Quick note

Just added photos to posts below! Nothing much new to add to the February album but will get some pictures in there this weekend.

Holly's Arts & Crafts Corner

Hello. This is Holly again. We're back with today's installment of preschool activities to occupy and enhance young, growing minds. ;-) (please read that with a hint of sarcasm.)

We have two activities for you today: making bathtub paint and paper towel watercolor painting.

Homemade Bathtub Paints (brought to you by Partners Preschool)

Items Needed:
Corn Starch
Liquid Hand soap
Food Coloring
Small Container with lid



Step 1: We used an empty plastic rectangular baby food container with a lid. Place 2 tablespoons of corn starch into the container.

Step 2: Then add 1/3 cup of liquid soap. Mix ingredients together.


Step 3: Add a couple drops of food coloring and stir again. You're all set to start painting in the bathtub.

Hint: The only thing you have to remember is that the hand soap will probably hurt if they get it in their eyes. I bet you could use Johnson's baby shampoo or something similar that might be less of an eye irritant. You can also use two different food colors to teach them about mixing colors to make new colors.

Paper Towel Watercolor Painting (brought to you by the Science Museum of Minnesota)

Items Needed:
Paper towel cut into four pieces
Full-size sheet of paper towel
Water-soluable Markers (such as Crayola washable markers)
small bowl of water
small glass or plastic cup
pencil with a nice eraser

Step 1: Draw a design on one of the small pieces of paper towel with the washable markers. The volunteer at the museum suggested a small circle with another circle around it. Of course use creativity here in making anything you want. :-)


Step 2: Once your image is drawn, place the piece of towel on top of the small glass or plastic cup.






Step 3: They used a pencil eraser at the museum but we used the end of a marker at home and it worked just as well. Dip the eraser/marker end in small amount of water (you don't want too much water on the tip) and touch it to the color on the paper towel.


Step 4: Watch as the water and ink spread out to make a new picture. It gives your artwork a tie-dye or watercolor look. You can move your artwork around the top of the cup to make sure you get all the marker wet. Remember, you don't need to add too much water, and you can wait between adding the water to see how far the water will travel on the paper towel.

Step 5: Place your artwork on top of a full-size piece of paper towel to dry and absorb any ink that might transfer through.

Hint: I think you use the cup when adding the water to the artwork so that the water will properly spread on the towel. If you leave the artwork on the counter top when adding water, it might pool underneath and you just end up with wet paper towel and it doesn't spread as nice.


Ella's masterpieces (a butterfly & the pictures she made at the museum)

I've added a new feature to the blog sidebar. I've started to label my arts and crafts projects. That way if some of you decide to try them out at a later date, you can easily find the post you're looking for!

Enjoy!

Fun with the Andersons

The girls and I spent the morning and early afternoon yesterday visiting the Science Museum of Minnesota with our friends from down the street: Kelly and her girls, Isabelle and Hope. The Museum has "Preschool Playdate" days where they have specific activities geared toward the younger crowd.




We walked through one floor and learned about the region around us. The kids could see if they weighed as much as certain fish found in the area. There was a tug boat that you could climb in and "drive" and a telescope to look out at the landscape. We made our way down a couple floors where they had the preschool activities. Ella was especially enamored with these. They had vertical wind tunnels set up and various materials. You could try putting the materials in and see if they blew up or didn't. You could make a contraption and try to put it in and see what happened. Ella spent a half hour or more at this one station. She built this whole thing out of a bunch of materials and it didn't fly. So she kept trying to change it and figure out how to make it fly. Eventually, we removed one thing at a time until she got it to fly up high.


Ella making her contraption with the museum educator and then testing it out in the wind tunnel.

They also had really a really neat art activity that I'll share in a separate post. Ella was really into this as well. While Ella was doing the activities forever the other kids checked out the weather area. Hope was particularly interested in one display where you could make a tornado out of mist coming up from the floor. And Lily really like the sound/music area where you rub a bow on a cello and play a keyboard and see what the sound waves looked like. Isabelle said she liked everything! :-)


Left: Hope at the Tornado machine; Right: Everyone at the Animation exhibit.

We also visited their Animation exhibit where there was a foley studio set up. They had a cartoon playing on a screen and materials to make specific sound effects. You went through and made all the sounds while it recorded. Then it played back what your sounds were with the cartoon. The girls really seemed to like that. They had an area where you could trace the outside of a character on paper and then color it in. So, as I'm sure you can guess, Ella enjoyed this activity.

Ella was really interested in everything. She wanted to learn about different things. There was one area about light and color. She was very into that. And they had a couple microscopes you could look in and see different bugs, which she also enjoyed. I loved the Science Museum when I was little so it was fun to see her enjoy the experience so much.

We all had a ton of fun on our outing with the Andersons! I hope we can do something like that with them again soon.

The Groundhog was right...darn it.

Okay, we're sick of winter around here. Thankfully, it's been a little warmer the last couple days so some of the snow is melting away. I want it all to go! I'm just ready to have more options for outings for me and the girls. We're bored with all our same old indoor activities.

Two weeks ago, my mom and Dave came up for the weekend. We had a nice visit with them and had make-your-own pizzas with my Grandma Betty, Carol and Mark, and Cousin Michael (visiting from Arizona). They had an exciting trip home where they were stuck at the "Big Red Barn" rest stop just south of the Iowa/MN border. We learned a lesson. We need to check road conditions online, not JUST the weather report. They did get home safe and sound the following day.

Andrew had the day off for President's Day so we took the girls to Ridgedale Center to play at the play area there. We hadn't been in a year or so. They had a great time. We also decided to visit the Build-a-Bear Workshop there. I've been wanting to do that with them for 2 years now and it just seemed like a good time to do it. Ella picked out a pink sparkly bear that she named "Ella Bear" and Lily picked out a marmalade cat that she named "Lily Cat". I know, such creative names, right? I tried to get Ella to name her bear Pinksparkle Beary, but she was not going for that. We had a lot of fun watching them pick out their animals and dress them. Ella especially loves her bear and has played with it nonstop since we brought her home.



Other than that, our week was pretty normal with preschool, speech, and gym class. We had our friends Claire and Jeff over for dinner on Friday night. We all had a good time. Ella wanted to do a "project" so someone came up with the idea to make paper airplanes and fly them from our upstairs balcony to see which one flew the furthest. I think Jeff's won. :-)

Saturday, we visited Ella's preschool for an "Under the Sea" themed Family Fun Day. They had different activities in each classroom and you moved through to do each one: goldfish walk (as in Pepperidge Farm Goldfish--not real goldfish), carnival games, drawing & play-doh, sticker tattoos, arts & crafts (they made bathtub paint), and a snack. For the snack, they got a sugar cookie and a little blue frosting to spread on it. Then they could put gummy fish on top to make and "aqaurium" cookie. I thought that was a pretty cute idea. Ella's teacher was working in the snack room so we got to say hi and took her picture with Ella. We also learned she's going to be teaching in the same classroom next year so Lily gets to have Ms. Laurie for a teacher this fall!




We visited Cindy and Shawn at their house on Sunday afternoon to wish Braeden "Happy Birthday" and enjoyed our visit with them. Other than all that, I spent the whole weekend when we were home working on our tax stuff. I don't do it through the year as I should, so I tend to have spend several hours the weekend before its due to our accountant. Tons of fun.



The only other thing going on right now is that we're trying to decide what car to get next. Our lease is up on the Pilot and we have to turn it in next month. We thought we might get a minivan, but turns out we just aren't minivan people. I love the features and comfortability of a minivan but when we both test drove them, we both just did not like driving it. Didn't feel comfortable to us or something. So back to the drawing board we went. We still haven't decided on anything yet. Right now, we're considering the 2009 Dodge Journey and the 2008 Subaru Tribeca. We'll see...

Edited to add: We looked at more cars and hopefully have decided on a GMC Acadia, or maybe another Honda....isn't car shopping supposed to be fun?

Deer, Valentine's, & Spongebob

We had a really relaxing weekend last week. Andrew took the girls to the zoo on Saturday while I had some time to myself for a haircut and some retail therapy. I got a slightly new 'do with bangs and a few low-lights. It took me a few days to get used to it, but I am really liking it. Sorry no pictures yet. Haven't really taken any.

Saturday morning I went out to get the newspaper and I noticed deer tracks going up our driveway. I was really surprised because I've never seen deer anywhere near our house before. Although, we do live near a wooded area so I suppose its possible. Anyway, I was curious, so I followed them up the driveway and looked to see where they went. The deer walked all the way up to our front door! Like he was going to ring the door bell or something. :-) And then turned and walked along the bushes by the front window. I wish we had been up early enough to see it! I think the girls would have gotten a real kick out of that.

We had Cindy, Shawn, Emilee, and Braeden over Saturday night for pizza and fun. It's always great to hang out with them. I can't believe Braeden will be a year old already on the 22nd! Time really does fly by. Happy Birthday little man! :-)

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! We're having breakfast at the Pancanke House with B-Pa and Gramma Clare and a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's for dinner. Ella and Lily are pictured with their Valentine's basket from B-Pa and Gramma. Don't worry that's non-alcoholic pear juice in there. :-) Hope you all have a nice day!


I'll leave you with this picture Ella drew of Spongebob and his sidekick Patrick. I think its particularly well-done for a 4 1/2 year old. But I am biased. :-)

The NFL Experience

Andrew returned to cold, blustery Minnesota last Monday after having a great time at the Super Bowl in Phoeinx, Arizona. He had a great time at the game and was very excited the Giants won. It was much more enjoyable then watching in pouring down rain like last year. :-)

He also got to visit with cousin Laura who lives in the Phoenix area. She works as a manager for the Keg Steakhouse. On Thursday, Andrew and his group as well as some clients had dinner at the restaurant. And on Friday, Laura had the chance to visit the stadium.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

The Famous Group crew: Rocky, Earl, Andrew,
Laura (Andrew's cousin along for a tour), Hemu, and David

Andrew on the 50 yard line on the field of the Super Bowl.

During the half-time show.
That's their graphic on the Jumbotron.

Another Famous Group graphic

And more. :-)

Hemu, David, and Andrew enjoying the game.

Andrew's girls all in Super Bowl gear
he brought back for us. Yay!

Super Bowl XLII

As we left Andrew in California, he had a week of nonstop work ahead of him to get all the Super Bowl footage produced. It appeared that things went relatively smoothly overall and he headed to Arizona on Thursday. He finished things up at the Stadium Thursday and Friday and visited the NFL Experience today.

He got to go down on the field today and stand on the 50-yard line of the Super Bowl!! He also emailed the following video montage to me. I thought I would post it for all to see. Here is a snippet of the work they did for the in-stadium graphics for the big game. Maybe you'll be able to catch a little bit on the Jumbotron while you watch the game. :-)

California Vacation: Part Deux--Friends!

We spent the rest of our time in California visiting friends. Unfortunately, the weather was not the most desirable. It rained every day we were there from Monday on. And it rained in spurts and fits. It seemed, and I could just be dreaming here, but every time we needed to go outside and drive somewhere, the rain would start up again. It was like the little black rain cloud was following me everywhere. Ella even drew a picture of our vacation. Her explanation of the picture went something like this, "It's Mommy driving around in the red car in California in the rain."

Left: Ella's picture of Mommy driving in our red rental SUV in the rain.
Right: Ella's picture of what she wished her vacation was like: sunny and Mommy driving around in a vehicle somewhat resembling the Scooby Doo Mobile.

But we did not let the weather dampen our spirits! Monday evening we visited with Angie and her kids Henry and Elizabeth, as well as Kirsten and her son Riley. The kids all played together at the Burbank mall play area. Then Tuesday, we met up at Funtown with Heather (Matthew & Max), Jenn (Cam & Kaelyn), Cynthia (Xander & Madi), Maribel (Ben & Gaby), and Angie again. Whenever we drove anywhere familiar or visited some place we used to go to often, Ella would say to me, "Mom, I remember this place!". It was so great to have her remember places and feel good about going to them. On Wednesday, we traveled near USC (I drove on the freeways to get there! Something I never would do when I actually lived there.) to go to the Science Center with Renee and her kids, Kaitlyn and Sean. We had a great time wandering around. The most exciting part was getting to see a baby chicken hatch out of its egg. Ella and Lily were very fascinated by it. We also learned about the Madgascar beetle (or something or other--I've forgotten the name since then.) in one of the Discovery rooms. The kids got to touch it and watch it move around in the attendant's hand.

Wednesday also happened to be my birthday (Happy 31st to me!) and Renee not only remembered and brought cupcakes for us, but she spread the word around the playgroup as well. So I received many Birthday wishes! And thank you to all of you out there who remembered and sent or emailed birthday greetings as well! Andrew had decorated our hotel room with crepe paper and a birthday sign and balloon Tuesday night while we all slept. So when I woke up, it was all decorated! Awww! What a sweetie! And the kids thought that was pretty cool too. :-)

Thursday, we attempted to go to Griffith Observatory. I was excited to go up there. It was closed in 2001 for renovation and only reopened a little bit ago. Our attempt to visit this time was thwarted by the rain. We had a beautiful sunny morning and the second I parked the car, and opened my door to get out, the rain came pouring down (again with the black rain cloud following me around). We spent the afternoon and evening playing with friends, visiting the mall play area and IKEA. Friday, the girls and I decided we needed a day to just relax and veg out so I took them to see the movie Enchanted at the theater. It was very cute and they both loved it!

Saturday, we actually had good weather until the afternoon. It was sunny and maybe 60 degrees. The kids played at the little playground at the hotel and then we headed back up to the observatory for a second attempt. Since it was the weekend and decent weather, a ton of other people had the same idea. We ended up having to park a bit away and walk up to the observatory, which actually was quite fun. Ella was in a good mood and up for walking and Lily was happy to be riding on my back in the Ergo again. We had a lot of fun wandering around up there investigating the landscape and of course taking pictures! It was so clear because of all the rain, we could see everything! All the way to ocean on one side and snow-capped mountains on the other side. The whole time I lived in California those mountains were not snow-capped!

Top: Downtown Los Angeles Skyline from Griffith Park Observatory.
Bottom: The Hollywood Sign from the Observatory (both taken with my zoom lens).

Saturday night the girls hung out with Andrew for dinner and at the hotel and I made my way to Renee's house for a Moms Night Out and baby shower for Melissa who is expecting Baby #2 in the next month. We all had so much fun chatting, eating, present opening and playing the 80's game. How the heck I remembered the family from Alf was the Tanners is beyond me. ;-) But this is why they all call me the idiot savant when it comes to 80's trivia. But "Yeah!" to the blondes for winning the game!! :-) Yes, we played blondes versus non-blondes. :-) We were there until 1AM and then all had to drive home in torrential downpours. It was not fun. There was so much water on the road you hydroplaned if you weren't careful!

We went out as a family on Sunday to have lunch at California Pizza Kitchen in Brentwood with the Harveys and the Slussers. Whereas there was once 6 of us for an outing like that, now with all our kids we are at 10 and almost 11 with another little Harvey on the way. We all had a great time visiting and we had a star sighting! We saw Maria Bello (she was on ER for awhile and mostly does movies now) and her family there.

Ella with Grayson Harvey at CPK. Aren't they cute? :-)

We really enjoyed our time in Calfornia. I can't believe it went so fast! It was so nice that the girls and I still fit right into the playgroup where we did when we left. With our world of technology its so easy to keep up with everyone's lives through email, blogs and our message board. I felt like I haven't missed anything and that I wasn't ever gone. It's so nice to know that we can go back anytime and just start in where we left off.

The girls and I made it back home fine on Monday and we had one more star sighting believe it or not (We didn't have star sightings like that when we lived there! Two in one week--unheard of!). We saw Frances Conroy (of Six Feet Under fame) at the airport. And she actually happened to be on our plane. After looking at her resume on imdb.com, it appears she's filming her next movie "Chilled in Miami" which mostly takes place in small-town Minnesota. Maybe they are filming on location? Anyhoo, we made our way on and off the plane without incidence and back home again.

We've spent the week getting back into the swing of things around here and dealing with the freezing cold temperatures here. It's actually warmer, maybe around 30 degrees today! Whoo hoo! And the girls are spending the night at my dad and Clare's house tonight! Yippee! So I'm off to go veg out in front of the television for a bit!

Happy Groundhog Day by the way! It appears Phil has decided we have six more weeks of winter. Bummer.