Christmas fun

I wanted to post this before Christmas! Here are a few things we have been doing to enjoy the break from school! First, the kids decorated a gingerbread man. This was a kit that was purchased from Trader Joe's.






I think they had more fun eating the stuff than actually decorating. The funny thing is, I actually asked them not to eat the stuff because they already had a treat that day. Once they started eating it, how could I stop them? I mean, eating the decorations is the best part!


Here he is. I did the icing because it was too hard for them to do but I followed where they told me to put it.

A few days later we had a friend over to make gingerbread (or graham cracker) houses. E saw some gingerbread houses at a friend's house and really wanted to take it home with him so I promised we would make one. So I took the kids to the store so they could pick out the stuff. I decided to get a box of graham crackers so that everyone could make their own mini house. I looked at the "kits" at Dominick's and it was $15 for a house that was already constructed and then you would have to buy everything to decorate the house separately. I wanted each kid to have their own house. I also bought one big can of frosting and opted not to get the colored icing but instead mixed up some frosting with some food coloring. Then the kids got to pick a few candies. They chose M&M's, jelly beans, and gum drops. Plus we got a can of assorted sprinkles.

Here they are hard at work.









Once they got to work, I almost regretted not getting the pre-constructed house because they had a hard time getting the houses put together and I ended up doing all of the building. However, they did have a good time decorating and of course eating their work.

I also remembered that we had cones left over from our ice cream party this summer and let E decorate a cone with green frosting to make a tree. He added some M&M's and a yellow gum drop on the top.


The finished houses.





I think it is safe to write about this one! This project the kids did for their parents as a Christmas gift. I bought a box of clear glass ornaments and let the kids squirt a few colors of acrylic paint inside. Then they shook them and twisted them to get the paint all over the inside.





After they were finished, I turned them upside down to drain on some paper towel.


Then I put the tops back on and wrapped it in a piece of paper the kids had painted on. I think they turned out really cute. The kids were a lot more careful with the glass than I expected and none of them got broke!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Museum Adventure Pass

I found this at the library a few months ago and have been meaning to post about it. You can now check out museum passes at your local library from now until August 31, 2011.

Here is the information that is in the brochure I have:

1. Check out a Museum Adventure Pass using your library card at your home library.
Libraries have a limited number of passes for each participating organization. Passes are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Passes cannot be reserved or checked out online or on the phone. We look forward to your library visit!

2. One Museum Adventure Pass may be checked out per family, per loan period.
The loan period is SEVEN DAYS and can only be used once. Admission offers vary per museum. If no admission is charged, another special discount will be available. Details can be found at http://www.museumadventure.org/.

3. Passes are limited to general admission.
Each organization's page at http://www.museumadventure.org/ gives specific dates when passes cannot be used, and other restrictions that may apply.

Let the Adventure Begin
History and culture that excite and inspire, gardens that engage and soothe, hands-on discovery that educates and entertains- all of these and more are waiting for you at over 160 public libraries throughout the Chicago suburbs. Use your library card to receive a Museum Adventure Pass, presented by Macy's, and get free admission or a special discount, depending on location, at one of these Chicago are museums. Series runs September 1, 2010- August 31, 2011.

Participating Museums and Cultural Institutions:
Air Classics Museum of Air and Space
Arlington Heights Museum
Bronzeville Children's Museum
Brookfield Zoo
Cantigny Park
Chicago Botanic Garden
The Children's Museum in Oak Lawn
Cuneo Museum and Gardens
Elgin History Museum
Elgin Public Museum
Graue Mill and Museum
Hellenic Museum
KidsWork Children's Museum
Lake County Discovery Museum
Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
Morton Arboretum
Oriental Institute Museum
St. Charles Heritage Museum

Check out the website to see what each of these locations offer.

Here is the list of participating libraries:
Acorn Public Library District
Addison Public Library District
Algonquin Area Public Library District
Alsip-Merrionette Park Public Library District
Antioch Public Library District
Arlington Heights Memorial Library
Aurora Public Library
Barrington Area Library
Bartlett Public Library District
Batavia Public Library District
Bedford Park Public Library District
Beecher Community Library District
Bellwood Public Library
Bensenville Community Public Library District
Berkeley Public Library
Berwyn Public Library
Bloomingdale Public Library
Blue Island Public Library
Bridgeview Public Library
Broadview Public Library District
Brookfield Public Library
Calumet City Public Library
Calumet Park Public Library
Carol Stream Public Library
Cary Area Public Library District
Chicago Heights Public Library
Chicago Ridge Public Library
Cicero Public Library
Clarendon Hills Public Library
Cook Memorial Public Library District
Crestwood Public Library District
Crete Public Library District
Crystal Lake Public Library
Deerfield Public Library
Des Plaines Public Library
Des Plaines Valley Public Library District
Dolton Public Library District
Downers Grove Public Library
Dundee Township Public Library District
Eisenhower Public Library District
Ela Area Public Library District
Elk Grove Village Public Library
Elmhurst Public Library
Elmwood Park Public Library
Evanston Public Library
Evergreen Park Public Library
Flossmoor Public Library
Forest Park Public Library
Fountaindale Public Library District
Fox Lake Public Library District
Fox River Grove Memorial Library
Frankfort Public Library District
Franklin Park Public Library District
Fremont Public Library District
Gail Borden Public Library District
Geneva Public Library District
Glen Ellyn Public Library
Glencoe Public Library
Glenside Public Library District
Glenview Public Library
Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library District
Grande Prairie Public Library District
Grayslake Area Public Library District
Green Hills Public Library District
Harvey Public Library District
Helen M Plum Memorial Library
Highland Park Public Library
Hillside Public Library
Hinsdale Public Library
Hodgkins Public Library District
Homer Township Public Library District
Homewood Public Library District
Huntley Area Public Library District
Indian Prairie Public Library District
Indian Trails Public Library District
Itasca Community Library
Joliet Public Library
Justice Public Library District
Kaneville Public Library District
La Grange Park Public Library District
La Grange Public Library
Lake Bluff Public Library
Lake Forest Library
Lake Villa Public Library District
Lansing Public Library
Lemont Public Library District
Lincolnwood Public Library District
Lisle Library District
Lyons Public Library
Manhattan-Elwood Public Library
Markham Public Library
Matteson Public Library
Maywood Public Library District
McCook Public Library District
McHenry Public Library District
Melrose Park Public Library
Messenger Public Library of North Aurora
Midlothian Public Library
Mokena Community Public Library District
Morton Grove Public Library
Mount Prospect Public Library
Nancy L McConathy Public Library District
Naperville Public Library
New Lenox Public Library District
Niles Public Library District
North Chicago Public Library
North Riverside Public Library
Northbrook Public Library
Northlake Public Library District
Oak Brook Public Library
Oak Lawn Public Library
Oak Park Public Library
Orland Hills Public Library
Tinley Park Public Library
Orland Park Public Library
Oswego Public Library District
Palatine Public Library District
Palos Heights Public Library
Palos Park Public Library
Park Forest Public Library
Park Ridge Public Library
Peotone Public Library District
Plainfield Public Library District
Poplar Creek Public Library District
Posen Public Library
Markham Public Library
Prairie Trails Public Library District
Prospect Heights Public Library District
Richton Park Public Library District
River East Public Library
River Forest Public Library
River Grove Public Library District
Riverdale Public Library District
Riverside Public Library
Rolling Meadows Library
Roselle Public Library District
Round Lake Area Public Library District
Schaumburg Township District Library
Schiller Park Public Library
Skokie Public Library
South Holland Public Library
St. Charles Public Library
Steger-South Chicago Heights Library District
Stickney-Forest View Public Library District
Sugar Grove Public Library District
Summit Public Library District
Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Thornton Public Library
Tinley Park Public Library
Town and Country Public Library District
University Park Public Library District
Vernon Area Public Library District
Villa Park Public Library
Warren-Newport Public Library District
Warrenville Public Library District
Wauconda Area Public Library District
Waukegan Public Library
West Chicago Public Library District
Westchester Public Library
Westmont Public Library
Wheaton Public Library
William Leonard Public Library
Wilmette Public Library District
Winfield Public Library
Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District
Wood Dale Public Library District
Woodridge Public Library
Worth Public Library District
Zion-Benton Public Library District

A few more Children's Museum pictures

A while back I took the kids to the children's museum again. I won't go into all of the details again. If you want, you can go back and read my older posts about it. I want to work on tagging all of my posts so that it is easier to find them. Anyway, I did want to share some of the pictures from that day.

Here is one of E in the wood working area. I finally gave in a let him go in there. I didn't want to in the past just because we had M with us. I didn't really think it was age appropriate for her and I knew that she would get bored easily and there was nothing in there for her. On this day I gave in. It was a day that I was making M skip nap in order to get back on schedule (after their trip to Australia) and she was very tired. I just held her most of the time so she could rest.
Making music.

Playing with gears.

In the big bubble.

If you look closely, you can see M about to pop the bubble. If you look at E's face, you can see that he is yelling "noooo M."

Dress up

As promised, here are the dress up pictures.
This is the tutu that I made for M. I don't have a picture of her wearing it for some reason.
Aarrrg. This also ended up being her Halloween costume.

Princess for a day (or an hour).

Here is the whole thing but with messy hair.

By the way, she now carries this purse with her when ever we go somewhere. She says to me "I have a purse just like you do."

Little Monkey Buziness in Wheaton

Over the summer Little Monkey Buziness opened a new location in Wheaton so M and I went to check it out. It is on Butterfield Rd just a few doors down from Whole Foods. I really like this new location. They have a lot of similar things as the one in Western Springs with a few new things.
They have a little touch screen computer that you can use to trace letters or color pictures. There were more games on there but we didn't try those.

They also had a set of big foam blocks.

And a new structure that I thought was kind of cool. This one also has a dress up area with a dance floor. I thought this was a nice addition.

This is inside the big structure. It also included the swings like the one in Western Springs.

Here is M sliding on her belly down the big slide.

This one had the tree house too!

Riding toys are always a fun thing to have.

They did not have the playhouse that M really liked at the other location. I didn't get a picture of it but the had four sided climbing structure that was like a soft rock climbing wall. This location also had the bounce house but my pictures of it didn't turn out. They also had an art room but we never made it in there so I couldn't tell you if it was any good. It was big and I did see paints set out. Also, I saw a sign as we walked in saying that they have story time on Wednesdays at 11 with an art project after. I would love to do that if it were a bit earlier. We would have to leave early in order to get E from school. Other specials they have going on right now, early bird discount on Mondays, $1 off admission before 10 am. Tuesdays and Fridays are family night from 5-8. This includes a reduced admission of $5 after 5 and $2 pizza by the slice with drink specials. You cannot bring outside food during this time. Thursdays they have $5 admission after 3 pm. I think we may have to try that one. On Saturday and Sunday they have open play from 9-noon and private parties in the afternoon. I also saw that they are collecting toys for tots and for those who bring an unwrapped new toy can monkey around for less. I could not find anything saying how much less.

Random cute pictures of the kids

Here are some other random pictures.

I love it when they hold hands.
M and some friends taking a break from jumping at Monkey Joe's.

Drinking milk out of her cereal. Yes she has a cup of milk right next to her.

We went to the pet store and we got to play with the sweetest husky puppy! I think all three of us were bummed that we could not take her home with us! We went back a few days later and not surprisingly, she was gone.

More fun in the leaves

The next day we played in the leaves again and I got a really cute picture of the kids laying in the leaves.
I also found some photo editing software for my phone and had to try out a few different edits.

I really like this one except I wish I could change where the blurring is because it is right on the faces. But I guess if their faces would have been centered more, that wouldn't be a problem.

Fall Fun

This afternoon the kids and I took a walk around the block to collect whatever we could find, leaves, sticks, flowers, etc. We even came home with some grass and a few bugs. It was a nice walk. Both of them got into looking for things and it was the first time around the block that I didn't have to carry M at all! Once we got back we did some art with everything we found. I got a big piece of paper and put it on the kitchen floor. We did some leaf rubbings and then glued everything on the paper. I'm not sure how well some of the stuff will stay but we all had fun. I didn't get any pictures unfortunately.

After our art project we went outside to play in the leaves. The front yard now has enough leaves to play in. E and I raked the leaves into a big pile (M helped by picking them up and putting them in the pile). They had a great time running through the pile, throwing the leaves, and pushing a riding toy through the pile. I only had my phone with me but still took a bunch of pictures.

E even pushed M on the riding toy through the pile.

Of course I had to try and get some pictures of them sitting in the leaves.

And they had to make silly faces.

Right before I got a face full of leaves.

I mentioned that I didn't have my camera with me today and E said that we could just make a pile again when I do have my camera. Of course! It was a great way to spend the afternoon.