Things we do after nap :: Ice play

Its been soooo hot! Disgustingly, depressingly hot. Now before you scold me for complaining about the heat when I live in the Seattle area let me remind you that one, I'm getting mui preggo-pants here and two, because it doesn't get hot often around here, no one has AC. That means that when its 85 outside its 100 in my flat roofed, no insulation house. Gross.
Jack and I were melting the other afternoon and so lethargic that I decided it was a good day for ice play. Ice play is a lot like water play. Its easy, so fun for littles and requires minimal clean up. Put a towel down (or not) under your highchair, strip that baby to a diaper and gather a couple of things you already have in your kitchen.

We started with some ice water in a sippy and a small plastic cup filled with ice cubes. We tentatively touched the ice and talked about how smooth it was and how it was slippery like soap in the bath tub. Jack wants to kiss everything right now so he decided to give the ice a little smootch.

"Oooooo cold!" Since we'd just had our faces next to the cup we decided to blow into the cup and feel the cold air come rushing back out.

We noticed that the ice had started melting and that there was now a little bit of water in the bottom of the cup so we talked about how ice is made from water, and then poured the water onto the tray.

Then some of the ice came out too...

Of course the next logical progression was for colored water to join the party.

We eventually added some dinosaur sponges and the color blue.

It was at this point that Mama realized we had been playing for 45 MINUTES, and that it was time to get started on dinner. I was shocked that Jack stayed engaged for so long. It was a great lot of fun and helped us stay just a little bit cooler.

McCoyalicious Granola

Hubs loves granola but we don't have it often because the stuff you get at the grocery store is generally super expensive and super fatty. I don't know why I got it in my head to try making it, probably Pinterest again, but I was inspired one afternoon to take to the Internet and seek out a recipe. I found Alton Brown's here and it looked perfectly tweakable. Now, I'm not one to follow a recipe or pattern to the letter... ever, so below you'll find my version. We thought it came out delicious but I would suggest that you add/swap whatever nuts or dried fruits you and your family are fond of. I used what I had on hand but I think that next time I might try sunflower seeds in place of the peanuts, add some dried cranberries and swap out half the coconut oil for vegetable oil. Experiment, experiment! It is a little time consuming, though not labor intensive. You just have to stop by the oven and stir it every 15 minutes. So if you have an hour and a half I highly recommend spending it multitasking by cleaning your house and making this crunchy goodness.

McCoyalicious Granola

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup shredded sweet coconut

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup coconut oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 250.

In a large bowl combine oats, nuts, coconut and brown sugar.

In a separate bowl combine honey, oil and salt.

Combine both mixtures and spread onto sheet pans. Cook for an hour 15 minutes stirring every 15 minutes for even color.

Remove from oven, transfer to a large bowl and stir in raisins until distributed evenly.

I stored mine in a couple of mason jars but any airtight container should work. I cant officially tell you how long it will keep but we are still working our way through one of the jars 3 weeks later so it's got to stay good for awhile.

Saving a fave

I have these V neck t-shirts that I got from Forever 21 a million years ago and I am obsessed with them. I'm glad I had the forethought to buy 4 of them but I wish I'd bought 50. They fit like a glove, are the perfect length, have the perfect neckline, and have held up shockingly well for how cheap they were. We redid our bathroom completely by ourselves a couple of years ago and in my sleep deprived stupor (when you are without a bathtub in a one bathroom house, you stay up late and spend all your free time installing tile) I wore one of my lovlies while grouting. Of course there were spills and I thought I'd ruined it but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. It lived in my craft room for 3 years until the perfect idea came to me, inspired of course by Pinterest. Oh Pinterest. I do love you so. Note: I get that the damage doesn't look that bad in this photo, but trust me, it was not wearable to anywhere other than Home Depot.

Some white fabric paint, a chop stick, a Trader Joe's bag and an hour later I had this.

I leaned heavily on this girl's work for inspiration. Amazing isnt she? I thought about freezer paper but in the end I just free handed that sucker on there. I did not have the energy or patience to make a stencil and I'm actually kind of glad that I didn't. It has this sort of batik, boho thing going on with the imperfect line work that I'm totally digging and hopefully looks as cool as I think it does. There is a wealth of inspiration out there and this is a great way to cover up any kind of minor staining on a beloved piece.

Things we do after nap :: Water play

I've been doing this with Jack for several months but have yet to blog about it. Its such a simple thing and yet for littles, so effective. Its even better now that Jacks a little older. I think he spent almost 45 minutes in complete concentration in which Mama was able to finish the first (hopefully of many) hand-knit sweaters for baby girl.

All I do is lay down an old towel (important in case the food coloring stains) and grab an assortment of things I find in the kitchen. It varies every time and the possibilities are endless. This time we had a Pyrex pie plate, measuring cup and spoon, a straw, an old spice jar and a plastic squirty alligator from the latest trip to the zoo. Then I fill a couple of containers with colored water and let Jack have at it.

He has so much fun. Pouring, scooping and splashing. There is minimal clean up involved with the towel on hardwood floors (I would suggest not doing this on carpet. We've hung out in the kitchen several times) and it gives a Mama time to finish a couple of chores. That being said, I do love to find an activity for myself that allows me to sit near and observe if I can. Without direction the way he chooses to use these objects never ceases to fascinate me. So next time you're bored, grab some kitchen junk and some water and watch the magic happen.

A little trip for busy bees

Oof. Pregnancy + toddler is hard work! I've managed to keep sewing, baking and making, but blogging has fallen by the wayside. I don't know how some of these bloggy mamas do it. Those broads are amazing. I've got lots to share so I'll start with our recent little summer vacay.

We decided not to deal with air travel this year and opted for a cabin on the Wenatchee river, only an hour and a half drive from Seattle. What a treat! The weather was great, we were in a little community with a playground and a pool just steps away and Lake Wenatchee was literally a 5 minute drive. We swam, we threw rocks in the river, we sat in the mud, we giggled and sunned. Before we left I did a little vacation sewing. A couple of pairs of maternity shorts for myself, some shorts for Jack and then while we were there, I finished the hand stitching on the next sized bucket hat (I'd already made Jack one in small).

They were all fun projects. For the mama shorts I drafted a pattern using a pair that fit when I wasn't preggo, leaving the fly open to accommodate some extra room in the waist area. I also cut the front extra low and made a simple elastic waist. One pair is thrifted brown corduroy and the other is a Laura Ashley print that I got on clearance a million years ago. Comfortable and easy. For Jack's shorts I did pretty much the same thing, using a pair of shorts that fit him well, I made a pattern and used an old linen shirt and one of Bruce's old polo's for the fabric. The hat is from Little Things to Sew. God I love that book. The patterns are so well written and easy to follow. This hat comes together pretty quickly especially considering how professional the finish is.  

We even caught a fish, and what are mini vacations for, if not for getting a little slimy?



Things we do after nap :: Popsicle stick & Clothes Pin Airplanes

I really didn't intend to be away so long. One post in almost 3 months, ouch. Clearly I've been busy with something, and the something happens to be growing another human. We are expecting baby #2 in early December! This pregnancy has been a bit harder than the first. Chasing a toddler around rather than lying on the couch with a bag of pretzels is a bit more exhausting than I was expecting. I unfortunately, also had much worse morning sickness this time around. Puking with a curious toddler trying to look over your shoulder is a hilarious story for later but not really all that funny in the moment. I am getting some energy back now though. We're into the golden second trimester and other than the emergence of the rotten heartburn I had with the first pregnancy I'm almost symptom free. I've even started to feel my little goldfish move a bit. So fun. I'd forgotten how magical those first little flutters are.

But this is what I really wanted to tell you about. A fun and easy project idea we found (where else?) on Pinterest. Popsicle stick & clothes pin airplanes! Who doesn't have those things laying around? They came together in literally 5 minutes, which includes a few minutes hunting for the hot glue gun. For the little guys like mine, I suggest putting the airplanes together during nap and having them all ready to decorate when they wake up. We used crayola washable markers, but the decorating posibilities are endless: glitter, crayons, stickers, modge podge and paper...

As you can see, Jack quickly lost interest and started coloring on the picture we'd been working on that morning.

No worries, he came back to it soon enough. Now these are a bit delicate, so be ready to re-glue a couple of times before your littles understand how fragile they are. Maybe super glue would work better... I might try it next time. Either way get ready for some silly fun, though your airplanes may turn into hungry bugs or dancing dinosaurs, I'm not really sure what was going on...

Simple sandbox

Seattle weather has been giving us glimpses of summer lately and any day above 60 degrees around here (rain or shine) is a good day for the beach. Jack is thoroughly enjoying all this digging around in the sand and muck. In fact one of his latest vocabulary additions has been "Sand! Sand!" so last weekend when it was better than 60 degrees, 70 and sunny all day in fact, we made ourselves a simple sandbox.

We went back and forth about using an old planter box on the patio but settled on our hand-me-down kiddy pool and about 15 bucks worth of play sand. Easy peasey. The hardest part was getting the sand out of the car. Those little bags weigh 50 pounds each. I'm not really sure what were going to do when/if we need to move the sandbox...

Jack was THRILLED. The man is a fan of sand after all and couldn't even wait to get proper clothes on before he jumped right in. Sadly the weather took a turn for the worse the next day and poor Jack hasn't been able to play in it since. He longingly looks out the sliding glass door and points, "sand... sand". Soon my love. We've got sunshine in the forecast for this weekend. I think there is plenty of digging and "ditty" (dirty) in your future.