My Mom Made THIS!: March 2011

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Mommy's Mermaid March 2011- 11x14"

March 2011- 11x14"

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Fall Birch Forest 16"x20"

Fall Birch Forest 16"x 20"March 2011- Heather Ross

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Suffering from Spring fever? PLEASE AVERT YOUR EYES


Trees through snow

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Friday, March 11, 2011

From Guilt to Gratitude

I am feeling guilty. A Mommy died last night. She did what single Moms do all over the world. She dropped the kids off at daycare, kissed them goodbye for a little while… but… then she died.

I pray that she doesn’t know she left. I pray that she didn’t or doesn’t hurt. I pray for those two little people who will grow up without their Mommy. How their hearts must ache for her. Mommy is the one who explains the hard stuff, who helps you through the rough things and kisses all your hurts. I wonder who will help them through the toughest thing they will ever do, who will explain that Mommy is never coming back and who will kiss their hurts?

I feel guilty for having my children here safe and sound, family intact and she does not.

I feel guilty for being upset with the piles of laundry because she will never again do their laundry. She won’t ever again look at each t-shirt or little sock marveling at how much her babies have grown.

I feel guilty for grumbling at the unmade beds when she will never again make their beds. She will never again see the little divot their little bodies made in the bed or smell that sweet baby smell on their sheets.

Feeling guilty for wishing they would play a little quieter because she will never again hear them play. See them play, smell them, feel them … be with them, watch them grow, watch them graduate, see them become adults and maybe even Mommies themselves.

I feel guilty for having these possibilities and not appreciating everything. Not just the cute things they say or how sweet they look when they sleep… but EVERYTHING… even the laundry, the mess and the noise because I know that if it was all taken from me… even those things would be precious.

In honor of the Mommy that died…. I will pledge gratitude for all that I am blessed. May I never need reminding!

Today I am grateful for ... snuggles on the couch, an extra chatty little girl, a clean closet, fresh baked bread, a kiss (a little too wet), mud in the front hall

and pee on the seat.

Today I am grateful for life.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Snow Day in Daycareville

Snow Way Home. by Heather Ross

What do I do when my day suddenly has four more children than expected, the yard is like a lake and there is a whole day to fill?

Well today we rearranged our regular schedule. Normally we go outside later in the day. Today we went out early. We got absolutely soaked (which I knew would happen) and this was fine. We had a BLAST slipping, sliding and sloshing around and you know what? None of us melted.

Our Snowy tracks... Look how wet.

After we were done outside all of our wet things went into the dryer so they will be nice and dry when our Mom’s and Dad’s came and get us.

There was a definite separation of the sexes today.

The boys where into the trucks they brought and the girls were talking fairies.

Normally we all do the same things but I knew each group would love what I pulled out for them.

Dinosaur eggs

I started the boys on a Dinosaur adventure.

These are these little caplets with a sponge type thing inside. The caplet is meant to melt in the water and "hatch" a dinosaur. It is a fun and easy experiment. Each boy got their own jar (baby food jars) with a growing dinosaur inside to take home. The rest of the dinosaurs went into a large clear plastic peanut butter jar so we could watch them.

The boys then went on to stamping dino’s on a big sheet of paper I rolled out.

They were also completely happy to clean up the stampers. I filled the sink with soapy water and they washed away the paint.

fairy workshop

The ladies made fairies with close pegs, plastic flower petals and feathers.

Finished Fairies

Today I was thankful for the organizing I had done. I had bagged up all the little crafty things and lined them up in a large container. Everything imaginable is in there; googly eyes, water balloons, marbles, sparkely plastic gems, shells, and foamy cut outs. There are other containers of coloured paper, felt and foamy sheets, stickers and pipcleaners.

activity storage bin

So today when I needed a quick plan, I just went shopping in the container and found all the stuff we needed for a fun day.

Well everything but our imaginations. Thank goodness for those!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Magic Muffin Formula

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Oatmeal

Creative Baking?
Can there be such a thing?

I have been told.... "Baking is an exact science. If you don't add exactly the right amount of ingredients listed on the recipe, your baking will flop.'

Not so with my newly discovered MAGIC MUFFIN FORMULA (or "recipe" if you must).

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MAGIC MUFFIN FORMULA

Mix all wet ingredients in the bottom of a bowl:
4 eggs
1 cup dairy (your choice milk, yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk)
1/4 cup sweet stuff (your choice honey, sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup)
1 cup apple sauce or oil
splash of vanilla

After that stuff is well mixed...
sprinkle over the top
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp spices (whatever seems to match, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, cloves etc)
2 cups dry ingredients (you can use all white flour or go half and half with oatmeal, whole wheat flour or bran)
DONT MIX YET

now it is time for the fun stuff...
You can add about 1 cup of whatever you fancy:

grated carrot, zucchini or apple
dried fruit
fresh fruit
chocolate chips
coconut
or go nuts with nuts

I put them in at 350 until they are springy in the middle.

************************************************************************

Eventually I think I would like to make a savory muffin with cornmeal and cheddar... or cheddar and herbs... or cheese and bacon.... or or or.(okay slow down Heather).

Banana Blueberry Muffin

Today I made Chocolate Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins (with ground flax seeds shhh don't tell the kids). I added cocoa and oatmeal in my dry mix this time. Hint: Anytime I add oatmeal I usually let the whole mix sit for a bit to soften up the oatmeal.

I have made Bananna Blueberry.

... and just plain banana and oatmeal raisin and I have even tried making some really healthy ones with yogurt, applesauce and honey (no fat, no sugar) Every time they are different, every time delicious.

I love this formula because I can be as creative as I want. Using any flavor combination I can think of and use up any ripe fruit I may have.

PLUS + if you make them you get to name them...
I am thinking the next ones might be ..... APPLE CIN-TASTIC (I have some apples to use up).

Monday, March 7, 2011

For the little Girls on St. Patrick's Day

Finished Head Piece

This year is the first year that all of the children at the daycare on St. Patrick's Day will be little girls. This was my chance to bring out all of the "girlie" stuff I have wanted to do.

I saw these sparkly hair pieces at a local fair and new some day I would find the opportunity to make them. (Especially because I think they charged $6 or more for about $1 worth of supplies).

I think the ones at the fair used all foil wires but I fluffed ours up with two extra puffy pipecleaners (I thought they wouldn't be as itchy).

I started by making a ring from the two yellow pipe cleaners. Then I wound the sparkly wire (bought at a dollar store) around the ring. I finished the head piece by tying on the curled ribbons and a sticking on a shamrock stickers (also from dollar store).

all you need to make them smile

It think all of the little ladies will be impressed.

... There may even be some spinning and twirling to go with all the giggles and smiles.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Looking for My Pot of Gold

St. Patrick's Day is coming and it just happens to land smack dab in the middle of our March Break... so today I am putting together a plan to keep all the kiddies busy and buzzing.

What to eat?

Shamrock Pancakes

These pancakes were EXTREMELY simple to make. Just dab a little food colouring into the batter, then drop three spoon fulls close to each other to cook.

Some extra "NATURALLY" green foods:

green grapes
spinach
lettuce
peas (pods too)
beans
honeydew melon
green apple
cucumber
okra
limes
sprouts
celery
broccoli
avocado
asparagus
olives and pickles

Extra fun with Food

Green Peppers- If you cut a green pepper the right way it makes a perfect shamrock stamper.
Green Eggs and Ham - Scrambled eggs can be green with a little fresh herbs or a drop of food colouring. You can always hard boil the eggs and dye them green eggs like Easter eggs (this can also be done with food colouring). Don't forget to read the book.
Green Food Sampler - cut up a variety of green foods and serve them in a divided tray, muffin pan or even a group of cups.

there is always.... Mint Ice cream and Lime Jello .... need I say more?

What can we make?

Here are a few links to crafty things I have found that I think the kids would LOVE to make:

Pot of Gold

Shamrock Garland

Rainbow Cupcakes

Printable Pinwheel

Leprechaun with Curlie Beard

Clay Pot Leprechaun

Shamrock Ring

What else can we do?

Hunt for Gold

We are going to have a scavenger hunt... to "find the pot of gold"

I picked this plastic cauldron up at a dollar store. It is perfect for a pot of gold (or at Halloween for witches brew). The pot could be filled with our snack for the day, whatever book we are going to read for story time or another SURPRISE.

Before we start I will plan out clues that lead the children all over the yard (or in the house if it is rainy). This is ALWAYS a hit so be prepared for encore requests.

4-Leaf Clover Hunt

Can you find the lucky one?

I "Podged" the container with green wrapping paper (left over from Christmas). I just ripped up little bits of the paper and layered it onto the container with white glue (use lots of glue to make it glossy). We cut out a tonne of three leaf clovers and a couple of four leaf clovers.

The kids get it out every year and dig for the "lucky one" and when we are all done it packs up in it's own little container.

Stay tuned, I am sure we will gather up some more Green fun....