Toddler Activity One: Watercolors

By: Laura

Yes, I know, I'm late with my activity, but better late than never, I guess!  Things have been crazy around our house lately (if that's any excuse) but we're finally starting to settle down and Ella and I have been able to get crafty.  Last week I started out with an extremely easy activity for Ella to do: watercolor painting.
   I've tried this activity with her in the past and she was less than excited about it, but this summer she seems to be up for more sit down, concentrated activities.  This is great news, considering I'm trying to get her to do activities for longer periods of time.
   This watercolor painting activity was, as I said, easy as pie.  A friend of mine bought Ella a booklet that included painting pages, a brush and watercolors.  All we needed was a bowl of water and Ella was off and painting.  I did give her simple instructions about dipping the brush in water before changing colors and managed to get her to move to other spots on the paper (there were a few holes from too much water!) but other than that, she really got down to business and created a lovely picture.  She even wanted to do another, which is great for her!  Check out her action shots below.

Dipping that brush in water.

Really painting it up!

Look at that concentration!

Now, that was easy and fun!  Ella did excellent work and there was not a big mess to clean up, just some newspapers and water.  In a couple of days I'll be sharing Ella's next crafting adventure, glitter glue mono prints!  They turned out really cool!  See you then and let me know some of your favorite toddler activities.

Summer Activities for a Toddler: Inspiration!

By: Laura


   My little lady Ella Jane will soon be turning three and now that summer has finally arrived, it's time to get into some exciting, educational and engaging activities.  I vowed last summer that I would try to create some things for Ella to play with and learn from, but I must admit, that my ambition didn't last and I never did follow through.  This summer though, I want to challenge her with more activities that require thought, fine motor skills and, of course, fun!
    The key, though, to my activities is to keep it simple and on the cleaner side.  I don't want to do a project that entails an endless amount of prep work or a mop and bucket kind of clean up.  So, I found inspiration from the following Pinterest sites.

The first activities I found were from the blog "Toddler Approved."  I loved the idea of sorting activities.  I teach first graders and we do a lot of sorting, but it makes sense for toddlers too, they are capable, I do believe.  The file folders are another great idea. This might take some more time to create, but they might last for another child as well!
http://www.toddlerapproved.com/2013/05/simple-independent-play-activities-for.html

This next blog, "Mess for Less" has some awesome fine motor activities that I think would be great to try with Ella.  I especially like the fact that most of the items used for the activities can be found around the house (no prep work, sweet!)
http://www.messforless.net/2013/02/18-fine-motor-activities-for.html

Finally, the "Blissfully Domestic" blog has some nice craft and game ideas, especially for rainy days.
http://blissfullydomestic.com/life-bliss/50-sensational-summer-crafts-for-kids/124409/

   Now, not only have I found some excellent websites with ideas, but I happened upon a lovely little craft book at the library as well today entitled, "Side by Side, 20 Collaborative Projects for Crafting with Your Kids."  In this book, I found at least five suitable activities to do with a toddler, and then there are more to do with older kids, but the ideas are simple; from autumn crowns (a band of paper that fits arounds your child's head is decorated with autumn leaves and the like) to glitter glue mono prints.  It was great to look through all these fun ideas and know that Ella and I could accomplish them!  I also liked that the author of the book stated that crafts now a days seem to be "junky" and considered junk because they are not useful and they're ugly, therefore, her goal was to make useful, pretty crafts.  I say, yes to that!
    So, let's get going, I'm challenging myself to complete one activity or craft a week, which is very doable, so who's with me?  See you back here in a few days with some action shoots!

Can't wait to see more smiles from Ella when our projects begin this summer.  See you soon!

Homemade Bubbles

By: Laura

Winter is officially over (I think) and spring is in full bloom here in Nebraska.  It's been a long time coming, but it finally feels like we can go outside without bundling up to the nines!  Ella and I have been enjoying fun in the sun with many activities, such as park adventures, sidewalk chalk drawings, tricycle rides, and, of course, bubbles.  I mean, no toddler home is complete without bubbles.  Unfortunately, I was without bubbles earlier this week and Ella was in total bubble mode, so instead of getting in the car and heading to the store, I decided to get on Pinterest to find a quick recipe.  Now, there were a ton there, but I needed one that was fast, easy, and included ingredients I had at home.  The following recipe was the easiest I found and therefore the best:

1 cup of water
1/3 cup of dish soap
1/6 cup of honey

All we had to do was dump them in a container, shake them up and we were ready to go bubble crazy. Take a look at that.

Here is Ella getting the bubbles ready.  We just used an old bubble container we had in the garage. 

More dipping...

Nearly ready...

And there you have it, beautiful bubbles!

Now, I will say that this recipe worked just fine, but the bubbles weren't very plentiful. Meaning, if you're looking for bubbles galore, this might not be the recipe for you, but if you have a bubble emergency, these will do the trick.  I think Ella and I will continue our search for the best homemade recipe, but that should be easy considering summer is fast approaching.

Colors of Summer

by Erin

I've been planting and transplanting and coddling plants for about three weeks now.  I am patiently awaiting their leaves and blooms in hopes that my care has paid off.  In the meantime, I'm bringing color to my backyard and garden by my own accord. 

Garden Tote

I made this vibrant garden tote in the dead of winter after finding this fabric on sale at The Needle Shop.  It has been hanging on a doorknob all winter and now it is out in the yard in full affect.  After three weeks of use I have yet to yell, "where the hell did I put my pruner?" to no one in particular.  Everything in one place.  It can hold all my tools plus whatever it is I am planting.    It is not, however, this clean anymore nor will it ever be I assume. 

Solar Lanterns

I hung these lovely solar powered garden lanterns yesterday.  My friend Eva and I took a weekday trip to Ikea in March and I found these.  They were $10 each.   Not bad, especially since I've had good luck Ikea solar lights.  They work, and I've had one string for 4 years now and it still faithfully lights up.   I don't know why I thought any different with these lanterns, but last night when I looked out my window at the garage I didn't expect to see these lit up, but they were, in fact, glowing in the moonlight (streetlight).  Immediately a smile came to my face - they made me so happy (I get it now, Mom). 

I should put up a picture, but I know they won't look as good via picture, so I will selfishly keep the image in my mind and invite you over for a BBQ or something fun like that so you can see them for yourself. 

...more summer colors to come...

Stairway Runner

by Erin

I am on the final hours of my glorious spring break this evening.  I felt as though I did a nice job of balancing relaxing, working, and entertaining this year.  Often times, I have a to do list as long as my leg which usually ends in disappointment.  This year,  I had one task that for the sake of my heart and soul I had to finish.  It is a project that has been going on since winter break.  You know how that goes right?  But I got that huge, big, magnificent task checked off our to do list. 

Our staircase runner and pinstripes have been painted.  CHECK!

For to see the full transformation one must go back to the beginning.

------> ugly stairs

Of course, I only have this picture.  Lucky for you it has Max in it (hot!).  See the stairs to the right.  The stairs were built to have carpet on them, that is for sure.  There were some pretty largish gaps between the boards and a couple of those gaps were 'filled' with duct tape.  Brilliance!  I 'fixed' that by filling the gap with a epoxy/sawdust combo and then a bit of sanding.  It looked pretty gnarly until it was painted.  Picture? You would like to see a picture?  Sorry.  I'm an amateur blogger.  I forgot.  Anyway, that stuff isn't exciting anyway.

So way back in December I primed the stairs. 

Primed staircase

About two months later (yes, I realize the significant time gap).  I painted the outer trim white, or if you wanna be high brow about it - Fragrant Jasmine.

Trim and outer edges

Then I had to call in the reinforcements.  I know myself, and I know that precision is not my specialty.  I had to call upon the careful expertise of Max to measure and tape the runner.  It took him all afternoon, poor guy.  But, damn, does it look good.

Runner!

I painted the runner while Max was away at work and he came home to another taping job.  This time the pinstripes on either side.  We left the existing tape on and added another strip 1/2" from the inside. 

Tape mania!

I was nervous about painting the pinstripes.  I thought for sure the paint would bleed through, but I didn't have much trouble.  There was one spot I had to clean up which just took a little doing. 

Pinstripes

Tada!  Look at those stripes!  We have such purpose and direction now when we go up and down the stairs.  Like royalty or something.

The final and probably most important step was the polyurethane.  We had to do quite a few touch ups to the yellow and white before we put the poly on - and that was just a few days of us walking up and down the stairs.  The paint got dirty and scuffed quite quickly.  So if you take on stair painting project, don't skip this step, especially if you are using light colors.  So are you ready for the tape free, polyurethaned staircase?  Here it is. . .

Done and done. 

Turning Minnesotan

by Leslie

I am accustomed to cold winter weather--I mean, I grew up in Nebraska.  We are known for hot summers, cold winters, and lots of wind.  The other thing I have learned is that often Nebraskans fight against whatever season it is.  For example, you will see nary a person walking down the street in the winter.  On a cold, rainy fall day, you will witness people walking in shorts and a t-shirt.  In the summers, the topic on everyone's mind is the heat.

This is not to say that this doesn't happen everywhere, but I felt it a lot when I was living there.  Now that I live in Minnesota, my mentality has shifted a bit.  Winters are longer here--they're drawn out with very few sunny days to break through the cold.  I have found that people "embrace" the winters more here.  They get out and go on walks (even the 90 year old ladies that visit the library), they outfit themselves in hi-tech winter wear, and they spend their winters PLANNING.  Planning for warmer days.

I have found that this is one of the best ways for me to deal with the winter is to plan my garden.  I recently bought a little seed starter kit at Fleet Farm, my new favorite place to wander the aisles.  I bought several packs of seeds--peppers, tomatoes, and a few other things you can start indoors.  I have been reading my Seed Savers catalog like nobody's business.  I am obsessed with the stories behind the seeds and am amazed at the long journeys some seeds have made.

In addition to having the garden on my mind, I'm trying lots of new recipes.  You'll hear more from me on that later!

Before I go, I have to share with you some pretty winter photos.

 Frosty tree Monday morning.

This is an unedited picture of our backyard at midnight last night.  The sky was bursting with snow--no lights or flash necessary.

This is what I woke up to this morning.  I love the little mounds of snow.  We got a lot!

Branches heavy with snow.  Embrace it if you can!

There's a baby a'comin party!

by Erin

About a week ago my friend Danielle and I threw a baby party for our dearest friends Lisa and Patrick. Lisa is pretty much the cutest easy goin' pregnant gal you could imagine.  She had only two requests when we asked her what she wanted in a baby shower: boys and girls shall both be invited, sweets were a must - as were cocktails.   How do you like that?  Love it! 

So anyway here is the bad news.  In our flurry of setting up and visiting with Lisa and Patrick's lovely friends and family, neither of us took any photos.  Fortunately Lisa took some good ones of her nursery after the fact (more on that after the food) and Dan took this cute one of us below.    That's Danielle on the left feeding Lisa some sort of gummy item.  There's that short girl on the right. :)  I told you Lisa was cute, didn't I?

Danielle, Lisa, & Erin with the candy bar in the background

So anyway, I still thought it might be nice to have our menu out there in cyber, test-nest space for anyone that needs any baby party appetizer ideas.  I've tried to link to any recipes I can.  Danielle and I split the jobs down the middle so it didn't end up being a ton of work for either of us, especially since we both started earlier in the week.  

Menu

• Sour cream coffee cake cupcakes infused with cream cheese frosting - rescued from Danielle and Jason's kitchen table by another guest coming from Pilsen. Whew!
• Bacon wrapped dates
• Ricotta and herb dip 
• Lil' Assholes - pickles wrapped in cream cheese and ham
• Jalapeno and cheddar crackers
• Veggie tray - celery, carrots, radishes, mozzarella balls, grape tomatoes 
• Savory palmiers
• Spicy Hungarian sausage from Lincoln Quality Meat Market
• Hummus
• French bread
• Hot apple cider 
• The CANDY bar

I'm feeling like I am forgetting something delicious.  Ugh! If someone was at the party and remembers, comment please!  The food was eaten all up, and I'm not even kidding.  I distinctly remember eating the last of the radishes.  So I do believe the food was a success and made clean up a total breeze. 

So as we were snacking and visiting we would breeze in and out of the baby's new nursery. Lisa and Patrick had it all set up for their guests to see.  Gifts were collected there and Lisa would open one or two when she felt like it, or when someone requested her to open their gift.  It was very easy and fun - I've never much been a fan of the 'sit in a circle and open gifts' model, so I was glad that Lisa decided to go this route.

the nursery

Isn't this nursery just the sweetest?  This baby is going to be so happy and I'm going to be so happy to have it close. 

baby blanket

Do you think Captain will be watching over the baby like this all the time?  Me too. 

So that is the blanket I made for a shower gift.  Aren't the fabrics lovely?  I am in love with that hidden fox fabric.  All of fabrics were purchased at The Needle Shop here in Chicago - although they do have an Etsy shop for those of you far away.  I have made versions of this heavy duty playtime blanket for my friend Meagan and my co-host, Danielle a couple of years ago.  The blanket is modeled after the pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's baby book which I love. 

Speaking for the two of us (Max and I), the evening delightful and to the best of my knowledge Lisa and Patrick had a wonderful time.  We can't wait for the baby to come.

Cherrio!