Salt playdough

I found a great recipe for a no cook salt playdough.

What you will need:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the water a little bit at a time. You may not need all of the water. You want the dough to look like cookie dough. But not sticky. Kneed the dough on a floured surface, about 5 minutes. The more you or the kids play with the dough the smoother it will be. After the kids are done playing you can air dry the dough, takes about 48 hours to dry. Or you can store in a plastic bag for about a week or maybe two.

Owen Had fun playing with the salt dough. He liked putting things in the dough and cutting it. Owen is still not sure about the texture. When he plays with the dough some times he holds up his hands and says yucky. So I have to wipe off his hands and then he will go back to playing with it. He is too funny. I sit Owen in his high chair and put on of my slipat mats down and give him a couple of objects for him to use with the dough, a rolling pin, cookie cuter, rice, a key, and a yogurt cup. Next time we are going to do hand prints!

I am always looking for new playdough recipe. Do you have one?

A Thoughtful Gift

I would like to share with you a gift I received at Christmas this year. I know it is almost the end of January. LOL. I come from a very large extended family every year we pick a name for Christmas this year my cousin Alex picked my name. :-) Being cousins we have knew each other all if our lives. But over the past couple of years we have gotten to know each other a lot better. Alex works in the fashion Industry she also dose styling services. I wish she lived closer so she could help me with my closet.. Alex also has a blog, http://amfaay.wordpress.com check it out.

Ok so back to me bragging about my gift that I love. A little background, I have been really into crocheting, making hats and blankets and other goodies. Alex gave me a porcelain bowl that has the texture and the look as if it was crocheted. I LOVE it!! I know the perfect spot, on my craft table in my craft room. But.... well... Let's just say that room is not ready yet. So I have been moving it around my house trying to find the perfect temporary home for it. The bowl has lived for a couple of days on the fireplace mantel, the window seal above the sink, on the kitchen counter. I love being able to see it every day it puts a smile on my face and reminds me how thoughtful it was of Alex. When I was getting dinner ready I spotted it and wanted to share it with you.

She also gave the kids the cutest socks!!!!!

Do you have a gift that someone has giving you that gives you that warm and fussy feeling when you see it or thinking about? Leave a comment I would love to hear about it.

Shaving cream paint

I came across an idea for shaving cream paint that you can use in the bathtub. The best part it is cheap! If you were to buy bath paint in the store it could be up to $15.00 for art work that will go down the drain. I bought a can of shaving for under a $1 at Target. Here is what you will need, one can of cheap white shaving cream and food coloring. In a plastic bowl add your shaving cream and a drop or two of food coloring. And you are done. Your little one can finger paint on the walls in the bath or they can use a paint brush. When I do this with Owen I put him in the tub without water so her can paint all over the tub then I turn on the water Owen loves it! He paints the walls, shower door, and himself. This activity is a go to for us when I want to make bath time a little bit special.
**We don't have grout in our shower so I don't know if the colored shaving cream stains the grout. But I can say that the clean up in for a shower that has no grout is a great. Owen likes pouring water on the walls to help the clean up.

Mirror sensory activity

A great sensory activity that I do with the kids is mirror play. I did this with Owen when he was a baby and Emily loves it just like her big brother. One of Emily's new favorite things to do is smile and talk to her reflection in a mirror. I prop the mirror against the couch or the wall. Now that Emily likes to stand (with our help) she loves to see what a big girl she is. She lets out a giggle when she sees herself standing. Owen likes to make funny faces at us. I also take this time to practice pointing out the features on our face. I also lay the mirror on the ground and let the kids explore their reflection and the reflection of toys. Emily is still not to sure about this one but she likes watching her brother be silly

Walk to the park

It is a sunny day in San Diego! And it is Friday! A perfect day for going to the park and story time at the library. Oh and of course you can't forget feeding the birds. Owen loves feeding the birds. He will throw bread to the birds and then eat some and them give more to the birds. He talks to them as he feeds them it is as if is saying " don't fight over the bread" or " One at a time". Owen is too funny. Emily loves walking to the park also she takes the best naps in the Bob Duallie Revolution. Emily is still not to sure about the birds. Once the bread was gone it was off to the park. I love watching Owen make new friends. He is becoming more and more independent every day. Owen wants to do ever thing on his own, no help from mom. This makes me proud and a little sad at the same time. We played in the park for almost an hour, I don't think Owen stopped running for the full hour. Story time at the library was fun Emily showed everyone her beautiful smile. Owen even sat still for half of story time. A big improvement. Lol.
Time for a nap!

What do you like to do on a sunny Friday day?

Granny square blanket for my Granny

Two years ago I made my a granny square blanket for my grandma for Christmas. It was a small lap blanket that she could use when she watched Jeopardy. Now I have a couple blankets under my belt I think it is a good time to make her a new one. For her birthday. The colors that I have chosen are yellow, white, and gray. I have yet found a gray that I liked but I have stated on the squares. My goal is to do at lest 2 squares a day. I will get you updated on my progress.

Great Fabric Find!!!!

I Went to our local antique / secondhand store and found about 2 yards of red elephant fabric!!! I love it. And it was only $3. :-). Now I just need to find something to make. Maybe some fabric baskets or a new diaper bag. I think I need to check out my likes on pinterest, I am sure I will find some thing good on there.
The kids love it too!

Water color on a rainy day

We have another rainy day in San Diego. Another day inside. :-( so I grabbed a couple of sheets of paper and the water colors. I also grabbed a sheet of water color paper so we could make a gift for a very special person, my grandmother the kids great grandma. My grandma is a very talented artiest. My sister and I would spend summers with my grandparents in Michigan. One of the rooms in their house was my Grandma's art room, she would let us experiment with any thing in the room. I can remember sitting at her art table and playing. I also have a shoe box full of hand made water color cards made by my grandma. So I thought she would love a card made for her by he great grandson. I know that I am Owen's mom but he is getting really good at water color. Can't wait to send her the card. I will post a picture of the final card soon.

Raining day fun!!!

There once was a day when on a raining day I would grab a blanket pop some popcorn and put in a movie. Maybe even take a nap. Well those days are gone, for now I guess. Now the first thing I think is....... What am I going to do with a toddler when we can't go outside!!!!!!
I had a few actives in mind. But as you may know toddlers also have their own ideas and some times or most of the time.
Our 1st activity was baby oil playdough. This stuff was so cool and so easy to make. The recipe is 1 cup baby oil and 2 cups flour. This Can be messy. So if you are doing this inside make sure to put some thing on the ground, I used 2 sheets and a towel. Owen helped pour in the baby oil and mix. The texture was like soft cookie dough. We had a lot of fun playing and it made our hands so soft and smell great. Next time I think I am going to add a little food coloring to the baby oil before we mix it.
Our 2nd activity was making Little volcanos. Now Owen is almost 2 so we had to make little volcanos. I poured baking soda in a bowl then in a small bowl I added a couple drops of food Coloring to white vinegar. I showed Owen how to use a dropper. Owen would laugh every thine a drop of vinegar would land in the baking soda a bubble up. Emily thought it was funny when Owen would laugh. Owen really laughed when I let him pour all of the vinegar in the bowl. Can't wait for the summer we will have to make a really big volcano.
We also did the standard rain day fun. Making a tent out of a blanket and chairs in the living room ( Emily loved playing under the blanket), coloring books and a lunch picnic in the living room with a movie on.
It was a fun raining day.

Martha Stewarts home keeping handbook and me!

I was giving this book for Christmas a couple of years ago. I think my family might of been trying to tell me something. :-)
Well now that I am a stay at home mom of 2 wonderful kids and the wife of a great man. I think it might be time for me to really read the book. I hope that this book will give me tips on how to keep my house looking perfect. Wish me luck! I will keep you up to date on how I am doing and what I am doing.

First thing first I need to make a schedule.

Potato stamping

Yesterday Owen was helping his mommy clean the craft room. Well let's face it Owen helped as much as a toddler can. He loved playing with my stamps and made a very big mess. :-) This gave me the idea for potato stamping.
I found a potato in the pantry that was growing. LOL. Perfect for paint and little fingers. I made very simple shapes using a melon baller.
At first Owen jumped right in and started to finger paint. After I showed him that the potatoes made shapes the stamping fun began. After about 20 minutes I had two new paintings for my wall and a very colorful little man.
Off to the bath.

Happy New Year!!

It has been a couple of days since my last post. Our family. Had a wonderful Christmas. Emily's first! She slept though gift opening. This year Owen really got into opening gifts. It was fun watching him tear open the wrapping paper, fall in love with each gift and want to play with it right a way. Dave also had time off from work so we were able to have family time. Everyone got the cold that is going around so the big plans for the zoo was put on the back burner. But the time we spent at home was great.
I am looking forward to the new year!! So many great things are ahead I
can feel it. :-).
I hope everyone had a great holiday!!