Handprints

This pin has been pinned as of today 208 times. I thought I would share what it is. 

Take your toddler's hand and draw an outline on some paper or felt. Cut it out and use it as a pattern to cut out handprints in different colored felt. Now, Put the handprints all over the floor,couch,table and ask your toddler to find the "green" handprint and give it a hi-five! This can be an activity for a group of toddlers as well!

My Popsicle loves this game. It keeps him laughing all day long. I will let you know beforehand if your toddler is anything like mind you will have to make many handprints. The color felt is about 29 cents at Michael's Craft Store.  He tends to rip the hands by trying to high five it in the air and that’s when my cat Mickey takes off with it.  It’s an all-around tug a war with them two my cat is in the wrong body. It’s been a year since I pinned the picture above I don’t know where I found it online but it works. He knows his colors like the back of his hand. I thought he was color blind for a few months he would get the colors absolutely wrong. Turns out he knew all along he was just being silly. Daddy says “He is full of  jokes already!” My Popsicle has so much energy it at times can be a little overwhelming.  This is a great before nap activity for him. Have fun mommy's or daddy's they are only little once. 

Life size

I'm always looking for things to keep my boys occupied

in our free time instead of sitting in front of the TV or on the computer as I type my little is at his desk drawing a picture for daddy. After Christmas we always have tons of wrapping paper left in order to keep Santa alive I have to find a way to get rid of the paper from the year before. That will leave less questions in the near Future. 

We took the left over gift wrapping paper to make life size portraits. I traced the boys then they did the rest. 

Here is Justin's although it looks like my Popsicle is drawing on it. This picture made me laugh because Justin is kneeling down as Popsicle is standing in front as I take the picture. It took them about a week to complete it. A self portrait of themselves takes time between school, homework, basketball and dance for Justin. Now that my Popsicle is more into sports we are always outside. I can't keep him in the house. I'm not complaining at all I like the fact we find better things to do with our time as individuals as well as a family. It keeps us on our toes not to get too lazy. 

Here is Christopher he moved that's why his shoulder looks bigger then it actually is in real life. He had a blast but kept complaining that there were lines in his pictures do to the tile floor. He was too funny. Just an ideal to think about to keep the kids busy. Have fun as always live life to the fullest it only comes once. 

30 on 30 part 2

I read a post last year on how parents don't spend enough time with their children. I know I'm a stay at home mom so that isn't a problem but I do work from home. I have taken the boys to go clean a fish tank which they love but bad for business. It worked when Christopher was little not now that he is a rambunctious two year old. I simply don't see that it is fair to have my 9 year old take care of him while mommy is working. I know lots of parents stick their kid in front of a television or drop them off even when they do have time for their kids they choose not to spend it with them. My hubby and I are not like that. I think if you can spend 30 minutes a day for 30 days doing something with your children it will change your point of view of how important it is to spend time with them.


Here is the Challenge February is almost over so let's start March 1st of day 1 of 30 on 30 challenge.
It can be playing games,talking to them doing something they want to do as long as you spend 30 minutes a day with them. Please leave comments and tell me what you did that day. My son and I as we walk to school have a habit of breaking out in a random dance. It's cute makes him laugh that's all I want is to see him smile. Christopher loves to play hide and seek with us no matter what time of day it is he always wants to hide before one of us including the Mickey the cat finds him.Just hearing him laugh and smile is a blessing in itself. Check out 30 on 30 here are some of my favorite ones
                          http://lifeisonlywhatyoumakeit.blogspot.com/2012/08/sidewalk-chalk.html

         http://lifeisonlywhatyoumakeit.blogspot.com/2012/08/day-20-shaving-cream-fight.html

                  http://lifeisonlywhatyoumakeit.blogspot.com/2012/07/homemade-moon-sand.html

                        http://lifeisonlywhatyoumakeit.blogspot.com/2012/07/dig-for-dino.html

Get your minds working on idea's come visit my Pinterest page at www.pinterest/aquariummomma
for some cute stuff maybe look around there are a bunch of great people who pin items and idea's.

Last days of 30 on 30

Day 25: Making snow balls in August.

This is really fun to do with the kids. Justin did this first in boy scouts.You take that white thing which I have no idea what it is called but you wrap your  yarn around it one way then other way cut and tie. Make sure you tie it in the middle so it doesn't come undone. You can play with them in the house without the worry of having to clean up the mess of snow. We also used them in the houses I clean for decor.

My boys and I are done with 30 days of play for 30 minutes. The last seven days have been a wonderful experience for us. I guess the one thing they can take away from this is that I will always be there for them. Steve and I take pride in being parents. We do whatever it takes to stay involved with our children no matter what.
Day 26: We played board games
Day 27: The PlayStation was never turned off thanks to black ops.
Day 28: We made moon sand again.
Day 29: Justin and I made an egg project for school.

 Both eggs were soaked in vinegar. One egg has red food coloring in it. We let them sit for five days.

 We tried to rinse them off but one broke. The project was the naked egg. It didn't turn out the way we thought. The shell was supposed to disappear and the egg bounce. Well it bounced once and broke. We will have to try this again to see what went wrong. It was still really neat to see the change of the egg.

Day 30: We spent the whole day at the beach right before the tropical storm came in. We can check that one off our bucket list of things to do before a Hurricane comes.

Just because the challenge has ended doesn't mean this is the last of having fun. We will make sure that everyday for at least 30 minutes as a family we will spend together doing something. Most of the time it's more. I too have those days when work is tough,school is out of control and being exhausted is always in everyday. I will for sure put my children's needs first.I hope you do to. Thanks for visiting hope to see you soon.
Check out our last 30 days go over to the labels and click on 30 on 30. You can find out how to dig for Dino's. How to make moon sand and many more cute idea's to do with kids. I hope you like. You can also get more idea's if you visit me on www.Pinterest.com/aquariumomma

Lazer Obstacle Course

Day 24: Today Justin and I took a much needed break from school to complete a laser obstacle course in the hallway. It was really easy.I just took some yarn we had in our craft tote and started taping it to the wall. It kept the boys busy for a whole hour. Take a chance be a kid you never know how much fun you can really have. I think spending time with your children is the best gift you can ever give them. Beside loving them I don't think anything else matters to much. 

Sidewalk Chalk

Day 23: This was fun until it started to rain not to mention almost getting ate alive by the bugs. We made it! We made sidewalk chalk. It is really easy to do just get a few bowls to separate the colors. Add
2 Tablespoons of corn starch in each bowl. About 5 drops of food coloring and water maybe 3 tablespoons. Mix and take the kids outside to paint. Paint brushes or fingers which ever you want. It washes off so don't worry just have fun. We made three colors. The green was the best.

Day 21 Bashing Cotton Balls

This past weekend was great for once I guess we relax. Steve and Justin rip apart the boat so we can take it out. Christopher and I made bashing cotton balls.
You will need:
Flour and water mix it equal almost like a thick pancake mix. Add some food coloring. We did three colors. Since I'm blogging on my phone the pics will be at the bottom.
Mix and dip
  You will need a cookie sheet cover it with wax paper. Set the covered cotton balls on the cookie sheet bake for 45 minutes at 150.
The boys had a lot of fun. Justin came in just in time for the bashing with toy hammer's.

Day 20 Shaving Cream Fight

This afternoon was a bit intense after Justin and I finished up his morning studies. Part of my 30 minutes of fun for 30 days Justin and I made everyone have a shaving cream fight outside in the front yard in the rain. It was a little bit confusing for Christopher. He had no idea what was going on. He was looking at all of us like we were crazy. I  haven't had a shaving cream fight since fourth grade. It was really fun we spelled like old guys. It left a tingle on us. It got in my mouth thanks to Jay and Steve. It doesn't taste good at all. It was a excellent lunch break. I think it's a must try for anyone.

Making silly putty Day 18 I think

This morning we decided to go ahead and try to make silly putty. You need 2 ounces of glow in the dark paint which you can buy from any craft store. A cup of elmer's glue and liquid starch. Which is found in the laundry aisle in Walmart. Mix it all in a bowl. Instead of using a measuring cup I just added a bottle of glue in a bowl with a little bit of starch. If it's to sticky add starch. If it's to stringy add glue to get the right consisteny you want. All you do is mix and have fun. It kept my boys busy till lunch. It was a lot of fun as you can tell from the pictures. You can also store it in a ziploc bag up to 2-4 weeks if you wanted to.

Smoothie' s and Brain Freeze

Since I have been working out. I make smoothie's a big part of the day. The whole family loves them. Everyone helps out it's in fact a secret family recipe from my dad. I will share it with you but only this time.
You will need 2 cups or
1 1/2 frozen strawberries
1 frozen Banana
1/2 cup of 1% or lower milk
1/2 cup vanilla  lowfat yogurt
Honey to taste
The secret is that the fruit is frozen so you don't have to use ice. I find that when you use ice it makes it a little too watery. Just mix it in your blender or ninja which is awesome. I love my ninja! Enjoy

Life is short.Smile while you still have teeth.

Day 14: Walking on stilt's not something a beginner should do. It was a lot of fun. It should probably be done in the grass. I lost count how many times we fell. We never gave up. It was 95 outside but that didn't even stop us. I really miss my home town sometimes. At least then you had a break in the weather every other day. Here in Florida there is no break at all ever and I have been here since April. It's going to take awhile to get use to the weather.

Day 15: Writing letters to family members then having a food fight was awesome. We got yelled at by daddy. Hey who cares our house will smell of applesauce. I hope Grandpa loves this. It took us four different times to get it just right.

Day 16: Playing hide and seek is always one of my favorites.

Day 17:  Having a sword fight in the middle of Toys R Us was a wild ride. Please don't run that store has a lot of stuff.

Day 18: Making slime was not what I thought it to be. 1 1/2 cup of Elmer's glue and 1 1/2 of corn syrup mix together with some food coloring Bam slime. It should be done outside. It is very messy! Overall whatever the kids and I do is a family affair.

Day 13 on 30 on 30

Day 13 Friday: We had fake accent day all day long. If you didn't talk with your accent it was push ups. It was so cute to hear what both my boys came up with.
Day 14 Saturday: Our family is famous for board games like monopoly. This took us all day long.
We are still not done.
Day 15 Sunday: Justin and I started a mommy and me book for the summer. It's a log of what we have done this summer. We then compare it to last year to see what new things we have learned. It's a lot of fun. Justin and I have done this for nine years. 
Day 16 Monday:  Today when my little man goes to sleep Justin and I are going to work on our secret family recipe book. This will include grandpa chili and grandma lasagna. It will be Yummy.

Day 12 of 30 on 30

Today was a lot of fun just running around the house playing with my boys. While daddy is working on putting my kitchen back together. Justin and I did P90X together. It was mother and son day. We had a blast! I think that is one of my new favorite words. Justin also helped me cook meat loaf which was a hit for lunch. Thinking about taking the boys to the beach this weekend if it doesn't rain.That's one thing it does here in Florida almost everyday. It gets some taking use to.

Day 11 Flour Fight

This was our day no need for anything else.

Day 10 of 30 0n 30

This is really fun if you like to get the kids hand prints or feet prints to display out in the yard next to the garden. It was a whole lot of flour flying everywhere which gave me another idea for a fantastic day in the yard.


1/2 cup of salt
1/2 cup of flour
a bowl to mix in
add water to make almost like a play dough. If your finger's get all messy just add some more flour to your hands. Then make it into a ball push down and make your imprint. Bake it for 3 hours at 200 degrees. I'm thinking about just painting the hand prints so they can stand out. I also wrote my boys name and year on them to before I bake. Give it a try and tell me what you think?

Day 9: 30 on 30

Today was another craft day. We took coffee mug's and wrote on them with a black sharpie. We then baked them for 30 minutes at 350. We also tried to sew it didn't go as well as I thought it would. We all had lots of fun.

       

Day 8: 30 on 30

I love to hear my children laugh. The sound's of little feet as they run across the kitchen floor is priceless. Yesterday we played hide and seek almost all day. We also took turns making funny faces at each other.
To end our night we watch Alf which is the greatest show ever made.

Day 7: 30 on 30

My kids and I do a lot of things together like play with Lego's. Today was one of those days. I have found that being apart of 30 mintues of playing for 30 days with the kids is a whole lot of fun. I have created a list of 100 things we can do this summer for all of us. I get a kick out of checking things off. I don't know why but its fun mostly because we can say we did that with pride.

Day 6: 30 on 30

If you try to play twister with a one year old its a lot of fun. Justin and I really put it to the test tonight. I love family night. After laughing till our belly hurt it was time to play guess who. Christopher knocked it off the table. He then ran off with our cards. He ate bob and another one so I gave him some chips and salsa we were then all good to get on with the game. I hate that one of the questions you have to ask is if they are black or white. It just seems wrong to me. I guess that is just me another post for another time.

Day 5: 30 on 30

This past weekend was a little crazy being Justin 9th birthday. I guess you can say it was a free day. Whatever Justin wanted to do we did. Playing his ps3 was a hit as well as swimming in the pool. Today we are going to jump rope while we have a cup of water in our hands. We will jump ten times and the person with the most water left in his cup wins. This was a lot of fun. Steve and I had a blast. It didn't matter who won we were all laughing so hard at each other.Give it a try. You will love it.