ben's car wash

early last week it got mighty warm here in kansas,
warm enough for some water fun outside.

after ben's quiet time, we moved his "cars" to the front yard (more shade),
turned on the water and got out the dish soap.

he was occupied for almost two hours!!!
it was wonderful.



if you know ben, you know he is a fan of thomas the train
(even though his interests seem to be changing to "bigger" kid things),
he loves books and he has an amazing memory.
roll all that together with a car wash and you are not just washing
a car, a wagon and a tricycle.
no, no
he was washing madge, the flatbed truck (his wagon),
duncan, a narrow gauge engine (his little push car)
and a new bicycle for mr. percivil (his tricycle).

what a kid! independent, determined and focused (when he wants to be).
and always thinking.
always.

i am so thankful to share in his world.

beans, glue and paper plates

last friday i did another quick activity with ben.
super easy!

1 - rounded up supplies: paper plates, glue, beans and a pen
2 - drew a 'B', a flower and a sun
3 - traced the lines with white glue and put some glue on a plate for dipping
4 - ben placed the beans

this kept ben occupied and interested.
he even made a "crazy shape" one by himself.

i tried to introduce a new vocabulary word - "abstract",
but he still calls it "crazy".

then we made sugar cookies.

ben is always in charge of sprinkles.
doesn't that make you want to eat one of our cookies???
just kidding - i've learned.
ben only gets a few of his own cookies to decorate.
mom does the rest.

planting a paper garden

i must say i often struggle keeping ben busy -
he loves learning, he has TONS of energy, and he loves to help me with whatever i might be doing.
which is wonderful, but sometimes i need something he can work on by himself.
i've seen some fun ideas for busy bags and projects for preschoolers,
but i don't always have time to organize projects or ideas.
so i've been trying to come up with some of my own simple, interesting and frugal projects for ben.

here's something we've been doing this week -
planting a garden (on paper).

since we are not growing a garden of our own this year (trying to tackle some other home projects),
i decided it was okay to cut-up the garden catalogs.
ben has really enjoyed helping with our garden the past couple of years,
so he got pretty excited about choosing his vegetables, fruits and flowers for his own garden.

initially i did not have the images cut out when this idea came to me,
but i quickly realized that it would be much better with the images already being cut out.
i think i cut the rest of them while watching a little tv in the evening,
and the next day ben was able to plant his garden without much help from me.
just a few "what is this called?" and he was occupied.

we've also been outside doing fun things like sidewalk chalk.
i traced ben and he helped me color in his clothes,

and a kite was most appropriate for a windy kansas day.


and what was miss julia doing?
observing, of course.

simple kid kitchen

one of these days i would love to make something like this...

kitchen diy from fresh cut flours

 kitchen diy from my little gems

 kitchen diy from rambling renovators

but for now this will have to do...

it only took about an hour (with ben helping of course)

two cardboard boxes

two brown bags

markers

empty plastic container

packing tape

some of the best things about our cheap, easy project...

great for imaginative, creative play - just add some pots, pans, dishes and utensils

doesn't take up much room

easily stored away at the end of the day

can be moved around the house

with basically no cost - it could last one day or one month, and it won't matter

 and what is ben's favorite thing to make?

PIZZA!

this is his favorite toy right now.

he's always talked about the one at his friend's house, and last week he got one in the mail.

it's been a huge hit (even competing with his thomas the trains) and i love to see what new creations he comes up with.  we've even been served strawberry and rhubarb pizza.

bon appetit!

gobble gobble

Our day was cold and rainy with a few snowflakes mixed in.  Not the kind of weather that makes you feel like leaving the house, but early this morning Ben and I headed to a playgroup.  Some of our friends invited us to meet at their church for a Thanksgiving craft session.  It was really fun (and organized)!  Even though I was dressed like I wasn't planning to leave the house, I am glad we decided to hop in the car and take part.

There were three craft projects for the kids...

handprint turkeys

(Ben and I forgot to add the details with markers)

 paper plate pumpkin pies 

(with real cinnamon and a magnet on back)

say that fast ten times!  :)  this was my favorite one.

and pilgrim hats

 

Then the kids were served the cutest snacks - homemade, chocolate cookie turkeys along with popcorn and dried cranberries.  Wish I had thought to take a picture.  Ben LOVED it all!  In fact, he was the last one at the table - still eating - when we had to start picking up.  :)  I think that boy is going to LOVE Thanksgiving this year!

Two of my favorite Ben lines right now...

"Gobble, gobble" 

(when prompted with "what does the turkey say?")

"Santa's closet" 

(that's what he calls our Santa Claus movie)  It's the sweetest!

and one of my favorite things in our house right now...

 a personalized refrigerator

Priceless!

brown bag jack-o-lantern

While I was out for a walk with Ben last week, I started to think of ways we could make some easy Halloween decorations.  The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Halloween (and autumn too) is usually a pumpkin of sorts.  I'm not really sure why I thought of using the brown bag, but it worked pretty well.  It's toddler friendly (with a little assistance) and completely created with items you can probably find at home.  

Supplies

• brown paper bag
• tissue paper - orange, yellow and green
• raffia or ribbon
• crayons or markers
• glue stick
• scissors

• Draw the face for your jack-o-lantern on the paper bag using crayons or markers.

• Cut out the shapes with scissors.  (I did this step for Ben.)

• Tear small pieces of tissue paper and glue them to the paper with the glue stick.  Try to not cover the face of your jack-o-lantern.

(I thought this would be a hit because Ben loves to shred paper,

but on this day he was occupied with the glue stick.)

Use as much tissue paper as you like.

• Then we put some rocks in a plastic bag and placed them in the bottom of the paper bag.  Just to provide some weight so it doesn't tip over.

• Scrunch and crumple the yellow tissue paper and place it in the bag.
  
  Now you are ready to tie the top...

• Cut around the top of the bag. I found it worked best to cut down vertically around the top several inches of the paper bag - making it easier to tie the top, and have the green tissue stay put and be more noticeable.

• Scrunch and roll some of the green tissue paper, place it in the top of the brown paper bag.

• Last step - securely tie the top of the pumpkin with raffia or ribbon to create the stem.

Happy Halloween!

In my mind, Ben and I were going to make a bunch of these in various sizes and with different faces, but we were lucky to finish one.  :)  That's my excuse for not having a few more pictures of some of the steps.

present & balanced

I am definitely guilty of analyzing my past and worrying about the future.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I drive my husband nuts some days, especially late at night when I can't stop my brain from thinking, thinking, thinking.  But don't get me wrong, I am also someone who likes to have plans and goals for the future, and I like to reflect on the past and learn what I can from it.  It can just be difficult to find the right balance, and lately I have really been struggling with this.  The worst part of it all is that I often miss out on the PRESENT.  I've really been thinking about this lately and trying to be better about balancing my past and future, while living each day with a focus on the present.

Leave it to my Mom to send me a little note... just when I needed it.

  
If I did not simply live from one moment to the next, it would be impossible for me to be patient, but I look only at the present.  I forget the past, and take good care not to forestall the future.  When we yield to discouragement or despair, it is usually because we think too much about the past and the future.

- St. Therese of Lisieux

As part of my effort to really focus on the most important things in my life, I've tried to start doing more projects and arts & crafts with Ben.  It's so fun that he is getting old enough to do more things like that with me and I love helping him learn.  (Not to mention that I find some of the things we do pretty fun myself!)  Each day he's even more of his own little person, and I don't want to miss any of it!  

Here's what we did today...

The idea is from Marigold Road

A nature bracelet.  Well, I made a nature bracelet.  My son decided that he wanted nothing to do with sticky tape.  All you do is put the tape around your wrist, sticky side out, but he wanted it "OFF!" as soon as I put it on.  I went ahead with the project and made a beautiful bracelet from things I found around the yard while Ben put things he found in the gutter.  Quite a successful project!

This weekend I plan to spend time with my husband, my son and my sewing machine.

 Hope you enjoy your weekend!