Playhouse!

Our playhouse is finally finished :) With A LOT of help from PopPop (my dad), it finally became a dream come true for the girls.  I am posting pictures below to show what we've been up to as far as decorating the little play space.  We see this as a work in progress; as we learn new crafts/skills, we will incorporate them into our little fantasy land in the back yard. Enjoy :)



PopPop decided to convert a simple shed structure into the playhouse.  He cut a Dutch door, which is a big hit!

Personalized bunting with felt letters. Here's a tutorial from Pinterest that shows how to make a simple bunting.




This chalkboard is made from left over cement board.  We used tile adhesive to secure 1 inch tiles around the board.




We came across some old Highlights magazines, dated 1979.  The gals cut out pictures and we used a few layers of Mod Podge to cover up this old table.



The gals talked about color schemes and patterned fabric for the table skirt. I taught myself how to do a gather stitch. I used Velcro fasten the skirt to the table, that way it can be easily removed for washing.

Left over fabric from the gals' Easter dresses :) See my Miss Matches blog post for the dress pictures.

Suncatchers made from melted beads..

Dave tries to maintain blazed trails in a part of our yard that would be too sloped, wooded, and otherwise unusable.

A Dough For All Seasons (and a little bit of literacy)

Playdough is big at our house.  It was since the kids were toddlers.  We grew from pretend cooking with miniature bake ware to making elaborate fairy houses.  I love to connect all of our activities with the outside world, especially with the seasons (and calendar holidays). I have a great homemade recipe that is cheap & easy. I switch it up a little to give the kids a color and fragrance of the seasons/holidays.

I made a batch this morning anticipating any rainy days left in our dwindling summer.  AND I have an ulterior motive with my younger firecracker who refuses to "learn" anything that has to do with school.  I will share my scheme below. First, let me get to the recipe:

3 cups flour
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups salt
2T vegetable oil
1T cream of tartar

Although today I had to improvise since I had no vegetable oil.  I substituted coconut oil; it worked fine and now I have a new summer scent for August!

Take all ingredients and mix them in a saucepan.  Set heat to medium and stir constantly, scraping the sides of the pot.  Until it turns into a big ball of dough.

Turn out on wax paper and let it cool.  Store it in a Ziploc bag and it will keep for a month, if not longer.

When I change my theme for each month, I add the ingredients below to the saucepan with all the other items I mentioned above when making the playdough.

This is my usual rundown for all the months of the year:
January: Snow- 1T peppermint extract, generous amount of blue glitter
February: Valentine- 1T cinnamon, 5 drops of red food coloring
March: St. Patrick's Day/Start of spring- 1 envelope lime Jello, 5 drops green food coloring
April: Spring- 2t lavender essential oil, 5 drops of purple food coloring
May: Strawberry Season- 1 pack strawberry Jello, 2 drops red food coloring
June: Peach Season- 1 pack peach Jello, 2 drops 3 drops orange food coloring
July: Blueberry Season- 1 pack blueberry Jello, 5 drops of blue food coloring
August: Late Summer- replace vegetable oil with coconut oil
September: Apples- 1T apple extract, 5 drops red food coloring *apple extract can be hard to find.  I'd check at craft stores in the baking section during the fall or order it on line through this online store I have used before.
October: Pumpkins- 1T pumpkin pie spice, 5 drops orange food coloring
November: Warming Foods- 1/4 cup cocoa
December: Christmas Cookie/Baking: 1T vanilla extract, 5 drops yellow food coloring


Now for my elaborate plan:
I found these little cookie cutters at a yard sale years ago:

I will have Mya make playdough letters out of these cookie cutters and form words as listed above.  You can see the word "sat".  I will have her change the first letter with each one above so she is "reading" new words. I will also try this with -ot, -it, -am, etc.  Hopefully she won't catch on that this is a phonics lesson. ;) Later we will write them on paper to see if we remember.

Also, I am guilty of going to Toys R Us to pick up a pack of traditional playdough.  How can I refuse when I found these relics salvaged from my childhood?

Feel free to post in the comments sections as to anything different you may try with your homemade playdough in regards to the seasons or holidays.  I always love new ideas.

What I learned about my kids while traveling

They say the way to really get to know someone is to travel with them. What else can I possibly learn about my kids?  I mean, hello...I am raising them!  I guess it is being in a different environment and away from the usual routine (yes, it nearly pushed me over the edge, but I did not have a daily routine for 12 days) that made me see my kids in a different light.

*Note...this post may be a little braggy, but hey, I put in time and effort with these gals, I can brag once in a while, can't I? 

1.  They can be entertained anywhere with little resources.

From our basic activities in the van (see previous post) to our hotel room.  The gals found ways to entertain themselves with minimal arguing.  They found *gasp* traditional phones (not smart phones) unplugged them and used the hotel notepads and pens and played "Washington DC" for a long time. They love hotel pools, so they taught themselves to do handstands and flips.  Wherever we went, they used the environment around them to and their imagination to play.

2.  They love public transportation.
The Metro was a huge hit.  Marlee can look at a map and tell you which color line goes where like an expert.  I see these kids flocking from the mountains one day and heading to the big cities sans car.

3.  They are SO green!!

Wow!  I am impressed with myself as much a I am with them!  Going out of their way to throw a container in a blue can instead of regular trash in the streets of DC. Choosing "real" plates and cutlery at the hotel breakfast instead of the disposable ones they offered. Reusing hotel towels, turning off lights when leaving the room, all without my suggestion.  Bragging how good it is not to use our car the whole time we were in the city.  My favorite: Commenting on the wasted food at the hotel breakfast.  They asked me why people would take so much food they would not eat from the buffet and leave it on their table untouched...didn't they realize they were wasting good food? My answer:  I don't know.

4.  They love their extended family.

They were equally excited to visit family in PA as they were to go somewhere new and interesting. They had great visits and sleepovers with their aunts, Karen & Nancie, a great visit with their Aunt 'Pin", and were so excited to play with their cousins: Christine, Nick, Lexi, and Ryan.  Of course my favorite, they have great relationships with all three grandparents, which is something I never had with mine.  They love staying that extra week with Grammy and PopPop, doing crazy things. Spending time with Grandma Margaret is always a treat.  I love how they always speak of all three grandparents even when they are away from them.

**Shame on me!  I did not take one picture of anyone in PA this time around!!  These are pictures from times past.

This turned out to be our best vacation yet.  I think (and hope) things will only get better as we travel in the future.  Next on the travel list:  Long weekend in Hilton Head, SC in September, long weekend in Disney in January, and hopefully, a vacation in SanFran next June.

Traveling light, is the only way to fly...



I wish we were flying somewhere far, foreign, and exotic, but we are driving our mini van to Washington, DC and then visiting our families in Pennsylvania.  The kids have recently taken an interest in our nation's capital and government, so we decided to research the area and visit.

I found some great ideas for walking tours around the city in these two books: Washington DC with Kids and City Walks with Kids, Washington DC





We will be driving 8 hours to DC, then and additional 4 1/2 hours four days later.  We are seasoned travelers in the mini van. We take about three or four long distance trips per year. Both gals love to travel and travel well, so it is not too difficult to keep them entertained.

Here's the top picks for our 2012 traveling season:

We carry most of our items in this nifty travel case. We started using it a few years ago, it is great for coloring and writing. I should also mention that we keep these cases and their enclosed items packed away until we are on the road.  That way, they do not lose their luster before we leave.  These are strictly "travel toys" and are only played with then.

Inside we have some items that will hopefully keep them busy for hours!

-Magnetic toys.  Remember Colorforms?  These are very similar. They have a great selection at Dancing Bear Toys. I thought the gals would be soon outgrowing them, but they still love to play with them when we travel.

Old school activity books:  Yes & Know, Mad Libs, and Sticker puzzle books.

I found these books at local craft stores such as AC Moore and Michael's, near the checkout area.



My friend Abbie made the gals these cool pencil/crayon rolls.  They are great for travel, restaurants, doctor's office, or anywhere you need to keep you kid occupied.  She used to sell them on Etsy, but has not in a while.  Here is a quick tutorial I found on Pinterest.

We also like I Spy books. Our favorites are the I Spy brand and we also like a few from Usborne Books.

One other big hit with us are these Melissa and Doug travel games.  We like them because there are no little pieces to lose.  Everything is secured by an elastic band.

We have hopes of learning a lot in Washington DC and writing one more place on our travel list.  We are excited to spend time with family in PA and relax. Hopefully our traveling toys will make the journey fun and enriching.  Of course, if there is a traffic jam on I-81 or the beltway, we always have our portable DVD player and Annie or MegaMinds on tap ;)