Rainy Day Fun

A drizzly, cold day calls for lots of art and inside fun.  Here are a few of the things we made....

Willow made labels (she wrote and chose the object and I told her how to spell the words) for different household objects that she would like to learn how to spell...

I made this cape for Indigo for Christmas but I had lots of problems with the sewing and put it away to repair when I wasn't feeling so frustrated.  That day never happened, so I gave her the cape anyway when they began a game of superheroes this morning.  She could not have been more thrilled!  Kids are so easy to please :-).  Now Willow wants one, though...

Super Indigo!!

We next made "sculptures" with contact paper and pieces of tissue paper.  The girls loved this project-- which came from here, and I thought they turned out really well.  The wire along the edges allows the artist to bend the art in any shape she chooses. 

Willow's

Indigo's

 They had so much fun with this project that we next used the rice paste I made to adhere tissue paper to a couple of glass jars.  The color is lovely-- especially with a candle inside! 

Finally, Willow spent some time practicing letters in one of her new workbooks.  She works so hard and it really shows!  That kid loves workbooks...

It was so nice having an art focused day!  We began a couple of other projects that we'll finish tomorrow after Willow comes home from school.  I'll be sure to post photos!

Weekend Wrap-up

Sunday again!  The days just fly by (is that a sign of getting old??).  Illness continues in our house-- Julia was diagnosed with an ear infection on Saturday-- so we continue to lay low.  Honestly, we usually are out seeing and doing interesting things!  The snow is slowly melting, though (if you don't count the 4 inches we got this morning!) and as it leaves, we will be out hiking and traveling around New England.  In the meantime, here are a few photos from the last few days.

Willow at the karate birthday party of our neighbor/friend, Jack.  Willow is third here after Jack and his sister, Caroline.

She is over to the left, loving the karate lesson.

Yet another attempt to follow my resolution to buy less and  make more.  I'm going "no-poo"--just water, apple cider vinegar and baking soda here!

Thursday was art day with our neighbor friend.  We looked at the art of Paul Klee and then the girls created their own Klee inspired art.  Here is Willow's painting (the geometric shapes don't show up well here, but she did a great job!)

I was invited for the third year to be a tester for Parents Magazine.  That means I get a big box of free stuff to try out in exchange for a review of the products.  This year we got two awesome cloth diapers, an all natural  laundry detergent, Sylvan Learning Center workbooks for Willow and a cool alarm clock that is supposed to help kids learn to wake up at the right time.  Not as good a haul as last year's designer strollers but still awesome (and free!)

Poor little Indigo right before we headed to the doctor for ear.  She has such a high pain tolerance!  The Dr said that her ear looked so bad but she didn't make a peep about it until Saturday morning.

At the Children's Museum today.

This and That

We've all been recovering from colds (aren't we always?) so our days have been quiet.  A few scenes from the last few days...

Just a little new snow

Snow everywhere but on this discarded piece of fruit strip.  Just found that odd :-)

Our almost daily trip to Whole Foods

Flour free raw vegan chocolate chip cookies (just flax, agave and vanilla-- yum!!)

Playing soccer in the snow.  The trick was finding the white ball.

At the park

Willow excitedly pointing out her future school.  She has her first kindergarten orientation next week!

Sliding onto the snow

Willow

 

A flashback--  Willow displaying one of the valentines she made for her classmates (the others had googly eyes because they were heart winged lollipop butterflies)

A New Camera!

Woot!  I can finally take pictures again!  There wasn't much to photograph this weekend with a house full of sickies, but here are a few I took today while experimenting with the new camera.

Today I:

 Created more natural dyes to add to my gluten free play doughs....

 Made some natural cleaning spray out of water, vinegar and tea tree oil as part of my New Years resolution to stop giving money to "The Man" (big, bad corporations).

 Made snack bags out of scrap fabric as part of the aformentioned resolution...and to stop using so damn many plastic bags!

Julia Indigo enjoying a snack from the bag.

Made homemade gluten and animal free chocolate sandwich cookies.  They are soft and taste just like HoHos.  SO freakin delicious!

And laid low with a very cuddly, sweet, sick little girl....

More tomorrow!

The continued photo saga....

So sorry for the lag in posting!  We did buy a smartphone (an Android) but the pictures it takes are just not good.  They look very "cell-phoney", if you know what I mean.  So, I haven't had many pictures to post lately.  We do plan to buy a real camera in the next few days, and then I'll do a much better job updating this little spot.  In the meantime, here are a few (slightly blurry and very random) pictures from the last few days.

I made a three layer cake for Jay for Valentine's Day, topped with chocolate covered strawberries.  The girls were amazed that strawberries could be dipped in chocolate (needless to say, they ate them all-- and most of the cake, as well)

Yesterday we visited a park.  The snow has melted a LOT in the last week, but we still have a long way to go 

 

Kinda hard to seesaw when the seat is atop the snow.

Making maple cookies....

 And enjoying a job well done (wish I had taken a picture of the finished cookies-- they were delicious!)

I'll get this picture stuff figured out and go back to regular (and hopefully more interesting) posting soon!

I'm Back!

Sorry for the extended hiatus!  We did buy a smartphone to replace my camera (and lack of a cell phone) but it took longer than I thought to figure out how to take a picture and then put the picture on the computer.  I think my brain just isn't as fast as those youngsters'.  Nothing makes me feel older than technology!

Anywhoo...we had a nice weekend.  The weather is finally a bit warmer and the snow is melting.  Jay took the kids to a favorite place,  Drumlin Farm-- an Audubon teaching farm not far away.  The kids love visiting with the animals (the snoring pigs were the big favorites today) and I loved having some time to myself to work on my little projects.  I made:

Gluten Free crackers made from Chia seeds and flax.  The girls refused to eat them but I thought they were good with a little avocado.

Cooked down cranberries to make a natural dye for a couple of projects I am working on (more info to come!)

Melted down vegan chocolate chips and poured the molten chocolate into heart and bar shaped molds for dairy free chocolate valentine treats  for my littlest valentines (other yumminess to come tomorrow for my bigger valentine)

I used the remaining chocolate as a dip for some juicy strawberries-- another special surprise for the girls

Also this weekend,

 We took advantage of the still deep snow in the backyard to make a sledding hill for the girls.  Indigo is such a little daredevil, sliding always head first on her stomach and laughing the whole time.  I think she is going to be a trouble maker in the teen years...

More to come tomorrow!!

Enjoy my camera, snow....

Oh, I had some great photos from our trip to the park today.  The temps were actually above freezing, so the  and I ventured to a local park.  We were clearly the only ones who thought this was a good idea because there were virtually no tracks in the snow, despite two relatively warm days in a row.  We had to struggle through thigh deep (me) and waist deep (them) snow to get from play structure to play structure, but, oh, did we have a great time!  The slides led directly onto the snow, so the girls could slide down and keep going a few feet past the end of the slide.  The swings were sitting on the snow, making swinging a little difficult but much funnier, and we had to dig down to the benches.  Once we dug down to the seat and sat down, we were actually below the surface.  The pictures were great....at least I think they were.  I don't know because my camera apparently fell out of my pocket and some point in the merriment and will probably remain buried until Spring.  Sigh*.  I think this is someone trying to tell us to finally get with the times and get a smartphone (I don't even have a cell phone-- that is how anachronistic I am).  So, I am off to research phones (any recommendations?) and will hopefully have some photos up in the next few days.  See you then!

Weekend Wrap-up

I totally slacked this weekend, didn't I?  All is well, I just have a little bit of (another) bug and haven't had the energy to post.  Honestly, we haven't been doing a whole lot, anyway.  Normally we would try to travel around the area most weekends but the amount of snow on the ground has made it difficult to do much more than play in the backyard.  Today was lovely, though, with lots of sunshine and comparatively warm temps (the 40s-- funny how warm that feels now!).  We took advantage of this break between storms to head out for a snowy hike at the Audubon Society's Broadmoore Reservation.

 

Forgot to add that on Friday, the girls and I attended Sing-a-Long at the library, sung by a local favorite, Fran Friedman.  Indigo was so excited!  It was like she was at a rock concert :-).  We are SO looking forward to taking the girls to some festivals and outdoor concerts this summer. 

Waiting for the show to begin

Dancing their hearts out

This is what the streets in the area look like now.  Things are improving!

There is a car inside there!

Walking the gauntlet to the front door

Happy Superbowl Sunday to our Wisconsin family!