Just a blog to share all the creative things we do!
Happy Easter Friends!
We have enjoyed several low key Easter outings this weekend. One was a family tradition with a few of our church friends and their friends, and the other was an egg hunt(for animal feed) at my mom’s new, local petting farm.
Both events were very enjoyable. Pictures of all to come! Enjoy your day, however you wish to celebrate.
We recently took a ski trip to Taos with a few friends. We had an enjoyable first ski experience as a family. John and I have both been skiing and snowboarding before(over 12 years ago for myself) and we did not know how the kiddos would handle the demands of learning such a difficult sport. We enrolled them in an amazing ski school and we were amazed to hear they both made it through their first day wonderfully. Ethan was even learning to use the lifts by the end and on his second day he was skiing some pretty impressive spots on the mountain!! We were really shocked!
I chose to stay at the house during the second day with the littles and our friend. We enjoyed taking nature walks, playing at Twirl(an amazing little toy store) and browsing the little shops.
We love ending our trip at the river. Nobody wanted to leave this little spot, but leave we had too.
What a dreamy vacation we had. Oh, how I long to go back to that quiet place again soon. Very soon…
We have had our fair share of snow around here! We were thankful to be snowed in for two whole days with nothing to do but: Play games, make snow ice cream, build forts, watch movies, read books, make cloud dough(flour and oil), play birthday party, set up a tinker lab, play in the snow, and so much more. Our whole town was shut down and that little break from the hustle and bustle of our new routine, was just what we all needed. Now for spring to spring!
“Again!”
This fort actually fit our whole family with plenty of room to spare. Each kiddo had their own room!
Just a little snow!
Oh snow day, you will forever be in our hearts. Thank you for giving us two amazing days at home. Until next time…
The children decided to hang art up at our local art museum’s annual artist hanging. Anyone is welcome and encouraged to show off their art skills. I was surprised when Ethan chose to make a still life picture instead of a battle scene or monsters or such. We looked up several styles and then he set to work. I quite like the final result.
I set up this shaker maker station for the children to enjoy a while back. The shakers turned out perfect!
Such a simple project really.
I feel like the children get to experience a lot of good things at school, so I have not really been doing too much at home… oops! Most days by the time we get home we just veg and eat dinner! But I am loving the simple moments of good play and quiet moments with books and art that are starting to find its way back into our days once we are home. Whew, what a whirlwind it has been getting the school going! I feel like we have finally found a new rhythm to go by.
We have been able to sneak some really simple yet thought provoking play into our days. REALLY simple! Things I use to do with my first babe and have totally forgotten about!
Ice Play:
Car Wash:
Playdough Party:
That’s it! Super simple, yet really well received. I love setting up simple activities for the kids to explore.
Has it really been since November since I last posted? Wow… Sorry! We were finally able to open our preschool December 4th, so things may have been a bit busy around here! Rest assure though we have been doing great things over here and I will be hard at work this weekend posting a bunch of fun and creative things you can do with you children.
The Christmas season felt a bit strange for me this year. With the new school and all, I felt we only settled into tradition and activities the week before. Even still, we were able to slow down and enjoy ourselves and as a bonus, we had a lovely two week break! Christmas turned out to be wonderful with just the right amount of gifts and cookies! My Grandmother was able to spend a whole week with us, which was nice.
This is such a goofy photo of me, but I absolutely love the expressions on the kids faces!!
We love going to the pumpkin farm. Our family always has such a wonderful time.
Whew, time has once again gotten away from me! We have been busy creating, learning and enjoying fall.
I recently ran my first half marathon! I am proud to have finally pushed myself past the three mile rut. Some spots were tough, but I finished without walking and I am ready to run another one!
The race was in Albuquerque, NM. While there we took the kids to Tinker Town. All of the children enjoyed the wooden figures. Ethan was the most excited. He kept saying “Wow!” It brought us such joy to see him so genuinely happy!
We have enjoyed learning about fall and creating Halloween crafts.
We made a family of ghosts for our front door out of tissue paper.
We made pumpkin play dough. We just added allspice and a drop of food coloring to our normal cream of tartar play dough recipe.
I set up a Halloween card making station. Madeline created cards for her friends for over an hour!
We got our skeleton puzzle out and discussed what it would be like if we did not have bones. This was Ethan’s work when he was little and it was neat to see Madeline trying to figure it out!
We have been hammering wooden pegs into pumpkins.
We made a beautiful leaf sun catcher for our window. Idea courtesy of The Artful Parent blog.
We created “Spooky, kooky, junky pumpkins!” The children had a blast making these. Especially Ethan who even created a detailed story to go with his pumpkin.
Whew, and finally we went to our church’s trunk or treat last night. John and I were nerds. Max was to be a cute little baby nerd, but he kept saying, “No, Max bird.” He would say, “Bird, flies.” So I gathered items for him to become a “cardinal.” I love that as he is beginning to talk a bit more he can express his creativity a bit more! Madeline decided last minute that she wanted to be a candy fairy. So we added a sucker and ribbon to a dowel rod. Super simple! Ethan is a ninja.
Whew! We have been super busy getting our new preschool and children’s studio remodeled and ready for show. I am so excited that it is now finished on the inside, we are just lacking in the play yard area. That will be ready soon. I plan to get back to this space soon.
Ethan celebrated his ninth birthday on the 14th! What a sweet boy he is, so kind and good with the littles. He had a glow in the dark party with his friends that ended with a sleepover. The kids played with glow sticks in the yard for hours. We had different games to play and they invented some on their own.
My parents bought him a pogo stick that has been such a great gift. He jumps daily and has went from not being able to jump even one jump to 986 jumps! He hopes to break the world record!
Oh, I love this boy!
The crayon box 
