Stuff my kid says #9

After a afternoon of playing outside, I put my hair up when we came in. I also put a head band in. After about an hour, Logan starts crying for what seems like no reason. I ask him what's wrong and he says, "I don't like that rubber band in your hair. You look too yucky."

It's MAIL TIME!

It has rained here. Non-stop. For seven days. We barely left the house. We tried to play briefly outside, but it was also thundering and lightening much of the time. So we were left to our own devices. And those devices found two Pampers boxes. We reassembled what we could, and then promptly turned them into a mailbox. The husband, Logan, and I painted the mailbox. And the husband used an exacto knife to cut through the cardboard for the door to the mailbox.

There was a little slot left in the top to slip letters and mail in. If I was ever redo this activity, I would reverse the flaps on top. But one side was ripped, so I had no choice.

The back slot was cut so the "mailman" can collect the mail and deliver it. We decided to make the back a little more colorful. So far it has been getting lots of use to hold blocks and the numbers from his floor mat. Over the next couple of days I'm going to add more mail related stuff, such as envelopes, stickers for stamps, and some junk mail (which we always seem to have plenty of).

Have you ever had a mail center? What have you created with a cardboard  box? I'm always interested in other ideas!

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Puffy Paint

The other day I was over at A Pocketful of Posies blog and I saw that she had made her very own puffy paint. The words puffy paint conjure up images of a grade school version of me decorating t-shirts. I only used neon colors, because my motto at the time was the brighter the better. I knew I had to make this paint with Logan. I should have put something down before starting this project. That was my nice way of warning you that my dining room table is really messy in the following pictures. But I believe that messiness is usually part of the fun.

All our supplies and one eager little boy

The recipe itself is pretty simple. Just add one tablespoon each of flour, salt, and water to each container. Logan did this four times since we made four colors. Next I added a couple of drops of food coloring to each container.

The little guy stirred the colors up.

And then I let him create his masterpieces. I used the back of a cereal box. The paint is thick so I don't know how well it would work with thinner paper.

Once he was finished, we moved the piece of paper to the microwave. We microwaved in 15 second intervals. Most of our pictures only needed 15 seconds. Once hardened and cooled, Logan had a lot of fun feeling his paintings. He declared them, "my bumpy paintings" and immediately hung them on the refrigerator.

Of course, I had to join in on the fun. I created one with his name. This activity would have been fantastic for when I was teaching special education. I think this would be a great way to incorporate a multi-sensory approach to practicing some of those commonly misspelled sight words for older kids.

Have you ever made puffy paint? If not, I definitely recommend giving it a try! 

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It's Playtime

Wordless Wednesday

A friend is a wonderful thing

One of my close friends was pregnant the same time as me. Her gorgeous daughter was born almost exactly a month before Logan. Ever since they have been babies, we have gotten them together whenever we could. Last week they had another play date. It was a play date for the mommies as well.

Waiting patiently to head outside



There is no secret. These two adore each other. 

Logan handing her some flowers he picked for her



There is something very special about a childhood friend. Logan is very lucky to have a friend who has a kind and loving heart. She is just like her mama.

I hope they always stay friends. A shared history is something that is irreplaceable.

Outside Playtime (May 13 -May 19)

This week the weather was beautiful. We have been spending a lot of time outdoors as a result. One of Logan's most favorite things to do is play on our swing set. He spends as great deal of time swinging and sliding down the slide head first. A daredevil, this little boy is.

And he likes to help water the plants. (This is before we did any sort of gardening this spring). His shirt was off because he thought it was funny to "accidentally" spray himself with the hose. It was an unseasonably hot day, so we let him go shirtless.

Another favorite activity is using chalk to draw and color. There is something so cheery about seeing his colorful little drawings all over the sidewalk. He often asks me to draw pictures too. Unfortunately I do not have a talent for drawing, so most things end up looking like stick figures, bears, and sometimes cats.

Coloring in the planets on our solar system

Being true to the nature of a boy, he loves to climb. And climb. And climb. And then sometimes he will try to jump off. Well most times, he tries to jump off, but usually it is into my arms.

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Bird seed treats

Logan had a play date with his favorite friend the other day. We went for a long walk and were able to enjoy nature, pick lots of flowers, and take lots of pictures. You know, so we have lots of pictures for their future wedding slide show. (Just kidding, of course). Logan and his little friend found lots of pine cones and we brought some home with us. He asked to make bird treats with some of them. We gathered up our materials and headed outside. First I tied string to them, and then we covered them with peanut butter.

Next I let my little nature lover spoon and roll birdseed all over the pine cones.

They are now hanging on our back stairway so we can watch our feathered friends, and the occasional squirrel, come to visit.

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