Have about two minutes and want to create something fun? Of course you do! I saw this tutorial on making easy paper flying fish over at Mini eco and had to do it right away. It was even more fun to take the school of fish outside and let them fly off the top of the playhouse. Into the snow!
Happy weekend, lovelies.
p.s. our paperwhites are about to burst!
We have been spending a lot of time this winter with Wren’s creative pursuits: coloring, drawing, painting and equal time “fixing” puzzles, but I thought it would be fun to delve into an easy science experiment as we while away these dark winter days in a meaningful way. And I’m not talking about the accidental science experiments in my kitchen like the cranberry Jello from Thanksgiving (!) that I cleaned out yesterday. Who knew that it could even go bad? Yikes. Ahem. No, we’re talking intentional science here, lovelies.
Enter Gak!
I saw Gak mentioned on several other blogs recently and thought we’d try our hand at making some too. Making Gak is a simple experiment in the creation of a polymer. This is a great one to do with little ones (and big ones alike) because it only take a few minutes to make and provides endless fun. In fact, we got it out again today and it was even more fun than when we made it the other day.
All you need is a bottle of Elmer’s glue, liquid starch and if you like, some food coloring. There are other recipes that involve Borax, but we opted for the liquid starch.
Simply pour an 8 oz bottle of Elmer’s glue into a bowl.
If you want to color your Gak, drop a tiny bit of food coloring into the glue. This was a fun part because it reiterated some color mixing that we’ve been working on with our paints. I am a proud Mama of a two year old that knows red and blue make purple!
Then pour 8 oz (1/2 cup) of liquid starch into the glue, a bit at a time, stirring as you go. A real lesson in patience and pouring skills! Pour a bit, stir a bit, pour a bit, stir a bit… My overzealous little birdie poured too much in at the end, but it worked out fine anyway. It will begin to come together right away – some crazy stuff! You can also knead it with your fingers and this is fun for the little ones too. I wasn’t sure what Wren would think of it, but she thought it was yucky and wonderful at the same time. Now that’s my kind of girl!
On the cusp of three months, our sweet Phoebe Jane now weighs ten pounds. That’s like a big sack of potatoes, a medium bowling ball, two small chihuahuas or forty sticks of butter. Except that she’s so much cuter. And her sister agrees saying, “oh Phoebe, I love you so much I want to hug your arm.” Hey, her arms are pretty delicious looking. And those chins too.
“If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store
Two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole,
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.”
~ Musharish-Ud-Din Sadi
My father-in-law rescued me today. He took Wren out to their house for the day and he brought me a beautiful hyacinth, to “feed thy soul.” Feeling very blessed and grateful. Bonus: I got to have lunch out with my husband today. And the hives are retreating. Things are looking up. Happy weekend, lovelies. XO
Sorry, lovelies, I know you were really hoping for a high resolution photo of the hives that are covering my body, but I’m just not even going to go there… And this isn’t really a woe-is-me post, but maybe it is a little bit. Just need to vent a little because sometimes life is just difficult and I know you know what I mean. You try to behold the beauty around you and cherish the days with your family, but sometimes even the best attitude is not enough to overcome tough times. At least in the moment. The good thing is that I know it will pass, but lately the days have been long. And itchy! Oof. I believe I developed an allergy to the antibiotics I had been taking for the mastitis because I broke out in hives a couple days ago. Nice.
As I write this, Wren is yelling for me from her room as she “naps,” which most days hasn’t been happening. This, as you can imagine, is frustrating and makes for really long afternoons because she really does need more sleep. She just doesn’t want to stop exploring the world. And hey, I get that, but this Mama needs a break. And unfortunately not napping doesn’t mean that she goes to bed much earlier. Whenever I hear of kids who go to bed at 7 or even 8, I think, wow, now THAT would be nice. Those children usually are up early (but not all, for Eva Mattresses are ever so comforting that I myself have a problem waking up).
Phoebe, on the other hand, is a dreamy baby. She eats well, sleeps well and is generally easy-going and a complete cutie pie. I had forgotten, however, just how all-consuming infants are. Because even though she’s not very demanding as far as babies go, she has lots of basic needs that need to be met. Because, well, she’s a baby. But did I mention how cute she is?
I don’t even want to think about the house because again, as I write this, every room in the house needs attention. There is yogurt on the dining room floor that Wren must’ve been “finger-painting” with as I was nursing Phoebe in the other room. The kitchen is overflowing with dishes from several meals and there’s a trail of books around the entire house, which apparently resembles a train. God forbid one attempts to clean these up. I haven’t checked, but I’m pretty sure the laundry in the washing machine has been sitting in there wet for too long and I’ll need to run those through again. Well, you get the point.
So, as it turns out, adding a new baby to the family really is a huge transition for us even though the baby is the least of my daily woes. It’s keeping all these balls (children, relationships, work, home, health) up in the air. Chris and I are in agreement that it probably won’t get a lot easier, but we’ll eventually adjust to a new normal. And that, someday, will feel easier. Please tell me it does?!
Maybe you’ve already read this article about parenting being analogous to climbing a mountain, but if you haven’t I think you should. It’s right on. Because although there is beauty and wonder all around in these beautiful, thoughtful and amazing children, it’s also really hard work. And sometimes it’s honestly just not really all that enjoyable. Here’s an excerpt:
I think parenting young children (and old ones, I’ve heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they’ve heard there’s magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it’s hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up.
I like to think that we’re climbing up a particularly steep area right now with a few arduous steps up and sliding back a bit too as some rock crumbles underneath us. And it’s hard to breathe up here, but when I stop to take a deep breath and look around, it really is miraculous and beautiful. In spite of the hives.
Just realized I published my Wordless Wednesday post a day early, ha! Oh well, enjoy.
We were experiencing our first case of the winter blahs today. A bit too cooped up, a bit disappointed because a friend and her son were supposed to come over for a visit but he got sick, a bit tired after a fun weekend, a bit of the Mondays when Papa goes back to work and we found ourselves back to the same ole-same ole. So we thought that baking a treat for Hoppy would be fun to do together. Hoppy is my Dad and his birthday is at the end of the month, but Wren wanted to bake them NOW. But I only could find two cupcake liners and there was no way I was making a special trip to the store for cupcake liners. Boo! And then I remembered that you could use ice cream cones for cupcakes. I shared with Wren what we were going to do with the cones and she squealed, “you make me laugh, Mama, that’s silly! This is going to FUUUUN!” And it was a hoot. I was also really impressed with Wren’s attention to her work. I showed her how to frost one after they had cooled and then dip them into a cup of sprinkles. She did the other eleven. It was perfect because around that time Phoebe was waking up and needed some attention…
Did you eat these when you were kids? I always thought they were so cool! And Wren does too.
Wondering about the chocolate? Those are the ice cream cones that have a chocolate rim. Cheers!
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soule Mama.
Wren keeps asking, “is it pretend?!” No, it really sucks. I can’t believe people spend oodles of money on cool-looking pretend vacuums that do absolutely nothing when you can spend $19.99 on something that actually works. Just let your child go to work while you kick back and drink a mimosa, ha! Ahem. While it doesn’t work great on the two (!) small rugs we own, it’s perfect for the wood floors. And perfect for Wren. It’s much more fun to clean when Wren wants to participate. I really don’t like cleaning, but I’m trying to create a different attitude about it (boy, how many times have I said that?) It’s just never-ending… sigh. You know the drill, Mamas. You turn your attention to one area of the house and meanwhile another disaster zone is created. You can’t get to picking it up and directing your child to help because you’re helping another child, or making dinner, or trying to have a conversation with another adult. It just snowballs! And now we’re entering the world of toys with small parts and puzzles with lots of puzzle pieces and it’s gotten to be a bit overwhelming to me. Side note: I DID just take several boxes and bags of stuff to Goodwill because really, how many shape sorters does a family need?!
But did I tell you the fun (and sad) thing about this vacuum? This past fall I was a guest blogger on Moonfrye, Soleil Moonfrye’s blog. You know, Punky Brewster? Well, she sent me a handwritten note and Target gift card, yahoo! So I spent part of the gift card on this vacuum. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t what Punky would’ve spent her money on, but this Mama has to be a bit more practical with her gifted cash. Boo!
Lovelies, have you cultivated a good attitude about cleaning? How do you do it with small children in your midst? It’s one thing to have things picked up, but I just can’t get to the real nitty gritty cleaning… any ideas? Do you involve your toddler in cleaning too? Thoughts?