Art Wire

This is something I wanted to do for awhile, but it wasn't really necessary until recently.... But now that Madigan is making art at school and at home, we needed a place to post it and see it everyday. Here's our art wire. It's hung between the kitchen and living room and gets a lot of viewing. The far right item is something she made at school today.

Long Winter

A few weeks ago when we had spring like weather, I filled Madigan's table up with water. She LOVED it! The water was gone in about 10 minutes and she was soaked head to toe, but it was fun. That was 2 weeks ago and it's been snowing since. Today is sunny and 60's and we're eating all the sunshine up.

Artsy Fartsy

Madigan loves drawing, especially with markers. The second picture is when mom and dad turned around too long ---and you see what happens when we do that! Aslo behind her is some marker on the wall-yikes!
I'm loving a new book called -The Creative Family. It's how to encourage your child's imagination and nurture relationships. So, I've been accumulating art supplies and letting Madigan creative whatever she likes.

Homemade Play Dough

Inspired by my new book, The Creative Family, I made homemade play dough tonight and we had a "family art night". It was very fun and relaxed. Kyle, Madigan and I played with the play dough and enjoyed each other's company. And my brother, Matt, sat next to us doing a word search game and watching us. The recipe is below. I was surprised it was so easy and quick, and turned out to be really nice play dough!

Homemade Play Dough
(from Salt and Chocolate)

1c. flour
1c. water
2 t. cream of tartar
1/4 c. salt
1T. vegetable oil
food coloring (optional)

Put all the ingredients in a pot. Let child decide on color. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly. Dough will become harder to stir and will gather on sppon. Dump the dough onto wax paper and knead until smooth (about 30 seconds).

Feeding the Ducks

Here's some pictures of when Madigan and I went to feed the ducks on campus. It's about a 20 minute walk from the house. The movie is the 1st time we were there and the pictures are from the 2nd time. The first visit she was pretty worried about the ducks, plus they were nipping at her mittens. The 2nd visit she was much more confident and willing to throw her bread to them. We also found a fish pond and fed the fish.

A whole bunch of photos and no text...

Asserting herself in the construction zone.
Big girl eating techniques


Her towel from Grandma and Grandpa that we use every day


Becasue she HAS to dance ANY time she hears music...this time she just happens to have her shirt off...hope that'd not the case when she's older!
Madigan swiped Dad's sandwich and then let him have some





Because babies just have to wear diapers too!

Sand & Water OR Rice & Nothing

I saw this little sand and water table on clearance at Target last year and didn't buy it. So, when they came back for Spring this year I thought about it for a month or so before I decided to go and buy it. Madigan is obsessed (to put it kindly) with the dog water and food bowls. So, I thought she may like to have water in this table and outside where she can make a big wet mess and Mom won't care. For now, we put rice in 1/2 of it for her and she really likes it. The table came with funnels and scoops , has 2 drains on each side, and it has a nice cover that turns into a "roadway" for cars and such.
The weather here has been pretty chilly still and pretty muddy, so I was looking for things we could do outside. I'd also like to get her a tunnel to climb through or a play tent house or something, but we'll need warmer and drier weather for those. And soon I'll be able to search the garage sales.
Our daughter just likes to be outside-she doesn't need anything fancy or excited- just likes to walk around the driveway and listen to birds and see dogs walking by. She's perfectly happy to follow Kyle and I around if we have something to do in the garage or the yard. She's also really liking swinging on her playset again. It's been a long and snowy winter and although we are thankful for that, we're looking forward to spring and all the life and warmth it brings with it.

Today is also a very special spring day.... Our newest niece, Arden, is being born today. Welcome Arden! We can't wait to meet you!