Operation Playtime-Day 10-bubbles

Today is bubbles, bubbles, bubbles over are Operation Playtime.

I really want to try and make frozen bubbles outside, but the temperature was in the 20's today, I think it should be colder to try this, so maybe another day.
We chose to make bubble prints by using bubble stuff-we used dish detergent and water, straws, food coloring and white paper.

I put the bubble stuff in a pie plate, filling it half full. We then put in red food coloring and carefully mixed it around.

Then Mark and Grace got busy blowing bubbles.

If your youngest children are 2 or

even if they are 3, don't let them try this. Even if you are watching them carefully, and try to grab the straw as they start to suck in, they inevitablely will swallow some, and then throw-up. (This adds time to the clean-up)

We did manage to get some neat "bubble prints" from this painting technique. When the pie tin was overflowing with bubbles we laid the paper onto the bubbles. It is a very interesting look, and the children that weren't throwing up enjoyed them.

Check out other bubble ideas today at Operation Playtime.

Small Successes

1. I have had so much fun this week joining in Operation Playtime. These activities provided many fun family memories that we will always cherish.

2. I fit a reasonable amount of schoolwork in around "real life".

3. My "baby" started sleeping in her first "big girl" bed, and we managed to keep her in it 2 nights (out of 5). The other nights she was happily snuggled between mommy and daddy.

Just because

this photo deserves its own post!!

Luke-3 and a half

Operations Playtime-Day 9-Cornstarch and Water: Who Knew?

Today's official Operation Playtime theme was "Playdoh, gloop, and yuk!" We play with homemade playdoh around here a lot, so today I thought we would try something different. It was also a snowday for the older kids today, so I knew that I have re-enforcements to help clean up a mess!

We have never "played" with cornstarch and water before, but we have seen it highlighted on Mythbusters, so we were looking forward to experimenting with it.

I had no idea! The kids (big and little) played with this for over 2 hours. There is no way to explain the consistency of this mixture. You HAVE to do this with you kids! It is both a liquid and a solid. If you use force on it, such as squeezing it or smacking it, it is hard, but relax, and it immediately turns to a running liquid. TOO COOL!
Everyone got into the act as we began to mix the cornstarch and water together.

I also thought it would be messy, and it looks messy in the pictures, but it easily washed off with nothing but warm water.

Th "old" kids have a big plan for using pounds of cornstarch, water and a kiddie swimming pool this summer.

You can't beat this fun--or face!!

This constanstly moving 3 year old sat at the table for 2 hours doing stuff like this.

Now I just need to find where to buy large quantities of cornstarch for the lowest price.

Check out all the fun at Operation Playtime.

NRA-Here he comes

Yep, he is reading!!

A day I never thought would come

My baby-my 10th baby-my Kimberly-is sleeping in a big girl bed. How could this have happened? I have had an occupied crib in the house for 21 years. The crib, that held my 10 babies, is now dismantled. It is a day I never thought would come, but it came anyway, when I wasn't looking.

Operation Playtime--Day 7-Pretend

Today's Operation Playtime theme is: Pretend.

The kids around here are experts at pretending!! They do it all day long. All it took for several hours of pretend play today was newspaper hats (and one newspaper boat).

I gave a suggestion that the couch be a boat and the kids be pirates, the rug, of course, was the water.

At one point, Mark jumped off the boat and into a "jet ski", but he was supposed to be doing schoolwork, which came to a halt when the hats were made.

The big pirates

or sailors

or Robin Hood

A few hours after the initial fun, I looked into the living room and all the kids were in my chair fishing. (You see, they do know how to pretend.)

Goofy fishermen and women!

Make sure you go and check out all today's Operation Playtime ideas

I Heart Faces--Kids

This week at I heart Faces kids-the theme is joy.

I don't think there is any doubt of the joy Kimberly is enjoying in this photo.
Check out all of this weeks entries at I Heart Faces.

Tot School

Luke's was born on 5/6/2005

Kimberly was born on 5/3/2006

Things this week at Tot School seemed to revolve around fun and less around academics. Which was fine with everyone here!
Kim and Luke had fun sorting and organizing snowman cards which were in my preschool Mailbox magazine. This magazine is one of my favorite, non-internet, resource.

Following the snowman theme, I printed these cute Do-A-Dot pages from DLTK-kid crafts.

These paints are something we get out several times a week.

I also had Luke and Kim help me to cook this week-for the Operation Playtime fun.

These two don't often get to be my "highlighted" helpers, but this week they were, and they had a lot of fun.

Kimberly also learned patience waiting for the cookies to cool.

Keeping with our snowy theme we made picture frames out of craft foam and foam snowflake stickers.

This week we are going to make winter pictures using black construction paper and chalk to put in out frames.

Grace help me make Luke and Kim a train for our wall to keep track of the books we read. Several years ago, when Grace and Mark were tots, we had a caterpillar crawling along, getting bigger as we read more books.

Now we have this train, chugging along the wall near the ceiling. On each train car we write a book that we have read. I am going to add cars once or twice a week so that our train grows at an impressive rate.

We always have a lot of books from the library to keep us busy and to make our train grow.

This week the kids got their first opportunity to fingerpaint.
I made homemade fingerpaint using a recipe I found at Creative Kids at Home. I made the original recipe and am very pleased with it, and it cleaned up suprisingly well.

Notice Kimberly's pointer fingers, it took much encouragement for her to use more than these two fingers, but she finally did it.

Make sure to check out more Tot-School posts at 1+1+1=1.

Welcome Baby Samuel

My niece Jessie and her husband welcomed baby Sam home (to stay!) today and I had to steal this picture from their blog: Our Pride and Joys.
(This picture also features the latest afghan that I have completed.) I love knitting and crocheting, especially when I know such a sweet baby will be wrapped up in all the love I send within the stitches.

Operation Playtime-Day 5-Paint

Today's Operation Playtime activity is paint. I thought that we would give fingerpainting a try. I don't believe my 4 littlest kids have ever fingerpainted. They didn't know what they were missing.
I found a recipe for homemade fingerpaint at the Creative Kids at Home website. I used the original fingerpaint recipe and I was very pleased with it. It also surprised me because it was so easy to clean up, it just dissolved in warm water-it is cornstarch based. I made the three primary colors with the intention of having the kids mix colors-it didn't really work out, but they did have a real lot of fun.

We used the shiny side of freezer paper to paint on, taping it down to the table.

I told the kids to use their pointer fingers and mix new colors. We made orange, green and purple, sort of....

Kimberly was very careful to use her finger

She made purple! She also wanted a washcloth near her because she kept getting so "yucky on my finger".
Great job.

Luke just couldn't stand the one finger rule and started making the color dark gray.

Mark didn't seem to comply to the one finger rule either.

Luke's picture started taking on a splatter effect. I wonder why?

Kimberly did get over the one finger thing-and the yuck factor with the help of Becky.

Yep! She is over her cleanliness issues.

Grace
Mark-

who didn't want to fingerpaint, but realized it was fun.

The only actual art is shown here, and that was done by a 20 year old! Everyone enjoyed today's Operation Playtime. Make sure you go and check out all the fun.