Around Here

I have been filling sand castle molds with blue tinted water and freezing them for the girls.  They have enjoyed playing Frozen with the ice castles!

I made this baking soda dough for the girls to play with, and we will definitely make it again.  It's not harsh on little hands like salt dough is, and it's easy to make and use.

• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cup water

Directions

Step 1

Combine all the ingredients in a pot and heat on medium heat.

Step 2

Continue to constantly stir the ingredients until the mixture begins to thicken. It will take several minutes to thicken.

Step 3

When the mixture starts to come together and looks like mash potatoes, scoop it out onto a Silpat mat or parchment paper to cool down. Cover it with a damp cloth.

Step 4

Once the dough is cool enough to handle, you can roll it out to approximately 1/4" thickness and use cookie cutters, stamps, shape by hand, or whatever method you want to use to decorate your cut-outs.

Step 5

Bake at 175F for 45 minutes to an hour. Baking will make the ornaments turn a slightly tan color. *If you don't plan on painting the ornaments and want to keep them white, air dry for 2-4 days.*

Step 6

Let the dough cool and you're ready to decorate.

We chose to air dry ours instead of baking it, and we are happy with the results.

 Kate had her very first dentist appointment.  She did very well - no worries or tears, and I didn't even have to hold her on my lap; nope, this big girl sat all by herself.  Kate had everyone in the office laughing -- asking people if they had armpits and if their armpits were smooth, and just being silly.

 This picture is very grainy because I used my phone to take it and there wasn't much light.  Kate likes to sit inside cardboard boxes and decorate them.  If she is tired, she will fall asleep coloring, so she has fallen asleep in this box a few times now!

 Reagan is getting SO GOOD at her bridge on the beam.  I am so incredibly impressed.  It's very cool to watch.

 This wagon is new.  Tom bought it with Halloween in mind, but it is getting good use around here now!

I posted the above picture in Collin's birthday post last week, and I'm only posting it now to update you on the status of his Lego sets.  That picture does not include all of the sets he received, and yet he had every single set assembled within three days.  He probably would have had them done in two days, but he was at Alex's birthday party for seven hours on one of the days.  Collin sits on the floor to do Lego assembly, and he did complain of back pain after he assembled most of them; the pain didn't stop him though!