Lost Tooth

Random Fun Around the House

A bunch of little random things the kids have created over the last couple of months 

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A wallet. I didn't know she made this. She got my glue gun down by herself, cut paper out, and glued them together to make a wallet. 

 My girls love freshly squeezed lemonade and have been begging me for it. So I bought some lemons, cut them in half and set out the juicer. I was surprised to see how much stronger they've become. They juiced everything out of the lemons. I didn't have to help. Proud moment for me. I've been teaching them how to do this since they were 2 and it takes a lot of strength. Ya, my little girls!

 A little boy we know lost his dad just before Christmas time. It was very tragic and sad. We told Mia about it and she made this note for the little boy and gave him $2 of her Christmas money. I took a picture of it because I was proud of her for doing this on her own. "Im a very sorry about you dad."

 Monique had a birthday a couple weeks ago and we brought a huge balloon bag over and surprised her with tons of balloons. (we made her hide in her bedroom while we unloaded them). Love her!

 We made tissue paper valentines with my tutee and her friend.

 My little boy (just turned 3) made these lego airplanes. Impressed with your creativity bud! 

 Thanks Aunt Jen for these yummy cupcake treats for valentines day!

 Glitter mask and sword.

 Valentines that my little 4-year-old made. "Hadley, Gracie, Owen, Mia, Ashley (Q=Sh because she didn't know what letter made the "sh" sound. SO CUTE), Alliyah (ULEU)

 Okay this was funny. What you don't see in this picture is that the huge snow cave daddy built was in front of them. They are all sitting back eating icicles and pretending that they are at the movie theater watching a movie on the ice cave "big screen."  Funny kids.

 I went upstairs to see them reading a book to each other. Had to capture that cute moment.

 Train. They had blue painters tape on the carpet as a track and pipe cleaners poked into the boxes and tied to put the "train cars" together. They did this all themselves and I remember by the end there was drama.

My dad's carrot from his garden. Pretty funny. 

 Love making tents!!

Making Books

My girls love making books. I bought two big boxes filled with several reams of paper a couple years ago and once they discovered the joy of paper, that paper has flown off the shelf. I have 1/2 ream left, hidden I might add until I buy some more, and every day they beg for paper. My youngest daughter gets this smile on her face, and tilts her head to the side slightly. I know exactly the question she's going to ask. "Mom, can I please have a piece of paper, just 1." I say, just 1. Not 2. Just 1. "Okay mom." Inevitably, as soon as that one's used up, she comes back to ask again. And I'm a sucker I tell ya. A sucker for creativity. 

Last year I started making the kids simple books. I would sew down the middle of sheets of white paper with a piece of construction paper as the cover. I made all sorts of sizes, because I knew size options would be a hit with my kids. I made teeny ones and bigger ones, I made several to give away to their friends too. They ran out of those books and discovered they could make them themselves. Almost every day. 

They cut out paper to the size they want and staple away. I think it's pretty cute to watch my youngest daughter (4) cut the paper into book pages. She's getting good at it and in the beginning I loved seeing all of the rickety edges and not quite the same size sheets for her story...uneven pages. But now they are pretty darn precise.  

 And the stapler. Oh that darn stapler. Mommy has to run to the rescue often to help with the stapler. My boy likes to fold paper into little tiny hunks and staple the heck out of it. The stapler ends up jammed a lot because of it. Oh well, staple away little boy. He's not into art as much as his sisters, so I'll take hunks of papers filled with staples and be proud!

And oh the messes they create. They get scissors in their hands (especially my youngest daughter) and they like to cut the piece of paper into teeny tiny little pieces. I have no idea what she is trying to create with them. Sometimes she'll even draw teeny circles and other shapes and practice cutting them out. It's amazing to watch her concentration, but oh the mess. Again...sucker for creativity.

 My oldest really gets into drawing out her stories. She does this everyday and if her teachers would let her, she'd likely do it all day at school. But I'd rather her not make books about Batman all day at school, thank you very much.

I listened intently as she read me her whole story and pointed to all of the intricate pictures. But this was a few days ago and now I don't remember any of it. Bummer. Sorry little sweetie. You have such a great memory though, I bet you'll remember in 15 years what it was that you drew.

And this part was a riveting spot in her story, clearly by the fist in the air.  I'm sure some good guy saved the day.

Bubble Numbers by a 4 year old

All in A Day's Work

Play Time

My oldest gets home from Kindergarten at noon, eats lunch, reluctantly completes her reading and her chores and then it's on to her PROJECTS!! 

This little girls brain is always spinning with ideas, ideas, ideas. She comes home from school and ALWAYS wants to make something, or has some big idea of something fun she wants to pretend. She is a creator, an inventor. She is Super!

Give her a box and 100% of the time she will make something with it. A good recyclable is all she needs to be happy. "Don't throw that away dad, I want to use it for a project." Jon just laughs, because he knows she gets it from me. Don't get me wrong, I still throw most everything away because I hate clutter but it's hard I tell ya. I can't help but think of the new life I could breathe into it. So many uses for a diaper box, an old spaghetti jar, a cereal box.

She has projects everyday. And I have a love/no-love relationship with it all. At times it drives me nuts! It is hard. I can't keep up with her project demands and needs. 4 children 5 and under keeps me on my toes and I don't have time to sew her "wallet" that she just cut and made right then or cut her box right that second. But if I don't she will just do it without me, which can be dangerous at times. So I try! I try because it is her passion and I love watching her mind work. I love seeing what she creates and most of all I love how much she enjoys the process of creating. It's important to me that she loves what she is doing along the way and not just the completed project.  

  She is the leader of the pack and can come up with pretend ideas all day every day. And I love when it involves this pretty princess, brave knight and a fierce dragon (my 3 year old little boy).

And the day isn't over yet.  It's off to the outdoors where she played outside for hours by herself creating this ice fortress on top of the huge mountain of snow daddy built for them. 

And don't be deceived. There is a big dragon buried under the snow, getting ready to light everything on fire. She had all sort of characters hiding throughout this snow village.  I was just WAY too cold to take pictures of it all. 

 Oh what fun a day of play will bring. I love you sweet girl.

Fashion Design at Age 4

My 4-year-old daughter came up with this idea--earrings and patches. She drew her earrings, cut them out, and then made double sided sticky tape by taking 2 pieces of masking tape and gluing the tops together. Genius! 

 She even made packaging with unique artwork on the cover and an easy flap for quick access to the designer earrings.  She made a green pair for herself and a blue pair for her best friend.

 She even included her little brother in the production.

And then look at these patches adorning their shirts.  Obsessed. They were obsessed this day with making their patches. I think it comes with the territory--their daddy is currently scout master.