Bendaroos

We LOVE Bendaroos!  I love that they don't make a mess, are easily molded, can be used over and over again, are great for working on fine motor skills, and my kids will play with them for a long time without getting bored!

C and R like to stick them on the sliding glass door.  C wrote his name with Bendaroos. 

R made a Bendaroos collage.

C made a chain.

I have seen some pretty cool Bendaroos art, but we have not progressed to that point yet.

We often use ours to form letters, numbers, patterns, and shapes.  I like that my children can use them to learn how to form letters and numbers.

I found some good activities for Bendaroos or Wikki Stix; click here to bring up the link.  How do your children play with Bendaroos?  Do you have any fun Bendaroos or Wikki Stix (same thing) learning activities?  I would love to hear about them!

More Scrunch Art

R made this scrunch art ice skate using leftover crepe streamers.  So, when the party is over don't throw those streamers away.  Cut them up and let the kids create art.  Reuse, Recycle, Create!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Those leprechauns are so tricky.  They got away again this year, but not before playing a few tricks on us.  Our toilet water was green, our pancake batter was green, and even our milk was green this morning.  We are happy to report, however, that our traps were considered worthy of some treasure: gold covered chocolate coins, green m&m's, and leprechaun lollipops were left for all three children.  Those leprechauns may be tricky, but at least they were kind enough to leave some treats.

Shamrock Cupcakes

I really wanted to make the Family Fun rainbow cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day, but R's birthday is this week and we already have leftover cake from one party and more cake to be eaten this weekend during our family party.  I had a few cupcakes in the freezer so I just took three out for my three children and gave them a little St. Patrick's day treat.  This is so quick and easy that I thought I would post the idea just in case you are looking for an easy, last minute treat for today.  I frosted the cupcakes and used three green m&m's to form a shamrock.  Then, I drew a tiny stem with green icing.  Easy enough!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Shamrock Scrunch Art

Do you remember the post I wrote recently about the princess scrunch art?  R enjoyed that activity so much (and I loved the fine motor skills practice) that we decided to make our own scrunch art.  You can do this activity with any shape, and you could even use a coloring page of a favorite character for your background.  This is how we did it:

First, I cut a shamrock shape out of light green card stock.

Next, R covered the surface of the shamrock with a glue stick.

Then, I cut dark green tissue paper into strips and R scrunched them.

Finally, she stuck them on her shamrock.  We actually took turns sticking the scrunched up tissue paper on the shamrock.  I have found that when she gets bored with an activity that I want her to finish, she is more willing to finish if we take turns.  I'm happy with this solution!

There you have it, quick, easy, and inexpensive scrunch art.  I am looking forward to making scrunch art Easter eggs soon!

Giveaway! hint water!

Have you tried Hint water?  It is a great alternative to soda, juice, and sweetened drinks.  I have tried other flavored waters, but they have sugar in them and I really don't want sugar in my water. 

The idea behind Hint is simple: pure water, nature's original refreshment, accented with a hint of natural flavor. No sugar, no artificial sweeteners, and it tastes good!  What more could you want?  Well, if you want to try Hint water, here is your chance.  I am happy to be hosting a giveaway of one case of Hint's most popular flavors:  mango, pomegranate-tangerine, blackberry, watermelon, and raspberry-lime.

To enter:  Leave me a comment telling me why you want to win!
For extra entries:

• Become a fan of hint water on Facebook (1 extra entry)
• Follow me publicly(1 extra entry)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave me a comment with a link to your post (2 extra entries)
• Remember to leave a comment letting me know if you do any of the above.  Also, please make sure that I am able to contact you; leave your email address in the comment!  

This giveaway begins today, Monday, March 15 at the time of posting and ends Monday, March 22 at 7:00 PM!  The winner will receive one case of Hint water that will ship directly from Hint.  Best of luck to you, and remember to drink water, not sugar! 
                           

The Worrier

I worry.  It's what I do best.  I wish I could be more like my husband; he just doesn't let things bother him.  He definitely does not understand why I worry.  Seriously, I should worry less.  I have a great husband who happens to have a great career.  My children are happy and healthy.  We are surrounded by family.  We live in a beautiful home in a wonderful neighborhood.  We have more than we need.  You get the idea.  Life is good in this neck of the woods.

I have no explanation for my worries.  I think that I was just born with the worrying gene.  Even as a child I worried.  I used to worry about getting good grades, making friends, and keeping everyone around me happy.

Some of my worries are typical mommy worries - germs, safety, education, chemicals in products (oh, I could go on and on about this one), organic food vs. conventional food, etc.  Some of my worries are crazy and I won't even dare to write them here or you would run far and fast and never visit me again - see I worry about you never visiting me again too!  I even worry about my worrying and how it impacts my children.  By worrying, am I sheltering them too much, preventing them from taking risks?  

Many of my worries, however, are ridiculous and yet I still have them.  Recently, I was concerned about the number of books I typically request from the inter-library loan program.  My concern was that this cost of transporting books to my library was a burden on the library that I love and visit several times a week.  I was relieved to find out that requesting these books actually helps the library to keep their numbers up where they need to be to stay open.  So, what did I worry about then?  Oh no, is there a possibility that my library could close?  Libraries are closing all over the country; how sad.  USE YOUR LIBRARY!

Anyway, I am ranting here.  Are you a worrier, or are you one of those special people who manages to be carefree and happy without a concern in the world?