GOO!

Who would have ever thought mixing glue, Borox, water, and some food coloring would keep us entertained for hours . . . well it did.

 

 

First, Dustin helped me mix the ingredients.  We mixed 1/2 cup water, a few drops of food coloring, and 1/2 cup glue in one bowl.  In another bowl we dissolved 2 tsp Borox with 1/2 cup water.  Then, we poured the glue mixture in with the Borox mixture and it immediately began to solidify.  Mix it really well and then GO NUTS! 

The texture is really interesting.  It's rubbery, stretchy, and a little brittle if you pull it too fast.

 

We had fun making snakes, bouncy balls, and digging our fingers into it. 

I also let Dustin practice cutting it with a butter knife.  Overall, great before nap time activity . . . that's probably why I can hear him talking about right now on his monitor :)

Fighting Cabin Fever with SUPER HEROES!

Yesterday, Dustin was a soldier fighting off bad guys.  Today, he is a super hero "in training". 

 

 

We went grocery shopping in his batman pajamas (with a cape) that his Aunt Donna got for him.  While we were there, we figured we needed to stock up on mask making supplies to protect his identity. 

 

When we got home, Dustin used foam markers to add a little unidentifiable character and proceeded to "fly" around our apartment fighting off crime . . . with a small break to enjoy some string cheese, half a banana, and some juice.  That's what you call a good day.

Sword Fight!

With all the snow we've been getting and a persistent cold Dustin's been trying to fight off, needless to say we have been getting cabin fever! 

 

So, what else is there to do than to have SWORD FIGHTS!!!

 

 

Dustin got pretty creative this morning, with one of my belts, two foam swords, and my frosting decorator. 

 

 

He has been running around all day saying he's a soldier and fighting off bad guys with his swords and "gun". 

 

I think my frosting decorator has officially retired from the kitchen and will forevermore be Dustin's firearm.

Tags, Tags, and MORE TAGS!

As though I had plenty of extra space in my craft closet, I decided to pick up another hobby after Christmas.  Did you guess it yet? . . . TAGS!

 

 

So here are a few I have been working on with Valentine's in mind.

 

I've already had two orders for the "Made with Love" Tags and have been trying out a few box folding methods to deliver them in.  I'm really pleased with the newest one in the upper left picture.  My sister gave me the idea to put a sticker of my logo on the front.  Thanks Donna!

 

Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas of where I could take this! 

Tags can be purchased here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleLittleThingss?ref=si_shop  Thanks!

Choo Choo, Dustin Turned Two!

Little did I know Dustin would be so into trains when I bought him an engineer hat back in May to protect his half bald head from the sun.  Heck, I didn't even know it was an engineer hat at the time . . . I just like stripes.

 

 

Over half a year later and his passion for trains quadrupled!  Especially after his cousin gave him her entire wooden train set.  We have the best family! 

 

After looking through many train themed parties, this is what we came up with.

 

I originally wanted the color scheme to involve every color in the rainbow, but then I began to panic with so many options, so I narrowed it down to the basic primary colors (red, blue, and yellow).

 

At our sweet station we had train rice krispie treats, fruit cups, hidden veggie banana cupcakes, and chocolate oatmeal cupcakes.  All very tasty!  I attempted to do a marshmallow frosting on the chocolate cupcakes, but they didn't hold up very well.

 

 

My sister made our awesome banner!  Just last fall we decided to start making each other's kid's birthday banners.  Despite being a long plane ride away from each other, we managed to find a way to still help each other during our kids birthdays. 

 

My sister sent me the left over paper from the banner she made, so I used it for my food labels.

 

My favorite decoration was probably the train picture with Dustin as the conductor.   

 

Don't worry, it's just water . . . with a little diesel fuel.

Our activities included an art station with color wonder markers, reusable stickers, and regular stickers.  Then I made a coal toss using black bean bags and cardboard.  In the living room we had out his train set and in his bedroom we set up more toys to play with.

The paper hats were a hit (with me).  Dustin and the other kids didn't seem to love them too much.  At least we got a few pictures with them on :)

Overall, it was a fun birthday and am already planning on birthday number three . . . just kidding . . . but I'm not.

He's Almost Two, Better Start Studying for the SATS

Now that Dustin is getting a little older and can take directions (loosely), I decided to start home schooling him this week.  After reviewing some of the expectations for Pre-School and Kindergarten, I came up with a list we need to accomplish before he turns four.

 

 

Then, I made a daily schedule for Monday-Friday.  I'm about to modify our schedule again, but here is an example of what I came up with.  I keep it in the front of our learning binder so it's easier for me to see what we need to do next.  The actual amount of "academic material" being covered does not take up that much of our day.  I broke up our basic subject matters into 20 minute increments, thinking that was plenty of time for each activity . . . yes and no.  When we do an art activity or science experiment it may take longer, but when it's reviewing our letters I have a hard time getting that to stretch out for 10 minutes.

 

So, this weekend I plan on revising our schedule a little, but so far it has been a fun week.

 

Here is Dustin hard at work on our second morning of school :)

Burr, It's Cold Outside!

 

Looks like it is going to be a cold trick-or-treating night for the kids.  This is our third snow storm and the best yet!  I went grocery shopping at 7:30 in the morning before it got too much worse and by the time I left the grocery store I already had 2 inches on my car.

 

So, we did the only thing there is to do around here when it snows . . . freeze our toes off!   

 

And we got Dustin his first sled.  It didn't go very well.  The snow was so fluffy that when Dylan tried to show Dustin how to do it, he took a little running start, jumped (thinking the sled would go forward), and completely belly flopped into the snow. 

 

We still had a good (short) time.  Today the "highs" might get up to 9 degrees! 

 

Donut Sugar Cookies

For my brother-in laws birthday, I made him donuts . . . I mean cookies . . . donuts that taste like cookies?

 

It was pretty simple and gave us the giggles since our brother-in law is a cop and he's more than tired of me making the connection between cops and donuts :)

 

I just took my favorite sugar cookie recipe, added two drops of yellow food coloring for a little extra color and formed 1/8 cup of dough into a ball.  Then, I used my rolling pin and some parchment paper to flatten the dough to about 1/4".  I used a circle cookie cutter that had a diameter of about 1 - 1 1/2 and cut out the middle of each cookie.

 

After the cookies baked and cooled, I used cookie frosting to ice the tops.  Cookie frosting is the best, because it hardens enough so you can wrap them in plastic wrap and mail these without getting it everywhere.  Then, we topped them of with sprinkles.  This part, I let Dustin help with.  He got a little side tracked though and started eating all the sprinkles that fell around the cookies.  

These were super cute and made an ordinary sugar cookie way more fun, or at least I thought so.  Not sure of my brother-in laws input yet.

Cheerio Necklace

This morning for breakfast we had boiled eggs and necklace cheerios . . . the boiled eggs weren't on the necklace :)

 

 

Here's what we used.  Our favorite Cheerios, skinny ribbon (about 2 feet long), coffee straws, and a sharp knife (an exact-o knife would have worked better, but I always seem to misplace that thing . . . )

 

 

Cut a tiny slit through one end of the coffee straw, just wide enough to get your ribbon through.  I turned the knife slightly in both directions to widen the hole.  Thread your ribbon through the slit and then tie a Cherrio on one end of the ribbon. 

 

(I swear this kid has clothes, he just isn't in them often)

Start placing Cherrios on the coffee straw and push them down the ribbon.  The cheerios fit perfectly over the coffee straw, but something like Fruity Loops would be a little easier if you buy that kind.

Once you have filled up your ribbon: admire your hard work, tie the ends, put it around your neck . . .

and eat it! 

2nd Snowfall and it's Only October 3rd!

This is why pinterest is such an obsession!  I am constantly looking for new activities for my son and I to do in this cold, snowy state. 

We got our first snowfall last week and today is our first blizzard! . . . not really, but if you are from North Carolina you would think so.  The biggest shock is that nothing is closed or canceled.  People drive in this!!!

 

 

Thankfully, Dustin loved the snow and the hot beverage afterwards to warm our tummies.  If you have any fun suggestions of what we can do during the winter, please let me know.  I'm thinking about trying to paint in the snow next time.  We'll see how it goes :)



Spice Drawer Makeover

I am almost complete with my spice drawer makeover . . . the only problem now is my drawer broke! 

 

I printed off these great labels at: http://www.theprettyblog.com/style-and-home/organising-storing-pantry/  There was an option for blank labels, so I used those and printed spice names on a separate sheet of paper.  Then, I cut them out and glued them onto my labels.

 

The website has more colors to choose from, but I just used the more neutral tones and threw in a few peach colors.  I don't know why, my kitchen doesn't have a single peach hue in site, but it was too pretty to pass up.

Before cutting out my labels, I laminated the entire sheet of paper.  I made spice labels before and they quickly got wet and stained.  So if you have a laminator, it might be a good idea to take that extra step.  If not, you can go on amazon and buy one for about 25 dollars.  Definitely worth it in my opinion!

Thanks for stopping by!  Now off to fix my drawer . . . or I may just wait for my husband to get home to do that.  :)