A few notes for Keeley

I have had a little trouble keeping up on the crafting aspect of the blog due to my rambunctious little runt running around. From here on out,  will be focusing on the super fun ones and (of course) spending my days with my runt. Things have been pretty crazy lately. First, came the big move and unpacking. Then, right as we got used to everything, I became ill. Now, the holidays are upon us and we are running around enjoying the season as a family. Many things changed when I became a SAHM, the more time consuming thing being family time. Although, I'm thankful for it, we seem to run around like crazy finding activities and new things to explore. The little one sure enjoys it! 

Honestly, I love staying home and getting to see her grow. She has learned so much in the few short months since I quit my job. She is a HUGE help when it comes time to do chores. Her favorite is unloading the dishwasher and wiping down the table. She has a blast and then runs to her chore chart to add her stickers. She is also very helpful during lunch and dinner time. She LOVES to cook. She loves to help with anything she can. Even if it just means she holds mommy's hand while mommy does the work. She thinks she is conquering the world. So, I will let her have that. I enjoy seeing the pride spread across her face when she accomplishes something and sees the hard work she has done pay off. 

She has grown into such a wonderful little girl. I look at her and wonder where my baby went. It seems like the "infant" stage never happened and at the same time was only a month ago. I look at her and see a mini adult. She is so mature and yet so fragile. She still needs my help putting shoes on and also refuses to admit that she needs help. She can do it all on her own. At least, she thinks she can. She is very independent, loving, and kind. When I was sick, she made sure she took breaks from playing to rub my back, give me a kiss, give me a hug, and tell me she loves me before running off to play again. She continues to amaze me. I couldn't imagine having a child more perfectly suited for me. She is everything I hoped for an more. All I could ask of her is that she STOP GROWING SO QUICKLY! 

Pony bead suncatchers

This one was relatively simple, but time consuming. Not much work involved, but a lot of waiting.
What you need:
Translucent pony beads
Metal pan (cupcake pans work best for little ones and their short attention spans)

Preheat your oven to 350. You WILL need to leave your house while they cook and then let it air out. Unless you open every window and have quite a few extra fans going, I would strongly advise against staying inside. I thought nothing of it, but went in to grab some clothes for fish and after about 5 minutes came outside lightheaded and nauseous. Or, you could do the cooking on a GAS grill. Charcoal results in some ash getting in the suncatchers. Which may show on a few of my pictures as this was our first try. Charcoal also heated unevenly which doesn't work well for this.
Enough of my tips.... Take your pan and place the beads in a single layer as close as possible to eachother. I set all of mine with the holes up, but placing them on their sides results in different shapes. Bake the beads until melted. Once totally liquefied, pull out and set somewhere to cool. Once cooled, they easily popped out. They left a slight mark where the tops were, but I checked it with my fingernail and it removed easily. Next, drill a hole in the suncatchers and hang them with kite string. I haven't completed this step yet. I have a bunch of small ones, but want to make one large one to hang them off of. However, I have to wait for a day when I can take runt outside for a few hours. Once it is completed we will hang it in the window in her room. It could also be used as windchimes. However, I hate windchimes. So, in her room they will stay :)

Fun and rainbows for the runt :)

This week, it was rainbow crayons! This craft was super easy. Although runt only had an interest in the final product, it was still enjoyable for me.
Things you need:
Old crayons (or if you're like me and have no old broken crayons,  dollar store crayons work fine)
A silicone chocolate mold or mini muffin tin

First, unwrap all of the crayons. This is tedious. Preheat oven to 200 (it takes a little longer for crayons to melt, but you are less likely to end up with clear wax on top). Break the crayons into quarter inch pieces and place them in a container to mix them together.
After your oven is ready, place crayon pieces all the way to the top of the mold. I used a silicone chocolate mold because it was decorative and oven safe. You can also stack them a little higher, just be sure that they don't hang out of the actual mold or the wax will not end up in the final product.
Place the mold in the oven for roughly 10 minutes. Be sure to watch the crayons. You need to pull them out as soon as they are melted. They will go from "mostly melted" to "so melted they're separating" in a matter of seconds. This does not harm the final product, it just makes them less attractive.
Once they are fully melted, remove them and place them on the counter to cool. I placed mine in the fridge to speed up the process. After fully cooling, remove and let your little one enjoy!

Family time! Craft #2

This week we did craft #2. She drew her activity and we got colored rice. Surpisingly, this one was super simple and she loved playing with the bags of rice (which helped mommy a lot).
What you need:
A bag of rice
Vinegar
Food colors (preferably liquid, I used neon)
Slide lock baggies (the size you need depends on how much rice of one color you will be making)

1. Seperate the rice into your designated colors. I just scooped it into baggies until I was happy with the number of colors we would end up with (we got 7 good ones and one weird one). This also gave us a chance to play with colors and mix them to create new ones.
2. Start with one baggie of rice. For every cup of rice you will need 1 tablespoon of vinegar. I did 1 cup per bag so the math was simple.
3. Add your food coloring to the vinegar. The vinegar may look really dark, but it lightens up when you mix it with the rice. We averaged 6-10 drops per tablespoon.
4. Add the mixture to the baggie, seal, and let baby squish it around!
5. Lay the rice out to dry. I made foil "pans" and laid them in that overnight.

My runt had a blast with this. She got to smash and squish until she was happy. The final result was some awesome vibrant colors. Later, we will use the rice for a few different activities. They are in her jar and I hope she draws them soon. I really don't want to store it for another year!

Potty training!

So, we aren't going full on with potty training just yet. I mean, my kid turned one not even a week ago. However, we got her a potty chair for a birthday gift figuring we would use it in the next few months (and it was free thanks to fisher price). Two days after her birthday I pulled it out and assembled it. I figured "let's see what happens". Couldn't hurt. At the very least, it would get her used to the chair. So I sat her on her seat next to the big toilet. I sat next to her and waited. Not even two minutes later her chair started singing. It only sings when it senses the child has gone to the bathroom. I thought it was malfunctioning. I mean, no way this kid went the the bathroom. It wasn't! She had gone! I figured it was a fluke and the next time would be torture. It wasn't!  I'm not sure how, but she goes to the bathroom every single time within a few seconds of sitting down. It sings (which is great because she LOVES music) and she dances. We cheer and she claps. We still aren't going full force with it, but she has done great! Now, the question becomes, how do I teach her to tell me when she has to go? For right now, I'm not concerned. I take her in every hour and she goes without fail. So, I'm hoping in a few weeks she will make the connection. Until then, I'm just glad she is trying! I honestly couldn't be more proud of her for at least giving me that!

Building sticks

So, I got a little too excited and instead of waiting a couple days (I had planned on having her pick an activity on sunday, using it as incentive during the week, and completing the activity on Friday or saturday) I made my husband go out and pick up the items today. It was super simple and she loved them. Plus, she can learn fine motor skills, shapes, counting, colors, and the velcro adds a little sensory play.
Items you will need:
Popsicle sticks- you can color them on your own with 20 drops food coloring and 1 cup hot water. Let them soak for at least an hour. I just bought them already colored because it was thirty cents more.
Velcro rounds

Take the popsicle sticks and place one velcro round on each end. You can put a scratchy one and a soft one, two soft ones, or two scratchy ones. I mixed it up so she can learn how velcro works.

Lastly, I got a pencil pouch. Really, any small container will work for taking them on the go (amazing quiet activity for waiting rooms), but I like the pencil pouch that fits in the binder best. Soon, we will be taking a lot of 2-3 hour car rides to visit family. So, she can pick a few pencil pouches for her travel binder and they will be nice and organized in the car. Simple and amazing.

JUST DO IT

Yesterday was my daughter's first birthday!  As exciting as it seems, I actually hate it, but that's another post entirely. This post is about one of the gifts I made her. I call it her "just do it jar". Basically, it's a jar filled with fun things for her to do. I gathered 52 fun activities, put them in simple categories (takes planning, everyday, nice weather, and costs more than $5), and then printed them on colored paper. All of the activities will actually cost about $3! Not only is it super cheap, but it gives us all a chance to make memories. Every week, she will pick one new activity and we will complete the activity as a family. I put in everything from colored spaghetti for dinner to going to the zoo. She will get her jar refilled every year on her birthday and have a whole new list of activities to do. She made her first pick and the winner is..... making building sticks. Every week, I will be sure to post instructions and lots of pictures!