who was I kidding

As if any of our loyal fans read this blog looking for parenting tips, ha!  What a joke that was.  I know the real reason you folks keep coming back to RandB time after time...

...it's for moments like these:

easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy

We like crafts, but I wouldn't say I am very ambitious.  A better title for this post could have been, "How to parent as lazily as possible" or "Uh, can't you do that by yourself yet?" Pretty much, if it can be done with whatever I already have on hand, I'll do it.  Otherwise, I probably won't bother.  (and if it involves glitter: forget it because it is more likely to make me mad or sad than glad.) 

At any rate, here are a few very easy, cheap, and not-too-messy activities for any old day, in case anyone is looking for craft ideas for preschoolers.

1.

Make your own Mummy, using only water, flour, modeling clay and some old cut up t-shirts.  It's quick, a little bit gooey, and extremely irreverent (the Ancient Egyptians would be so scandalized)--so what's not to love?!

it's tiny and cute, too, see?

this is A.'s "bacon mummy"

and BR's "brain mummy"

(i think the Bacon Mummy was my favorite)

2.

next up, Puzzles for Preschoolers.  Get a piece of cardboard, draw a picture on it, and cut it into 5 or 6 large pieces and voila:

3.

When in doubt about what to paint, draw or sculpt, you might want to consider Drawing a Platypus.  (I have only one photo to show for the dozens that have been made over the last weeks)

Or perhaps...a platypus mummy?

I suppose I could also add to the list "rock painting" although I guess the point of that post was what a stupid idea it turned out to be.  Or you can fill up a 13x9 baking sheet with rice and that ought to keep the little hands busy; as long as you don't mind sweeping up rice for a week or two, it works just great.  I have heard of letting a kid go nuts fingerpainting with chocolate pudding while sitting in a bathtub and it sounds fun, but I have yet to try it out.  Of course, paper and scissors can do all sorts of amazing things and help you dream big, or just draw pictures of your dreams. 

Oh wait, I have one more: get cardboard tube from a used-up paper towel roll, cut it in half and you will have two homemade microphones for little rockstar wannabes.  Crank up the music, and you've got instant fun!

What other extremely low-impact crafts/activities do you have hiding up your sleeve?  Please share.  Please.

L. is 7!

To celebrate, we had a pajama party in the morning, with good old fashioned waffles and games.  We had strawberries galore and put them on waffles and angel food cake.  It was all a wonderful success and L. promises it was everything she had hoped it would be. 

trick candles:

To get some ideas for games and activities, I googled "pajama party" but, besides this one, mostly landed on sites about slumber parties.  So for anyone out there who wants to do a pajama birthday party for girls, here is what I came up with.

Invitations: we made them ourselves and put pictures of girls in pjs and nighties and instructed everyone to show up in their pjs.  (I didn't mention that it wasn't a sleepover party and that caused a little confusion, oops.  So it might be a good idea to include the start and end times.)

Breakfast art plate:  While the guests drifted in one by one, I invited everyone to sit at the kitchen table and create a picture using a selection of breakfast food items: cheerios, sliced fruit, raisins, waffle squares... It kept everyone busy and they could snack on it, too. 

We followed with waffles and strawberries (since everyone was already seated) and then segued into another table game...

Bedtime Bingo: I found some clipart of bedtime related items, printed them out then glued them on cardstock then used cheerios as play pieces.   Easy peasy.

Nightmare Mummy Monster: to pair off the kids and have them wrap each other up in crepe paper is one of my all-time favorite party games for younger kids; they just love it.  This time, I just told them to make their partner into a "scary nightmare monster" and thought it was awesome. 

Sleep Fairy: this is like heads-up seven-up.  I found some pink wands as party favors and made up a game where everyone "falls asleep" on the floor, I gently "wake" up a fairy who tiptoes around and taps another girl gently with her wand, then sneaks back to her spot on the floor.  The second girl wakes up very slowly and then tries to guess who the secret fairy was.

Pillow toss: divide the girls into two teams and have each time line up in a row.  The girl at the front will toss the pillow over her shoulder and it will be passed back until it reaches the girl at the back.  She carries it to the front of the line and tosses it back.  Play continues until the original girl at the front is back to the front again.

We used balloons for this game, but stuffed animals would work really well, too, and fit the theme a little better: divide the girls into pairs again and put a big teddy bear between their tummies.  They have to carry it across the room without using their hands, and then dump it into a basket (or pillowcase) and then go back for more.  See how many they can get into the basket in 60 seconds.

Finally, we read a "bedtime story," a poem that Granny composed about L's life, the places she has lived and the people she met along the way. According to L., it was "the best poem EVER."

 

Happy Birthday to L., our best 7 yr-old EVER! 

sunbreak

Summer doesn't start in June around here.  So if the sun breaks through the clouds and if it's not cold, we go outside.  Sometimes we bring a picnic dinner.  There are no shortage of pretty spots and parks.

Today A. told me: "Mommy, I think it is summertime.  The clouds are just acting like it's not."

 

cheerleaders?

L. has been sitting in on Granny's cheer lessons and she wanted to pass along what she learned.

 I think BR was into it, but A., not so much.

look at this little guy

these are photos I took of photos on Granny's walls

I think someone might look just a little tiny bit like his daddy...

Field Day

The camera's battery died and so I didn't get a picture of either the bouncy house, cake walk (BR won a cake!), or one summer game that I made a mental note to re-use at some point: all you need is a kiddie pool with a bit of water in it, some marbles and some large plastic cups.  You dump the marbles out in the water and the kids stand in the pool and have to figure out a way to pick them up with their toes or feet and drop them into a cup they are holding.  It's easy, it can keep five or six kids occupied for a good long time, it's relatively quiet (as compared to the donut wrestling--yikes), safe (or at least I never saw anyone lose their balance, anyway) AND it keeps you nice and cool!

4,5,6

(for previous years click here: 2010, 2009 and 2008 and of course, here they are, back when they were 0, 1 and 2) 

it's so ugly here

I wonder who drew this picture

the girl with the halo over her head, maybe?



Memorial Day

a four-mile bike ride will wear a girl out.

aww, they used to be so cute

"Mom, take a picture, we're ninjas!"