tempera cake paint!

i'm trying to incorporate more art into our activities, but somehow i find the mess of painting to be really stressful for me.  i can handle sensory play all day, but paint is a different story.  so i have been experimenting with new products to see what works for us and so far i am loving our tempera cake paints by colorations.  you can buy them off of amazon or discount school supply.  they are similar to watercolors, but more vibrant.

sunday art project...

bowie added washi tape and drew with colored pencils on the painting she made the other day.  here is her final masterpiece!  she is very proud!

poor wilfred!

this guy got 21 teeth pulled out today.  he finally got approved for a dental cleaning (and a whole lot more) since his elevated kidney levels have been maintaining and not getting worse.  we have been trying for 3 years to get a cleaning done on him.  he has bad breath and infected teeth and today he finally got them taken care of!

i know he is not feeling well and is in pain, but we will do our best to keep him comfortable and in a safe spot while he recovers.  and i sure hope he will be feeling a whole lot better without those rotten teeth, and we all hope for fresher breath!

washi tape!

i've been working on adding some new supplies to our art cart in my attempts at more art!  i got some washi tape and found myself playing with it tonight.  they come in all fun patterns and designs and i got a variety pack off of amazon.  i am going to give  bowie the washi tape tomorrow with her painted picture from the other day and see what she decides to do with it?!?!

just you wait...

we keep telling her to be nice because it won't be long before he is bigger and stronger than you...

nature weaving!

took this idea straight out of our tinkegarten class, and i found this fisherman's net in the luau party decorations at the dollar tree.  i hung it on the fence with zip ties and now bowie can add to it all summer long with nature finds or whatever she chooses?!?!  i started her off with some ribbon, string, leaves and sticks.

too cute!

bowie has mostly given up naps, but we have gone to the park several days this week and she comes home tired, so and i let her watch a show in my bed and then the TV timer goes off and i tell her it's nap time.  this way we both get a rest in.  she told me she wasn't tired and was going to read a book.  ZzzZZZzzz

todays masterpiece!

brought out the tempera paint cakes and water colors for bowie to paint with.  she is still learning that you have to dip the brush in water to activate the paint, instead of the liquid version.  this can be frustrating for her and she will say to me "the paint is not working," but she is learning and getting better at using them each time. 

in the meantime, just like our sensory play, i am finding new ways to control the mess and we will be painting on trays!  this is her creation from this morning!

thunder, feel the thunder!

i think this is ryder's fav song to dance to!

process art?!?!

i'm trying hard to incorporate more art projects into our daily activities.  i feel overwhelmed and intimidated doing art with bowie, because of the mess.  i know most people consider sensory play to be messy play, and it is and can be, but i have found lots of tricks along the way to manage the mess and clean up.  with sensory play you just have to sweep, mop or vacuum, but paints, markers, glue and scissors can be less forgiving.

art is not foreign to me, in fact i used to teach art classes to elementary school kids.  but bowie is still learning and practicing to use these new materials and needs to be closely supervised.  to get some inspiration i got a new book called "play, make, create" by meri cherry, she has the most amazing process art studio in los angeles.

if you are asking, "what is process art?"  here is meri cherry's definition "process art is all about the making and doing, rather than the finished product." something that i thought was so cool is she goes on to say that process art is like a snap shot of where the child is developmentally. 

i've taken my first pass through this book and even bowie has looked through it and has a couple of special projects she wants to try!

grimms!

wish list complete!

ryder playing with his grimms elements birthday present!

cake donut mini muffins! YUM!

this recipe is from bowie's tinkergarten teacher.  her recipe is vegan and gluten free, but i made a few substitutions (which i will note next to the original recipe), they are delicious for a breakfast treat or anytime really!

what i really love about this recipe is i had all the ingredients on hand, it came together very easily and i didn't even have to use a mixer.  if you or friends have any dietary restrictions this recipe covers the big ones, the original recipe is VEGAN and GLUTEN free!  they are so yummy, i think i will have to do a double batch next time!

ingredients:

1/2 non dairy unsweetened milk (i used 1/2 cup whole milk)
5 T unsweetened apple sauce
2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1.5 cups gluten free flour (i used all purpose flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
7 T coconut oil melted

put aside the following for dipping:

5 T sugar
1 t cinnamon
3-4 T coconut oil melted

how to:

combine all ingredients in a bowl, i put them all in there together as bowie was helping me and mixed with a fork.  the batter will be more like a dough and be sticky.  place the batter 3/4 full into a mini muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes.  makes 24 mini muffins.

when the muffins come out, dip them in the oil and cover with the cinnamon sugar mixture and allow to cool.  enjoy!

orchid!

orchids can be hard to take care of.  the best and longest lasting orchid i had lived in a sunny window and i gave it a small drink of water everyday and it lived with flowers for a year!  in washington where it is not as sunny, it can be hard for orchids to get enough light.  this plant was given to us by blue origin when ryder was born.  it bloomed for about 7-8 months and now a year later it grew a new stalk and has new flowers!  it has lived in my kitchen window and i am kinda shocked that it is still going! 

birthday gifts!

it was kinda hard to figure out what to get ryder for his birthday.  he is too young to know what he is into and there is nothing we really want or need.  my wish list for the playroom is small and i know that whatever we get him, bowie will be all over.   so it seemed necessary to get him his own arm chair like bowie, but he got the lazy boy recliner style.  it even has a cup, i mean bottle holder.

i got him a green toys brand digger (not sure if that is the appropriate name, i am sure i will be learning them all soon enough).  and i found the perfect book, it's called "the moose is mine."  well ryder is AKA "the moose" and the boys name in the book is wilfred.

i put our gift cards towards a wooden balance board.  this is a waldorf style toy and can serve lots of purposes; balancing, used as a bridge or tunnel, slide, teeter tot, you can lay in it or for small world play.  the kids have been loving on this so far! 

rocking and balance

climbing

tunnel/bridge

slide!

peg dolls can rock too!

thank you mimi & papa for the tunnels and balls

threading!

waiting for ryder to wake up so we can head to the lake for summer story time!  so i set out a quick and easy activity; threading or lacing.

we are using some wooden beads and pipe cleaners.  she wanted daddy to take it to work and she told me "his co-workers are going to love it." it cracked me up, i am not sure where she learned the word "co-worker" but it was cute!