Fall Sticky Tree

I found the original idea for this from Teaching Mama and thought it looked like an easy to assemble "art project" I could throw together at the last minute when I needed something to occupy the kids.  To my surprise Bea loved it and played for around 45 minutes with it and then went back to it the next morning and continued to add some of the fall stickers I had set out for them.  Charlie liked it for a few minutes but I think became frustrated when he couldn't reach the top of the tree (my fault) and I think for the next one I'll make them each a tree (or whatever, this has a ton of potential variations).

I drew the tree on contact paper and also set out the fall images and a packet of fall felt leaf stickers that I actually had from last year.

We'll definitely do another fall one, plus maybe a turkey for Thanksgiving, a Christmas tree, etc.  the options are endless!

Heather

Bath Time Goop

Today was a rainy and humid day.  I had promised Bea that the next time we had a rainy day we would do, what she calls, "bath painting" again.  I only realized that the last time we had done this was in March and she's still talking about it!

Bath painting is just shaving cream mixed with food coloring and the kids use this to paint our tub.  So far we haven't had a problem with stains in the tub, although we did have some blue stains on our hands today so I think I'll try liquid watercolors next time.

In addition to the bath paints I found a recipe from Growing A Jeweled Rose called Goop and thought it would be fun to try.  It's basically just a mixture of corn starch and water (and color, if you want) but the substance it makes is insane.  It's liquid but also solid, when you try it you'll understand what I mean.  Here's our Goop after I first mixed it.

At first Bea didn't want to play with it.  She kept saying it was really sticky.

 After a few minutes they were both well into it.  We added the bath paints and they painted the walls, mixed colors, painted a few bath toys, and ended it with putting their feet into what was left of the Goop.

Once we were finished I simply turned on the water and we turned clean up into another game.  I'm definitely making Goop again soon!  I think this held their attention for almost an hour, which I think is pretty good for a 3.5 year old and a 21 month old!

Heather

Ocean Fizzy Sensory Bin

Here's another sensory bin that I found over at Fun At Home with Kids.  It's called a Fizzy Ocean Sensory Bin.

I really wanted to do this before we went to the beach while in California, but I didn't get around to it.  I used the baking soda mixed with water method that they describe in Fun At Home but didn't have any shells handy at the time so I just made round forms with some sea creatures hidden in them.  Then I added vinegar (with blue food coloring) to our spray bottles to spray on them and make them "fizzy".

Next time I'll use squirt bottles instead, our spray bottles really didn't release enough of the vinegar at once, although Bea still enjoyed seeing the animals emerge and the baking soda fizz!  And Charlie took a turn at using the squirt bottle as well!

After we ran out of vinegar I added a little water and the kids had fun splashing around and making the sea creatures swim.

At one point Bea even dipped her toes into the water!

Great sensory bin for a hot summer day!

Heather

Moldable Sand Dough

Another hot and humid day here and with the threat of thunderstorms we decided to do our Moldable Sand project in the screened in porch.

I also found this one at Growing a Jeweled Rose, she really has some great ideas!

It actually looks like scrambled eggs here, I followed the recipe she listed which was baking soda, food coloring, and then add enough water to make it moldable.  I also added the suggested salt to give it more of a grainy texture.  She did warn against adding too much water, which I didn't think I had done while mixing it but as the kids played with it the water started to come out and it ended up a little soupy.  Which actually didn't seem to bother either of them, Bea even said she liked it.

Since ours was a little wet it ended up making a huge mess.  The good news though is that it wiped off the kids very easily and I left it outside to dry out some before cleaning up, which made it very easy and simple.

Oh, and Bea insisted on wearing her sun hat when we started playing with the "sand".

Heather

Bea & Charlie

Just a couple of pictures from the pool party we went to on the 4th.  We swam, had a yummy dinner, and a great time with friends.  Oh, and I somehow lost my only maternity swimsuit.  Bea asked if it "fell off of me".  Pretty sure it didn't, but I can't find it anywhere!

As you can see, the main attraction for them was the mini bouncy house.

Heather

Icy Kool Aid Finger Paint

Since it's been so hot and Bea's been asking to paint I decided to do a twist on our usual painting.  I recently came across this Chilled Out Kool Aid paint post by Growing a Jeweled Rose.

Ours was a little more liquid than theirs, but I think that might be because my portions were larger.  Next time I'll split them up into more containers.  However, Bea and Charlie still loved the fact that they were "cold finger paints".  They both began painting immediately and a few minutes later Bea, who hates getting her hands dirty usually, had both hands in the paint and was soon mixing and painting.  And of course Charlie soon followed.  

By the time they had finished both were covered head to toe in paint, but the good news is that everything wiped off of them easily and the clothes came out of the dryer looking like nothing had ever been on them! 

We'll definitely do this one again soon!

Heather

Who Doesn't Love a Pink Headband

6/365

I Love My Sister

5/365

With Daddy

2/365

Charlie, 8 months

Time is flying by right now.  It feels like I just posted about what Charlie's doing at 7 months and here his 8 month birthday has just passed.

Charlie is still the happiest baby.  Nothing makes him laugh like his big sister and he can't get enough of peek-a-boo.  Usually we play after his nightly bath and he uses his towel to cover his eyes until I ask "where's Charlie?".

He hasn't started crawling on all fours yet but army crawls everywhere.  And there's nothing he isn't into right now.  It's like he's been scoping out the house for months and now he's on a mission to grab and see everything.

And in true boy fashion he gravitates towards the normal suspects.  He absolutely loves balls and banging anything that makes noise.

He now has four teeth (two top and two bottom) and is still eating really well, as well as really messy.  We've taken to feeding him only in a diaper (classy, i know) because he gets food everywhere.  This past week he decided to blow raspberries every time I would place a spoonful of food into his mouth.

Thankfully his sleeping habits are back to normal.  No more 45 minute crying sessions at bedtime.  I'm hoping that was just connected to teething.  But it does seem we have an early riser.  He usually goes to bed around 8pm and pretty much always wakes up at 5am.  He will nurse and go back to sleep but at that point we're usually awake.

We're also taking trip number 2 in a few days and this time I'll be flying alone with both Bea and Charlie.  Fingers crossed all goes well!!

Heather

Ice Ice Baby

It's been awhile since we've done any "art projects" (Bea calls anything creative an art project) in our backyard.  It's been so hot most afternoons that we've been staying inside.  However, today felt relatively nice, considering the highs of 100+ this weekend, so we spent the afternoon outside.

This was a pretty simple one.  Last night I made blue, green, and yellow ice cubes using food coloring and an ice cube tray.  This afternoon we put them all in a disposable roasting pan.  I gave Bea a cup with water and an empty cup.  She spent the majority of the time pouring water and ice cubes back and forth and Charlie spent most of the time grabbing the cubes and splashing in the water.  I was actually surprised how much he participated, although I'm not sure why considering how much he loves being a part of whatever Bea does.

After about an hour of playing we went inside and Bea and I had some jello (not the best snack, but I tried to make jello cubes for this and it did not turn out well so we had a ton leftover).

I'm definitely going to do this again.  Maybe next time I'll freeze some bigger blocks of ice and use a bigger container.

Heather

Morning/Afternoon

Our Morning

Our Afternoon

Our time in California has flown by and since it's coming to an end we're trying to pack in as much as we can.  This morning we went to the playground and met Aunt Shannon's friend Annie and her daughter, Leila.  Then after a lunch of In-n-Out burger Bea and Charlie went down for a nap, with Grey on baby duty (thank you Charlie!!!!  After several days of not napping you FINALLY went down without a fight!!!!) and we headed to a local winery, Concannon, to check out their new wine bar, Underdog.

Sadly we only have one more day before heading back to a very hot New Jersey.

Heather  

Charlie, 7 months

Charlie turned 7 months old on the 12th and what a busy month it's been!  It seems like he's changed so much in the last two months.  Going from only being able to sit for a few seconds to army crawling everywhere, much to the dismay of Bea.  With his new found mobility he's also found that his sister's toys (which were previously out of reach) are just as fun, if not more, than his.  I feel like this is just the beginning of us hearing "No Charlie!  Charlie has my x, y, z..." oh well, it's to be expected.

This is literally the happiest baby I've ever seen.  He will laugh like crazy when you tickle him, when Bea dances for him, when you make funny faces or dance, pretty much anytime.  And he's such a cuddle baby.  He loves nothing more than to nap next to mommy and daddy.

We started solid foods a little earlier with Charlie so he's already had quite the variety of foods.  So far the only dislike has been green beans (and it was only once).  He loves cherries, strawberries, avocado, and yogurt and we're adding new foods everyday.

He also took his first cross country flight last week.  He's at that awkward flying age where all he wants to do is be on the floor moving around so it wasn't the most relaxing flight but all in all it went well.

We're also having a sleeping set back, unfortunately.  Up until a few weeks ago Charlie would nap 2+ hours every afternoon, the same time as Bea, which meant that I had 2+ hours to do things around the house (or catch up on shows).  For some reason he's refusing to nap unless I'm lying beside him and going to bed at night has turned into a 45 minute ordeal of crying, rocking more, crying, etc.  I'm hoping that this is related to teething (so far we have 2 bottom teeth and I can see a top tooth coming in) because I felt so lucky to have such a good sleeper!

I can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Heather

Charlie's New Best Friend

Charlie has found a new best friend since arriving in California and her name is Rosie.  He absolutely loves watching her through the sliding glass doors and is in heaven when she is allowed inside.

Heather

A New House

We arrived in California yesterday and this was waiting for Bea.....her very own playhouse!  And if you're wondering, behind the garage door is a tricycle.  After all, what good would a new house be without a new ride?

Bea's grandparents assembled it from boxes used to ship organs and her aunt Shannon and Shannon's friend Annie painted it.  Bea absolutely loves it and was constantly asking (when we would come inside) to go outside and "play with my new house".

Heather

California Bound

Heather