Rainy Day Rainbow

Ok, here it is... the project I mentioned in my last post! This project was SO much fun! We decided since it was a rainy day that we would look for a rainbow -- in our house! Allison had her new camera, Natalie had my phone camera, and I was armed with my camera, as we set out in search for colorful objects around our house. We started with red, (which I soon realized was our most prolific color!) We just snapped away, and then used Picnik to edit the pictures and add the text of the color name! We then printed them onour photo paper, and cut them out.

Next, my husband helped me laminate them.


The next day was sunny, so we headed outside to add the eyelets. This was a perfect job for Allison!

Finally, we put the pages on a ring and tied ribbons for each color. I don't like this picture as much as I love the actual "book." The best part is, it was a fun project for the girls, as well. I think from here we will have to do a series. After "Colors" perhaps we'll do "Family," "Emotions," and "Objects." Fun, fun!

Here are all the color pages:

Lasagna Soup

Well, the weather took a turn for the worse and we went from a beautiful sunny day to a hail storm! I am so excited to tell you about our fun activities, but I am not quite finished, yet. Hopefully I will post more tonight! In the meantime, what's better than a bowl of hot soup on a rainy day? I discovered this recipe, and Daniel and I both LOVE it! The girls decided they liked it, too, but it took a little coaxing! Here's the recipe:

Lasagna Soup


Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage (bulk or with casings removed)
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
8 ounces fusilli pasta
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
8 ounces ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella

Instructions
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and sauté, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain any excess fat from the pot. Add the onions and sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and sauté until the paste turns a rusty brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the broth, and the bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add the pasta, then increase the heat to medium-high and boil the soup until the pasta is tender to the bite, following the time recommendations on the pasta package. Discard the bay leaves, then stir in the basil. If desired, season with salt and black pepper to taste.
In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, the Parmesan, the 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and the pinch of pepper. To serve, place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture in each bowl, sprinkle with some of the mozzarella, and ladle the soup on top. Makes about 13 cups.

Sunny Day

What do feathers, bubble wrap, toothbrushes, stamps, foam pieces, cardboard, popsicle sticks, q-tips, cotton balls, and paint brushes all have in common? You're right -- absolutely nothing! But, on a sunny day you can take them all outside to use as painting utensils! Luckily, we have lots of those sunny days here in Cali, so yesterday I took the girls outside for their craft time and let them go to town! It was a lot of fun to watch. I think Allison's favorite was painting with a feather, while Natalie enjoyed the stamps. When the girls asked for glitter as well, I figured -- what the heck; we're already outside! It was lots of fun! (We'll see if Daniel agrees when he comes home and sees the driveway!)

Conversation/ Prayer Jars

Friday at MOPS was a craft day... Want to guess what we made? I'll give you a hint; it's in the title! Yes, we had a blast creating either conversation or prayer jars. I'll admit, I got a little carried away with my "bling." I mean, come on... 50 women with scrapbooking materials? Who wouldn't go crazy? I've since peeled off a few of my "accessories," but overall I loved the project! I chose to make mine a prayer jar, and cut up several suggestions for prayers such as "Today thank God for something green." It is just perfect for my girls, and we are enjoying discovering new things to pray for each day! When they get a little older, the conversation jar will be perfect to stir up some dinner time talk.

Valentine's Cards

Last week we made Valentine's cards at our friend's house. (Always nice to make a mess at somebody else's house! :) ) The cards were cute, but not as cute as these cuties:

Thanks for the fun play date, Corrine!

3 months Old!

Spontaneous Fun!!

Now that Daniel is in paramedic school 70 miles away, I go into each week assuming I won't see him except on the weekends, and perhaps one or two nights if he happens to get off early. So, this has been our week:

• Monday morning, D: "I doubt I'll be home tonight. We have 200 slides to be lectured on." (Walks in the door by 5pm!)
• Tuesday morning, D: "I definitely won't come home tonight... Doubtful we'll get done early." (Walks in the door by 3:00pm!)
• Wednesday morning, D: "I am absolutely not coming home today!" Calls me at 7:15am, "The teacher is sick... want to meet me at Disneyland?"

Let's just say, this is turning out to be an awesome week! And, today was an awesome day! No crowds. Perfect weather. Happy Girls. A day with the family at the happiest place on earth. Thank you, God, for this wonderful gift!

• 

Groundhog's Day

Happy Groundhog's Day! We spent the morning celebrating all things groundhog with our Punxatawney Preschool!

Craft #1 included glue, scissors, AND paint! What more could a preschooler ask for?


After learning about this special day, we played a few shadow games. For the first game, we went into the bathroom, (the only room with no windows), and I held-up objects for the girls to guess what they were by looking at their shadow. Later, they just played this game by themselves!

For the second game, I hid a black sillhouette of a groundhog, (his shadow), and hid the shadow around the house. Once they found it, they got to be the hiders, and had to find it!

Our snack for the morning was mud and dirt... with a groundhog popping out, of course! I made the "mud" and groundhog sticks the night before, but let the girls hammer the "dirt."

Craft #2: a coloring page, and learning how to "read" Happy Groundhog's Day.

And, our final craft... groundhogs who "pop" out of their holes! We later used these as props during song time.


Allison during song time, take 1: Allison during song time, take 2:

Heart Waffles

Sometimes the best weekends are when there is nothing on the calendar. Such was the case this past weekend! Daniel let me sleep-in Saturday... well, as long as Sierra would let me! It was glorious! I woke-up to the smell of waffles, and was super excited to get up! My sweet husband had made them in the shape of hearts using our giant heart cookie cutter. (Should I tell him that we have a heart waffle iron?) :)

Family Time

One of the many benefits of hosting the fondue party at our house: LEFTOVERS! The girls were so excited to have a family fondue party the next night, using the meat... then, a cheese fondue party the following night! Of course, better yet was decorating the leftover cookies:


Gotta love Natalie's attempt to smile!


Would you like some cookie with your m&m's?


I'll let you guess who decorated this one :)