Advent Wreath, kid friendly

This year I wanted my boys to help us prepare our home as we get ready for Christmas, not just the tree or gingerbread house.
After a trip to the Dollar Tree and Michael's we were ready to begin.  We found 4 glass vases and filled them with Epsom Salt.  We placed the white pillar candles into the Epsom Salt.  My son wrote 1. Hope  2. Joy 3. Prepare, 4.  Love on tags we found at Michael's and tied with ribbon around the vases. We placed it on a charger plate and placed white snowballs around to fill the plate.  Each Sunday we will light a new candle as we prepare for Christmas.

They can hardly wait to light the candles each night.

Where Does the Time Go??

It was has been a busy past couple of weeks as we moved to be closer to family.  It has been great.  The best part was celebrating our son's 3rd birthday with cousins and grandparents.
The entertainment was our cousin's new puppy and of course, the birthday cake!
Happy Birthday...We love you!

I made the cake from 2 round 9" circle pans and cut a small slice off the bottom to connect to the second round cake.  After icing, I sprinkled crushed chocolate Joe-Joe cookies (from Trader Joes) into the "3" shape.  Lined with M&M's.  Added white icing to make the lines on the road and added race cars to top it off!  Vrooom....it was delicious!

Repurpose Your Child's Art

If you are like me, I have a hard time throwing away my child's artwork.  So before you "recycle" it, try using it for a card to grandma or to wrap up a present.  Here are two we just made for papa and 4th of July.

"Uh-MASON" gift

This year the teachers received this 'Uh-MASON" gift from their first graders.  I filled a mason jar mug with Hersey Hugs and Kisses and the generous gift card  (class contributions from the parents).  I attached the tag I made for the teachers and aides.  Thank you teachers for an "Uh-MASON" year!

Tape Resist Art

Drying Art

 This year dad will be receiving this tape resist art project done by our 2 year old.  Using painters tape, I spelled out "DAD" and my son painted over it with his hands. When it dried, he pulled off the tape to reveal the special word.  My seven year old had fun creating his own tape resist project.

Final Product

Homemade Silly Putty

To make this, each child got a couple spoonfuls of corn starch and liquid dish soap.  They kept mixing with their hands until they got the right consistency. If too runny, add more corn starch.  If too dry, add more dish soap.  You can't go wrong with these two ingredients.

Tiger Cub

Not even sure where to begin, but this year I began my journey as Tiger Cub Leader!  It has been a lot of fun and we have a great group of boys.  Luckily, they put up with my activities as we made our way through the handbook!

We started off the year with a relay race with the parents to learn the Cub Scout Promise.  The boys had to run, grab a strip, and glue it on the correct spot.  The parents were there to help glue and read, if necessary.  After each strip, they had to run back and grab another one until complete.  The boys had fun and it was a great way to get some energy out!

Here are some of the highlights:
We did a nature walk and collected leaves for leaf rubbing, played pass the balloon with their elbows, collected food for a food drive, went to a car museum, bank, bakery, police station, movie theatre, spent the night at the Academy of Science in San Francisco, and went camping.  We took and developed photos along the way for the boys to put together a scrapbook of their Tiger Cub Year.

Tiger Cub Masks

Holiday Card Delivery

Popsicle Stick Frames

And my personal favorite...

the shrinky dink neckerchief for the Pine Wood Derby.  I traced the image using a Sharpie, the boys colored with colored pencil.  We placed them in a toaster oven for a few minutes during the meeting.  The boys were amazed to see them shrink.  I hot glued them onto small pieces of PVC pipe.  They were the perfect touch to their exciting Pine Wood Derby.

Before placed in toaster oven

Check out the neckerchief

We will finish the year with a scavenger hunt at the park.

Valentines Day

 I always love the marble art because the kids have fun making it and it always turns out beautifully! We sent this one to Grandma.

 I was informed today that my son is expecting a heart hunt.  Check out what we've done in the past:  http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2013/02/valentines-day-hunt.html?m=01   For my 2-year-old class, I scattered hearts on the ground and they collected them.

Hope your day is filled with love!

Pasta, Puddles, and Pajamas

We had the most productive rainy day!   The boys helped make homemade pasta.

Rory strung pony beads onto pipe cleaners to make Valentine bracelets.  Shay melted chocolate to make mustache lollipops for his class Valentines.

And the day ended with a walk in the rain with puddles.

Trap Team Birthday

 For the second year in a row, my son wanted a Skylanders party.  Last year was Swap Force http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2014/02/swappable-unstoppablecelebrating-shays.html?m=0  This year was Trap Team.  We started the party outside and played a couple games.

In the first game, the kids had to knock down the bottles to "release the trapped Skylanders".  One person had to keep the bottles from being knocked down by the incoming balls thrown by the players in the other ring.  It was exciting.  They took turns being the trapped person and the guard.

This game was inspired by the Trapmaster, Gusto.  The kids had to see who could keep the balloon off the ground the longest.  In the second round, they could not use their hands.
The next game (not pictured here), was Chompie Smash.  We played it last year and had to do it again.  I blew up about 30 balloons and the kids had to smash the balloons, anyway they wanted.  Loud, but fun!

Next was the scavenger hunt.  Each kid got glow sticks as their light element.  Then a map of the neighborhood and clues.  Each location had something to do with an element or character and a goodie to put in their bag.

For dinner, they had " Hot Dogs" and "Small Fries", based on the character names.
  The cake was supposed to look like the portal, but close enough.  When my son blew out the candles, we placed a new trap character on the cake as a surprise.

Finally, they had to Defeat Kaos!  We made the piñata and filled it with bubble gum, chocolate gold coins, and small prizes.  Directions here: http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2015/01/kaos-defeated-skylanders-party.html?m=1
While they waited for their parents, we had a dance party inside with a disco ball.  The party was a success!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Kaos Defeated - Skylanders Party Pinata

The things we do for our kids!  For the second year in a row, my son wanted a Skylanders themed birthday party.  Having to come up with some new, exciting ideas, we decided a great way to end the party was to DEFEAT Kaos (the main villain).  What better way, than smashing a piñata.
Thinking this would be a great bonding experience, I found myself doing the messy part.  The project was simple, just glad I started a week in advance to give the paper mache layers time to dry.  I did one layer a night - 4 layers of newspaper and the final layer was white copy paper.  The pinata lasted 9 kids,  3 hits each before it broke!!

 Here is the punch balloon we covered.  Torn pieces of newspaper dipped in a mixture of flour and water.

 After the final layer (white copy paper), we painted it skin color.

  My husband had fun drawing Kaos' face.  It turned out perfect.  We cut a hole in the top and filled it with goodies.  Then we made two holes and strung ribbon through to hang up.

It was a "hit"...the kids loved it!  More party highlights here: http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2015/01/trap-team-birthday.html?m=1

Ladybug Hike for the New YEAR!

We survived the Holidays and now we are off and running into the NEW YEAR! Having a two-year-old doesn't allow for much downtime. We started our year off with a family hike to find the hibernating ladybugs at the Redwood Regional Park off the Stream Trail.  Luckily I asked a passing family where they were because I think we would have walked right by them!  It was amazing to see all the ladybugs.

 I had read about this before and thought what a fun way to spend the day and let my little one be free to explore.  My soon-to-be seven-year-old loved it, however, my two-year-old didn't want to walk.  Figures...and we didn't even bring the stroller.  We will definitely be going on more adventures together!

 

Here is where I first read about the ladybugs:  http://frogmom.com/2011/11/ladybug-hike-at-redwood-regional-park/

Don't forget to bring some snacks to keep the kids going! ;)