Summer Activities

I am hoping we get around to trying some of these because they look like a lot of fun!

1.  Ice Cube Boats

2.  Salt Art

3.  Milk Jug Decorative Window Crafts

4.  Homemade Puffy Paint

Burp Cloths

I did not have any burp cloths left from the girls.  I think I must have thrown them all away since Ariel was such a major spitter.  (One time she spit up right into my cousin Angela's dress)

So I went to the store to buy some burp cloths.  I had a hard time finding a large variety.  Target had one pack of cute ones so I got them.

 

But then I felt that I wanted to have a few more. 

So I bought plain white ones and figured I could add ribbon to them.

I used some ribbon I had from when I used to make hair bows and some no-sew

permanent fabric glue to glue the ribbons on.

During Ariel's nap, Annabelle and I made 6 burp cloths.  I tried to steer her in the direction that I wanted to go with them, but then I felt bad that I wasn't letting her be creative.  Plus I figured she would feel really happy when the baby used one of the burp cloths that she made. 

Dying Queen Anne's Lace

Annabelle and I dyed Queen Anne's Lace.

I was going to pick some flowers on our way home, but it turned out they were pretty tough.  We had to go home, get scissors, and then go back and get the flowers.  This worked out because then Ariel fell asleep.

 Annabelle picked the colors she wanted to mix, then she stirred it.  (We used the neon food coloring)

Now we wait.

We took our pictures a few days later.  You can see how much water the flowers drank (a built in science lesson).  The colors turned out really well, much brighter than in the pictures. 

This was such a fun and easy activity.

Activiites for the Week

We haven't been getting to all the activites each week because we have been spending a lot of time at the pool. 
I still like to come up with them for each week in case we need something to do.
Here are some fun things for this week.

1.  Homemade Sprinkler
2.  Bubble Art
3.  Dying Queen Anne's Lace Flowers
4.  Melted Crayon Art

Just click on the link to bring you to the directions.

30 Weeks

I am 30 weeks pregnant.  I feel like the time has gone quickly.  I told people I was pregnant at 7 weeks (its a little hard to hide the intense sickness) so the past 23 weeks has hasn't seemed too long even though it sounds long. 

Its is hard to believe that my belly went from

This

8 Weeks

to

This

30 Weeks

I am starting to get things ready for the baby.  I washed all the clothes that I have that will work for her.  The amount of sleepers and receiving blankets I have is pretty impressive.  I'm glad I went through it before I bought anything else.  I will need pretty much all new clothes though since Annabelle and Ariel were tiny in the summer and this one will be tiny in the fall.  

I have been going to see the doctor every week for a few weeks now.  I have 7 more shots to go!  Ariel came about a week after my last shot.  The baby can come as soon as the next day after missing a shot.  I am hoping that I am all ready.  With Annabelle I wasn't ready at all.  With Ariel I was mostly ready and I am pretty sure that I will be ready for this one.  I just need a few more baby things - crib, diapers, burp cloths. 

I really like the nesting phase.  I have lots of things that I want to organize and clean and I seem to be really productive before the baby comes.

My mom bought an outfit for the baby to come home in.  I had matching outfits for Annabelle and Ariel when Ariel was born.  I don't think that I will do that this time because of the sizes.  I will try to do some color coordinating though.

I had to get the matching blanket.  I now see they have a little baby that matches.  I might have to get that.  Both of the girls had a little baby that I put in their carseat.

Downtown Fountains

I think it is great that we have the fountains downtown. 
We went for walk the other day and decided to let the girls run through them before we went home.  We didn't bathing suits, but since it was our last stop we figured wet clothes would be fine.

Annabelle had a lot more fun running through the water than Ariel did.  It may have something to do with her running into the lake at playgroup the other day.  She has been a little hesitant of the water since then.

We went back a couple nights later to cool down before going to bed.  We had bathing suits this time.  Ariel was warming up a little.  She would stick one foot in the wet part and think she was playing in the water. 

Eet Smakelijk

Eet Smakelijk

Have you ever heard of this cookbook? 

I had to have it when I got married and my grandma got it for me.  I don't make a ton of things from it, but there are just some tried and true recipes that I NEEDED to have.

The other night I really needed a sweet and we just didn't have anything (I had to settle for an apple).  So the next day I decided to get out my cookbook and make these yummy brownies.  I like to cut them into bite size pieces and put them in the freezer.  I like them in the freezer for a couple reasons.
1.  They are really good cold.
2.  They are a little more out of sight so I don't eat the entire pan in a day.

Now for the recipe

Chocolate Mint Sticks
Brownies
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 cup flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 350*
Grease an 8"x8" pan (I like to line my pan with tin foil so I can lift it out and cut them easier)
Cream together margarine and sugar
Beat in eggs and vanilla
Blend in chocolate
Stir in flour
Pour into pan and bake for 25 minutes
Cool completely
Spread with frosting and glaze

Mint Frosting
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons margarine, softened
1 tablespoon light cream (I just use milk or water)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
green food coloring

Combine all ingredients and beat well
Spread over cooled brownie layer
Let stand until set

Chocolate Glaze
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
1 tablespoon butter

Mlet the chocolate and margarine
Spread over frosting
Chill until firm

I'm not a great cutter or photographer, but you can see them yummy layers in this brownie.

Make a batch and keep them on hand for those times you need a little sweet.



Summer Activities

Here are some fun activities to try this week.

1:  Glitter Fireworks
     No website for this one. 
     Just put glue on the paper like a firework and then use glitter.  Or use glitter glue.

2:  Yarn Butterflies

3:  Spray Bottle Painting

4:  Twizzlers Bracelets

Have fun this week!!!

SuMmEr FuN!!!

We have been pretty busy the past two weeks so we didn't get to try all the super fun activities and crafts that I found for us to do.

2 weeks ago Annabelle had Ballet Camp.  It was a 2 hour class for a week.  She loved it so much that we signed her up for the one next month.

We did have some time to do a few fun things.

We finally got a chance to do the Fizzing Sidwalk Paint.  This was really neat.  The girls liked seeing it fizz after they squirted it with vinegar.

We also did the Hot Rocks activity.  We warmed our rocks in the oven and then colored on them with crayons.  We realized that we needed to use the cheaper crayons for this.  Crayola is just too high quality.  The rocks turned out pretty cool and are now back in the landscape.

We also took a trip to the zoo.

Dutch Village had a Kids Day and my friend Shari posted a flyer to get in free.  The girls had fun looking at the animals and checking out all the activities.

We hope you are finding lots of fun things to do this summer!!!