Category Archives: activities

July Goals Revisited

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Unbelievably, it’s already August, which means it’s time to update you on the progress of my July goals.

Add item to etsy shop – Check! I added the “All About Me” form for kids to fill out.

Clean Out Game Closet with Kids – Fail! We’ve worked out way through about 5% of the closet.

Bring Clothes to an Environmentally Friendly Dry Cleaner – Check! and WILL NEVER DO AGAIN! Umm, people. Do you know how much an environmentally friendly dry cleaner costs? I took one dress in to be cleaned and was stunned when the price came to $10.93. I seriously had three one dollar bills in my hand waiting to pay and had to dig through my wallet for more money.I am all for helping the environment but this is one area where I will not be switching.

Add Crown Moulding in the Guest Bathroom – Fail! I was wishing and hoping but sadly those by themself don’t put crown moulding up.

Go on a Date Night – Check! We actually went for a lunch date and went to IKEA and grocery shopping without the kids – amazing how fast you can accomplish both of these when there are only adults in the mix.

Create items for Amanda’s Shower – Check! I shared some decor from the party – (food flags), (felt garland), (cupcake decorations) with hopefully another crafty post soon to follow.

Make Wonder Woman Costume for Caroline – Three-Fourths of a Check! So far I’ve made the crown, the cuffs, spray painted her boots red, and bought the red shirt and blue skirt. All I need to complete the outfit is a little golden lasso.

Did you accomplish anything you wanted to in July?

Pioneer Camp

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My 7 year old is attending pioneer camp at a local farm and museum.

Everyday he comes home from camp saying, “I love this camp. I’m so glad I have 3 more days of camp.”

From what he’s told me it sounds like a wonderful camp – playing stick ball, walking in the creek, making quesadillas over an open flame, as well as many other activities.

I think the people who created this camp are brilliant, but it’s not because of the stick ball or walking in the creek or even cooking over a camp fire.

This has been my conversation with Andrew every day after camp:

What did you do at camp today Andrew?

Monday: “Today we played with water guns and also cleaned out the sheep area.”

Tuesday: “Today we went into the pioneer school and also cleaned out the chicken coop.”

Wednesday: “Today we went on a hike and also cleaned out the donkey stall.”

Are you noticing a theme?

The people who run this camp have hit the jackpot.

Do they have to clean up after the animals for 10 weeks of the summer?

Heck no! Get those city kids to do all the cleaning and washing – they’ll think it’s fun.

I’m thinking of running a camp over at my house next summer.

Just imagine, the kids could go home saying, “Today at camp we went swimming and then scrubbed the floors.”

“Today at camp we went to a movie and then washed the windows.”

“Today we did arts and crafts and then washed Mrs. Mac’s car.”

Yes, I think I’ll start creating the flyer right now.

 

***Tomorrow is dress like a cow day at Chick-Fi-A – check their website for details ***

Intellectual Balancing Act

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Parenting can be a delicate balancing act.

Whether you are guiding your children in friendships, school, or at home, parents are always looking for this balance.

This past holiday weekend, my husband and I decided to take our family on a short “staycation” in town, visiting local attractions and spending one night in a hotel.

Our first stop was the Dallas Museum of Art – a fine institution in the art world.

There we contemplated. Observed. Pondered.

Found what the art meant to us.

We were one with the art.

At this point of our trip we were enlightened and philosophical.

And oh so bored.

We decided to change things up for our second stop.

Yes. We. Did.

We went to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum!

Want to broaden your children’s horizons and redeem yourself in their eyes as a satisfactory trip planner?

Go here. Nothing like a few shrunkin’ heads to help with that.

As our day ended my husband and I reviewed our two museum stops and felt like we had done our job as parents and found some balance for our children.

Refined and freakish all in one afternoon, in terms of parenting, you really can’t beat that.

Florence & Santa Barbara

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Several weeks ago I flew out to California to attend the Florence and the Machines concert with my sister Kelly.

If you remember I had a slight concern about what people wear to concerts these days.

Here’s how we ended up looking…

Why, you ask, do I look like a 13 year old boy?

Because I assumed the weather channels prediction of 45 degree nights was wrong.

That’s why.

Turns out they were right.

My sleeveless sequined shirt was not going to cut it so we went to the Gap where I bought the stripped sweatshirt and then over to Nordstrom’s where I picked up these babies..

See, I knew comfy shoes would make an appearance.

I think things worked out in the end though because let’s just say my sequins would have been a little out of place.

The concert turned out to be amazing. It was held at the Santa Barbara Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater, which is nestled in the hills.

The opening act was Blood Orange – a one man synthesizing show. He was really good and has a very unique sound. I’ve been listening to him since the concert on You Tube.

And then Florence came on!

She was amazing – she sang and danced all around – a bit quirky, but lots of fun.

Seriously love every single one of her songs.

After a night of concert going what are two girls to do?

Why, go get facials at the Four Seasons, of course!

Uh huh. That’s how my sister rolls.

The Four freakin’ Seasons in Santa Barbara where Oprah lives!

And how do two girls who arrive at their appointment early and are told they do not have pool access spend the time?

At the pool of course!

This was the life I tell you.

I need to talk to my husband about getting us a second home out here:)

Thanks for a great trip Kelly!     

We’ll have to do it again.

Next  time I’ll treat you.     

How many stars do you think the LaQuinta gets?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Easter Synopsis Part 2

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Let’s see, where were we when we last left off…

7:24 am – Oldest Bunny decides to change attitude

7:27 am – Shoes are on and baskets are empty – let the games begin. First up, the front yard.

7:38 am – The backyard. Happiness overtakes sleepiness when candy bar is found.

7:39 am – “There’s even an egg up here!”

7:47 am – The examination begins.

This is the dumper. Each egg is opened and emptied into a pile.

The examiner. Each egg is opened. Looked at. And closed again. The candy will be removed at each eating session. This technique is quite frustrating to Momma Bunny when she’s searching for a quick treat in the pantry.

The Eater. Open an egg. Eat whatever’s inside – all of it – as fast as you can.

8:02 am – Yep, she’s still eating.

8:25 am – Momma Bunny jumps into the shower throwing Dad the kids outfits, yelling that they need to leave in 35 minutes if they are to get to the 9:15 service.

8:30 am – 8:55 am – Pleading, negotiating, threatening all take place.

9:14 am – Bunny family slides into pews two rows from the back.

9:17 am – Momma Bunny pulls out a pad of paper and a pen for Littlest Bunny to play with.

9:19 am – Momma Bunny is tracing Littlest Bunny’s hand for entertainment.

9:24 am – 30 pieces of paper later Littlest Bunny decides she needs a new distraction so Momma Bunny pulls out some magnets and paper clips.

9:26 am – The priest tells all of the children of the church to answer him this question, “Doesn’t the church look beautiful now with all of the flowers in it?”

Middle Bunny shouts out, “No!”

Momma Bunny quickly brings her hand to Middle Bunny’s mouth while Poppa Bunny gives him a stern look.

9:28 am – Oldest Bunny and Middle Bunny start arguing over who gets to hold the hymnal so Momma Bunny takes hers and gives it to the Middle Bunny. Momma Bunny and Poppa Bunny just stand now and move their mouths as if to show they have memorized every Easter song.

9:30 am – Littlest Bunny starts talking loudly. She is escorted to the front yard by Poppa Bunny for a prolonged botany lesson.

9:58 am – Church is over and Momma Bunny is ready to leave. Unfortunately, Littlest Bunny has been outside for the last 30 minutes watching the egg hunt being set up so there is no chance of that.

10:04 – Littlest Bunny mentally prepares for the challenge ahead.

10:05 – Middle Bunny and Oldest Bunny talk strategy with the Littlest Bunny for the hunt. There is talk of pushing and shoving if deemed necessary.

10:08 am – The hunt begins. Littlest Bunny is not keeping her eyes on the prize.  This frustrates Middle Bunny and Oldest Bunny who are doing their best to form a human wall discouraging other Bunnies from snatching eggs in the vicinity.

10:11 am – The victory walk.

10:14 am – Champions Easter egg hunters

10:30 am – Bunny family arrives home.

10:31 am – All designated Easter clothing has been stripped off and thrown to the ground by little bunnies.

10:32 am – Momma and Poppa Bunny tell the bunnies to go put some clothes on and stay upstairs. Momma and Poppa Bunny have designated this time as mandatory quiet time.

10:33 am – The Bunny children just laugh at their parents. They know their sugar high will last until right before dinnertime when all three will meltdown at the same time at the sight of their dinner.

Easter 2012 is deemed a success!

Easter Mess

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Two days ago we had tornadoes come through the Dallas Metroplex.

Around 2:00 the sky started to look ominous. My oldest was home sick so I went to see if I could get my six year old out of school a little early. I was told the school was on lock down due to the tornado threats; no children were being released. I went back home and watched the news coverage for the next hour, all the while listening to our city’s tornado sirens. I knew my six year old was safe in the school but it was quite nerve racking to not have him in my sight during this time.

Roughly an hour after school should have let out, the school starting releasing students. I picked up my son who enthusiastically told of being stuck in the teacher’s bathroom for an hour with his class. (In my mind, his teacher should receive Teacher of the Year for being in a bathroom for an hour with twenty-two kindergarteners – can you even imagine?)

So… because of the storm…our night activities were cancelled…so….we were able to do two Easter “crafts.”

First off, dying Easter eggs (and yes, Caroline does not have clothes on, it’s cleaner this way for everyone).

Notice the fingers…that’s what happens when your technique for dying the eggs is completely hands on.

Once the eggs were dried, it was time to decorate with stickers.

Just because it was time didn’t mean it actually occurred.

Apparently, peeling your eggs was more fun (I’m looking at it from the perspective that it was a scientific learning experience).

My six year old said, “Oh yuck! These smell like rotten cheese! No, wait. They smell like rotten ham!”

Just for the record, he has never been served either one of those options.

For our second craft of the night, I thought it would be fun to create some No Bake Chocolate Egg Nests which I saw on the Chef in Training blog.

This is what we were going for…

but this is what we ended up with…

but we sure had fun making them…

although I’m not sure if anyone but Mom really completed any nests…

since they were too busy “cleaning up.”

Easter Mess

=’s

Easter Fun

Spring Break is Over

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Spring break is over today but we had a busy week doing a lot of kid chosen activities.

*First haircut

*Went to see the movie “Tin Tin”

* Trip to the zoo

*IKEA trip for lunch and closet supplies (OK, so not all trips were kid chosen)

* 3 days of half day soccer camp

*Having a friend over to play

*Dinner & Painting Class for Mom with her friends

* Watching 3 Netflix movies

* Eating green St. Patrick’s Day pancakes

* Making Rainbow cupcakes

* Lunch date for mom and dad (Believe me when I say the kids enjoyed this one too)

*Everyone in family to see “Big Miracle” movie (Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski movie about saving three whales – comes highly recommended from our family)

* Dinner at In & Out

Yes, it was a good break.

But if any one of my three wake up tomorrow morning sick and can’t go to school, I will not be pleased.

Mary Poppins Party Activities

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In order to celebrate my daughter’s 3rd birthday – Mary Poppins style – we came up with a few related activities that 3 year olds would enjoy.

First up, drawing on cardboard with chalk (relates to Bert and him drawing chalk pictures in the movie).

Next up, a Mary Poppins bean bag toss. We have used these boards for many many parties. We just take off the old pictures or glue right over them with the new themed pictures.

Third, racing around with stick horses (relates to the carousel horses and when they race in the movie).

These were a huge hit. I’m putting together a tutorial on how I made these.

Next, pin the bow tie on the penguin (come on, do I really need to tell you what part of the story this is from?)

Lastly and the biggest hit of the party, chimney play! (these are supposed to be the chimneys that the chimney sweeps pop in and out of when they sing “Chim Chimney Cha-roo.”)

We bought five large cardboard boxes and two small boxes for about $6.00. My husband then connected them all and cut holes on the top in order to give the small boxes a place to sit. In order to make the entire thing stable, he screwed 3 pieces of wood together in the shape of a “C,” and then put it at the beginning of the box and then another one at the end. The 3 pieces of wood touched three sides of the structure – the bottom space where the kids crawled through didn’t have a piece of wood. 

Traffic jam

Even the big kids got in on the action.

Caroline had a good time popping through the top of the structure yelling, “Cha-roo!”

So those were our Mary Poppins party activities – I also bought sugar cubes in hopes of doing a relay race with a “spoonful of sugar,” but decided against it at the last moment. Another activity we didn’t use a bunch of musical instruments I had gathered. I thought the kids could play in a band like the one that plays while Mary Poppins receives her prize for winning the horse race.

Altogether I spent about $60 on the entire party. I would have spent about $40 had I planned ahead and used coupons to purchase many of the items. Oh well, I like to think I do my best work at the last moment.

Soon I’ll share her cake and the decorations.

For Mary Poppins hat instruction go here.