Mardi Gras

Tuesday we celebrated Mardi Gras at our house. It was extremely mild as far as celebration goes, but a fun day.

Pasta Play

Brielle helped me color the pasta. We used food coloring and rubbing alcohol and then let it dry while we went out shopping.

We were going to make necklaces, but I realized I didn't have any pasta with openings for stringing, so I decided to just use some of what we had on hand for pictures. The purple ended up being not quite as bright as I hoped. Ellie insisted it was brown and not purple. James actually agreed with her.

We've been using all the colored macaroni in a container for texture play this week as well.

King Cake

Okay, so I cheated and didn't make an actual King Cake. Just a classic bundt cake decorated in Mardi Gras fasion.

Ellie enjoyed licking the bowl, and the beaters, and sneaking tastes of frosting...I think she may have a sweet tooth.

It is not the prettiest cake in the world, but with a toddler helping you can't expect too much. I'm not usually a cake fan, but it tasted good to me...could just be a weird pregnancy craving though.

The SIXTH Challange

I was tagged by Ashlie, but forgot to post until I saw Jackie's picture. Thanks for the reminder Jackie!

Here are the rules:
1. Go to the photo folder in your computer

2. Go to the 6th folder of photos.

3. Go to the sixth picture.

4. Put the picture on your blog and description of it.

5. Invite six friends to join the challenge.


So this was a fun family activity on Labor Day in 2002. We were in downtown Salt Lake City looking for items from the Itty Bitty Salt Lake City picture clues. If you live in Utah or happen to be there in September and haven't ever tried this before it is tough and a great free activity. Basically what happens is the newspaper prints a series of images that are from a 20 block radius in Salt Lake; for example it could be a nose of a certain statue or a star on the side of a building. Then you have to go find where they are and you can submit your answers for prizes. Does anyone know of any other cities that have a similar picture challenge?


I know you can't resist going to your photo library to see what turns up for you. Go ahead and try it.

Presidents Day Week

Money Drop

Of course I don't expect Ellie to understand the presidents of the USA yet, but I still showed her the pictures of those on the coins as we did this activity. This is a good fine-motor skill activity. Ellie would take the money from the bowl and slide it into the slot in the coin jar. She loved this and asked for it multiple times throughout the week.

Patriotic Wind Sock

We are getting ready for our shapes week, so I decided to work on hearts last week and stars this week to get a head start.

The activity suggests cutting out stars to glue on, but I'm too lazy to take the time to cut out stars and don't have a star punch. Ellie of course loved the painting project.

It is supposed to be a wind sock, but it also has worked well as a drum with the string hanging over the neck.

Flag

I admit I did help her with the stripes.

Dancing Jam Session

Daddy was doing dishes and listening to his music. Brielle decided she wanted her music on instead (she loves the music from the Signing Time shows). Maybe I hang out with her too much but I have to admit I'm partial to her choice in music as well. :)

Ellie has her own (free and cheaply made) mp3 player, however it was charging so I had to let her borrow my nano. It was funny to see her dance around with it in her back pocket. She looks like a teenager already!

Lots of Love

We've been focusing on valentine's day projects this week. We haven't done as many as I had planned however, because Ellie has been sick and hasn't felt up to doing much of anything. She has just wanted to sit on Mommy's lap all day everyday, I guess that is a good way to experience the love that Valentine's day is all about. I enjoy the extra cuddling, since usually she is too busy to stay on my lap.
I hope she gets better soon though
1. so she can feel better and
2. because the whining is about to drive me insane!

Paper Hug

We haven't had paint out for a while, because markers and crayons are so much easier. Ellie loved the chance to paint again.

She was very focused on getting the one little heart covered, I had a hard time convincing her to paint the other side as well.

Brielle LOVES googly eyes. The problem is every time we do a project with them she somehow manages to dump the bag of them on the floor. I think next time I'll only bring what we need to the table and leave the rest in the drawer.

Shake It Up

This kind of painting is easy and a lot less messy. We used a tin can. Put the paper in the can and pour some paint on it. Put a golf ball in the can and shake it. Ellie love hearing the noise and practiced fast and slow shaking. Open the can and see what kind of masterpiece the ball painted for you!

Sponge Painting

I had just planned to use red, but Ellie insisted she need yellow and blue paint as well.

I actually liked the multi-color effect.

I was thinking about selling this to an art museum with the hope of making millions of dollars. :)

Big News

James was accepted to all 4 of the residencies he went to interviews for. Since each location only accepts 1 resident, this is a big deal. It has been a busy time for him to be doing his Veterinary School rotations while trying to find time to travel to these different places. I wasn't surprised to find out that all the schools think James is as great as I think he is.
Even though yesterday was the day the schools could finally all give him the answer, we've been discussing the options for weeks. After lots of praying and fasting (well James was fasting I was "pregnant fasting") we have decided...

We're moving to CALIFORNIA!!

James accepted a combined residency/PHD program at the City of Hope. This just happens to be located in Duarte where James grew up and where his family still lives. We are not excited about leaving all of our friends in Michigan, but it will be nice to be close to family again.
The residency starts on July 1st, so we'll move sometime before then. (but after Megan has a baby and James graduates...it is going to be a busy year!)

Once there was a snowman

One more favorite from last week's winter theme I forgot to post was the indoor snowman. We still haven't really built a snowman outside yet this winter. I tried once with Ellie, but her attention span is a bit to short.

As a side note this happens to be Ellie's favorite outfit. As soon as it is washed and back in the drawer she chooses to wear it again. It is just a pink track suit. I'll have to get a picture of the whole thing next time.

Ellie loved stacking

but the crashing is of course always the favorite.

My Favorite Blog

(click on the picture to link to the website)

I get activity ideas from a lot of different resources, but this one is by far my favorite. Her son is only 5 months older than Brielle, so the activities are age-appropriate for what I need. She also provides great instructions and pictures. I've learned some new songs from her sight (she video tapes herself singing the song) which have become some of Ellie's most requested songs.

More Winter Activites

Ice Painting

Ellie has been very interested in the icicles we have hanging all over our house. We painted with the ice and talked about how it was frozen water.

At first she was a little unsure, but got really into it. I've seen this idea before as a summer-time outdoor activity, so we may do it again when it is hot outside.


Snowy Trail Mix

Not very healthy, but a fun treat. I put everything in bowls so Ellie could see and work on her pouring skills.

Once she tasted the M&Ms she would not let them out of her sight. (She did a great job of labeling each of the colors as she ate them, so if you want a junky color activity, there is another idea.)

Bring the Snow Inside

This idea came from my friend Jessie. It has been too cold to play outside the last couple of days. I was trying to get dinner ready for missionaries and friends to come over and this worked as a great diversion.

Puff Paint Snowman

We did this a while ago, but I didn't get pictures. I've always loved finger painting directly on the table with shaving cream as a quick easy distraction for kids, but just learned that you can add glue to make it into puff paint. You can't see very well from the picture, but it has a fun texture after it dries. Just mix equal amounts of shaving cream and glue. (You can also add food coloring to do different colors.) Use a paintbrush and make sure it doesn't get in the eyes or mouth!

Too Much Stuff

We were out running errands today and I looked over at my passenger seat. This is what I saw:

Just how many bags do I need anyway? There is the library bag, the diaperbag (full of toys, snacks and of course diapers...just in case), the purse...since I don't want to take the whole diaperbag into the stores, a reusable grocery bag for the shopping trip, and my primary bag I still hadn't brought in since Sunday. No wonder it is hard to get out of the house sometimes. Besides trying to get the kid in the car I'm taking the whole house with me!

Boots

Ellie got some hand-me-down boots this week from her friend Abby. Apparently they were Abby's favorite shoes. They have already quickly become Ellie's favorite as well. She loves that she can put them on all by herself. This results in her wearing them around the house ALL day.
Here are a few examples:

While trying to get her dressed

I had to take off the boots to get her pants off, but she insisted she needed them back on before she could sit down to go potty. (Just as a side note, she is very interested in the potty right now, but always asks to use it after she has already gone in her diaper. I'm trying to follow her lead and not push if she isn't ready, but I don't want to miss the opportunity if now is a good time. Any suggestions?)

And she needed them back on after getting her pajamas on as well. I did tell her she couldn't wear them to bed, so she said good night to the boots. I'm sure they'll be back on first thing in the morning.

6 more weeks of Winter

This week our theme is winter. I haven't done a great job of taking pictures of our activities, so I'll just post what we have and try to do better the rest of the week.

We started off Monday with Groundhog's day of course. We made groundhog hats, played with our shadow's on the wall, watched a YouTube video to learn about groundhogs and made these groundhog puppets.

Brielle is still very excited about glue.

We read a fun book called Substitute Groundhog. The groundhog gets sick and is trying to find someone to fill in for him on groundhog's day. Brielle was mostly interested in the armadillo that was in the story and wanted to learn the sign for armadillo. (I didn't know that one, so had to look it up to show her).

Ice Cream Snow

We had some fresh snow today which gave us the chance not only to play outside, but to make some ice cream. Ellie loves cooking projects and this was a fun one.

She loved the finished project, but then asked for some hot chocolate.
I need to remember to get video of her saying ice cream. It sounds really funny and makes me laugh every time.