Staying Busy

As I have said (many times) before, our summer is like winter everywhere else. We have to stay indoors. And I've learned that Sami needs to stay busy in order to stay happy. So here are a few things that have saved our summer.

Play Dough. Love it.
And this is the perfect recipe. It comes out so soft and smooth. And it keeps really well. I like it so much better than the store bought variety.

Play Dough Recipe:
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar (find it in the spice section)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup waterfood coloring
Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 - 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”. Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes–add food coloring during kneading process. Play dough will keep for a long time stored in a covered plastic container or plastic sandwich bag.

And then there's magnets. Magnets keep Sami girl busy for hours, literally. Hours at the fridge, hours on magnet boards, and now there's file folders. Our Cozy Nest gave me the inspiration, and I have been so grateful. I got the games for free here (this one's the best, in my opinion), here, and here. I followed Cozy Nest's example of putting the games in a binder and using magnets instead of velcro, making it much quieter in church.
Sami is now a pro at matching and recognizing numbers, thanks to all these games. And I thought it was fun putting them together. I bought a laminator at Wal-mart ($25) and I love it, not only for this project, but lots of other fun things too.

These ideas have kept us sane this summer, and I hope you enjoy them too.

Happy Playing!

Sharing the love

Nothing makes me happier than when my girls play and giggle together. Now that Janie is rolling all over the place, she gets her little hands on toys that Sami thinks are hers alone. So we're learning those hard lessons about sharing and not hitting. But sometimes Sami just gives Janie toys and shares so well. One morning this week, Sami just kept giving Janie her puffs.


Then Sami gave Janie kisses. That was the best part of my day (and Janie's too, I think).


And on a completely different note, don't you just love all of Sami's bling?! She's been putting on all of her necklaces and jingling around the house. This isn't a very good picture, but you get the idea. I just love having little girlies!!