It may or may not have actually reached 102, but it rhymed, and it sure FEELS like 102. Here in the South, it's HOT. I can't recall if I've mentioned that before. The heat is really starting to get to me.
It's too hot to really do anything except go to the pool, which for me is still hot because I'm holding a baby and not in the water. So, what do we do instead?
Well, we were supposed to start school this week, but I haven't received all of my curriculum. But that's another post for another time because I'm still a little bitter by the whole thing. Why does it take a month and a half to get curriculum in?? Oops, I said another time, didn't I?
So instead, we have Craft Week, of course! My kids always love crafts and arty stuff, so it was perfect!
We made story lanterns, which I thought turned out so cute.
The idea is to write and illustrate a story that you can read as you turn the lantern, or Mason jar. Christian just drew, but Ansley actually wrote a story which I thought was so cute! And my kids always love to light things and watch them. Or, in this case, light them and then blow it out. Light it, blow it out again. Light it, blow it out......
There is always lots and LOTS of drawing going on at our house on any given day. Christian especially seems to really love drawing.
He also almost always draws for someone specific. Not just a drawing, but a drawing for Daddy. A drawing for Mimi. A drawing for Ansley. This one happens to be for Mimi, but at some point in the day, he's usually drawn for all of us. Even baby Avery.
Ansley really enjoys drawing, too, and is getting into writing stories to go with her drawings. I love that she is introducing Avery to this at an early age. Doesn't Avery look so intrigued?
I'm sure she's really just trying to figure out how to get that pen in her mouth.
Ansley loves to use stickers with her drawings, and she really enjoys sitting down with us and flipping page by page to show us all her creations through the day. Ansley has a sketch journal, and prefers to keep all her drawings together. Christian, however, prefers to rip out a page at a time and have a huge stack of drawings by the end of the day.
If you're like me, your first child gets a lot of the experimenting with different ideas and crafts, and then when you have another....and perhaps another.....you realize that it was kinda messy and when you add two (or more!) kids to a particular craft then it will just be REALLY messy. And the mean Lazy Mama comes out so you kinda ditch that idea and keep things neat and clean and orderly. At least that's what I've done. We stick to drawing and using stickers and maybe busting out a paint set every now and then.
But every once in awhile, you send Lazy Mama away for a little quiet and rest (she needs it because she's really cranky), and out comes Fun Mama. You know the one, the one that doesn't get bothered by messes and looks the other way when small, chubby, paint covered hands touch the chair? Yep, her. And she gets to announce fun things, like:
COME HERE KIDS AND HELP ME MAKE SOME FINGER PAINTS!
And the kids look at each other and mouth "FINGER PAINTS?" Has our Mama lost her mind?
Perhaps. But while Ansley dances around and gets out the tablecloth and finds paper and gets everything set up and Christian keeps asking what are finger paints?, you can see the excitement in their eyes, the flicker that something exciting is coming. Poor boy. He's never finger painted, thanks to Lazy Mama. At least not that I can recall. So the kids helped me make them and chose the colors and we just used some recycled pudding cups to put them in and had everything set up.
THIS is going to be a huge hit, I thought. What is better than getting messy and having paint all over your hands while AT THE SAME TIME creating beautiful pictures?? Oh, my. I had big dreams for how this would affect my children's lives.
This picture should have been a clue. See how Christian is dipping one little finger into the paint?
Yep. That's because this kept Christian occupied for all of about one and a half minutes. Then he said "I don't really like paint all over my hands and I want to wash them because they are all slimy and stuff."
Bummer.
Ansley, however, happily painted for over an hour. So I guess at least it kept someone occupied, right?
And maybe soon Avery can join in the fun, so then two of them will be happy while Christian plays Legos.
If you think it might keep your kids happy on these hot summer days, here is all you need to do:
Stir some flour and milk together on the stove for about 45 minutes, and make sure you stir constantly so it doesn't burn. Then run it through a sieve to get out the chunks, and process it in a blender so it's a good paint like consistency. Then, you'll need to add some.....
You didn't really believe me, did you? I'm KIDDING. Please nobody do what I just made up above. I don't even know what you would end up with. There are some things that I may invest a lot of time in, but finger paints is not one of them.
Mix together 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 cup of corn starch or flour (if you use flour add a little more than 1/2 cup), and 2 cups of water in a sauce pan until it thickens. Then pour into cups and dye with food coloring. (And if you have younger kids that eat some, who cares!) That's it. Easy, and fun!
Well, if you're not Christian.
I am going to work harder at being Fun Mama more often.
What are you doing to beat the heat? Or, is it not hot where you live? That would be amazing. Do tell, so we can pack up our belongings and come visit you. For like four months, every summer.