Family Fun (Plants)

  I don't know if spring is only here because the calendar said so or not.  By the way the weather is acting it's definitely not a confirmation.  I heard today on the new Punxsutawney is wanted.

  Apparently people are fed up with the lies!   With a few more days of a threat of snow this weekend I have decided to start pretending spring was here with a little bit of planting.

  If spring won't come to us we will do it our ourselves.

Some of my perennials are coming up so I know winter is almost over.  This pot has some Hostas.

 I will clean it out after the snow is gone.  Until then I will keep the debris for extra warmth.

  We planted a variety of flowers.

So now we will sit and watch them grow! 

Next we will maybe plant some veggies!  I did plant some parsley for the butterflies and found some milkweed I'll need to plant as well.

  Have you started planting flowers?  Do you plant flowers or buy them. I will buy a few plants as I can't grow everything and I like all the colors.

Family Fun (pottery)

  I received a gift certificate last year to PottsnPaints and decided to share it with my kids.  This was the first time I had ever painted anything and of course it was a first for my kids too.

  We looked at all the shelves to decide which item(s) we were going to paint!

We looked in the clearance section.  

They of course have a big holiday assortment. Halloween, Christmas etc.

How about some dishes?

Everyone choose their items.

Then we were introduced to the color options.

It was so neat to see all the colors.  My kids couldn't wait to select their colors.  They had such an organized system.  Everything was numbered and easy to locate.

Our colors were chosen and it was ready to get busy!

My daughter selected an owl to paint.

My son selected a spider web to paint.

After we were done I tried to explain the process to them after wards.

We left them to be glazed and returned a few weeks later to pick them up.

My kids were so happy first off to see their pieces but they really loved them when they saw how shiny the pieces were.

My son made sure to make his as colorful as he could!

My daughter worked very hard on her details!

I think we had a great day together and we have physical pieces to go with the mementos this time around! 

I hope we do this activity again sometime.  We could make gifts for others, ornaments for the tree or anything.

Find time for your family this weekend and do something special!

Let's Play Ball!

  Summer is almost here and so are all the summer camp options.  My kids have not played any sports yet for teams and I'm  OK with that.  They are little and as much as I like watching little kids play, I just haven't committed myself to shuttling 2 kids to various activities.


  I am about to taking advantage of the best of both worlds.  A weekly soccer camp that I only need to shuttle to once with both of my kids!

  Plus being elementary school age I think they are old enough to listen, pay attention and follow directions and this week long camp will reinforce the fundamentals on a daily basis. 

  These British Soccer Camps offer camps all over North America and their curriculum makes them the most popular.

Check for a location near you here!

 They aim to teach the kids, increase confidence and enforce proper character development.  I love the sounds of this because I don't just want them to learn to play.  I want a full circle experience.  Kids need to learn how to play, how to win or lose and how to conduct themselves.

  Register for this great opportunity now and receive a FREE British Soccer Game jersey with code BSC18.

Family Fun (free day)

  Family fun can happen anywhere.  It just has to be 1) an activity or event be done with 2) family.

  Even a day out can be all about the family.  I checked out and planned my day for the kids today.  Free is always a nice thing so I definitely utilized that as my entertainment today!

  Today we started out with our favorite once a month activity!

The kids workshop at Homedepot!  The project was a periscope.  I will admit I had to remove a few nails with this project.  Precise nailing was most important today.

  After that we made our way to Target!  Did you know they were celebrating Dr. Suess at some locations?  Lucky for us, our location was one of them.

The kids received some fun activity sheets, sat in some very comfy chairs and heard the story Green Eggs and Ham.

 After this a small walk to celebrate 30 years was our next destination.

Happy Birthday AuntieAnnes! We enjoyed celebrating with you!

I not going to ask what the favorite activity of the day was because all I want to hear is spending time together and that may or may not be the answer.  

Either way everyone got out of the house, created, ate and even got a dose of enrichment, and imagination from the Dr.  I would say it was a good day.  Bring on Sunday because it is the day of rest and relax.

STEM in Session

What is STEM?

Science
Technology
Engineering
Mathematics


  STEM is a learning with a concentration in these four areas.  It's a program used in all areas and levels of education.  My kids because they are younger enjoy this program at their library.

  The STEM program at the library starts out with a book that will give a preview of what will be learned that day.

The kids were able to experience snow, cold and winter in this STEM event.

We measured each other with mittens.

Made igloos or snow castles out of foam blocks and shaving cream.

A sensory bin is always present.  It's a big hit with my kids.

I like the endless possibilities that can be used in a sensory bin! This one used rice and had a scale for the kids to play with.

The science of ice and salt impressed my son.

His expression is priceless!  

Do your kids like Science or Math?  Do you enhance their love or learning of either?

Family Fun (nails)

  I have showed you how staying home can be just as fun as going out when it comes to hanging out with my kids.  This Friday was another day at home.

  Nail party!  Now granted I try very hard to discourage my son from getting his nails done.  He usually gets a smiley.  This week he was an active painter.

Per his request to use yet another of my birthday presents I received; I accepted his offer to paint my toes.

He selected my colors which involved alternating colors on each toe.  

He took his job very seriously and painted each toe with precision.  He showed great patience and dedication. 

I then painted my daughters feet!

She selected purple and gold.  She always likes alternating colors.

Finally I finished my hands! After all the time it takes to paint nails or have them painted requires a lot sitting still so I was on my hand to finish up.

Pink and gold for me!  

One thing I noticed from this activity was the attention to detail.  The television was on but my son didn't pay attention to it. He was doing something he wanted to do and nothing else mattered.

Such a fun evening at home!  How was you evening with your family or kids?

Family Fun (outside play)

  A day outside with the right toys can bring smiles and fun for everyone.

It's not about who's winning.


It's about fresh air.

Stretched legs.


Off the couch.

Television and electronics off.

Hand eye coordination refined and little minds challenged.

  I get the privilege to of playing with one child then the other. Alternating between the kids and their chosen activity.

  Mom blow bubbles with me. Mom catch the frisbee. Mom throw the ball.

Trying to hold on to these moments. Savor the memories because they won't always want to play with me but, until then I will!

Friday Fun

  Another toy of my youth was Lincoln Logs.  There's something about these logs that are very entertaining. Endless opportunities to build.

  The easiest thing I have found for construction of a log home is to get the pieces assorted.

  I will admit that there was initially a fight to grab all the big pieces because that's a requirement for a house but surprisingly one child took off in a different creative spin.

A rocket was made!

Then all of a sudden I had a parking lot full of cars.    My imagination as a child never went to these two creative spots.

 Let's decide what is going to be built and get building!

The foundation needs to be laid down.

Keep in mind where your property is going to be because you can't move the structure very easily once it's built.

More then one house can be built and located anywhere.  This one was not built under a table it was on a hill under the trees. 

Every town needs a store!

Now I have had these toys since childhood and they have survived.  The kids love when I pull them out because it's a new toy to them and it's fun to build.  Its neat to watch them figure out where to put pieces.  They haven't seen a real log cabin home in person that would be a fun family trip! After that experience they may ask for more logs to build more variations.

Were Lincoln Logs in your home? I think I even seem them in the store so that's nice that they are still selling them!