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Today at the zoo

Since yesterday was a holiday, my hubby decided to also take today off for a trip to the zoo. It was our first one this summer.

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We left home around 9:30 am and returned around 2:45 pm – good timing. Once again, the kids did well.

We first stopped at my hubby’s new work office – same place of employment, but a new office since he got promoted last year around this time.  I had never been to this side of the work place before. He wanted us to meet some of his new co-workers. Of course, the office was practically empty today after the big holiday.

A small part of the area where he works in the city (below)

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The office is not too far from the location of the zoo. Usually, when we go to this zoo, we would drive down town, free park at hubby’s work place, then take the bus over to the zoo. However, today we just did not feel up to dealing with the bus so we parked at the zoo instead. We had to pay for parking but it was worth not having to take the bus with the two little kids, double stroller, bags, and everything. Plus it was just nice to leave right away when we got ready instead of having to wait for the bus (they come pretty quickly, though). Now we are back home resting; the kids are playing quietly and daddy is snoozing away. What a fun day!

Snap shots from the zoo – I was able to capture some really good, up-close photos this time around:)

Entering the zoo

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Giraffes

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Feeding from a bag hanging on a tree

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A Polar Bear – Came out from the water to go eat lunch

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A Leopard

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Other animals and fish

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Us just walking around and stopping for photos

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We bought our own lunch to hold us over until we got back home for dinner – left overs from yesterday’s big meal! We usually make pizza on Friday nights but yea for no cooking today!

Buying lunch at the zoo is just too expensive. If we bought lunch at the zoo that would have negated the fact that we were trying to go save money by going to a free zoo. Between parking and buying lunch would have been too much.

(We had PB & J sandwiches, fruit, chocolate chip squares, and water for lunch). The baby is taking a little nap in the stroller beside me.

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Exiting the zoo

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Getting some popcorn before leaving

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Our Day In Review – Filled With Fun Activities

Our day today on the 4th was filled with fun activities.

This morning we went to see a parade in the village at 9:00am. The baby did not fall asleep and she and her sister were very good!

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I got a shot of the Town’s Mayor, too. However, the photo just would not upload unto the blog:(

After the parade, we went home, and everyone just kind of sat around and did their own thing (well, mommy was prepping the items on the food menu). Then my hubby grilled some pork ribs, beef ribs, and some hamburgers served with homemade hamburger buns, homemade potato salad, and corn on the cob.

We ate around 1:30 pm. So yummy! I also made some chocolate chip squares but did not take a photo.

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Cleaned up/Nap time for the kids. I tried to nap, but just could not fall asleep. I was kind of in and out of sleep. But at least I got to take a rest for about 1 and 1/2 hours or so.

Next we took the kids to a carnival!

Kids dressed in Patriotic colors and ready to go:) The toddler @ 2 and 1/2 years old and the baby @ 6 months old.

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Some photos of activities we got into.

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Merry-Go-Round ride

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Another kind of ride – did not go on this, just took a photo

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Fishing – Daddy explaining how to fish to her. She tried two times and caught one each time – very fast learner!

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And she won a prize – started jumping and playing with it right away

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Some kind of train ride

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There was a fireworks show the same location around 9:30 pm but that would have been too late to keep the kids out there so we did not remain. The baby took a little nap again on the way going to the carnival, which was able to hold her up until we got back home for bedtime. We were really happy that she napped going rather than on the way back and then awaking when we got home.

On our way back home, about a 2 minutes down from the carnival, we went to look at million dollar homes – just the outside of the homes. My hubby loves to drive by and look at nice homes. He has a thing for nice houses:)

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Next, we stopped at Oberweis Ice – cream shop, not too far from home.

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Then home. As we did not go to fireworks, my hubby dropped us off home and went to buy small firecrackers to show the kids but could not find any, in at least 3 nearby stores.  But it worked out, because our little baby was too tired to stay awake anyway.  She played for a little bit then went to bed.  So we all went to bed. Well, they did. As you can tell by the time of this post, I am still up blogging.

What a nice day we had! Overall, the kids did really well and the day did not feel stressed at all despite our many activities.

Thank you Lord for all your many blessings. We may be taking the kids to the zoo tomorrow, God’s willing, if everything works out.

Birthdays & Parties

Shenice’s 2nd Birthday

For her second birthday, Nov. 29, 2012, we kept it small. We only invited two of our close family friends. Our theme this year was Rubber Duckies. Somehow, I just could not find balloons and other party decor with duckies. Most places had the Tweety Bird, instead. So for the balloons, utelsils, plates, cups, napkins, and table cover, we went with a variation of pastel colors and a duckie decor cake.

Her bithday was actually on Thursday, but party on Saturday. On the morning of her birthday, I dressed her up in her knew birthday outfit and took some pictures. She chose that BIG bow at Burlington Coat Factory…I was not a fan of the largeness, but it was her day and her bow, too. That girl loves bows! She looks so cute:)

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Then we changed into something more comfortable and I took her out shopping.

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Following her trip to the stores, I made her one of her favorite dinners, Spaghetti. What a fun day!

On the day of the party, the evening went something like this:

1. Go to Woodfield Mall at Yu Kids Island – a play/birthday party hosting place for kids inside the Mall. They played for about 1 hour – 1 and 1/2 hours. So much fun!!!!

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Little Brianna was in mommy’s tummy – arrived a month later:)
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Here we are with some of our friends. Shenice was crying; did not want to settle down for the photo:(

2. Go back to our place for pizza, fruit, and a vege tray.

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3. And of course, who can forget the B-Day cake?

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This time around, I bought a simple cake with white frosting and a few ballon decor on there already. Shenice loves rubber duckies so I simply bought some duckies and decorated the cake with them. I really wanted to order her a nice cake at a high rating bakery not too far from us, but I was too late on placing the order. They would not have enough time to design it. Every place else I called had Tweety Bird. So I decided to just buy a cake and decor it myself. I really was not up to baking as I was 8 months pregnant with our second.

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4. Opening gifts!

She got Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks from the Godys and a Princess Doll from the Pikalovs. Thanks friends!

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And of course, one of her gifts from mommy and daddy – her indoor/outdoor slide. She loves sliding. See my post about the slide here.

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For her professional shots, we had the same photographer as we did for her 1 year old shots. To save us money, we did Brianna’s newborn and Shenice’s 2nd birthday the same time.

Shenice’s birthday was Nov. 29, 2012 and Brianna was born Dec. 22, 2012. We did the shoot on January 6, 2013, the actually due date of Brianna. See info about them on All Things Baby page.

Here is Shenice @ 2

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I bought a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake from Walmart. I had no time to make it and still could not find a cake with duckies.  So I thought, well, she still likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so why not.

Below is a photo of the cake and her enjoying it during the photo shoot.

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Birthdays & Parties

Shenice’s 1st Birthday Cake

My 1st daughter, Shenice, really likes the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show and all the characters, especially Minnie Mouse. So for her first birthday, Nov. 29, 2011, I decided to do a Minnie Mouse theme. We created her birthday invitations from Minnie Mouse and decorated colors of the like, brown, black, and pink and white polka dots. I do not know where the photos are but I know they are somewhere on one of our computers and on a few hard copies:(

This is the little cutie @ 1 year old.

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The Cakes

1. The main cake

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This one was the main cake for the party

It is not perfect but hey, I think it turned out pretty well for a first time wannabe cake decorator. I think the tase was amazing! I sure wish I could find a photo with what the inside of the cake looked like when sliced.

I sat down, looked at photos of Minnie Mouse and cake ideas and came up with a plan for decorating the cake. It was a very time consuming process.

The layout of this cake: I believe I used Hershey’s recipe for layered chocolate cake

a. The main section: two round chocolate cakes, 9″ each

– with pink icing

– with strawberry ice-cream between (I made the ice-cream even brighter by adding drops of pink coloring to it)

b. The middle section: two round chocolate cakes, 8″ each

– with brown icing

-with strawberry ice-cream between

c. The ears: 2 small chocolate cakes, 7″ each

– with black icing (the ears did not turn out as high up as I desired)

-No ice-cream (actually I had to do an alternative method for the ears since the cakes fell apart and just would not stay up. I had no more fondant so I used balls of flour dough and attached them to the “head” with popsicle sticks)

d. The bow: home-made fondant

e. Mimmie Mouse figurine and #1 birthday candle

B. The smash cake for the party – 1 pink sponge cake

– with pink, brown, white icing

– used icing tube to make  brown dots

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I had also made some ice cream cupcakes (just with the cones) for extra decorations. I made a really good 5 star chocolate frosting for the cupcakes, but then decided it was too soft for what I wanted it to do. So I added some more ingedients to harden it up. Well, by the time the party rolled around, the frosting on the cupcakes were totally hard and the things just kept falling down on the tray. So much for that hard frosting – who ever heard of hard cupcake frosting!!

We had her professional photos taken a week or so before the party. A freelance photographer came to our home. See her website here.  Below is a photo of the smash cake I made for the photo shoot.

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-pink sponge cake with pink, white, and brown icing

– draw a Minnie Mouse face

See her going to the cake in different stages:)

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Friday’s trip to the Library and Park play-date

We started of the morning by heading to the Schaumburg District Library- Got there around 9:00 am.  We have been wanting to take them on a regular basis for some time now, with only one car, it is kind of difficult. My husband uses it for work.

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(She loves, loves letters and wants me to take those down for her).

This is not just any library.  It is the second largest one in Illinois, with lots of activities for kids.

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My kids love reading and Shenice, our toddler, is always brining books to me to read to her. So I decided why not head to the library for a change. This was the first time I took them.

Shenice, my toddler, was more interested in playing the many toddler attractions in there rather than reading the books.

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When the baby woke up, let her in on the fun, too! She had fallen asleep in her car seat on the way to the library.

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She chose a few books and brought them to me to read but only for a minute or two at a time. That is totally OK though.  We did not stay for group story-time because we had to meet up with some friends for a play-date at the park.  Staying for story-time meant that we would have to push the time for the play-date back and the kids napping schedule. We did not want to do that – at least on that day.

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Despite it all, the trip was successful. My kids go to be out of the house into a new environment where they can learn and play.

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Walking down the stairs from the second floor. That kid loves steps!

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We checked out a few books. I was able to find a book about activitie ideas for babies and toddlers.

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And how can I forget the two books Shenice picked out to take home? It is kind of funny – the one is in English and Polish and the other, English and Arabic. What can I say? She is only a toddler!! Love her!

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In addition, I enrolled the kids in a reading program where we read with them for at least 20 minutes a day or complete an activity and they get prices when they reach a certain point.

Park Playp-Date

After the Library, we went home so she could use the potty, grabbed a quick snack and headed to a nearyby park for a play date with some of our new neighboring friends from California. They played about an hour or so until it was potty time, lunch, and nap. And besides that, the clouds were darking with a threatening thunderstorm.

Heading to the park….

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Below: The baby snoozing again. Fell asleep on the way to the park.

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Shenice having fun while we wait for our friends.

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Our friends!

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Ring Around the Rosie it is!

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A threatening thunderstorm!

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Almost home…Time for lunch and nap. Praise God, we arrived home before the storm. In less than 10 minutes after getting home, down came the rain!!!!!!

Altogether, it was a very productive and enjoyable morning.

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Cooking with my 2 year old toddler

Cooking with my 2 and 1/2 year old toddler.

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Making freezer-friendly pizza dough – part white and part wheat

One activity my 2 year old and I enjoy doing together is cooking/baking. We started sometime back in January, 2013, when she was around 25 months old. She loves to stand on a chair and help me pour and mix ingredients. Moreover, she loves eating the ingredients, too, especially flour. Yikes!

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Making our very own creation of Nutella Cookies – Munching on some chocolate chips (see my recipe over on cookies page)

Anyway, cooking together is a great way to engage kids in the kitchen; get them started early. Show them the importance of eating healthy, delicious homemade meals. I find that when my daughter helps me, she is more likely to want to taste and try out the results.  And who knows, someday, some other activity may capture their attention. So why not grab the opportunity now?

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She loves pepperoni pizza

Sometimes when my daughter and I do not know what to do with ourselves, we simply go find some kind of recipe to make. We love to try new and even create new recipes!

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Quiet Time Bins

Quiet Time Bins Activities

Quiet Time Bins for Kids

My toddler is now 2 and 1/2 years old. Her nap time seems to be pushing further back in the day. I need something to keep her occupied and quiet for a few minutes a day – just for her to calm down and hopefully, fall asleep. Not to mention, with two little ones, I need a small window of time to regain my sanity and to build up strength to continue on.

What is a Quiet Bin?

You may be wondering what is a quiet bin or what is a quiet time kit. A quiet bin is simply a bin of activities that a child can do quietly and independently.

How do You Make a Quiet Time Box

After searching the web for quiet time activities and becoming overwhelmed by the vast amount of ideas that are out there, I decided to come up with my own. I had even pinned stuff on Pinterest but just could not find the time to sit down and figure them out. I decided to go to Walmart and Dollar Tree to find some stuff.

I use the term quiet loosely because I do not think my daughter fully understands the idea behind the quiet time bins, yet. For example, one of her bins contains some blocks (see them below). She dumped them all out on a noisy table and started playing with them…… In addition, life has been pretty hectic around here lately, so we have not been consistent with these. We kind of pull one out and use it whenever we feel like it.

Here are our bins and what’s in them – we went ahead and labeled them with the days of the week and the items in them. In addition we added 2 or 3  miscellaneous bins day. As you will see, we have quiet a bit of color sorting. Hey, at least she is learning her colors.

Daily Quiet Time Bin Ideas for Toddlers and Small Kids

Sunday: Minnie Mouse Jigsaw Puzzle and Monkey Math

Monkey Math: Last year, someone was having a garage sale and gave us this. Each banana has a number. The idea is to place them in each hand on the monkey until they balance out. For example – the number 5 may be placed on one hand. Then on the other hand, the numbers 3 and 2 which equals 5. Of course, learning to add is far away for such a little toddler, but at least she can have fun playing with them.

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Monday: Popsicle molder color match up and Sight Words Game

I am not really a big fan of the Dollar Store kitchen stuff (I think they are just too cheap), but I saw those popsicle molds and wanted to try them out making popsicles. When we got home she started playing with them, taking the tops off, matching the colors, and then placing them back on the molds. I immediately thought, “forget about making popsicles”, we will just use them for a quiet bin. I had bought 2 different kinds. She likes using the ones on the right.

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The sight words – I believe I found a pack of 3 different games at the Dollar Tree. I decided to add one to a few different bins. It would be nice to get them laminated for longer usage.

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Tuesday: Animal puzzle and Shapes and Colors game (See instructions for making the Animal puzzles here).

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Wednesday: Pom pom color sorting

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I found these little serving bowls at the Dollar Tree. Then I labeled the different colors on construction paper and attatched them with tape to each bowl.

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The black pom poms scared my daughter so I had to remove them and replace them with another color from the pastel pack.

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Thursday:  50 piece wooden ABC blocks by Melissa and Doug

Some of our friends, the Godoys, gave this to my daughter for her 1st birthday. Their family blog can be found here.

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Friday: Macaroni pasta color sorting – see my instructions here

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 I found these little Sure Fresh Bowls at the Dollar Tree, too

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I wrote the colors in English and Spanish on coordinating construction paper. Then I attached them with tape to the bottom of the bowls. They are fully covered in clear tape to protect the labeling.

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Saturday: Numbers and Letters on a magnetic white board (see my post on this here) and ABC’S game

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Miscellaneous bins

Pattern Blocks by Melissa and Doug (Once again, given to my kid by the Godoys for her second birthday). These are double sided.

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And last but not least, one of my favorite creations: Rigatoni pasta bead thread. See my instructions on how to make it here. Why do I have it as miscellaneous? Because both my daughter and I love it so much, we can use it almost all the time:)

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For more ideas on quiet time bins, visit these sites:

Jenae @ icanteachmychild.com

April @ holistichomemaking.com

Crystal @ moneysavingmom.com

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Pasta Necklaces and Bracelets with Dyed Rigatoni Pasta

Make these fun Pasta Necklaces and Bracelets with Rigatoni Pasta for a fun Rainy day craft with your kids. 

Making pasta necklaces is by far one of our daughter’s favorites, and I think mine, too. It’s quite easy and the big pasta we chose makes it easy to hold and thread. I went to the store to find large beads for my toddler to thread into bracelets and necklaces. Unfortunately, all the beads I saw were so small, they looked like choking hazards. After giving it some thought, I came up with the Rigatoni necklace idea instead of the beads. Not only are the Rigatoni Pasta pieces large enough for her to play with but they are safe to eat. My daughter would not mind munching on hard pasta. . . although she may not care too much to eat them colored.

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Making Necklaces from Pasta

Making necklaces from pasta is a fun and a safer option for toddlers and smaller children (as far as if they decide to eat a part of it), rather than inedible items you may purchase from the store. Although the pasta itself may be hard because it’s left uncooked. . . so it may not be so fun to bite into after all. But if they do bite into it, you know it’s food from the pantry. Always be sure the things you place before your children for crafts are age appropriate. So how do you do you make a pasta necklace? Let us show you.

How to Make Necklaces from Dyed Colored Pasta

To make:

  • 1 box Rigatoni pasta (16 oz)
  • assorted food coloring of choice
  • Ziplock bags
  • a baking sheet
  • fuzzy craft sticks (or thick yarn)

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What to do:

  • Decide how many different colors you want to dye.
  • Here I chose 5. Place a large handful of pasta in each Ziplock bag.
  • Pour drops of food coloring in bags.
  • Seal bags and shake until the pasta is dyed.
  • Pour pasta from each bag on a baking sheet and place in a corner to dry or place outside in the sun.
  • Pour out pasta in a bowl. Look how pretty that looks (photo below).

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Using Fuzzy Sticks Instead of Yarn to Thread Pasta

Now it is time to use the fuzzy sticks to make necklaces or bracelets. I chose fuzzy sticks because they are thick enough to keep the a pasta from slipping out.

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Simply grab a fuzzy stick and a few different colored pasta and thread through, leaving enough room at both ends of the stick for twisting.

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After threading is complete, twist the ends of the sticks together. The necklace or bracelet is now ready to wear or kept safely until the child is ready to wear it.

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Pasta Necklaces and Bracelets with Dyed Rigatoni Pasta

When ready, your child can wear their creations (if they are long enough for wearing) by placing around risk or neck, then securing them by twisting at the ends (with parents helping and monitoring).

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How to Store Your Colored Pasta for Other Crafts

For coloring the pasta, I used about 3/4 of the box of pasta, then separated them into two bags. One bag got stored away for later use.

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Create a Quiet Time Bin Using Colored Pasta

You can create a Quiet Time bin from the colored pasta by adding it to a Ziplock bag along with some Fuzzy sticks. Place them in a small bin for quiet play. The child can create, and recreate Pasta necklaces and bracelets during quiet time. I love it!!!

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So far, we have played with the pasta necklaces and bracelets a few times now and they are still holding up very well. Not one has been broken yet:)

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How to Dye Macaroni Pasta for Crafts

Learn how to Dye Macaroni Pasta for Your little ones to play. It’s a very fun and easy activity and one that could be used to create other crafts.

If you’ve wanted to learn how to dye pasta, this tutorial will show you how easy it is. This is another pasta art that we (my toddler and I) do sporadically. It’s fun and safe using items from your pantry – pasta and food coloring. Yay!! We started making this colored pasta about 4 months ago, when my daughter was around 27 months old.

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How to Dye Macaroni Pasta for Crafts

What you need:

  • 1 box Macaroni pasta
  • food coloring (different colors)
  • paper plates
  • glue stick
  • Ziploc lock bags
  • a baking sheet lined with foil
  • paper towel for cleanup

Note: You can use a dash of White Vinegar to the food coloring if you desire. We didn’t use any and our pasta turned out just as colorful.

Directions:

  • Add pasta to Ziplock bags.
  • Add drops of food coloring.
  • Shake the bags until pasta is dyed in food coloring.
  • Place them to dry on a baking sheet lined with foil paper.
  • Can let them dry outside or inside.
  • Place glue unto a paper plate and stick various colors of pasta unto the plate – done!

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Using Colored Macaroni for Crafts

We love how the colors turned out. Our daughter gives herself stickers for her good work, too! You can use these colored Macaroni for different crafts. Here are some ideas:

  • creating shapes by gluing them unto a paper plate
  • writing name on a paper plate by gluing macaroni to the plate

Here we are making them another day… We got ourselves a cup of tea while the baby was asleep and we did some pasta art and craft:) I believe this was the actual first time we made them – we used little bowls to separate our pasta. But I like the Ziploc bags idea better as in this tutorial. It’s much easier to shake the bags to get mix the pasta.  DSCN1820 DSCN1825
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Decor & DIY

A Woman’s Place in Building a Home

A Woman’s Place in Building a Home  – According to the Bible

Verses to consider:

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27).

“That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:2-5).

I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully” (1 Timothy 5:14).

Above, I have listed some verses that define a woman’s role as the manager of the home – responsible for taking care of and making the home a nesting place for her family.

In today’s world, there is a battle about women being feminists. Women want to be equal with men at every standard. Women today do not want theri roles to be distinguished from men, nor men’s role from women.  The idea is that whatever men can do, women can do, too, or do even better.

I on the other hand, believe that God created men and women with distinct roles and different backbones to carry out the tasks He plans for them. This is not to say that men are better than women or women than men. Also, it is not saying that both genders have ABSOLUTELY NO rights to touch each other’s roles. Rather, it is just saying that God uses different genders to glorify Him in different ways.

The  creation story alone amazingly defines God’s divine purpose for creating different roles for different genders. It depicts that God created men outside of the garden and women within its boundries!

The verses mentioned above clearly reveals God’s plan for women to be homemakers. Keep in mind, though, that building a home is not all about decorating, organizing, and cleaning like “there is no tomorrow”! I look at it as her being the manager, planner, and moreover the nester of the home. Sometimes when I ask my husband for an idea about decorating the home, he may say, “I don’t know, you are the homemaker”! My response is usually something like this, “Yes, but that does not mean you cannot give me ideas:) But when he has ideas,  they are usually great ones! And he helps me, too:)

My point is, I believe that God wants women to cultivate a place of warmth, welcome, richness in love and unity, and comfort in the home. Nancy Leigh DeMoss along with Mary A. Kassian compares the woman’s place in the home to a mother Sea eider to her children. She choses the most delicate feathers from her body to make a nest for her little ones and to provide comfort, warmth, and snugness.

eider's feathersSOMATERIA FISCHERIdown eider

“The beautiful nesting practice of female birds mirrors the precious capability that God gave women. He created women with a remarkable capicity to create an environment conducive to welcoming and nuturing life. Women are specially equipped to make a house into a home” (Kassian & DeMoss, 2012, pg. 80).

Reference:

Kassian, M. A. & DeMoss N. L. (2012). True Woman 101. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.

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The Virtuous Woman – Proverbs 31

The Virtuous Woman – Proverbs 31:10-31

 Taken from the King James Version (KJV)

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

The English Standard Version translates the word “virtuous” as “excellent”.

Her price is far above rubies, you say?

Ruby-index

When I think about rubies, I think expensive gem stones. In fact, it is said that rubies are one of the most expensive gems today and may even be more valuable than colorless diamonds! Moreover, the ruby was considered the most precious of the 12 gem stones created by God. So for a virtuous woman to be worth way more than a ruby is quite a “price”. Wow! For more information on rubies, go here: http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/mom/gems/ruby.html

11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

She does not waste! Her husband can safely trust in her to manage business for him and to take good care of the home.

12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She makes it a “point” or is committed to do good to her husband, always.

13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

She is not lazy but find ways to be productive.

14 She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

She goes at length to find the best products for her household.

15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

She starts the day early to prepare for her household and to those who help her.

16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

She is industrious and considers the cost and all that are involved before purchasing.

17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

She is diligent in getting things done and is happy with the end results.

20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

She has a giving heart and gives to those in need.

21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

purple

She chooses good quality clothing for her family and lays up in stock for later days – she provides a comfortable home.

Scarlet, silk, and purple you say? Yes! When I think about those materials, I think about quality and royalty (especially purple). In ancient times, purple was worn by Emperors, magistrates, and the like…..

23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

Her husband is respected by others in his community because of her testimony.

24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

She sells her products to others.

25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

Strength and honor are rewarded to her for her quality.

26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Her words are filled with kindness and wisdom. Also, she is not idle and takes excellent care of her family and home…Both her husband and her children praise her for who she is.

29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

The qualities she exhibits surpasses all other qualities of virtuous women.

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

She is not rewarded for her outward beauty but her inward, which she can only accomplish by fearing the Lord. Outward beauty is nothing when it comes to inward qualities. Her own works shall speak for her.

Oh, how it would be nice to be this woman!

To read a simple commentary from Matthew Henry about the virtuous woman go here: http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?b=20&c=31&com=mhc

To read the verses from the KJV, go here:https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+31%3A10-31&version=KJV

To read the verses from the ESV, go here:https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2031:10-31&version=ESV

Or any other translation, go here:https://www.biblegateway.com/