Crafty Wednesdays

There may be two posts today... the girls want to do the kites today but they are content playing with their friend. I'll see how the morning plays out. Now I want to give you what we did yesterday. This was kid driven all the way, totally their idea... which means it was my favorite!!!!
UPDATE: I may be doing these kites myself... we didn't get to them again!!!

We started out with water paints. We haven't done this in a while and the girls love it.

Then thing 1 decided to make "codes" with her white crayon
I had forgotten that I used to do this! It tickled them pink to give each other codes to figure out. (this one says I love you)

Here is some of our finished work:

Try this today! So simple and so fun. We didn't want to get ready for the bus.

Gardening weekly

The vegetable bowl experiment:

**Disclaimer**: I have no idea what I am doing!!!
I'm just going with my gut and hoping for the best.

Last week I found this large onion growing in my veggie bowl. (Oh I see those looks! Are you going to tell me that's never happened to you???) It looked so healthy I couldn't throw it away. I should have looked on the Internet but I went with my instincts and tried to root it.

I was amazed that after sitting in the water for a day roots began to grow! This is after 4 days of being in the water. What do I do next??? I have no idea to be honest. I don't know what kind of onion it is (is Shaw's Yellow a good variety??) I'll give it a few more rooting days then I'll plant it in a bucket until it's a little warmer outside. If anyone has a better idea let me know!!

In the same sad veggie bowl were a couple of potatoes with eyes. They were pretty much beyond the point of safe consumption so I decided to stick those in water too. I feel like I've seen this before, but they were cut in half.... do you know why they were cut? These shoots have grown since being in the water. There are also little hairy roots growing.

This isn't the first the first thing that's gone bad that I've tried to rescue. With my frugality (and ah humm... laziness) I am beginning to understand how beef jerky, sundried tomatoes, and raisins were created. I'm learning that the middle process might be unsightly and seem gross (like leaving wilted parsley in my crisper drawer for a few months) but the end result is again surprisingly edible (voila, I now have dried parsley!)

I am enjoying this. Not sure if I'll get more potatoes and onions out of it but won't it be amazing if I do?! If not, It all goes into the compost pile... where someone else probably would have put it in the beginning.

I challenge you, what can you rescue from your garbage today???

Maine Maple Sunday

We participated in our first Maine Maple Sunday. It was a crisp beautiful day. The small sugar operation was quite busy, we even saw friends of ours! Here's a glimpse of our day:I loved that they had some old fashion buckets near the shack for us to see.

I think they are beautiful.

The girls loved the new way of collecting sap. All those blues hoses looked like a maze.

They couldn't believe how much sap was collected in the big bucket.

We waited a long time but finished the day with a horse drawn hay ride then a little shopping!

As we were leaving the wind picked up and it started snowing! Very pretty, but oh what a reminder that we live in Maine!!

Fab Fridays....

Calendar Spring is here!!! From my years as a preschool teacher and mom in New England I have learned to call today the first day of "Calendar Spring". Why??? Because kids think of spring as trees full of leaves, beautiful flowers blooming, warm air, and butterflies. I have had more than one child come to me very disappointed that the snow did not melt and the leaves and flowers did not pop out overnight!!!!

In Maine, it is now "Mud Season".... Spring as the kids know it, arrives in May. Calendar spring is still a great time of year. Its a time of hope, with the brightly shining sun there is a knowing that warmer days will soon arrive.

We have spent the last week drawing with chalk outside, riding bikes (being sure to peer around the snowbanks and watching out for ice and mud puddles), and blowing bubbles. It's over 30 degrees... spring enough for us!!! It helps that we have a paved driveway and road, as long as they don't step on the little bits of exposed grass there's not much mud...thank god!!

Today, the twins and I went on a Spring Cleaning Adventure!!!!! We took out our bottles of homemade "Go Green Cleaner" (made of equal parts vinegar and water) and our reusable rags and went to town. I cleaned the yucky smelling wood stove and all around it while the girls cleaned the windows, TV's, Baseboards... whatever they could think of... they love to spray!! This is the first time they've actually wiped things well too!! A few streaks remained but that doesn't bother me... as the Flylady says, even cleaning done wrong blesses the family! Boy do I feel blessed! That wood stove smells great when it is running but stale wood smoke is just gross! I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the smell for the longest time. It finally dawned on me that cleaning the dusty soot off everything may just help ;) Yep, I'm a smarty ;) The vinegar really helps neutralize the odor too... after it stops smelling like deviled eggs!!

To end today I again want to wish a Happy Calendar spring to my New England friends, and Happy Spring to the rest of you! For a glimpse of spring that I'm totally Jealous of check out the Pictures Jess at KadyHope took this week. Oh to live in California!!!! LOL!!!

Crafty Wednesdays...

Of course the first day I want to start this new blogging idea the girls are not at all into crafting. We spent the morning playing "go fish" and "candyland"... very nice considering we have been playing Disney Trivia 2 for three weeks straight!!!

Today I give you a craft we want to do....

I found this on Craft Crow today. Kites!!! Thank you Ordinary life magic! I'll be reading more of your blog, it's great!!!

Thing 2 has been begging to make "a real kite that flies". It's been a week since the total meltdown temper tantrum she had over the fact that we need to buy materials and find a pattern. (If you are a reader of my blog you'll know she's been having trouble with this lately).

The "mean mommy" inside told me to never ever build a kite! (and some other things...oopsie) The "Good Mommy" sees that she has calmed down and gotten over it (and that she really is a pretty sweet kid). Things are also coming together for the project. We have found a pattern and surprisingly we have all the supplies! I'm hoping to make this tomorrow. I hope it flies!!! Wish us luck!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!

Those Sneaky leprechauns struck our house yet again this year! They turned the kitchen chairs upside down, they also turned all our picture frames upside down! They sprinkled our house with gold (which looked a lot like rolos). The most amazing thing they did was turn things green! Toilet water... green! Mystery green cereal and oatmeal... only turned green when the kids put in the water or milk! Sneaky little buggers!!!

The girls just love to find what the leprechauns mess up. They love the little treats even more!

Sunshine is my favorite on St. Patrick's Day!! She dressed in green from head to toe (none of it matching... sorry to say I can't find my camera... imagine that!!) including a green leprechaun's top hat. A little bait net was tucked into her backpack in case she sees a sneaky leprechaun at school. She's also ready to pinch anyone not wearing green... watch out!!

We are watching for other signs of St. Patrick's day! What pranks did the leprechauns do to you??

This week....

Has been filled with the ying and yang of life.

Happy moments when your so proud you could bust. Bike riding, making play dough, an afternoon hanging with my favorite cousin, girl scouts, giving of items to someone in need, everyone working in the kitchen prepping a meal, good conversation... "Life can't get much better than this" moments that make it all worth while.

Hard moments when you want to pull out your hair. Bus warnings and bus slips, stubborn independent 5 year olds, temper tantrums, Too many bad X's to win a prize, shoveling snow in a rainstorm because the puddle at the bottom of the driveway is bigger than the kids, mean people, having to stand up and say what's on your mind because it's right (SOOO HARD)... those lift your head up and shout "SCREW IT" moments.

I'm trying to love the good, learn from the hard, and just carry on. How was your week???