Hold your tongue right!

It takes lots of concentration to stack colors! She's loving these crayons but is doing more stacking than coloring. She'll sit for 10-15 minutes and stack, unstack, and start over.

Keepin Score

We headed to the bowling alley to check on daddy's fundraiser. He helped organize an event for the local Boys and Girls Club, and we were interested to see how she'd like the bowling alley. She did not understand why she couldn't pick up the bowling balls so no bowling today. She did love the music and keeping score. Puppy dog of course came too -- there is always a friend in tow these days.

Valentine Weekend

We headed to visit Boppy, Gigi, and Hannah for a little Valentine weekend getaway. Kirkley had lots of fun jumping on the trampoline, taking everyone on walks so she could practice going up the stairs, playing with beanie babies, and getting doted on by everyone! We even snuck out for a little afternoon Valentine movie without her noticing.

"Hat on!" She loves her a hat!

Class Parties

are soooo yummy!

Date Night with Daddy

Our town does a little Daddy Daughter Date Night each February. It's a big deal here -- like buy your tickets in December, initial five places you won't give them to anyone else, can't buy them for your neighbor big deal. Is Kirkley too young? Of course, but you know we don't miss a moment to make a memory and start a tradition! We had a few friends over for pics beforehand (oh yes, her first picture party before a big dance!) then they were off! She picked quite a day to skip her nap at school but still did a little dancin! And her date was mighty handsome....

Valentines!

I can't say that I heart Valentine's Day -- it's never been a particularly sentimental holiday for me, but I sure do love a holiday with fun crafts!
Always an adventure getting handprints with paint -- I have not splurged on these jumbo washable stamp pads yet! She really does okay with the paint, but it is certainly a two adult activity. Funniest part about these: I prepped them at the end of my Christmas break knowing it would be busy going back to school, we had our trip planned, etc. I had them all set to laminate and thought randomly one night that they said, "Happy Valentine's Day 2008". Alex checked...and they did. That's what I get for prepping a valentine before the end of 2008! :)


What can you do with a dollar tree ice cube mold, pack of crayons, and cupcake tins?

These cute crayons!

They turned out cute! Not terribly practical to do in bulk or as treats for lots of friends -- it took one crayon to make one heart, but they were super easy. I used two cupcake trays so I could cut the cups up in one. Bake broken up crayons on 25o until melted, stir with plastic fork/spoon, then lift the cups out and pour wax immediately into molds. Not sure why it leaves the icky residue in the tray -- maybe because they're dollar tree crayons? Better directions for this here. Didn't take too long or make too much of a mess but for sure an adult activity. Can't wait to give them to Kirkley to color her valentine coloring book! They will require some extra supervision as they're on the small side.


Kirkley got her first valentine of the year from Sadie today. Here are the directions for this cute heart!. Looks darling hanging in the window above her little table!
Comment with your cute crafts!!! It's too cold to go out so I know you're doing something indoors! Need an idea? The Crafy Crow has more than you ever wanted! I love the Galimores' butterflies -- I'm such a sucker for handprints! And I got supplies for these similar to Sadie's heart even though they're really not age appropriate yet and better for next year, but I really want to try them! Might be a disaster -- we'll see!

Playdough to the Rescue

Kirkley had her first little injury last night. We always say she is one tough girl, banging into everything, falling down, etc. usually without one tear. But last night she pulled her little bench down and it hit smack on her big toe -- major tears! It took a while to get her calmed down and the bleeding to stop. We're pretty sure she'll be big toenail-less soon.

She's been wimpy all morning so we stayed home from church to let her rest. After watching as much Elmo Pets as we could handle, we got another sit-down activity going: homemade playdough. She's played with it at school and at Grammy's, but we don't have any yet. We loved the apple-cinnamon playdough that we made! This is a great recipe for beginners as it doesn't matter much if it's eaten.
No-Cook Apple-Cinnamon Playdough
*Makes 3 cups -- I would cut this in half if making again

1 c salt
2 c all-purpose flour
1 T cinnamon
1 c apple cider (we used apple juice with about 1/4 c of it being water)

• Whisk salt, flour, and cinnamon together.
• Pour in apple cider/juice and stir with a spatula.
• Play!

More Playdough recipes here.

She got feeling better as the morning went on! Note the "hat" -- a popcorn bucket from yesterday's basketball game, her "dammies" -- still working on the j sound, and her red socks that keep the injury staining to a minimum. The stroller has been through the ringer as it's often "Kirkee turn" to ride in it.