stART ~ Piggins July 31, 2013

 

A couple of weeks ago we invited our friends Rylee, Drew, and Nate over for a Movie Night stART project!  It was a lot of fun!  We first read the book, “Piggins” by Jane Yolen.  This was a little more advanced book.  It is a mystery that is fun to try to figure out.  PIggins is the family butler who works to figure out who has stolen Mrs. Reynard’s diamond necklace during a dinner party.  Will you figure out the mystery before the end of the book?

 

 

For our projects we didn’t make diamond necklaces, like in the book, but candy necklaces!  I found this idea on Pintrest which led me to Blondie and Brownies.  These were a big hit with the kids (even the toddler kids)!

Materials:

Choose any treats that have a hole in them to string on the necklace.

Fruit Loops

Pretzels

Gummy Rings

Lifesaver Gummies

Fudge Stripe Cookies

Baker’s Twine

I decided it would work best to put a few of each treat in a ziplock bag for each child.  I tied the bag with the baker’s twine they would use for their necklace.

Lace the twine with the candy.  When you are done tie the ends of twine together to make a necklace.

Proud kiddos showing off their necklaces!  While they enjoyed their candy necklaces they watched a movie together.

Nate and Bennett had their fill of Fruit Loops, too!

stART ~ Sunday Love July 14, 2013

 

Nothing says summer better than ICE CREAM!  We are ice cream lovers at this house — for sure!  Pretty sure we keep Sonic in business with 1/2 price shakes after 8 pm!  So how appropriate for us to read a book involving ice cream and coordinate that with an ice cream project.  We read the book “Sunday Love” by Alison Paul.  This is “mostly” a wordless picture book.  It tells the story of a burglar who breaks out of jail on Valentine’s Day, but is followed by Cupid.  Can you guess what the burglar falls in love with?  We think the title should have been Sundae Love.

 

Our project had to do with ice cream, but wasn’t actually ice cream….

This idea comes from Rose Bakes.

Materials:

Nutter Butter Cookies

White Almond Bark

Sprinkles

Mini M&Ms

Waxed Paper

Directions:

Lay out sheets of waxed paper to place the cookies on after they are dipped.  Melt the almond bark (or candy melts) as directed on the package.  Dip one-half of each cookie in the almond bark.  Place it on the waxed paper.

Quickly, before the almond bark hardens, sprinkle with candy sprinkles and place a mini M&M at the top (like a cherry).

That’s all there is to it!  Let them sit to let the almond bark harden.

Enjoy that different kind of ice cream!

We decided to deliver cookies to our next door neighbors as a special treat for our special neighbors.  Will took this picture of our neighbor, Shirley!  We also packed up a special bag of cookies for the Grandmas and Grandpas!  It is fun to share with others (I hope that’s what my boys are learning!).

HAPPY SUMMER DAYS!!!

June Tidbits July 10, 2013

June Tidbits!

1.  Our biggest event in June was celebrating our son, Bennett’s, first birthday.  We had a great Very Hungry Caterpillar party with friends and family!  That year sure went fast, but has been wonderful to see the miracle of life and how children can grow from a tiny, helpless baby to toddling little ones with so many developments.

2.  Bennett’s 12 months shot.  This month he learned to crawl up the step at my parents’ house, started eating all sorts of foods, learned how to communicate with words — mainly “cra-kah” (cracker), cruises around the furniture, opens the cupboards, reaches hands up to be picked up.

3.  Here’s a shot of his birthday outfit – Very Hungry Caterpillar onesie and green and white striped leggings.  He was actually a little embarrassed of his leggings, but I thought they were TOO CUTE!

4.  Will earned a trip to Chuck E. Cheeses.  We had the best time as a family there.  This picture is Will and Daddy on a motion ride.  Will really loved this and made Daddy ride on the highest level.  I love their faces in this picture.

5.  Bennett got his first haircut by Grandma Pete.  He actually did pretty well and didn’t cry at all.  He is a wiggly one, so it was a challenge.  He already needs another cut a month later.

6.  Will tackled two big fears all in one night.  First, he went down the tallest/longest slide at the McDonald’s playland when we went to supper.  Second, he went in the inflatables at Kids’ Nite in the Park.  It was hard to drag him and his sweaty head out of both places, but I was so proud of him!

7.  We celebrated Father’s Day with smores and breakfast out.  Will made Chris a paper tie with a poem and a coffee mug.  Daddy got to enjoy some Father’s Day golf time on the driving range as well.  That night Will was off to start a week of VBS at church.

8.  Here is our little busy boy getting into the cupboards for some cra-kuhs!

9.  I was excited to host a baby shower along with my Lunch Club friends for Emily and Annalise.  We are so thrilled for Robert and Emily.  Annalise is such a beautiful little girl and such a joy!  I think Bennett has his eye on her 😉

10.  At the end of the month my Book Club had our annual trip to the lake in Alexandria, Minnesota (big thanks to Jen and her family for having us).  It was a fabulous long weekend of sun, shopping, beverages, food and giggles!  We were sad that two girls couldn’t make it this year.  The weather was perfect!

stART ~ Red, White and Boom July 8, 2013

This last week we coordinated our stART book and project with the 4th of July!  We had a little mishap with getting the book checked out at the library, so we will be reading the book at a later date.  I wanted to give you an idea of a book so here is the book we meant to read (oops!).  The book we hoped to read was “Red, White, and Boom!” by Lee Wardlaw. This book uses poetry to explore how people celebrate the 4th of July all over the country.  How did you celebrate the 4th?

For our project we made this neat 4th of July Noise Maker.  I found this idea on Pintrest.  It was simple, but needed some planning ahead to collect the supplies (or just revisit the recycling bin like I did).

Materials:

Empty tin can

Metal lid that’s small enough to fit inside the can

Twine

4th of July Decorative Paper

Glue

Hammer

Nail

I would suggest using a larger nail than pictured here.  I had to punch more than one hole in my can and lid for the twine to fit through.  A bigger hole would have worked much easier.

Punch a hole (using the hammer and nail) in the bottom of the tin can and top of the small lid.

(Photo of punching the hole by Will)

Using a piece of twine, push one end through the lid and tie it around the outside of the lid.  Next, string the loose end through the hole at the bottom of the tin can (leave a little slack inside the can so the lid will clank).  Make a knot at the hole of the tin can and another knot at the end before cutting off the extra twine.  This part looks like the fuse of a firecracker.  Last, cut your decorative paper to fit the width of the can and enough length to cover the whole can.  Glue the paper and roll it onto the can.  I kept the paper label on the can so the glue would stick better.

Shake the can and hear the noise!  Baby Bennett really liked this noise maker, too!

Here are a few pictures of how my family spent the 4th of July!  Happy Birthday, America!