Preschool Paintball!

Lil Bisuit has had a busy summer--he just turned three years old, so we've had lots of family in town for the celebrating, then his aunt was here for a few weeks and kept us entertained, and, in between, we've been working hard on preparations for Baby Biscuit who's due to arrive in August...so, we just haven't had a lot of time to blog. Now that things are settling down some, we needed some summer fun outside today...MESSY fun, of course...but since real paintball was out of the question for either of us, we decided to make our own game of it!

First we had to gather our supplies...water guns and squirters, splash bombs (those soft, foamie water balls for the pool), bowls, washable poster paint in various colors, and good ole' H20...

We filled up the bowls and blasters with a mix of water and paints, and we were ready for pint-sized paint wars!

 He thinks he can avoid my expert, precision shots with his impressive ninja dodging skills...

OHHH! I gotcha!! Mommy 1, Biscuit - 0!! :D

Just wait...there's more where THAT came from :D

Hee hee...I think I'm still winning, but now it's payback time!

Uh-oh...he's gettin' serious now!

Time for Mommy to go on the offensive again!

 Let's re-load...

Hey...cheater! You can't just smear me with it! ;)

Umm...I guess maybe me and Baby Biscuit didn't win after all?

The proud champion...:D

 Oh well...there's always a rematch right? And clean-up is just as fun--especially with colored bathwater!!

Pet Caterpillars?

A few weeks ago we had a TON of those tent caterpillars in trees around our house, and crawling all over the sidewalk. The first time we came across one, Lil Biscuit was so excited by it that I put it in a jar with some leaves and sticks and dirt so he could see it more up close at home.
Here's what transpired:

So as soon as we got him inside, he laid down on his tummy and started talking to the "worm" (I have a video of the conversation which was adorable but it is taking too long to upload so you'll have to trust me, it was cute!) anyway he kept asking me to get him out, so he could "pet it like a doggy"...so I let the fuzzy footed thing out of the jar to crawl around the kitchen floor.

Biscuit thought he was awesome!

He wasn't content just to watch him and pet him...

 ...he wanted to HOLD the caterpillar in his hand! He kept giggling and saying, "He tickle, mommy!"

He was pretty thrilled when I told him we could "keep" the critter overnight. We did let it go in a tree the next day, in case you were wondering ;)

Driveway Sponge Stamp Splash Art!

Today we skipped spring and went straight to SUMMER! It was HOT...close to 85 degrees, so we had to do something outside and WET! I found some sponge stamps that I originally bought for less than a dollar at Hobby Lobby to use for crafts and painting (they didn't work so well for that) and figured they'd be more fun in a sand bucket full of water. I told Lil Bisucit the plan to stamp some shapes on the driveway with bubble water and sponge stamps...he thought it sounded like a good time!

 First he had to pick out what stamps he wanted to use...

Then wring out some of the extra water....

Then he had to find a nice dry spot on the driveway to work. The stamps could make big blobs with too much water in them (or not much of anything without enough), but if you're really careful the prints turn out nice!

 When he got bored with that, we moved on to stamping with Biscuit ... first, he put a foot in the water bucket...

and ran all over the driveway making footprints!

 Here's one he made...

He made handprints too...

And splashed around with a soccer ball...

Then he washed rocks.

Finally it was time to clean up...he loved dumping out all the water!

 He was a good helper...

 He was all smiles after a good time - in a good mood, tuckered out and ready for a nap!

Make-It-Yourself Marble Launcher

Today we decided to get a little goofy and bring out the foam noodle for some indoor fun; I figured there had to be a way to turn it into some kind of marble track. So, I rigged it up with some neon green duct tape to the edge of our kitchen counter and propped the end up on a chair. Then we set up a Sponge Bob dixie cup to see if we could catch the marble upon launching it through the noodle's center hole. I knew we'd have to get the angle just right to defy gravity and get it to go up at the end...

\

Little Biscuit couldn't wait to give it a shot!

 

Whoo-hoo, here comes the marble! The first few tries we defied gravity with no problem but took a while to get the cup in the right spot. Then, ...

Ta-da, we did it!! Yipee! The marble launcher worked AND we caught the marble in the cup!

So after our first success, we decided to get even more wild and crazy...

We made a marble "monster truck" course! Can our marble jump the stack of cars and land safely in the farm wagon? The suspense was killing us...

 

Indeed it could...way to go Little Biscuit! Then we had a great time experimenting with the angle of the noodle and seeing how high we could make it jump. This one made quite the evil kenevil leap into the air...but alas, we missed the mug at the bottom :)

If you have a marble and a noodle, why not give it a try? It was an entertaining way to spend a cold a morning and made for one happy little boy :)

 

Plush Alphabet Project

So, a friend I met through MOPS had a set of super-cute felt alphabet toys for her toddler son. She couldn't remember where she got them and I couldn't find any the same size to buy in a store or online (I wanted them stuffed-toy size not magnet size) so over a vacation I decided to try to wing it on my mom's sewing machine. They turned out passable - not as cute as the originals but they'll do for letter games and early phonics and reading lessons...and just plain imaginative play, which is what little Biscuit likes them best for right now :)

We use them to make some of his favorite words...
CAR, of course!

FROG...

and just for fun, a little rhyming lesson using the "at" words...

All you have to do to make your own set of plush ABC's is get 26 full felt sheets (8.5 x 11) in fun colors. Fold each sheet in half and draw on a big bubble letter to fill each half sheet using sewing chalk or washable marker (a template for the letters adds more hassle...just hand draw them, it makes them "yours!").  Cut out any holes in letters like A, B, D, P, etc. Then sew carefully around each letter outline leaving an inch hole for stuffing (consider leaving two holes on complicated letters like M, X, W); cut each letter out; stuff 'em with fiberfill (use a pencil or dowel to stuff hard-to-reach areas) and sew up the loose ends. Trim any loose thread and there you are...all done! Have fun!