Good Friday: Sidewalk Sweepers

Today our grounds crew was out and about, mowing lawns and whacking weeds. Even though they clean up after themselves quite nicely, I thought it would be a great opportunity to let the girls serve. So we headed outside for our Good Friday-good deed!

B and L each got a broom and went to work sweeping up the grass that had scattered on the sidewalk.

Lily didn't really have a clue what she was doing, but she had a blast following her sister around with the broom.


Brooklyn was actually pretty adept to using the little broom and managed to clean up several piles of grass and loose dirt!

After a while Lily caught on and managed to spread the grass around the sidewalk with the little broom before running off with the dustpan.

When we were all finished cleaning, I sat down with the girls to talk about what they had just done. It was so fun to see how proud Brooklyn was of herself. She even told me that she felt like she made Jesus very happy!


And just for fun (and since Father's Day is this Sunday) I thought I would tip you off to some fun subway art I found online:

You can find the "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home..." as well as the "Because I'm the Dad" pieces at the Holiday Snob by clicking HERE.

The "Dad, Dada, Daddy" piece and the quote for the bottom right piece can be found on The Crafting Chicks website by clicking HERE.

Have fun with them and have a fantastic Friday!

Outdoor Adventures: Bike Ride by Erin Uda

This week we’re going to pull out the big wheels, scooters, and bikes, and go for a ride!

If you have adventurous souls in your family, just going around the block or neighborhood might not be enough for them. If this is the case for you, break out the bike rack, pack up the car, and find a great park or trail nearby. If you’re concerned about keeping your child in sight, be sure to find a park without too many trees or hills along the path. It’s never a bad idea to plan your route close to a playground, just in case those legs get tired a little earlier than expected! While you ride, talk about what your children see, where you’re headed, where you’ve been, and what they think you’ll see next. Ask questions and enjoy your child’s innocent and creative answers.

Try letting your children race against each other in a wide, safe area like an empty parking lot. Be sure to agree on the start and end points before you race to avoid fighting. Pretending to be a race car can make it even more fun. And don't forget to wear your safety gear!!!

If you’re feeling particularly enthusiastic, try making your bike ride into a treasure hunt. For the little ones, find pictures of local landmarks and arrange them on a piece of paper; try connecting them with a dashed line so you child can see what path you’ll be traveling. Draw a big X at the end, and maybe hide some treasure there (or bring the treasure with you and break it out when you get there). Dress up as pirates and talk with a funny accent. Kids love to use their imagination, so the more ridiculous you are the more fun you’ll have!

(Click image for source and for ideas on how to make treasure maps with your kids!)

For older children, use this as an opportunity to learn to read a real map. Try showing them a Google maps version of your neighborhood and let them create the route, highlighting familiar landmarks before you go. Or create a distance goal and challenge them to figure out how long your route will be.

If you’re going to be out a while, try bringing a PICNIC. In fact, you could even have your child tote his own meal in the back of his big wheel or in a small backpack. Bring an old blanket and a lot of napkins, and you’re all set for a perfect day outside!

There are a lot of craft projects that tie in nicely with a bike theme, but some of my favorites from childhood are the noise-makers on your bike spokes (try putting beads or cards on them), and streamers on the handle bars. Baskets are also fun and functional. HERE is a fun tutorial for a bike basket that you could use!

Or you could decorate an old helmet. Spray paint it before-hand and let your child decorate it with stickers, markers, or paint.

Suggested Reading:

• Duck on a Bike, David Shannon (P Shannon; ISBN: 9780153565687)
• Because I Could Not Stop My Bike and other Poems, Karen Jo Shapiro (Call #:J 811 Sh 199; ISBN: 9781580891059)
• Mike and the Bike, Michael Ward (P Ward; ISBN: 9781594414985)
• My Sister’s Rusty Bike, Jim Aylesworth (P Aylesworth; ISBN: 9780689317989)
• The Red Racer, Audrey Wood (P Wood; ISBN: 9780689826825)
• The Bike Lesson, Stan & Jan Berenstain (B Berenstain; ISBN: 9780394800363)
• Me and My Bike, Ander (P Ander; ISBN: 9780978755027)

Graham Cracker S'MORE Cookies!!!

Yesterday Kevin was feeling a little blue, so I promised him a fantastically gooey treat when he finally returned home from work. I knew just the thing for this time of year and quickly went to my computer to pull up THIS recipe from Always with Butter.


That's right! The gooey goodness of S'mores combined with chocolate chip cookie dough! Doesn't get much better than that!


I followed the recipe pretty closely, minus two small adjustments. The recipe said to make your dough with chocolate chips in it and then halfway through cooking, to add Hershey's bars to the top. It was a little too much chocolate for me so I took out the chocolate chips. Also, the recipe said to place your dough on top of graham crackers, but I decided to make a graham cracker crust instead!


So here's the recipe as I made it: Graham Cracker S'more Cookies

Crust:

• 1 1/2 Cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 Cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 Cup melted butter

Cookie:

• 2/3 Cup butter, softened
• 1 Cup brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 1/2 Cups flour
• 1 Cup mini marshmallows
• 1/2 bag of Hershey's Drops

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter.
Firmly press into bottom of pan. (I used a cake pan but it took way longer to cook through once I added the cookie dough, so I would recommend using a regular cookie sheet)
Bake crust for about 8 minutes.

While crust is cooling, cream softened butter and sugars together, then add eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, Cinnamon, and salt.
Combine four mixture with butter mixture and then fold in marshmallows.

Roll finished dough into cookie sized balls and place on top of crust.
Bake for 5 minutes, then remove and press Hershey's Drops into the top.
Replace in oven and cook for 5-7 minutes longer. (I had to cook it for 10 more minutes to get it cooked all the way through.)
Remove cookies from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
Then serve to your "blue" husband and ENJOY the happiness that spreads across his face!!

As a random aside: I will be running the Chicago Ragnar Relay this weekend so I won't be around to post about our Good Friday, or anything else for that matter! Hopefully you still get the chance to get out and do a good deed. Until then, I will see you back here on Sunday night!

Outdoor Adventures: Cloud Gazing by Erin Uda

This month, it seems a day doesn’t go by without a sky full of clouds and rain. I’m not sure if it’s summer where you live, but it is definitely still the rainy season here in Utah. Since we’re going to continue to have clouds for a while, I’ve chosen to make good use of all these cloudy days and focus this week’s post on cloud-gazing!

Kids have amazing imaginations, seeing all sorts of things that aren’t really there (case in point – monsters in the closet). So put that imagination to good use and focus their little eyes upwards. Many of us did this back in the good old days when we were allowed to wander the neighborhood all day long unsupervised. We’d go on a bike ride and after we got tired, we’d plop ourselves down on a green patch of grass and look at the clouds until we recovered. Let’s renew that sense of wonder and exploration (as well as the connection to nature) in ourselves and our children this week.

Here are some of our favorite things to find in the sky. See if you can find all these, and add your own unique items as well:

Cloud Shape Bingo: If you have older or more competitive children, it might be fun to print a Bingo card filled with shapes to find in the clouds. Someone should be the designated judge to make sure the shapes are actually there.

Another activity that is great for older children would be to take the time to review the different types of clouds and what they mean for future weather patterns.

Cloud handouts are easy to find on the internet. You can use the handout above that was found HERE, or the one you see below that was found on THIS website.

If you’re not able to dedicate a couple of hours to being outside, or if the weather isn’t cooperating with you, try taking pictures of the clouds. You can take them over time, or take a bunch on the same day. Print them out and create a book with these pictures. Use this as an activity or quiet book for your children. They can sit with you and show you the shapes they see in the clouds, or you can laminate the pictures and let them circle each shape with a dry-erase marker. This is a great item to keep in your purse for unexpected doctor’s visits, meetings, or any time your child has to stay seated for any length of time.

If you’re feeling crafty, try making clouds out of blue construction paper, glue, and cotton balls. For older children, let them paint a cloud. Set them up at a table outside to observe the clouds while they work.

If your child opted to paint, talk together about the colors in the clouds. They reflect everything around them, including the sky, so they are usually tinged with blue or the colors of the sunrise/sunset. Sometimes they’re golden from direct sunshine and sometimes they’re dark gray from all the moisture inside them. Let them be creative with the colors they add to the standard white paint.

[This is what Brooklyn and Naomi made earlier this Spring when they were learning about clouds.]

If you’re still looking for something to do, try making your own REAL cloud!

Note: this activity requires an adult, since it involves matches.

http://weather.about.com/od/under10minutes/ht/cloudbottle.htm

When you’re ready to wind things down and bring everyone inside for story time, try focusing on weather-related stories and folklore. If the weather didn’t cooperate and you don’t have time to make your own cloud book, I’ve included a couple of good substitutes in the list below.

Suggested Reading:

• The Cloud Book, Tomie DePaola (Call #: J 551.576 D4404; ISBN: 0823402592)
• Little Cloud, Eric Carle (Call #: P Carle; ISBN: 9780399230349)
• It Looked Like Spilt Milk, Charles G. Shaw (Call #: P Shaw; ISBN: 0060255668)
• Cloudland, John Burningham (Call #: P Burningham; ISBN: 0517709287)
• Willy Whyner, Cloud Designer, Michael Lustig (Call #: P Lustig; ISBN: 0027613658)
• The Book of Clouds, John A. Day (Call #: 551.576 D3323; ISBN: 9781402728136)
• Clouds, Eric M. Wilcox (Call #: 551.576; ISBN: 9781844837137)