Friday, November 13, 2009
We have literally been the house of snot this last week. Seriously, we went through almost 3 boxes of tissues in one day the end of last week. I don't know what the heck this crud is, but it just does not want to go away! So we've been spending most of our time bored and indoors with the sniffles! We did get enough energy one day to make some super cute Thanksgiving Cards.
I helped the boys each dip their hand in brown paint and add it to the construction paper. Then we added legs and the gobbler-thing (whatever it's called hahaha) with red paint, and glued on some wiggly eyes. Cutest turkey's you ever saw right?
I don't have a printer set up right now so I just hand-wrote the message on the inside and the boys added some leaf stickers. The message is so cute, you'll have to enlarge the picture to see it better. I enclosed a picture of my boys inside and am super excited to send them out to family members today.
Keep in mind I am anything but an artist, but I did my best! I got the leaves on clearance at Wal-Mart like a month ago so I don't have to make any.Friday, November 13, 2009 0
Friday, September 11, 2009
The boys were super excited when they saw a centipede outside a couple weeks ago so I came up with this idea to make them with an egg carton cut in half (similar to the caterpillar idea from Grandma Lizzie's website). It was definitely a fun project!
Luke wanted his to have "REALLY BIG" eyes! So cute!Friday, September 11, 2009 0
Monday, August 10, 2009
Andy and I have been anxiously awaiting enough empty toilet paper rolls for the letter "L" because we knew we'd have so much fun making Lions after we learned all about the letter "L"!
You will need:
Directions:
1. Paint the outside of a small paper cup and toilet paper roll with brown and yellow paint. Then paint the bottom of the paper cup yellow.
2. Once the paint is dry, cut around the base of the paper cup about an inch from the bottom. Then cut slits around the cup and fold them up to form a mane.
3. Draw on facial features using a permanent marker. (I didn't use a marker that was thick enough and Andy got a little carried away with the nose, just to warn you!) I also added the wiggly eyes instead of drawing them because I am obsessed with wiggly eyes!
4. Punch 4 holes in the toilet paper roll where you want the legs to go. Cut a pipecleaner in half, then thread each half through two holes to form the front and back legs. Tape the legs securely in place on the inside of the toilet paper roll.
5. Wrap wool or raffia around the toilet paper roll to add fuzz and texture. (I hung some off the back to make a tail and taped it in place)
6. Carefully glue or tape the head onto the body.
Monday, August 10, 2009 0
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
My boys were so tickled to make these special fourth of July trees. They are still too young to understand the whole meaning of the fourth, but I thought introducing them to the red, white and blue colors and the American Flag was sufficient learning for preschool age.
Luke got a little carried away on the painting so I had to help him. How to Make a 4th of July Tree:
- Paint the tree trunk brown and paint green grass at the bottom of the tree.
- While waiting for the paint to dry, cut out 1.5 inch square pieces of red, blue and white tissue paper. (My children were too young to do this part, but I'm sure an older child would love to participate in this step)
- Wrap a tissue paper around the eraser end of a pencil and glue to the trunk. Add as many tissue pieces as you would like to fill up your tree.
We finished the evening making dirt dessert. After I get some ideas to do projects I can't just do one project in one day because I am so excited about all of them. Andy was spectacular at scrunching up the Oreo cookies and I even let him spoon up his own pudding in his cup. Mark was a little timid to try this concoction but then he and the boys gobbled it up with no complaint. This is such a super fun summer treat!
I have to say that this past year of my life has been such a growing experience for me as a Mother. I feel like after Luke was born I suffered a bit from postpartum depression, or rather, I felt like I lost my individual identity. I don't know if this is something most Mother's go through, but if you went through it or are right now, I completely understand how you feel.
I remember a visiting teacher coming over to our house in Clearfield right after Luke was born and asking me what I personally liked to do for fun. It seemed like the longest minute in my life when I realized that I didn't have any interests of my own other than my children. My whole life, 24/7 was my children and my husband. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I realized that I had a lot of soul searching within myself to discover who I, RACHEL, was inside, without my children and how to incorporate that into being a Mother and Wife to make ME happier. You know that saying "When Momma ain't happy, no one is happy!" I whole-heartedly believe that saying.
Growing up I was always shy and afraid to express myself. I was excellent in school with all the technical things like mathematics but when it came to being a part of a group project, participating in class, or doing an art project that involved my own creativity, it was as if my whole brain shut down. I am still very indecisive when someone asks me a question and it is literally as if the thinking process turns off in my brain when I am posed with a choice, almost like I am afraid of making the wrong decision.
Doing crafts with my boys has uncovered a burning desire within myself that I've been holding back my whole life to be creative, express myself and to show who I am inside. It's such a silly thing, I know, but it has really given me so much strength as a Mother to realize that I don't have to be afraid of who I am, and that I don't want my children to be afraid of who they are. I built my whole childhood on my desire to become a wife and a mother and I never thought of what I wanted to accomplish beyond that. It was like I got where I wanted to go and didn't know what to do once I got there.
I'm not saying crafts are the answer to the craziness of Motherhood, in NO WAY do I believe that! In fact, I'm not really talking about crafts at all. What I am trying to say is that I have finally discovered within myself my own individual happiness and that without ME being happy, I wasn't enjoying my accomplishments of being a Mother and Wife. And I've also realized that having my own interests doesn't mean I am ignoring my children. It merely means I get to incorporate my children into my interests. I always kept a journal growing up but once I got married my journaling stopped. Being able to blog about my boys and my life, as boring as it seems to some people, is something that I really enjoy doing. And my love for photography growing up has only increased now that I have my beautiful boys to pose for me all the time.
It is all so clear to me now that it's not the destination that is so important...it is the journey!! Ok, enough rambling for now...
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 0
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Grandma Lizzie's giveaway inspired me to find out just how Andy sees himself. I know that it appears that the left side of his face bulges out a little strangely and the mole looking thing on his cheek is supposed to be his dimple, but hey...I think he did pretty darn good. I'm loving the speckled freckles everywhere and I know any of us would die to have eyelashes that long right? :) He got over excited about writing his A's at the top of the page and had to cross two of them out because he says "An 'x' means it doesn't belong there."
It is important to me that my children always have good self-confidence and self-esteem in themselves. I hope Andy always knows that he is beautiful inside and out and that he has the worth to accomplish anything he wants to in life. The other night Mark and I started talking about when Andy was six weeks old and Mark left to Nicaragua for 2 1/2 weeks with me and Andy all alone at home. I've been stuck on those moments in my life for a couple days now, remembering just holding little newborn Andy all day and all night, and just having him all to myself to enjoy and cuddle with as much as I wanted. Even now that he is 4 1/2 years old I just want him all to myself. I love him so much. He is more than everything I ever wanted! And because I love him so much I let him sleep in my bed last night because he said "he just wanted me" and that he was afraid of the dark, and Mark was working graveyard. (Shhh! Don't tell Mark because now it'll take 2 weeks to get him out of my bed every night!!!)
After he was finished with his portrait he wanted to cut it out. I tried to take a picture of him with it but he got camera shy and embarrassed.Wednesday, June 17, 2009 0
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
After Andy asked me a million times if we could do a project I agreed and thought this fish project would be quick and easy! I WAS SO WRONG!! Let's just say the tin foil cutting was NOT FUN!! Whatever you do, don't attempt to cut tinfoil while trying to cook dinner at the same time (I nearly burnt everything). I handled this project easily with Andy, (excellent preschool activity) but Luke was out of control with the painting and it was way too complicated for him. Lesson learned! At any rate, I think they turned out cute and we are still enjoying crafts at our house.
Don't you just love how I can't stand to not do one myself? I am such a dork! I can't help myself.
How to Make:
1. I Googled images for "Fish Clipart" and printed out several different fish patterns to work with.
2. After cutting out the fish pattern, paint the fish however you want.
3. While the paint is drying, cut out several strips of gill pattern out of tinfoil. (This really is an adult job in my opinion because it tears so easily).
4. Glue the tin foil pieces to the fish in layers starting from the tail and continue to the head to make a 2-D effect.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 0
Sunday, June 7, 2009
My boys' weekend consisted of happy meals at McDonald's with Grandma and Aunt Ashley, playing with Daddy all afternoon while Mommy had girl's day out with best friend Nancy, a long relaxing walk together as a family (of which when we got home Andy said, "You and Daddy talked a long, long time!") and making SILLY ROBOTS!!
I just merely cut out different shapes out of constructin paper and used odd and end craft supplies that I had on hand to make the robots (buttons, glitter paint, wobbly eyes, etc).
My weekend consisted of a MUCH-NEEDED PEDICURE (first one ever and I will definitely be back) and a million loads of laundry. I would say it was a success. Sunday, June 7, 2009 0
