Logan and Kalia's Blog

Garden Gnomes and Fairies: Kalia's 1st Brithday

2012-01-23T18:48:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Kalia's 1st birthday with a garden gnomes and fairies theme.

Here she is on her beloved unicorn she got for Christmas this year.

Decor

I reused the fork and knife holders from Kali's baptism.I just hot glued the ruffled streamers I made out of plastic table clothes around a formula tin. Viola! (Tutorial on ruffled streamer here)

No need to take the Christmas tree down just yet --I just added a few woodland animals poking out.

Loved the idea of spay painting pine-cones -look how cute mine turned out!

These flowers were from Kalia's Baptism. And check out what they are in! Baby food jars covered with a balloon. Found the tutorial here.

A motion-sensor owl by the bathroom sink caught our guest off guard with it's moving eyes and hooting!

I took some cute fairy loot bags my mom found at the dollar store, folded them over a ribbon and stapled them --it made two cute banners! Great idea if you're having trouble finding things in your theme.

Activities and Games

We set up a Tattoo Station. The cute $1 double-sided frames from Ikea were perfect for this, as I put the instructions on one side. The clip art I got from here and I used a wood-grain drawer liner for the background.

Since we did a family party with mostly adults and a mixed of kid ages, we decided on getting a caricature artist. Research their work to get a good one and be sure to post the time they will be there -as everyone will want one!

The area for caricatures -we made sure there was plenty of room behind the artist so that guests could watch.

To keep all the pictures in great shape while our guests mingled and ate, we set out clothes pins so they could hang them up!

I just left our Christmas garland up on the staircase to make the gallery!

This kept all the pictures in great shape but it also was fun for guests to look at and see if they could name everyone in the pictures.

We did Put the Flower in Tinkerbell's hand! I was going to come up with some sort of homemade version but I ran out of time. Surprisingly this game was most popular with Logan and Jacob...who took like ten turns each until all the flower stickers were gone.

Gnome bowling was a huge hit! My tutorial is here.

The kids got the gnomes as trophies after and freaked out when they lifted the hats to find candy and a wind-up toy

And lots of cuddles and socializing for Kalia! And check out her cute ladybug costume I dressed her up in!

Food and Drink

I used the most of those gnome printouts!

Love this container! My grandmother made it...I think it's suppose to be a plant pot holder so something but I put a bowl inside and it was perfect for popcorn!

I just hot glued the gnomes on toothpicks and stuck them into my homemade cupcakes

Kalia ate that cupcake sooo fast!

The Favours

The s'more mix in the cute mushroom jars were a hit -and very easy and cheap to make. My tutorial is here.

Kalia loved all the tissue paper more than the presents!

Happy 1st Birthday, Kali! We love you!

S'more Mix in a Mushroom Jar

2012-01-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

I made a simple s'more trail mix and packaged them up in baby food jars for Kali's birthday-couldn't get any cuter or simpler then this!

My Woodland-Gnome Party board on Pinterest helped mash this one together -A pin of this Flicker photo

of painted jar lids to look like mushrooms, ideas of a s'more mix from this adorable camping party

and the play on words for the sign from these labels .

I started with washing a bunch of baby food jars I saved -don't worry about that hard to get off glue patch that will be left behind. Who has time to soak and scape that off? I just spray painted a couple coats of red paint on them. And don't worry about priming them or anything --if some of the labeling shows through, you can just cover it with dots!

I used some acyrlic craft paint from the dollar store (if you use this directly on the lid it will peel off, on the spray paint base, it's fine). I just used a small paint bush to dab on the dots.

And that pesky, near-impossible-to-remove glue spot --just cover it! I got this shelf liner from the dollar store. I just punched out a circle and wrote my message on it with a sharpie. So easy and as a bonus, they actually peel off quite easily you want to relabel and re-purpose the jar later.

And the mix inside is really simple too!

2 boxed of Graham Cracker Cereal

1 big bag of mini-marshmallows

2 bags of chocolate chips ( I used one bag of chocolate and 1 bag of butterscotch chips)

Mix that up the night before in a huge bowl, scoop it into jars and seal tight. I did this the night before so that the marshmallows would be super fresh.

And here they are looking super cute on the fireplace with the treat bags for the kids.

I picked up this 99cent frame from Ikea, put in some of the drawer liner from the dollar store for the background, cut out this girl gnome from here, and added the s'more talking bubble with a sharpie.

Cute, cheap and very easy!

See the rest of Kalia's gnomes and fairies party here!

Gnome Bowling

2012-01-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

Aren't these little gnomes cute?!? They were super easy and fast to make and double as prizes for the game!

Getting ready for Kalia's "fairy and Garden Gnome" I used Pinterest to collect all the wonderful ideas floating around. I loved this idea of garden gnome bowling:

Adorable but it involved a certain level of artistic talent that I don't possess....so I made my own version.

Puff containers are contoured into the perfect shape and the plastic label just tugs right off, leaving you with a clean white container.

I had some felt so I hot glued the hats on. This was the hardest part. I made a paper template first to get the hats right. I also found that it was best to hot glue them inside out (except for the very top), then flip them them the right way, glue the top point together and then glue them to the lid.

I drew on some faces with coloured sharpies and then added cotton ball beards with some more hot glue.

And to add even more awesomenes to to this project -I put in a woodland windup toy and two small packages of candy. Added some tissue paper to keep them from moving too much and then added two dabs of glue to the lid on each side by their ears -this was just enough so that the hats/lids stayed on but if you pulled the lid, you could open it up and get your treat.

I got lucky with my mom digging up some plastic bowling balls.

The kids loved playing bowling and actually did about five rounds each. At the end we announced the six top scores and handed out the gnomes like trophies. Then I showed them if they popped the hat there was treats inside! They thought this was so awesome!

Logan's older cousin won one and passed on the gnome container to Logan. Logan now has his gnome watching over him at bed time and loves that he can stash small treasures in.

See the rest of Kalia's Gnomes and Fairies party here!

Linking up to Link & Learn and I Heart Nap Time

Boxing Day till New Years 2011

2012-01-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

After Christmas dinner we headed to Niagara Falls to spend Boxing Day long weekend with Lola.

Lola said she'd treat Logan to one activity for them to do on Cliffton Hill --Logan picked the Sky Wheel. But Lola got scared and decided to just watch from the ground.

"" There's Captain Jack!"

Then we had a quick visit from the grandparents after Boxing Day. Here's Logan giving Grandpa his gift.

Kalia helping Daddy put together Logan's hot wheel's car wash

" A Captain Jack snuggle buddy!"

Playing with his Scooby Doo slime with Grandpa

Playing with new puzzles with Grandpa

Sadly, Grandpa cut his thumb with a saw while the kids were at school. An emergency visit and 14 stitches later, their visit was cut short. Get it??? So Grandpa has been cut off from using the saw for the next bit but at least no one can say he's all thumbs now. A big thumbs up to Grandpa for a speedy recovery! I'll spare you the pictures....

The kids did get a quick sled ride in with Grandma. Logan loved having Kali sit his lap.

On Friday Logan was off of school so he had "Special Mommy Day"! We went to the sticker store, got bubble tea and went and saw his first movie in the theater. We saw Chipwreaked, which he was super excited about. He sat well for over an hour but we left with maybe 20 minutes to go. And let me just praise the nice people of Markham --someone went and got Logan a boaster seat when I asked where they got theirs and when we got to the car Logan realized he dropped Scooby somewhere and when we went back, he was waiting for us with the ticket lady. So big ups to the lovely Markham people for making our day easier!

For New Years we were back at the Falls.

This time Kalia tried out a few of the rides at the arcade--and LOVED them.

Logan even sat in the Cinderella carriage with her

Logan and I went into the Crystal Caves. We had lots of fun and Logan was very impressed they were playing Man in the Mirror by Micheal Jackson.

Christmas Day 2011

2012-01-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

Wow -look at that Christmas tree! Isn't it sooo pretty!?!?

Both kids slept-n past 8am (!!!!) and Logan was excited to check on the cookies he left for Santa. Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk and one of the reindeers snacked on the carrot. Santa even left the magical key for us to use next year!

Santa brought Logan some Scooby Doo things and a Captain Jack pirate ship!

Kalia's new best friend --her unicorn!

Then in the evening we had a lovely Christmas dinner with everyone!

Playing 'follow the leader" with Uncle Bill

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2011

2012-01-05T08:08:00.000-08:00

We had some nice quality time with the cousins and Lolo and Lola over all you can eat sushi. Both Logan and Kali love Japanese food.

Check out Logan and X doing their dance crew signs:

Kalia -right in with the action!

Then Christmas Eve it was with all the cousins! Here they are with Lola Sr!

And there is Kali's trademark smile!

Merry Christmas!

Chritsmas Warm-Up 2011

2011-12-30T18:57:00.001-08:00

We kicked off the Christmas Season with the P--Family Christmas Party! Logan loves to see his cousins and was excited about this!

Each kid gets one present this night --so they can warm up and hone their unwrapping skills for the big Christmas day. This was the first time Kali unwrapped a gift --and she freaked out over her new dolly.

Pool Sharks

Great night with great food and even better company!

Filipino Favourite!

2011-12-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

We checked out a new Filipino restaurant in Markham with Lola. Logan has declared it to be his favourite restaurant -pretty awesome for a place where you don't get a toy with your meal!

B Boy L-Rock

Kali loved the lumpia!

Logan got my camera and took some pictures...interesting to see his view

We went back a week later with Kali's Godfather and some friends. Logan had Halo-Halo for the first time and loved it!

Logan again took the camera and got these shots...

The Library and Holidays in the Village

2011-12-16T08:48:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely time at the library. It was the first time Kali was out of her stroller and exploring there.

Not only did we happen to be there for stories and song time, Logan got a magic key so Santa could get in our house and he told the librarian about a book he read so he could get a star to decorate and put on the tree.

Kali clapped and cheered for Logan

"Cookie? No, Logan didn't give me a cookie? Why do you ask?"

We went to the Community Safety Village of York Region's "Celebrations of Cultures". Logan was so thrilled to drive in the golf cart from the parking lot with daddy!

On a wagon ride around the village

Logan loved these!

With the safety beaver -see the cute little village behind us? Adorable isn't it? Inside each building was a craft, activity or food item sponsored by a cultural or religious group from York Region. We got our names written on bookmarks in Japanese, we tasted samosas, we had Tartar Russian tea, played jingle bells to Bahai songs and looked at art from different countries. So much fun!

These blow-up decorations are always a big hit with Logan

Making jingle bells and gingerbread in "Santa's Workshop"

Hot chocolate and timbits --Santa must be Canadian!

Surprisingly Logan sat and watched the kids sing like a dozen Christmas Carols. He really liked watching the older kids

Family Fun Night

2011-12-12T20:34:00.000-08:00

Logan had a great time at his school's family night. Wish I would have thought to pull out the camera sooner and get some pictures with his friends! But I did get some nice ones with his cousins.

Making gingerbread cookies

Kali liked Logan's teacher's sweater!

Watching the slide show of pictures from different events at school

Kali can't wait to run around!

Gingerbread!

2011-12-10T19:16:00.001-08:00

We've been eating a lot of gingerbread lately! The cousins all got together for fight night. Ate Mylene and Jessie brought a gingerbread man kit!

And of course, the kids had a dance party!

Then a few days later Grandma and Grandpa visited with a Gingerbread House kit!!

Our lovely finished house!

A fun weekend at Niagara Falls

2011-12-02T20:34:00.001-08:00

We spent another great weekend in Niagara Falls. Logan was super excited about going to Clifton Hill and getting more flyers!

Stopping off at the arcade is starting to become a bit of a tradition for us.

Sitting on a motorcycle!

Logan wasn't sure about this guy but sat beside him long enough for a picture!

Our crazy kids

Logan with the back scratcher!

After getting a good picture of Kali and Lola we hear Logan down the hall singing....Logan is sexy and he knows it! This video already has 54 views (?!?) -another YouTube superstar in the family?! LOL

And we went to Bird Kingdom again! The last time we were here was back in April -Kali was almost four months old but really didn't have a clue where she was. This trip at almost 11 months, she loved it! She was pointing at things, screaming, saying "wow" and clapping her hands. :D

Logan was being a really sweet big brother and pointing things out to Kali

Feeding the birds

Look at Kali's face -she thought this was awesome!

Logan finding the bird on his treasure hunt sheet!

Digging for treasure!

Rescuing Daddy!

Logan AND Kali like to climb all over Daddy and be silly

In the car and ready to check out the Festival of Lights!

Not sure how these random dinosaurs on Dufferin Island fit into the whole Christmas theme...

And she's off!

2011-11-28T19:24:00.001-08:00

With a lot of clapping, cheering and much excitement, Kali took her first steps using her walker before bath one night.

This is how Logan learned to walk -he started using the walker at 11 months. Not to be outdone by her brother, Kali has mastered this at 10 months. Same walker, same master bedroom, same excitement.

Camp at home

2011-11-28T18:45:00.001-08:00

Logan was watching Mikey Mouse Tree House on a Saturday morning and it was one where they went camping. So we set up the play tent.

Kalia wanted to join in on the fun so a bunch of sofa cushions went inside too

So they were both crawling in and out, in and out

And crawling over each other laughing away! So great to see the kids begin to really play together

:D Oh, Kali! That smile again!

Great fun! Logan and I even dragged the tent up to his room and he took his nap in it.

Jazz Hands

2011-11-28T18:35:00.001-08:00

Logan was the youngest and the only boy in his jazz dance class. While he liked going every week, it didn't come close to excitement he had to going to Paul's break dancing studio.

It was "parent's day", so we got to get some pictures -normally we watch through one of those one-way mirrors.

Pictures from the Great Canadian Visit 2011

2011-11-25T09:03:00.001-08:00

We enjoyed having Uncle Kyle, Auntie Thao and cousin Katie stay with us for two weeks. Totally not long enough but we have many happy memories of them.

Playing with Uncle Kyle's ipad was a big deal for Logan and every morning he would sit with Katie at breakfast and want to play doctor or cut hair. They look so cute sitting together.

The kids make a cake to surprise Auntie Thao on her birthday!

We had a nice family dinner out too!

A very nice long weekend in Niagara Falls

A trip to the CN Tower

And a trip to the petting zoo where a Lama spit on Uncle Kyle (Logan is still telling this funny story!)

Saying good bye was hard!

We miss you! XOXOXO

Halloween 2011

2011-11-25T08:40:00.001-08:00

Our family loves Halloween! On Logan's first Halloween we were vampires and bats, then we were pirates, and then a royal family. This year Allan and I were zoo keepers and the kids were elephants. Kali seemed to enjoy her first Halloween!

Grandma even dressed up as little Red Riding Hood and helped take Logan around to the houses

As always, Aunties house was scary!

It was also Auntie Thao's and Katie's first time trick-or-treating!

A very fun night with the cousins!

And when we got home, some kids were still trick-or-treating in our area. Logan took some of his own candy and wanted to hand it out. He was so excited about this. Totally going to be a new tradition --great way to get rid of all those suckers and rockets!

Pumkins in Canada!

2011-10-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

We've been happy to have uncle Kyle, Auntie Thao and cousin Katie visit from Vietnam.

Logan likes Uncle Kyle's ipad!

It's also their first time experiencing Halloween!

Grandpa helped with carving their first pumpkin

Scary Fest 2011

2011-10-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

We had a blast at Scary Fest at Markham Museum! It was our first year going and we're looking forward to making this an annual Halloween event

Leave it up to Logan to find a dance floor!

At the church and armed with "garlic" to scare the vampire!

Logan is a bit unsure to start off...

Checking out the vampires coffin --he sleeps with a blankie and a teddy bear too!

Logan gets the vampire with garlic!

Solving a riddle to get candy

Devil's workshop

Mad Scientist Workshop

Zia Sarah joins us!!!

Monster Museum

Fairy dust, troll hair and vampire teeth were just a few of the artifacts

Longest beard in the word

Zia Sarah tries her luck at putting the vampire to sleep with garlic!

At the press shop -Jolly Green Giant and Big Foot is still wanted

Going back for a second fortune

Logan is going to be the next Micheal Jackson! They got it right!!

And we return home and Auntie Thao has prepared yummy X10000 Vietnamese food. OMG- sooo good!

Crawling and Standing

2011-10-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

At nine months, Kali can crawl super fast now!

And stand up!

She loves to feed herself --especially rice!

Happy 2011 Thanksgiving!

2011-10-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

This Thanksgiving we went to Niagara Falls!

Logan and Daddy had fun in the arcade again

Logan's first time looking through the binocular-viewers at the falls

Break-dancing in the park

Kali wins for Drama Queen 2011

We stopped at the Rainforest Cafe again to see the fish

Logan was so excited to sit the the 'tallest man's chair" --it was on one of the brochures he picked up and specifically asked if he could do it

And since it was Thanksgiving we need to get some pumpkin shots in! Kalia wasn't so certain about the hay though....

Not even adding Logan to the mix could convince Kalia that this photo-shoot was a good idea

And since we were on a farm we went on a traditional hay ride!

Our good friends and baby joined us for part of the weekend again

Kali's famous crazy smile...

And Logan kept himself very busy while the adults browsed and shopped --by standing in a store window and pretending to be a mannequin. When people would stop and wave at him he'd do a little jig or the moon walk.

Very entertaining for him and everyone that passed by.

His model bboy pose

The leaves are falling everywhere

2011-10-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have the most fun while making the most mess! Kids know this, but sometimes as parents we forget.

Logan and I were talking about our trip to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live and he was telling me how his favorite part was when all the leaves fell on us.

So we decided to recreate it at home! Supplies we used:

Fan -I think it would be neat to plug in more than one next time, maybe across from each other.

A contained space -we did this in his bedroom rather than the playroom

Tissue leaves -we used the ones we brought home from the show but it would be a simple craft project to do

I just held a handful in front of the fan and slowly let them go...

"It is Fall, it is Fall. the leaves are falling everywhere!"

Then we played a game where I would call out a colour and he would try to quick gather those leaves as they fell around him...

We ended by turning off the fan and taking turns hiding Smurfs for the other to find in the leaves.

Kind of messy but cleaning up was fun too!
Linking to:

Apples and Bboying

2011-10-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

Apple Fest was a big hit last year...and it was a big hit this year as well!

Tons of free samples this year! Logan really liked the Apple Butter on crackers...and the apples and the apple cider and the apple raisin bread...

Watching cider being made

Catching an apple from a string -hey, no using your hands!

We were also lucky enough to see a double rainbow outside

And around the corner we saw the other end of the rainbows too

We also had a fun day downtown at the Manifesto Festival of Muic and Culture -lots of "urban" music, art and dancing

Checking out the graffti artists

There was also a breakdancing floor ---they opened it up to the kids inbetween a battle and Logan was quick to join the older kids (triple his age!) So proud that he felt confident going to dance in front of ALL thouse people! It was a huge circle around the floor, 180 degrees.

We went to see Zia Sarah's new condo! So pretty!

We hosted a family Fight UFC Fight Night at our place....which turned into a glowstick party for the cousins. We discovered that if you have just the right amount of glowsticks attached together -not too many and not too short -you can use them as a skipping rope.

Logan:

Cousin C:

Logan also started up in swim class again -he loves his teacher and is learning to close his eyes and put his whole face in the water while blowing bubbles.

Playing with wood scraps

2011-09-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

Handy Randy Grandpa is finishing our basement and left us some wood scraps to use for art projects.

Previously we made tall paintings with them (see here):

We paint a lot here so I was interested to see what Logan would do with different materials. I have him some glue, markers, buttons, pom-poms and paper circles...

He coloured for a while by himself

Then he asked me to draw him on a block, then Kalia...soon he had our family lined up.

then he glued some pieces together and got me to help by adding a clock, doors and windows.

He told me that the pom-poms are birds sitting on our roof

Once things were looking the way he wanted he put the art supplies away and put the family in one of the craft supply holders --"It's the car. You're driving Mommy."

"It's time to go camping -load up the car!"

"We're here!"

Then he asked for his cousins to join us...so we got the rocks he had previously painted and added gloogly eyes to.

And everyone needed a drink..so he got me to draw a sippy cup, juice with a crazy straw, coffee for Daddy and tea for Mommy on the circles.

I went into the project thinking Logan was going to create some art sculpture but instead it became a very imaginative role playing game. Logan's three and a half -it just goes to show that you don't need a box of fancy plastic figures and action figures; just some rocks and wood! :)

As for 8 month old Kali, she's just happy hanging out!

Linking up to:

Link and Learn

Yo Gabba Gabba Live 2011

2011-09-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

Yo Gabba Gabba live was in Toronto again last week. We went and saw them live before as a birthday present for Logan's second birthday. Kalia's Godmother found tickets for more then half off so we decided to go check them out again! Kalia stayed home with Grandpa and Grandma and skipped Logan's nap for an awesome afternoon!

Having a Tim Horton's smile cookie

We got there early to pick up the tickets. Logan waited patiently for over an hour to get seated.

Logan brought his Brobee doll and DJ Lance Rock Hat and we all wore our YGG homemade t-shirts

Wearing our DJ Lance Rock glasses that they gave out

And the show starts....

And wow -Leslie Hall! Man, she was looking good! Love her!

I love Bugs!

Walking around during intermission

Logan dancing and singing along

"Party in My Tummy" -always a favorite!

Biz on stage!

Logan: "Do you think I could do that? Can I go there too?"

Mom: "Ummmm...sure! Let's go see!"

Logan got to dance on the side stage!

Going up with Daddy to meet DJ Lance Rock

Dancey-Dance time!

"It is Fall. It is Fall. The leaves are falling down!"

Snow inside!!!

Waving bye :(

Logan loved the mess left behind! We left with pockets full of tissue leaves...now what to awesome things can we do with them? Hmmm...

What a great show! We'd love to see them again when they do their next tour -maybe Kalia will be old enough to join us!

Easy Super Why Costume

2011-09-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

Letter recognition, letter sounds and sounding out words is great fun at our house!

Logan has been enjoying the Super Why Phonics game that I made for him. So we put together a Super Why costume for Logan too -here's what he's suppose to look like...

So not exactly Halloween worthy but great for around the house role-playing. All you need is:
1 green t-shirt
1 long sleeve blue shirt
1 pair of blue shorts
1 pair of green pants
1 adult blue shirt for the cape (just use this no-sew tutorial)
Some felt for the eye mask

Logan did point out that he was missing a yellow belt but was overall extremely happy with wearing this. Now both him and Woofster have super costumes!

Logan is very happy to sound out words and solve "super duper problems" around our house.

Here he is with Grandpa figuring out the clue to where Grandma left a surprise for him!

Hide-and-Seek Fun

2011-09-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

We've been having a lot of fun over at our house!

Grandpa and Grandma came for a visit. And brought a little Halloween wig for Kalia.So cute to see her with hair!!

Maybe she could be Shirley Temple for Halloween?

Ahhh, that crazy famous smile of hers!

Logan has also enjoying hide-and-seek. Although he jumps out when you get close or tells you where he's going to hide beforehand!

"I'm hiding under the blanket! Come find me!"

Kali has also been enjoying some baby hide-and-seek. Logan as a baby enjoyed this game of advanced peek-a-boo...

Having a tunnel is a great way to get babies crawling as it really focuses their attention forward to where you want them to move. And it's super fun too!

Science Centre 2011: Trip 12

2011-09-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

We tried out "The Amazing Aging Machine" at the Science Centre....

Allan now:

Allan at his mid-life crisis --maybe a job change to a bodyguard?

And old man Allan:

Logan now:

Logan at 80 -he looks like his Dad!

Super Why: No-Sew Woofster Cape and Phonics Game

2011-09-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

Logan is loving the show Super Why -a show on PBS kids for preschoolers that has been proven to help them learn to read. There's four main characters so Logan has assigned us to one:

Alpha Pig --Daddy

Wonder Red --Mommy

Whyatt --Logan

Princess Pea --Kali

And they just this week Whyatt got a new puppy on the show: Woofster! Logan says this is his BFF Barky! So I decided to make a no-sew Woofster costume for Logan's dog.

I made a no-sew cape for Logan a long time ago (see here) with a tutorial like this one. Sort of did the same thing for Barky's cape. I took a t-shirt that Kali out-grew. It has the extended neckline (so kids with big heads can get into it) -perfect for what I wanted.

It was a little loose around the neck when Barky tried it on

Basically I just cut off the front of the t-shirt-yup that simple.

So, not exactly like Woofster but having the arms keeps the cape in place; nice and snug now.

Looking good, Barky!

Oh, we need a dog collar....just took the piece I cut off...

and cut the bottom seam off so it looks finished

Hot glued a small craft square that painted red in the middle

Took a permanent marker and drew a bone and then hot glued it across the cape to the inside.

All this all while Kali slept off her cold! Super fast and simple!

So now that costume is done in barely anytime at all, I decide we should have a game for the reveal...
Using some craft foam boards I cut out and glued together the "Super Super Computer" that Whyatt uses. And hot-glued a question mark to a pencil for the "Why Writer". A post-it note on the screen will let us change the "super story answer" each time we play. I know, makes no sense if you haven't seen the show. Basically you need to find the letters to solve the clue.

I took the foam letters from the bathtub to spell out the clue

Almost enough to make Kali crawl!

We hid the letters in the playroom and when Logan came home from school he knew just what to do! He counted how many letters he needed to find and then went hunting for them.

He really liked this. We've played treasure hunts before but with post-it notes or with plastic eggs.

Once we got all the letters I wrote them into the "Super Duper Computer" and then Logan lined them up the way I wrote them.

Logan at three years old knows most of his letters and phonics sounds but we haven't really put it together in a lesson before. This was his first time really going through the process of how you sound out a word...

And off he went to find his surprise!

This was a big hit. Logan asked for another round, so I hid some more letters and he sounded out "Bath" before we got ready for bed. I'm pretty sure this is a game we'll be playing more often. Way more fun then sitting at a table trying to sound out letters!

Linking up to "Link and Learn" and TipJunkie

UPDATE: Logan now has a Super Why costume so he can help solve even more "super big problems"!

Harbourfront Sunday

2011-09-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

No outing is complete without a few b-boy poses. Logan has decided that his b-boy name is going to be L-Rock.

We stopped over at a rowing regatta to see Zia/Godmother Sarah. Here they are with the team's mascot. Man, Logan's expression here is too funny.

We all loved the dog Bailey -so cute!

With the team's banner

"See, I got muscles too!"

Logan was super excited to be at Harbourfront. He brought his binoculars that were part of the loot bags from his Jungle birthday party. He was on the lookout for pirate ships!

We went to the art gallery at Harbourfront

Logan seemed to "get" the art peices

"Oh, it's like trees. Right?"

This one was his favourite

Watching a magic show

Having a picnic on the fake grass and watching yoga on the stage

Finally -a real pirate ship is spotted!

What to do with all thouse Silly Bandz?

2011-09-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

We have about a gazillion Silly Bandz in our house.

Logan has traded them with his cousins and friends at daycare. He's gotten a bunch in loot bags. Although it's a fashion fad, it really strikes me as strange since you can't tell what the shape is of the bracelet until you take it off...but I guess there wasn't much to the slap bracelets I had in the late 80's either.

Anyways, I picked up a couple packages of Silly Bandz from Hallmark for 10 cents each (!!!). So we declared it "Silly Band Night" at our house!

So what can you do with Silly Bandz?

1. Wear them!

duh!

2. Use them for fine motor skills

I gave Logan tweezers to try and pick them up with. These would be fun in a sensory bin.

2. Sorting

Logan really enjoyed sorting all the Silly Bandz by color. Older kids could try and do this by theme like Teach Mamma has.

3. Silly Bandz Stretch Art

Kinda like string art but with silly bandz. We took a painting Logan did on drywall and then he helped me hammer a few small nails into it. Every silly band is is a slightly different size so you stretch it randomly over the nails -as a bonus you can also play music on it.

We made a rather random shape but you could do a monogram or a more complex geometric shape. With Silly Bandz coming in a variety of colours it would be easy to match your decor too!

4. Silly Bandz Prints

We attached a bunch of Silly Bandz onto a toilet paper roll and rolled it in paint

Unlike elastics, the Bandz don't lie flat and have a lot texture to them.

Logan didn't like getting all the paint on his hands so we used a paint brush to roll them around.

I really like the way these turned out. I think we'll being trying this on a larger scale soon. Maybe put the Bandz on an old rolling pin?

Look's sort of like Christian McLeod's Water Tags II that was recently featured in the October 2011 issue of Style at Home (above the fireplace, hard to see here but click the links above).

5. Silly Bandz Stamps

Totally do-able but more suited for older kids. Just paint a side of the Silly Band and flop it down on the page.

6. Silly Band Crayon Transfers

Again, this is likely more appealing to a slightly older age group then my three year old -Domestic Deva-in-Training has had better luck with this..

Here is the bird I did:

And the shell Logan did:

7. Silly Bandz Guitar

Logan really liked this one. Given that the Silly Bandz are all slightly different sizes, they all make different notes when put over a Kleenex box.

8. Silly Bandz Decor -pretty jars and candle holders

Around a Starbucks Frappiccino bottle -the Bandz come in so many colours you could match it to any decor and colour combination

Perfect for holding the flowers Logan made!

They also look lovely wrapped around baby food jars and small candle holders

Cute!

Those electric tea lights fit into the baby food jars -depending on the colour and how many you put on, you can really change up the effect you get

9. Addition to a memory box

I put an unopened package of Justin Bieber Silly Bandz in Kalia's memory box. You're welcome.

10. Basically anything a rubber band can do, a Silly Band can do better!

For example, holding precut apples together for our picnic!

Some other ideas I've found that we might try...
Time for Play has used them in ice extraction :

Therapy Source has a bunch of ideas, including fishing for Silly Bandz:

4 Crazy Kings use them as glass markers at parties:

JBS used them in scrapbooking:

Kinder Journey has done some letter matching:

SuperHeros and Princess have used them for storytelling:

A Very Dandoislion Life has made Silly Bandz soap!

What do you do with the Silly Bandz in your house?

Linking up to: Making The World Cuter,
Link and Learn

Wonderland and Funnel Cake

2011-09-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

We have a lovely summery September day so headed to Wonderland! We did a few rides with Logan's friend Kayla, watched a pirate show...

Logan and I went on the kids version of the Spinning Tea Cups. Man, we cranked that wheel so much I thought we were both going to puke --so much fun!

And best of all, we had Funnel Cakes!!! Allan and I made some at home once -totally got to do this again.

Our b-boy

Kali enjoyed people watching -always such a happy baby!

At the Falls with the cousins

2011-09-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

We had another lovely long weekend in Niagara Falls -especially since the cousins where there this time! And Mommy had some serious birthday pampering at the spa!

The kids made Kalia a pillow fort.

She enjoyed being around all the kids and they all adored her

Auntie showed Logan how to play the DS -Logan doesn't like Santa (see here! LOL) but he did say a Christmas Elf could bring him one instead

We had a bit of a heat wave and the boys cooled off outside. Kali was very happy to watch from the window

At The Rainforest Cafe

At the Falls

First time at an arcade --loved this catching popcorn game

Watching the kids in the backyard with Lola

This playset is still holding up really great!

Rain Art

2011-09-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

It was looking really gloomy outside so we decided to do some rain art.

Materials:

Sturdy paper and or coffee filters: we used our beloved finger paint paper that this glossy on the back side and some coffee filters

Washable markers: thicker ones would have been better

Rain or a Squirt bottle

I've been trying to get Kali (almost 8 months) to get more involved in our art projects (see here and here). Most of the time she happily observing from the sidelines.

At this age she's very aware and so I sat her on my lap to watch Logan but also to make our own drawing.

She let me trace her hands...

Just sitting Kali on my lap and doodling away was so entertaining for her. She seemed to like the bright colours and after she discovered that they were coming from the marker I was moving around she chased it with her hand. I'll have to doodle with her again- surprisingly very relaxing for mom and entertaining for a baby.

And of course she also enjoyed playing with the paper

Logan giving her some pointers on how to draw

Gosh, these two pictures are so cute...

Just as it was starting to sprinkle outside we took the pictures out and put some glass stones on them to keep them from blowing away. Logan had an excellent idea of "helping the rain" by using his much loved squirt bottle (see here)

Heading in as it started to really rain. We totally forgot about them and probably should have fetched them out of the rain sooner so the colours would have been brighter

And OMG-why didn't I think of this sooner?!?!?

Use your oven as a drying rack for your art projects!

I actually attched a sticky to remind me they were there so I wouldn't turn on the oven but I normally peak inside before I do anyway. Totally wish I would have thought of this sooner!!!

And the finished products:

Linking up to:

Bubble Art

2011-09-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

Continuing my commitment to actually trying the things I find on Pinterest,

I gave Bubble Art a try with Logan. We found this idea from The Chaos and The Clutter. Logan is three and a half and drinks from a big boy cup or from a straw. So I wondered if he would drink it...so we adapted this a bit.

Materials:

Paper -we used our favorite finger painting paper, which has a glossy side

Paint or Food Colouring

Dish Soap: I used Green Works hoping it would be slightly "better" for him if he drank some

Straws

Water

Bowls

Drop cloth

I made a point to explain that we were using soap that we normally use to wash dishes. We smelt it and I explained that it tasted yucky though. I had him help me squirt it out into the small bowls of water.

Then we added some food coloring to each bowl and explained that we blow only out. I figured a bit of soap in his mouth would be gross but not as harmful as bunch of paint -so we used food colouring until I was sure he wasn't going to drink it.

While a bit light, the food colouring did show up on the white paper.

After I knew that Logan got the hang of it, we switched it up to adding a squirt or two of tempra paint to the water

Kalia waiting patiently for her turn to paint (see here!)

Hmmm, maybe this paint isn't so washable after all?

Okay, time to move this to the grass!

Logan liked putting the bubbles right on the page, rather than placing the sheet over the bubbles to make the print...

Drying:

Our finished products! These would be cute as wrapping paper...

Linking up to: No Time for Flash Card's Link & Learn, Design Dazzle

Logan's first day at Preschool

2011-09-06T06:33:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Pinterest, I found this idea from Zoot!

Baby Jumper Paintings

2011-09-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

Kali enjoys watching Logan do art but I've been trying to come up with more ways to involve her. Her baby finger painting went well so it was time to try another baby painting experiment!

Materials:

Hard surface: we did this on the sidewalk, if you put a tablecloth down you could do it inside

Large paper: We used five fingerprinting papers (glossy on the backside) taped together with masking tape

Washable paints: We kept it simple and used red and blue so she could mix them together to get purple

Baby Jumper

Kalia is now almost eight months. This would be a great first baby painting project, especially if you are worried about your child getting too messy or eating the paint (although you can make edible paint!)

Setting up the paper:

Logan checking out the progress

Look at those cute chubby legs!

Kali's finished project! Logan was very impressed that she made purple!

Not to be left out, Logan also made some footprint art!

Logan's finished project:

The clean up was fun too! Logan used his spray bottle on his and Kali's feet

And w he got to use the hose to clean the sidewalk...

Linking to: Today's Creative Blog,

Music and Paint: Abstract Expressionism Lesson

2011-09-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Part Two of our Classified Mom art project was working with the idea of Abstract Expressionism.

(Part one was painting with Kool-Aid!)

Canvas: I used one already attached to a board from Dollarama
Acrylic Paint: Dollarama again!
Brushes: We used a bunch of different ones we had in our craft cupboard
Music: I cut in a Hotel Costes CD, very funky lounge-type music with a lot of soul

As always, curious Kalia supervised

I talked to him about expressing yourself though painting and about what action painting was. I explained that if you can dance to music, you can also paint to music. He's three and a half so it was interesting to see it somewhat click with him. And while I told him he could move around and dance and paint, he preferred to sit and make his paintbrush "dance".

We was really interested in the colours mixing and swirling together on the canvas. We normally use paper so he was excited about how much paint he could use on the canvas.

Trying a different brush...

It's around this point that I had to restrain myself from yanking this away from him --it looked really neat but I left it up to him to say when it was finished

Blue and red make purple --Logan loves to mix up this colour combination!

Patting the paintbrush on canvas to the music

Kalia and I watching Logan painting

"I'm done!"

I just hot glued the canvas to an old frame painted black

Bottom two on the right are made by Kalia -see here

Kool-Aid Painting

2011-08-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying Pinterest. I've decided that if I use it, I should actually try out some of the things I pin and repin. This one is from Classified: Mom, although we split it into two activities. Here were using their idea of using Kool-Aid in making art. (Part two is here)

Very simple too! All you need is:

Packets of Drink Mix: I wasn't sure how this was going to work, so I just bought two packets of the cheapest Kool-Aid type mix. They had orange and cherry for like 29 cents!

Spray bottle: Dollarama has them

Water

Paper or cardboard

After we shook out some drink mix and had a taste and was time to spray it with water. This was great for Logan's hand and eye coordination. At first he had trouble aiming and pressing the trigger but then got really good at it.

We did our first art piece on a thin piece of cardboard.

Once things started to get runny, we took it outside and tried another one on a peice of fingerprinting paper.

Our finished products

They turned out pretty cool and with a lot of texture...

They were on the sticky side. We didn't keep these but if you wanted to, you could coat them with a sealer.

Linking up to: No Time for Flash Cards