My baby B is not so much a baby anymore; this past weekend we celebrated his 2nd birthday! It’s surreal how one day I was rocking him to sleep, inhaling that sweet, intoxicating baby scent emanating from the top of his head, and the next day I’m moving him into his “big boy” bed… *sigh*. I am so fortunate to have been given the gift of time with my boys, although, I’ll admit, some days I am more thankful than others. Whenever I find myself wishing for a certain annoying/ challenging phase to pass, I’m reminded of what my grandpa M used to say, “quit wishing your life away. It goes by too fast as it is.” It’s not until I had my boys that I realized how clearly his words ring true. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wish to relive potty training with M, or to continuously mop up the copious amount of food B intentionally flings onto the floor in fits of defiance, but what I do wish for is patience, and the foresight to know that all of these challenging moments, along with the countless great ones, will soon be woven into the past, forming a tapestry of blurred, happy memories. In other words, I’m learning to embrace and relish in all the good moments, while stopping to do some deep breathing when submerged in the not-to-so-good ones :).
Read MoreSand Clay
Little B’s 2nd birthday is coming up, and we’re planning on having a beach themed party for him as soon as we return from another camping trip. I thought it would be fun to get the boys involved with creating some of the decorations for the party.
Read MorePainted Toast
We just got back from another weeklong camping trip and, as a result, the food in our house is pretty sparse. I wanted to make lunch appear a little more exciting than it actually was, so I had to be a bit inventive with what we had on hand; that’s when I remembered the recipe for painted toast I had seen previously from The Foodies’ Kitchen.
Read MoreNature Sticky Wall
We have been doing A LOT of camping this summer, which has been wonderful! I love watching my boys play and explore all day outside. By dinner time, it’s inevitable they will appear covered in dirt and sweat, with their pockets nearly bursting with souvenirs they found along their travels, and huge grins plastered on their gritty faces. Of course, neither of my bugs want to part with the treasures they’ve collected, and usually end up dumping them on chairs or inside of the trailer *sigh*. The boys have made sticky wall art , rainbow rice sun-catchers, and nature collages using Contact Paper in the past, so I decided to use the same concept to display the items they collect on the side of the trailer to deter them from tracking it inside.
Read MoreHot Rock Melted Crayon Art
This is a fun and simple activity to do either on a cold/rainy day indoors or on a very hot day while camping and/or enjoying the outdoors. The only difference will be in how you heat up your rocks. If it happens to be a sweltering, sunny day, instead of turning on your oven, try letting the sun do the baking for you! When we coloured our rocks, it was a warm day with an overcast sky, so we were restricted to using the oven. I’ve been meaning to try this project while we’re out camping, to see if the sun will actually heat the rocks to a warm enough temperature- which, I’m pretty certain it will- but I keep forgetting!
Read MoreRock Creatures
My boys love collecting rocks, especially when we’re camping. I remember being obsessed with rocks as a kid too. I must have driven my parents a little bananas because wherever we went anywhere I was always on the hunt for a unique rock to take home and add to my expansive collection. There was a time when I could go through each individual rock and tell the story behind it- where it was from, who was with me, what we were doing, how I found it- but my teenage self flippantly dumped all of them in our alley one morning, in order to make room for more important things like CD’s, and magazines :(. It’s funny how our priorities seem to come full circle as we grow; it’s only once we’ve reached late adulthood that we finally realize how wise we were as children, to actually see and appreciate the wander and beauty in all the “little things”.
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