Not so Wordless Wednesday ~ A Hurricane Party

As Hurricane Irene approached my Sister-in-Law and Brother-in-Law decided to come stay with us…which turned out to be a good idea since their neighborhood ended up being evacuated anyway. 

The kids had such a great time together, it was more like a party to them…which was definitely a good thing.  We left all of the worrying up to the grown ups!

Emily and Juliette were very happy that their cousin sleep over our house!

Pre-bedtime pretend sleeping.  If only they actually fallen asleep :)

I was worried about a few of the large trees in our yard that are close to our bedrooms  so we slept altogether in our living room. I brought the girls toddler mattresses down so they would be more comfortable.  They were very excited about this and ended up cuddling up next to each other on Emily’s mattress.

Watching the news in the morning to see  where Hurricane Irene was.

Thankfully this was the worst of our damage…the top of this very tall pine tree snapped off and fell into our neighbors tree.  The whole backyard smelled like Christmas!!

We have been praying for all of those who were affected by the hurricane.  We realized how blessed we were to be safe, still have power and have minimal damage to our property. 

Exploring Alternate Canvases ~ Rock Painting

I love the idea of exploring alternate canvases.  The girls have had a great time painting with every possible item under the sun like yarn, spaghetti, forks, bubble wrap, duplos, the list could really go on and on.  But, we always seem to paint on the same thing…plain old paper!

So when I noticed that my sister had a pile of really big rocks sitting in her backyard I had to take a few I knew they would be perfect for the girls to paint on!  I planned on putting them throughout the garden and having the girls paint on them outside, but the mosquitoes are so bad this year that we have not been able to spend much time in our back yard.  Even bug spray does not seem to keep them away.  So we brought the big rocks inside!

First, I scrubbed all of the dirt off of the rocks.  We did this with our art group and each child was able to pick the rock that they wanted to paint on.  Then I gave them a paint palette and set out a bunch of different brushes and they got to work creating.

Emily decided to paint a rainbow on one side and make a lady bug on the other.

Juliette was happy to swirl all of the different colors around on her rock.

I am still hoping to try this again outside, I think it will be fun to use washable paints and let them keep painting new pictures on the rocks throughout the yard.  Maybe we will be able to get a really big rock/boulder as a canvas too!

What alternate canvases have you  tried having your children paint on?

Muffin Tin Monday

This week for Muffin Tin Monday we had a lunch full of some of the girls’  favorite foods!

Emily and Juliette’s Lunch

   In their tins:

Cucumber Slices, Strawberry Banana Yogurt with Sprinkles, Peaches and Watermelon

They ate it all up and even asked for more…their favorite part of this lunch was the watermelon, of course!

Getting Ready for stART!!!

 

I can’t believe the summer is already beginning to wined down.  We noticed the other day that it is getting darker much earlier and it is also a bit cooler than it was just a few weeks ago.  Instead of shopping for sun block and bathing suits we are scouring the stores for great deals on school supplies and making plans for the upcoming school year!  I am also preparing for the beginning of stART.  I have been thinking about the new books that we will be reading and the different projects that we will do to go with them.  But for today, need your help!  I want to create a blog roll of all the blogs that participate in stART each week.  I think this would be a great way share the wonderful things we do each week with even more people.  For people that are considering joining in they can look to the blog roll for inspiration, for those of us that already participate each week it is quick way to check in for some new ideas. 

So here is where you come in, if you participated in stART at least 3 times last year and plan on continuing to participate this year leave me a comment and let me know!

If you are new to stART be sure to find out more about how to join in the  fun HERE, because a Story + Art = A Great Start

I will officially start stART back up on Thursday, September 8th so be sure to check back to see what we have been up to!!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Our Little Carrot

 

   They were both so excited for their little carrot and shared it between the two of them, even giving Mommy and Daddy a taste too.  Hopefully we will be able to pick a few more by the end of the summer!

Open Ended Art ~ Initial Collages

During Art Group the girls made Initial Collages.  We had kids from 14 months to 4 1/2 working on this project.  They were all able to participate in it, some were just more into it than others.

I cut pieces of poster board into the initials of the girls first names.  Then they used markers to color all over them.  Finally, they were able to glue on all the different materials.  I had different types of fabric, ribbons, felt, tin foil, sandpaper, tulle and tissue paper.

E for Emily

Emily did hers all by herself, she even cut the pieces to the size she needed, asking for help only to cut the pieces of fabric that needed the sharp scissors to cut it.

J for Juliette

   Juliette worked on hers for a little bit and then decided we needed to work on it together.  She sat on my lap and we each glued pieces on to her initial.  I showed her how to overlap pieces and had just as much fun as she did working on it!

Emily and Juliette had fun working on these collages!

I am thinking of mounting them on colored paper and framing them in their rooms. 

Summer Fun List ~ Make Homemade Lemonade

I have never actually made homemade lemonade myself, but have always wanted to so I thought this would be the perfect thing to add to our Summer Fun List.  Lemonade always makes me think about beautiful warm summer days playing outside and having a good time.

First we gathered all the supplies we would need:

6 lemons,  1/2 a cup of sugar and 1 cup of water

I also got out my little juicer and pink glass pitcher.

First, I made a simple syrup with 1/2 a cup of sugar and 1 cup of water.  This was a simple step and all I did was just melt the sugar into the water in a saucepan on the stove then let cool.

Then it was time for the girls to get to work!!

Emily and Juliette took turns juicing the lemons.  I cut them in half and they used their muscles to push it around on the little glass juicer.  They thought it was neat that the pits stayed in the top and the juice flowed to the bottom.

  In between of course they had to taste some lemons…they were nice and sour!!

Finally, we added the juice of the lemons, the simple syrup that I had made earlier, some ice and enough water to fill the pitcher, probably about 4 cups and the girls took turns stirring it.

Time for a taste….the girls loved it!!

Duplos + Names = Having Fun with the Alphabet

We play with our Duplos almost every single day.  I am always amazed at the different creations the girls come up with, especially when playing with Grandpa.  But this time I have to say we had so much fun and it was while creating LETTERS!! 

I first made an A and then a N to begin writing my nephews name in Duplos.  Once they saw what I was up to they couldn’t wait to see how I was going to make the rest of the letters.  Of course once it was finished I had to do Emily and then Juliette’s name!

Emily was happy to pose for a picture, unfortunately Juliette was not so cooperative.

I plan on trying this again and having Emily help me make all different words. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Naptime Fun

  Juliette loves to lay on my back when I am trying to get them to take a nap.  The other day she decided she would lay on Emily’s back.  They were laughing and having so much fun, I grabbed the camera and added their baby doll to the pile.  It is a cute little girl Pyramid!!!

Color Mixing Ice Cubes

Emily and Juliette love playing in the water and they love ice cubes.  Whenever an ice cube drops from the ice maker they run from wherever they are to pick it up and hold it while it melts.  So, I thought it would be fun let them play with some ice cubes outside.  I filled up our large sensory tub (a.k.a. under the bed storage container) with water and added some ice cubes.  To make it even more exciting I froze some ice cubes with food coloring in them and added those too.

Emily, Juliette and their cousin had fun picking up the ice cubes and also pushing them around with popsicle sticks. 

As the ice cubes melted we were able to see the colors begin to blend together.  It was very pretty to look at…

…and then it turned BROWN!

We talked about how when you mix all the colors together you get brown.  This was a great way to experiment with colors and keep cool on a summer afternoon!

Muffin Tin Monday!

I couldn’t wait to make a Muffin Tin Monday meal with our new Silly- Feet Baking Cups.  I found them at the Christmas Tree shop for only $1.99!!!  Of course after using them and seeing how much the girls loved them I am kicking myself for not picking up a few more sets.

Emily and Juliette’s Muffin Tin Lunch

Peanut Butter and Jelly sticks, Cucumbers and Tomatoes with Dipping Sauce (Italian and Ranch Dressing)

  They both loved their new Muffin Tin Monday cups  and can’t wait to use them again.

And The Crafty Kits 4 Kids Winner Is…

…Judy at What I Live For!! 

Congratulations to our winner and thank you to everyone that entered :0)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sleeping in the Tent

Emily was so excited to be able to sleep in her tent with her sleeping bag during our recent vacation.  Our hotel room was nice and big and we were able to fit her pop up tent in for her to sleep in with no problem at all!

Juliette actually joined her for part of the night, but work up and decided sleeping with Mommy would be better :0)

Summer Fun List ~ Make S’mores

I LOVE S’mores, they remind me of camping when I was little.   Then all I wanted to do was set my marshmallow on fire, now getting a perfect golden marshmallow is my goal. 

When Emily and Juliette’s cousin came over, he actually brought over all the ingredients to make s’mores, including some really cool sticks for roasting the extra large marshmallows!  This was perfect because making S’mores was on our Summer Fun List!

Emily and Juliette are ready with their sticks and marshmallows

Let the roasting begin The fire was really hot and they stayed just long enough to take the picture and for my nephew’s marshmallow to catch on fire!But, the end result was a delicious and very messy treat.

Can you tell they LOVED them!!

Summer Break for stART!!!

 

Wow it has been a fun and very busy summer, I can't believe that it is the beginning of August already. Keeping up with these two kiddos this summer has been a huge adventure! Although we have been doing lots and lots of reading, we have unfortunately had less time for our usual  art projects and I have struggled to get a stART post up each week. I have lots of fun things planned for September and look forward to sharing them with you. As of now I am officially putting stART on Summer Break as we continue to enjoy the unstructured fun of summer. But do not fear, we will be back in September, ready to share lots of great new books and the fun art projects that go with them.

In the meantime, be sure to check out all of the great stART projects we have already done as well as all of the amazing projects that have been linked up each week.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Emily IN the sand…literally!!

We had a great time at the beach…Emily especially loved getting buried in the sand by Uncle Jonathan and Mommy!!!

She was even able to get out almost completely by herself :0)

Quick and Easy Balance Beam

While we were outside washing the car Emily and Juliette decided that the cobblestone on the side of the driveway would be the perfect balance beam!

 

They both kept walking up and down the driveway balancing on the stone.  It reminded me of walking on the edge of the curb when in the same way when I was little.

Spontaneous gross motor skill workouts that are full of giggles and grins are always a fun way to spend a cool summer evening!

Crafty Kits 4 Kids Giveaway Event!

Wow, 13 kids friendly blogs are participating in this Crafty Giveaway Event.  Each blog had to come up with a simple crafty kits for children aged 2-6 to giveaway! Each blog is hosting their own giveaway and you can enter to win which ever kits you think your child would enjoy.

Be sure to check out the end of this Giveaway Post for a  Link to all of the other participating blogs

Sensory Collage Kit

On A Mommy’s Adventures I will be giving away a Sensory Collage Art Kit.  This kit contains everything your child needs to create an amazing Sensory Collage.

Included in this kit you will find:

A piece of Contact Paper (this is especially great for creating collages with younger children, however children of all different ages get a kick out of the sticky paper)

String, Tin Foil, Sand Paper, Feathers, Pipe Cleaners, Stickers, Buttons, Pom Poms, Tissue Paper, Felt Die Cuts, Cut up Straws, Foam and Crepe Paper  all in a variety of colors and sizes.

To Enter:

Just leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win this kit

(Please leave your mail address if you don't have it enabled on your profile).

Extra Entries:

Follow A Mommy’s Adventures (1 entry)

Subscribe by e-mail or follow us via RSS (1 entry each)

Follow A Mommy’s Adventures on Facebook - leave your username (1 entry)

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This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE and ends on August 13th at 11:59pm.

The winner will be drawn by random.org and announced on this blog as well as emailed. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn. Email address must be in at least one comment or visible on your profile to win.

Good luck and visit the other giveaways in this awesome event: