Kids Gardening

On a recent trip to Walmart, I found these cute Miracle-Gro Kids Mini Greenhouse Kits. They were only $1 a piece, so I picked up two thinking it would be a fun rainy day activity sometime soon. Well, we've had plenty of rain recently so I pulled the kits out. They turned out to be SO neat! I enjoyed them as much as Little Man.

As always, be sure to read the directions first ;)

 

I was a bit concerned when I bought them because I knew there wasn't enough dirt in there, but here's the really cool part: they have special dirt that expands when you add water. The dirt on the left is before we added water, the dirt on the right is mixed with 1/4 cup of water and it EXPANDED when we stirred it. It was crazy to watch it grow.

Then we added a few little seeds: Sweet Bell Peppers & Zinnias.

Now we wait for them to sprout and we'll transplant them to keep here. I think Little Man will really enjoy watching them grow from start to finish. Let's hope it ends well!

A quick & easy project with a little learning thrown in - love it!

Entertaining Your Kids: Travel Box

Summer vacation season is fast approaching - hooray! Although it's fun to get away, I sometimes struggle with what toys to take with us to entertain the Little Man (when we're not enjoying the sand & water).  I want to take toys that he doesn't get to play with all the time in hopes he won't get bored. I don't want to take big toys for obvious space & packing reasons. So, I tried out a "Travel Box" while we vacationed over Spring Break. 

Any books & toys going with us had to fit in this box (obviously, since the lid is broken I found this around the house, but at least I'm not worried about it breaking in the car with all the luggage). This box gets stored away in the back with all the luggage and can't be opened until we get to our vacation destination. We have the DVD Player and the Toddler Car Bag to entertain us on the road. And snacks...lots of snacks!

So, what's in the box?

I had to pack his favorite book - the "Jesus Book" that we read at nap/bedtime.

I removed the take-along-car mat from the car bag and put it along with Mack in the box. Lots of fun with the Radiator Springs crew!

I found this little felt barn and a pack of animals at the Target Dollar Spot (love that place!) a while ago. I threw in "Baby Tractor" because he was small and fit with the theme.

Take-n-Play Thomas & Dash with the Tidmouth Tunnel.

Squishy Crocodile - Little man's current favorite animal. He loves to eat toes!

Of course, we vacationed with grandparents, so a few things were added to the box during the week...

Like this green motorcycle

Dinosaurs

Play-Doh & a dino sandwich cutter (found in the grocery store) that worked great in lieu of cookie cutters

And a tube of aquarium animals after our trip on a rainy day.

Even with the additions, it all fit for the ride home.

I'd definitely recommend only bringing out one or two sets of toys per day to keep things fresh and entertaining throughout the week (lesson learned...).

I returned the "Jesus Book" to Little Man's room and "Mack" was needed to haul a few Matchbox cars around, but everything else stayed in the box and is waiting for our next out of town trip.

This moment.

One day recently, I had been busy around the house while my Little Man happily played by himself (but near wherever I was working). Well, after several hours of paying only brief attention to him, it became clear that he needed me to spend some good quality time with him. He kept asking for play-doh, which is my least favorite thing to play, but sometimes it's good to be a "Yes-Mom". 

I'm so glad I said "yes" that day. We had so much fun together, even if my OCD was in overdrive while he happily mixed play-doh colors. It was well worth it!

Toy Storage Labels

When I was in college getting my degree to become a teacher, we were taught to "Beg, Borrow, & Steal" any good ideas we came across and use them in our classrooms. Well, I'm constantly using that same principal as I run across great ideas on other blogs.

Last year I fell in love with Make It & Love It's toy storage labeling. It was adorable and so practical. I knew we needed that in this house! Fast forward to present day, we have the Ikea storage units loaded up with Little Man's toys and a Silhouette to make the vinyl labels. Employing on the "Beg, Borrow, & Steal" principal I learned in college, I pretty much copied her project exactly. No need to reinvent the wheel!

Before

During...

After - LOVE IT!

Close-up of the labels

Little Man can easily identify which toys go in each bin by the picture, so clean-up is easy-peasy!

Aside from the cuteness, this is such a perfectly practical set-up for us! The unit is in our basement, so any mess can be contained down there out of sight. However, if we're on the main level we can easily choose one set of toys to bring upstairs. The bin slides right out and we can dump & play in the family room.  Then pick it up and return it downstairs, which helps maintain a bit more order in our main living spaces.

I love when function & form can work together!

Car Organization: Toddler Version

Yesterday I shared my organizing solution for all my stuff that was floating around the car making a big old mess. 

Well, today is all about the little people in your life. I like to keep a small bag in the car to keep Little Man entertained, especially for longer car trips, shopping adventures, or when I know we're going to have to wait (like the doctor's office). I've had this in my car for a while, but it was time to get tidied up and I thought I'd share.

This bag is actually a shower caddy, perfect for a toddler since it's completely washable. I picked up this bag last year at Target when the "back to college" gear was on clearance. 

Here's a closer look...

So, what's inside:

Emergency Essentials

Small Toys

No-Mess Coloring

Thin Books

Activities: Homemade Lacing Card, "Shaker" they made at school (he loves to shake it and yell, "Dance Mommy!"), and a frisbee if we make a stop to burn off some energy

Car Mat I made for our friends from Radiator Springs.

This only comes out when we have to go in somewhere and wait. It rolls up and fits easily in the car bag, his backpack, and sometimes even my purse (depending on how much stuff I'm carrying around!).

This is Little Man's view - easily accessible from his car seat.

There's also a snack size baggie of pretzels tucked away just in case we're ever in dire need of a snack.

Now, my car is all organized - hooray! I'm still wishing someone would come along to vacuum all the crumbs & dirt out of there! :)

Take-a-Long Trains

I've already made a car version for Lightning McQueen and his friends from Radiator Springs, but I see this train version in our future!

How adorable is that?!?! Check out the tutorial at Hippos & Dinosaurs (photo belongs her).

Sometimes, it's the simple things

Sometimes it's the simple things that make life wonderful. I ran across these pictures from this past fall and had to smile. A beautiful fall day, we'd been playing outside and decided to have a picnic. Little Man preferred to take his lunch in his wagon. 

Hilarious. Adorable. Quite practical.

It was messy and took a bit longer than our usual lunch, but it was so worth it.

Our Valentine Celebrations

I'm not really one to go over the top with Valentine's Day celebrations. My hubby and I rarely celebrate the day with gifts, just not our style. Actually, one of my favorite V-day presents he ever gave me was a brand new pair of red Williams-Sonoma oven mitts, something I desperately needed at the time and have used almost everyday since then. Not very romantic, but something I loved! This year we're celebrating with our new appliances (whenever they are delivered).

Anyway, we are celebrating a bit more than usual this year since Little Man is in preschool. His class is having a little party and he is bringing Valentines based on an idea I found (& copied). It's just perfect consider Little Man's love of cars!

We also made hot pink Rice Krispie treats this past week for our Friday playgroup (affectionately called "Brunch Bunch" since the mommies sit around gabbing and eating brunch while the kids play). We had so much fun making them, but he's not the least bit interested in eating them. Oh well!

Just added some red food coloring to the marshmallows and voila! That hot pink melted marshmallow was a sight! 

Finally, I am making Oreo Truffles after falling in love with them this week. My best friend & her daughter included them in a goody bag for Little Man. It was almost a race to see who could eat them faster - he's definitely inherited my love for chocolate! I'm planning to make two batches - one traditional and one made with Mint Oreos. 

They are supposed to be for J's preschool teacher and I'm hoping to have enough left over (after we devour them) to share with our family and hubby's coworkers. We'll see....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Happy Birthday Jesus! Party

Yesterday we had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party for Little Man and two of his little girl friends. Our party consisted of a craft, a game, and cookie decorating while we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus of course! Here are a few fun pictures from the morning

Craft Supplies (our version of this craft)

Ms. Leslie giving instructions about painting

Little Man's finished product...these turned out so cute!

 Next we played "Put Baby Jesus in the Manger", a spin-off of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". I used re-positionable contact paper on my kitchen wall for the manger scene. I used my Silhouette to cut out the angel, star, and bean shape for Baby Jesus (below). I cut the manger free-hand.

Our ultra-quick and not particularly accurate "Baby Jesus" wrapped in swaddling clothes of course.

Ms. Nicole blind folded the girls, who definitely enjoyed playing the game...Little Man just wanted to watch.

Finally, we had snacks and the kids decorated sugar cookies. So fun!

You may have noticed we had birthday plates, napkins, and even balloons. We wanted it to seem like a real birthday party. It was lots of fun and I hope it becomes an annual tradition!