Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Shrinky My Dinky.... Oh What Fun

What a rainy, cold and yucky day! Tuesday’s are ‘no school’ days so I usually try to set up a play date or take the kids somewhere. However, when I saw the gloomy weather… I told the kids it was crafty day! A my daughter loves crafts, my lil’ guy does just enough to appease me and moves on.

I pulled out an oldie but a goodie craft – SHRINKY DINKS! I did this great craft when I was a kid. If you are not familiar with Shrinky Dinks this is the scoop. You get these sheets of plastic and you can draw with pencils or markers anything you want on them. Cut it out the pop it in the oven…and watch in amazement. Within 2 minutes the Dink will curl up, shrink, and then lay flat again. Then you take them out of the oven and they cool super fast. You end up with a very hard little piece of plastic that you can use for jewelry, sun catchers, mobiles, etc. My daughter and I did Shrinky Dinks for a couple hours. Here is the mobile we made and here are a few of my favorite ones we made. My son kind of colored on one, then gave up and played with cars.

After the Shrinky Dink fun my daughter wanted to move on to the next craft. I told her that Mommy had to make lunch and that she was on her own. So she asked if she could do her most favorite ‘Grown-up’ thing to do…. take pictures with my camera. She loves doing this so much that I have sort of made art of the pics she takes. She has the great frame in her room that holds 7 pics. Each month I put new pictures that she took into the frame. She is very proud of this ‘work of art’ and it is always the first thing she shows her friends. Here is a sample of the pictures she took today.










My Web Site – http://www.kidsinstl.com/

Added a bunch of activities to the calendar. Trying to get it pumped up with activities for spring and summer. Here is a list of some of the activities going on around St Louis the next couple of days. Go to the site http://www.kidsinstl.com/ for more detail.

Feb 28th
9:45 AM - 10:30 AMWhere Art and Play Go Hand in Hand
10 AM - 11 AMtoddler Storytime Sachs Branch
10:30 AM - 11:30 AMCreation Station - Transport Museum Association
10:30 AM - 12 PMPiwacket Theatre Emperor's New Clothes
4 PM - 5 PMDuct Tape Extravaganza - Weber Library
6 PM - 8 PMREI Climbing Pinnacle
6:30 PM - 8:30 PMEndangered Species Near You

Feb 29th
10:30 AM - 11:30 AMStory time Fun Baby Moon Boutique
11 AM - 11:45 AMWhere Art and Play Go Hand in Hand
11:15 AM - 12 PMDrop in Play Date Baby Moon Boutique
6:30 PM - 7:30 PMDon't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
7 PM - 8:30 PMTeen Afterhours: Chocolate Fever! - Sachs Library

Hey for all of you that are not in St Louis, I want to share one of the many other parts of my site that can be used by anyone regardless of where they live. Here are some of our favorite tips we recommend for children. From the home page click on the Parent Resource & Tips then go to 12-24 months button– To see the whole list check out our site. http://www.kidsinstl.com/
Parent Resources & Tips
12-24 months
Nutrition Tips/Strategies for Picky Eaters:

*For non-veggie eaters, blend the vegetables in a stock to make a hearty soup or grind the vegetables and blend it into meat e.g., meat patties

*For non-fruit eaters - make a fruit smoothie (fruit, milk and or ice-cream). Introduce it unfrozen or if you choose to freeze it, make Popsicles in containers.

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Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Super Tuesday - Up in Flames

My Life – Super Tuesday…was yours super? Mine was actually sad. Here in St Louis it was just raining all day. We even had some thunder storms… in Jan ..who would guess. The kiddos and I just had a lazy day at home, we like to call them jammie days. That is because we all stay in our pj’s. I knew I would have to get showered and dress to at least go vote, but I waited until my husband came home. Even though it was down pouring I went out to vote, the polling place is only 4 blocks from my house. While there the most incredible shot of lighting lit up the sky. It really freaked everyone out. I made it back home to switch with my husband so he could go vote. As I walk up to close the door behind him I notice the house down the street was on fire. Remember the lighting strike. The fire burned for a very long time and it was so close to our house the kids watched it from the window. The house is a totally gone, the only thing left is the front door. So sad. At one point when the flames were as high as the trees, I wanted to go out and take a picture. I am sure that makes me kind of demented. I did walk out with my camera, but I felt bad for taking a picture of someone’s loss.
Now here is the catch they had to block off the streets because the fire was huge. This means that many people were not able to get to the polls to vote. So I am waiting to hear about that controversy.



My Web Site – http://www.kidsinstl.com/
Worked on the Activity Calendar. So many places and things to do, so little time to enter them in. I am still working on this summer camp list, uggg. It never ends. Here is a sample of some of the activities for the next couple of days. Go to the site http://www.kidsinstl.com/ for more detail.


Hey for all of you that are not in St Louis, I want to share one of the many other parts of my site that can be used by anyone regardless of where they live. Here is some of our favorite links – To see the whole list check out our site. http://www.kidsinstl.com/
EDUCATION/HOMEWORK HELPERS
www.pta.org
Learn to advocate for your child & help them become successful students
Sites to assist your child with homework
Learn how your child can best be prepared for school

My Funny – My daughter now understands about looking nice and often wants to do things that ‘make her look pretty’. Santa brought her some kiddie make-up this year and dressing up her face is one of her favorite ‘pretty’ things to do. I noticed had not seen the little princess in a while, so I called her from her room to see what she was doing. When she walked in the room it took every ounce of strength not to laugh. My daughter had every barrette she owns in her hair (about 20) and big circles, lines and blotches all over her face done with very bright make-up. Of course she thought she looked beautiful, so I had to agree. I should have taken a picture, it seems like a Kodak moment happens every 10 minutes in my house!

One of my Favorite Things – My little guy does not get diaper rash very often any more. He is pretty good about telling us right when he goes poop. However, there are times when he over does it with a food, like oranges, and then he does get diaper rash. Both of my kids were the babies who would get diaper rash so bad it would bleed. It was horrible and often almost made me cry. I have tried almost every diaper cream on the market. The best one I tried was Dr Smith. It is hard to find and a bit expensive, but it is worth its weight in gold. I recommend it to everyone who has diaper rash problems.
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Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Not Everything Takes Batteries!

My Life – Monday was not only back to school for my daughter but it was also show and tell day. They have a show and tell day once a month and it is always a big production to figure out what she is taking. I try to suggest things, but I want her to make the final decision. From when she woke up through the next 2 hours she changed her mind 20 times. First it was a toy pony, then a book, then her princess dress….. what ever…pick one! Geeezzz. There was one item in her room that she cherishes but I never suggested for her to take it, a very breakable Cinderella snow globe. However, I it would be a great show and tell things, so I suggested the snow globe. Oh boy was she thrilled. She took it to school and show and tell was a huge success.


While my daughter was at school, I decided to go to the gym. They have a daycare at Club Fitness, so my son loves going there. Now I must make it clear – If I make it to the gym once a week…. I am doing good. I wish I had more motivation! I feel good about myself after I go…who knows. Anyway, I worked out….oh gosh I am so sore today. It hurts to pick up my coffee cup. How out of shape can I be!

My Web Site – http://www.kidsinstl.com/
Last night I worked on the ‘At home Extension Activities’ for the calendar. It you go to the site, you will see that everyday we have one craft that can be done at home that kind of goes in line with one the items on the calendar. It is a lot work finding these projects, so I hope someone is using them! HAHA. I am still working on this summer camp list, uggg. It never ends. Here is a sample of some of the activities for the next couple of days. Go to the site http://www.kidsinstl.com/ for more detail.
Hey for all you people that are not in St Louis, I want to share one of the many other parts of my site that can be used by anyone regardless of where they live. Here is one of our ‘Kid Sensory Recipes’
CORNMEAL DOUGH
1½ Cups Flour1 ½ Cups Cornmeal1 Cup Salt1 Cup Water
Mix all ingredients together in bowl. If mixture seems dry, add very small amounts of water until smooth dough is formed.

My Funny – We are kind of trying to potty train my son. He is 2 1/2 yrs old, so he is getting to the age, but I am not going to turn commando on him yet. A few times a day I will ask him if he wants to go sit on the potty (he still wears diapers). He will still and actually go pee pee almost every time. The problem is going poop on the toilet! I just can’t seem to get him to go. Yesterday he ate a big lunch and I knew it was just a matter of time. I have him sitting on the potty and I was reading to him. We sat there for a long time and I suggested for him to try to push. He did try then looked up at me and as serious as he could tell me – “Poop won’t come out because my wiener is broke and needs new batteries.” I laughed so hard I almost feel off the tub edge. I then had to explain that poop does not come out of his wiener and it will never need batteries.

One of my Favorite Things – This has become one of my favorite things because I hate to clean sand off my floor. My kids received a bunch of that moon sand for Christmas presents. They love it and I hate it! I would sit them at the table with trays and tell them to be very careful. Minutes later the floor would be covered in sand then it would be tracked all over the house. I stared to tell the kids that the moon sand was only an outside toy, but it is winter time…not a very good time to sit outside and play. I knew I needed to figure out a way they could play with this sand that made everyone happy. I decided to take my long wrapping paper Rubbermaid container and empty it out. I put all the moon sand in it! It is long enough for both kids to play with out sitting on top of each other and the sides are high enough to keep most of the sand contained. Now see that I said ‘most’ of the sand. There was still a mess to clean up, but it was something I could live with and not make my head explode.

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