It's been about a minute

Guess it is best to start with a few quick updates...
Someone turned 3 and had a Chuck E Cheese Party!

It WAS a great experience and I loved every moment. Then a few weeks later we return for an afternoon of fun and my poor baby got trampled in a flash mob in the most ridicules scene ever. I complained to corporate not even looking for anything more than an apology and did not even get that. Truth be told I just wanted someone to ask if she was ok since she left with a foot print on her face. I know now why so many parents before - swear off the Cheese Man. I now am also ANTI-CEC! Don't go to the one in SKOKIE - Amber's official public warning.

Dad went to Colorado and all we got were these silly shirts!

Noodles make a girl sleepy!

Painting faces at the zoo!

Cars also make a girl sleepy!

 Somebody got some roller skates!

I started selling Usborne Books visit my web store www.myubam.com/S3401 !

We made kid roll ups...Yum!

We also had an awesome Easter!

More zoo action!

Dad bought the girls new duds! To bad they are not dudes!

 She has a little inner fashionista!

Ball in the house...Brilliant!

And a playdate!

Ok I am ready to go? But where???

A little library time. I think I may have even managed 7 minutes of studying due to that train! Score!

ZOO!

Nessa's 1st time at any beach!

Both girls' 1st time on Lake Michigan...It was a good day!

Cinco De Mayo!

Maise's 1st Dance Show Bathing Beauties! She did amazing!!!

Bo Rick Springfield got an upgraded space!

We have been at the park almost everyday! With sunscreen!

Got to go pool side in Salem.

Other than that we are just trying to start Maise on a regular school routine for the fall. I know it is early but why stress and rush at the end. We are doing pretty well. Gymnastics is over for Maise at the park and we have decided to go back to the YMCA. The girls will continue swim, Nessa will start gymnastics and Maise will start Karate...Lord help us all. Maybe they have preschool yoga instead. Hope you all enjoyed the update. I miss my blog...one day it will get back up to what it should be...plus some updated decor. But 2 kids - nice weather - and about 14 more weeks of grad school...it's gonna have to wait!

Have a great week or possibly month or shall I say see ya when I see ya!

Q=Tip Painting

Wow what an awesome way to paint and keep it clean. The whole point of this project is to dot your masterpiece with a tiny bit of paint and a q-tip. We originally got the idea from Pinterest but tweeked and added as we saw fit! This was a great little project after dinner and before the tub.

We could have used a finger paint or thinker paint but this worked fine for us!

Notice the rubber cupcake holders?

We love these to use for art projects and for syrup or other gooey substances!

Testing colors.

Ok I had to take a stab at the one I saw on Pinterest.

Now this is when it got interesting...look at what she painted!

Is that a dancing couple? Sure looks like people to me!

Ok down below take a closer look.

That is totally people...and when I asked Maise she told me,

"It's a ribbon"!

We had fun...In the picture above we decided to mix q-tip painting and learning letters!

This was cool she did not even know she was learning. I am so sneaky!

...art = love!

Have a great week!

Our Playdate Was So Great!

Thumbs up Morton Grove Park District!

At the Prairie View Community Center they offer an open play time for parents and young children in their gym.  It is such a wonderful idea! Each time they bring out a variety of play things including bikes, hoops, and gymnastics equipment for the kids to explore.  I was very excited that I was able to bring both girls if I wanted but opted to only take Maise since we had our friends Payton and Carrie join us.  It turned into almost a private playdate as we were the only ones there other than an employee's child.  The concept is super cool and I was hoping that Maise would have had the chance to meet other kids in her preschool class this coming fall.  But we will just see if we can meet some other kids at the park this summer.  The open play is only in the winter months and we showed up for the final day.  Even if we have to wait till the weather is bad again I am glad we gave it a shot.  This is something we will totally do again.

Payton and Maise had a great time, so that means the mommies are going to have to plan another date soon. I wonder what kind of trouble we can find. There is always something fun to do with a couple of 3 year olds!
Check out our pictures from our Open Play Date:

Science is for the Birds! and the little squirrels to!

Joe will be so happy when he finds out that I actually put all those toilet paper rolls I have been saving to good use. We finally got out to do our big science experiment. The scientific question the ladies and I were out to answer was - What kind of bird feeder will our local birds prefer. We constructed three different bird feeders from recycled products around the house and then hung them from the bushes out our back window where we like to watch the birds.

The 3 feeders we decided to construct came from three separate sources. We used Pinterest, a mom friend of mine Susan (S.M.) and an old one from my old girl scout days. I have wanted to do this with the girls for a while and so glad we finally had the opportunity!

At first I saw the pinterest one and liked and saved it for an activity to do with the girls. Then I saw that Susan did something similar and added that to the grand plan along with the one I remember doing as a kid. So then since I wanted to do all three I had to add the experimental twist just for fun.

The girls had fun building them, pouring the water and seeds, and hanging them up. Results from day one proved interesting...the first birdfeeder to be emptied was the Cheerio/pipe cleaner one I stole from Susans brain. The interesting part was that it was gone in about a half hour and was consumed by a squirrel. Always have to take precautions for the unknown...see learning about the experimental process early!

What the squirrels left us!

Unfortunately the rain came that night and kind of washed out our work but there are still some seeds left. Think we will try again when the weather decides to stay dry for more than a day.

But we still had a blast! Check it out:

Bird feeder 1- Needed pipe cleaner and Cheerios. Great for motor skills! Add Cheerios to wire and twist closed. Then place on tree and wait for squirrels.

Bird feeder 2- Need a cup of sorts and string. I adapted this one from Pinterest but instead of using a tuna can I used plastic from disposable cupcake tins. The top was for a 6 pack of cupcakes and I cut it in threes attaching string to the sides. Cutting it in threes allowed us to have water and food for the birds.

Bird feeder 3 - Needed toilet paper roll, creamy peanut butter, and a knife/spoon. This one I did in girl scouts. Smooth peanut butter over tub and allow kids to roll toilet paper roll in seeds to cover. String a ribbon in the hole and hang.