Ice cube Painting

Yes, More painting.. I said we LOVE to paint. I feel it allows the girls to express their feelings and to create whatever their mind maybe thinking without much input and direction from me. For those hot summer days (which we are having in spring lol) This is a great way to enjoy the outdoors and have a little fun.. This does get Messy, which is why we are in swim suits and ready to get in the pool after. And this does take a little pre planning.

Ice cube painting is just that.. Ice cubes.
1. Get an Ice tray
2. Drop in a couple drops of tempera paint
3. Add some water
4. Mix well
5. Cover with saran wrap
6. Stick in popsicle sticks
7. Place in freeze and let freeze
8. Take paint out
9. Have fun painting on your paper.

When I made mine I couldn't get my popsicle sticks to stand straight up with the saran wrap as dir. said so I left out the step about the wrap and just stuck my sticks in. They were crooked but the girls didn't care and they still worked. Also, some other directions said you can use food coloring but I was worried about the food coloring not coming off the kids and off the concrete.

Girls getting started on the masterpiece -Bella supervising

Still going-ice cubes are starting to melt -Bella apparently wants to help with her  ball. 

E is really enjoying the splattering-K like to make imaginary things. (this is a dragon with wings)

Their finished masterpiece. I cut each section out and had 2 11x14 frames and framed them. They look amazing.


I think the next thing I will do is make reg. ice cubes add some drops of paint on the paper and let them mix it that way. 

More Painting

The finished product from our shaving cream painting. 

We have gone paint crazy at our house. The girls LOVE to paint. Well, paint and paper can start to add up so I have come up with a new way to paint frugally and it worked wonders. (I am sure it's not NEW but to the girls it is =))  Our Paint consisted of a couple of drops of Tempera paint, add in a squirt of liquid soap for easy clean up, and add in some shaving cream then mix it all up. After adding all this together we had 1/2 a paint container of paint with only actually a little true paint. This kept the girls busy for about 45 mins.

I hung an old shower liner on the fence with twine from the dollar store and clips from the dollar store (or you can buy a new liner at the dollar store as well)

We added rocks to the bottom so it wouldn't fly maybe next time a line and clips on bottom as well

E hard at work

Painting a masterpiece

E decided splatter paint was fun so K followed along. As you can tell it got a little messy.. (good news with dish soap added to the paint  it cleaned right up with a wash rag. It also washed right off the liner and the fence)

E still hard at work

K adding her color mixing skill to it.. She wanted some purple. 

After they got finished painting we sprayed it down with the hose and it cleaned up, I left it out to dry  and then put the liner away for another day of painting. =)

Sidewalk Painting

 Sidewalk chalk is fun but after awhile it gets boring. So you color and then wash it away so what. When you have kids that love to paint like I do (but don't want the mess inside) Sidewalk Paint.. We tried the stuff from Crayola and they loved it but it didn't come off very well. I ran across this recipe on the internet and decided what the heck lets give it a try.  Everyday now they ask to paint the sidewalk, even better they clean up their own mess. The first day we only used a couple drops of food coloring and washed it as soon as they finished playing and it cleaned up nice with water and a broom, the next day we used 4-6 drops of coloring and left it on all day.. Still cleaned up nice.. So now this summer we have a new toy..

The recipe for sidewalk paint is.. 


1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/4 cup of water
6-8 drops of food coloring (or however you want your color to look add more or less)
Mix the cornstarch and water together then add the food coloring. 

For us it took a couple of batches to get all the colors we wanted. I think it was 3 batches to fill a 12 count muffin pan.  ENJOY!

Girls getting ready to paint.

Girls painting for 30+ mins =)

Our finished product

Our finished product

Finally summer break

Today was the first friday of my summer break. For the month of June I am working summer school Mon-Thur and have Friday's off to chill for Monday again. I have met the kiddos I will be working with next school year and so far they are a lot of fun. They seem very young (one is still 4) and full of energy but they are very trusting. Yesterday I got the first true smile from one of them and it made the day so worth it. I came home and realized this is why I do the job that I do. To give these children a chance at having a "normal" education in a "normal" classroom setting, so that when they get older they can go out into the world and be a CEO of some big company or maybe the president of the United States.

So anyways, our dog Bella has either entered the terrible 2 phase or isn't getting the attention she deserves or a little bit of both. This morning the kids and I loaded her up and took her for her first walk at River Legacy. She was a bit crazy at the start but soon settled in to smelling everything around her. We had walked 2 mi. and turned to head back (I think it was already about 90 degrees) when this biker stopped us and said about 100 feet up there were a copperhead on the path.. If you know me you know I have this HUGE fear of snakes, even the grass ones, and the mention of a deadly snake wanted to make me find another way out and let the snake be. However, 1 way in and 1 way out. We had to go by the spot. So we watch everything very closely, considering I had no clue what I copperhead even looked like.  Finally I see people approaching and I ask them if they had seen the snake and they said no nothing.. LIARS!!! So, going on their word, the kids, Bella and I start walking at a faster pace when low and behold there is this SNAKE curled up with it's head sticking up right in the middle of MY path. So I rope Bella in and warn the people coming at us (they had 2 smaller dogs) and get the girls and start to Move back to let the other people go around and then we would take their path.. Wouldn't you know it Bella decided she wanted to show the little dogs whose boss and started acting up.. So I am sure it was very comical to those watching me keep Bella from stepping on the snake and not getting her head out of the collar, getting the girls around the snake, and making sure I don't have my back to it.. lol Finally we are on our way again when we  get to the path (though the woods) that we took to get to the path we were on. K wanted to go back the exact way we took to get there.. I was still a little upset about the snake issue wanted to stay on the path where things didn't quite blend in.. but I said ok we are hot lets go.. No sooner then we started on that path then a longer grass snake crossed in front of us.. Talk about fast moving I got us back on the concrete path and we high tailed it back to the car where another snake (assuming grass it was a dark green or black and skinny) was waiting for us. I gave us all a drink (bella too) and loaded us up to head to the pet store. I had had ENOUGH of the snake thing for the day.

So the rest of the day was spent getting some new dog appropriate chewing toys, groceries and swimming.

Here is a pic of what the snake looked like pretty much identical to this. (no I didn't take one, I didn't have enough time lol) 




Now here are some fun pics of swimming today. 

Sisterly love

K has learned to back float

trying to float together

watch mom I can smile and float

My girls

Cheese

K

E

Funny face time

K's funny face

E's funny face again

E's happy face

Silly girl

can't be outdone 

  

Splashing fun

Trying to not get mommy wet again.. Ya right

Practicing diving

trying to get it right.. at the same time

Raccoon face

K visualizing before her big jump?

haha E's attitude has surfaced. 

K

Bella taking it all in.

ME

Summer time plans

Many times during the summer as parent's we hear "I'm bored."or "What are we doing today? " So, I have compiled a list of things to do this summer. Most are free or cheap and some are more costly.. (like the zoo) not all these things will be done but I am ready for the days that we can not stay in the same house together and must get out. =) If I forgot something or you know of something that is fun please let me know and I will add it to the list. 

Free things to do in Dallas/Ft. Worth

-Visit Pioneer Plaza & see the statues of the longhorns-Dallas

-Visit the mustang statues in Las Colinas 

-Go to the observation Station at DFW watch planes land and take off

-Fountain Place-1445 Ross Ave @Field Street. 

-Home depot for kid's make it take it-1st sat of the month

-Visit the Levitt Pavilion (kid songs wed 10:30 and 7:30)

-Visit Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens

-Visit the Water Gardens

-See the Daily cattle drive in Ft. Worth 11:30 and 4

-Story time at the Public Library

-Trinity River Audubon Center (free on the 3rd thur of the months)

-DMA (free on the 1st tue of the month.)

-There is always the local parks for nature finds

-feed the ducks at pond on Matlock

-Friday at the Farm free admission tractor rides $1. June 3& 17 July 1, 15& 29-grapevine 9-12

-play in the fountains at Uptown village (cedar Hill)

-River legacy living science center-Arlington

Cost a little

-register for 2 Free Bowling games every day AMF lanes (shoe rental not incl.) http://freebowling.amf.com/

-Log Cabin Village -Ft. Worth (Kids $4.00 Adults $4.50)

-Super Model Train@ children's medical center (admission is free/pay for parking)

-Play pools in city of Arlington ($2-$6.50 depending on pool) not sure if you need a pool pass also

http://www.arlingtontx.gov/parks/simple/aquatics_outdoor.html

-Train ride in Trinity Park (by zoo)-Ft. Worth Closed Mondays 11-5 T-F $3.50 and 3.00 CASH 

-Arties Playhouse (plays)-Hurst $5.00 Show for June is Cinderella  July is Little Mermaid by kids

http://www.artisanct.com/

-Putt Putt Golf and Games(go carts, batting cages, games) -1 game adult is $7.50 6-12 $5.50 under 5 free

Cost a little more 

Friday fun Train (runs only on a couple fridays)-Grapevine adults 10.00 kids $8.00

Sea Life Aquarium (OPENS JULY 1st)- Grapevine mills -????

Lego land- Grapevine mills- $19.00 adult $15.00 kids

Ft. Worth Zoo -Adults $12.00 Kids 3-12 $9.00 2-under free (1/2 price wednesdays)

Dallas Zoo -June-Dec adults $12.00 kids 3-12 $9.00 2-under free any other time add $3.00-does not include monorail, carousal, horse rides, camel rides and parking is $7.00 

-Dallas Arboretum - Adult-$12.00, 3-12 $8.00 parking $7.00

HOT HOT HOT

I am really dreading the summer time heat. Yesterday reached 97 degrees and it's only spring. Summer does not officially begin until June 21st but the heat is already here. I prefer the warmer days to cold winter days, but not this hot this early.. My favorite time is in the 80's with no wind. =) perfect days.. Which somehow we seemed to miss. It feels like it went from 70 to 90's over night. The girls love to play outside but with it being so HOT they don't like to go out and instead run yelling though the house.  So, I bought a pool for them. Not anything great but it will work to keep them cool. Next week the play pool by us opens up for summer and they can't wait to go play there with slides and sprinklers and everything else. Here are some pictures of them playing in the pool.