The best building blocks we've found

There's nothing to match the excitement and energy that accompanies a new supply of toilet paper arriving at our house.

You see, it's soft, light weight and stackable, making it the ideal building block. No matter how high you stack it, no one gets a bruised head when the tower comes tumbling down.

Just don't knock it over too soon, you might get a lecture from your big sis. It has to be taller first!

How do you keep your children entertained on cold winter days?

Who says we don't have lots of room for company?

Stacked this way we can fit another 15 on the stairs alone!

Come and stay family and friends,we'll find a way to squeeze you in.

Shh, Aunties, Don't tell the cousins.

Hannah wanted to make a little ladybug for herself, her sister and each of her cousins today. I had her help me cut some felt, then climb on my lap to help me as I sewed. As we worked, we decided they would make nice "boo-boo buddies" so we filled them with rice to be placed in the freezer and pulled out when those little owies come along.
We also decided that Levi couldn't be left out, but he needed a turtle, not a ladybug.
Great idea Hannah, I'm sure your cousins will love their surprise!

Spoon People

This was one of those crafts where I struggled to let go of the "right" way to do things and let the girls' creativity come through. In the end, I was happy I did. I was especially pleased with Hannah's adorable mouths and her insistence on "a skirt over the skirt" on the little girl.
Meet Hannah's Daddy and Little Girl, and Heidi's Momma and Grandmother.

What happens when I say "yes" to face paint... and forget I did so.

The Turkey Fairy

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving from the Turkey Fairy!
If you look closely,you'll see that there are indeed turkeys behind her.
Wild turkeys.
Wild turkeys who hang with my chickens, eat their food, and join them in making a mess of our front steps.
Wild turkeys that we can't eat unless we buy a license that costs more than buying a turkey all ready to eat in the store.
Humph! But I'll move on.
My turkey fairy loved making her own hat, as did her sister,
and I had to agree, it complimented her wings quite well.

Hannah's Butterfly Birthday

Hannah requested a butterfly birthday this year so the girls and I spent the past week or so crafting butterflies. They had so much fun with the project that I had plenty to fill the house with by Sunday's party.
When I asked Hannah what she wanted to eat at her party I always got the same answer:
"Melon. Melon and little butterfly cakes".
I wasn't so sure the daddies in attendance would be satisfied with a lunch of watermelon and cupcakes, so I pressed, "Isn't there anything else you want?"
"No, jus' melon and butterfly cake".
"Well, others might want something else".
"Oh, that otay, Momma, ofer people can have somfing else. I want melon."
Let me tell you, this was one little girl who thoroughly enjoyed her watermelon and butterfly cupcakes. She also loved being sung to.
For everyone else I made pizza with pepperoni I had cut into butterfly shapes with a cookie cutter.

We did some fun, easy crafts and I really enjoyed how laid back the day seemed.
The kids decided they wanted a canoe ride and Karl happily obliged...
with half a canoe.

For the pinata I merely painted a paper towel tube, filled it with candy, taped the ends shut and taped on wings. Easy to make, HARD to break open!

One of the favorite crafts was the butterfly masks.
I enjoyed watching all the children fluttering about afterward.
What a fun three year old birthday idea Hannah!

Heidi's Pioneer Party

Having read the entire little house series, some of the Betsy-Tacy books, and thinking about reading Caddie Woodlawn, we determined an old fashioned pioneer party was in order for this years celebration of Heidi's birth. We made invitations from the same Holly Hobbie tracing kit I used for birthday invitations as a child.
We set up our screen tent with plenty of freshly picked wild flowers as decorations. Originally,I had pictured using only what the pioneers would have had access to for our table, but Heidi was insistent that birthdays meant balloon napkins and party hats, NOT bonnets!
She was delighted, however, to wear a pioneer dress.
Even little cousin dressed up for the party!
We started the party by making bread and strawberry jam and shaking cream into butter. As you can imagine, it was a little bit busy during that time frame, thus there are no pictures to document the cute little loaves of bread and jars of jam we made to send home with the guests.
I did manage to snap one before the party, however, of the little muslin dolls I made for the girls to take home (the boys made rafts, but I hadn't prepared very well, so they didn't turn out so well).
Heidi had requested that the girls all sew dresses by hand for the party. Since I wasn't prepared to help each girl make a full sized dress for herself, I suggested the dolls and sewing dresses for them seemed to go over just fine.
Heidi was a bit disappointed by the hair color for her doll. "I'm more strawberry blond Mom." I, however, was thrilled to have found a yarn color in the thrift store which represented something more akin to an actual hair color than the shock red I've had to make do with in the past.
We also slaughtered a chicken.
The insides of which were of great interest to the children.
Then, we snacked on bread, butter, jam, watermelon, and...
chocolate, chocolate, chocolate ice cream cake.

Heidi enjoyed her delightful gifts.

But the crowning event of the party, that which Heidi had anticipated with great longing, was washing clothes.
We brought out an old two basin laundry tub, a scrub board and a clothes line and let the kids enjoy.

It might seem like a bit much, but I'm afraid I overly enjoy planning parties around a theme. I had to work hard at holding myself back from making soap and candles and... well, you get the idea.
And, I love to make wonderful memories with these children that I love.
Happy fifth birthday Heidi!

Wildflower Jelly

The girls have been ecstatic about the arrival of the first flowers of Spring. They want to pick every bit of color they see and I'm beginning to run out of vase space so I decided to try a more creative use for their finds. Today we made jelly, both violet and dandelion. First, we had to pick lots and lots of flowers, approximately one cup of each (if you try this I would strongly suggest making sure the flowers you choose are indeed edible).

Nest we thoroughly rinsed the flowers, placed them in a glass jar and poured one cup of boiling water over them. We let that sit for a few hours then poured the mixture through a sieve, reserving the water and discarding the flowers.

Next was an eighth cup of lemon juice and two cups sugar and bringing the mixture to a boil. (I think wearing butterfly wings during this step is optional.)

When it was boiling we added half a package of liquid pectin and boiled for two more minutes.

Then came the canning, and even better,the taste-testing.

Mmmmmm... can we make it again?

Such pretty pink and yellow Spring color!