Once Upon A Time...

I love making story dice!

It's such a simple project, and my kids LOVE being creative with them. Here is the game: someone rolls the die and has to make a story out of the pictures they see. I got the idea here (she paints hers beautifully, but I just use stickers.... because of both time and lack of artistic ability) and we've been using them ever since. I had some alone time with Zoey today, so we made a new set. I just purchase the natural wooden blocks from the craft store and find stickers that are on clearance. You should hear the stories my kids come up with! Hilarious!

They are perfect for road trips, doctor visits, gifts and nights where it's hard to get the kids in bed! I've done them all different ways... painted the blocks first, had themes (Lightning McQueen, Princesses, Food, etc), let the kids pick the stickers, holiday dice, etc.

My next idea: Give Isaac some colored sharpies and let him create his own story dice. Who knows what he will come up with, but I'm sure it will offer a lot of laughs, as usual.

 

Ode to Thanksgiving

Today was our Ode to Thanksgiving day and we loved every second of it! We did a bunch of projects and talked about what Thanksgiving really means. Now I'm ready for Thursday!!!

While Zoey was napping, Isaac and I made Paula Dean's Chocolate Cupcakes. He said they were "awesome!"

 Isaac and I decided it would be fun to let the grandparents know how much we are thankful for them, so we made "encouragement jars." In each are little questions about each person that Isaac answered on his own, things like "What makes Grandy smile?" and "What does Papa want to be when he grows up?" We folded them up and put them in jars so that they could pull one out when they needed a pick me up. (These would be a very cute holiday teacher gift paired with a gift card from Starbucks!)

 Next we made "salt dough" handprints... plus a few extra things. It's an easy recipe that you can place in the oven and harden. I am so excited to hang their handprints for the holidays. It would make a great inexpensive gift as well!

Salt Dough Recipe (close to homemade play-dough):

4 cups of flour

1 cup of salt

food coloring or paint as desired

Water to moisten

a little bit of oil

Mix flour and salt and gradually add water until dough consistency. (Add food coloring if desired). Make desired shapes and place in a 150 degree oven for 1 hour (I kept them in there longer). Then place in a dry area for a day to harden. Paint if desired.

 Lastly we made coloring pages to talk about what we are thankful for. Isaac made a portrait of his father playing hockey and Zoey made a portrait of her daddy and Elijah. I think I was left out because I was the facilitator... yeah, we'll just go with that.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday

with family and friends!

"O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known His doings among the peoples!" (1 Chronicles 16:8)

Fun w/ Sticks

Yesterday we did a TON of projects with the sticks we found in the backyard. The kids had so much fun making this family sign. (Good thing we have a short last name.) Now I have to find a place to put this thing! Any ideas?

Always Give Thanks

Today we did a bunch of activities to get ready for the Thanksgiving season. I think Thanksgiving might be my favorite time of year.... or at least it ties with Christmas. Thanksgiving is simple: it's about giving thanks and being with family. I love that there isn't another ulterior motive to celebrating that day.

Here are some of the things my 4-year-old and 2-year-old are thankful for this year:

- our playground with 2 slides in the backyard

- no boo-boos today

- Hunter, the doggie next door

- that we have lots of leaves to jump in

- bookshelf to hold all our books

- the color pink

-Jesus giving us the Bible

- our jammies

- that Elijah doesn't cry all the time

Having our FILL of FALL...

 Today we were feeling in a very FALL mood. We started off by roasting marshmallows for our indoor S'Mores. (I found this cute S'More maker at the thrift store for $5 a couple years ago and we've

gotten a ton of use out of it!)

 Then we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed outdoors to find some colorful leaves. We had so much fun making crazy people and animals out of our findings.

 

 We painted fun fall landscapes for daddy with our Kool-Aid paint.

It smelled so fruity!

 

 We ended our fall fun by making a fresh Apple Cake from scratch. I found this recipe on a blog I follow and couldn't wait to try it. It is SO MUCH easier than an apple pie, and although it's a completely different texture, it SMELLS and TASTES amazing!!!! The best part: I had all of the ingredients already in my cupboard!

SUPER SIMPLE APPLE CAKE:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 2 cups of finely diced and peeled apples. Let sit for 15 minutes. Add 1/4 cup veggie oil and 1 egg and stir. Add 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tbs of cinnamon and stir. Add 1 tsp vanilla and stir. Pour into a greased square or circular dish. Bake for 45 minutes.

I honestly wish fall could last forever!