cozyblue

rice table/water table

(or, maybe the best $4 i ever spent)

several years ago i bought this cheap plastic under-the-bed storage box, threw in some plastic dinosaurs and a couple of big bags of white rice, and hoped adella would be into it.
she was.  here's the link! my goodness it seems like so long ago...



later, once griffin came along, he loved it too.  and it's easy to pull out, play with, and then put away.  usually there's a little clean-up involved, but the kids are pretty good about not making a huge rice mess.  



a few weeks ago i was itching to buy the kids a sand/water table (um, they're way more pricey than you might think) to play with outside on the porch, and i remembered the box.
it just took a few minutes to dump the rice into a big garbage bag, find a few new-ish tools and toys to play with, and fill the box with water.  



and look!  they love it.  i mean, really love it.



every day that it's nice and sunny, they spend hours on the porch splashing around in it.  of course it usually ends up drenching them, but that's to be expected  --  and it's part of the fun!





griffin approves my endorsement of the plastic box filled with water.



total side note:  i just got stuck sitting here, looking through LOTS of old blog posts, and watching all of the short videos (in the 'home videos' category).  WOW.  SO MUCH PRICELESS STUFF THERE!  (in all caps - yes - for real)  i'm so glad that i have them to look back on.
xo

birds nest cookies

it's that time again .  time for the birds nest cookies!  this year we made a ton of them, and will be taking them to school tomorrow, to share with adella's class.  



adella counted them all to "make super-sure" that we had exactly enough for each person to have one.  of course, we made extras to share with the neighbors -- and to nibble on ourselves.



griffin helped a little, by licking the butterscotch off the spoon.



yum.  aren't they so sweet?



they're just simple haystack cookies -- melted butterscotch chips, peanut butter, and chow mein noodles -- with 'whoppers' candy eggs smooshed on top.  easy peasy.  and super sweet!
xo

sweet feet are very distracting

griffin and i have been doing a little painting lately.  one day last week i set up the water colors for him and he happily got down to business.



so i was hanging around, supervising, observing as usual...



but then i noticed his sweet little feet peeking out and i couldn't resist.



eeeek!



and while i was busy clicking away, griff was getting into a little mischief.







"oh no!"  he says, innocently.  (quickly followed by, "yum!")

and then it was most definitely time for a bubble bath.

new artwork in the gallery

i've uploaded a new batch of photos to flickr -- go see!  cleaning out and photographing the contents of adella's art box has become a frequent (and fun) chore.  she's a busy bee, that girl!  i'm amazed at the number of new drawings she churns out each day, and now we've got several new ones coming home with her from school each day too.

quick hello

hi there.  i'm here -- we're okay!  busy, you know?  i've had a hard time keeping up with it all lately, but i hope to be back in this space more soon.

i just wanted to remind you folks that i've got a full photostream over on flickr, and i've just uploaded a bunch of new random photos.  i've been toying with the idea of posting more details and notes about the photos there and leaving the blog behind.  what would you think of that?  i've found that in the past year i've taken SO many pictures that i want to share, and have had less time to write, and so maybe it would be best to just post pictures on flickr and add notes and tags with details of what the photos are about.  'cause pictures speak louder than words anyway, right?  and then we can have conversations in the 'comments' section under each photo if we want to...  i'm just thinking out loud(on blog) here -- no decisions yet.  i really love the blog.  but it's been hard to keep up lately.

anyway, last week we carved out a little space in our dingy basement for adella to have a place of her own to paint and craft, without interruption from little bro, and an area to spread out all her art supplies.  the kitchen is getting too crowded for it all!  one day soon maybe i'll have a proper craft studio space downstairs too (ahem) but for now, adella's got some room to grow and she's loving it.  apologies for the dark, bad basement pic.

earlier today i uploaded a TON of photos of her new artwork, and some of griffin's too -- he's loving the watercolors whenever he can get his hands on it!  go here to check them out.  i'll try to be back soon.

drawing room

i finally got around to sorting through adella's crazy overflowing art box today.  call  me crazy but i cannot bear to part with any of her artwork!  what am i going to do?  eventually i suppose we'll have to build an addition or rent a storage unit to house all of her amazing drawings.  i kid, of course.  but seriously - we do have a huge box downstairs full of her papers, and the small box in the kitchen (the one i sorted through today) fills up quickly.  there's a wire clip going down the hallway, and i try to keep the drawings there rotated with my current faves.  the best plan i have right now is to take photos of everything, in case one day i decide to part with some of the originals.  i am uploading them all to a flickr set, and forgive me if there are some repeats -- i sometimes lose track of what's where.

check out the newest batch here!

the best nest

adella update

adella's been doing some really cool stuff lately.  she's getting so big!  

we've been checking out 'the magic schoolbus' books from the library, and she just devours them!  they're full of so many interesting science-y things, fun stories and adventure, and hidden jokes - it's right up her alley.  

also, we signed her up for a summer day camp this year, at the arboretum.  one whole week of all-day fun.  her camp is called 'wet and wild' and they'll be splashing around in streams and ponds, learning about local aquatic life, playing games, making crafts and having fun.  i hope she loves it.

she's been making some pretty amazing drawings too.  i know i say that every time i post about her drawings, but seriously - they are SO good!  i just love them.  some of the latest ones are of dinosaurs, like this one:

the little dino on the left is guarding her nest of eggs (i think she's a maiasaura) and the other, the t-rex, is thinking about his dinner (a little bunny).  also, check out the hat in the pond, about to be swirled into that whirlpool.  

a few days ago i did this little interview with adella, after seeing it floating around in blog-land.  it was pretty cute to hear the answers she came up with - so i thought i'd post it here too:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
be a good listener

2. What makes mom happy?
the sun

3. What makes mom sad?
someone else sad.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
you tickle me!

5. What was your mom like as a child?
she laughs, hmmm.... what else? ...um, i don't know.

6. How old is your mom?
62 (62?!?)

7. How tall is your mom?
this tall! (standing on the chair with arm up in the air)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
go to the nature center (um, that would be adella's favorite)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
you think of me

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
you would be married (?)

11. What is your mom really good at?
playing games and eating (wow. is that it?)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
um.... not very good at getting away from something

13. What does your mom do for her job?
mop (?)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
chicken and noodles (not sure about this - not a favorite of mine or adella's)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
when i'm proud of you, i give you a big big hug!

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
a firefighter

17. What do you and your mom do together?
play cards (cards?)

18. How are you and your mom the same?
we wear the same shoes and wear the same pants

19. How are you and your mom different?
we don't have the same pants and we don't have the same shoes

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
you give me a big big hug! aaaaaaaaaaaaand, mama.... i'm getting tired of these questions.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
pet store! (?)

okay - i guess that about wraps it up.  gosh, there's so much more to say about all that my girl has been up to, but i'll save it for another day.

now if you'll excuse me, this 62 year-old mama needs to get back to mopping.  and then i'll find something to eat (maybe chicken and noodles).

valentines craftin'

adella and i made these valentines ornaments for all the kids in her class, to exchange at their valentines celebration.  we cut hearts out of polymer clay, baked them, and then sponge-printed them with sparkly red paint (inspired by the kids craft weekly 'heart' isssue).  the sponge printing gives them a doily-esque look that is really cute.  we used the scrubby-nubby side of a kitchen sponge and it made a nice bubbly textured appearance -- and it also works great on paper, by the way.  i think the original idea on KCW was for paper, actually, but if you know me at all, you know i cannot follow directions exactly - i have to find a way to deviate somehow.  usually with good results, but not always.  anyway...

adella also made these adorable little tags for all her friends' gifts.  she's been fingerprinting up a storm ever since christmas, when she got the wonderful ed emberly funprint drawing book.  she made all these cute fingerprint hearts and gave them each a face.  so sweet!

i hope all the kiddos like them, but really, the best part was hanging out and crafting with my girl.

happy hearts day to you!!

adella's first novel

hello everyone!  come in, come in!  adella was just about to read to us from her first book, "adella davina stiglets."  would you like to listen?  well, pull up a chair, put on your listening ears, and enjoy the story:

the book is a blank hardback from barebooks (thanks to amanda for the link).  we just got our order a few days ago, and i am so pleased!  within a few hours, adella had already written this entire book.  she's so proud.  she's already got plans for more stories and adventures - i can't wait to see what she comes up with!