As a stay-at-home-mama, it can be really easy to just fall into the trap of "surviving the day". What I mean is...not doing anything productive with my kids...just letting them play by themselves and watch Dora all day long all the while wishing Daddy would just walk through the door already and trying (in vain) to keep a spotless house. In Dora's defense, my kids are speaking all kinds of Spanish. Just today, Lilly said, "Look, it's rojo! (red)" But I digress. So, I plan stuff for us to do in our schedule that I consider to be "productive" so that it is a priority. For example, we take weekly trips to the library for story time and puzzles and we check books out that we read all week long. We go to the park when it isn't 1,000 degrees outside. We go to the zoo. We play with friends. We sing songs with motions and talk and I answer--to the best of my ability--any questions that come up. I play pretend with the kids in their playroom. That doesn't mean that they don't play by themselves or watch Dora...because, um, they DO...it just means that isn't ALL we do. Another thing we like to do is craft time and this post is dedicated to a few of the "crafts" we like to do.
Reid and Lilly LOVE to paint.
So, a couple of weeks leading up to Father's Day--we painted lots of picture frames!
They both loved making something for Daddy. They kept telling him they painted and I would be like, "I don't know what they are talking about!" because I was keeping it a surprise! Ha!
Lilly loves to use several different brushes but her MOST FAVORITE color is p-i-n-k.
This is what they looked like when they were done. I took candid pictures of Matt spending time with the kids and then put them in each of the frames.
I L-O-V-E love the "big hug" ones, too!
This is what the table looked like when Matt got up Father's Day morning.
We also made this canvas of their handprints as lightning bugs to hang on the door. (Eventually it is going to hang on the garage door...when we get it cleaned up enough to actually park in there. Eek.) I LOVE how this turned out. (I know I am over-using LOVE but I will probably do it a few more times in this post...consider yourselves warned. (c:) I got the idea for this looking through Oriental Trading Co craft catalog. They had a kit where you could make foam handprint lightening bugs for camp and I knew I wanted to say something about how much better our lives are when he is with us (because they really are)! So lightening bugs--brighter--perfect!
MoMo bought Lilly and Reid these Mickey and Minnie sculptures to paint. They had so much fun. Look how serious Reid is---mouth open, focused look, and going in for the brush stroke.
He took it so seriously!
LOVE that boy!
Lilly had a blast, too. She enjoyed painting the cardboard under Minnie as much as she enjoyed painting Minnie.
LOVE this little ar-teest.
They are proudly displayed on our mantle. I know what you are wondering...how did I end up with TWO child prodigies??? (:
Then there is always our normal crayons, markers, and stampers. I got these giant coloring books at the Dollar Tree. Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe this is the BEST bargain at the dollar tree. It also comes with a giant page of stickers...all for $1!!!
I got the short markers at the dollar section in Target. I highly recommend these! They always have them there with different characters. They are perfect for little hands. Also, for crayons, we use the twistable crayons. Our little destructive boy can't snap them in two! Okay, that is all of my art suggestions-back to the art work.
Lilly is super into stamps right now. She calls it "popping it" because she "pops" it on the paper. It cracks me up to hear her say, "Mommy-I wanna pop it!"
Could she be cuter? I think not!
Reid always says, "Mommy, I wanna "co-yer" (color). Precious!
We are about to start on birthday party crafts. I plan on using their artwork and pictures to decorate the party. I am a sucker for all things handprint!!!!
A close up of MY FAVORITE picture from below. 
Okay--this post has some of my new favorite pictures in it. Just FYI. Last weekend we went to Benton (a separate post on that later) and Sunday while we were hanging outside by the pool, DeDe brought out some bubbles. It might be worth noting that my children love (as in big red HEART) bubbles!
Waiting for the bubbles to be poured in. I am such a sucker for a picture of them from behind playing. It is just sweet!
Trying to figure out the fancy wand.
Reid double-fisted wands for a while.
She figured it out! Smarty. Look at how much fun she is having!
Side-by-side photo. Love.
Ha! Reid is getting hit in the face with a bubble. I was sitting right in the flow of the bubbles so I can relate. Of course it was so hot outside that even the mist of a popping bubble was welcomed. (:
Action-shot!
Love that sweet smile. She is still wearing her swim buoy...which she calls her "egg".
Amazed by the bubbles!
This photo just shows so much of her (I want to say "little" but really...it is BIG) personality.
Aunt Kay started making bubbles too to keep them flowing consistently. It is hard to keep the bubbles going when you stop to chase them down and pop them in between, you know.
Chasing bubbles!
Reaching out to pop the bubbles. Reid was hilarious. Every time he (or Lilly) popped a bubble he would get excited and say, "I got it!"
I think he may be getting DeDe in this picture. (; He keeps us on our toes. We love it.
MY FAVORITE!!!! Look at his sweet face! Priceless. I can honestly say that the adults were just as entertained by these ginormous bubbles as the kids were! They were awesome!
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