Dirt

The other night, just before bed, Molly and I were talking about sand castles and mud pies.  I told her about a dessert that I'd enjoyed as a little girl called "Dirt Pudding", an edible take on making mud pies in a garden.  When she looked up at me with those big green/blue eyes and said, "Momma, can we please make those one day?" my heart melted and I couldn't say no.

The next day we went to the dollar store and grocery store to get our supplies, and Molly, Jack and I happily began our work on the gross-out dessert that they were sure to love.

Important Mudd pudding supplies

An important note: When you're 5-years-old and anxiously awaiting to decorate and eat a dessert, the 15 minutes spent waiting for fast set pudding to set can feel like an eternity, so I served the minions lunch and set the oven timer so we'd be ready to get to work right away.

Molly decorates her "bucket" of dirt pudding with oreo crumbs "dirt" and gummy worms.

Our "bucket" of worms became our instant eat, mucky dessert, whereas our mini mason jars, complete with lids were sealed to enjoy later and happily share with friends.

"Dirt" Dessert on the Go

Look at those sour worms wiggle!

When we finished preparing (and devouring) our dessert, I asked Molly what she wanted to do next, and we decided to play snakes and ladders in the backyard at her and Jack's suggestion.  I would have never thought to take a board game outside, so I'm glad I asked.

There were some competitive tears when someone who shall remain nameless got rather upset about landing on a snake and losing their lead, but they quickly got over it, all while both kids practiced their counting.

Ready, steady, PLAY!

I can't wait to show the kids Apple Peanut Butter "teeth" later on this week.  I may get the hang of these "kids take the lead" lazy summer days, just in time for Labour Day!

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Master of Puppets

I am so thankful that my work schedule has allowed me to work condensed days this summer while the minions attend day camp three days a week.  This has provided me with a bonus of two additional days to enjoy alongside them. I'm pleased that we've remained fairly diligent of spending 20 minutes each day to work on printing letters, tracing shapes, working on our reading and counting skills.

Some of our weekdays together I've really planned out with trips to new parks for playground reviews, exciting crafts, and playdates alongside friends, others I'm slowly letting them guide.  This is particularly challenging for me and my "uber planning" nature, but I'm really trying to embrace it.

Last week in the midst of another heat wave in Toronto (not that I'm complaining, seriously) I didn't want the kids to spend too much time outside.  When I asked Molly what she wanted to do that day she yelled, "PUPPETS!!!" at the top of her lungs.  Huh?  "I want to make puppets and they're going to be amazing!"  So we did.

After our breakfast and printing time we went over to the grocery store in pursuit of paper bags. When we returned home we gathered up all of the art supplies that we felt would make for awesome puppets and got to work while we had a snack.

The beginning of Jack's "Jack in the box" puppet

We made a queen, we made a princess, we made a kitty cat, and we made a Jack in the box and we did it together.  While we happily played with our proud creations I couldn't help but think of the overused parental expressions, "only boring people get bored" and smiled because Molly and Jack are getting so creative.  I also thought of all of the "school related skills" that puppet making works on including building fine motor skills.

Sticker preparation for fine motor skills

As the rain continues to hit this week, or if you need an easy activity on a hot and sweaty afternoon, consider puppets.  Later this week we're going to try our hand at a game of Snakes and Ladders that the kids received for their birthdays.  If only I could figure out a way to make these lazy days of summer last just a little bit longer.

Yes, the Queen's party dress has festive balloons on it.  

To read an article I wrote for another site on games that encourage learning to enhance your child's summer learning click here.


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Ten - 2015 Top Ten Blog Posts

I am going to be spending some time reflecting on 2015 while I dip my toes into the waters of 2016. 2015 was a life altering year for me in many ways, some good, some not so good, but more on that later.  On the blog front I am so touched by all the friends, family, and online readers who visit us to hear about our adventures. I can't believe that I've now been blogging for four years.  It's been amazing to read about our lives with the minions years ago and to see how much they, and our lives together, have changed.

I thought I'd revisit my 10 most visited posts of 2015 and share them by topic, just in case you missed them and wanted to check them out.   I look forward to writing about many more experiences and lessons in 2016.  Thank you, as always, for your continued support.  Happy New Year!

Jack playing in the sand, Summer 2015.

Tips for Pregnancy!

9 Tips for 9 Months of Pregnancy.  Learn from my mistakes in pregnancy!

Growing Pains!

The one about Molly's journey to stop sucking her thumb and other Linusesque tendencies - With These Hands: Story of a Recovering Thumb Sucker and Blanket Addict

Activities for Kids

Rainy day/snow day activities for kids!

Popular Culture

My commentary on the viral video where drunk moms talk about their kids - Saturday Night

My entire family was excited about the re-boot of the Muppet show.  Here I share my review of the pilot episode- Pig Girls Don't Cry.  I am also pleased to announce that Molly loves Miss Piggy, her determination, and spunk as much as I do!

Thoughts on parents who gave their son a notice of eviction as a "Birthday Gift".

Molly and Jack on a Toronto Area Hike, 2015

Family Living in the City of Toronto

A Playground Review from east end Toronto's KEW Gardens.

Commentary on The Blue Jays, Rogers Centre, Ashton Kutcher, and making MLB a family fun experience.

Travel Tips

Do's and Don'ts for flying with pre-schoolers (little kids)

6 Travel Tips that will save you time, money, and sanity while travelling with little kids


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Looks Like Rain - 5 Rainy Day Activities to Enjoy With Your Kids!

We've been looking at the long term weather forecast and although there are still many nice days to look forward to we recognize that we're slowly going to become more and more housebound as the weeks go by.  As much as we enjoy watching endless hours of loud cartoon programming on a loop, it's a lot more fun to try to engage our imaginations together.  It's also a great way to avoid having to say things to your kids like, "Only boring people get bored." or "Being bored builds character".

Here are Five Rainy Day Activities to Enjoy & Help you Forget That it isn't July Anymore.

Form a Rock Band
Grab whatever musical instruments you have (toys or real) and get the "band" back together!  Don't want to sacrifice your own guitar?  Put together a pretend drum kit using pots and pans.  For older kids you could teach them about musical glass.  You can come up with a band name (visit Band Name Maker to get some fun suggestions and vote on the best one), make posters together or even work out a dance routine and go the karaoke route.

Build the Ultimate Pillow Fort
Remember how awesome forts were when you were a kid?  Fatherly provides some input and ideas on potential materials, information on the three basic types of forts and encourages you to "think like an architect" to help make your forts epic.

Make Some Cloud Dough
You can buy kits, or have your own sandbox indoors using a homemade recipe.  To learn how this worked for us this past spring click here.

Indoor "Spring" Cleaning, Kid Style
Favourite toys get dirty.  Well loved stuffed animals (or stuffies as we call them at our house) need some TLC too.  Try having an indoor toy/ toy car wash or opening up a Stuffed Animal Hospital where you can stitch up loose buttons and seams. Be sure to have plenty of band aids and lollys available for Mr. Bear.  To learn more click here.

Go Indoor Fishing in the Bath Tub
Get some toys from your local dollar store, attach magnets and build your own rods (suggested materials, string, paperclip "hooks" and a wooden spoon).

What are the best indoor activities you've come up with on a rainy day?

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Castle on a Cloud

Last week I was tasked with writing about indoor activities for toddlers for a mothers of  multiples site I contribute to called How Do You Do It.  I spent a good deal of time racking my brain for activities that have been the most successful for entertaining Molly and Jack and some items that were on our "to do" activity list, but not yet tried and true.

Sunday was, as A.A. Milne would put it, a cold and blustery day.  Chris was at the ball game for most of the afternoon and I wanted to ensure that TV time didn't get out of control.  While the minions had their quiet time I surprised Molly and Jack by preparing some cloud dough so they could enjoy some indoor sandbox time, one of the items that's been on my "to do" activity list.

What is cloud dough anyway?  It's a sensory treat that feels like a lighter, fluffier, almost velvety version of sandbox sand.  I used the recipe I found on Happy Hooligans which mixes 8 cups of flour with one cup of baby oil.  You can mix it using your hands or a whisk and it's ready in about five minutes.

Next I went and grabbed a variety of beach and garden toys, diggers, straws, plastic utensils and cups  (anything that I could put in the dishwasher safely) and divided the sand into two large Tupperware containers.

 This was Molly's untouched cloud sandbox

And this was Jack's

When I presented the kids with the surprise they were both very excited and immediately dove in, making me sand cupcakes, cakes, candies and tea.  They happily played nearby while I managed to cut vegetables and complete all my prep work for a batch of soup (almost an hour).

Molly digging in

Jackie playing

Apparently this cloud dough should keep (we transferred it all to one sealed container during cleanup) for around a month.  There are other recipes that include adding powdered paint, sparkles or cocoa powder so it smells like chocolate available at Familylicious, although if you find yourself yelling something to the effect of, "Jack don't eat the dough!" every three minutes, you may want to avoid making it smell even more delicious.

As you can see this is a fun, but highly messy activity.  You may want to plan this before you sweep and mop your kitchen floor. 

To read about other indoor activities like stuffed animal hospital and the indoor toy wash click here.

To read about my infant/toddler heuristic treasure basket click here.

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