Cookies and crafting

So another rainy afternoon and what to do once we pry the boys away from electronics? Why make a small batch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies and craft it up with coloring and play dough. The big guy only likes super chocolate baked goods for some reason so we have to add chocolate to chocolate chip cookies. I never have useful things like cocoa on hand so today I used about 2 tblspn of chocolate mouse mix I had in the cupboard. Tricky huh? He declared it the BEST COOKIE HE HAS EVER EATEN. High praise indeed.

Baby Hat 2

So I decided to take another crack at the baby hat. This one is super easy. Single crochet/triple crochet {okay I don't really know if that's what it is since I don't really know how to crochet} and then crochet the top together. Add some Pom poms. And see how super cute the hat is. Sometimes I amaze myself!

Fly Boys

The boys are making paper airplanes with dad tonight. Kieran is trying to follow step by step but Mihir is just saying "daddy will you make mine?". And of course when they are done the decorations must commence. Kieran must color every surface with Ben 10 aliens, or captain underpants, or her factory guys. He is all boy these days. Funny story- this week's writing homework his teacher wrote words that the student uses in his speech and writing. Kieran's two words were battle and castle. Hee hee!
Back to the planes-daddy folds and decorates his and Mihir's. Begins to fly them (Mihir has decided by this point that the airplanes are twins and need each other. When one plane flies away it calls to it's twin. One is a boy and one is a girl. Too cute!) and after 5 or so flight Kieran has finally finished his picture. He decides that the plane has to pop open so that you can see his cool design. It doesn't fly as well but man it looks cool.

A brisk bike ride

So it's been snow-raining all morning. I was in the garage treadmilling it up and all of the sudden Kieran busts in and says-"mom we're going for a bike ride!" Ummm, okay. I am wearing light blue Capri pants, orange Halloween socks, and a dark blue sweatshirt. Also haven't washed my hair or my face or brushed my teeth yet so I am looking and smelling really good. Anyhoo my hubby comes out with Mihir and says "oh are you ready to go?". "I guess so" so off we trek to do a bike ride around the block, in 30 something temp with a frigid wind. We make it about 1/3 of the way around the block and then "it's so cold." "I can't feel my hands." "what if someone sees me?" we decide to return home and hunker down inside looking at the weather but staying warm.

Baby hat

So my good friend is having a little baby girl next month and I decided to make her a baby hat. I had this soft yarn in a melon color that I am totally diggin on and I thought why not? So now I've made the hat and I feel like it's going to be way to small. I can't follow crochet patterns. I've tried I just don't have the mental capacity for it. Needless to say I just sort of wing it when it comes to crocheting ANYTHING. So although the hat is super cute, and I am planning on putting a flower on it, I am afraid it'll be too small and I'll look like a doofus. It's the thought that counts right?
Okay it's the next morning and I've had a chance to rethink and research a little. Some website I read said that a newborn's head circumference is around 13 inches and you should make the hat a little smaller. And that around 5 1/5 inches in height is good. So, I pulled out the top half of the hat and made it taller, added a flower and presto-a baby hat! Cute right?

Valentine madness

So Mihir, my 3 year old, is in preschool this year. His class is doing a favorite things Valentine pajama party. He decided he wanted to make butterfly cards with lollipops. Easy enough. I cut and wrote the saying. He stickered and signed his name. Done!
I am the third teacher in another classroom at the preschool. We're doing a pajama party too. I decided to use some leftover birds from my Art discovery lessons and make valentines. The birds are sitting on a pencil. They turned out pretty cute.
My eldest son, Kieran, has BIG ideas. His teacher asked that each valentine be placed in an envelope and addressed. They're learning about writing letters so it makes sense and is not a big deal. However, Mr Big Ideas decided to make 3 different types of cards. Well technically he decided that I would make 3 card designs. The same butterfly his brother made. A rocket ship with tootsie roll cargo was next up. And last but not least a car with Hershey's kisses wheels. 21 cards in all! So here it is the night before Valentine's day and we're slaving away in the Valentine Card factory. We've got an hour before bed and 8 cards/envelopes to go!!
I love that my children are creative and don't want store bought cards. But on nights like these when I have to force him to sit down and finish I sort of wish he was a store bought card kinda kid. :-)

Another family art night

Just wanted to document another family art night. Some quality work from all 4 family members if I do say so.

What is for breakfast? Ben10 puppets of course!

So the boys have decided that instead o getting ready for school, or eating their breakfast they'll be artsy this a.m. So our table is covered with tape, scissors, and paper. I mean, the breakfast is there on the table too. Just being ignored for the time being. Oh and my fave part of the whole thing? Mihir has "hidden" his water bottle. It's his new thing. Can you find it? Love that silly goofball.

Sunny days at the river

So unbelievably beautiful out there this morning. We decided to head to the trail right along the Columbia River. Last time we did this trail was painful. Kieran got off his bike and walked more than he rode. Today, however, he did great. Rode the whole way. Mihir rode his trike too. All the way out most of the way back.
Once we got back we went down to the waters edge. Lots of rock throwing. Some log climbing. I introduced the boys to one of my fave summer camp pursuits-bomb the ship! You find a nice flat piece of driftwood and place rocks on it. Next you send it out into the river. Once it gets a little ways away from the shore you try to sink the ship, and knock all the passengers off. It's a great game for kids who can't master the rock skipping technique-which by the way my hubs rocked yesterday. I saw him skip a rock 6 times!!!! I can't even skip it twice. Maybe the boys will get the rock skipping gene from him.
We spent a good amount of time bombing our boats until we realized it was getting close to lunch time and the rumbling noises weren't the ships engines but our bellies. We headed home and even had a picnic-in the pacific northwest-in February!!! Unheard of!

Two quick Valentine crafts

Valentine's day is quickly approaching and although I am skipping a party at home this year (in the past I've done some kind of gathering fort kiddo's friends) I thought maybe we should decorate the house a little. So little man and I did two quick projects to add some lovey-dovey to the house.
Okay the first project is the window decorations. Super simple and they look cute too! Take a piece of waxed paper and have your little one color it with reds, purples, and pinks. Lines, circles, swirls all work. Make sure they don't press too hard or they'll rip the paper. Once they have colored to their hearts content fold the wax paper over itself. Cover with a towel and iron on low setting. You're heating it up just enough to make the sides stick together. Shouldn't take too long. Let it sit for a minute to cool down. When it's cool enough cut heart shapes and words out of it and stick to the window using scotch tape. My little man loved arranging the hearts on the window and the weather was perfect for letting the colors show.

Craft #2
I basically took a big piece of construction paper and cut it into a heart shape. Next I let Mihir write a message on the heart. Then I took some leftover dark pink tissue paper and cut it into squares. I spread glue on the edges of the heart, took a piece of tissue and wrapped it on the end of a pencil, and pushed the pencil into the glue. It attaches the tissue in the little flower shape. Place them close together all around the edge and preto you have a cute valentine.

Groundhog craft and snack

For some reason little man's school didn't do anything for Groundhogs day. Couldn't let the holiday pass without at least acknowledging the little, furry weatherman.
So what did we do? I took a black paper plate and cut out the center to make his hole. I then cut a slit in the center to poke my little Groundhog puppet through. Then a little bit of brown and blue construction paper, a marker and some glue and the little hog was made. I attached the puppet to a straw which was easy for Mihir to put his hand around.
Next we went outside to see if we could cast the Groundhog's shadow. We talked a little bit about which direction you had to face to see your shadow and the position of the sun. Once we saw his shadow we went back inside and took a fruit roll up and cast the puppet's shadow on it. I had originally grabbed a strawberry flavor but Mihir told me grape would be better because it is "shadow colored". Love that kid! I cut the fruit roll up in the shape of the shadow using a small knife and Mihir had a Groundhog shadow for his snack!