PVC Builders Kit

It's been way too long since I've posted anything on this blog, but I have so many ideas and thoughts I have been wanting to share!  Life got busy, and still is, but I'm going to attempt to share more often.

We had a very fun holiday season.  We went to Utah for the first week of December, but spent the rest of the holiday alone with our little family.  One new tradition we started was to have all the kids draw names and make gifts for each other.  John, Dan and Joe played an active role in making something for their secret person, but Will's project was pretty much all me.  There's not too much a 9-month old can do.  Will ended up with John's name, so I decided to make him a Builder's Kit using PVC pipes.  It was very simple and took about an hour to complete.  I bought the pipes and a bunch of different connector pieces from Lowe's, then cut the pipes to varying lengths.  And that's it!  John gets to make whatever he wants with them.

I used an old pillowcase to make a drawstring bag to keep everything in.

The PVC pipe building didn't stop there.  I later used some to build an ice skating walker for the kids.  My mom helped me, and we came up with a design that works well and can double as a soccer goal in the summer (once I figure out a good way to attach a net to it).  They can hold onto it while they're learning to skate, which makes things a lot easier when we take all the kids.


We most recently used the pipes to make a marble run.  This was Joe's idea, and everyone loved it.


John wanted to make crutches to go along with Dan's Doctor kit.  A little slippery on wood and cement, but work great on carpet.


One of my favorite projects with pipes were the bows we made last summer.  The kids loved running around with them playing war and hunting for animals.  Really, the uses of these pipes are endless!

Have you tried building anything with PVC pipes?

Slow mornings and playdough

Time seems to be going faster than ever lately.  Many days I wake up, get the kids breakfast, get John and Dan off to school, keep the other two alive and somewhat happy, try to keep up with dishes, laundry, bills, welcome the kids home from school, help John practice piano, fix dinner, wrestle (sometimes literally) everyone into bed, try to catch up with everything that was left undone during the day, take a deep breath and go to bed.  Some days go smoothly and are full of laughter and fun, and other days I'm in survival mode from the minute I wake up.  It's all part of motherhood I suppose.

Last week we had a rare morning where we didn't have to go anywhere or do anything (except for getting John off to school).  I crave those mornings and welcome them with open arms.  So as soon as Will was down for his nap, Dan and Joe and I got to work making some playdough.



You can find the recipe I use here.

 

We had fun experimenting with colors and smells this time around.  Dan wanted to make blue playdough with a lemon smell, Joe went with green peppermint, and Dan thought John would like red lavender.  I failed to take pictures of the rest, but we then divided up the balls and tried mixing in a few more drops of food coloring to see what colors we would get (blue+red made purple, red+yellow made orange, etc.)  It was fun to just sit down with these two cuties during a quiet moment in the morning.  Then before I knew it a cry from upstairs beckoned me to get back on my feet.

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day we made a toy using things from our recycling box.  A marble run.  I think making your own toys is almost as fun as playing with them.  I had recently seen a similar idea from Made by Joel and other places on Pinterest and thought it looked like fun.



Ok, so ours isn't neat and clean like Joel's.  But works great nonetheless!  A milk carton, shipping box, macaroni box, toilet paper roll, storage bag box and a juice can were all used in making this beauty.



The kids sure enjoyed it!



And Saturday afternoon we took Will on his first hike!  There are some beautiful trails about 15 minutes away from our house and things are just starting to turn green.  Oh how I love spring!  It was so nice to be out in nature and let the kids run free.



Will didn't seem to like the sun in his eyes or the wind on his face.  But he survived.



After the hike we had a little barbeque next to the lake.  As you can see, we were all bundled up because it was FREEZING!  The temperature must have dropped a lot after our hike.  And the wind didn't help.  We were the only crazies there, sipping our hot chocolate and huddling around the grill trying to warm up our hands.



Even though it was cold, it was still nice to be outside enjoying the beauty around us.  Thank you Mother Earth!

Lego balloon car races

I got this sweet idea from the blog All for the Boys and knew at once my boys would love it.  Legos, cars, balloons, racing... what isn't to love??



And with Dad off of work (which isn't too often these days), it was that much more fun.




Let the races begin!



I have to take a moment to brag about the car I made... it pretty much WASTED everyone else :)

A rainbow of cards

The first day of spring was calling out for an art project at our house. So we got out the watercolor paints and made "rainbow cards." We started out by painting rainbows, then I showed the kids a few different techniques and let them do their thing.



I always end up liking their paintings more than my own! Mine tend to be more methodical and thought out. They just go for it.



After they dried, I used the paintings to make cards. Now we have a fresh new stack to be used for birthdays, anniversaries, and thank you's... and I may just hold on to a couple of my favorites :)

Family Wheat Bread

We finally used up all of our bread from last month, so had another bread making day. This time we went with honey whole wheat. I let all three kids join me on this one so they could each make their own little baked goodies.



I love this recipe I received from a friend of a friend a few years back.

Some of our favorite "toys"

Some of my kids favorite "toys" really aren't toys at all (imagine that!) Here are a few things they love to play with:

Beans

This is one of Dan's favorite things to play with on his own when John is at school and Joe's taking a nap. He loves to bury his dinosaurs and GI Joe's in it.

Ribbon


The kids discovered my box of ribbon earlier this week. They tied it around themselves, pulled things with it, and made a little obstacle course. Who would have thought ribbon could be so fun?!

Water

Joe could spend hours up at the kitchen sink. I put it on a little trickle and give him different spoons and cups to play with. His clothes always end up soaked, as does the floor around him, but for keeping him busy for 30 minutes+ it's worth the quick cleanup.

Buttons


We recently turned an old peanut butter container into our button container. I cut a hole in the top so the kids could put the buttons back in one at a time. John likes stringing them onto a piece of wire.

What are your favorite "toys"?

Table fort

You may have seen (much cuter versions of) these on Pinterest or other places. But here is ours. A table fort. I used old bags that sheets came in for the windows, sample fabrics that a store was getting rid of for most of the top and sides (thus the patchy look) and some bias tape. It might not win the cutest table fort award, but I'm pretty sure the kids don't care. I love that this fort folds up nice and small and is easy to store, but is so easy to set up again. It's nice to have something quick to pull out on a day that we're home and the kids want something new to do.




The thing that made this fort a success were the pockets that I sewed onto the inside of the walls. The kids love having a place to put their books and small toys.

Marshmallow/Pom Pom Shooter

You may have seen this idea floating around on Pinterest. Well, so did we, and we decided to give it a try. We had all the supplies, so this gave the kids and I an hour of free entertainment!



We made just a few changes to the tutorial we found here...

Paper snowflakes

John made snowflakes in school a month or two ago and has been at it ever since. When he has some free time, he will often grab the scissors and a blank piece of paper and whip out a new creation. We have started putting them up on our back sliding door. Since we haven't had much snow to look at through that window, we now at least have John's cute snowflakes to remind us that it is actually winter.

Homemade playdough

Between Christmas and birthdays, we've collected a lot of "Play-Doh" brand playdough over the last few months. But I finally got tired of it drying out and crumbling and ending up all over the floor. It was time to make some homemade playdough and say goodbye to the rest. Homemade doesn't dry out as fast, has a softer texture, and I don't have to vacuum the floor every time the kids play with it. And just a few colors are all the kids really need.



Read ahead for the new recipe I used (even better than my old one!)

Bread making day

Yesterday afternoon was dedicated to making our bread for the month. I took advantage of Joe taking a nap and John being at school and had Daniel all to myself in the kitchen. I normally make it with all 3 boys so they can each get their little fingers into it, but yesterday thinking about the cleanup that comes with that shied me away. I also decided to take a break from the normal wheat bread and made 5 beautiful loaves of WHITE BREAD. I have a recipe that is to die for! Makes the moistest, yummiest, melt-in-your-mouth bread you can imagine. Read on for the recipe...

A dress-up mirror

I got the book The Creative Family by Amanda Soule for Christmas and have loved all the new ideas! I finished it in a few days and feel inspired to bring more creativity into our home. I thought I'd share one idea I got from the book that is so simple and easy to do and encourages the kids to use their imagination: putting a mirror next to the dress-up box. John especially loves to dress up, and invites his friends to join him whenever they're over. Pirates, super heroes and ninjas are the latest. And a mirror makes dressing up and becoming a different person that much more fun!


Gotta love unfinished basements... not very pleasing to the eye, but with 3 little boys, it sure is nice to have a place they can run around without me worrying about anything breaking!

Christmas dice game

I found this idea at Pre-K Pages and decided to make my own printout to use. It's the perfect game for a toddler who is learning his numbers. John and Dan both loved it and understood it enough that they could play by themselves (they played it one afternoon while I snuck in a quick power nap!) You simply take turns rolling a dice and cross the numbers off as you go. The first to have his numbers crossed off wins! Try it with your toddler!




Click on the image below and print your own!

The best toy

The best toy is one that can be used in a lot of different ways. One that encourages imagination and creativity. One that can turn into a sword, a cave, a race track, a car, a train, a kitchen, a bed, or a target for shooting Nerf guns at. One that doesn't cost a single penny and that can simply be thrown in the recycling container when fun has been had and interests have changed. The best toy is a BOX! We have a big stash of them in our basement... moving boxes, shoe boxes, diaper boxes... that can be pulled out when the kids need something new to do or play with.

A diaper box turned into a race track with a tunnel for the cars.


A moving box made into a small kitchen.



Do you think my kids would be happy if we just gave them boxes for Christmas??? I'm pretty sure they would be just as happy with boxes as they would with any other toy... tempting...

Family artwork

Over General Conference weekend, Pete, the kids and I worked on creating some art to put in the kids' bathroom. I found these frames at a garage sale for $1 each, then painted them red with some leftover paint from another project. I saw some similar artwork at a children's hospital and used that as the inspiration. Pete drew the smaller one for Dan to color, and I drew the bigger one for John. But half way through coloring, the kids decided they wanted to work together so they could finish faster (I don't think they understood that that wouldn't save any time in the end... oh well). I love how they turned out! The kids LOVE to color, so this was the perfect project to keep them somewhat busy so we could listen to Conference. And now their bathroom displays some very cheap (yet priceless!) artwork.

Rainy day activities

I feel like I've had a creative block the past week or two. No matter how busy we are during the day or how much I have planned, there are always those few hours of down time during the day when Joe is napping (which, don't get me wrong, I love) when we have to find something to do. And I love coming up with new activities, but nothing has been coming to me lately. So finally we broke the monotony by going to the library and getting a book that would spark some new ideas. The library is a gold mine for ideas! They've got a book for everything: crafts to do, recipes to try, science projects, paper airplanes, art projects, you name it. The book we picked up was More Mudpies to Magnets: Science for Young Children. And it did not let us down. As soon as Joe was down for his nap, Dan and John and I got to work. Here are a few of the projects we tried...

The automatic balloon blower upper

Use a funnel to put a tablespoon of baking soda in a balloon. Fill an empty bottle with about an inch of vinegar. Then attach the balloon to the top of the bottle and let the baking soda fall into the vinegar. Then watch as your balloon inflates by itself! Dan's face says it all :)

The box house

Creating box houses was one of me and my sister's favorite pastimes growing up. We moved a lot so were often left with a huge pile of boxes. And you better believe we put them to good use! Probably the best (and biggest) one we ever built included a family room, bedroom, kitchen (stocked with food and our easy-bake oven), hallway and bathroom (for pretend use only, of course). We furnished it with whatever was small enough to fit inside and even put up pictures on the walls. Hours and hours were spent on that box house. So when we were left with a huge box from John's birthday in addition to our moving boxes, I knew I had to build one for the kids. Not just 4 walls with a door and a couple windows, but a house with multiple rooms, cubby spaces, spy holes, a place for their toys, and a secret escape tunnel. It doesn't really compare to some of the houses I made as a kid, but my boys were sure excited!

Make your own Oobleck

Check out this week's giveaway here!

Ever read this book? We love Dr. Seuss, and this one's a classic. We've borrowed it a few times from the library, and this time around decided to make an afternoon of it and make our own oobleck after reading it.

The art basket

Check out this week's giveaway here!

I found this basket a few months ago at Bed, Bath & Beyond and have absolutely loved it! I think it's supposed to be for picnic supplies, but we use it for the kids art stuff... paper, crayons, markers, colored pencils, scissors, stencils, small notebooks, stickers, glue and water color paints. When the kids want to color or draw all I have to do is set this on the table and they can choose whatever they want to use. Everything is in one place and is easily accessible. Ahhh, how I love to feel organized :)