Homemade Mother's Day Card, By the Peeps

We are having the main level of our house painted this week, and that has meant that I'm trapped in my bedroom with the the kiddos.  This has limited me to what activities we can do.  But, since Mother's Day is this weekend, I knew we'd have to make some cards.  I went pinterst-ing for something cute, quick and easy for 3 kids under 5 to do.  I found a lot of great ideas, but all required more work than I really had time for.  I decided to just do some simple fingerprint bugs, and had Kyle decorate the rest of the card.  Simple and cute!

My peeps working hard

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommas! 

-Lindsay

Treasure Hunt

When I was little, I have fond memories of my dad making treasure hunts for me and my sisters.  He would hide little clues, that we would follow to the next clue, and dig up a buried treasure under the X at the end.  It didn't even matter what was hidden under the X.  I could have been a pile of rocks, and we would get excited just to pretend it was treasure.  I have inherited my dads creative side, and love watching my kids explore and enjoy the silly little adventures that I create, mostly through fun memories I have of things my dad did for us when we were little. 

Last year Brayden showed some interest in pirates and buried treasure, mostly because of the newest addition to the Disney Junior lineup...Jake and the Neverland Pirates!  In every episode Jake and pals must collect gold doublooms, and add it to their team treasure chest at the end.  Onto the Internet I go:)  On Amazon and I ordered a Melissa and Doug Pirate Treasure.  I loved it even more when I received it because it has a hidden bottom!  How fun is that?!  Now all we need is a treasure map.  I used light brown scrapbook paper, that I crumpled and uncrumpled a dozen times to make it look old and tattered.  I then drew a picture of our neighboorhood, which includes a small park.  *Spoiler alert*  Daddy buried the treasure in the sandbox at the park:)  See map! X marks the spot!!

first stop, the red barn

second stop, the parking lot

X marks the spot!!!

almost there!!!

he could hardly contain his excitment!

enjoying the chocolate gold coins!

We even found an authentic pirate guarding his treasure!

Happy Treasure Hunting- Erin

The Rainbow Rice Bin

My kids love sand, I hate sand.  You can only use sand for about 4 months out of the year.  Not to mention it's dirty and messy.  When they come inside, I find sand everywhere, for days, socks, shoes, toes, underwear, diapers, nose and HAIR!  How do they get it in their hair?  Well, my kids lay down in the sand and dump it on each other.  Did I mention that I hate sand?  I do appreciate the things that make them happy though, so through my constant Internet searching, and Pinteresting, I found a fun alternative!  The rainbow rice bin! 

Step 1- buy lots of rice and a bin with a lid. I bought a bin for $2.00 at Big Lots, and two, 10 pound bags of rice.  I dumped 1/3 of 1 bag of rice into a big metal bowl. 

Many people colored their rice in ziploc baggies, but I think the bowl was easier.  I then added 3 Tablespoons of rubbing alcohol and stirred.  Yes this is stinky.  After the alcohol was mixed in I added food coloring, starting with yellow, because it's the lightest.

Add 3-4 drops of gel food coloring, more if you want your color darker.  Once mixed, spread rice onto large cookie sheets so the colors and alcohol can dry out. 

At this point it stinks, and you are wondering why you thought this was a good idea.  The smell does go away, and is odor-free by the time it's dry.  If it still smells, it's not dry enough.  I let my rice dry over night.  But lots of websites say it dries quickly in the sun. 

 I found 1 idea on Pinterest that I loved.  Find her blog here .  She added sand toys to her rice bin.  Which tied into my original plan of finding an alternative to the sand box!! Brilliant!  I added some Easter eggs, because I put this out Easter morning, and gave The Bunny all the credit! 

The rice bin was a hit and the kids played with it for at least an hour!  They've asked to get it out every day, several times since. 

Put a large blanket under bin to catch the rice.  You can toss it out or dump it back in afterwards!  I have a wild 2 year old!  On the down side, I did still find sand in my 4 year old's hair and nose!  I can't win!!

Happy Rice-ing :)  -Erin

UPDATE- The rice bin is a perfect dinosaur land, for all those dinosaur loving kiddo's out there!!!