Ice cream

So we made some ice cream awhile back for a birthday. BTW if you make your own ice cream have you tried the recipe using sweetened condensed milk? It's the creamiest and easiest by far and the variation of mix-ins is endless. We have an ice cream machine, however apparently there's a method you can use to make it without one!

Back to the story...I suppose if you didn't go the machine route you wouldn't be able to get it all over your face as you clean off the appliance.

Or fight with your sister over what part you get to clean off.

I think Sarah was trying to be more health conscious than the rest of the crew by munching on the blood pressure toy from the doctor kit.

Doing a Jig

Can you tell that there is Irish blood in the family?  Happy St. Patrick's Day, we hope you enjoyed a pinch free day!

Origami Seed Packet

I have a healthy collection of seeds so I thought it would be fun to host a little seed exchange with some friends. People brought their extra seeds of choice to share and everyone left with new varieties of seeds to try. We had a great time and I can't wait to try the seeds I chose!

In case people only wanted a few seeds and not the entire packet of seeds, I taught everyone how to make origami seed packets to store their seeds and I thought I would share it here too just in case anyone else is looking for a clever way to share or store seeds.

Make a square. Depending on the size of your packet you may choose to divide a sheet of paper into multiple pieces before folding down a corner to make a square. (Sorry, terrible camera angle but it is a square!)

Fold it back into a triangle and turn your triangle so that the folded side is at the bottom.

Fold the bottom right corner up.

Fold the bottom left corner up. You may have to adjust the two corners, you want them to line up across the top edge.

5. Pre-crease the top portion. Tuck one of the top pieces into the pocket closest to you.

6. Fill your packet with seeds or other small objects and then tuck the top piece into the pocket closest to you to close the packet.

7. Turn it over and label it.
And now you have an origami seed packet!

Cardboard Treehouse

Another cardboard creation!

 

We started with this Family Fun craft idea, and then we added the swing, basket pull, and rope swing.

We even made pegdoll princesses.

The pegdoll fairies and princesses were {pin}spired by made by joel. The girls loved picking out the hair and scraps for the dresses. The fairy wings were made from a plastic soda bottle.

This one, like the castle, was for a special birthday child, who I am told played with it until bedtime. This one is definitely going to be made again in one form or another for our home...

Snow day

On Monday we woke to this:

And of course the girls wanted to outside as soon as they woke up. It was a good thing school was cancelled.

The girls played and played, ate snacks, went sledding, and played some more until dinner.

It was so warm and Sarah loved being outside...not even a complaint. Being three must be much more difficult.

Tears because she had to go to the potty, tears because she was wet and cold because of the wet snow, tears because she wanted to keep playing, tears all around. For the record, she was also quite the daredevil on the sledding hill and LOVED sledding with the big kids.

Plenty of snow to make not just one, but two snowmen. And as you probably guessed they fell asleep in no time once the sun went down.

Cardboard Castle

 

 

What child wouldn't want a castle for all his or her little knights and princesses? And when they're done with it...recycle it!

This one is based on the one found on the Family Fun site. But there are tons of other really creative ones out there. I LOVE this one.

Happy V-Day

Wishing you a happy day on this day of love!