The Palmer "P"

Tessa helped me from start to finish with this week's craft project.  I bought a window frame earlier in the summer that is hung over the couch in the family room and I've made several attempts to find something to hang over it.  So far, no luck, and here is yet another failed attempt.  My friend Mikala gave me the idea of a P for Palmer and I thought it was a great idea.  So we bought a P and some scrapbook paper.  And here we go...

 We cut the paper into strips to cover the P by tracing.

 Then, we used Modge Podge to individually attach each piece.  I messed up a little on the front because I touched it when it was wet and took off some of the paper, hence the extra strip on the right.  But it turned out okay.

 Unfortunately, it didn't look quite right in the family room, so we found a new place for it in the office. All in all, a fun little craft.  I sure am going to miss Morgan's naptime once I have to go back to work.  It sure is getting close.  :(

Pipe Cleaners and Bracelets

We needed some new activities around the house this week.  These ear infections have kind of put a damper on summer water activities.  So we headed to JoAnn Fabrics, as I figured all the kid craft summer kits would be on sale.  Right I was.  We got pipe cleaners, a beaded bracelet making kit, a stepping stone kit, a beaded tiara making kit, a Spiderman coloring sheet for Morgan, and some supplies for a new craft project to be featured in a later post.  Of all things so far, I believe the pipe cleaners entertained them the most.  Good fine motor skill development though if you add in a couple of colanders...

 Tessa and I whipped out the bracelet-making kit during Morgan's naptime several days in a row.  We started with "Tessa" and have since made bracelets for two of her friends.  More good fine motor practice, though I will say beading these tiny beads onto floss was not easy for Tessa and led to a lot of frustration.  She eventually got the hang of it, but it took her a long time so she ended up letting Mommy do most of the stringing and she picked out the beads she wanted in order.  A good little assembly line if I do say so myself!

 And a typical Tessa face!

Morgan's First Tea Party

Yes, I do know Morgan is a boy.  But he has an older sister and thus participates (very willingly I might add) in a  lot of "girl" activities.  Tea parties are clearly no exception.  When Tessa wanted to get out her tea set from Aunt Cortny and Uncle Mike the other day, Morgan joined right in!

 And totally off topic, but my poor boy has another ear infection in his other ear this time.  Do you see that gross gunk in his ear?  That is the lovely byproduct of his ear infections.  I feel so bad for him!

Smiley girl!  She loves having tea parties with her tea set.  We'll have to get it out next time Aunt Cortny and Uncle Mike come to visit!

Christmas in July

This week's craft project took a turn for the holidays!  Tessa and I made salt dough while Morgan was napping and of the product options I gave her, she chose to make Christmas ornaments.  The recipe for salt dough was incredibly easy.  I just followed these directions I found online:

Ingredients:

1 cup of fine salt

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of water (may add more)
Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the salt and the flour

Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and add the water

Knead until smooth and shape into a ball

When not in use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight container

 After making the dough, Tessa rolled it out.

 Then stamped some cookie cutter shapes.

 And finally painted each ornament.

 Here they are, ready for baking!

 We baked them at 200 degrees for about 45 minutes, and here they are!  We added some ribbon, and VOILA!  They are safe and sound in the storage, waiting for December!

Happy Hump Day!

Here's a peek into one of our summer weekdays.  We headed to Lifetime in the morning.  The kids played in daycare while Mommy did a STRIKE class at Lifetime.  Because it was gloomy and there was a chance of rain, we headed to Kings Island so we could ride rides for a bit before the forecasted rain began to fall.  We did not wait even a minute for a ride.  It was awesome!  They literally walked on everything they wanted to ride.  Morgan is finally getting more patient and understanding the need to wait (not that he had to do it today, but in general).  

 They both love the characters now.  Here is one of the many they met today!

 And we topped it off with lunch at Chick-fil-A.  (I had some free coupons from the baseball game at Prasco Park last week, so it was very cheap, which is a good thing since my credit card number was stolen over the weekend and I still don't have a new one).  That, however, is another story...

And here is Morgan on one of the rides.  Not sure how it got out of order, but there you have it!  Now, time for naps and a dinner out with all the women on my mom's side.  I can't wait!

Run, Jump, and Play

Even with my being off for the summer, one of the parents from Kids R Kids managed to find us for a birthday party.  Of course, Tessa was thrilled.  Especially because the birthday party was for Naaz, one of her best friends at school.  She had a blast and told me for the 800th time that she wants to have her birthday party there in January.  Sounds good to me!

These were all taken from my phone, so not high quality.  But I think you can tell it was fun!

Cottell Park/Prasco Park

Tessa gets scared pretty easily, so I was so proud of her at the park the other morning when she actually climbed the rope wall.  She's gone part way up before, but actually made it almost to the top.  I wasn't pushing her to do it either, she just made the choice to go for it.  (Bonus: She was able to get back down by herself too).

 Morgan was pooped, and found a nice spot in the shade to drink his water.  I loved that a random 6 or 7 year old boy came and sat with Morgan was was talking to him for like 15 minutes.  Tessa was so jealous that Morgan was spending time with someone other than her.

 Tuesday we went to Kings Island with my mom.  Tessa is now 44 inches, which means she can ride absolutely everything in Planet Snoopy (and some rides in the big park as well).  My mom was kind enough to take Morgan to ride the big choo-choo for awhile so Tessa and I could explore some of these new rides. She loves Surf Dog!

 And Tuesday evening we headed to Prasco Park.  I'd never been there before, but it is basically a really fancy high school baseball stadium.  Certain nights throughout the summer are family fun nights with free food, inflatables, face painting, balloon animals, etc.  All FREE!  It was definitely crowded, especially with that price, but the kids had a blast and enjoyed the Chick-fil-a, soft serve, and watching a little bit of baseball.  I also saw a few former students and some coworkers; considering it was in Mason this was not a surprise.

Tessa making a silly face:

 Enjoying ice cream.  They even had the upside-down baseball hat bowls.  Love!

The event actually reminded both Nate and I of our brief time in Minnesota.  Very family friendly, lots of pregnant ladies, and good 'ol crowded family fun.  Next Tuesday, the 17th, is the last family night of the season and I think we'll go.  Tessa said it best as she as eating her ice cream, "I want to come here every day."

Arts and Crafts

One thing I really liked about the kids being in daycare was the constant stream of neat crafts coming home.  Every day they were doing something different (some cooler than others).  I think I'm fairly crafty, but I also find myself resorting to just coloring with the kids more often than not.  So this week, I've been making an effort to do more hands on crafts.  It's been pretty successful.  Tessa and I made these Olympic rings the other night before bed and displayed them over the wall calendar in our kitchen.  We are looking forward to watching the Olympic games.  Lifetime has a mini kids Olympics tonight that Tessa is participating in, so I wanted to get the idea in her mind ahead of time.  These were created using Magic Nuudles.  Pretty cool product and very kid friendly!

 While this isn't much better than coloring, we did some chalk on the back patio yesterday.  Tessa (and Mommy) created this: From left to right it is Anna, Avery, Tessa, and Morgan on their way to Disney World.  Apparently they do not need an adult to take them.  They will ride by themselves...

 We peeled the paper off all our old crayons and melted them into new, round ones.  (To use to color, of course).

 And today we did a nature walk to find beautiful things.  Then we painted them and are going to create a little nature book using their painted objects once they dry.

 Morgan's work:

 Tessa's work:

 And lastly, a Pinterest copy.  I used some old plastic Easter eggs to make an alphabet matching game.  On one side of the egg is the capital letter and the lowercase match is on the other side.  Tessa sat and matched them all up and was very focused the entire time.  I worried she would easily figure out that she should just match the colors, but she didn't figure that out and really relied on the letters.  Maybe Morgan can start learning his letters soon too.  Right now, we're working on counting and all his colors.

So there you have it, arts and crafts for the week.  Perhaps I'll do another craft post next week!

Home Depot Truck Workshop

I posted last month about the free Home Depot workshops.  The July workshop was this past weekend and the kids thoroughly enjoyed building Penske moving trucks.  This one was a bit more intensive of a build, so I was glad Daddy came with us this time.  Tessa and Morgan both enjoyed painting their trucks and applying the official "Penske" stickers at home once the paint dried.

If you've never taken your kids and think they would enjoy it, the workshops are at every Home Depot the first Saturday of each month.  Next month should be even more spectacular, as they were passing out handouts advertising face painting, temporary tattoos, games and such.  So more than just a craft.  Should be fun!