Bathtub paint

A young woman in our ward does an art class for the kids once a week.  This week they made bathtub paint and had a great time painting our bathtub!  Here's the recipe:

Bathtub paint

1/4 cup baby shampoo

food coloring

2 TBSP cornstarch

Take a small muffin tin (or other container of your choice) and add 2 TBSP of corn starch to each cup.  Then add 1/4 cup baby shampoo and 4-5 drops of food coloring to each cup.  Stir together until the color is fully incorporated.  Add a small amount of water to each tin (about 2-4 TBSP) and stir. 

David and I enjoyed watching

Tangled/Rapunzel hair

Today we decided to do a project that was recommended by my neighbor Tricia. We made Rapunzel hair!  First we took an old headband that the princess crown had broken off of. (We have gone through many Dollar Store princess headbands)  Then we got some yellow yarn and cut it twice as long as we wanted the hair.  Then we folded it in half, placed it around the headband, and slipped the loose ends through the loop.  It was so easy and Hannah loved helping with it.   If you want better pictures :)  here's a link to Tricia's blog and her tutorial.  It didn't take hardly any yarn at all!

Easter Traditions?

The best part of having your own small family (and not living very close to extended family) is deciding what traditions you want to carry on, leave behind, or start.

For Easter, growing up, I loved making Easter Bread (which comes from my grandma), making cream puffs with my mother, watching Easter Parade (starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire), and watching Easter Dream. 

Since I have been married, some of these things haven't happened during the Easter season especially with small children. This year, I want to find some new traditions that are a little more kid friendly, and I want your ideas. I want to hear them all from egg hunts to talking about Christ's resurrection.

What are some of your favorite traditions for Easter?

Weddings...

I am a traditionalist. Through and through. It always comes out when there's a wedding coming up and I get rolled eyes when I request outdated things like; "Could you please dress UP for your announcement pictures? "Could we use Mrs. and Mrs. Keith Eddington instead of Keith and Diana?" or " I don't care if it takes days, I want to hand write every address on every envelope, whether I get help or not! (That's a lie, because I really couldn't do it myself) So, tonight we had an invitation party. Angie made brownies. Kiana, Angie, Lana and I hand wrote hundreds of addresses, Matt stuffed and Emily filed them in alphabetical order (to ensure no duplicates) We had a great time. Children running, phones ringing, people coming in and out. Wonderful bedlam!

So what IS the big deal? Why do I want things "just so" for my children's weddings? Why can I just not bring myself to use stickers? Well, you see, Matt's getting married. I have prayed and hoped and taught and loved him all his life. He was my miracle baby. The only one that didn't cause me the normal pains of childbirth. He has brought joy to my soul and laughter to our home. I will soon entrust sweet Kim to love and care for him. But I will miss him at my breakfast table. I miss you all at my table. I am so happy you are all coming home. So, what about the handwritten envelopes? I answer to that one lies deep in my heart.

MOM

How to keep a 10-month-old entertained in the Doctor's office

1.  Read a book.  Several times.

2.  Let him crawl on the waiting room floor until his name is called.

3.  Give him your cell phone to play with.

4.  Bounce him up and down, throw him around, look out the window and up at the fluorescent lights.

5.  Show him all the instruments in the examination room.  (Don't mess with them too much!  The doctor will notice.)

6.  Change his diaper.

7.  Grab a tongue depressor out of the jar; use it as a drumstick/sword/chew toy.

8.  Set him on the doctor's swivel stool and spin him around.  Back and forth, back and forth.

9.  Feed him little snacks.

10.  Put him BACK on the swivel stool, this time on his stomach.  Then he can watch the wheels as he spins.

11. Pull out the cell phone and start taking pictures.

(Hopefully the Doctor has come by now.)

Kids are Funny

Yesterday Mom and I were talking at her house when the phone rang. It was Kiana, who had been in the room talking with us just two minutes before. Mom immediately started laughing and told Kiana we would be there in a minute.

Well, my son Sam had apparently locked his sister Bella in the chicken coop when she was playing in there (don't worry  -there are no chickens in there currently...it's just being used for storage). Kiana and Lily had gone in to rescue Bella, and Sam locked them ALL in the chicken coop. Luckily, Kiana had her cell phone in her pocket and called us to let them out.

When we got out into the backyard, Sam was giggling like a little girl and couldn't stop. He thought he was so clever and got quite a kick out of the whole thing. I have to agree with him that it was pretty funny.

Right after that, I took him home to feed him lunch to get him ready for school, and he still giggled through the whole meal.

Thank heaven for children and laughter.

-Angie

April Fools

I don't recall April Fool's Day being much-observed in our house.  Aside from my annual short-sheeting and a few small pranks, we kept things pretty mellow, didn't we?

Which is not to say we didn't do our fair share of pranks throughout the rest of the year.  (Jordan!)
Between the garbage bagging, ding-dong lying, toilet papering, and prank-calling (I'm sure I'm the only one who did this...), we certainly spread the mischief around.

However, I was just remembering the April Fool's Day when somebody saran wrapped two of our cars together.  Not just any cars, either - the 15-passenger van and the Lebaron!  They did an amazing job, too; I've never seen such good saran wrapping, before or since.
The best part was that they must have done it after we did the paper route, but before we left for school.  That was so awesome.

It's really a shame we never figured out who did it.  I would still like to congratulate them on a job well-done.

(What pranks do you remember?  Was Angie the only one who got "caught?")

Piano Lesson Ideas

I have started keeping my laptop on my piano.  I teach about 22 students a week and have found it to be a great tool for teaching and adding variety to my lessons.  I have to be a bit choosy (especially with the naked lady paintings from the baroque era), but I have been able to use it to show students who are playing a theme from a symphony the utter majesty and power of the original work, and help them to put some of that into their simplified version.  I am doing a "unit" on baroque music and have been able to find almost every Bach, Handel, etc. piece played by a student up to tempo on Youtube (usually they are played by fabulous 5 year olds, which makes them think, if a 5-year old can play this, then certainly I can!).  They are able to experience the new and beautiful sounds made by the clavichord and harpsichord, as well as learn about the customs, culture and dress of the period.  They enjoy the change of pace and are inspired by the videos.  I saw that one teacher had even posted tutorials for her students with her playing the piece and the camera giving a birds-eye view.  If you have any other deas as to how to use the internet in teaching, please share!

I am excited for our Baroque recital.  I am going to buy some "powdered" wigs and other fancy garb for the students to wear when they perform.  I'll let you know how it all turns out.  Most of the students are pretty excited about it!

-Mom

Kids Crafts: Pinwheels

I am always looking for little crafts or things to do with my children. I have a 4 year old who LOVES to do anything crafty, and a 2 year old who loves to do anything the 4 year old does. 

As spring is coming upon us I found this super easy idea that my kids will love. 

I love that they are so versatile you can use them as cupcake toppers or decoration or for a fun toy for the kids to play with.
-Megan

St. Patrick's Day meals

Dad and I were talking this morning about the green stuff Mom used to make for us on St. Patrick's Day.  I vividly remember green pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and green milk that (naturally) I was not too excited to drink.

Now my husband LOVES corned beef and cabbage, so we have that for dinner every year.  I like it too, in small quantities.  One year I tried to make some Irish soda bread that ended up hardening and getting thrown away....

Does anyone have favorite St. Patty's Day meals?  That kids actually like to eat?
I'll tell you what, just thinking about that green milk still makes me feel a little funny.

-Rachel

Magic Yarn Ball

I was cleaning out some old yarn awhile back and decided to make a little yarn ball for each of the kids.  They loved them! They played with them for hours and hours, very cheap entertainment.  Teach them to wind and unwind it. Challenge them to make letters or shapes with the yarn. Finally, don’t forget to see how far down the stairs, or across the room, the yarn can stretch.  If they’re anything like my kids, they’ll want to keep the little ball forever in their top drawer.

March Fourth ... March Forth

March 4th.  That date has a certain ring to it.  It is our Grandma Eddington's birthday, but I didn't learn that until this year.  What I did learn a couple years ago is that this date is a sentence, a command.  March Forth.  I read once in a magazine article about a family that celebrates this as a goal-setting day, a day to progress or march forth.  I thought that that was a great idea and now use it as a day to analyze where I am in my life and where I want to march to next! 

What ways could we celebrate this?   I think the family wrote their goals on cutouts of their feet and then placed them on the wall.  Ideas??
-Kiana