Fun with Thumbprints - A Spring Break Kids Craft

 Today is a snow day, and an extra day tacked onto spring break, but who can even think about getting into the spirit of the upcoming season when they are calling for at least six inches of snow! If you're here in Kansas City, and you look ahead to the weather next week, it's supposed to be in the upper 60s and mid 70s! My only hope is that it stays that way going forward.

With spring around the proverbial corner, there are ways you can get yourself ready head of time. And if you are a gardener, or looking for cute ways to store stuff, this thumbprint kids craft is so cute! And if you're really looking ahead, a great Mother's Day gift. If you followed along several years ago, you know that we made darling thumbprint bug magnets. Head here to read over the original thumbprint post as you are going to use this technique to create the flower pots.

Here is what you will need:

Your kids thumb, acrylic paint, paint pens, flower pots of any size, and a paper plate.

Get your paint on the paper plate and gently place your child's thumb into the paint. If they are olders, they can do this by themselves. Place the paint covered thumb (making sure to dab off the excess so the paint doesn't run down the flower pot) all over the flower pot in any formation, adding more paint as needed. 

Once you have the thumbprints in all the places you want them, allow the paint to dry before moving on to the next step. This could take a couple of hours, so if this is something you want to do in a day, start early. Once dry, use your paint pen to outline the thumbprints into fun bugs! Your kid(s) can do the outlining. If it's a little messy, that's fine. That's the point of a kids craft! And, it's their little stamp on the project. 

This is an example of the thumbprint with a stamp from the original post. You do this same technique with the paint.

I have mine on display in my craft room! It's a little reminder of his tiny prints that will last for years. And, I love that it holds fun supplies on my shelves. But, they would look super cute on your patio this spring and summer. Work together to grow flowers from seedlings or plant one from your local nursery. The options are endless. 

 I love a kids craft. It's a great bonding activity for everyone. And, it allows their little hands to be creative. You probably have most of these supplies hanging around the house, right? You could get started today!!

Here's to getting crafty!

XO,

Andrea

A Battle Over Food

When McKinley turned two, he got a nasty stomach bug and it forever changed the way he ate! Before that, he would eat anything we put in front of him. Eggs, turkey sausage, bacon, and oatmeal for breakfast. He lived on soups of any kind and we had to squeeze in pouches of fruits and veggies onto the spoon to ensure he was getting other nutrients with the soup. He ate cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, chicken patties, pasta (especially cheese ravioli), and more. But that stomach bug changed everything and I sometimes wonder if he's starving!

Recently, he's been inquisitive when it comes to food. He still doesn't eat the same meals we do, he's way too picky for that, but he's asking what we're eating, what it tastes like, and from time to time trying it. Huge strides! He's started eating chicken nuggets again, lives on cheese pizza, turkey hot dogs, and finally going back to macaroni and cheese (something he ate day in and day out for about six months.) But last week things changed. He was barely eating breakfast and ignoring his lunch all together. I pack his lunch daily, he won't eat the school lunch unless it's hot dogs or chicken nuggets, and that's fine with me. It's cheaper and I can monitor just how much he actually eats. And, when he eats nothing at all.

Like last Thursday. He requested mac and cheese and that's what he got. Along with yogurt, applesauce, mini muffins, Veggie Straws, raisins, and Scooby Snacks. I like to give him a variety in case he only eats a little of this and a little of that. But on this day, he didn't touch the mac and cheese and simply ate the two mini muffins and a couple of Veggie Straws. I was livid, sad, and frustrated. Livid because he had just wasted food, my time, and hard earned money that pays for that food. Sad because he was starving after school but wouldn't dare tell me. And frustrated because I don't know how to get him to eat which will eventually make him strong and tall, right? I keep wondering how he's ever going to grow if he never eats! 

And because of all of this, I was tempted to not pack lunch the next day. If he wasn't going to eat it, why take the time to pack it. I mean, I run around like crazy trying to get breakfast to him and then lunch made before leaving for school. My morning is so rushed that it would be nice to take it easy for once. I even went so far to see what was on the menu for the next today, nachos that I knew he wouldn't eat, just to have an outlet. But then I thought, let him go without any lunch tomorrow and maybe he would be a little more grateful to have the food on Monday. But I caved and made lunch. How could I let my child starve? So we made a deal. He agree to eat his lunch because he told me he wouldn't like nachos from the school lunch, and I told him he couldn't throw anything away so I could see just how much he actually ate. If he didn't eat again, it was over. I wouldn't be packing his lunch going forward. He did eat and I felt relief, but today is a new day.

A new day but not an eating day..... Not much breakfast today. A tube of yogurt, a half of a banana, and a half a sausage link. What did I originally make him? Green eggs and ham, his request, to which he told me he was scared to eat it because what if it didn't taste the same as Mrs. Mellen's. He refused to eat it. He ate one cube of ham and one tiny bite of egg. That was it! Again, I walked away furious for spending the morning making something so specific and then wound up crying out of frustration. I think this mama is ready to go on strike or is in desperate need of a vacation. Either way, this battle over food is taking a major toll on my soul and I can't take it much longer.

Today he left with a hot dog, Veggie Straws, Dorito's (his request), yogurt, applesauce, and raisins. No mini muffins for him today. And no Scooby Snacks. He gets a simple meal so there are no distractions and I'm sure only half the hotdog will be eaten, the Dorito's will be gone, and maybe some of the straws. Or, it could come home just the way I packed it. And if you hear sobs coming from Overland Park, you will know that this mama has hit her breaking point. 

What do you do to get your child to eat? Do you even have a child that refuses to eat? A picky eater that won't anything? Or a child that eats everything you give them without a fight? What would that would be like? I'm thinking amazing and completely stress free! I will be daydreaming about that for the rest of the day. Oh, and worrying about whether or not he's eaten today......

XO,

Andrea 

A Kid Friendly Work Space

I love our house. I've loved it since the minute we drove into the driveway! And, it was the perfect starter home. We were going to live here for roughly five years and then upgrade to the next level home. Fourteen years later, we are still here! For a family of three, it works, but at times it's a little tight. We have a two story home, with three bedrooms, but one of the things we like most is that it's multi-level. We have the main level with a kitchen and living/dining room. We have the upstairs with three bedrooms and two baths. We have a room downstairs from the living room, our den, but then we have another level down to the basement which is partially finished. It's McKinley's playroom on one side and the laundry/storage room on the other. It's perfect for what we use it for currently, but I'm now looking around and wondering where we can build a work space for McKinley. 

For those of you new to the blog, I created a home office earlier in the year in our den. It's a long narrow room, so I took the opposite end of our living space and made it a little office. I don't have much there. A desk, nice upholstered chair, and a little antique cabinet I "stole" from my parents for my storage cabinet. I love it! And now, I want the same thing for McKinley.

Now that he's in Kindergarten, he needs an area to work on afternoon activities that are required for him to earn SOAR tickets each day. These tickets are super valuable as he's able to turn them in for something from the treasure box as a reward for completing his work. I've loved working with him in the afternoons on math, sorting, writing his name, alphabet scavenger hunts, and other fun things I've come up with with the help of Pinterest! And, he was able to earn a little firetruck he's had his eye on since she introduced the treasure box on the first day of school.

Right now, we use the kitchen table, which is the age old space where kids have done their homework for years. But, he has this darling table and chairs in his playroom that is currently being used to collect toys that he doesn't feel like putting in their proper place on shelves! It's a pit and you can't even see the work trucks that are painted on the table top. I want to find a place in our house for this cute table to be utilized. I'm thinking of a little corner in his room that houses a chair where we gave him nightly feedings when he was a baby. That chair is the catch-all chair for clothes, blankets, and other things. I see a pattern here. If we moved out the chair, the table would fit nicely and we could use this space to do school work and other fun arts and crafts throughout the year. 

 But then there's the issue of just having the table and nothing else. Yes, he has his playroom, so I guess technically he has a place to play, so this new area would be specific for work. So if we carved out a little nook in his room, we could add shelving to the walls around the table to give him cubbies and other places to put things like crayons, construction paper, and such. And I've found some spaces, again on Pinterest, that I love and that have brought about some inspiration.

Okay, okay, so the ones on the bottom are a little far fetched, but how cute are they? And I love how bright and cheery they are. I could really get to work in a happy space like this! However, the top two are much more realistic. I love the loft idea with the bunk beds and the work station below. It would grow with him as he grows older. I would definitely jazz it up with color. I love pure white, but he needs a little color and pizzazz! 

So this is where I am in the newest "finding space to use" in our house. I'm constantly trying to help our home evolve, but eventually we are going to run out of room. I'm in constant denial regarding a potential move that really isn't necessary. But, it would be nice to have a little more square footage to give everyone the personal space they need.

What have you done to prep your home for a space that your child can call their own? Are you thinking that a playroom is enough and to use that space wisely? My fear is that he won't really concentrate in that room just due to the fact his toys are all around. It's so easy to loose focus when your play thing are so close at hand. Does a child need a work space? Should I simply rely on that age old kitchen table where I too did my homework year after year? 

Let's chat!

XO,

Andrea