That's Life Kid!

So, Halloween is around the corner and we were not happy with Elle's pink sailor costume from Target. It was baggy and saggy and not much like the picture on the front of the package. I realized that the girl in the picture must have a petticoat on under the sailor skirt. So, I started pricing petticoats. Not wanting to spend another $20 (at least), I decided it was time to get creative. I researched on the internet and could not find a homemade petticoat that didn't require sewing. Then, it hit me! Remember that tutorial on making ruffled party streamers out of a cheap plastic party tablecloth? Yep. That's right. It also makes a super-cute petticoat! I just cut the tablecloth into the length and width I needed and then used as many layers of tablecloth as I could. I probably got 20 layers out of one tablecloth. I lined them up as evenly as possible and stapled all across the top to hold them together. Then, I took blue duct (duck?) tape and put it across the staples, front...

My mom bought the girls a boxed craft at the Hob Lob. It turned out to be a great learning craft and I would highly recommend buying it! It is a foam sticker mosaic, so they are learning math patterns, colors, shapes, and fine motor skills. My girls aged 2 through 7 all loved this one.

I have seen variations on alphabet cookie games, but I decided to make my own. I wanted larger cookies that would be easily held by little hands. And I wanted bright, colorful alphabet letters. First I made the cookie jar. I covered an empty oatmeal container with construction paper, even cutting a circle to cover the lid. I cut a slit across the lid after covering. Then, I printed a cute label from Martha Stewart  here . I enlarged it to 150%. And I found a vintage cookie label  here  and also enlarged it. Then, I found an online photograph of an M&M cookie, blew it up to the size I wanted and printed 26. I didn't save the link, but there are tons of cookie images on the web. I found the alphabet letters I wanted. I chose to do uppercase on the front and lowercase on the back. I glued the letters on with a glue stick and laminated the cookies. The girls love sliding them into the canister through the slit on the lid!

This is a great activity to make for texture bins and so easy (although messy) to make. Dry Rice or Pasta Several Drops of Food Coloring 2 Tbs. Rubbing Alcohol Place rice or pasta in plastic baggie. Squirt in several drops of desired food coloring. Add 2 Tbs. rubbing alcohol. Seal bag and shake to distribute color. Pour onto paper plate to dry. Voila!

Of course, I had to follow up yesterday's post with some pictures of the actual coal mining. Here is my little coal miner, ready to enter the mine. I was so dedicated to her learning experience, that I took my perfectly organized coat closet and made it into a jumbled mess so it would be more authentic. ; ) Not sure why my camera did that funky thing with the flashlight. I need a photography class stat! Success!

So I've been standing in the kitchen for the past 30 minutes painting pieces of dough black to look like coal. I first tried a large sponge brush, but it wasn't getting the black paint into the nooks and crannies, so I had to go find a small paint brush to finish the work. And as I was standing there with black paint on my fingers, making these coal pieces for a lesson (involving a mining activity) on coal tomorrow, I wondered, "Why?" Why was I spending so much of my precious time mixing and baking and painting dough coal? If I had to put a price tag on my time right now, it would be around $100 a minute. Is a lesson on coal THAT important? Do I even remember learning ANYTHING about coal in school? The short answer? No. Sure, there's a 1% chance one of my girls will become a geologist and I can point to this coal lesson as the spark for their geology passion. But, chances are, they will not become geologists. So, I had to search my heart to find the answer to wh...

Does anyone else agree that Bavarian Cream is just a fancy word for pudding? I swear that Elle (3 years old) has more than two elbows. Every time I lay down with her, no matter how I try to protect my face, she is sure to elbow me in the nose. Women are waaaay too hard on each other. It would be so much easier not to discipline kids, try to teach them anything, or have rules of any kind. Truly, mothers are some of the strongest and most brave people on the planet. Pretty sure my one year old has PMS. Her PMS seems to coincide with my PMS. It's tough to blog about random thoughts with a 3 year old on your lap and two others running around screaming. ; )