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.