Back to School Madness

I realize it's been almost a century since I posted. I'm sorry about that. I've thought of posting a few things here and there but it's been so busy around here and I put the computer away for a few days to get things done and enjoy my last few days of summer vacation. Here are a few of the activities we've been partaking in lately:

I made these Cowboy Calzone from The Pioneer Woman's cookbook. They were delicious!! They don't reheat well. I had more filling than pizza dough so I saved the filling in the fridge. It makes great burritos the next day. I would probably try adding some refried beans to the burritos though.

We took Aidan to the pool for the first time. He loved it! Quite different from natural water.

I've been busy being the hands-on mom I thought I'd be all summer. Gee, where did the time go? Anyway, I started making Aidan a felt face set. I suppose you could just go buy a Mr. Potato Head, but this is more creative. The facial features come off and you can rearrange the face. I just have to make more pieces first.

We also made finger paint from flour, salt, and water. It's sticky and thick, but you know it's safe if your little one decides to eat it. I'll post the recipe one of these days if anyone's interested.

We made three colors by using food coloring drops.

Then we set up outside to help manage the mess.

Aidan didn't like the finger paint at all. He didn't want to touch it. Instead he used his Crayola paints as I posted about a few months ago. He likes to try to suck the paint out of them before I catch him.

I used those to paint his feet and do a footprint. He didn't like this process too well either, so the right one didn't turn out as well.

I also got started making Aidan's growth chart. Here it's just a board but presently I have it cut down, sanded, and painted white. Now I have to get creative about the decoration, I'm not sure how I'm going to do that yet. I'll try to post the full project when finished.

We also had fun trying out this idea:

I just mixed some food coloring in with water before making ice cubes out of it. These are this funny shape because we happened to have those water-bottle sized ice trays that make the round cubes to slip into bottles.

We put them in the tub with him to watch them melt and so he could feel the difference in the warm water and cold ice. Be careful though, small cubes are a choking hazard as they melt. Stick to the bigger ones and as they dissolve keep them out of little mouths.

It'll turn the water funny colors, too.

The other night during story time Aidan took pleasure in sticking out his tongue. It was pretty funny.

I got out the camera and snapped a few photos and video.

On Wednesday, we filled a baby pool with spaghetti and let the little ones "swim" in it. They didn't really take to the idea of swimming though, instead it became a spaghetti flinging contest. There was spaghetti ALL over the yard surrounding the pool. It was a lot of fun, albeit messy. I have video of that as well, perhaps I'll add some clips later.

Now that I've been to orientation at school, summer fun time is drawing to a close. It's about school supplies, textbooks, and parking permits. The seasonal fun isn't all over, we'll fit it in between studying and fieldtrips, but I'm about to feel the affects of being in class full time Monday through Friday instead of spreading it out and taking classes online. My schedule will be much different, and convenience products will probably fill the gaps in my life. Like frozen pie crust. If I get around to baking that Chicken Pot Pie I was planning on, I'm using frozen crust...that's why they invented those products, to save our time.

Until next time...hopefully it won't be 20 days again...thanks for reading!!