Spring Blossom Tree Art

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Kim

cherry tree using popcorn

One of my very favorite tree’s is the cherry blossom. Truth be told, I love any tree that produces blossoms, including lilac (which has to be one of my all-time favorite scent), magnolia, dogwood, etc. But there is something so special and spectacular about the beauty of a cherry tree. Sadly these stunning blossoms only last a very short time, and are already disappearing before our eyes.

So it seems only fitting that I post this Spring Blossom art project that the kids did last week to try and keep the cherry blossom tree alive for a bit longer at our house!

Supplies Needed:

    • White paper
    • Brown crayon
    • Glue
    • Popcorn (plain) that has been tinted pink*

*When I use to do this art project with my preschool children I always used pink powder paint and just sprinkled it on the popcorn. However, I was unable to find pink powder paint – and I looked everywhere for it!?

So this time around I experimented with food coloring paste, and miraculously it turned out! I smeared some pink food coloring paste in various spots on the inside of a large plastic ziplock bag. I then added the freshly popped popcorn and shook the bag vigorously to spread the color around to each kernel.

Obviously you could just use plain popcorn and make it a white cherry blossom tree – but I am always in favour of adding a bit of color!

How To:

  • Draw a tree stump and limbs on the white paper with the brown crayon
  • Have the child glue the tinted popcorn on the limbs of the tree
As an alternate version of this Spring Blossom Tree art project you can use tissue paper instead of the popcorn (as seen in the picture below)

Spring blossom tree art using tissue paper

  • Cut up colored tissue paper in small squares
  • Have the child squish or roll the tissue paper square into a very small ball, and glue it on the limbs of the tree

There you have it, two versions of how to recreate one of my very favorite trees.

Happy Spring!

Posted in Let's Get Messy! | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Love Story

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Kim

On May 15, 1999 I married my best friend. When I think about our anniversary I always have a hard time remembering how many years it has actually been. This isn’t because we have been married for so long I forget, but more due to fact that the 13 years we have been married seems insignificant to the amount of time we have actually known each other.

We met in grade three. And considering we are both 35 at the moment, means we have been together for….(let me do the math)… 26 years. 26 years!!!! Now, that number has my head spinning!

My Mom’s version of me and my husband’s love story is the best I’ve heard yet.  She tells everyone that my hubby has been in love with me since the first day we met in grade three, and never stopped.  Although there is a small truth to that statement, in reality hubby had many ‘love’ interests throughout elementary and high school.

While he did manage to drive me a little crazy (okay, maybe more than a little crazy) with his insistence to win me over throughout our school-hood days, I feel the most important part about our history together is that we were always friends….good friends. I now look back on all the memories we share, since the first time we met in grade three, and think what a spectacular love story we have to tell our children!

There isn’t a moment in my past (since the age of nine) that I don’t recall hubby being there when it truly mattered.  I could always count on him (and still can) to be my rock, and my true-life knight in shining armour.  No matter what I was going through he was always the first person that I wanted to turn to, and that I could turn to.  No matter what the consequences were on his end he was always there for me, come hell or high water.  I would like to think that I was always there for him too, but he never seemed to need rescuing. He always liked (and still does) being the rescuer.

Sometimes I wonder how we have managed to stay this close for so long, for we have a fair amount of differences.  A few of the BIG ones are…he is a snuggler,  I am most definitely not; He is completely outdoorsy, while I am quite content to stay inside, and in fact can come up with a thousand excuses why I need to; He wants to live out in the middle of nowhere, while I would be more than happy to live in a pretty house in a larger type subdivision, as long as we had some privacy – although I must admit that am slowly coming over to the ‘pasture’ side of things more and more; and probably our biggest difference, is the way in which we think about things. Hubby gets and idea in his head, follows through with it immediately, and gets it done; while I tend to mull it over to death, worry about it even more, and then maybe get around to it, after I have a chance to think about it once again.

While sometimes we drive each other nuts, somehow our similarities keep us from letting those differences get the better of us. Just like in all relationships we have had our ups and downs, our rough patches, and our fair share of fights, but all in all I would say that we have a pretty damn good solid foundation. And our relationship seems to be getting easier and easier with each passing year.

So while it took me a fair amount of time to realize what a great catch hubby was (is) – just a mere 10 years before I was swayed to love him back at the age of 19 (yes, I am a little slow when it comes to these matters), I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love this man.  He is a wonderful father, a devoted, doting and extremely loving husband, and someone who I can’t imagine my life without.

Happy 13th Anniversary hubby! I have no doubt the best years are about to come.

With all my love,

Kim

Posted in Moma's Musings | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

An Ideal Mother’s Day

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Kim

Mother’s Day: A day to honour Mom.  A time for people to thank their mothers and/or mother figures who took the time to care for them throughout their lives. A day where children get to express their love and gratitude to their devoted Mommy. A day where Mom is allowed to do anything she chooses. A time where a Mother can fully relax and escape from any and all domestic duties, because after-all the day is solely about her…(insert record scratch here)…well at least that is what Mother’s Day SHOULD be like!

Most often the day starts out with good intentions. Maybe Mom gets to sleep in that morning, maybe she gets offered breakfast in bed, maybe she is presented with adorable home-made cards and gifts, maybe she is given a big bouquet of flowers, or maybe she is taken to her favorite restaurant to enjoy a delicious brunch.

But then something happens…the excitement fizzles out, and the day somehow drifts into any other day. There are dishes to be done, poopy bums and snotty noses to be wiped, squabbles to be refereed,  mouths to feed, chores to be completed, and bedtime routines to get through (just to name a few).

Children and husbands have it all wrong! It is called Mother’s DAY, not Mother’s HOUR!

In an ideal world Mother’s DAY would actually exist. Every Mother would have an entire day where she could do as she pleases. If she happened to want to spend it with her children she could –and of course said children would be on their best behaviour ALL day. Or she could decide not to spend it with her children and take the entire day for herself (and not feel guilty about it). And, of course, there would the option of doing a bit of both. 50% of the day would be spent with her adoring children, and the other 50% alone doing whatever she fancies!

None of this would ever happen, mind you, for Mother’s aren’t typically selfish enough to do this for themselves.

So in my DREAM world, on the morning of Mother’s day (after breakfast in bed, and being smothered with hugs and kisses, and given beautiful home-made cards from her very well-behaved children) every Mother would be magically whisked away to a tropical island where the rule would be that she isn’t allowed to do ANYTHING. Nothing, but exactly what she wanted to do.

The very best part about this magical island is that she would be amongst her peers, her friends, her confidants, and most importantly her own Mother.  Each Mother, young and old, would be surrounded by other women who completely understand the sacrifices that are made on a day-to-day basis, all for the love of their children!

Every Mother would end the day feeling so loved, adored, and honored that it would give her enough positive energy to keep her content and happy until the next Mother’s Day rolled around.

(Sigh) Wouldn’t that be wonderful?!

Happy Mother’s day to all of you hardworking, noble, over-caring, selfless women out there who are lucky enough to be called Mom!

Posted in Moma's Musings | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Easy Science Experiment

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Kim

Moonscape effect

This science project was so cool! While I have played with baking soda and vinegar before, I have never tried it this way. Unfortunately, my kids really enjoyed it too and were unwilling to share – and not to mention I ran out of baking soda. Damn kids, they get all the fun! ;)

I should tell you that I found this idea from a blog that I subscribe to called Shades of Bliss. Apparently she found the idea on Pinterest (seriously, if you don’t have an account with Pinterest yet, you don’t know what you are missing!).

Supplies needed for Easy Science Experiment

Supplies Needed:

  • Pie plates
  • Baking soda (just a note: we went through two small boxes of baking soda – so be prepared to use a LOT – good thing it’s cheap!)
  • Vinegar (you use quite a bit of this as well)
  • Food coloring
  • Small containers for colored vinegar (one container per color)
  • Eye droppers

How To:

  • Pour a small amount (about 1/4 cup) of vinegar in each container and mix with food coloring of your choice (the more options the better)
  • Pour the baking soda into each pie plate until you have a thick layer on the bottom
  • Using the eye droppers, have child suck up some of the colored vinegar and then let it drain on top of the baking soda
  • Repeat, repeat, repeat!

My favorite part of this experiment is the fizzle sound you hear as the vinegar hits the baking soda. I also love the way the baking soda turns into what looks like a very colorful moonscape.

Once the kid’s pie plates were full of liquid, I drained off the vinegar and gave them a spoon.  We discovered that underneath the top layer of baking soda (or what looked liked brown goop from all of the colors mixing together) was a rainbow effect!

Did I mention how cool this whole experience was? You simply must try it for yourselves!

Posted in Let's Get Messy! | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Labour Pains and Glory

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Kim

I wish it happened like this!

(I am taking another writing course and the first writing spark was “Labour”. I thought it was very apropos considering my baby boy just had another birthday, and I am finding it hard to grasp the idea that three years has passed since he was delivered!

So here is my birth story – well a short snippet of it anyway – of my labour pains and glory, the second time around). 

I don’t remember getting to the hospital. I don’t remember being ushered into my private room.  I don’t remember getting undressed and putting on that horrible starchy hospital gown.  I can’t tell you if there was a T.V. in the room, or what color the room even was.  I don’t remember what the names of the lovely nurses were who helped me through the birth of my baby boy. What I do remember is immediately asking for drugs. “I NEED something, NOW!” I told the nurse frantically.

With the birth of my daughter I managed to get through 23 hours of labour, including 4 hours of pushing all without a single dose of pain medication.  I didn’t set out to do this, but when I asked if I could have something they explained to me that it was too late. I know there are some women who use a drug free birth as a badge of honour. While I am proud to say that I somehow managed to get through my first birth drug free, I went into my second KNOWING I was going to ask for something to help ease the pain. Badge of honour be damned!

However upon arriving at the hospital, the nurse’s first concern was my shaking limbs. For some reason from the moment the labour pains started my whole body started to shake. Even though I had been through the labour and birthing process once before, I felt I was just as ill-equipped and unprepared the second time around…in fact, maybe even more so. I have a feeling my body’s negative reaction had something to do with the fact I knew what was coming.

Once the nurse determined that my trembling wasn’t being caused by a fever, she encased me in warm blankets in an attempt to calm my shakes (nerves). I was then offered Nitrous Oxide, which unfortunately immediately made me feel nauseous. Having the mask covering my nose and mouth also made me feel claustrophobic, and I ended up having a mini panic attack.

After crying and severely trembling through my next few contractions I was offered some sort of narcotic via my intravenous tube.  Within 10 minutes not only was I crying, trembling and still in pain, I started vomiting too. On top of all that I felt like my entire body was covered in pins & needles, and I was severely light-headed.  The tingling feeling as well as the light head was apparently caused from me being so diligent (or rather I should say, over-diligent) with my breathing. I was basically hyperventilating myself through my contractions.

After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor on call finally gave the okay to give me an epidural.  Let’s just get something straight. Epidurals scare the crap out of me. There is something about inserting a large needle near your spine that just seems so wrong to me.  However those thoughts never even crossed my mind. I gladly accepted the numbing needle, and then the large needle that they sunk into my lower back to try and ease the pains of labour.

After I received the epidural I went into what I can only call bliss. My body stopped shaking and feeling tingly, my nausea (and vomiting) went away, my breathing went back to normal, and the best part is I felt nothing, absolutely nothing! In fact, I was in such a state of harmony that I actually giggled my way through the whole birthing process. Rips, tares, stitches, and all!

While there is no way I could have even received an honorary mention for being a trooper with the birth of my second child, I learned something very important that day.  There is nothing wrong with asking for something to help ease the pain (or obliterate it all together, as in my case). It does not make you any less of a mother or woman.

I have also become a huge fan of epidurals.  If for some reason my husband’s vasectomy reverses itself, and god forbid I end up having to go through the labour and birthing process once again, there will be no messing around.  The words “I NEED an epidural!” will most certainly be my first request!

Posted in Riding the Parenting Rollercoaster | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments