Live. Laugh. Create. Inspire.

When N was 4, we scored some huge cardboard boxes and I made a pirate ship for his birthday. It was really nice but had a short lifespan because watering the grass is something that is very important to my husband, pirate ship or no pirate ship. (Think Hank on King of the Hill)  I had wanted to make something fun for J when she turned 4 but we had yet to stumble on any more cardboard boxes. I was super excited when a friend called to say she had just opened a new shipment of patio furniture and wondered if we would want the boxes. Princess castle plans began immediately. I admit, the princess castle isn’t nearly as cool as the pirate ship was, but it is portable and can be moved onto the porch so it has had a much longer life. It is such fun to watch something as simple as a cardboard box launch them into endless worlds of creativity and fun!

When the kids express interest in a certain topic, I try to teach them as much as I can about this, while the interest lasts. For awhile, N was very interested in volcanos. So, we made our own.

We used old play dough and a water bottle. The kids made the volcano and then we filled it with hot water, vinegar and baking soda. The result was a foaming mess of ‘lava’. We re-lived the explosion many times over the next few days until I decided I’d donated enough vinegar to the cause.

This was easy, not too messy and a fun way to learn about chemical reactions. So, if you have a curious scientist, give it a try!

N and J love to paint themselves. In the past, I have let them use tempera paint and then just play outside in the water to wash it off. Sometimes they paint themselves and sometimes they want me to paint them. This summer, we learned from my cousin to mix equal parts lotion and paint for the paint to go on better without drying and cracking.  This also works well as face paint. So, if you need a summer activity there’s still time for body paint!

J and I made these cookies a few weeks ago.

We iced cookies with yellow icing and cut fruit sour strips for the sandal straps. We cut gummy worms for the little thing that goes between the toes. They were yummy and didn’t last long!

My mom visited a few weeks ago and brought each kid their own canister of shaving cream, to be used however they wanted.

This provided much more fun than I anticipated.  It didn’t burn their eyes as I had expected and the fun went on and on, until the containers ran out.

Ernie didn’t know what to think of it all and kept a safe distance!

I recently saw this craft on another blog. You are so amazingly creative L Pad! We had to try it for ourselves.

Put two tablespoons of vinegar in a ziplock bag along with a few drops of food coloring. Then, add 2 cups of rice. Seal the bag shut and mix the rice around until it is fully colored.

Let me just say that kids are generally pretty enthusiastic about the shaking part.  Ahem.  If you fail to zip a bag all the way closed, you might just end up with purple rice and food coloring all over the counter and your daughter’s outfit!

Next, pour the rice onto a wax paper lined tray or two.

Next, you can either put the rice in the oven at 150 until dry or set it outside for a few hours on a sunny day.

The rice feels so good in your hands!

Even SK loves to play.