Venturing out into the C*O*L*D! (aka STIR CRAZY!)

HOP ON YOUR BIKES KIDDOS! (trikes, but you get the idea!)

We are off to the park!
Gavin checks out the lightning tree. (See precious post)
All that is left is this stump.

So I place the munchkins on it for a picture!

Then it begins to rain, HARD ~ HARDER ~ then DOWNPOUR!

Gavin didn't seem to mind.

Nor did Gabriel to much!

He actually LOVED the rain.

I think that the poor kiddos adored being outside, out of the house, in nature, and being wildly silly! Ahhh... the joys of boys!

Well, that was fun! Anyone want some HOT COCOA?

YUP!

To the BIKES and TRIKES!

Grant suggests our aprons for the job. Fine but I only have 2, so...

So how about a tank top of mine with a belt!

Ackward yes, but do they care a bit ~ NOPE!

Best Playdough Recipe - Microwaves !!!

I am not a fan of store-bought playdough. It dries out fast, hard to pick it all up and crumbly, lots of dye and smells weird. So, I asked my mom, a kindergarten teacher, for her suggestion and here is the WORLD'S BEST PLAYDOUGH recipe. (It lasts forever, perfectly moist and plyable, EASY - no cooking, just microwave! Hooray!)

What you need:

• 1 c. salt
• 2 c. flour
• 3 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 c. water
• 2 TB. oil
• food coloring
• scents/extracts- optional (peppermint, lemon, orange)

What to do:

1. Mix dry ingredients in bowl, stir well
2. Add oil, water, food coloring **I divide for different colors and add extracts for smell.**
3. Stir until smooth consistency
4. Cook in microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring occassionally
5. Knead for 1 minute ** It's hot and so I knead thoroughly for about 4-5 minutes, very important
6. Return to microwave and cook for 2 minutes
7. Knead dough again for about 3 minutes.
   

So this round we did RED (err...pink and it was peppermint smelling!) , BLUE (which we did lemon smelling - what the dollar tree had since it takes a lot to cover up the salt smell) and ORANGE (which was Orange smelling!)

And here are my cherubs ~ 20 minutes later all playing with beautiful, pleasant smelling playdough! It was fun to work with each boy seperately for the 5 minutes to pick colors and their scent. Before that we all took turns stirring and adding ingredients. I enjoy cooking with my boys and ADORE the end product of this one. I promise in 15 minutes total you can have a batch of playdough made and ready (if only doing one color) and it will last for months (probably 6). From one hard working mom to another ~ Ciao!