Wrapping Paper inspired by Pinterest

We had some presents to wrap for a birthday party we're going to tomorrow so this afternoon the girls made some wrapping paper.  Last time we made paper we inked some bubble wrap and used it like a stamp.  I want Ada to make more of it because it was beautiful but it's all gone.  It was so nice outside I decided to try doing this outside so we could make a big strip across the driveway and paint out there.

I liked this idea on Pinterest so I diluted some paint and mixed it in baby food jars then poured a little in plastic eggs.  The idea was that Ada could "crack" the eggs and pour them on the paper.

 It wasn't a big hit, but she liked using the little roller and some brushes.  Emma mostly just trampled through paper and made footprints.  She had fun:)

We used up the paint on another strip of paper and flicked paint on it and drove a truck through to make tire tracks.

I think these might be the most beautiful presents ever wrapped :)

What a little park time can do

I know this warm beautiful, not too hot, not too many mosquito weather is going to flit away and I'm trying to enjoy it while it's here.  This morning the girls and I went to a local playground park and had a picnic with some friends.  The girls had an AWESOME time and I loved getting a little exercise.  The park is about 4 miles (according to Google on the bike trail), so I'm feeling pretty good about myself.

Here's a cute before and after.  The first one is right when we got to the park and the second is when we got home almost 3 hours later.  Naps were a requirement.  Even Ada said she wanted to get some sleep today!!  Love it.

School Vacation

Ada is off from school this week so our days are a bit different than usual.  The girls and I get to sleep in and hang together all day long.  Fun times.  The morning is my favorite time when we can just do whatever we want.  Here's a little taste.


The girls in their matching dresses hanging in the backyard.  Ada LOVES it when they match and when both of these dresses are clean she insists they both wear them :)

Ada painting.  She told me she wanted to draw her Papa.  You can see his brown eyes.  I'm not sure what the green and yellow were supposed to be, but she likes to draw the parts of the body individually.  The orange was the "blood" and she went on a bit of a monologue about how the blood is on the inside and goes all over the body.  

Emma painting like her big sister and loving it!

Sunday Funday

Today was a day filled with awesome family fun.  I didn't document much so I could focus on enjoying rather than taking pictures.

The whole family slept in- Tony and I woke up in our bed, because we woke up NOT because someone else came in...and it was 9:30!  I want to say for the record that this is the latest Ada has ever slept in.  We had a loungy nice breakfast all together.  We played and were silly.  We went on a nice bike ride (girls in the trailer) to a park a couple miles from our house.  We had lunch and naps (well, Ada didn't but it was totally worth it to sleep in).  We went to a dinosaur exhibit at the nature center near us to "show papa the 'ceratops" that we saw last week.  Went for a walk around the nature center and saw some ducks.  The two males were putting on quite a display to woo the female and Emma was keen to say hello.

Everyone was happy.  It was a good day.  Came home for dinner.  Burgers on the grill...for 2 minutes until we ran out of propane and moved it inside, but we all rolled with it.  After dinner we went outside and made a fire just for fun.

Evidence of the very good day you ask?

Sitting by the fire watching papa burn stuff.  Moments later Ada moved her chair next to Emma and the girls held hands.  Sorry, but the battery ran out on the camera.  Trust me it was awesome.  Love these people.

Robin Work

I had seen this idea on Pinterest a while back and decided it would make a nice spring work.  I cut a piece from our basement carpet scraps and put it in a tray with a small "nest" and some pieces of brown yarn (worms).  We've been noticing all the robins around our yard and Ada can identify them from other birds so I printed off a few google images to reinforce her knowledge- and she loves to "teach" her sister, so it was perfect.  For the record, this is more of a loose interpretation of Montessori, but it works for us.  I love the pictures of the chicks and the eggs.

Sorry- couldn't get this one to rotate.

She pretends she is the mama bird delivering worms to her baby chicks.  We extended this to pretend that we were mama and baby birds.  I got to be the mama, then I was the baby and she would fly around the living room and bring back worms for me.  The best was when Emma joined in but instead of making her beak with her hands over her mouth, she made little clasping hands over her little eyes.  Too cute!  It was a fun time.

I would describe my self as someone who is striving to have a simple, prepared environment for the girls.  But we do not have one of those neat little organized spaces like you will see on some of the Montessori or Waldorf blogs.  But I try.  Another thing that I saw at Ada's school that I loved was the mats used to do work on.  It's a nice visual cue to others that you are doing work, it's contained and I just like it.  The girls do too.  We have one of those little rag rugs that we use (from back in the day of our Maynard house) and a beautiful quilt that was made by a dear Aunt when Ada was born.  They work perfectly.  Emma will pull out a mat and I help her get it layed out.  Sometimes she works just like Ada and does her work, puts it back on the tray and shelf.  Sometimes I help her put it away.  I figure it's all good practice for school.

Here's the beauty in action...

This particular time the mats stopped a serious session of "NO EMMA, THIS IS MY WORK" I sometimes let them work it out on their own.  Sometimes I intervene, and this time I simply put out the other mat and put the stacking blocks on top.  Then, instant quiet and play.  LOVE!

Happy Spring!

We've been struggling with the domino head/chest cold around here so this is a little delayed.  The unseasonably warm weather has been a nice way to enjoy the change of season.  We've been able to spend loads of time outside in the past couple of weeks.  Mostly we hang in the back yard.  Emma's favorite is to get in and out of the cozy coupe and occasionally steer her car.  She scouts for birds and dogs and just generally loves being outside- who doesn't?  Ada loves being pushed high on the swing and running around playing "crab"- someone runs around chasing the other clasping hands like crab claws.  Then she will change to another animal (shark, dolphin, turtle, whale) and we will pretend to be that animal and on and on.  It's fun, but tiring if you're not 3.

Thanks to the Trader Joe's 1.49 daffodils, we did a nice little flower arranging work.  After her nap Ada poured the water into the vase and trimmed the stems.  Being Ada, she was curious about the flower and wanted to know what was inside.  It was a natural opportunity to talk about the parts of a flower and we got out the magnifying glass and even compared it to another flower (Christmas cactus).  Fun stuff!

*** I forgot to add this to the original post- I blame the fever***

I wanted to put in a plug for this awesome book.  A dear friend gave us another book by Carin Berger when Ada was born and we fell in love with it immediately.  I have since purchased another by the same author.  The artwork is unique and beautiful.  Forever Friends is an excellent book for spring telling the story of a bunny and a migrating bird reunited after the long lonely winter.  I simply adore this book.  Definitely worth checking out of the library this season!!

Puddle Hunt

Ada wearing her ballerina, raincoat, rain boots...searching for puddles to splash after dinner.