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Yarn Art Fun

Posted on March 14, 2011 8:43 am by TheAngelForever

It is no secret that I have a lot of yarn scraps in storage from my knitting. I often wonder what to do with them and how to let the boys have some fun. Over February break, the boys and I were stuck at home thanks to a storm. The boys wanted to do an art project.

Thanks to their request, I started to look around the house for ideas. I found some construction paper and noticed my yarn. I quickly thought of something, so I went and gathered Elmer’s glue, scissors, and my scraps of cotton yarn. I had a mission and the boys were ready to be creative. First I cut lots of yarn into smaller pieces for all of us to use with our project.

Everyone picked out a sheet of construction paper. Then the boys made squiggles of the glue on the paper.

After this, it was time to create our masterpieces. Here are some photos of the boys with their work in progress:

I watched as the boys picked their yarn and placed them into the glue. Then I got an idea to make something for TechyDad. Here are our creations below. JSL’s is the top, NHL’s is in the middle, and mine on the bottom.

The boys really enjoyed this, but got sticky from the glue and eventually lost interest. Of course, I had an idea and wanted to do another picture. As I started working on it, NHL came over to help me get colors to use within my work.

The papers looked really great after they dried. The white glue disappeared and we were able to hang them up. I know that we will definitely be doing this again, and I have another item that I hope to try with yarn art soon.

Do you have any ideas on how to use scrap yarn with kids for crafts? If you do, I would love to hear about your projects. Please be sure to share them below in the comments.

Categories:
arts and crafts brothers fun interesting jsl knitting looking back nhl photos play time vacation

That Pesky Apple

Posted on March 12, 2011 7:17 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear JSL,

A few months ago, we received a sheet about after school enrichment programs at your school. Most of them were not on days that you are there, or for older children. There was one that really intrigued me. It was run by a local food co-op. They were going to come in to help you make fruit and vegetable sculptures that you can eat. Since you are quite a picky eater, I thought this would be fun and possibly get you to try new things.

When I came to pick you up after the program the other day, they had a display of the sculptures that you all of the kids could make.

When you looked at the photo later on, you told me that you made the car. This did not shock me. What I was happy to hear was that you ate the carrot wheels from your creation!

Last night, you wanted to eat your apple that came home in a goody bag. There was a little problem. The apple was missing. We knew that you had been playing with it in the morning, but it was gone. We figured it was hidden and would start to rot. Panic, yelling, and crying resulted in our search. Then, I went into another location and found a second bag from the co-op. Daddy and I forgot that there were two bags. Inside that bag was the apple.

Lots of hugs and saying we were sorry resulted. Of course, we had to take a picture of you with that pesky apple. So sorry again that we did not realize the apple was not hidden by you.

Love,

Mommy

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Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday food glorious food jsl photos school

We Have a Playroom Again

Posted on March 10, 2011 8:14 am by TheAngelForever

It is no secret that space in our house is a problem. We live in an older home, with small rooms, and limited storage areas. Before we moved into the house, we put carpet into the large, open room upstairs and made it our playroom. We used the room a lot before we had Wi-Fi. When JSL was born (he is almost 4), we pretty much stopped using the room. It was just too difficult to maneuver both boys up the steep staircase. Rather than enjoy the space, we used it as a glorified storage area. Here is a photo of it not too long ago:

The boys are bigger now. They are able to climb stairs. More important than any of this, they need more play space – and I want my living room not to resemble a toy store. TechyDad and I have really been working on the room. This past weekend we kicked it into high gear.

When we were finished trying the summer clothing on the boys, we moved upstairs to see what we could do next. Suddenly, I suggested moving TechyDad’s old work from home desk to the other side of the room (basically the right corner area of the picture above). Oy! This was a lot more work than you would think. This desk is a monster. In the end we got it moved. Then I hauled toys to the stairs and TechyDad brought almost all of them up to the room. The boys went to visit with Nana and Papa for a while and we finished things up. The new toy wall is where the desk used to be. Here is the new toy area in the largely revamped playroom:

When the boys did not have school on Monday, we spent the entire day upstairs. The kids love the space and are doing really well with putting things back before taking something else out. Here are my happy kids enjoying a space that we should have been utilizing long before now:

The room still isn’t perfect over by the desk, but it is getting there. I would say it is 90% finished and very functional. Now we can check that mostly off the project list and work on something else.

So have you tackled a big problem lately? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

Categories:
house jsl nhl photos TechyDad weekend

Tiny Brother Hands

Posted on March 9, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Categories:
brothers jsl nhl play time winter Wordless Wednesday

Busy Day at Home

Posted on March 5, 2011 8:38 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

We stayed home today, but we got a lot accomplished during the time here. This morning Daddy and I pulled out all of the spring/summer clothing. We had to see what the two of you have for the trip to Disney World. After the two of you tried everything on, it was time for lunch. Then, we decided to head upstairs and try to move the big monster desk to the other side of the room.

This sounded like it was going to be a lot easier than it was. The two of you were so wonderful. You sat upstairs watching a movie and helping when we asked. Thank goodness we were able to move the desk. Then, I decided to surprise both of you. I started to move most of the toys from the living room upstairs into the new and improved toy room. This is such a great space that we have not been using since JSL was born. The two of you stayed upstairs with Daddy watching Lady and the Tramp and playing with toys for quite some time.

When you came down here, I had started to watch The Princess and the Frog. You both joined me until it was time to eat dinner. When we were finished eating, everyone piled back onto the couch in their PJ’s and we finished watching the movie.

Tomorrow, we will try to head out for a little while, but I have a LOT of laundry to do to get ready for our upcoming trip. I hope the two of you have sweet dreams tonight of Disney movies and more magical memories coming soon.

Love,

Mommy

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