doodlebugs 3.11.11, green pepper clover

did you know that a green pepper cut in half horizontally creates the shape of a four-leaf clover when you stamp it? neither did i, but the folks over here did. so we gathered up our little leprechauns and stamped the time away...

and painted, and drizzled, and scrubbed, and dabbed, of course.

for some added magic (and scent), we sprinkled green jello over our art just for fun. shaving cream? lime jello? no one can say we stink. ;-)

here is eric's masterpiece, encased in a layer of paint and jello so thick that green pepper wouldn't even think of rotting. here's to st. patrick's day, green paint, green peppers, and anything else that reminds us of spring!

you sneaky devil goddess, you...

missy chase lapine, you're a genius, and i love you.

ok, so i've had this book on my shelves for around four years now, thanks to my friend, andi. geologically speaking, that's not too long, right?

well, the stars were aligned yesterday, and for whatever reason, i decided to give the crunchy chicken tenders a go. they were sooooo yummy, and for the first time in my six years as a mother, i plunked down a pile of chicken nuggets for dinner and felt not one ounce of guilt, but rather excitement. "better than mcdonald's!" eric declared. now that's a compliment. they reheated today beautifully...crisp and delish....i prefer them with honey mustard.

with "orange puree" left over, we went ahead and made some "thumbprint peanut butter cookies" this afternoon...a perfect recipe for a four year old chef. smashing cereal with a rolling pin? check. plunging your finger into the middle of a dough ball? check. stuffing chocolate chips into the center of said dough balls? check. what more could we ask for? "healthiness", you say? check, check and double check. with an ingredient list including whole wheat flour, carrots, sweet potatoes, wheat germ, whole wheat cereal, natural peanut butter, & canola oil, i'd say this recipe is the tops.

while adding ingredients, eric noted it looked like "a mountain in the ocean...like hawaii". oh, goodness, i'm in heaven.

so out went a plate of these babies this afternoon, and everyone declared "great!" (well, sam said, "gate!") and munched them into oblivion. they actually gasped when they realized there was a plateful of cookies in front of them, and i wasn't limiting their access to it. leif declared, "it's a trick treat!" "why?" i asked. "because it's a treat, but it's not!" you got it, kid! you know what the best part is? we weren't even sneaky about it...we cooked together, and the kids know what's in these goodies. isn't that "gate"!?!

doodlebugs 3.4.11, shaving cream trumps all

well, little did i know, all you have to do to keep a bunch of youngins' busy is spray a bunch of shaving cream in front of them. they have a number of options under these conditions: touch it ambitiously, touch it cautiously, touch it with a paint brush, apply it to their faces, whack it and see what happens, apply it to their parents' faces, draw in it, stare at it with no touching, stare at all the kids touching it in the above ways, and/or any combination thereof. i had grand plans for letting them add paint to it and even potentially taking a marbleized print from it, but you know, plain old shaving cream seemed pretty fascinating all by its lovely old self. it was very interesting to see how many kiddos explored the shaving cream in ways that surprised their grown-ups. as in, "i can't believe he's putting that on his face!" (said by me, secretly to another mom). ah, art...it can be so freeing! i also had string painting set up, but only one little guy said hello to that station...i'll save it for another day.

so there you go...shaving cream. whoddah thunk it?

thrifty friends

once upon a time, there was a little boy who fell in love with a stuffed animal at the drug store. he went there from time to time with his brothers and mama, usually to pick up prescriptions...not exactly joy to a child. his favorite isles were filled with colorful gifts, seasonal knick-knacks, and of course, toys. this particular creature hung with his friends at the end of the row, attracting the eye and begging for a cozy home. "put it on your list," the mama would gently say, noting how much the little boy coveted the creature while simultaneously thinking it didn't quite fit her idea of the perfect toy. several months went by, and always the same little guy called out to her son. satin wings in his favorite color, blue. one day, justified by the coupon in hand, the mama marched into the store prepared, finally, to bring the winged temptation home for her son's fourth birthday. enter "zlock", member of the webkinz gang...a "zumbuddy" to be specific. much to the mama's delight, this was no passing fancy for her son. he was thrilled to find him among his birthday gifts and has slept with him, loved him, and toted him on adventures ever since.

this adoration did not escape his observant older brother, who began to long for a little friend of the same species. oh, my! the collection fever had gripped them! now the family, it seemed, needed another zumbuddy.

*sigh*.

fast forward to today and a much needed thrift store fix. the mama brought the oldest boy along with her for a treasure hunting adventure. fabric scraps, books, yarn...the normal odds and ends began to gather in their cart. but alas, you will never believe who gazed upon them from the piles of well-loved stuffed beasts...yes, a zumbuddy, please and thank you. and not just any zumbuddy, but the exact one, zana, the oldest boy had chosen to place on his list when his zumbuddy envy bloomed.

well, hit me with a daisy. that's the magic of thrift stores, i tell you. and now the two zumbuddies are sitting happily between their adoptive daddies, wrapped snugly in their newly made "sweater" bags.

but that's another story.

doodlebugs 2.18.11, this and that

what do you get when you put oil pastels, tempera paint, juice lids*, glue, and the "treasure box" in front of little artists? ...all kinds of cool creations!

*for these, i used the lids from frozen cans of juice with holes punched in them. i strung them with fishing line before the kids started working to ensure the holes weren't blocked by their little collages. to punch the holes, i used a crop-o-dile...a super cool, super strong crafty wonder.

snow, sleds, sweet potatoes & star wars

on a whim today (thank you, joe, for your spontaneity...sometimes i just can't muster the energy), we headed up to the snow. nowhere special, just a roadside pile of the white stuff with just enough of a slope to keep the littles tickled. the timing was just right: warm sunshine & sam and eric falling asleep on the way. leif and joe got started first, while i took some pictures. woke up eric next so he wouldn't miss out, and the four of us got to play for a good while longer. sam finally woke up just in time for a stomp through the snow on mama's back. he was perfectly content, but i just had to go ahead and plop us both on a sled...even though that's not his favorite thing...i know, cruel. he giggled the first time, despite his initial protests, but the second time down was just too much for him. someday. anyway, we finished off the trip with a little snowfort construction while sam recovered with joe in the van.

when we got home, leif started peeling sweet potatoes for fries. after a day of sledding, fries are ok for dinner, right? the coolest part was that leif actually ate them...bless you, magical kid-assisted food prep...why do i hardly ever remember this trick?

the boys occupied themselves by parading as jedis, complete with fully equipped tool belts. for those of you (blissfully) unaware, please note eric's black-gloved hand, an unfortunate result of a duel with count dooku.

so there you go. how we keep ourselves entertained when the snow just keeps on coming.

doodlebugs 1.28.11, heart art, part I

and so began our adventures with hearts at doodlebugs.

this time we used heart stencils cut out of tag board

and potato heart stampers to create our works.

we also experimented a bit with color mixing; everyone began with four blobs of white paint and a cup of red, which they could mix into the white.

the result was a lot of pink, red, and white magic with a few distinct heart shapes peeking through. i think they look sweet grouped together (see above).