More Mom's Club...

Have I mentioned I love my neighborhood? I love the location, the large trees that line the street, and the low property taxes! But most of all.... I love the ladies that live here.

We got together almost every week this summer to play at the park, go swimming, or hike around a lake but I only brought my camera a few times. I'm kind of sad it's all over!

Around Pioneer Day we had a parade. We met up at the flood run off, grassy area park to decorate our bikes and strollers with balloons, flags, and streamers. I brought my 4th of July banner for the stroller...

When everyone was happy, we lined up for a group shot:

Then we took off for a trip around the neighborhood. We started off by telling all of the kids to say behind the double stroller because we would be walking on a busier road...

You can see how well the kids followed directions:

Oh well. By that time we were on the less busy roads. But the kids had fun.

Although, it was really hot. The second we walked in the door when we got home we busted out the popsicles!

We also tried out a new splash park: Mountview Park (1651 E. Fort Union Blvd). It was really busy - but oh so fun.

(Sorry friends, apparently these two are always in my line of sight... I'm feeling bad that I didn't get more pictures of the other kids!)

Funny story... while chatting with the other moms I periodically check to make sure Harvey is in my line of sight and playing happily with the other kids. During one of these checks I noticed him playing on a bouncy-horse-teeter-totter-thingy with a .... man? Upon closer inspection I saw that it was a teenaged boy. Umm, okay. They seemed to be playing nice, so I just kept my eye on them. Then Harvey came back to where the other kids were so I didn't think anything of it and started chatting again.

Then my friend Rachael calmly said, "Tiff, I think Harvey wants to get off..." And I look up to see Harvey screaming his head off on some death-trap contraption that looked like a funnel and could be spun around at speeds that should never be seen at any children's park. It was up high; high enough that the younger kids - Harvey included - couldn't climb up on their own. I didn't worry about it previously because he couldn't access it! But as I jumped up and ran over to where he was, I quickly scanned the situation... Harvey and previously mentioned teenaged boy were inside the funnel, while two other teenaged boys were spinning the thing as fast as they possibly could. All three were WELL within rage (duh, they were within 2 feet of the poor child) to know that Harvey was scared out of his mind and wanted off. I turned into a mama bear and screamed at the boys, "What the HELL?!", while shoving the two boys out of the way to stop the apparatus. They looked a little scared. "What were you THINKING? WHO puts a three year old on this thing then spins it as fast as they can?" I grabbed Harvey, and they quickly apologized.

After Harvey realized he was not going to die (like 30 seconds after I grabbed him) he was ready to go play with the kids his age. Note to self... teenaged boys can be pretty stupid.

Best part? The look on the kids' (that know me) faces when I got back to the blanket where we were sitting. Apparently, I taught them a new swear word. Oops.

Mom's Club Olympics

My ward has the most awesome Mom's Club. I've heard stories about other wards, and I'm so grateful that I live amongst women who consistently uplift me, serve me, and welcome me. Last year we just met at a local park every Wednesday. It was especially good for me to have something scheduled to get me out of the house. I was pregnant and just realizing how easy it is to become a hermit when you become a stay-at-home-mom.

This year someone thought it would be fun to plan some different activities so the older kids that were out of school for the summer would have more fun. So a few of us divided up the days so we would each plan one activity per month.

Hopefully I'll get around to blogging about the other activities soon, but this week I planned a little Olympics to coincide with the fabulous Summer Olympics going on right now. I kept things pretty simple.

We did some track and field... sprints & (imaginary) hurdles:

(I'm not sure why Harvey is on the ground..?)

And the long jump:

And a shot put... using shoes (This was hilarious to watch. Can you see the little shoes at the top of the pics?):

We did some gymnastics (cartwheels, somersaults, and handstands), although I didn't get any pictures. After all of the "events" we headed back to the pavilion. I had paper, tape, and crayons for the kids to make their own flag. They turned out so cute!

(For instructions on how to make a flag out of one sheet of 8.5x11 paper and a piece of tape, check out this post by The Chocolate Muffin Tree.)

Then we had awards and treats. I made Olympic Torches (inspired by A Small Snippet), and Oreo Gold Metals (inspired by Mirabelle Creations).

I didn't want to spend a ton of money on the Fruit by the Foot for the medals, so I found these Rips Whips instead for only a couple bucks. And bonus - they came in Olympics colors!

(I copied the wording for the tag from Little Birdie Secrets). The kids loved them. And some even wore them around their neck!

Simple... and fun. The recipe for a great Mom's Club activity.

Summer Plans

I love summer.

And about 2 weeks ago I started planning out every second of our summer this year with fun, thoughtful, and educational things to do. But then I started dreading all of the structure. Wouldn't it be nice just to wake up, ask Harvey what he wanted to do and then go do it? Or get a phone call from a friend asking if we could fill-in-the-blank-with-something-fun-here, and be able to drop everything and go?

Definitely.

But on the other hand... I don't want our summer to just waste by, either. I want it to be full of fun, thoughtful and educational things. So I decided to implement all of my crazy plans in a casual way.

First, I dug out my old Summer Fun Advent Calendar.

It does have little glittery numbers written on each of the cones, to be followed according to the calendar month. But this year - we're bagging that feature.

I printed out a list of fun things to do during summer, and cut it into little strips. Then I simply folded each one up and stuffed it into a cone. When Harvey and I get done with our morning routine and nothing is planned for the day, I'll let him choose a cone, pull out the slip of paper and we'll do that activity. On the days when something better comes along, we'll do that instead. I really have no idea what activity is in each cone. It's a little thrilling, and a little nerve-wracking at the same time. But pretty much all of these activities don't need a whole lot of prep; maybe just a run to the store. No biggie.

Here's our "back-up" fun list:
1. color scavenger hunt
2. take a treat to the librarians
3. edible jewelry
4. homemade bubbles
5. ding dong ditch a neighbor with a gift
6. run through the sprinklers (I'd like to make this one)
7. make popsicles
8. make glow in the dark slime
9. play on a water bag
10. make watermelon waffles
11. obstacle course in the hallway
12. kool-aid ice cubes in sprite
13. make a bird feeder
14. visit a temple
15. handprint art
16. write/mail letters to family
17. potato stamps
18. make a pinaqua
19. make fossils and dig for them
20. play in our wading pool
21. fly a kite
22. bug hunt with a magnifying glass
23. make a rocket
24. make a smoothie
25. play restaurant
26. design/decorate a t-shirt
27. design marble art
28. have a puppet show
29. make cookies and deliver them to a friend
30. take a gift to the local police or fire station
31. give stuffed animals a pretend bubble bath/groom
32. go to a farmer's market
33. make a fort
34. tape popcorn to a RedBox
35. make your own puzzle
36. play with PlayDoh
37. bubble art
38. make a park passport
39. go to a photobooth
40. make crayon rubbings
41. make a watercolor resist picture
42. have a backwards day
43. make something with a box
44. host an unbirthday party
45. picnic at the park
46. make oobleck
47. mail a message in a bottle
48. go feed the ducks
49. go fishing
50. bathtub puffy paint
51. neighborhood scavenger hunt
52. play super heroes
53. fingerpaint with pudding
54. paper airplanes
55. face paint
56. wash the car
57. make a felt car mat
58. marshmallow guns
59. play post office
60. go on a treasure hunt

If you need more summer fun ideas, check out my Kids Page for fun "at home" activities, as well as places to go! Happy Summer!

Transit of Venus

Yesterday, the whole family went on a little trip downtown for Justin to see an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist. Remember way back here when he ruptured his ear drum? Well, it never healed over - falling into the 3 percent category of people that have ruptures. For some reason it's starting to cause trouble and we are in the process of finding out why... He wasn't sure if the balance test was going to leave him feeling dizzy and/or nauseous so he wanted me to be there to drive him home, just in case.

Anyway... after about 15 minutes of trying to entertain Harvey and Avery in the waiting room, I decided it would be much easier on myself - and more fun for Harvey - if we went to the Clark Planetarium instead. Parking was free for an hour and the Planetarium is free unless you want to see a star show, so it worked out really well. Harvey loved running on the moon and mars, checking out the "big, big, BIG" telescopes, turning gears to make the planets move and pushing buttons and peeking in to see how bright the sun would be from Pluto or Neptune.

Okay, I'll tell you the real reason why I wanted to stop in: Solar Glasses.

I found out about the annular eclipse on the morning of May 21st (the day of), so we weren't able to see it at all because I didn't have any idea how to safely look at the sun! It was a total bummer to know something cool was going on, but not be able to gaze at it. I did some research so we would be ready for the next event... and I not only found you could buy Solar Glasses from the Planetarium for $2 bucks a pair, but that I wouldn't have to wait long to use them.

The Transit of Venus (where Venus passes directly between the earth and the sun) is going to take place on Tuesday, June 5, 2012... and it wont happen again for 105 years!! Basically, it is similar to an eclipse only Venus will appear as a small dot on the sun rather than cover it completely.

I live in Utah, so I can see the Transit of Venus between about 4pm and 11pm. Check out this website to find out the time for your specific area. Just enter your address in the white box and click "locate." Another option is to watch this webcast.

Are you excited? I am.

 Not too shabby for a 3 year old, right? Granted, this was the rest of the photoshoot:

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Also, check out SpaceWeather for the latest stuff going on in space:

Ways you can view solar activities that involve the sun:

• Wear Solar Glasses.
• Use a Solar Filter on a telescope.
• Use binoculars or a telescope to project the image on to a white sheet.
• Gaze through a Welding Mask (make sure the glass is Shade 14!!)

Glow-In-The-Dark Easter Egg Hunt

When I saw this idea on Pinterest via Play At Home Mom, I knew I wanted to do it for myself. I went to Michaels and purchased some small LED lights to put inside the eggs, and stuck them inside the eggs right away.

Harvey's little friend, Brina, came over and I hid the eggs in his room for them to find. They loved it!!

Brina told Harvey the pink and purple eggs were just for her... so Harvey said the orange ones were for him.

Seriously.... SO much fun. The kids asked me to hide them again and again, so we had an egg hunt in every room of our home!

Preschool: The Letter U

It was my turn to teach Harvey's preschool group this week. Since St. Patrick's Day is coming up, I thought I would incorporate some shamrocks and the color green as well!

We read Great Day for Up and I had the boys shout "UP!" every time they saw it written on the pages. (They loved that!) I told them that if they looked up in the living room they might find something green.

I had hidden one for each of the boys to find, and they loved cheering on the other boys who hadn't found theirs yet. After they had all found one shamrock, I told them there was another word that started with the letter U: Under. If they looked "under" in the kitchen, they might find another shamrock or two.

There were 10 shamrocks in the packet I bought, and I numbered them for future use. It would be really fun to go on a numbered scavenger hunt, or wrap little packages with numbered tags.

After all the boys found two shamrocks each, they traded them in for a green chocolate coin.

We talked about the spring weather and how we use "Umbrellas" when it rains. Then we made our own umbrella pictures with cupcake liners and straws.

After the umbrellas were all assembled, I had the boys practice listening and following directions:

1. Use a yellow crayon to draw a sun on your paper.
2. Use a green crayon to draw some grass at the bottom.
3. Use a blue crayon to draw some rain drops around the umbrella.

Then we glued some cotton-ball-clouds on, and it was time for a snack. We had an "Underwater" treat with some clover-shaped kiwis.

I let each of the boys cut their own kiwis and they loved using the mini cookie cutter. Then I let them feed the fish again (I also taught the letter F) because fish live Underwater!

Dinosaur Snowscape

Harvey and I have been whittling away at our Christmas Activity Advent.

Yesterday we made a snowscape with shaving cream.

Harvey's dinosaurs wanted in on the action.

This was seriously so much fun. I bought a little container of shaving cream from the travel bins at the store, and there was plenty of cream to go around. We'll have to make it a tradition - it was a big hit!

Personalized Lightswitches

Do you need one last craft to keep your kids busy before school starts? Here's an easy one.

Every kid needs to be able to "define" their space. But my brother and sister-in-law don't let their girls paint their rooms. Sure, they have cute bed spreads, curtains, and fun decor, so I decided to expand on another little part of their room that is customizable.

Their light switch covers.

I ran over to our local hardware store and picked up a couple of covers (they are really inexpensive) and let them choose exactly how they wanted their cover to look. They chose the colors, the design, and they did all the work. The best part? They LOVE how the covers turned out!

Outdoor Painting

Lately, I've been struggling a little with cheap things to keep my little guy busy. Especially since I'm super lazy pregnant and mostly just want to stick around our home. We go outside and his attention span bounces him from activity to activity... but this one actually kept him occupied for a good 45 minutes. Hooray!

We painted the patio.

And all that was required was a plastic bucket with water... and a paint brush. I think the fact that it was a real paint brush might have kept his interest longer.

He painted trains, trees, dinosaurs and the like all over our patio, and by the time he got to the other end... his first pictures had evaporated - leaving a clean canvas for more artwork. Then he saw our patio posts really needed a new paint job, so he painted them as well as his slide, his car, and his shoes. I didn't mind one bit. :)

Have you tried this??

After he was done I offered to get him a popsicle and when I came back outside, I saw this... and it made me smile. His dad likes to sit out on the patio just like this and admire his hard work in the yard.