A super easy craft project

This might be one of the easiest craft projects ever and it took me forever (years, really!) to get around to doing it. (this one is for you Julie!)

Take some pasta, any shape will do as long as it has a hole in it. We used whole wheat penne pasta because that’s what I had in the cabinet.

In a little plastic bag put 2t vinegar, 10-12 drops of food coloring, and 1/2c pasta. Seal it well and shake. A lot. This was Eve’s favorite part. Repeat as needed for as many colors as you want to make.

Let the pasta sit in the dye for five minutes, shaking occasionally. Or a lot. Whatever.

Dump the pasta out onto newspaper to dry. We made four colors and I tried to put each one in it’s own corner, but I let Eve help and therefore many of the wet noodles touched, causing pretty streaking patterns.

Let dry for 15 minutes then turn the pieces over. This sounds very precise. I dumped them from one piece of newspaper to another (dry) piece. Lots of mixing occurred at this point but they were dry enough that it didn’t matter much.

Let sit for awhile longer (we left them for about 4hrs until after school) then grab a string and go to town! Eve made a necklace for her classmate :) You can also use them for gluing pretty pictures on paper, or counting and sorting, or countless other random activities.

Have fun!

pasta necklaces - p1

pasta necklaces - p2

pasta necklaces - p3

Applesauce :-(

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I’m feeling like the world’s worst mom right now! Eve went apple picking with her class today (I got to chaperon!) and when she got home she wanted to make applesauce. We worked so hard, side by side, but while it was cooking I got distracted (darn cellphone games!) and burned the applesauce! I feel awful! She was going to bring it to school tomorrow to share with her class. Sob.  She is so sweet and she keeps consoling me and saying it’s okay. That just makes me feel even guiltier! Ahhh…  parenting is tough.

Glasses!

We made a last minute stop at the eye doctor’s to pick up Eve’s glasses yesterday. She was excited and happy and bouncy at the doctor’s office. They adjusted the glasses and Eve said they were great. Puppy got to come too.

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That lasted all of about 15 minutes. Then she said they hurt and took them off. For the rest of the day, and today, I’ve been reminding her every half hour or so to put them back on. She’ll wear them for a few minutes then take them off. I don’t think they make enough of a difference to really motivate her to wear them. It’s definitely a learning experience. :) She gets smiles from everyone we pass though. I mean she normally does, but now with the glasses she gets even more looks. Some old lady yesterday commented to her old lady friend that Eve’s curly hair and blue glasses were so wonderful and adorable. She didn’t say it directly to us, but she wasn’t exactly quiet either :) I, of course, agree!

Back to the eye doctor

If you remember our first trip to the eye doctor you will wonder who the little girl is I’ll be talking about in this blog post. This morning I somehow managed to find me a sweet, cooperative, almost, dare I say it, eager little girl to accompany me to the optometrist.

waiting room

Playing in the waiting room.

Same time, same place, six months later we went back to the eye doctor. A few days ago she decided that she was going to “look into the big tube!” and since that announcement she has been quite agreeable to the discussion. When we went to the first room she happily looked into the big machine and told me there was a picture of a farm in there, “but it had no animals at all.” Then she giggled at the next machine that put little puffs of air into her eyes. I thought for sure that one would be the end of our trip, but nope, giggles instead.

the long tube

Looking into "the big tube." Like her curly pig tails? I think they are so adorable!

In the doctors office she climbed right up into the chair, helped the doctor, answered all the questions, sat still, and did an phenomenal job! She didn’t even fuss when the doctor put drops in her eyes!

crazy girl

Crazy girl!

The results… astigmatism in her right eye and less than perfect vision in both. Apparently the left eye is less less than perfect, so her vision is unbalanced. I have the same problem :/ I can’t say I’m surprised, but I am bummed.

We read a few books after the doctor left, then ventured out into the eye glass area where Eve picked out a new pair of glasses. And a case. She is most excited about the case. So far she is surprisingly amenable to the idea of wearing glasses. I tried to get her to pick a cute pair of wire rimmed ones (like this cute little girl in Lex’s class), but she wanted the thicker plastic frames that are very similar to a pair of sunglasses she wears. I think maybe the nose-bridge pieces bothered her on the wire rimmed glasses. I figured that since she was the one who was going to wear them every single day (we hope!) then she should be able to pick whichever ones she wants.

trying on frames

Trying on frames. She had that overbite going on the whole time. I think it's a nervous thing. I liked these pink ones...

 

blue frames

She likes the blue ones....(I could not get her to smile without the teeth!)

She was a little bummed to leave without them, but mostly sad she had to leave without the case. She picked a pink and black case and was quite happy about it :) Silly girl.

Since she did such an amazing job at the doctor’s office, and since the appointment took so long I had to scrap my grocery shopping plans anyway, we ended up walking around and killing time for awhile. She wanted pizza, which was great, but it was only 10am so we walked to the nearby pizza place but they were closed. Then she asked for ice cream so we walked the other direction to the ice cream place but they too were closed, for the season of course. We ended up walking back again and she picked out some crappy candy from the gas station. It was an awkward period of time to fill, not enough time to really do anything, but a little too long to just do nothing, especially on the side of the road :) After all our walking we got back in the car and headed to a pizza joint near her school. She was thrilled.

running

After almost two hours inside, she was ready to run!
Good thing there was a wide open lot nearby.

 

pacman

Eve played her first game of Ms. Pac Man today. Turns out she prefers the game when it is in demo mode better :)

 

pizza

Pizza!

Next week we go back and pick them up. Now begins the journey on teaching a 4yr old to properly wear and handle glasses. The tech said that Eve was the first young child she ever saw that knew how to put on glasses properly. I guess all those years of wearing sunglasses paid off there.

Welcome to a new journey in parenting.

Eve’s first day of Pre-K

happy kids

Lex decided today would be a good day for a
"first day of school" photo. OK!

This morning went MUCH better than yesterday. Both kids were happy in the morning and eager to go to school. Eve had her backpack packed and ready as we headed to Lex’s school. She was disappointed to find out we had to go back to our house for the morning. She wanted to head right to school :)

right for the puddle

Guess where they are heading... right for the puddle, of course!

 

eve outside

I love this girl!

Eve and I spent the morning at home, exercising, reading, playing Starfall, eating lunch, etc. Good times. Then back out in the rain to bring her to school. In her classroom I asked if she wanted me to stick around for a few minutes and she said, “Nope, you can go!” At least she gave me hugs and kisses before kicking me out. :)

 

eve

Eve at her school.

 

artwork

Eve's best friend is in morning Pre-K and Eve is in the afternoon session, but we discovered they can leave things for each other in their cubbies. Eve colored a picture so her friend will have a surprise when she gets to school tomorrow.

 

sand

I left her in the sandbox, of course. Happily playing.

Now I have a little less than two hours to tackle a MOUNTAIN of things that have been building up and slowly creeping out of control. So what do I do first? Hot tea and a blog post, with a little FB and blog reading tucked in as well. It’s no wonder I don’t get much done. Gheesh.

Seriously though, I’m super proud of my kids. They are both growing up so fast and becoming such sweet, happy individuals. Lex’s teacher told me he had a great day and she was impressed with how honest (her word) he was. Apparently during his crying yesterday he kept saying, “I just miss my mom. I’ll be ok soon, but now I just miss my mom.” I think she was surprised by how articulate he is. He gave her a big hello this morning and she seemed happy to see him. Eve is comfortable and confident in her new classroom. What more can a mother ask for?!

PS. Did you notice my sidebar came back? I knew it would. Vacation must be over for it too! —>

A silly first

Eve’s first drink from a tin can… that I know of! She was a little unsure about the whole thing. After the first sip she tried to stick her tongue in the can! Eek! Luckily it didn’t get stuck or cut.

Eve

This was from a few days ago but I was having photo uploading issues, so here it is now :)

Five lines

It took her an hour and a half, but she wrote those five lines this morning!

Writing lines

Writing lines...

Her reward… homemade blueberry pie!

pie

... and eating pie! Not bad for 9am on a Wednesday morning.

 

lex

Lex got some too, of course. Unforunately he didn't finish his piece so I had to help. Really. I HAD to. It was delicious!