Weekend Snapshots

Welcome once again to Weekend Snapshots. My link-up is off to a slow start but I'm going to stick with it because I like sharing what we've been up to without having to think up "relevant" or "unique" posts, which will drive hoards of traffic to my blog. Of course that might have something to do with it... In any case, I hope you join us this week or in the future. Just link up a post with a few pics of what you've been doing and please include either a text link back here or my handy button (code in the sidebar). You know, to drive hoards of traffic to my blog. Just Kidding. Sort of.

We hadn't been to the zoo in quite sometime, but after renewing our membership we headed there for a much needed chat with some animals. We are so fortunate to live within walking distance of the zoo. A long walk, yes, but a walk nonetheless. We spent most of our visit in the barn and garden area.

This isn't milk! It's just water!

The boys could not stop laughing uproariously at this sheep trying to kiss them.

The charming teenage docent told us all about how these geese have been bred to have downy feathers and so can no longer fly. I found this much more interesting than the boys did.

They were too busy checking out the alpacas.

I was impressed at the wonderful improvements that the zoo had made to the butterfly garden. A picture doesn't do it justice.

The link up is open all week.

Friday To-Do List

Make: Peach Salsa
Read Aloud: The Saturdays
Donate for Famine Relief: Oxfam International
Garden: Pull up sweet peas that didn't survive the heat wave.
Listen: Terry Gross' interview with Heidi Cullen
Art: Ice Cube Painting

What's on your to-do list?

Homemade Beaded Bubble Wands

We made our own snazzy bubble wands! I don't need to include a detailed photo tutorial since anything I can figure out how to make myself you can certainly figure out from this photo.

I happened to have these plastic pipe cleaners and alphabet beads already, but if you are going out to get some beads, buy wood! The world does not need more unnecessary plastic baubles.

I owe this idea entirely to one of my delightful readers. Last week when I posted about my automatic bubble maker, Anna from Three Sneaky Bugs sent me a link to this post about gorgeous beaded wire bubble wands. I love that her wands are plastic-free and if you have to purchase your own supplies that is the way to go. I didn't have any wire or beautiful glass, shell and wooden beads hanging about, but the idea worked quite nicely with pipe cleaners!

I'm linking to Link & Learn,  It's Playtime! and I Can Teach My Child!

Why I Gave Up The Television

When I told my friends about how I got rid of the television I was worried they would think I was judging their own continued use of the television. Passing judgments on others, of course, is only for those with small imaginations. In my latest post at the online parenting magazine, LIFEclectic, Giving Up Television, I explain my motivations for turning off the TV.

Go ahead, pop on over there, read it and leave a comment: What's your tipping point? Is there anything that would finally motivate you to dump the boob tube?

Weekend Snapshots

Every weekend I host a link-up so you can share your best photos of what you've been doing. Link-up your post below so others can see what you've been up to. I'd love it if you'd link back here with a text link or grab the code in the sidebar to display the handy-dandy button I created. After all, the more people know about Weekend Shapshots, the more can play. And in case you need a few days to recover from the heatwave, the linky is open all week.

Before the massive heatwave melted us we were able to visit High Rock Park in Staten Island, a first for us.

It was beautiful.

Kiddo took control of the map.

He made sure we were aware of the trail markers.

 

  New Kid lagged behind, lingering on bridges...

and getting distracted by stumps.

When we reached the pond, it was almost unrecognizable, it was so thickly covered in lily pads.

Kids' Books About Poop (That's Right)

So you're here today because you want to learn about poop. Or your children do. In either case, you've come to the right place, because my sons are experts in books on this topic.
 
Poop: A Natural History of the Unmentionable. Everything you ever wanted to know. Everything. For example, did you know that ants suck the feces straight from the tushies of greenflies? Like, I said: everything.
Jurassic Poop: What Dinosaurs (and Others) Left Behind. Million-year old poop sure has an interesting story to tell.
Everyone Poops. It's true, they do. (Well, except for the mayfly. See how much I've learned already?)
The Truth About Poop. Are you sure you can handle the truth?

This is what happens when you give your kids free reign in the library.
What are you reading?

I'm linking to What My Child Is Reading & Book Sharing Monday.

Friday Do-Over: Cookie Fractions

Since I gave up sugar I can't make these again, but maybe you can! First published 7/23/09

This idea sounded great inside my head, but after execution my idea needs some refinement. While visiting for the week, Mormor helped me make fraction cookies for Kiddo. I want to find fun ways to introduce fractions to supplement Kiddo's addiction to numbers. We made cookies that were whole, in halves, in quarters and in thirds. I didn't anticipate that the actual baking process would puff up the sides of the cookies so the cooked pieces did not meet. With the second batch we scored the cookies and cut them after baking. That worked better. I also thought it would be fun to use the sprinkles as a visual guide to which pieces go with which cookies. I used these artificial dye-free sprinkles (because let's face it, artificial colors are not food. Read THIS!).In the end they didn't result in as visually appealing product as I had envisioned. If I weren't so lazy I might try again and with more shapes and sizes. I know they are many fabulous crafty-cooking bloggers out there... I bet someone can come up with some cookie fractions which look fabulous and appealing. If you take the challenge, be sure to let me know so I can link to you.

I May Be A Hypocrite, But At Least We Have Bubbles

I kept saying that I was not going to buy one of those plastic automatic bubble makers that everyone has. No more plastic junk toys, please!  I really wanted to do something homemade, like these beautiful wands at Clean, but New Kid loves bubbles so much I broke down.

Let's face it, I am overwhelmed in the face of crafts which take more than 5 minutes, which is why making pipe cleaner wands, is now on my summer to-do list. I realize the chenille is also made from plastic, but since we already have them in our art supply cabinet...

In the meantime, we are enjoying our plethora of bubbles.

It's Gone

You may have noticed a slight change in my profile description...

Transportation Tuesday

It's hot. Cars need to cool off, too.

Weekend Snapshots (Share Some!)

Did you take a photo or two this weekend? Each Sunday I host a link-up party where you can share a post with your snapshots. It need not be a dedicated "Weekend Snapshots" post, but since everyone wants to see what you've been up to grab a button from the sidebar and link up! The linky will be open all week.

During a visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden New Kid got in touch with nature...

Like brother like brother...

Exploring Natural History...

Thanks to a security guard who ignored us for a little while, we cooled off in the Brooklyn Museum's water feature.

You can see I had a little fun picnik-ing these photos, although the effects I added don't look quite as dramatic as they did when I was working on them.

Listen Up!

I have my challenges as a parent, but getting Kiddo to read is not one of them. In fact, getting him to stop reading in the morning in order to get dressed is more like it. It may seem counter-intuitive, then, that I decided this would be the "Summer of the Audio Book." I just wrote a post, Benefits of Audio Books for Children over at LIFEclectic (hint, hint), but I thought I would share some of the recordings we've been listening to.



These are all books that we've read before, but Kiddo enjoys the repetition. Truthfully, I enjoy listening to them just as much as he does. I'm on the lookout for books read by really terrific and expressive narrators and if you have any suggestions, leave me a comment so we can check them out.

Do your kids listen to audio books?

Link up to: What My Child Is Reading & Book Sharing Monday, and Favorite Resource This Week.

Homemade Plastic Free Watermelon-Lime Popsicles

My kids love popsicles (OK, so do I), and I finally figured out a way to make popsicles without plastic! I know there are BPA-free plastic molds out there, but as you know Most Plastics Leach Hormone-Like Chemicals and I'm trying to eliminate unnecessary plastics from our life, especially those that come in contact with food. My solution? The humble canning jar.

From my beautifully staged, yet blurry photos, you can probably figure out how to assemble the frozen treats. The trick is to choose a jar that has a mouth equal to or wider than the base and also has a two part lid. You need to remove the inner seal part of the lid,* and pour in your popsicle concoction. We pureed watermelon with a little lime juice. Don't forget to leave room at the top for expansion and then cover with a small piece of parchment paper before screwing on the metal ring. Poke the wooden stick through the paper and freeze. When removing the frozen treat you will need to run the glass jar under a little hot water to loosen, but it's not difficult.

I like the way the parchment catches any drips that might normally slide down little hands, and it's easy to store half-eaten treats in the freezer since New Kid often doesn't finish his.

While eating his pink treat Kiddo declared, "Yum! No sugar and no toxic chemicals! Delicious!"

I have him well-trained.

*The lids are coated with BPA plastic -- I realize this is plastic waste, I'm not perfect, but perhaps they could be used for another purpose?

Linked to Monday Mania.