Free is Good!

Most of the museums around here have a free day and we take advantage of them all. Today it was the history and art museums. We usually try to go every few months but now that the kids are older they don't hold the appeal they once did. There has never been a time that they didn't have a great time and weren't happy that we went......which is why I don't feel guilty for enticing them to go by suggesting that they invite a few friends. Today, we were especially glad we went when we discovered that the art museum was hosting a special children's opera. How fun! I had never seen an opera performed before. This was Little Red Riding Hood and the kids, even the older ones loved it. Aravis and her friend were front and center, just a few feet away from the performers and Dominick just happened to be sitting close enough to the accompanist and the grand piano that he could have touched it. He didn't.

  The Big, Bad Wolf

 Little Red Riding Hood

At the history museum they were making kites. When they were finished, they went outside and flew them.

Fairy Houses

While grocery shopping at Target, I found a set of fairy shrinky dinks on sale. I thought they looked cute and like something my eight year old would have fun with so I threw them in the cart. She loved them and brought them with her that night to my La Leche League meeting to color. The next evening the boys went out together which left just us girls home so we decided to bake the shrinky dinks. Tanner and Aravis colored the remaining fairies, flowers and assortment of other fairyish things and we put them in the oven. We hadn't done shrinky dinks in a long time and I'm not sure if Aravis had ever done them so it was still pretty cool to open the oven and find them transformed to miniature versions of themselves. 

 All the cute little fairies and fairy things inspired the girls to want to make fairy houses. So the next day, Tanner and Dominick biked to the shoe store around the corner which has promised to meet their every shoe box need and procured two shoe boxes. After several days spent at the dining room table watching practically all 3 seasons of  H2O on Netflix and crafting all kinds of miniature amenities, this is what they came up with. I must say, that even as their mother, who thinks every thing they do is amazing, I was pretty blown away with these.

Tanner's Fairy House

bedroom
she cut out dresses from a magazine and hung them in the closet

living room

bath

everything in the bathroom can really hold water

kitchen 

 the table is made from the bottom of a soda can and toothpicks and 

the bottles on the counter are the tops from glitter glue tubes

minimalist bedroom

and the outside is neatly camouflaged

Aravis's Fairy House

the view from the outside

bunkbeds

the bathroom

the living room

the coffee table is made from the top of a soda bottle and some cork board

the kitchen

Dominick contributed the refrigerator

And while we're on the subject of creating with boxes.....

My in-laws recently moved and my kids begged for some of their larger boxes. Dominick turned his into a house, Aravis made a rocket ship and then later turned it into a car and Tanner made a limo. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of Dominick and Aravis's before they were damaged and laid to rest in the recycling bin but I did get a picture of Tanner's.

She even made a stick shift.

I'm always on the lookout for interesting things to see, do, experience, learn or create.  I saw this idea for a sensory tub at  Still Parenting and thought they looked like fun but figured my kids were a little too old for it. Still, I have a habit of collecting pretty things and I couldn't help thinking this would be the perfect use for them.  I asked my 8 year old what she thought and she said it sounded fun. So I bought a bag of rice and a cheap plastic tub and rounded up my treasures from the various places they've been stored over the years. Aravis and her friend helped add some food coloring to the rice and then we mixed in rocks, shells, glass beads, colorful beans and a few plastic toys. She and her friend had lots of fun sifting through the rice to find buried treasure. 

Aravis loves digging through it. Her friends have loved it. Kids who are here playing at the house have loved it. Tanner and I have noticed that its very addicting once you begin to run your fingers through it. And the baby loves to kick and wiggle her toes in it.

I brought out a tub of soapy water and Aravis washed all of the treasures she dug out. 

Once washed, we sorted them and  placed them on a towel to dry.

 Then, I was instructed to put my treasure in a plastic bag......

and bring it to the bank lady who exchanged my treasure for a million dollars.

 

I took my million dollars to the toy store and bought lots of toys for my little girl who was waiting at home. Then, we put everything back so we can do it again sometime.

Sick Day

I've not been feeling well today. I wasn't feeling great yesterday but ignored it and went on with my day. By 8:00 I had to admit defeat and was in bed by 8:30. So I've declared today a sick day and have been trying to rest and take it easy (as much as is possible with 3 kids and a 7 month old) My kids, however, feeling just fine, have been quite busy.While I've been laying on the couch, nursing the baby, reading and watching tv this is what they've been doing.

Tanner spent the day working on building a rabbit hutch for a potential rabbit with scraps of wood she found in the garage.  Last week she was desperate for a pet pig. And while a pig might be fun someday.......maybe? A rabbit is a little more realistic.

Dominick has been scouring youtube for ideas on how to make a go-cart. He's been drawing up plans for a little while now and purchased this PVC pipe yesterday which he turned into this frame today.

 

  I was feeling sickly and a little overwhelmed by chores so this cleaning lady paid a visit. She knocked down cobwebs, cleaned the windows and washed the walls. What a very sweet helper. I cleaned up her cart

Aravis and her friend found this outside. Dominick caught it and put it in the butterfly house. It hasn't moved very much so we think it may be dead or dying. Just last week, Aravis and I looked up the differences between a moth and a butterfly so we put our knowledge to good use. It was a little difficult to identify because it has mostly moth characteristics but, at the time, its wings were up on its back like a butterfly.  After a little research we discovered it is indeed a moth, a Polyphemus moth. The eyespots on its wings make it look like an owl to predators. You can't really tell in the picture, but the 4 dots in the center are actually clear and you can see right through them. Interestingly, the Polyphemus caterpillar looks exactly like one we picked up in NY a few summers ago. At the time, we thought it was a Luna Moth caterpillar which is also part of the Saturniid family, but now I'm not so sure. Unfortunately he went into hibernation and never woke up. Possibly a 2 day car trip and drastic climate change might not be ideal conditions for hibernation. At any rate, if it is sad but true that this guy is taking his final rest inside our butterfly house, he'll make a beautiful addition to our collection of cool things.