Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival - Painted Nature

Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival (TTSS) is a weekly carnival to help mamas survive the long summer days. The goal is to share kid-friendly tips so we can end up on the other side of this summer with what little sanity we had when we started.

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Painted Nature:

This weekend we were camping with my parents. As usual, my mom brought along an activity to keep the boys entertained. Paints, brushes and little boxes with handles was all it took for the boys to have their own portable treasure chests which were in time filled with a feather, bark, flowers, rocks, a dreidel and a guitar pick (all treasures found at the camp site).

Once they were done painting their boxes, the boys moved on to some readily available and bountiful objects...rocks.

They both spent quite a bit of time painting rock after rock. And once we got home, they layered on markers and stickers over the paint. Throw on some googly eyes and you've got a pet rock. Logan named his Rocky. (Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of Rocky before he went to bed with Logan.)

(For cheap and easy smocks, buy t-shirts in a size or two too big.)

Here are a couple of other ideas with paint and found nature:
Paint on a leaf or flower and "stamp" it on to a piece of paper.
Paint some bark or an acorn or pinecone.

I will definitely be pulling out the paints again for the boys this summer and encouraging them to paint on some nature. I was surprised at how much time they spent painting the rocks.

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Here's how you can participate in TTSS (and please do):
Grab the code for my button (over there on the left) and write your own post about a kid-friendly idea that might help a mama keep her sanity this summer. (Feel free to include the obligatory cute kid photo!)

Then come back here and add your link to the widget built by my wonderful and geeky talented husband. (Pays to be married to a geek!) Simply add your new (or even an old) post's link to the form below.

Then, most importantly, visit the other blogs that have linked and leave comments, hopefully encouraging them to give us more good ideas next week.

"Not me!" Monday - The day I should have stayed in bed

If I had known how my day was NOT going to turn out, I would have stayed in bed all day...

I did NOT have to negotiate several early morning tantrums from both Jack and Logan.

I did NOT have to sing old Girl Scout camp songs at the top of my lungs to drown out and distract the boys from fighting with each other the whole way to school.

I did NOT tell the preschool director when I dropped the boys off "It's a good thing they are yours for the next three hours because nothing good can come from me spending more time with them right now!"

I did NOT have to come back and pick Jack up from school 10 minutes after I dropped him off because he shouted, "Come on, let's pull his hair!" to his school friends about another (non-student) on the playground.

I did NOT load my kids into the grocery store cart only to realize that I didn't have my grocery list. I did NOT unload them from the cart, load them into the car, go home, get the list and do it all over again.

I did NOT still forget to buy items I needed from the store.

I did NOT spill a tray of cupcake batter in their papers all over the floor.

I did NOT try to bribe Logan to stay out of the kitchen and away from the mess with a TV show.

When I went to turn on the TV, I did NOT find stickers covering it.

I did NOT step in the cupcake batter while being distracted by Logan throwing a tantrum because I was trying to discipline him and Jack for covering the TV in stickers.

I did NOT over fill the remaining cupcake papers so that the cupcakes spilled over and cooked into one enormous muffin top.

I did NOT convince Scott to bring home Taco Bell for dinner because I could not handle the stress of dinner.

I did NOT realize at 10:30 PM that I didn't have any balloons...balloons that I needed to blow up and fill the boys' room with while they slept for Logan's birthday the next morning.

I did NOT drag myself to the store to buy overpriced yet cheaply made balloons that popped way too easy at 10:30 PM.

I did NOT finally go to bed after 1 AM only to be awoken 10 minutes later by one of the boys. (I was so tired that I do NOT not even remember which boy.)

Keep in mind that this did NOT all happen on one day.

Visit MckMama for more "Not me!" Monday posts.

Logan's Birthday Extravaganza!

Logan's birthday was earlier this week. But he started celebrating it almost two weeks ago when we visited the in-laws house for grandparent gifts.

Finally! My own microwave so I can get my hot chocolate whenever I want it!

Logan's actual birthday started out with a room filled with balloons and a special treat for breakfast.

The little prince has breakfast in bed.

Then it was off to school. It wasn't my workday at the boys' school but where else would I be but with my birthday boy? Scott showed up at lunch time which is always such a special treat for the boys.

Robot cupcakes after lunch. (The kids don't usually dress alike but this week school is held at different parks so all the kids and working mamas wear matching shirts.)

The boys on Scott's scooter.

Then after a nap it was time for the gift scavenger hunt. This is a tradition we've started to prolong the unwrapping frenzy. Scott made the boys look around the house for cutout letters that spelled "Logan."

Serving up some play pizza...

Who is that masked avenger?

We had dinner with our good friend Jethro and then just one more robot cupcake.

And then a million giggles as Papa pops the balloons. (Way to rile them up right before bed, Papa!)


And last but not least, this weekend we are headed out camping with my parents. Logan is excited to see them...and for, well, s'mores!

The other side of the camera - Whee!

I'm participating in what I think is a really smart weekly challenge hosted by Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans. It seems like mamas spend an awful lot of time behind the camera. The idea of this challenge is for mamas to get on the other side of the camera in at least one photo a week.

When my boys grow up they'll inherit hundreds of thousands of photos taken from their childhood, but how many of those will show their mama? At least for this year I can answer 52!

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This past weekend we attended a kids' birthday party at an indoor playground. Only this was unlike any indoor playground I had ever seen before...

There were several inflatables but not the little bouncy houses...one with a basketball hoop and a small slide, one with a huge rope swing and one was the monster of all slides...25 feet or more tall of slip sliding bouncy fun.

Logan (on the left) and Jack trying it out first.


This pic of Logan gives you a sense of how tall this slide was.


I couldn't let the boys have all the fun. Jack and I blur by. (About 90% of our pics were blurry (even on the action setting) because the slide was soooooo fast!)


I tried to get the whole family to jump together but Logan would refused to do it with us. (That's him watching us in the bottom left corner.) Scott, Jack and I...notice how I'm dragging them down!


At this point I've given up the pretense of doing this for my kids. Now I'm doing it by myself, for myself.
The four of us went up the ladder and down the slide over and over and over again. I seriously could have done this all day...except that I'm old!

And since Papa is rarely in the pic, I thought I'd include one of him and the boys.

Ta Da!

Don't suppose you've noticed a little something new around here...

In fact I know you've noticed because I've gotten so many compliments on my new blog design. And I'd say 'thank you' except I didn't design or code it. That would be the talented Jessica at This, That & Your Blog.

She was hosting a redesign giveaway on the same day as several other designers. I only entered hers because I loved the clean, fresh looks of her designs.

Jessica was so creative and easy to work with. And she is a steal! I think she only charges $35 for a complete makeover.

So go and book Jessica at This, That & Your Blog before she realizes that she is worth way more than she charges!



Thank you, Jessica!

Once Upon A Time...

One year ago...

Two years ago...

Three years ago...

Once upon a time, a tiny and sweet baby boy was born. And he grew and grew and grew.
I can't believe that it's been 3 years since Logan was born. Where has the time gone?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival - Plastic Bag Paratroopers

Tuesday's Tips for Summer Survival (TTSS) is a weekly carnival to help mamas survive the long summer days. The goal is to share kid-friendly tips so we can end up on the other side of this summer with what little sanity we had when we started.

____________________________________

Plastic Bag Paratroopers:

This is a cheap easy idea that kept my boys entertained four different times for about an hour each time.

Take a plastic shopping bag (this was actually the hardest part as I've switched over to reusable bags!), lay it flat and upside down and cut the handles deeper on the front, back and both sides.

Attach pipe cleaners, garbage bag ties or rubber bands to the now long handles. Attach a figure (i.e., Army man, small plastic doll) to the pipe cleaners, garbage ties or rubber bands. (We used a construction worker and a fireman with pipe cleaners around their waists.)

Fold the bag in half, hold on the the crease and whip it around several times before letting go.

Geronimo!

I got quite the arm workout trying to get these pictures.

Jack and Logan (because they are younger) seemed to get much better results tossing them from the top of a jungle gym (either in our backyard or at the park). They couldn't get enough speed when they tried whipping the parachutes around.

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Here's how you can participate in TTSS (and please do):
Grab the code for my button (over there on the left) and write your own post about a kid-friendly idea that might help a mama keep her sanity this summer. (Feel free to include the obligatory cute kid photo!)

Then come back here and add your link to the widget built by my wonderful and geeky talented husband. (Pays to be married to a geek!) Simply add your new (or even an old) post's link to the form below.

Then, most importantly, visit the other blogs that have linked and leave comments, hopefully encouraging them to give us more good ideas next week.

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One last little really big thing:
I mentioned awhile back that I'd love to do a giveaway to encourage participation in the carnival. Unfortunately, that's not in the cards for me (or you) right now. But I do want to mention an amazing giveaway on SITS (to help promote Fishful Thinking). This would absolutely help save your sanity...they are giving away a full size bouncy house with a few other great gifts. I would kill for a full size bouncy house!