Everybody Poops....

We made a trip to one of my favorite places today; The Dollar Tree. I told the kids they each got a dollar, and as always they had a fantastic time rummaging through all the toys until they found just the right treasure. I stocked up on sidewalk chalk and looked at a few things for Little Lady's upcoming birthday. Pretty standard Dollar Tree visit.
Until we went to pay. I knew Little Miss had a dirty diaper,but I guess I underestimated the ability of one little butt. We put our stuff on the checkout counter and I pick my little princess up only to find my arm, from wrist to elbow, covered in poop. And Little Lady has managed to get her hand and arm in it, too. And back. And all of her clothes. Wonderful.
So I ask in my most urgent, I'm-covered-in-excrement voice where I can find a bathroom. Apparently the lady at the register didn't see the importance of my predicament, because rather than pointing me to the nearest restroom, she tells me my total. Really? Last thing on my mind.
 "I don't think I'll be paying just yet, cause I'm covered in crap. Where is the bathroom?" I say in the nicest tone one can muster when covered in poo and trying to keep feces covered toddler hands from touching anything.
I understand that many places don't have public restrooms.  Get it.  But serious times call for exceptions. To me, runaway poop is serious.  I'm imagining myself in the cashier's position, and I like to think that I would have been like, "Right this way!" and led me and my stinky posse to a place we could wash up. But my imagination rarely mirrors real life and other people seldom do the things I believe they should.  So instead she takes what seems like five minutes to get permission from her manager for us to use the restroom. And then gives us a vague description of its locale.
Okay, fine. Away we go, with my son walking at what seems to be the slowest speed possible and stopping to look at everything shiny along the way.
Deep breaths.
Fortunately, I had a diaper and a changing pad in my purse. Unfortunately, no wipes.  We weren't planning on being away more than 30 minutes and we certainly weren't prepared for an explosion of epic proportions.   We make do with wet paper towels.
Finally, we exit the bathroom. One frazzled mom with an armful of soiled clothes, one preschooler who doesn't seem to realize how epic this whole scene just was (he's more concerned about the toy he had to leave at the register), and a toddler wearing nothing but a diaper.
We pay. The cashier offers to put the cart away, which I find slightly redeeming, and we get out of there as fast as possible.
What a crappy trip that turned out to be. HarHar.

A SUPER PARTY!

Little man is officially four. As depressed as that makes me, one good thing did come from this; we had an awesome super hero party.  We had to make a few last minute adjustments, because I had incorrectly assumed it would be warm May 4th.  Despite that little setback, it went pretty well, I thought.

Here are a few hightlights.

We had to move everything indoors....Which meant a lot of furniture moving.

We're kind of SUPER.  Mostly me, I mean, those costumes are all made by yours truly.

Let there be num nums.

Super Cookies.  I had originally planned to use a spider web cookie cutter, but the one I ordered was GIGANTIC.  Instead I cut a strip of cardstock, covered it with foil, and shaped it.  

The cake.  My first time using fondant, but it worked out okay.  Maybe a little thick.

I did not make the Captain America costume, but aren't they cuties?

Tatoo Station. 

Design your own super hero.

Kryptonite hunt.  We had to move most of the games to the garage. I put some green paint in a gallon ziplock, put rocks in, and shook.  The kids had to use plastic tongs to pick them up, because kryptonite is kind of toxic to super heros. We also did an obstacle course, but my pictures didn't turn out too well. I blame the weather.

That bad guy is trying to steal the presents. Get him!

He's back!  After this, he reformed and we invited him in for some cake.

Gift bags. 

I just had to add this.  I think the grownups had just as much fun as the kids.  We have the best friends ever.

No Sew Superhero Party Banner!

This was totally an impulse thing.  I was strolling through the felt section at Hobby Lobby (I LOVE FELT!) and stumbled across some cute superhero/comic strip felt pieces.  I bought a handful, with no real plan, other than using it for Little Man's birthday party. I just couldn't pass it up.

I finally decided it would make a perfect banner. So I whipped out my trusty glue gun, a clothesline I snagged for a dollar (I LOVE DOLLAR TREE!), and a pair of scissors and went to town.  First I cut each piece into a triangular shape.  I left about an inch on top to attach the triangles to my rope. You would think when it came to things like this I would be a perfectionist, but strangely I am not. If you are, then by all means, make a pattern first. I just free handed mine.  Then I cut out the letters to spell "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!". Again, use a pattern if you're not a free handing type of person.

I ended up with something like this.

I laid the clothesline across the top.

Added some hot glue.

And folded it down.  I only burnt myself once....or twice. :)

And repeat a until you have your completed banner!

Frozen Dino Dig

 In honor of the freezing rain and snow we are getting on this glorious Spring day, I thought I would share what we did the other day.  You know, two days ago when it was warm and Springish.

I started this first thing in the morning.  I dug through our toys and found all of the plastic dinosaurs we had, plus some seashells and assorted animals.  I also gathered three plastic containers (My niece was coming over for the afternoon).  I filled each container 1/4 of the way full and dropped a couple of critters in. Then I popped them in the freezer. I suppose you could just fill the whole thing, but I wanted them to be in layers. A few hours later I added more water and 2 or 3 more animals.  I did this 3 times until it was full.

I ran a little warm water over each one and TA-DA!, big ice cubes filled with all kinds of fun surprises.

We poured warm water over the ice to hurry along the excavation.

Only one spoon was harmed in this project. :)

After all the ice was melted, they built homes out of tree bark, grass, and rocks for their little  animal collection.

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!