Spending Time Outside

On Tuesday, the other nannies and I made this giant outdoor waterbed for the kids. They had a blast on this thing. It was also nice to have other adults to talk to while working. The kids also enjoy having other children to be around. We have Pinterest and the clever parent who blogged about this to thank for it.

The girls and I had a picnic outside last week too. On Tuesday, we had it out in the backyard where this little guy caused the girls to run back in the house. It was rather funny...even if the girls spilled their drinks all over the blankets to get in the house. I was left to clean everything up but it was worth it. 

Wednesday turned out to be a rainy day. We played outside whenever the weather allowed it and I ended up staying late so the mom and dad could go out for an impromptu date night. We had a picnic in the garage so we wouldn't get rained on but it was a blast. In the end, the rain cleared up and we played outside with the neighbors until it was time to get the two-year-old ready for bed.

Friday, I was asked to work, which was fine because the nannies and I went to the zoo. It was a special day they had there for the kids where they got a ton of free stuff. I can't tell you how many coupons I got. There were also flyers to other events there, like the pirate day...I really want to go to pirate day. It's a scavenger hunt! Anyway, the zoo was a bit of an adventure. Becca, one of the nannies, had an issue with her car...her battery died so we had to jump it. Thank goodness Samantha (another nanny) was there. She knew what she was doing.

This week, I have a pretty big craft that the girls and I are doing. It's mostly for Aubrey (the oldest). I'm actually rather excited about this craft.

The Girl in the Green Dress: Meeting Jamie

 

The Girl in the Green Dress is a little story I made up. I had painted the girl a long time ago and the point of it is you can't see her face. Ever. I made sure of it. The story isn't supposed to be a happy one either. The girl, Sky, comes from a very neglectful family. Is there a plot to the story? Yes, eventually, you will see it.

Another thing about this story is that this is all made on my cellphone. The quality of the pictures aren't great but it was fun to make on my phone. It gives me the option to work on it anywhere.

So what you are about to read it the rough version of my story. It isn't edited...and I already see a couple of things I have to fix but I will do that later. This story probably isn't the best to read to a child...That's strictly up to you.

 

Sky was a quiet little girl whose parents were too busy to spend time with her. Almost everyday, they left her home along, telling her to stay inside so no one would see her.

 

One day, Sky found a sewing kit in the hallway closet and hid it in her room so her parents would find it. When they left for work, she rummaged through the clothes that didn't fit her, and decided to make her very own friend...her very first friend...

 

When she finished, Sky picked up the doll with her sore hands and stared at the limp imperfect doll. The stitches all around her were uneven but it held together pretty well.

Sky smiled at her handy work and decided to give her new friend a name...Jamie.

The Girl in the Green Dress by Tracey Glass is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

A Few Weeks Worth of Crafts

I'm very behind on showing off the crafts the girls and I made this summer. We have been extremely busy...and I got a little lazy when it came to blogging so I have a few things I need to catch up on. Let's start with out projects.

The girls and I do a craft almost everyday. I say almost because I can't afford to do crafts all of the time if they involve me buying something.

So here are the crafts that we've done since the last post...

 We made creatures from large pieces of paper. It was an accident that we came across it this way but the girls love them. In fact, they still have them. We made these weeks ago. This little guy is Faluvious.

 This one is Sophia. She is much bigger than the one above. She is about a foot and a half tall and is currently residing on the two-year-old's dresser.

 The same day we made Sophia and Faluvious, we made these for the fourth of July. They still have these hanging around somewhere in the house.

 Here is another one. I believe this one is Brynna's but I can't never be certain. They like to share everything after awhile.

We had some seriously hot days in July so the girls and I took out the slip 'n slide...and we put it on their very steep hill...with soap and little inner tubes. Let's just say, it was some fun stuff. The girls loved it.

I also bought these kits that were like a dollar. Aubrey stole my eye so I had a cyclops crab. We also made stained glass that day before we went outside for another day on the slip 'n slide.

We only made banana bread because there were some left over bananas that were ripe...so the girls and I made some. It turned out okay. It wasn't my favorite but I like the little biscuits we made.

These biscuits were experimental. We didn't know what we were doing. They turned out to be great with the strawberry sauce for strawberry shortcake. Well, my sister an I believe so anyway. I'll be posting my recipe for this later.

Just last week we made paper dolls. These were on sale so we decided that we would dress them up. This is Rick and Sarah and they are going on a date.

 

We also made stickers last week. This is a big sticker. My sister, Vanessa, gave me a bunch of labels from work that they didn't need and we used them for our own purposes. I have so many sheets of this stuff left over that I don't know what I'm going to do with them.

I'm not sure what the girls and I will be doing this week. I know that the other nannies and I are planning on making an outdoor water bed for the kids at some point but the weather seems to be a bit gloomy these days.

Puppet Shows and Water Wars

It was a hot and rainy week so our activities were limited to the indoors on the days I worked. There was one dry hot day, thank goodness.

Tuesday was our rainy day. The girl across the street came over to play. If anyone follows me on Twitter, you will know how that day went. There was whining and minor fighting but overall, it wasn't a bad day. Aubrey was a bit sassy at times but she was good. It was the day we did the puppet shows. Some if them were hilarious.

We also made stories for random people that we drew. This is Ella Elaine. One of our characters.

Wednesday, Brynna and I spent a lot of time, just the two of us. Aubrey had golf so Brynna and I played a lot of one on one games...like story cubes. Have you ever heard of them? You roll the dice and  tell a story. Brynna spent most of the time listening to the stories I made up. That's usually what happens when I play with children.

During nap time, Aubrey and I made this eggless cookie dough. She and I have made this before but this batch was probably our best batch yet. She and I both agreed on that.

We spent the last half of the day outside. I sprayed them with the hose since we didn't have time to get the pool out before it was dinner time but we did have fun...okay, I had fun spraying them down. They had me chasing them around the house in the humid weather so I had to get them back.

Books, Shrinky Dinks, and Banners

This week was the second week of summer vacation and we've already ran into some issues. I was expecting it, I just wasn't really prepared for it, I think. Sometimes Aubrey, the oldest girl, can be a bit unwilling to do what others want to do...but her neighbor, her best friend, is the same way. Lots of bickering going on in the house but I tried to curb it as best as I could.

Tuesday morning, I ran out and bought these kits because I had a lot to do for our big project, that we won't be doing until next week. It was hard enough to get what I have done now in the days I had. So, we made these little books instead. It's a pop up book and I was helping Aubrey make it because Brynna doesn't have the patience for it...she's only two.

So, we drew this. It was all very quick for me because I was trying to help Brynna with her craft and doing about ten different things at once. I really enjoy how these girls can sit through a craft from beginning to end. It's not something I'm used to at all. 

All three girls (Aubrey, Brynna, and the neighbor girl), worked on Shrinky Dinks. This was the first time we've tried these. I was a bit curious about how these worked and it was pretty cool...but is there a way you can just get the paper/plastic stuff? I haven't really looked into it but...I can think of a ton of different things I can do with it.

On Wednesday, it was just Brynna and me. We made a banner thing for her room with her name on it and tied it to the top bunk of her bed. I made sure it was easy to come off so her parents could decide whether or not they wanted it up. Brynna just wanted me to put it up there so I did. It's rather cute. I kind of wish I had more colors than the ones I had.

Brynna and I had a blast and some of it I'll write about next week when I post our craft. It's a funny story, actually. The two of us always have a fun time together. She's simple and only wants to play things she can see. She loves going outside, and since it was a beautiful day Wednesday, we spent all day outside.

Well, I guess that's all until next week's crafts. I really can't wait to share it.

Summer Crafts With The Girls

It's the start of summer vacation for the oldest girl, Aubrey, and we decided on crafts to do during the summer. I'm going to have to limit it to one craft per week because it would get too expensive if I let her have it her way. Some of our activities will be on the free/cheap side since I don't have a lot of money to begin with.

Last week, Aubrey, Brynna (Little One), and I painted rocks. I need to get working on making the house for her rock family. The picture above is of the rock I painted.

This is just the start of our summer crafts. This week we are doing a big project that might take both days I work to finish. I hope to post that on Wednesday.

Create Something #1

Trying to get back into this blogging thing. I disappeared for a bit but I'll be making a post at least once a week in the summer...hopefully...if everything goes according to plan. Well see. I tend to get sidetracked with things...a lot.

Another thing I need to update is my Etsy shop. I have a few new items to add but I've been a bit lazy about posting them. Maybe I'll make a few more things before I get started on my Etsy shop again.

In a few minutes, Vanessa and I are going to start our crafting time. We call it Create Something, and we're supposed to do it twice a week but we haven't been doing a very good job at it. I don't think we created something since we changed the days. This is also going to be the first time I post it in my blog.

Today I decided to work on my Teacups. This one isn't even close to being done but I had to stop after about an hour or so. I have glue all over my hands and it isn't really pleasant.

Once I'm done with the outside, I'm going to probably repain the inside and put a thin coat of resin all over it so I can use it as a little flower pot to put in my window.