Trip down memory lane

     Recently, Lindsay had an assignment in which she created a scrapbook about herself. In making the book, we looked through many old photos. It was so much fun to look back at our girls when they were little. I have some more that I hope to share later, but here is a few that I had captured.

Throw back to 1992! Two young kids in love and ready to go on a camping adventure.

Then came Sarah. Our little peach fuzz hair cutie.

Sarah in first grade dressed up like Anastasia.

The girls sometimes couldn't get enough time together and slept in Sarah's twin bed. I LOVE this photo so much!

Lindsay and Grandma C (John's Mom).

This is me literally in labor and walking the halls with John's Dad and step Mom. Clearly this was early labor as I was able to stop and pose with a smile.

Lindsay and Nanny (my Mom) ringing in New Year 2000. We had a big family party that year and Miss Lindsay didn't miss out on a minute.

Lindsay and Sarah at the zoo.

Sarah and Lindsay at my graduation from Fresno State. Courtney was there, just still baking, as I was 7 months pregnant with her.

Look at these cuties! These were our super busy parenting days with a toddler, preschooler, and elementary age girls.

Halloween- Lindsay loved Cinderella so much and Courtney as a bee. When Lindsay saw this photo recently, she declared, "Courtney was stealing all my princess thunder with her bee cuteness!"

Lindsay on the first day of Kindergarten and Courtney for preschool. Hard to believe that JT is nearing this milestone.

One of our first family photos when we were a family of 5. Don't be too jealous of my crushed velvet shirt-  they were in style then. At least I think they were- ha ha!

Hopefully more to come in the coming weeks.

Fork Tulip Blooms

     We have been enjoying seeing all of the trees blossom and the flowers blooming everywhere lately. No better time than now to create some blooms for art! I found a great project on Pinterest that I couldn't wait to do with the kids.

 Needed supplies- paint of choice for blooms, forks, and construction paper. I love how I captured peeking in to see what I was taking a photo of.

 JT and Finn are ready to create some tulips.

 Focused on making flowers.

 Finn liked to have his flowers in rows.

 JT's famous tongue action as he worked.

Ella and Mason loved dipping their forks.

They did a great job making their tulips.

 After the flowers were made, I used a q-tip and let the boys paint stems and grass. I helped Mason and Ella a bit with this part.

 Tulips in Bloom!

 Ella's tulips

 Mason's garden of blooms

Finn's organized garden

JT's  slanted blossoms

Sidewalk Paint

     With wonderful, warm, sunny days in full bloom, outside time has increased dramatically. I found an idea to try for the kids that turned out to be a huge success.

 What can you create with corn starch, water, and food coloring?

 Mix equal parts of corn starch and water. I used a cup of each for my batch.Mix well.

 I poured the mixture into a muffin tin- I only had enough for 9 this time.

 Then use the food coloring to make whatever colors you desire. I was so excited with how beautiful the colors turned out. I used some of the mixture suggestions on the back of the box for some colors that weren't primary.

 We headed out with the foam brushes and plenty of clean cement on the patio.

 Instant success!

 As the mixture dried, the colors became more vibrant.

 Since the kids are young, much of the designs were random lines, circles, and mixing of colors. 

 JT focused on painting.

 Mason was happy to paint all around his body.

The kids absolutly loved this activity and we will be making some more sidewalk paint again very soon!

Mixed among the drawings, we managed to write "JT". I know, it's hard to see. The "J" is the partially wet red with the "t" jammed right next to it.

Shaving Cream Eggs

     In looking for some unusual and fun things for Easter, I came upon a new technique to dye eggs. It used shaving cream and food coloring. I thought it sounded like some messy fun, so we decided to give it a try.

 The instructions called for a tie-dye effect, so we dropped a few colors in each bucket and then folded them in to create a swirl of the cream and colors.

 After that, all we had to do was roll or place the shaving cream on the eggs and let it sit for a while. Courtney used a spoon at first trying to keep clean, while JT jumped hands first.

 Courtney quickly realized that she would have to get dirty and used her hands.

 JT of course LOVED playing with the shaving cream and colors that he made while mixing it together.

 I didn't mind getting messy, but tried to spoon some of the different swirls on one eggs.

 Lindsay and Sarah creating the perfect color combination on their eggs.

 JT was more about playing in the shaving cream than coloring the eggs.

 As his hands became green, apparently a monster spawned and he was roaring in his scary Monster voice.

 He was able to calm his inner monster for a moment for a sweet photo with his Mommy.

 You can see the egg impression on Lindsay's hands. 

 Peeking through her messy fingers.

The eggs had to sit for a while and absorb the colors, then we just gently wiped the shaving cream off to reveal the designs.

It wasn't the most vibrant result that we had hoped for. Some were better than others, but it varied from light coloring, speckled colors, or swirls of the colors. I think it was more about the fun activity rather than the result. We had a great time regardless.