St. Patrick's Day

My sincerest apologies that this post is going to be super lamely put together but at least it's here right??? right???

We had a leprechaun leave a note for us this morning...here it is...sideways...and in picture form instead of document form...because those leprechauns are tricky like that. That first little picture in the letter is a picture of May, that yellow blur is a pile of gold coins. The top picture is a green egg (Yes, I may have paid the leprechaun off to make eating breakfast one of the requirements before finding his gold coins). The picture at the end of decorate it with is green glitter. The top picture is a pot of gold followed by May's picture again. The leprechaun left the note with a St. Patrick's day crown for May, green hair for me, and a nice big green hat for May's dad. All of which I'm pretty sure the leprechaun got from the dollar bins at target.

So after eating breakfast, May went upstairs to pick out a green shirt. Oh funny. She pulled out her pink Minnie Mouse shirt and was trying to convince her teddy bear it was green (I don't think he believed her). So we went through her shirts and I asked her if a few were green and she would say , "No that's (insert color here)." In her sweet little "duh mom" voice. So then she put a green shirt on once we got to it.

For the puzzle I just google imaged a 4 leaf clover and printed it. Before I cut it up I traced the shape on another piece of paper so she could see how it was fit together. She put it together the first time but wasn't about to do it again when I asked her to glue it on so I guess I should've had her put glue on the pieces before she put them on. Then she decorated it with glitter.
Cookies were oh so fun and oh so messy. (Side note: Yes I know she has on a green and pink shirt with a purple headband and a red and blue flower, May picked the hair pieces herself and the girl knows what she wants).

I knew I wasn't going to have the energy to make cookie dough so I just bought some premade stuff from the store...never again...although May didn't seem to mind. I cooked a batch ahead of time so they were ready to be frosted at the same time. I skipped the cookie cutters this time and we just made flat shapes and put them on. I think this was actually better. May said she was making, a train, a pirate, and a kite which we have none of those cookie cutters so it would've been a shame to miss out on that.

I bought a can of premade frosting and we divided it up into 6 zip lock bags. I put the food coloring in zipped it up (make sure most of the air is out) and then May mashed it up to get the frosting to turn colors. I clipped the corners off so she could squeeze it out. I thought this might be easier but we resorted to getting out a plastic knife and spreading the frosting anyway. Then we decorated...or mostly ate with a little decorating kind of thrown in there.

After we cleaned up our cookie mess the check list was complete and gold coins started appearing all around the house! That leprechaun (aka grandma being super and picking some up for me at Harman's because I couldn't find any at wal-mart) bought some chocolate coins in gold foil. They come in a net bag and they might be just an Easter time thing but I'm not positive.

Here is May counting her spoils. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Feet-er Paint

We have been so excited for spring at our house. Unfortunately we thought it was here, unfortunately winter hasn't gone down without a fight, so we've been inside more than we would like. But we've done a couple fun things, this one is definitely the messiest-and the funnest (is funnest a word?).

Materials:
Butcher paper (I've been saving the paper they wrap your things in from Thai Pan for a while just for such an occasion)
Tape
Washable Finger Paint (I know it says washable but are you SURE it's washable?)

Tape the paper down to cover a spot or your whole kitchen floor. I would somehow barricade the carpet areas-our kitchen has a very small entrance so I just put a chair there so M* couldn't escape easily. I put the finger paint on plates but I think it would work even better if you just put it straight onto the paper. Let your kid go to town walking with the paint all over the paper. Towards the end she sat in some and then scooted down the paper, that was a riot, then we just painted with our fingers. Be sure when you are walking to keep fresh paint on your little ones feet because once it becomes a little dry little feet start to stick to the paper.

Alternative: Put on some music and dance whilst feet-er painting.

Just a tip have something to at least wash your feet off so that you can carry you and your child straight to the tub.

Edible Playdough

I'm a big fan of edible playthings, mostly because I'm a big fan of eating. Here is a recipe for edible play dough.

Materials:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 c powdered milk

Mix it all together and mold!

Bubble Bath-Outside the Tub

Remember the good old days of bubble bath beards and hair-dos? I sure do. Unfortunately now days (or maybe I just didn't get the news until now days) putting your kid in a bubble bath is like bathing them in poison, I haven't decided which is more frowned upon. Anyway, I can't shake the feeling that M* is missing out on one of the finer things in life, so instead of bringing her to the bubble bath we will bring the bubble bath to her!

Materials:
Dish Bin, Bowl, or Bucket
Bubble Bath or Dish Soap
Toys
Towels

Fill dish bin full of bubbles and water. Plop in toys, preferably toys your child doesn't see in the bath everyday, get some that float and some that sink. It was like a treasure hunt trying to find the things at the bottom. Alert:Drowning hazard. Don't leave your toddler alone with this.

Edible Finger Paint

Materials:
Instant Vanilla Pudding
Milk
Food Coloring
Paper

Mix the pudding according to the directions. Divide into smaller bowls. Add a couple drops of food coloring to each bowl to color them. Paint!

She had so much fun with this. I think she got more on her than she did on the paper. It wasn't hard to clean up though. I found that if I painted on the paper she painted on the paper but if I wasn't painting she wasn't painting. So get in there and get messy!