Books, Playdough & Origami

Gosh I feel like I haven't posted in forever!  How have you been?  Did you have a nice holiday?  I'll post about our Christmas and New Years Eve fun soon :)  

Chaycers has a new book series that he loves!  It's called Kingdom of Wrenly.  He just finished his 4th book and is patiently awaiting Amazon to deliver the 5th one tomorrow.  He enjoys reading during our 'reading time', but my fav is when I find him reading all on his own.  And sometimes he chooses the funniest reading positions.  Just check out the pics below.  I was cracking up while I watched him, he was so squirmy lol!  

Hey, I don't care how he reads!  I'm just happy he loves it.

Chris's early Christmas present!  He was soooo excited about it.  He loves to grill and smoke and has been wanting one of these for years.  I foresee lots of yummy food being cooked on this thing!

I taught Chaycers how to play double solitaire the other day.  I love this game!  

Vann asked if we could make homemade playdough one day so of course I said sure thing!  It's one of my fav activities because the kids not only get to mix it up, but also play with it for quite some time.  It usually keeps them busy for over an hour.  And clean up is a breeze as the playdough doesn't stick to anything...I love it!  Here's the recipe we always use...Homemade Playdough.

My crew :)

Look Mom!

Making a fish.

Look at that belly!

These two are best buds :)

Vann created this origami marble run...it's so cool!!  I'm always in awe of the creations he makes.  The patience he has to fold like that is amazing!  

Cub Scout Camp - Day 1

The boys had such a great time at their Cub Scouts Camp!  I was super excited for them, but a little unsure of what to do without them here with me.  I must admit it was the longest 2 days without them ever!  It made me realize even more so how lucky I am to get to spend all my days with them.  I love it and wouldn't change it for the world!  

Day 1 - Chris took them to our friend, Nicole's, house at 7:30am.  She along with two other adults were the chaperones this day.  I was at ease knowing they were in good hands with someone I totally trust.  And she knows me well and knew how much I would miss them so, she sent me texts throughout the day which I uber appreciated!  

Off to camp!  How cute are they?!

I wasn't the only one who was going to miss them!  

He cried when they left and asked about a thousand times where they were...poor guy!  He also let me know many times that he really wanted to go with them.

Homemade playdough made him a happy camper again!
Click here for the recipe. 

He really loves this stuff.

He cut it...

And shaped it into an...

Ice cream cone!  

Meanwhile the boys were having fun learning about archery.

And they both did great!

They got the most bulls-eyes out of their Pack...go boys!!  

Nicole dropped them off at home at 5:45pm...long day right?!  That last hour was the worst.  Ash and I were pacing the floor, watching out the window, impatiently waiting for them to pull into the driveway.  There were lots of hugs when they finally did!  And then they told us all about their day.  They had a ton of fun which was great to hear!  

Homemade playdough

The kids made homemade playdough the other day.  We used a Koolaid recipe.  The house smelled all fruity…it was great!  I wrote the recipe out for them and they measured and poured and stirred it all by themselves.  I did have to help a little bit to get it to the right consistency…if they didn't use enough water it was kinda stiff.  It was a fun time!  Here's the recipe we used in case you want to give it a shot.  

Homemade Playdough

1/4 cup warm water

1 package Koolaid

2 tsp oil

1/4 cup salt

1/2 cup flour

Stir the warm water and Koolaid till it's all dissolved.  Add the oil, salt and flour.  Stir and mix till it forms a ball.  Add a little water or flour if needed to get it to the just the right consistency.  

Batch #1…Vann - cherry, Chayce - lemonade, Mia - grape
(We only used 1/2 a package of Koolaid in the first batch and the colors weren't very bright so, we used a whole package in the second batch…turned out much better!)

Chaycers is getting a good sniff!

Vann's smelling his too.  It smelled really good!

Vann's adding the oil.

Chayce is measuring his flour.

Stir it up!

Now it's time to get in there with your hands.

And form it into a ball.

He's so serious :)

Batch #2…Vann - fruit punch (I didn't read the flavor and grabbed it because it's in a blue package…well it's not blue), Chayce - orange (smelled just like Tang…yum), Mia - strawberry.

Mixing it up.

Now for the fun part!

Smile boys!

Vann made a forest :)

And Chayce made a mess :)

One thing I loved about it was that it didn't get stuck on any of the playdough toys so, clean up was super easy.  Also, it smelled waaayyy better than real playdough.  And they had fun not only playing with it, but making it as well.  We'll definitely be doing this again!