Fireworks Without Fire

The Fourth of July is near and I like diving into all of the patriotic art.  We created fireworks on our scratch art boards.

They paid special attention to detail, learning quickly that with scratch boards, you cannot fix your mistakes.

They LOVED this fast and fun art time.  The photo above depicts the trail of a rocket!  Blast off! ♥

Cake Decorating

I learned how to decorate cakes about 10 years ago while working for Albertsons.  When they decided to teach me, I had never even picked up a piping tube.  Years later, I am still enjoying the trade on the side.  I suppose I like being able to whip something up- and knowing that I can repair any cake disaster is a nice perk.

Ethan asked me to make him a spider birthday cake a couple of years back so I would be scared of it.

Here's a simple and elegant design that was made for my sister during her baby shower 4 years ago.

I DO get tired of making cakes sometimes.  The longer I am out of the bakery, the lazier I get.  Ethans cupcake request was a nice break.

I have a love-hate relationship with pie dough.  Boy have I created some UGLY pies, but pumpkin pies are so easy because there is no top crust.

 I enjoy drawing on the birthday cakes.  I also love Wilton food coloring- it is so bold!!

Here is a terrible photo of my very first wedding cake.  I made it in my kitchen- and the bakery I worked for was worried for me.  It turned out beautiful! Boy do I not miss actually transporting cakes.  I remember driving 15 miles per hour, cars honking and giving me the bird..   I just needed a sign that said, "I just spent 4 hours on this cake- please just go around."

Another wedding cake out of the kitchen- this one for my sister in-law Cassie. How about that pink counter top?  Good old apartments.

I used to dream of having a separate refrigerator just for my cake creations.  Now my cake making has slowed to a crawl.  I will create my final wedding cake in July.

Cassie and Josefs wedding cake in it's glory day.  I was worried the whole time because the spot picked out for it was in the sun.  It slowly became the leaning cake of Piza.  (Every cake decorators worst nightmare.)

My sisters wedding cake- very simple, yet elegant.  We picked foliage out of our parents yard I think- and this cake melted in the 80 degree heat.  It was more like 90 degrees in the house.  I can already see the frosting letting go of the cake in this photo. 

I was happy to create Ethans candy cake request- this is a five minute job.  ♥  (I'm always happy to create their cakes, but boy do I jump for joy when they request the photo below..)

Ice cream sundaes! ♥♥♥

Let There Be Light

It was cloudy.  I asked the kids what was missing outside.  Silence and blank stares...  I tried to hint with, "What is miss Nicoles favorite thing outside?"  You might not believe me, but in unison, they all yelled, "Fall!"  Correct, but the answer I was looking for was "Sunshine!" ☼

We created our own sunshine.

We attempted to "swirl" some heat into our sunshine.  Looks great, right?

Now, how are we going to get our sunshine back up in the sky?

Ah-ha!  Clothesline = success. ♥♥♥

Spirit Week

Here's my 'Bean' on crazy hair day.  He chose to wear this wig to school!  Adam said he saw Ethan from afar and wondered "who is that?"  This wig is always making an appearance around here.

Here is Stephanies cat, Chloe.  She's a lazy bones who only likes to go outside when it's warm.  She will pick a spot and sleep there for weeks. Here she is on the file cabinet.  (Facing the wall...)

Behind the computer screen.. This spot is always annoying.

On the couch so she can look through the window at the birds rather than chasing them.

Trust me- I tried to blast her out of here, it did not work.

 Good thing it's not cold enough for fire.  She's really persistent about the spots she chooses.

Talk about awkward... She seriously stayed here a while.  (What a weirdo!)

We decided to put the wig on her during her stereo spot stay.   She froze until we took it off.  Wigs are a blast- I recommend just having one around. ♥♥

Dress The Tree

As Spring comes to an end, the blossoms on our play room tree needed to come down.

See?  We like to see our apple tree change with the seasons.

The kids colored some green leaves.  It's amazing how many leaves can be colored in 10 minutes by 5 kids who want to be helpful. :)

They even sorted the ones that had been colored onto the paper plate for easy transport.

Too bad the tree is so tall- that meant the "dressing" part was left up to me.  They would've enjoyed taping the leaves on.  Now our apple tree is ready for summer!  Is the SUN ready for summer yet?  It's only going to be in the high 50s for us today.  ☼

Something For Dad

I always fret over what to create with the kids to give out as Fathers Day gifts.  This time it wasn't so difficult thanks to the paper-mache accordian albums.  We began with a hand print on the front, outlined in gold glitter glue.

Inside lies the result of several photo shoots and some questions I asked each child separately.  The problem with asking questions like "Why are you glad that your dad or grandpa is YOURS?", is that the kids will repeat each others answers.  They need to be asked quietly and separately to get honest genuine answers. :)

Finally, the kids write their name for a personal touch.   Wha-la!  Finished.  ♥

Keeping Organized

Alright- down to business today.  Keeping organized is detrimental to my sanity, and also to a smooth and constructive day for the kids.  There is a place for everything, and everything is in it's place.   ♪♫Clean up! Clean up! Everybody, everywhere..♪♫

Keeping a shelf with bins is helpful.  Each bin contains only one type of plaything.  One for trains and tracks, one for legos, one for geo boards.  This way, the kids have no confusion when it is clean up time.  Some of the bins are for table time only.  This simple rule prevents our playroom floor from turning into a land fill.

The kitchen area is fun, and there are lots of pieces.  To catch the clutter, we keep a bin and a small shelf along with the actual kitchen unit.  By the way, my handsome hubby is going to build us a nice wooden kitchen, wall to wall.  We will soon say goodbye to the plastic kitchen.

These wooden puzzles are hard to contain, so we keep them all in one drawer together.  That way the pieces stay in the drawer if they fall out of the puzzle. 

The books are easily kept as long as the shelves are not TOO full.  I keep a back up book supply on a shelf in the garage.  If I expect the kids to be able to put the books back on the shelf, there should be room allowed for that.  I think the bottom shelf is almost too full right now, actually.

A lesson learned the hard way- keep the puzzles up.  The kids must ask for one and take it to the table.  It is returned to me when the child is done, and returned back up onto the shelf out of reach.  Too many puzzles available = mixed puzzles and missing pieces.

These are some helpful ways to keep organized.  Eliminate clutter by moving toys that  do not have a place.  Put them in the attic for a while.  When the kids are getting bored of the toys that are available, swap them out with the ones that are in the attic.  It will feel like Christmas to them!   ♥