beat the heat

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the weather has been freakyhot this past week. we belfries have been crabby at one another, & i personally have been sweating where a girl ought not.

to distract us from the weather, we have played with shaving cream bags in the tub, melted treasure ice, gone to the beach, played with the hose, & spent a great deal of time bemoaning the heat. that last was quite possibly only one of us. but it is ever so hot.

not one to enjoy cleaning, i had been putting off introducing mud to the mud kitchen. well, we got one step closer this morning.

in the dappled shade of the privet, elfling played happily with his mud water kitchen. gone are the days of his being content to make me pot after pot of imaginary stew. ah well, it was worth it to keep my wee elfling cool & happy.

but i am still so very hot.

~peace.

mud pies in the making

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last week i stumbled upon mud stations on pinterest. i saw  fancy mud kitchens, simple mud kitchens, mud bars, & rustic mud pie stations. by the time i was finished looking, i knew we needed a mud station at thebelfry.

of course, in typical kat-fashion i decided this had to happen a) that very moment, & 2) whilst manlyman was away & the rest of us were down with a (to quote a friend) bad-ass cold. thehobbit, being the least bad-assificated (real word), was put immediately to work sweeping & hauling.

for a back-splash we are using an old headboard that i found on the side of the road a few years back. i had intended on making this, but ended up leaving it at the mercy of the elements instead. the work surface itself is our old coffee table, which had been dragged outside one year for a party, then also left at the mercy of the elements. (yes, i see a pattern.) right now the table is the perfect height for a toddler to stand at.

after things were swept & hauled, it was simply a matter of gathering tubs, bowls & cups from elsewhere in the yard, & some wooden spoons from thehobbit's old kitchen set. oh, & hanging a mini birthday bunting, of course.

there is still much to be done: shelves to house things, hooks for the back-splash, a thrift shopping expedition for kitchen tools, & so on. i think, however, that we have the makings of a wonderful mud station.

elfling got busy straight away, making pretend mud pies for me. i was too ill to deal with the aftermath of mud-play, so had not told him that he would be able to play with actual mud here. if the joy at puttering away at his little pretend mud station is any indication, cooking real mud pies is going to be mind-blowingly awesome.

~peace.
(i shall post photos when the mud station is complete!)

updated :: we've added an old crate, & more kitchen items.

not quite a water park

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this week's thursday things will not take place. sorry, my swiss cheese brain is in full bloom.

a galvanized basin, a green metal bucket, & a chipped enamel mug do not a water park make. this, i know. be that as it may, ever since chatting with you about it the other day (here), i've been poking around thebelfry, looking for items that would get us a bit closer to having our own toddler-sized water park.

manlyman would be quick to mention that i do indeed own quite a few metal & enameled containers that would suit. but he does not understand the difference between dear items in a much-loved collection, & a bunch of stuff gathering dust all over thebelfry.

when next we hit the thrift shops, i'll pick up a few enameled roasters & stockpots. they are always on the shelves, but i pass them by because of chips inside, where the food goes. for water play i don't think i need worry about the rusty spots. do i???

so there you have it - our not quite a water park. see you tomorrow!

~peace.

thursday things - fun with postcards

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recently thehobbit read about a fun activity - how to walk through a postcard! i believe it was in one of his murderous maths books. when he told me what he'd read, i knew how it would be done, but didn't let on that i did. instead i let him astound & amaze me. on occasion i can be a good mama. on occasion.

i don't see instructions on the mm website, but here are some, courtesy of a google search. the above photo shows thehobbit nearly finished with cutting the postcard. if your child is on the younger side, please help with the cutting. i am not concerned with safety (i assume you know how to keep a wee one safe with scissors), i am merely warning that if the cuts go too far, the postcard will be ruined, & crying could ensue.

even though he believed what the book told him, he still was amazed to be able to walk through his postcard. excuse the fuzzy photo - it was cropped to omit his face. the goofy look of utter joyful amazement on his face; though you & i would find it adorable; offended his teen-aged sensibilities. i was surprised that he allowed these photos at all, seeing as he was wearing his jams at the time. most likely he didn't notice that, as horrified as he'd been by the look on his face. ;)

i highly recommend this activity for kids of all ages (yes, even your age). if you post photos of this on your blog, leave a link in my comments section, so we can all see!

more fun with postcards:

* make fabric postcards this link shares a list of many tutorials from which to choose!

* collect postcards here you'll find quite a lot about collecting, including a brief history. i have collected postcards for over half my life now. beyond buying cards from places i've visited (even on road trip toilet breaks), i have had friends & relatives mail them to me from their travels. this is a great activity for homeschoolers, by the way - think: mapping them as they come in!

* make postcards from cereal boxes this crafter shows a tutorial for simple cards. fun, but i would add artwork or fancy paper to the image side. i'm thinking glorified atc, like i chatted about way back when.

* i imagine one could turn a photo into a postcard as well. i don't mean the ubiquitous photo-cards people send at the end of the year. what i'm imagining are cards done as the fabric ones, or the atc ones are done. in case you are unfamiliar with atc, that is short for artist trading cards.

have some postcardish (real word) fun this summer! & if you are a certain tinker (you know who you are), headed for fabulous places this summer, well, you have my address.

~peace.