Fantastic Friday

Tomorrow is a big day. It's the last day of Kindergarten for my big kid ("graduation" is Monday), we go back to Jubilee Farm for our first Summer CSA pick-up, and (I saved the best for last)... it is my beloved Mother-In-Law's birthday!

Here is Baby Ellen with her Mom, she was sweet from day one!

I couldn't have asked for a better "second Mom" in my life. She is loving and supportive in more ways than I can count and not only do I love her as a Mom, she has become a dear friend. My kids are really close to their sweet "Grammy" thanks to all the time she has spent with each of them from the day they were born.

Another thing I love about my darling Mother-in-Law is how wonderfully gracious she is. She doesn't care that I'm often still in pajamas when she visits in the morning, she doesn't expect me to be "perfect," she doesn't give guilt trips. Thankfully I also think she will forgive that a) I copied her idea for her birthday gift gift (she made a Shutterfly shopping bag for her Mom and it is receiving rave reviews whenever Great Grandma uses it) and b) I waited until the last minute to place my order. Sorry, dear Ellen, please see your "gift preview" below. I hope you know how much I appreciate you and how much we all love you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Reusable Shopping Bag

View the entire collection of cards.

Lava Lamp Fireworks

We've gone from doing art projects when our lovely friends visit to doing science experiments. These young scientists still love to paint but chemical reactions get them even more excited--can you tell?

How I wish the lovely blogging Rashmie from Mommy Labs was my neighbor. I’d be knocking on her door for play dates all the time… for the kids and for me. Besides her incredibly creative ideas and inspiring stories, she makes every activity seem like a complete joy. Alas, she lives half a world away, in India so I can’t just drop by but I’m grateful for the brilliance she generously shares online.

Mesmerized by the photos and description of her Diwali Homemade Fireworks Display and thinking of 4th of July coming up, I finally picked up some Alka-Seltzer and decided to give this experiment a try. No, I didn’t have heartburn or acid reflux to take care of before doing a science experiment with four kids ages 3 to 6, Alka-Seltzer is the “activator” necessary to make this magic happen.

In addition to those magic fizzy tabs (any brand will do), all you need is some clear glass or plastic bottles, oil (the type is up to you but the cheaper the better since it won’t be usable after this), food coloring, and water. A funnel is helpful too. Use approximately one part water to two parts oil (look at Rashmie's post for the right ratio, not mine, I was cheap with the oil) and anywhere from 3 to 5 drops of food coloring (more is fine… and actually a must if you are 6 or younger so I learned).

Setting things up was half the fun. Watching how the water plunged into the oil, creating golden bubbles of all sizes was thrilling before it separated then settled at the bottom. Droplets of food coloring were equally interesting to watch suspended in the oil and eventually sinking and dispersing into and coloring the water. It was hard impossible to get the kids to only add a couple drops and once they got the idea to mix colors, the food coloring was flowing freely. Oh well... another variable to experiment with. I tried to teach them about the Scientific Method along the way (Remember? Hypothesis... Experimentation... etc.) but was only able to get the most focused girl to write "Hypothe..." then it was all about the Alka-Seltzer or "Alka-Sod" as my dear William kept calling it.

 I had envisioned starting with a small piece of tablet then increasing the amount to observe the reaction as it changed... um, yeah right. It doesn't work like that when you're 6 or younger. "More Alka-Sod! More Alka-Sod!" they yelled. I could hardly open the packets quickly enough for their ravenous scientific hunger.

This is the color you get with a LOT of blue and a LOT of green food coloring

This is the color you get when you add a LOT of red drops and a LOT of blue drops when Mom isn't looking

I doubt any of them could tell you about the Scientific Method but they can certainly explain the exciting fizz of "Alka-Sod."

Birthday Nature Crafts

Once the Forest Fairy and Animal party theme was approved by my Birthday Girl, fun ideas were abundant. Simple, affordable, and quick ideas, however, weren’t as easy to come up with. Enter Pinterest, a world of nothing but cool ideas to browse.

I need to thank the creative Mom of Paint Cut Paste who inspired these no-sew Forest Animal Masks using felt and glue.

All this mask-making took was a mix of colorful felt squares from Michael's (about 39 cents each), some thin black elastic, and fabric glue (I used all-purpose Tacky Glue). Superhero masks littering our playroom served as starting patterns to provide the perfect size and placement of eye holes. Next I hand-sketched  animal shapes around those masks onto paper, playing around with them until they looked right.

"Easy Peasy!" as the dear Birthday Girl would say. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of her in these masks that day...  she was too busy changing into different fairy princess costumes during the party. Oh well, at least it wasn't Hello Kitty.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sara. I love you more than words can say.

 

Forest Fairy Fourth Birthday

Once we said “Goodbye” to Hello Kitty and welcomed the Forest Fairy & Animal Theme, Sara came up with a modest guest list of six girls and six boys ranging in ages 3 to 6. Twelve kids might not sound like a big party but we learned that a dozen kids can be just as wild as thirty when you invite two pairs of rambunctious brothers. HOLY COW (and I say this with deep respect and admiration for the patient parents of these pairs of lovable boys). It was a wild ride but also one very fun and very happy celebration.

One "Forest" Cake complete with blue sprinkle river and white chocolate-dipped pretzel logs...

 

One Fairy Cake complete with fairies playing jump rope and a cougar prowling after a mountain goat. When in doubt about decorating a homemade birthday cake, just add M&Ms and figurines from those great "Toob" play sets  

Anyone with Kindergarten-age boys will know that their sense of humor is blossoming… that’s putting it nicely. In a more direct manner, one might say they are goofy, wild, and loud to the Nth degree. So take this mix of wild boys (mine included), add wild animal masks (provided by me… whoops, didn’t think that through very well) and being relegated indoors (it was horribly cold weather with mixed hail and rain) and you get one super crazy high-volume wrestling match, interrupted only by cake, crafts, and opening presents along the way.

Girl Power still ruled the day. The Birthday Girl and her 5 girlfriends weren’t phased by the testosterone frenzy. They joined in the wild animal play for a bit but it didn’t take long for them to break off and start their own imaginative play in the rooms where I had set up twinkle lights and a bunch of fairy wings and fancy dress-up clothes.

Thanks to both lovely Grandmas, there were plenty of colorful flowers to adorn Spring Nature Crowns and all the kids (both genders) enjoyed making them.

Lots of hugs on Sara's Happy 4th Birthday -- lots of costume changes too. Go back and see how many outfits Sara was able to squeeze into her two hour party - it's impressive!

Tired Party Animals went home with Handmade Animal Masks, Fairy Wings for the girls (found affordable ones at Party City), and "Pixie Dust Activators" for the boys (light-up version of the classic hand-held magnet- and gravity-driven gyroscope). Everyone had fun and Mommy learned that William's upcoming 6th Birthday needs to be planned outdoors where wild boys can run, jump, wrestle, ninja-kick, and do all the things that wonderfully wild boys do.

Goodbye Kitty

Call me an ogre, call me what you will but I couldn’t help but discourage my girl from having a Hello Kitty birthday party. While she has inherited some pajamas and a t-shirt with the infamous kitty face, there are no Hello Kitty toys in our home and she has never seen a show featuring Hello Kitty... her fascination merely comes from admiration of an older neighbor girl who mentioned she had a Hello Kitty birthday. Sigh… what’s a Crafty Mom to do when her child chooses a theme that Mommy doesn’t want to execute? Well, I guess I would like to execute Hello Kitty but not in the way dear almost-four Sara was thinking…  

Why the Hello Kitty hate? Part of it is that I just don’t get it. Even back in the ‘80s when my little buddies showed off their collections of Hello Kitty eraser tops and mini pens, I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. And more than not “getting it” (I imagine there will be MANY things I won’t relate to in my children’s interests over the years) I suppose the commercialism is what I find so unappealing. I won’t veto a shirt or pjs but a whole party? Really?!

When I mentioned this “birthday dilemma” to my dear Swedish friend (an incredibly kind, intelligent, active, multi-lingual working mom with angelic children, by the way) her suggestion nearly knocked me off my feet. “How about not asking what kind of party they want? When my girls have a birthday, I make a cake; we sing a song and have friends over.” Drat! I should have thought about that a couple years ago, before Sara’s zoo party or William’s superhero party which I got so into, you’d think I was the one turning 5! Yes, I’m afraid I’ve done this to myself, creating the perfect storm for high expectations on birthdays… but hey, it’s what I like to do so as long as it’s not Hello Kitty, I’m on board!

My sneaky phase one of the Hello Kitty eradication began with talking about how much fun she had up at the Veterinarian Clinic at the Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett. “Remember how you got to care for all types of animals in the Vet Clinic? Instead of just focusing on Kitties, wouldn’t it be fun to have a party featuring a mix of animals?” I asked innocently? Sara pondered this thoughtfully. “How about forest animals? Then we can make a big chocolate cake with trees and animals on it” I continued. My last suggestion finally sealed the deal:  “We could make it even more fun if we did forest animals AND forest fairies, how about that?” SOLD! Even though it was a huge mouthful that Sara could hardly remember when inviting friends to her party, my girl was totally on board for her Forest Animal and Forest Fairy 4^th Birthday Party!    Party Details complete with animal masks and fairy wings coming soon…

The Wisdom of Daddy: Creative Excursions

It’s amazing what happens when I’m out of the picture and my husband has the kids an entire day or over a weekend. Some of the activities he comes up with are downright brilliant.

Most recently, he took the kids to Oak Creek Wildlife Viewing Area in Naches, Washington. “Huh? Where is that?” You ask? My thoughts exactly…  but boy was I surprised when they returned with great pictures, interesting facts, and lively stories.

Rocky Mountain Elk are the main attraction at this Wildlife Area (though you can go to another part to see Bighorn Sheep as well) and all it takes is a Washington State Discover Pass and calling (509) 653-2390 in advance to make a reservation if you want to take a guided truck tour (these tours are also available on a first-come first-serve basis but it's worth it to make a reservation if you can). As long as you're willing to head to Eastern Washington (near Yakima) in January or February and don't mind waiting around in the cold a bit, you're almost guaranteed to see Elk... and I'm talking about a LOT of Elk, and many with enormous antlers.

These Elk roam in from the neighboring mountains in search of food and apparently there can be up to 1,200 of these massive mammals at the feeding station at a time. Almost 100 miles of 8-foot-high fence was built in the 1940s to keep the Elk from devouring the acres of orchards in this region and every Winter this feeding station supplements the Elks' diet.

Even with two tour jeeps carrying curious folks in to get a closer look, a decent effort is made to keep a respectful distance from these still very wild animals. However, some of the Elk are just as curious as the visitors so there is a chance of up-close viewing. The male bull Elk with their enormous antlers can actually be very territorial (meaning aggressive) so it is essential to follow the rules while visiting.

The free tour even came with a big button displaying an Elk (but please don't call it a button, my kids are quite certain it is a very special badge).

Signs of Spring

Bees were buzzing and birds were singing. A few days of sunshine was all it took to get our tulips and daffodils peeking out of the ground.

Naturally, it is blustery and cold now but those lovely days a couple weeks back were a welcome preview of Spring just around the corner.

We spent as much time outside as possible, soaking up all the Vitamin D our bodies could absorb. In honor of the seasonal burst of color we'll experience soon, I set up a rainbow variation of a classic baking soda and vinegar science experiment for the kids.

The kids helped set everything up, scooping four piles of baking soda onto their trays while I prepared the jars of vinegar and food coloring

I was pleasantly surprised to see them adding small amounts of liquid at a time and observing the reaction closely. William even commented that the bubbles left behind holes like craters

But after a while Sara decided that using one dropper at a time just wasn't enough...

Without any interference from me, this beautiful mess appeared on William's tray

Everything is more fun when you can do it outside

Unable to resist the urge for instant springtime, I bought a Costco-sized flat of primroses (notice their pretty little heads in the background of the last photo above).

I'm so glad I took a few pictures of their colorful heads because this is what they looked like the following morning.

Chomp

I would have suspected our resident banana slugs (we grow 'em big out here) or the little cotton tailed bunny we've seen hopping into the salmon berry brambles recently but when I counted that 12 primroses been chomped to smithereens and a few had even been uprooted from their comfy holes, the evidence unmistakably led to deer. Note to self:  just because you don't see the deer around very often them doesn't mean they aren't visiting you and patiently waiting for your next pretty flower to bloom.