Indoor Fun

It's hot.

We wanted to go swimming.

Cerise refused to take her nap so we were stuck.

So I revised an idea from one of my favorite blogs.  And we made a city. 

The duck pond, zoo and school with a big ball to play with at recess.

Really, we spent more time deciding where to put everything than playing with it... and Cairn is set to become a city planner.  After I put the basic roads on the board she dictated where everything should go... the dog park, the big kid park, the houses, doctor's office...

And then shortly after I stopped to take pictures they stopped playing and became monsters rampaging across the city!

Now to get the super clean-up crew!

Back-blog: Mothers Day

My Mothers Day Bouquet made (mostly) by Cairn.

On the first day we pasted scraps of fabric to an old coke bottle.  Yeah for lots of elmer's glue!  I let the girls pick some of the fabric.  Cairn picked a print with pigs declaring that I would love it!

The flowers were made from food-coloring dyed coffee filters and skewers.  Yeah for capillary action!  Cairn and Rebekah practiced dying the filters the week before when we made butterflies (which I dangled from the ceiling and fan during their quiet time so they woke up to find them flying around the living room!).  They quickly became pros at the whole process!

The cookies were a grand adventure... but with plenty of frosting everything worked out just fine.  I love how ecstatic they look in this shot. 

This is how we kept Cerise entertained while we did the crafts!

Bean Bag Ballooza

Today brought new meaning to "beans and rice" for us.  We did everything I could think of with a mixture of all the beans and rice I have.... well not all that I have, but a sampling from every type that I have.

(1) I took a baby quilt and threw it on the ground with the beans-n-rice in the center of it.  And the girls were let loose... with the almost understanding that the mess had to stay on the blanket... yeah, that part of it only worked for the first bean experiments... you know with the fingers and the ice cube trays...  As soon as toes were introduced to the pile all bets were off.

(2) First clean up.  This is when the girls saw me scoop up the blanket and they had to get everything else off the floor.  Somehow this part took longer than any other activity this morning.

(3) Then the sewing began.  Taking turns on my lap per bean bag casing, Cairn and Bekah were in charge of the "go backwards button."  The concept of pushing a button? -- great.  Holding that button in? -- not quite there yet.

(4) That blanket went back on the floor and the beans went down in a pile again... gee why did we bother cleaning up earlier?!!?  We scooped up the pile to fill... again the coordination is a work in progress.

(5) We played of course!!

Working with these little girls is a constant challenge and reminder of all the little skills that make life possible that aren't natural.  Another quick and completely unrelated ability that's fun to watch a 2-year-old try to learn... chopsticks.  If only I  could get the video to upload I'd share Cairn's attempts with ya'll!

And now for something completely different...


Yesterday we finger painted with pudding and food coloring:

And everyone wants to see the baby!