Thumb Bunnies

Leftover from Easter cards, idea from Family Fun. This was a cute, easy project and Dora's turned out way cuter than mine did.

Scenes From the Weekend

The kids certainly spend their fair share of time playing Wii and Leapster, but it's also nice to know that hula hooping and playing school are still fun, too.

Mmmmmm .... pancakes

Weekends are pancake days. Since the weekend is coming up, and in honor of the first week of hotcakes, here is our favorite recipe. Originally from Martha, and tweaked to our liking. This is a double batch, which is enough to feed five hungry people and have leftovers to freeze for the week.

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
2 cups milk
4 tbsp melted butter

• Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• In another large bowl, beat eggs lightly and add milk.
• Pour milk and eggs into dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
• Add melted butter and stir slightly. Batter should be lumpy.
• Pour onto hot skillet coated with non-stick spray.
• Flip when bubbles start to pop and bottom looks golden brown (peek underneath to check).

Jumping Kids

I drew these for a friend who is holding a Relay for Life fundraiser at a gym that has bounce house parties. I think they may evolve into party invitations. Stay tuned.

What I Love This Week

My schoolteacher aunt gave us a bunch of these pencils a couple years ago, claiming that they are the best. She was right! We just ordered another bunch to replace some colors we had almost used up. The pencils are soft and the colors are bold. They are excellent for drawing thin lines and filling in large areas of color. They last for a long time and are the art supply of choice in our house. Plus, don't they look so enticing all together?



They are definitely not cheap ... but anyone who has used cheap colored pencils knows how frustrating they can be (hard, easily breakable, wimpy color.) So I think these are worth the investment for any kid who loves to draw.

Thank You, Shrinky Dinks

It had been a great spring break, but by Thursday I was running out of steam and stuck at home with one sick kid. Time to pull out the Shrinky Dinks! We experimented with using colored pencils vs. permanent markers. The verdict: markers smeared a bit but left a smooth color, pencils were easier to draw with but left a texture on the finished product. Dora chose to trace from a book, Theo came up with his own ideas. It goes without saying that the best part was watching them bake in the oven. At the end of the day ... two hours spent Shrinky Dinking. YES!



Waiting ...



and waiting ...



Admiring the finished product. (Note the window stickers that were our winter break project.)