Spot Like - Play doh

Ok, so this Spot Like is a like in a round about way.  The kids received some play doh sets for their 2 year birthday, the sets that you can 'grow' hair, stamp or cut various shapes or animals.  Additionally I picked up a few of these sets from a kids stuff only swap sale (great cost saving way to acquire these sets).  Since they turned 2 these kids will stamp, cut & squish play doh, sometimes for up to 45 minutes!  I usually dump out all their tools on the table in the kitchen which gives me time to cook dinner when needed and bonus that I get to keep my eye on them and corralled.

* I am getting zero incentive for mentioning this product, I'm just sharing what I like :-)

Easter craft fun

Hand print Easter Chicks

While looking for some fun Easter crafts to do with the kids I found this adorable chicken and decided to make some of our own.  Here is our version which ended up looking like some very kooky, active chicks, one of a kind for sure and yet wicked cute -

Before the kids went down for their naps I traced their hands so I could pre-cut all the pieces.  I cut enough of the following shapes so each kid could make 3 chicks each -

- oval chick shapes

- round eye whites

- round eyes (I cut brown and blue to coordinate with each kids eye colors)

- orange rectangle legs

- orange triangle cut from folded orange 

- orange triangle feet

I gave each a little pot of glue & a paint brush and we assembled our chicks piece by piece which turned out to be a good lesson to talk about shapes.  By the 3rd set the kids were definitely more interested in painting the glue than making the chicks but we did end up with a set for each of the grandparents and most importantly one for mom. 

Thumb bunny Easter greeting

The chicks were a little time consuming  so we did a quicker Easter greeting for the extended family. Single thumb print bunnies and having triplets we ended up with a nice little set of 3 bunnies per card.  I pre-cut cardstock to fit into a greeting card and stamped each of their thumbs.  After they dried I added whiskers, a pink nose and an Easter message, some variation of 'Thumb bunnies wanted to wish you a Happy Easter', 'Hoppy Easter' and 'Thumb bunnies miss you!'.

Buying time with food

With 2.5yr old triplets I need every spare moment I can get where they are being quiet and distracted.  The most valuable time tends to come when I'm in the kitchen and need just a few more minutes before releasing them from their highchairs.  Tonight I gave them little strands of grapes and they were soooo quiet and captivated plucking the grapes off themselves.

During lunch the other day I also discovered clementine oranges gave me a little extra time.  Ah the little things!

Soap nuts, just bag it

ok, even though I love the ease of use of the liquid detergent made by the soap nuts, and the flexibility of using hot or cold water, chasing triplet toddlers around every day doesn't allow me the time to make it when I run low.  This is something I wish someone had told me about soap nuts, the little secret that helps when you need to just throw 5 +/- soap nuts in a bag and just keep the laundry going....

When the bag no longer has that odd, described 'vinegar' smell and just smells like an over washed stick then it is time to retire those nuts.  The odd smell of the nuts actually leaves your laundry smelling just clean and not like the odd, unfavorable smell the nuts themselves have.  If the bag is on it's 4+ cycle of use and smell has shifted, well, that is what your clothes will smell like.

I've read that the nuts will turn grey or mushy when they have reached their maximum washing capacity but I have never found this useful.  If they lose their characteristic smell then they are done, pretty simple.

St. Patrick's Day craft fun

Shamrock Handprint

This was an easy craft to do with my 3 toddlers it just takes a little paint and some hand prints.  The result was to a fun way to remember St. Patrick's Day and also just how small my kids were at one time.  We made a 3 leaf clover perfect if you have 3 kids or in our case triplets :-)  We also made an extra keepsake shamrock print for the grandparents who were over the moon to receive a fun surprise in the mail.

Photo Leprechauns

No handmade St. Patrick's day card would be complete with out a little Leprechaun cheekiness.  We over ordered our Christmas cards so I saw the opportunity to create something silly with the extras.  Using some Microsoft Leprechaun clipart in a Word document sized to accommodate the faces from the leftover greeting cards I printed them out, cut out the faces and added in some of my own. 

St. Patrick's Day Party for toddlers

The triplets hosted a St. Paddy's Day party for their friends aged 18mo - 3yrs.  We started with some cookie decorating.

Confetti cake batter cookies

Easy, fast and most people have a box of cake mix on hand

1- box of cake mix

1/4c oil

1/4c water

1 egg

Spoon a tsp of batter leaving a couple inches in between cookies

Cook at 350° for approximately 15 minutes!

For the frosting we mixed up a myriad of colors using whip cream & food coloring.  The colors were a little light but I feared mixing the whip cream too much and making it watery.

No party would be complete without a pinata!  

I saw this awesome Pull-open Pinata in my current issue of Family Fun.

Our version was not made from cardboard but a recycled coffee can.  We were lacking on our overall  'look' but the kids loved it!  It was also a good learning experience on colors as each picked a color they wanted to pull and had to locate that ribbon.  Not only did they love when the trap door spilled gold chocolate coins, rainbow colored lollipops, bracelets and balls but they loved having a long ribbon to run around with, a win win!

Spot Like - Rubber, Purple Broom!

 

One handled, one headed, flying purple dirt eater!  
Purple, oh so pretty.
Rubber, oh  so odd
Oh so amazing is it what it is. 

 My mom brought me a gift on her most recent visit.  A purple, rubber broom.   It sweeps amazingly after you've mastered the sweep.  Being a fan of  the flylady, my mom purchased this off of the flylady's website.   This type of broom is not unique to the flylady as I found out after mentioning it to my Australian friend.  They have used these brooms for ages.  I'm glad however that the flylady is bringing attention to a cleaning tool that really does work well and people may not know about.

* I am getting zero incentive for mentioning this product, I'm just sharing what I like and where to get it :-)