Orange Candles

This time of year I am anticipating the long, dark winter so I'm searching out warmth in all its forms. Shorter days bring out the need for comfort.

The straight-haired girl made orange candles. We melted down two tapers that were past their prime and poured the wax into clove studded orange hemispheres. They have burned for quite a while now, giving off light and warmth and a wonderful holiday aroma.

Paper Dolls to Print Out and Enjoy

I love the artwork at Lily and Thistle. I only wish I'd thought of the paper doll idea myself. Sigh.
(To get your free printables, click here.)

Happy Hearts Day

Last summer, I painted a tree on the Straight-haired girl's wall. She absolutely loves it and wants to turn her entire room into the Big Woods. For Valentine's Day, I made up little red hearts from construction paper and wrote things I appreciate about her on them. Then, I taped them to the wall over the top of the leaves on the tree. She moved them all to her owls, right over her bed.

Red construction paper - $1.99, sharpie markers - $3.99, fillin' up the love tank - priceless.

Cornstarch Clay

When we look for fun things to do, we like to make big messes. This particular activity fits the bill admirably!

Here is a list of what you need: 1 c. cornstarch, 1 box of baking soda, 1 1/2 c. water. Mix the dry ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir in the water with a wooden spoon, or metal, just don't use a whisk. If you do, you'll regret it later, I can tell you from experience...big mess #1.

Now that they are all mixed up, put them on the stove on low to medium heat and prepare to stir like mad for about half an hour. Don't think you can walk away from this one and come back later. Oh no. Picture lumpy gravy and a gelatinous mass...big mess #2. It will fizzle and splatter, but don't let that deter you from stirring. Mix, mix, mix, for all you are worth. Sooner or later, it will start to coagulate. When it does, keep stirring! In fact, if your arm threatens to fall off and march away, ignore it. It probably doesn't really mean what it says.

When the mixture gets all glumpy and sticky and you can stir and see the bottom of the pan, it's approaching done. It will never roll up into a ball, like playdough; but it will become easy to move off of the side of the pan without leaving wet residue. At that point, take it off the heat and let it cool a bit so you still have fingerprints when you are done. You don't want to overcook it and let it start changing colors much or I'm pretty sure you will get big mess #3. I don't know, just sayin.'

When it is cool enough, turn it out onto a surface that has been heavily dusted with cornstarch. Just don't slam it or...big messes #4, 5 and 6 (add one for every kid that has their nose too close). Knead it and work with it until it is clay like and ceases to resemble a big pile of mashed potatoes.

At that point, shape it into anything you like, place it on a baking sheet and bake it for 30 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. When the 30 minutes are up, turn off the heat and leave it in the oven for another hour to harden off. If, for some strange reason, your creations are still damp at that point, leave them to dry on a wire rack overnight. Make sure they are dry, dry, dry, or they will end up being a science experiment rather than an artistic masterpiece.

When you are sure they are dry (see above), they can be painted...big mess #7.

Edited to add last photo, 2/17/11.

Flying Low to the Ground

After supper, we all piled into the van and headed off to the Eighth Street Ice Rink. Yep. That's right. For all you people who live in basketball land, that's a hockey rink. H-o-c-k-e-y. It's a hockey rink, because it's outside. The intrepid people who live in our town (and others across the fine state we live in) just poured water on the frozen tundra, and kept doing it until a rink formed. Then, they periodically plowed the snow off the ice. Magic.

Tonight we were lucky. No one else was in sight. The rink had just been cleared with a zamboni and dusted with fresh snow. The girls were in skating heaven.

Two rinks to fly across and no one else in sight. The curly-headed girl just needed us to know that her toes were numb because her feet were growing out of her skates. She didn't really expect anyone to do anything about it because that would have taken precious time away from what really mattered - skating.

She was skating! You can see the joy on her face. She was not falling down. Much. She was almost flying she was going so fast!

 

Please don't hate us, prairie-dwellers. We know you pay big money to strap on skates and glide on ice. But up here? It's free! I can't even believe this is the first winter we have done this since we've moved up here. We must be learning how to live up north. The curly-headed girl was quick to inform us that this ice is safe. because there is no water underneath it, just grass. It's amazing: They know how thick the ice must be before it's safe. It's inherent knowledge, just like knowing which way is north.

What To Do On a Cold, Cold, Wet Day

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See?

We can have lots of fun that is funny!

Time Out for a Donut?

I have discovered this little game online, thanks to my Canadian friends. It's dangerous if you live near a Tim Horton's! Otherwise, you should be o.k. Unless, of course, you have a Krispy Kreme nearby. (Sadly, we do not...)

Fun With Your Oscillating Fan

Not that I'm advocating dangerous play or anything: This is probably not good fun for a preschooler. But, by the time they can safely ride a bike they have probably learned that revolving things aren't safe for their fingers.

So with that in mind, here's our list: Stand over the uptilted fan and act like the Stay-puff Marshmallow Man; put your face near the fan and use the "Turbo Fan" voice; blow streamers out into the room and let your siblings run through them; and lastly, use the fan for cooling off when it's super hot outside. If the temperature reaches 70 during the day, you probably should use a fan to prevent heat stroke. It's just a good safety precaution, you know.

Another List

Only the curly-headed girl...

Cinder-freckle-frog-faced-Ella

They don't get to see their cousins much. 

They all live far away  -

at the other end of the earth.

When they do get together,

they spend their time teaching each other 

things that will drive the rest of the family crazy.

"We're the fall sisters, and what do fall sisters do?"

"They fall!"

Apparently,

all this nonsense

was slightly confusing

for the Small Blond Child.
Or maybe, she's just more laid back than her cousins.

Knee High to What! A Giant?

She is growing, but apparently the corn is growing faster!

Who Knew?

Apparently, spondoolicks is a real word! And here I thought it was nonsense...sorry Grandma!

Foraging for Food

Do we know how to have fun with nature or what?

Yes, the tent is set up in the living room. Your eyes are not deceiving you. When we can't get out and camp in the woods, we like to pretend. I found this tent on clearance at our local Stuff-Mart, and it has been a favorite plaything for the entire time we have owned it. The straight-haired girl maintains that what makes the tent so special is the gear hammock in the roof: Baer has his own place to sleep!

And since the tent was set up in the living room, we decided it was only natural to forage for some food. I hid dessert (chocolate) in an obscure place and left little white index cards scattered hither and yon. They ran all over the house searching for them. I didn't think it would be THAT much fun. The curly-headed girl has already decided we should do it again, but I do need to tell her that dessert will not be ice cream. I don't need a puddle of that in the bottom of my closet!

Just in case you think we are softies and unconnected with nature, we did go outside and garden for at least an hour today. Give us some credit, please!

"Image"-ine My Surprise!

I stumbled upon this little self-portrait.

It's so her! (Note the missing tooth.)

Cooking with the Straight-Haired Girl

The straight-haired girl is giving me lots of ideas these days. Here is the latest: Mud Pies! Anyone can make a mud pie. They are very easy. All you need is a "digger," some mud and a frisbee.

A frisbee? I'm lost already.

And she's going to teach her dad to bake Blueberry Muffins tomorrow, because, "it would be good if he knew how to cook." At least it's never boring around here!

Childhood

It all started because I needed a place to put those tiny baby things I could not bear to part with.

Then, they outgrew the dance shoes...

Next, the Baer and the blankie. Both of which have been duplicated at her request, by the way.

Somehow, along the way, it has morphed into this. Many wonderful things are in those boxes. (The straight-haired girl loves even the smell of hers. Every so often, she feels the need to drag it out and take her time going through it. She can't believe her wrist was ever that tiny!)

And when they feel the need to save something they've outgrown, they have a place to keep it. The childhood is for them, not for me. O.k. Well, maybe I can still put things in there, too.

Maybe I should rent a couple of storage bins...

Spring Has Sprung!

The Jar of Fun

Pipsqueak, Inc. is proud to have our first guest post today. The Curly-Headed Girl is here to bring you a fun new activity for your house. It provides lots of fun, and if you're down in the dumps, "use the Jar of Fun." It'll make you happy because it's fun and you get to spend time with your Mom.

First, you get a jar. Make sure it's clean. You don't want any yucky smells. Then you write down fun stuff to do on little slips of paper and put them in the jar. Make sure the jar has a lid though. When you shake it, you don't want every little slip going flying.

Next, you get the decorative paper and stuff you want to decorate your jar. We picked ice cream and polka-dot paper. Then you put the paper on wherever you like it. You have to write "Jar of Fun" on some paper for a label. If you want to, you can put paper on the lid. Also you can put a ribbon around the lid. If you want to, add a gem and buttons.

Then you pull out a slip of paper and have fun! Now if that doesn't make your day happy, we give up.

Tasty Snackiness

What do you do when the kids are hungry and all you have is a bag of half stale mini marshmallows, a box of Golden Grahams and some chocolate chips you might be willing to part with? *Mini S'mores* (Just sure to melt the chocolate chips first so you can dip your puffy, golden marshmallows.) Can't you taste them now?

And the best thing about this snack is the judicious use of open flames. The kids loved it!

Who Thinks Up These Things?

We were thinking summer today…the weather was way too nice for this time of the year. The curly-headed girl is ALWAYS asking me, “If I do this, will it count for school?” Today, she asked about a lemonade stand.

Who am I to stand in the way of learning and progress?

They mixed up some truly awful Kool-Aid type drink and threw in a sliced up lemon for good measure. They called their dad to have him deliver paper cups. They made wildly colored signs and figured out how to set up the table. Then they ran into a snag:

“Mom, there’s not enough traffic here.” (True.)

“We could go to Gramma’s house!” (You should ask first.)

“Yeah, let’s take our roller blades!”

The dirty little secret was out. They weren’t so much interested in learning first hand about supply and demand. They just wanted to go put Gramma and Grampa’s new cement driveway to the use for which it was obviously intended. So we packed everything up in the van and drove to their house.

To give them credit, they did set up the table and tape the signs to it. They tried not to let roller-blades that were already on their feet distract them from potential customers. When a car drove by, they zoomed back down the driveway to wave wildly and flap a sign at whoever happened to be driving it. But traffic was slim and the weather was only marginally fit for a cold glass of lemonade at best. Even the guys roofing across the street weren't tempted. Things were looking rather grim.

Then a car stopped at the end of the block and turned around. A little gray-haired lady stepped out and ordered a glass of lemonade for twenty-five cents. She paid for it with two quarters, thanked the girls and drove away. The girls were thrilled. Someone appreciated their effort. Their dejection was forgotten in an instant.

That one glass of lemonade and the kindness of a stranger made all the difference in the world.