Free time.

Not for me, although that would be so nice during this busy season. Free time at the gym after gymnastics class. After class, you can pay a few bucks and your kids get to run around in the gym for an hour. This was the first time we took advantage of it, but first we had to get through class. Both classes were .... loopy. While the classes normally run very smoothly, today all of the kids in both classes were having a difficult time concentrating. If I didn't know better, I'd swear there had been a full moon last night. (Especially after the mouse fiasco earlier this morning.)

Exhibit A: Ainsley walking on the balance beam. Look at her body language. She's just strolling along there, chatting to the teacher.

It was actually a funny conversation. The teacher had asked another student who was wandering around in a daze if she was lost. Being three years old, Ains had to tell her that *she* wasn't lost, she'd come here with her mother and her mother knew how to drive, so she knew she wasn't lost, and she'd recognized the building as soon as we'd pulled in, and then when she came in, she'd recognized the teacher, so she *knew* she wasn't lost. Ad infinitum.

Hannah's class didn't fare much better, but she and her cousin got their synchronized balance beam walking down.

What I'm trying to say is, we *needed* that gym free time to get some energy out. An added bonus was that Gray got to be on the other side of the white fence today. No more watching his sisters get to play on the equipment without him while he had to be content throwing cars through the fence.

The block pit at the end of the long trampoline was a favorite, naturally.

Keeping an eye on three kids in a crowd of thirteen wasn't easy. Gray would be on one side of the gym while Ains would be on another.

Luckily, Hannah made it easy. She and her cousins stuck together like glue. Every time I turned around, they were together - always on a different piece of equipment, but together, which meant that my sister could keep an eye on Hannah while keeping an eye on her own kids.

There they are.
And there.
And there.
And there's Gray.
There they are again.
And again.
And there's Gray.
And Ains moving so fast you can barely see her.

And Gray again.
I don't know if I'll be able to keep him on the right side of the fence at our next class. Once you get a taste of the good life ... especially if it involves a trampoline and a crawl tunnel ...

A Fairy Village

More Christmas presents down. These were for friends, but since my girls were helping me make them, they each got one also.

Matchbox Fairy Houses - inspired by the inspiring Coloured Buttons and her Tiny Traveling Doll House.

Each little matchbox house holds a fairy doll. Or an elf. They don't have wings.

I just used what I had on hand for the dolls - flower petals from a broken dollar store lei, tiny fake roses in the Creation Station box, pipe cleaners, 1/2" beads (wish I'd had smaller ones), and thread. Oh, and a tiny googly eye on the back of one of the houses.

The houses were also made with what I had on hand - felt, ribbon, and sparkly confetti mostly.


This one I made using some nature stuff that I had on our nature table - pine needles for the door, a pinecone piece for a window, and some moss for the fairy's skirt.

This one was my personal favorite - a little toadstool fairy. The girls wanted me to make the fairy inside all blue so that it would be a smurf, but I disappointed them.



Already the girl's fairies are getting some good play in while the others are getting ready to be shipped to homes around the country.

This one's an easy, rewarding craft. I didn't make the fairies pillows or blankets like Trixi on Coloured Buttons did, because my dolls were already filling up the boxes. I think that a few of the girls I'll be shipping these to will likely use them as clips on their backpacks instead of necklaces.

Butterfly camouflage project. And a few magic tricks.

My official entry for Ordinary Life Magic's science experiment extravaganza. (This drawing goes until December 31, so you have a few weeks - even a week after Christmas - to get yours done.)

Last week, I was flipping through my Janice VanCleave Big Book of Play and Find Out Science Projects when I was overpowered by two little girls who saw me flip past - wait for it - BUTTERFLIES!!! I didn't stand a chance. So we did a camouflage project that involved two of Hannah's favorite things - paint and butterflies.

First we grabbed a piece of construction paper. No drab, realistic browns for my girls. Pink was the order of the day. We cut a four inch strip off the top, folded it in half and cut a butterfly wing shape.

Then we put a drop of paint on one wing and closed the wings to make symmetrical dots - blobs, really - on each side.

While the paint was drying, we cut leaf shapes out of the remaining portion of paper...

and used a few pipe cleaners to give our clothespins antennae and legs.

Ainsley pulled one of those "Wow. Really!?!" moments when she turned her leaf over and drew two circles on it. "What is that?" I asked. "It a capillar in a cocoon," she answered, "when I turn over leaf, there will be a buttuhfy." All right, then.

When the butterflies were dry, we put them on our leaves with the wings folded up,

and then with the wings flat,

to show why butterflies keep their bright markings on the top of their wings.

Then we put the wings in the clothespins for some cute butterflies.

Cute craft, and educational too! Probably not what Ms. VanCleave *or* Ms. Stephanie had in mind, but at this house, 'tis what you get. It's the stage we're in. Please tell me it will pass.

That evening, Hannah wanted to do a magic show. This included two of her favorite tricks - baking soda and vinegar explosions and putting out a candle without blowing on it (covering it with a jar). She asked for a new trick, so I taught her one that also uses a flame in a jar.

Did you know that you can pull water from a plate up into a jar that's top-down on the plate?

First, gather a plate with a lip, water, a small piece of cardboard, small, crumpled piece of newspaper, match, and a jar that will fit over the cardboard and inside the plate. Pour the water into the plate up to the edge of the lip.

Put the jar on the plate upside down to show that little, if any, water goes into the jar. Take the jar back off the plate.

Now here you have to start working quickly. Put the cardboard piece on the water and put the crumpled newspaper on top.

Light the newspaper on fire and quickly, but gently, put the upside-down jar over the newspaper so that the flame is inside.

As the flame burns the paper and eats up the oxygen inside the jar, it creates a vacuum that sucks the water up into the jar.

And there you have it.

Right this minute...

three hours ago. Time flies.

Do you ever feel like you're being watched?

Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

On today's schedule - a homeschooling website recommendation.

Break open my Janice VanCleave Big Book of Play and Find Out Science Projects and do an experiment. Document and post that experiment here to hopefully win *another* Janice VanCleave book. Very exciting!

You see, my favorite homeschooling blog, yeah, that one, the one I reference all of the time has opened up a new website for all of her resources. Her crafts, website recommendations, science experiments, they're all on one page and indexed for *really* easy look-up.

You know you're going to be attached to a homeschooling website that has lists of websites for Nature Studies, Science Experiments, Virtual Fieldtrips, and Websites for Children (broken down by subject matter and age) right there for you and easy to find. So handy.

And now, the first sponsor on her blog, Janice VanCleave, is giving away three of her books - THREE! - to readers who submit an experiment from one of her books. Since it's not a 'best experiment' contest, there's very little pressure and I as a mom of three kids can do it without stressing. Again, so handy.

So, let the experimenting begin!

The famous conductor.

That's what I'm telling myself.


Truth be told, he was jabbing the stick in the air yelling "Ya! Ya!" and laughing maniacally.

His sisters told me he was fighting a monster, which only makes sense.

Heroes always get the girl.

*Filed under "If only it weren't so blurry."

Busy December days.

Pretending it's not December for one child.

Becoming Grandmother Winter for another.

Becoming "such a busy Mommy".

Realizing it's a hard knock life. For them.

Putting away Thanksgiving crafts,

and toys. (Sooo simple to make, this one. We also made a gingerbread man and Hannah's lobbying for a snowman.)

Drawing mazes for each other.

Making cinnamon-applesauce ornaments.

And repurposing felted wool sweaters into children's mittens.

Again, these were so easy. I used the sleeve cuffs as the ends of the mittens, so I didn't have to hem them.

Trying to make an advent calendar -

that's not turning out quite like I'd hoped.

Going through patterns for Christmas pajamas.

Fairy dancing. Which is not unique to December days, for sure, but they are currently Sugar Plum Fairies, so ...

The snow has come - though it's not deep enough to play in - and the wind and cold are here. We're making do in the house.

As a side-note, does anyone know where to look for used gymnastic equipment? That may save me.