Melted Crayon Art

The girls and I normally spend Fridays with my dad - we call it Poppa Day.  Miss A loves getting to spend this time with him and looks forward to Fridays all week long.... and I love having a little help with A and N, plus I love spending time with my dad.  Last Friday, we did a backyard art project during Poppa Day.  We made a melted crayon canvas... I am not sure who ended up having more fun - Miss A or me.  ha!

It was easy to do didn't cost much at all.  (I also got to play with my new toy, so I had some fun taking pics of everything. If you have any great DSLR tutorials, please pass them along!)

All you do is hot glue Crayola crayons along the top of an art canvas and then let the heat from the sun work some magic.  I propped the canvas up using a flower pot and made sure to cover the picnic table with newspaper. 

It took about 45 minutes, in the heat of the day, before anything started to happen.  We had actually just stepped outside to check on it when the first crayon melted down the canvas.  And once the crayons started melting, it only took about 45 minutes until we thought it was done. 

We carefully moved it to the shade to dry...

I thought the little "rivers" of brightly colored melted wax looked really neat, so I snapped away...

Now, all I need to do is made room for it on the gallery wall in the game room.

Mini corn dogs

Feeding a toddler can be a difficult thing.  (Is a 3 year old still considered a toddler?  For the sake of this post, lets go with yes.)

I know that Miss A would eat macaroni and cheese for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I would let her..... and some days, she comes pretty close to that.  I now buy the Kraft veggie macaroni, so at least she gets some veggies that way.  But other than mac and cheese, I can always count on cottage cheese, fruit and some veggies to make their way into her tummy.  Meat has now become the kicker.  Other than CFA nuggets and chicken fajita meat, she is not a huge fan, so I am trying to come up with creative things for her dinners. 

Last night I made her mini "corn dogs" and she gobbled them right up. I used canned biscuits and mini turkey sausages and baked according to the biscuit directions.  It made about 20, so I have plenty for the next couple of days.  This would even be a fast thing for a breakfast on the go. 

What are some things your toddler loves to eat?  Give me some new ideas!

Hey, Stevie - Vol 2

It has been a while since I did a "Hey, Stevie" post.  Miss A still is in LOVE with Steve and he tolerates her affection about 90% of the time.  And when he get annoyed with her, well.... most of the time she probably had it coming.  :)

 A Bears headband and bracelets as earrings.  Stylish.

 "Stevie, are you cold?"

 I did not buy this shirt....  But, I am ok with her wearing it because she still knows to cheer for the correct team.  Go Mavs!  Go Dirk!

 Froggy panties.

 Steve likes to visit the farm.

 And watch Bob and Larry DVD's.

 Sunglasses are always a popular accessory.

 "Hey Stevie, want to check your email?"

He looks like he is wearing a bowtie.... it is a headband.

"Hey Stevie, look... it lights up!" 

Grass Worm

Over the weekend we went to a Living Green Expo.... I am all for recycling my wine bottles and Land's End catalogs, but mainly we went to see the Bubble Lady. This lady was incredible - I am not sure who loved it more - Miss A or us. And in case you were wondering, Joy dish soap is the best for making homemade bubbles.

After the bubble lady, we checked out some of the exhibits. They had some really cute children's booths and Miss A made some fun little crafts. My favorite was a grass seed worm made out of panty hose and rubber bands.

We go out and water the worm every afternoon and she can't wait for it to start growing.

I think this is such a fun idea, I could see making these every spring or even making them as a fun birthday party project.

Mickey color wheel

We are in the middle of working of Miss A's big girl room, therefore we are making lots and lots of trips to Home Depot. Each and every time we go, Miss A grabs a handful of 'Mickey colors.' Disney has a line of Behr paint at Home Depot and some of the color chips have brightly colored Mickey faces on them. They are pretty cute and they definitely get me to stop and look at the Disney paint whereas I would normally completely bypass these colors and head directly to the Martha Stewart colors.


I decided to make some cute color flash cards out of these chips, versus having them scattered all over the house. Miss A knows almost all of her colors, but a little extra practice never hurt anyone.

I wrote the color of Mickey's face on the back of the color chip using that color Sharpie.

And then punched a hole in the corner and placed all of them on a metal ring.

Now, Miss A can play with her Mickey colors while working on her colors!

Nap Time, Craft Time

If you don't have kiddos in carseats, then you might as well quit reading now. But, if you live in a hot climate and have a car seat in your car then you have this problem - HOT metal and plastic carseat parts that can burn bare legs. Unless you have the gadget that can remotely start your car, then it is impossible to cool down the car prior to putting the kid in the carseat. So, I whipped up this neat little sun shade to solve this problem.

Exhibit 1:

Normal carseat exposed to the blazing heat

Exhibit 2:

Carseat covered up with a sun shade

Now, doesn't that look like a nifty little gizmo?

All of the metal and plastic parts are safely covered.

I lined the back of my sun shade in brown fabric, so it would match the pink and brown carseat.

I love that I can just roll this up, keep it in the backseat and always have it on hand.

Want one? $10 + shipping. Shoot me an email - mrspreppy@gmail.com

Easter 2011

Did you have a nice Easter weekend? We did. We had Easter festivities for almost an entire week and Miss A loved all of the egg hunts.


Do you have an Easter tree? Growing up we always had one, so I have continued the tradition. This year Miss A was old enough to help decorate.... she took her job very seriously.
We had a church Easter Egg Hunt and the Easter Bunny was walking around, but Miss A was not too sure of him. She much preferred him when he was like this.

There was an egg hunt and an Easter party at her school.

We took her to see the Easter Bunny, but while we were waiting in line she passed the time by riding the elevator up and down (and up and down and up and down) with her Poppa.

We dyed eggs.

Went to another egg hunt.

And then finally Easter Sunday! Miss A was refusing to smile, so this was the best family shot we were able to get.

A Mother's Prayer for Her Child

Nada. That is what I have for you right now. So, instead of posting something stupid, I am going to post Tina Fey's prayer for her daughter. Even if you dont have children you will find this amusing.

"A Mother's Prayer for Her Child" by Tina Fey

“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half and stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, for childhood is short – a Tiger Flower Blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long, and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers and the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a bitch in front of Hollister, give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, for I will not have that shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”
-Tina Fey

Birthday Recap - Part 2

Here are some of the detail shots from Miss A's birthday party. I was so busy in the weeks leading up to her party. I designed her invitations, made the name banner, sewed the 2 table runners, designed and printed the labels for the sandwiches and water bottles, plus a zillion other things.

We had 2 main tables set up with food and beverages. Pigs in a blanket, PB&J, chips, pretzels, haystacks, cupcakes, water and juice.

I ordered the cupcakes from Target and added the plastic animals as toppers.

The day before her party, my dad and I took her to a local field that was full of bluebonnets. She wore a "Happy Birthday To Me" shirt and held up a bright pink #2. I framed those pictures and used them as decor on the main tables at the party.

The first time Miss A saw these water bottles she said "momma, thirsty tractor." Funny girl.

We had PB&J sandwiches and I printed floral labels to use on the bags.

I love how her name banner turned out.

Inside this crate were all of the party favors.

All of the tables had jars filled with flowers, toy farm animals, a cow puzzle and antibacterial hand gel.