October 6: Ty Plans the Project

I had a project planned for today, but Ty declared that he was going to paint a dinosaur today.  Far be it from me to get in the way of his creativity, so "dinosaurs" it was!  He probably spent more time painting his pictures than he would have on my suggested project, and I'm sure he enjoyed it more since it was his idea!

Dino #1

Dino #2

October 4: Oatmeal Butterscotch Muffins

Another muffin recipe attempt:  Seth really liked them; Koen ate one, said he liked it, and then wouldn't eat any more; Ty refused to try them, and Brielle seemed to enjoy them...maybe because she was the only one who helped to make them!  Like most oatmeal muffins, these did begin to get crumbly after the first day or two.  We stored them on the counter, so maybe the refrigerator would've worked better in helping these last longer. 

Oatmeal Butterscotch Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups quick oats
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup butterscotch chips

1. Mix all together in a large bowl.
2. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.

Recipe taken from http://www.sarahsdeals.net/search/label/Recipes

October 3: Brielle's First Gymnastic's Class

For the past few weeks we've gone to For the Kidz gymnastics class for Tysen.  Well, Brielle has been eager to get in on the action.  You may remember that I brought the kids to an open gym at For the Kidz before re-enrolling Ty in class.  Since then, Brielle has wanted to go out to play each time we've gone in to Ty's class.  There was a parent-child class that met at 9am and Ty could switch to Mr. Randy's 9am class, so we decided to give it a try. 

The first day went pretty well.  It's a little tricky to get a 19 month to listen to a teacher to do exactly what's planned for the class, but overall, the experience was really good for her.  Ty had a difficult time focusing on his class with Brielle and Mom in the same room, so we'll have to see how he does in the future.  I grabbed the video camera for her first day, but most of the activities involved me, too, so I didn't get anything to post here.  It's a shame, really, she was so cute running around and bouncing on the trampolines.

October 2: "A" Verse

For some time, I've been feeling led to be more intentional about memorizing Bible verses and getting the kids involved.  I decided that each Sunday we were going to introduce a new Bible verse, using the alphabet as a guide.  While researching online, I found a few lists others have used, so starting with those and changing some to ones that are near and dear to my heart, I came up with our list. 

Why do this?

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  Deuteronomy 6:5-7

So today after lunch I introduced our "A" verse:  "A friend loves at all times..." Proverbs 17:17

I wondered how difficult it was going to be for the boys to remember a verse, but I shouldn't have worried.  Monday afternoon, Tysen looks up from his trains and says, "Hey Mom, 'A friend loves at all times...' and then he smiled and went back to his playing.  WOW!  He was the one reluctant to say it after lunch on Sunday, but he got it!  Why have I waited so long to introduce this?!?

I'm trying to get them to remember where the verse is found in the Bible, but that's proved to be a bit trickier.  Koen always says "17:17" after the verse, omitting "Proverbs" and Ty just forgets it completely.  We'll talk about it each week, but I can't promise they'll remember it. 

October 1: Caramel Apples

Unwrapping (and eating) the caramels.

I hadn't made caramel apples in years!  I thought the kids might really enjoy the process and the taste.  After finding a crock-pot "recipe" for the caramel, the kids (including Brielle!) unwrapped 2 bags of caramels, ate a few, and tossed the rest in the crock pot with a 2 tablespoons of water to melt for a few hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes.  I punched some popsicle sticks into the bottom of some apples and let the kids start dipping.  Since it was Saturday, Seth was home and got in on the fun, too!  Unfortunately, despite repeated warnings, Koen got a little of the hot caramel on his hand and was done before he really started.  Be careful with hot caramel!  We let the apples rest on parchment paper and should have left them there.  I moved them to a plastic container, but then we had to wrestle them to unstick them from the plastic.  Don't make the same mistake!

Surprisingly, none of the kids really got too excited about eating the caramel apples.  We did end up slicing them to make it easier for the kids to eat, but they didn't like how chewy and sticky the caramel was.  We ended up sharing most of them with friends, and Seth was able to enjoy the rest on his own. 

Carefully unwrapping...

Dip and roll.



The finished product.



September 29: Paper Strip Pumpkin

The fall season is here!  It's time to think leaves, apples, and pumpkins!  I saw this cute idea on allkidsnetwork.com.  To duplicate this craft, you'll need an empty toilet paper roll, orange and green construction paper, glue, tape, and a scissors. 

First, cut the toilet paper roll to half its height.  Cut a strip or orange paper and glue it around the tube.  Then cut 8 orange strips about 1 inch wide.  I was so proud of Ty;  he cut all the strips himself!  He's been resisting using a scissors and I haven't pushed him, but he did a fantastic job cutting these strips while I held the paper for him.  We're making progress! :) 

Tape one side of one strip inside the toilet paper tube at the 12 o'clock position, repeating at the 3, 6, and 9 positions.  Tape the next four strips inside the tube inbetween these first four.  Now tape the ends on the inside of the toilet paper tube on the other end.  Once all the strips are taped in place, cut a leaf out of the construction paper and tape it in the middle of the tube.  (I'm sure the website explains this whole process  much more clearly!) :) 

When the pumpkin was complete, Ty decided he wasn't quite finished with project time yet.  He pulled out the bag of puff balls and created his colorful lamb (below).  He was so careful in placing each puff ball and so proud of his finished project!

September 28: I Love Library Day!

Each week, Ty and Koen look at books for l-o-n-g periods of time after getting a new batch of library books. 
I LOVE that they are so enthusiastic about reading!!!

September 27: S'more Bars

This is a family favorite on the Smits side of the family.  If we're together, there's bound to be a batch of S'more bars in the vicinity!  :)  And to be honest, these are better than S'mores!

S'more Bars

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 12 oz. package of chocolate chips
• 13 oz. marshmallow creme

1. Combine first 7 ingredients.
2. Spread half of the mixture in a 9x13 pan.
3. Spread marshmallow creme over dough.
4. Sprinkle chocolate chips over marshmallow creme.
5. Crumble remaining dough over the chocolate.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

September 24: ArtPrize

This is the third year Grand Rapids, MI has been home to ArtPrize, and I'm embarrassed to admit that this is only the first year we made it to the event.  We were downtown about two hours one on a Saturday afternoon and saw only a handful of entries.  I wish we could have gone back for more, but between schedules, naps, and weather, we just didn't get back. 

Like anything, it would have been a completely different experience if we hadn't taken the kids with us, but what an amazing opportunity for them!  Grkids.com had posted a "Kid-friendly" ArtPrize walk, highlighting some of the entries kids might enjoy seeing.  This was SO helpful, even if we didn't get to see all of the ones on the list!  It was too bad that by the end of our time downtown a rainstorm had settled on the city, but we didn't get too wet as we returned to the van.  Here are a number of the pieces we saw on our ArtPrize outing:

One of the top 10!

Another top 10 entry!  (The guy on the right is the statue...the other two are real!)





The eye was designed from different color BBs.

A friend from our church is the artist of this piece.  He's on the left and his son is on the right. 

Juice box break!

September 23: Weigh In!

I found this fabulously simple idea in The Preschooler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner.  I pulled the bathroom scale downstairs for Ty and Brielle.  They love standing on it and watching the number pop up.  Tysen weighed 38.8 lbs. and Brielle was 23.2 lbs.  We talked about that Ty's number was bigger because he's a bigger boy that Brielle and that makes him heavier. 

The idea from the book was to find items around the house to weigh and figure out what weighed more, less, or the same as the kids.  Ty just wanted to weigh his favorite toys, though, and none of them are even close to his weight.  Nor were they heavy enough register on the bathroom scale.  Fortunately, I have a kitchen scale, so I pulled that out and Ty was unbelievably excited to weigh all of his favorite things.  We tried to line them up lightest to heaviest, but many of them weighed the same.  I did ask Tysen a bunch of questions as we were playing around with the scale: 

• Why did Ferdinand weigh more than Thomas (Ferdinand has a tender!)
• Before we weigh Sally and Mater, hold them in your hands and guess who will be heavier (Mater because he's bigger!)
• Will Bash and Dash weigh the same? (Yes!  They're twin trains.). 

He created his own hypothesis when he brought Cranky the Crane to the scale and said, "Maybe Cranky is the heaviest!"  (He was right!)  When he placed 3 Bob the Builder machines on the scale at the same time he said, "Three are the betterest!" (meaning heaviest). 

He weighed toys for over 30 minutes!  We'll have to do this again someday...maybe we can branch out from die-cast toys and compare books, tools, and other household items.

The lineup:  lightest to heaviest.



September 22: MOPS

I decided to join a MOPS (Mothers of Preschool Students) this year.  Today was the first meeting, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.  I suppose it's like any group that you join...it can be difficult to break into a group of women who know each other well. 

Ty was thrilled to be in a class with our neighbor girl, Sadie!  I like that he has a class of sorts...singing, Bible stories, crafts, etc.  Brielle gets to hang out in the nursery with the other toddlers. 

We meet every other week, so we'll see how it goes in the future. 

September 26: Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

(I realize this is out of order...I'm not sure how I missed this one!  I have no idea how to insert it sequentially, so it'll have to be here.)

Not too long ago we tried Almond Poppy Seed Muffins, but for this bread we went with the lemon flavor.  I think the kids actually liked it better, but I'm not sure they'd admit to that as the LOVE anything almond!

Poppy Seed Bread

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 package instant pudding (either lemon or coconut)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil (I use Light Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 Tbs. poppy seeds

1. Beat all ingredients together for three minutes with a mixer.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Makes 2 loaf pans.

September 20: Blueberry Crunch Cake

We made another batch of almond bars this week, but Ty and I made this coffee cake for my niece Evelyn's baptism celebration this past weekend; I thought I'd share this recipe instead.  Incidentally, Ty promised he would try a piece since he was helping to make it, but for some reason, none of my kids think they like blueberries and in the end, Ty wouldn't try it!

Blueberry Crunch Cake

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 pint blueberries

1. Beat egg whites until fluffy and stiff.  Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar.
3. Add in the egg yolks.
4. Sift the flour with the other dry ingredients.
5. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the buttermilk.
6. Add the extracts.
7. Fold in the egg whites.
8. Fold in the blueberries.
9. Spread in a greased 10x15 pan.

Topping

• 1/4 stick butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut (we left this out since most people in our family don't care for coconut)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Mix topping by hand and sprinkle on top of the coffee cake.
2. Bake cake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Just an FYI-I've also made this in 2 loaf pans.  Just as tasty, but as in the coffee cake, the blueberries did sink to the bottom. 

September 17: Chicago Visit!

My niece, Evelyn, was going to be baptized in Chicago on Sunday, so we invited ourselves over to Uncle Steve and Aunt Lori's house a day early!   With three kids, it's best to do a road trip to Chicago in more than one day. :)

We arrived Saturday afternoon with the neighborhood block party just gearing up!  This year, they had a police cruiser and a fire truck parked on the street, so our kids got a close up look at the vehicles.  They policeman even let the kids play with the sirens (NOISY!).  We didn't do much with the neighborhood for the rest of the evening, just enjoyed our family time together.

Koen in the driver's seat of the police car.

Ty and Koen sitting in the fire truck.

Coming down off the fire truck...look at that climb up!

September 16: Flower Garden

Remember we went to story time at the library on Wednesday?  On our way out, I noticed a pile of project papers on the table by the door.  I grabbed one for each of the kids because I thought it was so cute!  They each got to create a flower garden (I know, a little more spring-themed, but they didn't care!).  We didn't get to project time until after Koen was home from school, so he got to put one together, too.

The kids enjoyed coloring the flowers...some attending to details more than others. :)  Koen cut his flowers out, but I had to cut for Ty and Brielle (I'm not sure why Ty is so against cutting paper...).  We then glued each flower on a popsicle stick and "planted" our gardens in the upside-down egg cartons. 

She made sure she used every color!

 

The kids were SO proud of these!  I thought it was really sweet, though, when Ty declared he wanted to give his garden to his cousin Henry (he knew we were off to visit them in Chicago the next day).  I thought he might change his mind as he's KING of changing his mind these days, but he was super excited to share it with Henry.  I would love to see his sincerity and generosity grow with him. :)

September 15: Sick Day

We were supposed to have friends over to play today.  We were supposed to have a fun little project to complete.  We were supposed to run some errands today.  But Ty got the stomach flu last night.  So instead, we're snuggling at home, reading books, watching movies, and resting.  Life is just right (now that Ty isn't throwing up anymore!). 

September 14: Storytime at the Library

Once we arrived at the library I learned that there's a family story time at 10am each week on Wednesday...perfect!  I'm sure the group will grow in size, but for today, Ty and Brielle were 2 of 5 kids there. 

Each week focuses on an animal (this week was frogs) and the stories, songs, and rhymes focus on that animal.  Also, each week every child gets a copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrations by Eric Carle to read the story aloud together.  I love this!!!  The kids can "read" the story by looking at the pictures.  This may be a complete coincidence, but since we've done this, Ty has been "reading" more stories at home based on what he remembers and the pictures he sees...it's very sweet!  We will certainly be back for story time in coming weeks!

September 13: Revamping Our Lineup

For the sake of our schedule (and my sanity) we're changing up what happens each day.  I'm not sure you really follow our flexible schedule, but for what it's worth...

Sunday - Learn the verse of the week (NEW!)
Monday- Gymnastics
Tuesday - Baking Day
Wednesday - Library Day
Thursday - Project Day
Friday - Science/School Day

***Other special events as they arise***

And we're off...

September 12: Chocolate Chip Bars

There are a million chocolate chip bar recipes floating around, but the addition of M&Ms help this one stand out! :)  Ty thought adding the M&Ms was the best part!  This recipe makes a 10x15 pan so you'll have plenty to go around once you cut into them.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Bars

• 2/3 cup oil (I use Light Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
• 3 cups brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1. Combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips in the mixer.
2. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
3. Pour into a greased 10x15 pan.
4. Sprinkle with M&Ms.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-24 minutes.

September 9: Paper Dove

This idea came from the book Family Fun Crafts based on ideas in the Family Fun magazine.  This paper dove used basic materials we already had in the house.  Ty was very interested in making it fly...and it kind of worked!  I liked that there was a little more to it than a paper airplane but it still flew! 

Here's what you need...

• Paper plate
• 2 plastic spoons
• Pebble (Ty had carefully selected one while waiting for the Truck Parade earlier in the week)
• Rubber band
• Masking tape
• Colored markers

1. Cut the paper plate in half.  Then, cut one of the halves into three equal wedges.  (Ty still isn't eager to cut things apart so I did this.)

2.  Tape one wedge to the bottom of the half of the paper plate that is still intact to form the dove's tail feathers.

3.  Sandwich the pebble between the spoon bowls, then bind the spoons with the rubber band.  (We did secure the pebble with some tape, otherwise it would have fallen out.)

4.  Tape the joined spoons securely to the bottom of the dove's body so that the bowls extend forward.  

5.  Use the markers to create a face for your dove.

 

 



6.  Fly the dove by throwing it like a paper airplane.

September 8: For the Kidz Open Gym

Wouldn't you know I forgot my camera?!?  We returned to For the Kidz for an open gym time for our special activity for the day.  Ty is going to start another gymnastics class with Mr. Randy next week, and I wanted to remind him how much fun he had at gymnastics.  He enjoyed being able to do whatever he wanted to do, but repeatedly asked where Mr. Randy was.  :)  Brielle thoroughly enjoyed the open gym time, too!  She loved bouncing, running, climbing, and exploring!  Maybe she'll have to start the parent-child class sometime soon! 

September 7: Coloring Carnations

I've always loved this experiment, but it's been ages since I've thought about it!  I was glancing through a Family Fun idea book and came across this experiment again.  I knew Ty would love it, too! 

We purchased 4 white carnations from a local market, then came home and trimmed the ends at an angle.  Ty carefully poured water in each glass, but he didn't want to add the food coloring, so I did that while he counted out the number of drops.  Then Ty placed one flower in each glass, and we began to wait...and wait...and wait.  That can be quite difficult for a 3-year old! :)  About 2 hours later saw a tinge of blue on the outside of the carnation in blue water.  Ty was thrilled!!!  Slowly, the petals of the flowers turned blue, green, and red...but the purple never turned.  We waited a week...and still no purple!  The flower must have been taking in water because it didn't even wilt, but the food coloring was never evident in the petals.  I read on Steve Spangler's website that this might happen if there's an air bubble created when you trim the stem.  Apparently, the best way to trim stems is under running water to avoid air bubbles, which I recall learning at some point but had forgotten. 

While I didn't get into all the science behind this experiment, Tysen and I talked about how the color might be getting into the petals.  He knows now that flowers need to drink water to survive and that the stem is like a straw for the flower.  He enjoyed checking on his flowers every day and watching the colors deepen. 

24 hours after starting the experiment.