Edible "stained" glass

 Another idea I saw online - edible stained glass!  So fun!  The girls arranged jolly ranchers on cookie sheets and then we stuck them in the oven to melt them.

 

Finished "design" She had hers raised in a few sections.

Keeley made a couple flowers and some other shapes.

 Mom misread the instructions on cooking time so we ended up with blobs instead of their original designs.  Fortunately, they seemed fine with it once I let them swirl designs in the hot candy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More July Pictures

 Some more picutres of how we spent our July...

Testing boundaries...

Random illness that resulted in valium, an MRI and  10 days of antibiotics. 

Testing more boundaries...

Blowing bubbles in colored water on the light table.

    

 

Watching swim lessons.  All set with frozen drink, puzzle book, and umbrella.

Donuts!  At the big kid table.

And getting into dress up drawers.  He came to me and said , "Cheeeeese"

   

Fashion Critic

Kayden only likes it when I wear dresses and heels (which is next to never).  She'll come in the closet while I get ready for church and tell me why I should wear a different dress or shoes than the ones I'm wearing.  One day she told me I needed to wear different shoes with my shorts because she didn't like my flip flops.  That particular day, she wanted me to wear black stiletto heels.  Today may take the cake though:

I worked out this morning and then we went to Kayden's swim lessons (at an outdoor pool). By the time I got Killian down for his afternoon nap, I just figured I'd stay in my work out clothes and shower again after Kelly got home. I walked into the living room and had Kayden say, "Mom, would you please change into normal clothes? I don't like those clothes." I sighed and decided that I would feel better at dance class in "normal" clothes so I went to change. I came back into the living room and she says, "Mom, can you please take your hair out of a pony tail. I like it straight."

Seriously, this kid is all kinds of critical. And she's 4! And I don't say anything when she leaves the house in a Minnie Mouse costume (complete with ears)....

Handicap Spaces

Yesterday I took the kids to the library because we needed to be out of the house and I had a huge box of books to donate.  In my hurry to embark on this mission, I didn't think through the fact that I had a huge box of books to carry and three kids.  I decided to park right next to the door, run in with the box and then come back to the car and move it.  I did just that, well, I didn't actually run in with the box but I did run back to the car.  When I got in the car and was moving it to a non-handicap parking space the girls asked why.

Me: "Because that was a handicap space so we have to move"
Kayden: "Because we don't have any handicap people in our car"
Keeley: "But we will soon."
Me: "We will soon?"
Keeley: "Yes, because you are getting pretty old."

Good times.

Busy afternoon.....

 This afternoon we made crayon shaving art.  I somehow forgot to take pictures of the finished products. We made them on construction paper and then between wax paper.  The wax paper turned out much cuter and we gave them to Oma as a "feel better" present after her surgery.

Trying to use the pencil sharpener to make the shavings.

Trying a cheese grater next...

Kayden's construction paper picture.

Keeley drawing a picture to cover in crayon shavings.  She was not happy with the finished product.

The crayon work was during nap time.  After Killian woke up, I gave him a little gel bag to play with while I did some dinner prep.

He was so excited!    

Squishing it on the floor.  It quickly got popped on the cabinets but he had fun while it lasted!

 This last picture I loved because I have a similar one of Keeley when she was a baby...Here she is taking a bunch of words from the Word Wall.  The other is just post-it notes when she was 17 months old. 

 

Climber

Killian woke up from a nap and I put him down in the living room while I got his snack ready.  The girls were watching the end of Franklin (Killian doesn't watch tv so it is a "nap treat" for the girls!).  I stepped into the kitchen and heard "AAH" that is his announcing noise when he is doing something dangerous/wrong/sneaky/mischievous...

I peaked over the counter and saw this.

I later caught him trying to use the middle drawer to make it work.  He figured out that was too high.  He certainly keeps me on my toes.

Colored Vinegar and Baking Soda

 After Killian went down for a nap today the girls and I set about having some fun with baking soda and colored vinegar. I was hoping for 15-20 minutes of fun but they played for almost an hour and then spent another 30 minutes playing in the tub to clean up.

Enjoying the bubbles.

 

 

Keeley was enjoying splattering her designs more.

  

It quickly turned to putting vinegar on the hands where the baking soda was to see how it bubbled and how it felt there.

Pure joy when it bubbled really big!

   

Killian

Some of my favorites right now...

* When he dances, he turns in circles.
* He still turns his hands upward and shrugs his shoulders a bit when he can't express what he wants to (which is a lot of the time!!)
* We are slowly, slowly weaning.  When I was talking to him about it one time and said that we wouldn't have milk now, he signed for milk and I shook my head and said "No more milk, silly" and he gave the biggest, hardest laugh and threw his head back.  He popped up and signed for it again and continued to giggle heartily when I responded.
* Today he said, "MAMA" and gave me a big hug right after!!

Breakfast Cookies

 Killian loves to participate in all my cooking. He is on my hip about 70% of the time and if I happen to be working in the kitchen while he is is there, he will want a spoon or measuring cup or spatula to "work" with. He has a cabinet with kitchen supplies and recently enjoyed some pretend cooking with my mom while the girls and I swam.  This morning I decided to let him actually help me bake some breakfast cookies.  He was so excited. I am looking forward to more baking opportunities with him!

Exploring the oats and bananas.

Mashing

 

Examining the batter.  Sorry for the flash!

And, back to his favorites, the measuring cups and spoons!

Cooking buddy

Perhaps because he wants to be held all the time and is, therefore, very involved in my cooking, Killian also likes to help.  I was making a vegan spinach alfredo sauce that he had to have :-)

He LOVED it.  Too funny.

Cooking class

 Our grocery store had some cooking classes this summer that worked out with our schedule.  I signed the girls up for one and had Oma watch brother.  Keeley had been to the cooking school one other time for a birthday party.  As we drove up, Keeley said, "You can just drop us off.  I know where to go."  Nice try, sister.  You are way too young for that!  I had to sneak in to take pictures so I would not step on the toes of my very independent 5 year old too much.

 

When we made homemade pizzas the next night, Brother needed to get in on some of the cooking action!  Pulled a chair to the island to make sure he was not left out.