A Mom Tries to Paint

Andrew and I tried our hand at painting for one of our semi-weekly date nights in. This was actually back in August. It was fun! I picked up some acrylic paints at Michael's (totally not knowing what I was doing). Then, I printed off one of our pictures from Georgetown, Colorado, and he printed a photo of the Rockies near Aspen. We used brushes and paper plates and figured it out as we went along. 

This was the photo I used:

And here are our paintings. Mine (on the right) kind of looks like the photo, right?

We have those paintings displayed in our bathroom. Well, I was reminiscing about it because I just got back from a painting group. All of these painting places have been popping up in the Denver area--Canvas & Cocktails, Sipping and Painting, and Art on the Brix. Basically, you go, and an instructor gives you step-by-step instructions on how to complete your masterpiece.

My dad went to Canvas & Cocktails with his work place over the holidays. They painted Larimer Square. Ever since then, I've wanted to check one out. So, I went with some ladies from MOMS Club to Art on the Brix in Golden. I had a really great time with those ladies, and I got to create a new masterpiece.

It's my Impressionist painting. Seriously, it was a ball.

There's something to be said about taking the night off and making some art. I feel so inspired!

Heart-Shaped Treats for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love holidays. It's so much fun to hang up little decorations or plan special meals. I've always liked celebrating them, but it's gotten even more fun since having kids.

Yesterday, for dessert, I made tapioca pudding. I was washing strawberries to freeze for smoothies when I had an idea to cut them into hearts. Check out this cute pre-Valentine's Day dessert:

Today, we had friends from MOMS Club come over and help us decorate cookies. It was Oliver's first time having friends to the house, and he was excited to show them his mixer and mixing attachments. The kids were all younger than Oliver. One was mostly interested in feeling the sprinkles. Another had fun decorating, but he insisted on eating his cookies as soon as a bit of frosting got on them. After eating a number of cookies, his mom decided he'd better be done. Oliver decorated about six and then ate half of them. The rest of the 50 cookies were decorated by moms. Well, we had fun.

Hosting this cookie decorating day gave me a chance to compare various sugar cookies. Homemade cookies were vastly superior! Don't get me wrong, I love Pillsbury biscuits, crescent rolls, and refrigerated pie crusts. You can do so many creative things with those products. I've used their sugar cookie dough for fruit pizzas and was pleased. However, I discovered last night that their sugar cookies were terrible  for cut-out cookies. They expanded and puffed up and completely lost their shape. While cooling, they deflated. We were left with weird, oval-shaped, flat cookie blobs. I used the cookie cutter to try to re-cut them. It was better than before, but we were still left with flat cookies that looked icky and had rough edges. So, Oliver and I had to make an emergency batch of sugar cookies ourselves, and they turned out beautifully (you can find that Taste of Home recipe here). Bookmark that recipe! They made the best sugar cookies that tasted great and held their shape.

After cookie decorating fun, I got busy making a heart-shaped pizza!

...and then we finished the night off with a mini heart-shaped, red-velvet cheesecake (I halved this recipe from McCormick, and used a heart-shaped springform pan like this:

                                                                        

Oliver wanted to sing a song, so we sang, "Happy Valentine's Day to You," before diving into our cheesecake goodness.
I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day celebrating with your family, friends, or loved one.

Crochet Stripy Giraffe

One of my very best friends is expecting! I've been combing Pinterest for gift and shower ideas for her, and I found the cutest stuffed giraffe to crochet. The pattern is available for free from I Love Buttons by Emma. A few times, the math on some of the decreasing rows didn't add up, so I had to get creative in figuring out what I was supposed to do. I think it turned out well!

Here's my finished giraffe. I accidentally sewed the giraffe's head on a little sideways, but then I decided it looked cute this way and left it as it was.

I decided the giraffe needed a tail, so I made one. It looks like a lion's tail. Don't laugh.

I used materials I had on hand for this little guy. It was a nice way to use up all those random bits of yarn I had lying around.

It's the first crocheted stuffed animal I've ever made. It was a lot of fun, and I was so pleased with how everything was coming along. So, I took in progress photos. Haha. Man, am I glad I live in a digital age. I don't have to feel bad about taking pictures of basically everything.

The finished head and the arms and legs:

I got a kick out of stuffing the body and decided to take a photo of my headless giraffe.

My plan is to make a tricycle diaper cake for the shower. I found a tutorial for one here. I'm going to put the giraffe up on the tricycle. It'll be a cute and creative center piece.

Dinner for my little Valentine

I decided to get creative with Oliver's dinner tonight. I was making grilled cheese and soup when I remembered something I once saw on the internet (maybe Pinterest. OK, probably Pinterest). They suggested cutting sandwiches with heart-shaped cookie cutters. I decided to do it to Oliver's grilled cheese. I chopped up the remaining grilled cheese parts into bite-sized pieces for Jo's dinner. You could probably just used them as little soup croutons for yourself if you don't have a little one.

I put the hearts on one of the owl plates that my mom gave the kids last year for Valentine's Day (I believe they were from Target). I drained his chicken noddle soup and then used the noodles to make a nest for the owls. Voila!

Wouldn't this make a cute toddler lunch on Valentine's Day?

Troubles in Gymnastics Class

Urg, I am having a rough time with my favorite 3 year old. I feel so helpless sometimes, trying to figure out what to do when he acts out.

He started a "big kid" gymnastics class last month. Instead of me being in the class with him, I sit on the bleachers and observe. The first class went so well! Here he is with one of his coaches on the balance beam:

It's been downhill since that class. He's been throwing tantrums, picking up items and throwing them and kids, and hitting other children! The worst part is, when he does it, he looks right at me. I know he's testing to see what happens. Although I want the coaches to be in charge, I also don't want to make them figure out what to do with a child who is hitting other kids. When he hits or throws things, I intervene and put him in time out. That causes him to cry, and then he is a helpless case for his coaches the rest of class. He's had four classes now, and we've left two of them within the first ten minutes because he just breaks down, throws a tantrum, and throws things at other kids. I'm trying to be consistent: If he is going to act out and throw things, then he gets a time out. If he keeps it up, then we have to leave. He loves gymnastics class (we'd done the parent-tot one for a while), and cries the whole way home because "he lost it." Yet, as soon as we get back to this class, he's up to the same behavior. I keep telling myself my consistency will pay off, but I'm disheartened.

The Story of the Starbucks Troublemakers

My husband made that flyer for the Starbucks crew on Florida & Kipling. After work, he took Oliver to go tell them he was sorry, and they left the flyer and a tip for the crew.

Here's the full story:

Oliver's Cooking Show: Chocolate Brownies

We've completed the second episode of Oliver's Cooking Show! Today, he is going to teach you how to make brownies. Yum!

                       

In case you missed the last one, here's the link to Oliver's first cooking show.

Pre-School Cooking Class: Sticky Fingers!

The rec center where Oliver takes his cooking class doesn't offer the class in the spring or summer due to so many athletics and day camps going on. I've scoured the Denver area for a cooking class for his age group and finally found a public one through Sticky Fingers Cooking.

They need a minimum of 8 kids (ages 3-5) to run the class, and it's an 8 week course on Monday afternoons. If you're in the Denver area and are interested in a cooking class for your pre-schooler, check out this class offered through JCC. If you're interested, contact Jill from JCC at JKatchen@jccdenver.org to register.

These are the recipes they used for their winter session:

• Zucchini Oatmeal sandwich Cookies + Apple Pie Smoothies
• Cauliflower tater tots + Egg-cellent Veggie Quiche
• Peach Shortcake Kabobs + Lemon Yogurt Cream
• Quinoa Avocado Sushi + Quick Asian Pickles
• Caribbean Twice-"Fried" Plantains + Tropical Punch
• Japanese Tofu Yakitori + Asian Slaw
• Cranberry Far Breton (pudding cake) + Nutmeg Whipped Cream
• Butternut Squash Pot Stickers + Sweet Soy
• Broccoli Calzones + Gelato Milkshakes
• Pumpkin Tapioca Pudding + Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins
• Sunflower Pesto Mac' n Cheese Cupcakes + Thyme Lemonade
• Black Bean Taco Cups + Super Kid Salsa
• Japanese Tofu Yakitori + Sweet Sesame Slaw
• Warm Indian Kid Curry Cups + Easy Tomato Chutney

Pool & Piñata

Yesterday, my friend, Gina, threw a pool party for her daughter's 3rd birthday. She did a fun snow/pool contrast theme and even made her own snowman piñata! What kid wouldn't have a fun time at a pool party with a piñata filled with delicious treats? We had a blast! 

Here's the piñata Gina made: 

The birthday girl!

Piñata time! Here's the birthday girl taking a swing:

Oliver waited patiently in line.

When it was Oliver's turn to hit the piñata, he freaked out. He went back a few minutes later and kind of gave it a whack.

Here he is in his big moment!
                    

You'd think he would have been more successful since he'd had practice. Haha. One of the big kids finally busted the piñata open. Success!

Oliver was so cute. He grabbed a single Twix from the pile. I told him he could have more, so he picked one more Twix.

RIP, snowman piñata.

Then came time for fun in the pool. I'd never been to the Foothills pool before. It's fantastic! A large portion of the pool is a foot deep or less. The water's warm, and you walk right into the pool (there's no drop, just a gradual deepening).

It was like a splash park in the shallow part of the pool. All of the kids had a blast.

First Birthday Party at Lollipop Park

A good friend of mine from high school threw her son a first birthday party at Lollipop Park. I'd never even heard of it before! It's a play area for kids under 10, and it's located within the Family Sports Center in Centennial, Colorado. They have a bouncy castle, a train, and swings, which kids ride by themselves. Parents can accompany kids on other rides, like the tea cups, Ferris wheel, and merry-go-round. My husband took the kids on those rides so I could socialize with my friends. We all had a great time!

Oliver is really into trains these days. He was very excited to get on this one, until we realized we weren't getting on with him. I talked him through it, and he finally boarded the train. He basically was expressionless on the train, and I'm sure it looked to everyone else that we forced him to sit on a stupid ride that went around in circles. I could tell he was having a really good time, though. In fact, he had such a good time that he spent the rest of the day at home moping because he wanted to ride the train some more.

Fun-house mirrors:

My favorite clowns:

Andrew and the kids on the teacup ride:

Andrew and the kids on the hot air balloon Ferris wheel:

Oliver on the bus:

Oliver sat with the other kids at the party! I was so proud of him. He was silent the whole time and just ate his pizza, but I think he was happy sitting with the other kids.

M.I.C.K.E.Y....

The birthday boy!

 My friends and me:

It's kind of nice having some friends with kids! We got to hang out while watching our kids go crazy on the rides. And, as you might be able to tell from the photo, another very dear friend of mine is expecting a child now, too!

The party was so much fun. I loved seeing Oliver participate in a birthday party like a big kid. It amazes me how he's able to do things on his own without us now (like, apparently, go on rides!). We had a wonderful time. Thanks, Nicole!