It's a Long Story

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Fall Leaf Art

I love that Abbey is at the age that we can start doing arts and crafts together. I love it even more when said arts and crafts are free! Our neighborhood is absolutely loaded with all sorts of pretty leaves right now, so I decided to take advantage and do some leaf art.

See? Isn't that pretty? How cute are those little baby maple leaves?!

This project could NOT be any easier.

We picked up some leaves on our way home from the park. It gave Abbey a nice distraction since she was not happy about going home. Bonus!

We started out with some glue. Abbey spread some glue onto her paper, and then I went back and made sure there was a decent amount there so the leaves would stick.

Once the glue was on, Abbey got full creative freedom!

Can you tell she doesn't like getting her hands messy? haha!

And here it is....easy peasy!

How's that for a proud face?!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Indian Summer

Did you know that Indian Summer had an actual definition? I always thought it was just a brief warm up after the weather has started to cool down. It turns out, for it to be "officially" Indian Summer, that warm up has to occur after a freeze. See...you learned something today! Well, maybe you didn't, but I did!

(who says the news isn't worth watching anymore??)

We have had 2 weeks of absolutely glorious weather. Shorts and a t-shirt in October? in Chicago?? Awesome. I actually had to dig out clothes that I had packed away already! We have been taking full advantage of it for sure. Lots of trips to the park, and as much outside time as we can get! We've also been getting creative with all of these gorgeous leaves, so be watching for that!

I'll take it while I can, because I am not quite ready for my first Chicago winter in 5 years. They're already predicting that this year is going to be a record breaker in terms of cold and snow...great.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Paint Chip Matching Game

I have seen about a bajillion versions of this super simple game. We're headed up north next weekend with some family, and I wanted to come up with some fun little games that Abbey can play with her cousin, who is a year and a half older than her. We are on a seriously shoestring budget, so when I remembered this game, I knew I just had to make it! I already had clothespins, so this game was completely FREE! Woot!

Head to the local hardware store and grab some paint chips. I used some from Behr, because I like that they were nice and wide, and I only had to grab one of each color. If you're using skinny paint chips, you'll probably want 2 of each, but it's your call.

I trimmed the rounded edges off of the paint chips, and most of the words. Some colors had really long names, so they didn't all get trimmed away...oh well! I trimmed what was left into a wide strip and a narrow strip. The narrow strip got trimmed into individual colors. These pieces were hot glued onto the clothespins.

Now it's time to play! Abbey LOVES matching all the colors! She still has a hard time pinching the clothespins, but that will improve in no time. Fine motor practice...bonus!

This game could not have been any easier to put together. And nothing beats free fun!

Monday, October 3, 2011

A trip to the orchard

We went apple picking this weekend. That is one of the things I missed most while we were in Arizona! There is seriously nothing better than a ripe apple straight off the tree. We got to spend the day with friends. Matt has known them since he was little, and their daughter is just a few months younger than Abbey. We went to Kuiper's Family Farm and had a blast! This place is adorable! There is an apple side with an orchard and a store, and a pumpkin side that had all sorts of games and run-around stuff. Unfortunately, you have to pay separately for each side and that just didn't fit into our (very small) budget. Apples it is!

First we had to figure out which way to go...