Letter and Color Hunt

It's raining and cold.  Bleh.  Time for something new.  Enter: Letter and Color Hunt.

I'm kind of a big fan of scavenger hunts.  I used them all the time when teaching and I find myself using a lot more as the kids get older. My favorite learning moments are the ones that trick kids into thinking it's a game. I'm sneaky like that. ;)

We actually do the letter hunt two different ways. Usually we use magnetic letters and I hide them all over the house.  The kids have to find them and match them to our letter board.  (I got mine at a teaching store that was going out of business. I like things that cost a quarter!).  At first I only hid the capitals, but now we add the lower case letters in, too.  And as he gets better, he not only tells me the letters as he matches them, but the letter sounds.  Little Miss helps him find the letters, but she thinks all letters are "T" and make the "T" sound.  It's pretty adorable.

Matching the letters.

I decided to mix it up to day and just work on letters sounds.  Little Man picked the letter "T" (wouldn't you know it).  Little Miss has been saying a lot of colors lately, though I don't think she knows what they mean.  I thought I'd give her green and see what happened.

Each one of them had a lunch bag to fill with objects that matched their letter or color.  

Green train. Mom did most of the finding, but she did enjoy stuffing all her green treasures in the bag.

T is for train.  I had to encourage him to find other T things!  He's a bit train crazy.

T is for table.

Look at all that T stuff!

Tire Planters. Upcycling for the win.

Spring can't seem to get itself together here in Kansas. Last week I was literally covering up my little pea plants to protect them from possible frost while the kids ran around the backyard barefoot.  You would think since I've lived here my whole life, nothing Mother Nature has up her sleeve would surprise me.  I must have a memory problem. I'm always shocked to be in flipflops one day and a coat the next.

Anyway, the short term forecast looks mildly Springlike, so I said, "What the heck" and decided to plant my flowers.  I found a guy who was more than happy to donate some old tires so I could try out yet another Pinterest idea.  Super easy project and I thought it looked cute in a redneck kinda way. :) 

I really think the bird poop to the right sets it off.

Hubby drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage and used a big screw to hang them.  I added some dirt and flowers and there you have it.

And an updated picture of our garden.  :)

Sheet Fort Using a Box Fan

When I first saw this my mind was blown. Use a box fan to create a sheet fort? Either my mother didn't know about this or she didn't really love me as a child. I guess I will forgive her seeing as there was no Internet back then.

So now I must pass this sacred knowledge on to my own children who will pass it on to theirs who will more than likely have never heard of a box fan. But at least I can say the buck didn't stop with me.

You will need:
- A box fan (obviously)
- A sheet (the bigger the better and in my case the more wrinkles the better)
- Books, couch cushions anything heavy enough to hold the corners down
- Somewhere to corral your children while you construct this masterpiece. That was the hardest part, getting them to stay off of the sheet while I worked my magic. You laugh, but fort building is very scientific.

STEP ONE: Set your box fan up close to an outlet. Duh, I know, but we as parents tend to be absentminded.
STEP TWO: Drape your sheet over the top of the fan, make sure it's not hanging over the back. I actually ended up clipping it to the fan's handle with a plastic clothespin.
STEP THREE: Spread the sheet out and secure the corners with your books or cushions.
STEP FOUR: Turn on ye old box fan.
STEP FIVE: Take a minute to bask in your awesomeness. Then let them in and bask some more!

PVC Sand Table

Our (and by our, I mean my husband's) latest project was a sand table.  I hate, hate, hate the mess that sand makes.  I understand the sensory learning and hours of creativity it provides, but there's just something about a sandbox that tells kids to hop on in and cover themselves from head to toe.  Ick.  As much as my kiddos loved our sandbox, I often found myself telling them to find something else because I dreaded the cleanup and inevitable vacuuming that would follow.

So I spent a few hours researching and scouring the web for a good sand table....What did people do before the Internet?  Unfortunately I wasn't sold on the idea of spending $60 plus dollars on one.  What can I say? I'm a cheapskate at heart.  Plus I came across some pretty clever homemade sand tables using PVC pipe or boards. I showed them to the hubster who did a fine job faking enthusiasm and figured out a plan of his own.  

Here's a list of materials:

2 storage containers (you could use any size or even just one. I liked the idea of them each having their own side)

Sand

6 pieces of 1 inch pvc pipe

4 1 inch T's

8 1 inch corner fittings

4 bungee cords

1 super handy person such as your handsome husband to do all the work

2 beers to motivate said person :)

Here's a visual.  I'm sure your handy person can figure this out!

The tubs sit right on top. The sand weighs them down so they fit into the frame. Super handy, because now we can just pop the lids on when we're finished and no more sandy bottoms and feet!

And now for the trial run.  I think they were satisfied!

So. Much. Stuff.

When we moved into our house, we had one trailer and one car that held all of our treasured belongings.  We didn't have enough furniture to fill the rooms, our walls were bare, and my mental honey-do list probably took up several pages.

Five years, two kids, and one room addition later and things have changed a bit. The honey-do list hasn't gotten much shorter (my poor, over-worked husband), but the rooms have definitely filled up and I'm running out of space to hang pictures. How does that happen? I've tried to sell bigger things on those Facebook sale/swap pages and I diligently take the kids clothing to consignment every season.  Still I'm left with half a dozen storage tubs and bags full of.....Stuff.

So as much as I dreaded the thought of having a garage sale, here I am.  I've spent countless hours, sorting and pricing and sneaking toys away from unsuspecting children.  You always forget how long it takes to set one up until you are there, knee deep in clothes and covered in stray price tags.

High chair's gone, glider's gone, crib's gone, baby monitor's gone.  I'm slightly sad to watch the last of our baby stuff go, but I have to keep reminding myself there will be lots of  fun "big kid" stuff to fill that space. And lots and lots of memories. 

All in all I am glad, glad, glad  I decided to do this.  Slowly the stuff is disappearing and I've earned almost enough to pay for our half of a four day resort vacation this summer. Mmmmm....Long days on the lake, hiking, bike trails, and grilling with the family. As I sit here in the still chilly morning, that sounds a lot better than Stuff.