Rainbow day!

 Sorry that I have not been around lately, but I ended up getting very sick the week before Easter.  Needless to say, we didn't get to most of the fun Easter crafts I had planned.  So yesterday was the first day I felt better, and we were suppose to have rainbow day with the moms group.  Well, everyone but one mom canceled and she had a 6 month old, so I just let the kids play at the park at that time.  So we did our own rainbow day at home after nap time.  I had the kids do a fun easy craft. And I must say that one pet peeve that I found while looking up books and crafts that talk about rainbows, is that many leave indigo out.  If I am going to teach my children the correct info, I wish they would include all the correct info in the books, and crafts out there. 

Supplies needed:
paper plate cut in half
tissue paper cut in strips in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet
crayons in those same colors
glue stick

I went ahead and drew in the lines for the kids, then have them color in the colors of the rainbow in the correct order.  You know, ROY G BIV.  Remember that from grade school?

 Next have the kids glue the strips of tissue paper (I found a large package with most of the colors at Meijer in the card section for $5), onto the back of the paper plate.  We did the colors on both ends of the rainbow.

 We did go ahead and punch a hole at the top and strung some yarn through.  The kids were very excited to hang them in the windows to make the house more colorful!

I also went ahead and made some rainbow cookies.  I saw these on this blog back around St. Pat's day and had it bookmarked.  I couldn't wait to try them!  They turned out so cute, and very yummy!

Books we read:
Minnie's Rainbow by Sheila Sweeny-Higginson
Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Barry

The story of us

I figured with Adam's birthday coming up and the 10 year anniversary of when we met coming up next month, that I would tell the story of how we met.

I was going through rough stuff at home and school was really getting to me. I had been working as a shift supervisor at Starbucks but needed a not as stressful job. I was still friends with an ex, and he suggested getting me a job with him at this little shop. I jumped at the chance since I had been wanting to work there for ages. It was a little "head shop" or hippie store. Perfect! I worked there for a few months with this ex, K and his best friend, J. They kept telling me about all the fun bashes they were throwing in a city that was about a half hour away, and kept inviting me to come. (Now remember, we were just 21!) After months of hounding me, I gave in. Sure, I will go to your party! It was a Saturday night and I had to work until 9:30, but then head right out. I was probably wearing my homemade bell bottoms and a tank top, but I don't remember for sure. I found the apartment complex and pulled in the lot. This was a college town and the apartment complex in question was built in the shape of a U with a nice grassy area in the middle. College kids were everywhere and always having parties on the weekends. Most living there had just graduated from college, and were having a good time before moving on with life, and growing up!

I found the right door and walked in. I didn't see anyone I knew, but saw an interesting guy sitting on the couch. He had a White Russian in his hand, The Big Lebowski playing on the t.v., and having a discussion about the Beat poets. I thought, "Hey, I know about them,". So I sat down next to him and said, "I have a fish named Kerouac!" and so we got to talking. That was Adam! He eventually made me a drink, a White Russian! We stayed up all night talking while the party kept going all around us. At about 4am, a group of us decided to grill some BBQ chicken on the grill. Well the grill ran out of gas before the chicken ever got done, so instead we sat around talking. When we heard the birds chirping, I knew it was time to go. Throughout the night I had heard him brag that he had gotten numerous phone numbers the night before and all the girl's names were Sarah, so when I was getting ready to leave and he asked for my phone number, I simply told him that my name was not Sarah so no!

I ended up dating the ex's friend, J for a few weeks, but it wasn't anything serious and everywhere we went, Adam was along with us, so it never really felt like I was dating anyone. In July, Adam and I went on our first official date, and as they say in stories...the rest is history!

It is going on 10 years since that first day, and boy has tons happened since then! I never would have thought that 1 day could change my life so much, but it did! I am so thankful for all the events that have taken place in my life that brought me to that day. After we really started dating, we of course talked about our pasts, and realized that we had crossed paths numerous times over the years, but never really noticed each other until that night. I met an amazing artist in paint splattered Eddie Bauer pants, with holey Doc Martin boots, short hair and no facial hair. If you would have asked me if that was my "type", I would have said no! I'm glad that I didn't keep that in mind the day I met the man of my dreams!

Chocolate bunnies and Worm tracks

I saw this idea for the chocolate bunnies a little bit back in The Mailbox magazine, and have now become obsessed with getting the kids to do it. 
Supplies:

bunny cut out on sturdy white paper
brown paint
white glue
chocolate pudding mix
paint brushes
plastic cup/bowls
candy sprinkles
ribbon

First mix the brown paint, white glue, and pudding mix equally in a plastic cup.  I use a plastic spoon or knife to mix, less mess to clean up.  I also laid down a large sheet of paper on the kitchen floor to catch any mess.  Scoop your paint mixture into little bowls for the kids, I use empty egg cartons that I cut apart.  I laid down the paint, a brush, and the cut out on the floor for each of us.  The paint mixture looked a little like cake batter, and smelled sooooo good!  It was very tempting to lick it off of fingers, so if you have one that puts everything in their mouth, maybe hold off on this project.  The kids had a blast painting this thick stuff all over the paper.  But what came next was their favorite.  I let them shake candy sprinkles or jimmies out of the container onto the wet bunnies.  We will be letting these dry for now, and when they are finally dry (I'm guessing at least over night), we will tie a little ribbon around it's neck like the ones you get at the store.  I'll take a picture of the finished product when they are done, and update.




Worm tracks:

I figured since we already had tons of this brown thick mud looking paint, why not try to make worm tracks. 

Supplies:

brown paint mixture from above
lengths of yarn
paper plate
brown sheet of paper

Well this one got a bit messy.  Because the paint was so thick, it was difficult to run the yarn through it. I scooped a spoonful onto the paper plate and then spread it out a bit.  I gave each kid a piece of yarn, brown paper, and plate.  We then dipped the yarn and pushed it into the paint with our fingers.  Pull the yarn to coat with the paint, and then drag across the paper.  It will look like the worms inched their way across your paper!  This was L's favorite of the two projects today, but because well he is a boy, and loves to get messy!  D was just not that into this one.  She didn't want to get her fingers messy and gave up after just 2 tries.  Well you live and learn right?