Snow Paint And Gingerbread Houses

Every year, when I was little, my mom would throw a snow party for the first snowfall of the year. And while I enjoyed the snow themed crafts, nothing could make me excited about the snow. We don't have snow here and for that I am thankful (although I think my kids feel differently) but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy snow themed crafts. 

My mom shared this link with me so we decided to make snow paint.

http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/11/shivery-snow-paint-recipe.html?m=1

I was a little confused about the directions. I wasn't sure about putting shaving cream in the freezer, it just felt like it was going to explode to me, so we only put them in for a little while. I'm not sure if that part is absolutely necessary or if it just makes it cold. Later we added room temperature glue and it didn't seem to effect anything. 

Aravis makes a plan

Xury has no idea what snow is so she thought we were making cupcakes.

We covered cotton balls in "snow" to make snowmen.

Aravis's finished project. It dried puffy and stiff, held really well and all snowmen have remained upright.

I added some ripped up cotton balls and made a modable mixture. Xury, who was still making cupcakes, had fun with the shaving cream.

She washed her hands frequently, throughout the project.

And did the dishes when we were done.

We also made graham cracker "gingerbread" houses. We haven't made these in a few years but since Xury is getting older I didn't want her to miss out on this tradition. 

She loved it.

Although there was far more nibbling than decorating. She couldn't understand why we would want to leave the candy on the house when we had just dipped it in the yummy icing. 

Aravis's awesome candy covered house

Dominick approached his house very architecturally. His had trusses and reinforced walls.

Complete with a chimney and satellite dish.

There was a lot of candy consumed, we had a lot of fun and they turned out great! We'll see if they make it to Christmas before being eaten.

Caterpillars and Butterflies

I stopped at Home Depot the other day to get flowers for the front yard and noticed they had milkweed. While I was contemplating buying it, I noticed a big fat caterpillar on one of the plants. That settled it. We bought the milkweed. We examined the plant and found one more teeny caterpillar which worked out perfectly. There would be just enough milkweed to supply those two with food. The big caterpillar pupated right away but after a few days, we discovered a second little caterpillar. They're very hard to see when they're little but after how thoroughly we had inspected this plant we were still surprised to find him. They eat a lot. So, by the time these two guys were big there were no leaves left. 

I had to go out and buy another milkweed plant to feed some very hungry caterpillars before they started wandering around the house looking for food. The leaf that the chrysalis was attached to withered so I took the leaf off and hung him on a curtain with a pin. Last night his chrysalis became clear, meaning he would be coming this morning. Not wanting to wake up to a butterfly flying around my bedroom I found a jar, attached some screen to the top and pinned him to it. 

This morning we woke up to this...

And we were just in time to catch this....

This guy will probably much a lot today and be ready to pupate tomorrow.

It's been fun having caterpillars and butterflies around again and watching all their interesting habits. It had been awhile. 

Nature, Science and Artistic Expression

We've been busily preparing for the holidays the past few days, cleaning, shopping and baking.

But, there have also been a lot of non-holiday related things we've been up to. A little while after moving here, we discovered a large, nature preserve in our neighborhood. Having lived in the city for almost 10 years, nature within walking distance is new and exciting for us. The kids have explored it a few times but I never had so we decided to take a walk in the woods. 

The stillness and flocks of vultures inhabiting the treetops made it a little eery. (In a good way) 

There were lots of trails to follow. The kids have seen snakes, turtles and a fox and I'm sure there are raccoons, rabbits and other wildlife as well. I'll admit, I'm a little intimidated by the idea of encountering an alligator or dangerous snake which is not something we're used to worrying about but there's probably not really much chance of that. I hope.

There are not many trees suitable for Xury to climb so she loved climbing all over this fallen tree. We didn't have time for more than a short walk but it was fun and I'm sure the first of many.

Aravis has  loved playing with the snap circuits lately.

After building a few different projects, she started doing some of her own experiments using different things to complete the circuit like water, a potato and a carrot. Those all worked but her fingers didn't, which is probably for the better. 

This circuit made an alarm sound. She tried different temperatures of water, coke and ice to see if they changed the speed of the alarm. The ice water sped it up.......or slowed it down, I don't remember now. The closer the connectors were to each other the faster the alarm went. 

Then, since she had the potatoes out......

 

we played Mr. Potato head. 

Aravis is intrigued with the voltage tester and likes testing and seeing which of our outlets work. She and Dominick began experimented with it and discovered that it detects static electricity.

She rubbed this balloon in her head, put the voltage tester in her hair and, sure enough, it beeped and turned red

It detected an electric current. It was a pretty exciting find. 

And then, there was this photo shoot

The adorable mad hatter 

Tanner dressed her up and did her make-up but the poses are all Aravis. I am in love with these. 

And now, there are presents to wrap, cookies to bake and claymation movies to watch. Its time to get back to the busyness of the season! Hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday!

The Beach And Other Things

Aravis and I are snuggled up on blankets and pillows on the patio watching The Indian In The Cupboard on our $12 garage sale TV/VCR combo. 

It's a nice, relaxing end to the day. Our house is great, but by far, it's greatest feature is the patio. I love having the outdoor living space. With the weather cooler, we've been able to open the doors that open onto the patio and it's been great to enjoy the fresh air. 

Earlier today we hit the beach so Dominick could try out his new surfboard.

He sold a pair of shoes and used the money to buy a used surfboard.  He was dying to practice but unfortunately, the wind and waves were too rough so he didn't get a chance today. There were two surfers surfing not far from us and he got a chance to watch them for awhile. 

And even though he didn't get the chance to try today, I have no doubt he'll learn. With a little help from YouTube, he's mastered the skim board, the backflip and the unicycle and I'm sure, surfing will be no different. I have yet to see him tackle something and not succeed.

 It was chilly and windy but it was still great to be at the beach, something we don't do nearly enough. 

While looking for sea shells we found a dead jelly fish so we had fun examining him for a while

Until Aravis decided to see if she could pop him. 

She could. There was an audible pop and then he deflated. It was kinda cool. 

At home, we've been puzzling,

googling, 

and K'NEXing.

Aravis built a cage for her cat

Or for a little sister who's pretending to be a cat

She's working on one for the dog.

Dominick's been playing with the gears, using different size gear combinations to achieve faster and slower motor speeds.

Aravis has rediscovered Super Mario Bros. and Xury is discovering Thomas the Tank Engine. Dominick and Aravis and I are reading through A Series Of Unfortunate Events again since Aravis was too young to remember reading them the last time. And as Xury lays on my lap falling asleep while I read, I wonder how many times I'll read through this series or set up the Thomas track or soothe a frustrated child over a difficult video game again before this journey is over.  I'm sure when all is said and done, the answer will be, not nearly enough.