomplish.  In this case, we gave Oliver a real short-handled shovel and a milk crate to fill with leaves.

He worked hard, until his face was red and his nose was runny, and he filled his milk crate to the brim.  He was so proud.

He was busy for a long time and enjoyed himself.  Even better, it didn’t cost anything for all this fun and the yard got cleaned up!

 Can’t figure out what to do with the kids on a Saturday afternoon?  Grab a 99 cent bottle of bubbles and head outside for over an hour of fun!

 Evelyn was pretty good blowing bubbles when she wasn’t trying to eat the wand.

 Oliver had so much fun chasing the bubbles down.  When the wind took them over the fence he would wave, “Buh bye bubba.”

The first few bubbles he blew with his eyes open, until they popped in his face.

Evelyn is such a ham!  She had a blast watching her brother run his little legs off.  We spent a good hour and a half with the little ones, blowing bubbles and running around.  Great way to spend a day.

The hubby thinks [...] Continue Reading…

 These pictures were taken in Dec 2011.  The kids are a few months older now and you might notice that they look different than those in the last post. Not trying to confuse anybody.

I thank my lucky stars to have found a place called Play!.  It is sort of a discovery center and mini-gymnasium all bundled up into one. 

In the gym, they have trampolines, a crash-pit, inflatable tumbling/bounce pads, slides, ramps, balance beams, monkey bars, etc…   

 We are usually one of the first ones in the door in the morning and the kids get the run of the gym.  The place fills up quickly though.  Oliver loves playing with the other kids and has blossomed from all the activity.

In [...] Continue Reading…

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone!  In honor of Mardi Gras, one of my favorite “holidays”, we made crowns for the kids.

You need one cereal box, some construction paper, glue, and decorating supplies (ie. crayons, markers, etc…).   Slip the box over your kid’s head to see how it will fit.  If it is too big or too small you can adjust it later on, but make a note of it now.

Remove the box from their head and flatten it out.  Cut the box in half, across the middle, so you end up with 2 headbands.

With the box flattened out, draw a crown design and cut out with a pair of scissors.  You will be cutting through 2 layers of cardboard at [...] Continue Reading…

For 99 cents, I bought the kiddos a box of sidewalk chalk.  The chalk worked great on our patio, but even better on our wood fence!

 Oliver has been learning his ABC’s and 123′s.  He loved having it up on the fence to reference.  Every time he goes outside he spends time at the fence going over his letters and numbers.  I wrote his name farther down the fence and he can now spell his name from memory.

Evelyn didn’t have as much fun though.  She thought the green one tasted a bit “chalky”…

Another place we like taking the kids when it’s cold outside is Monkey Joe’s.  I had seen Monkey Joe’s around before, but never tried one out until we moved to Atlanta.   Monkey Joe’s is basically bounce-house central.  Ours has 6 different air inflatable play “houses”.  There’s also a section full of toys for toddlers.

 I just about had a heart attack the first time Oliver went down this slide.  It reaches all the way to the ceiling (at least 20ft tall)!  He did not hesitate one second before jumping from the top of the slide. 

 There are 2 bouncy areas for kids 3 and under.  Evelyn doesn’t need her daddy’s help to jump anymore.

 Oliver burns off some serious energy at Monkey Joe’s from all the climbing, bouncing, jumping, and [...] Continue Reading…

Oliver found his first ladybug while playing outside.  He was so excited!  He even let it crawl on his hand.

After freaking out when it crawled on his hand and dropping it, he kept close tabs on it.

Evelyn didn’t like him keeping close tabs on the ladybug.

He found 2 more ladybugs on the back of the chair.  I repeat – he was SO excited!

Evelyn wasn’t happy that we wouldn’t let her eat the ladybugs, but she was happy again when we let her gnaw on the stick. 

Ladybugs are a sign of good luck.  Three in one day!  Powerball here we come…

While clipping coupons last Sunday, I noticed quite a bit of red in the ads and flyers. Inspired by all the Valentine’s Day images (flowers, candy, hearts, bears, jewelry, etc…) I came up with an idea to make collage wreaths with the kids.

I cut out images that reminded me of Valentine’s Day, as well as any red space – ads, flyers, paper – to use as the base layer on our wreath.  Macy’s had tons of red paper in their sales ad and JCP had great large photos of jewelry that we used for accent pieces.

The hubby cut out a heart frame from a cardboard box and I spread on some white glue for Oliver.  We started with the [...] Continue Reading…