Zoo Journal

For Emily’s birthday, we splurged on a family membership to our local zoo. Since we plan to make many trips there throughout the year, I thought it would be fun for her to keep a zoo journal filled with sketches of all the animals she sees! It was a beautiful day, so most of the […]

Felted Easter Eggs

The girls and I had so much fun making these CUTE felted Easter eggs! To make your own, you will need some wool roving. If you have trouble finding wool roving, you can purchase it online here. Start by filling a pitcher with some very warm water, and add a few tablespoons of dish soap. […]

Story Stones and Sidewalk Scenes

For some cheap creative fun, draw on some rocks with a fine point permanent marker to make your own story stones. Once your characters and props are all made up, take them out to your driveway and….. ….with a little chalk, draw up some scenery for your imaginative story! Emily loves to make up stories, […]

Catching Leprechauns

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we thought it would be fun to lure some leprechauns into our house for good luck. Armed with a pair of Clara’s old baby shoes and some colorful chalk, we made green footprints on the sidewalk leading into the house! Emily told me not to forget about the rainbow. […]

Sunday Snapshot — At the Playground

Last week, the girls and I packed some sandwiches, kidnapped Mark from work, and went to a nearby playground during his lunch hour. We had so much fun! Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Flower Arranging 101 — Dollar Store Style

With more snow forecasted for today, this sweet flower arrangement was a nice reminder that Spring will be coming soon! Isn’t it so bright and cheerful? Emily put it together all by herself, and the best part is that all of the materials for this craft either came from the thrift store or the dollar […]

Welcoming Spring

We found butterflies flying all over Emily’s room this afternoon! Good thing she has a handy butterfly net! Tissue Paper + Pipe Cleaners + Fan = Happy Kiddo

$5 Friday — Dollar Store Smiles Edition

When will the snow ever end??? I don’t know about you guys, but all this whiteness and being cooped up in the house for far too long was enough to drive us all a little coo-coo. So this afternoon I took Emily with me to the dollar store for another $5 Friday adventure! This time […]

Sunny Day

We made our own sunshine today! There was lots of sunbathing…. …jumping around in our bathing suits, dancing to music by The Beach Boys… …reading trashy novels (or library books)…. …and what beach day would be complete without ice pops? Now, if you’ll excuse me…. I think I hear my piña colada calling.

Spring is Here! (Sort of…)

Winter can be dark, dreary, and COLD here in Pennsylvania. This year, we thought it would be fun to trick that stupid groundhog into predicting an early Spring. We went outside armed with tons of tissue paper flowers…. ….and planted them all over the place! Soon, it was very colorful! Some flowers bloomed from bushes…. […]

Weekend Rewind — Indoor Sandbox

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend! Here’s a fun post from our archives, and one that I talked about on our debut for The 10! Show. The girls had so much fun with this indoor sandbox, and it’s a great activity even the littlest ones can enjoy! One of the things Emily misses the most […]

Happy Birthday, Bubble Wrap!

Bubble Wrap is turning 50 years old this Monday! We’ll use any excuse to celebrate!! We save and reuse this stuff all the time. It was the perfect excuse to bring it out for the girls to enjoy! Bubble wrap was originally intended as a new kind of wallpaper, but soon after became used as […]

Indoor Snow Picnic

The girls wanted to have a picnic snack this afternoon, so we made an indoor snow picnic — it was so much fun! Clara, still in her pajamas, was delighted to see this set up in our living room. Emily helped me hang some leftover wrapping paper up on the wall, and we used white […]

Volunteering Fun at the Food Co-op

I took Emily with me for a fun day of volunteering at our local food co-op! The co-op features lots of fabulous local, organic food: cereals, pastas, meats, cheeses, eggs, milk, etc. She was very excited to be able to help out. We both put on our aprons and got to work — we were […]

Cheap Thrills — Indoor Hopscotch

It was far too cold outside to run around and play. Instead, we made a hopscotch grid in our foyer using masking tape on the floor! The girls got lots of exercise! (I did too.) We have slate flooring in our foyer, so Emily practiced writing her numbers with chalk. You could also add the […]

Weekend Rewind — Homemade Hockey Table

Hope everyone is enjoying a lovely weekend! Here’s a fun post from our archives. Our entire family enjoyed many memories of hockey tournaments on our homemade table, and when we were done it was so simple to convert back to our regular coffee table. Be sure to check back tomorrow for a great giveaway from […]

Because Mark and I Never Grew Up

After dinner, we cleared off the table, covered it all using a roll of craft paper and some masking tape, and gathered every crayon in the house for a few hours of family drawing time. Yes, the dishes are still in the sink. No, I really don’t care about them. What I care about is […]

Cheap Thrills — Indoor Ice Skating

For a good time, wrap sheets of wax paper around your feet into make-shift “skates” with rubber bands. Play waltz music on your stereo. “Skate” over the carpet!! Please note — be careful! It is very slippery, but lots of fun! Check out the look of determination on Clara’s face. She napped quite well after […]