February 18: Heart-y Animals

Still in the spirit of Valentine's Day week, I chose to do a craft involving hearts today.  About.com had a suggestion called "Heart-y Animals" where you could make a number of different animals out of various heart shapes.  Ty was looking over my shoulder and was really excited about making the elephant he saw, so that's what we did!  He didn't really care that we were using hearts to create our new friend, he just liked the elephant.  Ty chose green paper for his, and declared that his elephant must have googly eyes! 

It was a bit tricky for me just free-hand cutting out the hearts, but they turned out OK I think.  I was fortunate that I had a small heart punch so I could quickly and easily cut out all the little hearts used for the trunk.  While it turned out pretty cute, and Ty was thrilled with it, I was disappointed because it turned out to be a mostly-mommy project.  Ty did help me glue things down, but if I had really thought about it before starting, I would have realized he wasn't going to be able to do much of this craft by himself. 

February 11: (Not So) Absorbing Artwork



Squirting colored water on the lines of glue and salt.



Family Fun is one of my favorite magazines to look through for ideas of projects to do with the kids.  The last one I decided to try was entitled "Absorbing Artwork," but it just didn't work very well.  Part of it might have been that I couldn't find and eyedropper around the house so we used an extra bulb syringe which would have allowed more water with each squirt.  It also may have turned out better if we'd used a random design of glue rather than a more structured picture of a house that Ty wanted.

Ty got more into things after the project was finished and we began mixing the colored water to create new colors.  His grand finale was combining all the colors into black! He was quite proud of his water! 

In case you'd like to attempt this project in hopes of better results...here are the instructions.  ("Absorbing Artwork" was from the November issue of Family Fun on page 108.)


Ty added more salt after he was finished painting
with the water...not in the instructions, but fun!



You will need:

-card stock

-rimmed baking sheet

-white glue

-salt

-colored water (food coloring added to change colors)



-eyedropper

Step 1:  Set the card stock on the baking sheet (we taped ours to the sheet) and have your child use the glue to draw a design on the paper.

Step 2:  Sprinkle the wet glue with salt until it's completely covered, then tap off any excess.

Step 3:  Have your child use the eyedropper to drip colored water, on drop at a time, onto the salt.  As the salt absorbs the liquid, the water will move along the glue lines, resulting in a wonderful web of color.  Be sure to watch what happens when the color reaches intersection lines.

Brielle sat and watched the whole process....
I thought this was a beautiful picture of her
so decided to share it here!

February 10: For the Kidz

Today began a six-week class for the boys at For the Kidz, a local gymnastics outfit.  They both love to run, jump, "stand" upside down, and do somersaults, so I thought a gymnastics class would be a wonderful thing for them!  I'm so thankful For the Kidz has a class for 3, 4, and 5-year olds so Koen and Tysen can be in class together.  There are 4 girls in their class as well, two sets of sisters. 

I knew it might be an interesting class for Tysen who's never had any kind of school/class setting with a teacher (swimming lessons don't count since it's a parent-child class).  I was hoping Koen would be able to shepherd Ty along, but Koen was just too focused on what he was doing to worry about his little brother.  Their teacher, Mr. Randy, worked really well with a wandering Ty.  Both boys tried everything Mr. Randy asked them to do...even though I guess Ty was shaking with fear a few times.  But no tears!!! 

I was able to watch most of the class through the windows dividing the reception area and the gym.  They make it a very comfortable place for parents to sit and wait with toys for little ones, vending machines with snacks, and magazines to browse.  Or you can just sit and watch.

Koen wasn't sure about going at first, and still maintains he didn't like it, but the way he talked about it afterward let me know otherwise.  Both boys loved the trampolines!  There was a nice variety of things they got to try, and I can't wait to see them grow in this area!  It was fun to see them show Seth a few of the things they'd done in class once Seth arrived home from school!

I had hoped that a class like this would have helped Koen and Tysen burn up some of their never-ending energy, but I believe the class multiplied it!  They were so ramped up all day...running and jumping on everything!  This plan may have backfired in that regard! :)

I forgot my camera on this trip, and doubt I'll be able to take pictures during class, but maybe I can snap a few after class sometime to share some of the fun things at For the Kidz.

February 7: Almond Bars

This is one of our family's favorite treats...I can't believe I haven't posted it before!!!  Easy, quick, and tasty!  Ty and I whipped these up at the suggestion of Seth.  Ty's favorite part?  As usual, licking the beaters!

Almond Bars
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp almond extract
1 cup melted butter
4 eggs
pinch  of salt
Sprinkle sugar (and slivered almonds if desired) on top before baking.

Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  It's a simple as that!

February 4: Koen's Project

Ty cut a bunch of paper slits while Koen glues his person together.

I really was prepared to do a project with the boys on this third snow day, but Koen stepped up and wanted to introduce his idea for a project.  I think it's wonderful that the boy who used to never want to do projects now comes up with his own ideas!  He said he hadn't made it before in school, he just came up with the idea on his own (though later it come out that he'd made an Indian in school using a similar strategy).  Koen specifically asked for different colored paper and had in mind the shapes he wanted to work with.  He told me I would know who he was making when he was finished...do you know who it is?

IT'S JESUS!!!

February 3: SNOW DAY with Isaac!

We had plans for a special activity today, but the weather made us put them on hold for another week.  Fortunately, our cousin Isaac (along with Auntie Lindsey) was able to come play for a little while in the afternoon...the boys could hardly contain themselves until Isaac arrived late in the afternoon.  It always surprises me that as excited as the boys are to play with someone, they're more than content to play alongside them rather than with them when the time actually comes.  Maybe it's an age thing!?!  No matter, it's always great to spend time with family!!!

February 2: Games and Gummi Candy

Today is a snow day over here so both Seth and Koen are home from school!  As the snow and wind swirl outside, the boys and Seth played tag, duck-duck-goose, and some racing PlayStation games.  The boys love their time with their Daddy and their Daddy loves spending time with his boys! 

Koen spotted the candy molds last night and asked to make more gummi candy...a perfect snow-day activity.  We first made this recipe last June and ended up with more than enough grape gummi candies (see post from June 29).  Today, I decided to make a half-recipe using the lemon jello we had in the house.  I didn't get a chance to link to grkids.com where I first saw it (now I can't find it there) or post the recipe last time so I'll include that with this entry.

Gummi Candy
Ingredients:
6 pouches of Knox gelatin
2 boxes (same flavor) of 3 oz. Jello (not sugar free!) 
2/3 cup PLUS half of a 1/3 cup of water

Equipment:
A medium Pyrex measuring cup...ideally with a pour spout  -- be sure it's glass!
A pot large enough to fit the Pyrex cup
Candy Molds (We got our set at Michaels)

Measure the water and pour it into the Pyrex cup.


Stir, stir, stir!



SLOWLY add all the Knox and Jello stirring the mixture thoroughly.  Cover the Pyrex cup and let it set for 10 minutes.  While you're waiting, put some water in the pot and start heating it.  It should be almost boiling when the 10 minutes is up.  Your mixture should look a little gritty.

Carefully place the Pyrex cup into the pot of boiling water.  Stir frequently.  You want to MELT the mixture, NOT boil it!  Constant stirring will help keep it from boiling.   



When the melting is done, it will be totally liquid...thinner than the original mixture, but not watery.  You may get a little foam on the top and that's OK. 

Are they ready to eat yet?

When you're finished melting the mixture, have your molds laid out on the counter and pour the mixture in.  No need to grease the molds, the candy comes out easily.  This is when the Pyrex pouring spout really comes in handy!  Be sure you have a number of molds ready as this mixture makes A TON of candy!!!  (That's why we made a half batch this time.)

Place the filled trays in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to help the candy set (we needed to do this in the summer, not in the winter with a cooler temp in the house).  Pull the candy out of the trays and enjoy!  Store in an air tight container in the fridge.