Kid crafts

Snow day

Posted in Kid crafts, Leah, Molly on February 1st, 2016 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Friday rolled around and the snow started. Winter Storm Jonas (aka Snowzilla) came in with full force. School was cancelled (just like my trip home from Georgia). Lots of snow and wind - not something you want to be out in. The girls did manage to get out of the house in the morning before the storm got going, but they were not going outside after it began.

When stuck at home during a snow storm, make Star Wars Perler bead projects! First up, Leah made Princess Leia and Molly made BB-8.

Leia and BB-8

Next, a green lightsaber (Molly) and a purple lightsaber (Leah). Oh, and a viola with bow (Molly). Not sure which Star Wars movie that was in :)

Lightsabers and violas

Saturday morning came, and the storm only got stronger. It was going to be awful outside, so the girls stayed inside in their jammies all day. Of course, that meant it was time for more Perler beads! Leah made Luke Skywalker, while Molly made R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Luke, R2D2, and C-3PO

That evening it was still snowing, so the girls played some games. Here they are playing Trouble.

Games

And then they played some Uno Attack.

Uno Attack

While they stayed inside in the warm, the snow kept falling. Here’s a view of the door in our basement toward the end of the storm. I don’t think we’ll be going out that door any time soon.

A lot of snow

The screens on our screened in porch stopped most of the snow, but the finer stuff still got through.

Screened in porch

The snow finally stopped late Saturday night. According to reports, we got around 27 inches of snow, setting a new record for a single storm.

A budding artist and future model

Posted in Kid crafts, Molly, School on January 6th, 2014 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Today, Molly's starting an art class after school. Molly loves art, and goes through paints, colored pencils, and crayons like they're going out of style. And Leah loves art as well.

So, after returning home from Birmingham with some brand new paints, the girls were ready to get to it. After a bit, Molly decided to paint a picture of Leah. So, Leah posed as the model for Molly to paint. She did a good job posing for a long tie while Molly painted her. After Molly was done, they reversed roles.

Painter and model

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Party

Posted in Celebrations, Family visits, Food, Kid crafts, Leah, Molly on September 28th, 2011 by jen – 5 Comments

A told B, and B told C
“I'll meet you at the house
for Leah's party!”

“Whee!” said D to E F G
“Are you coming to see
the coconut tree?”

Chicka chicka boom boom!
Will there be enough room?
We'll find out when you RSVP!

Chickaboombanner

When Leah consistently started choosing Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for a bedtime story, I knew it would be the perfect theme for her 2nd birthday. The party started with making Boom Boom shakers. It takes a lot of concentration to fill a shaker with beads.

Boom Boom shakers

Yeah, stickers!

The kids then sat for a reading of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and used their shakers to go boom boom!

A reading

To the surprise of many, I did not make the cake this time. Chad convinced me to focus on the rest of the party prep and have it made by Oh What a Cake. It was great decision and a great cake.

Chicka Boom cake

The basic story of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is about the alphabet climbing to the top of the coconut tree. So, naturally we had to have one present.

The coconut tree

Thanks for inspiring silly ways to play with balloons, Uncle J!

Balloon belly

Leah was so excited for the birthday song that she even sang it to herself!

Singing Happy Birthday

To fully appreciate the taste of the cake, Leah thought it necessary to close her eyes. Though, when you do that you must open your mouth as wide as you can to make sure it gets in.

Can't get enough cake

Who needs a fork? Icing, finger, tongue.

Who needs a fork?

Then it was present time and the kids were definitely present.

Gather round

Leah's very into baby dolls right now. This one came with a bottle, which was a big hit.

Baby doll and bottle

She also enjoyed reading a fun, new book.

Fun new book

And as a party favor, guests left with colorful alphabet cookies.

Alphabet cookies

Skit skat skoodle doot.
Flip flop flee.
Thanks for coming
To Leah’s party!

Celebrating all things PINK

Posted in Food, Kid crafts, Leah, Molly, Playdates on June 28th, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

We have a lover of all things pink in our house, so when National Pink Day came around on June 23rd, I knew we had to celebrate! I hosted a Pinkalicious Party in honor of the day.

I decided to make our reading of Pinkalicious a bit more fun. I had the girls stand-up or sit-down every time I said the word pink or cupcake. Do you know how many times those are said in this book?! Oh.my.goodness. A lot! They eventually gave up and just sat and listened.

We had some pinktastic treats: strawberry cupcakes and strawberry pink lemonade. I used these free printables for the cupcake toppers.

Happy PINK Day

And of course there was a pinkerific craft! The girls painted with glue to create Pinkalicious magnets.

Pinkerella magnets

The girls came dressed for the occasion and had a fun time celebrating all things pink!

Girls in pink

And Leah enjoyed getting in on the cupcake action too.

Mmmm, cupcakes!

Liquid sidewalk chalk

Posted in Kid crafts, Leah, Molly on June 22nd, 2011 by jen – Be the first to comment

I made liquid sidewalk chalk for the girls to paint the driveway. It paints like water colors, but dries bright like chalk. And it's a simple recipe - equal parts water and cornstarch, plus a few drops of food coloring.

Liquid sidewalk chalk

Molly liked painting with all the different colors.

Lots of colors

Leah had a lot of fun painting the cement, but eventually moved on to her hands, and the front door! It's a good thing the paint was washable.

Painting is fun

Happy Mardi Gras Day!

Posted in Celebrations, Food, Kid crafts, Leah, Molly, Playdates on March 8th, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

For the third year, I hosted a Mardi Gras celebration with my MOMS Club. I enjoy sharing this New Orleans tradition with my Maryland friends!

The party favors were made...

Mardi Gras cookies

And someone was very excited about eating king cake with her friends! I made a cream cheese filled, with cream cheese icing. Mmmm...

Mmmm, king cake

Molly welcomed everyone at the door saying, "Happy Mardi Gras Day!" The kids decorated their own king's crowns...

Decorating king's crowns\

then donned their hats and enjoyed a piece of cake.

Enjoying the cake

The more, the merrier

Each child left with Mardi Gras beads and a bag of cookies. I hope I lived up the the hype, as according to one friend, "It's the best event of the year!" I had to laugh when another friend said she'd been waiting years to come and was "starting to feel like [she] should camp out for tickets!"

Show and Tell Green

Spinning art

Posted in Kid crafts, Leah, Playdates on February 5th, 2011 by jen – 3 Comments

On Monday, we had friends over to make a thaumatrope. It's an optical illusion created with two spinning pictures.

Spinning art

Leah is coloring one side - a snowman.

Leah coloring

Rachel is coloring the other side - a hat, scarf and gloves.

Rachel coloring

And here is what happens when you spin the images - a snowman dressed with his hat, scarf and gloves!

The illusion

Squirt bottle painting

Posted in Food, Kid crafts, Molly, Playdates on October 18th, 2010 by jen – 2 Comments

Last week, I hosted a squirt bottle painting playdate. Squirt bottles + colored water + paper = happy kids! They sprayed so quickly that the water didn't really soak into the poster board, but they didn't care!

Squirt bottle painting

The kids did a nice job of sharing to end up with a nice waterfall of colors. They all had such fun!

Waterfall of colors

We all enjoyed owl s'mores when the masterpieces were completed.

Owl S'mores

Letter of the week – Z

Posted in Food, Kid crafts, Letter activities, Molly on July 6th, 2010 by jen – 2 Comments

We made it to the end! Molly and I posed together with our last letter, Z for zebra.

Z is for zebra

Using a recipe for pinwheel cookies, we made zebra cookies.

Zebra cookies

With the help of the self-timer, I was able to capture our mommy-daughter game of Zingo. It's Bingo with a zing!

Zingo

We ended the week making zucchini chocolate chip muffins. Molly liked tap-tapping the eggs.

Zucchini muffins

You can check out what other moms are doing with their tots at 1+1+1=1.

Letter of the week – W

Posted in Food, Kid crafts, Letter activities, Molly on June 30th, 2010 by jen – 1 Comment

Our week began by making a W for watermelon. While preparing this week, I remembered that a college friend had made these letters with her daughter months before I started with Molly. At the time I thought it was a great idea, but since it was the day before Leah was due, my pregnant brain obviously forgot about it. So now, 9 months later, thanks Christen for sharing!

W is for watermelon

When I saw these watermelon cookies, I knew we had to make them this week! Molly loved cutting and adding the special "seeds" to these cookies.

Watermelon cookies

Molly did a little watermelon math and sorted, counted, then graphed the different shaped watermelons.

Watermelon math

She also did this Wonder Pets puzzle all on her own!

Wonder Pets puzzle

The end of the week was spent in the water. First, Molly started swim lessons. Here she is ready and excited to go to her first lesson. Sorry, no pictures from the lesson as I couldn't manage swimming and taking pictures simultaneously.

Swim lessons

She then spent an afternoon at the pool celebrating a friend's 3rd birthday.

Run away

You can check out what other moms are doing with their tots at 1+1+1=1.