Creamsicles

If you know me then you know that I'm generally not a huge fan of sweets but when I'm pregnant the monster comes out!  I have been craving root beer floats for so long, and today my friends, is the day!  I got to the store and decided I no longer wanted root beer I wanted cream soda (or should I say the baby decided, yes let's blame it on the baby).  I also changed my mind about a float and decided we were going to make popsicles instead. Of course though, with my brain (these days) I grabbed slow churned which turns out to be incredibly soft and addictive but not sure how that would work for a popsicle. So my dream of a float turned popsicle has now turned creamsicle! Yes! Also Max was delighted to make them and since I'm a strict no sweets kind of mom this will be the first time he's tasting a soda, and you would think this is christmas morning. He also rarely gets ice cream and I let him finish the last two bites that wouldn't fit, so that should earn me.... a few hours of "best mom ever"!

Is it just me, or does anyone else love this kids concentration?!

Mouth open definitely helps make sure it all makes it in!

So satisfying to get those lids on, let me tell ya.

So proud!

And here is the kicker!  After dinner they weren't quite done and this guy couldn't wait, so..... he ate his in a bowl! After all that work geeze!

So I replaced the small pop handles with actual popsicle sticks so they would go all the way thru making it easier to pull out and... so awesome!!! Delicious!

More Tub Time

I found these foam circles at the dollar store and found a fun use for them! We made letter and number pizza, or pie, whichever we are in the mood for!  Foam shapes are awesome for crafty crafts but also in the bath tub/shower they stick to the walls so it makes for fun and learning! Since it wasn't tub time yet we played with them at the table first!

Tub Time *Update*

Today we attempted to make bath crayons. Biggs has used all of his and I keep forgetting to pick some up so I thought we could try making some.  It was fun but we have to wait until tomorrow to try them since they have to dry for 24 hours.

If anyone is interested in making some here is what you need: 
1 cup of grated Ivory soap
1/4 cup warm/hot water
Food Coloring
Shapes i.e. cookie cutters, playdoh molds, ice cube tray etc...
Oh, also I got some kool aid out to see if they would color and smell nice but I picked grape and it ended up looking all grey and sad but it did smell delicious, also don't think it will color as nice as the food coloring. However you can add the kool aid to a matching color so that it smells fruity.

Yeah, mixing with two hands is always better than one!

Such concentration.

The recipe was mainly for 1 color but I stretched it to four since my molds were teeny tiny!  Just mix the warm water in with your soap then separate if you are using multiple colors and mix away, then place in the molds. Stick in the freezer for ten minutes, pop them out and let them dry for 24 hrs.  I don't know if they will work yet as we haven't tried them but will update tomorrow at tub time!

Here is what they looked like after the freezer:

Not the prettiest but it was our first try!

Oh and I almost forgot; you need one happy guy!

*Update*

So the crayons colored but they broke apart ;-( next time I will try hotter water and mix it a little more.

Letters D & E

We have been working on letters and finished letter "D" and "E" today. The D was easy we did dots with paint. The "E" had been bugging me since it's hard to think of something that I had laying around the house that we could use, so I woke up and made breakfast and thought "eggs". I washed the shells and dried them and Biggs helped break them up, (funnest part for him) then he glued them on.

Coconuts!

Biggs saw a coconut at the store last week and I thought; "what the heck, lets get it!".  I have had it just sitting there waiting for me and finally decided what to do with it, well part of it.  Here is a picture of Biggs hammering a nail through one of the eyes. I was actually impressed with his hammering skills.

And here he is being goofy!

After we nailed that sucker we drained it and I got 3/4 of a cup out which was impressive and then we hammered that baby till it cracked! Sorry no pictures. I put all my ingredients in the slow cooker and then my curry and my coconut water and right now it smells delicious! Yum! 

Biggs said what!?

Biggs has recently seen the "Wizard of Oz" movie and loves it! The other day I'm sitting in the living room watching t.v. and I heard giant clip clopping steps coming up behind me. Max appears next to me and says; "look mommy, lizard of oz shoes"!

Squishy Bags

So I've seen different types of sensory bags but they are usually bigger or taped to the ground, table, or wall. I wanted a sensory bag to go so Biggs can keep them in his backpack for our outings. These are so fun and educational but still super cheap and easy to make!

Here's what you need:

Hair gel (got mine from the dollar store)
Tape
Plastic freezer bags (you can use sandwich bags but they are thinner and may not hold up after multiple uses)
Food coloring (optional)
Craft supplies (pom poms, googly eyes, stickers, glitter, confetti, sequins, yarn, letters, etc... possibilities are endless)

I just fill the bag a 1/4 of the way with clear hair gel, add a few drops of whatever color you want, and add your goodies. Squeeze out the air, zip it, and tape it on all sides just to be safe! Voila!

There are so many games you can play with these and it really is fun to squish around and keeps kids and adults busy.

Hide & Seek: Push all the items under the tape on all the sides and ask the child/children to find the hidden or a specific hidden object.

Spell it!: If you make a letter one put all the letters or the alphabet plus some and you can find letters to spell words.

Sorting: Sort colors together, numbers, shapes, etc...

Have fun and experiment with different colors and objects in your travel sensory bags!