finger painting

I desire for my son to enjoy "art projects" so the two of us can "create" together.  :)  I'm not saying he needs to be a blooming artist, but I just desire him to appreciate and understand the process.  I continue to expose him to different types of activities, hoping it will spark an interest.  I wouldn't say he is "in love" with any of the things we try, yet we still incorporate stickers, play dough, coloring, markers, etc. into our routines.  Recently I found this recipe for homemade finger paint on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try.  Don't little boys like to get messy!?  It was pretty simple and I had everything I needed in the house.  It made a big batch so I figured it would allow us to do lots of painting.  I was eager to try it out with him.  Lets just say he had little interest in getting his fingers in the paint.  He wanted to use plastic utensils to spread around the paint instead of his fingers and every time a tiny bit of blue paint got on his fingers he pointed at me, asking me to wipe it off.  Ha!  We will keep trying...

A beautiful piece of artwork, none the less.  :)  

Bass Pro Shops

A few weekends ago we had a Sunday family outing to Bass Pro Shops (and stopped at Dunkin' Donuts on the way).  :)  This was Hudson's first time and he had a blast - both looking around and running around.  The boats were certainly his favorite part, as they were the first thing we "checked out" and the last thing we "shopped for" before leaving.  Anything that has a steering wheel to drive and a button to push is totally Hudson's thing (like most little boys).  We didn't buy anything, just went to explore, look around, and get out of the house, all while staying warm.  

"These boats have so many buttons to push."  

"Cool fish...."

"That cat is looking right at us and he is so still."  

"There is just so much to see here."  

"Daddy, can we go to the Boundary Waters together someday?  I would love to ride in a canoe."  

"What is this little tent for?  I never knew there was such a thing as ice fishing?"  

i created :: "SNOW" Dough

This homemade play dough is one I have used for years.  I really like it because it uses Kool-aid instead of food coloring so it smells like grapes, oranges, or strawberries (depending upon the flavor you use).  I made this play dough often when I was teaching Kindergarten for the little ones to play with during "center time" and it was always a hit.  Earlier this month I made a batch for our "First Friday" play group.  I didn't add food coloring or Kool-aid because I wanted it to be white, like snow.  Instead I added lots of glitter to make it sparkle like snow.  There you have it...."snow" dough!  Perfect for these cold winter days so children can play with the snow indoors too.  :)  

Kool-aid Play Dough 

(aka "SNOW" dough)

Boil 2 cups water.  Add 6 T. oil and food coloring.  Stir in 1/2 cup salt, 1 T. alum and 4 cups flour.  Knead this together and store in an airtight container once its cooled.  To vary this recipe, its fun to add 1 package of Kool-aid instead of food coloring.  It adds a fun scent.  

Mr. Snowman

Even though all of the snow has melted around here I still have a few snow pictures to share.  Roy and Hudson (mostly Roy I think) built this snowman together on a Monday afternoon when I was tutoring.  Now that Mr. Snowman has melted Hudson keeps saying he is "bye bye."  

Mr. Snowman

"This is my first time building a snowman.  Pretty cool stuff!"  

Hudson kept talking to the snowman and saying "Hi...Hi..."  

"I think we are going to be buddies."  

sledding

On New Years Day Hudson had his first sledding experience, also making it our first as a family.  We joined the Scherer family, as they have a perfect spot close to their home.  We raced, laughed, played and enjoyed hot chocolate together afterwards.  N, A, & T, thanks for the "cold" and "warm" memories.  Maybe we can start a new tradition.  :)  Your friendship is a blessing.  

  

Ready to go!  

The two little "marshmallow boys" in their winter gear.  

Working together to get up the hill.  

I love these two more than words can describe.  It was wonderful having lots of family time after Christmas.  Cherished memories!    

ISU Tailgate - Swinger Style

On January 31st the ISU Cyclones played in a bowl game.  Even though we weren't lucky enough to go to Memphis for the game (I didn't really mind one bit :) we still got together with family to watch the game.  We headed over to Lynn and Jacy's home and had our own "tailgate" and watched the game.  Yummy food, time with family, relaxing, and warm by the fireplace - just the way I like it.  

Lynn with Clara, wearing the shirt she gave her.   

Taking in a few minutes of the game with Papa Ed.  

Go State!  We had to bring a little shirt for Clara (one of Hudson's old ones) since she is not "fully equipped" with ISU gear.  Aunt Jenna, her Mommy, is a K State fan.  :(  

Playing during the game with his new blocks.  

Giving Clara lots of love and attention, trying to get her to smile.  

Having fun running around and exploring with Daddy upstairs after nap time.  

Christmas (Part 3)

On Christmas morning Hudson and I went to Ed and Sue's for breakfast and time to play.  Daddy was at work so wasn't able to join us.  :(  Hudson showed up in his pajamas, which Gma Sue especially thought was fun. 

Posing for a picture by the Christmas tree in his little rocking chair, while hugging the teddy bear.  Sweet boy!

Eating yummy breakfast in his special keepsake dishes.  

Quality time with Papa Ed, watching videos on his phone.  

Christmas morning wouldn't be complete without a gift to open.  

And of course playing the piano is a MUST when going to Grandma's house.  

Christmas (part 2)

On December 25th we traveled to NW Iowa to have Christmas with my side of the family, the Bomgaars.  Here are a few pictures of how we spent our time there.  

resting and relaxing...

opening gifts...

enjoying time with Aunt Angela...

 being with Daddy...

eating...

Christmas (part 1)

Here begins the series of Christmas posts.  I will start with our celebration, just the 3 of us.  Roy had to work Dec. 22-25 so Hudson and I had some "normal at home days."  This did however give us the opportunity to celebrate together as our family of three here at home, which was wonderful.  I made a nice dinner, we finished up our advent candle reading and singing, and followed up with gifts.  It seems that we didn't do the best job of taking pictures, only got a few of Hudson and none of Roy and I.  :)  

Hudson totally had this unwrapping presents thing down, no problem.  

Roy gave him a snow shovel and he walked right to the door and knew what to do with it.  Like father like son.  :)  

Hudson and I reading his new John Deere ABC book.  

Posing for a picture before opening his "gold gift."  Inside was a train set!  Hours of fun and adventure to come with this gift.  

ELMO

Sometime during the past few weeks Hudson has made a new friend...Elmo.  He first came to recognize Elmo on his disposable place mats that we take to restaurants.  He automatically started saying "Elmo...Elmo..." whenever he saw him when we were out and about.  To my surprise I quickly discovered that Elmo stuff is everywhere.  Who knew?  I later found this stuffed Elmo (pictures below), an Elmo book and an Elmo ice pack that we had here at home without even knowing we had it.  :)  At the library Hudson picks out Elmo books from the shelves and he finds the Elmo balloons and napkins at the party store.  Oh man!  And yes, we have even let him watch a few Elmo clips on youtube.  Ha!  I'm not planning to buy him an Elmo shirt or throw him an Elmo birthday party anytime soon, but we will have fun with it for now, even if that means feeding the fun furry friend dinner too!  

a few others...

I thought it would be fun to share a few more of the other pictures we took that didn't make "the cut" for our family Christmas picture this year.  A BIG shout out goes to Auntie Lynn (for helping us get Hudson's attention by acting silly) and Aunt Jenna (for capturing lots of fun pictures for us to choose from - 179 to be exact).  

So here they are...