Christmas Fun - Crystal Snowflakes

I've seen tons of pictures and tutorials around the internet for Crystal Snowflakes made from pipe cleaners, Borax and water.  

They looked pretty cool and the instructions seemed pretty simple, so I decided to give it a try!  Here is goes . . . step by step . . . 

Use three half pipe cleaners, twisted together int he middle to make a snowflake.

Mix 3 tablespoons of borax to 1 cup of boiling water, stirring to dissolve.  Add blue food colouring if desired.  (If mixing a large quantity, use 3/4 cup of borax to 4 cups of boiling water.)  Liam enjoyed measuring and mixing!

 Hang snowflakes over the top of a container by tying a string to the snowflake and the other end to a dowel, resting across the top of the container.  Fill your container with borax solution, making sure to cover the pipe cleaner completely and ensuring that the snowflakes are not touching the sides or bottom of the container.

Let sit over night.  About 4 hours later, the crystals were just starting to form on top of the water.

Remove snowflakes from borax mixture.

And there you have it . . . Broax Crystal Snowflakes!  Liam was super excited with his crystal snowflakes!

Overall, the project was just as easy as I expected!  I did have difficulty finding a container, the instructions said to use a jar and I didn't have anything big enough, so I used a stock pot and did three snowflakes together.  This used considerable more Borax and water than I anticipated.  (I used half a box of Broax just for this!)  But, other wise, super easy!

Some of the instructions that I saw before doing this said that they would be done in a couple of hours.  This was not the case.  If you try it, leave them overnight!

One other bit of advice if you try this - not only does the Borax form crystals on the pipe cleaners, it also forms crystals on the inside of the container.  When I do this again, I will use a disposable container so I don't have to spend an half an hour chipping water out of my pot! 

This is what my pot looked like when we were done.  The stuff at the bottom was rock hard and about half an inch thick!

The End Of An Era - Good Bye Daycare . . . Hello Big Boy School

Four years ago, almost to the day, my baby was started daycare.  He was eight months old and I was a week away from going back to work - at the same daycare.

 

Liam's first day of daycare - August 31, 2009

 

Four years seems like a long time, but it also seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. 

 

After a year in the infant program, a year in the toddler program and two years in the preschool program, with me working in the same building for three of those four years, today is my baby's last day of daycare.  He is almost ready to start school.

 

 

Liam's Preschool Graduation

 

My little boy, who has come to daycare with my for four years will now have to get on the school bus and go to school all by himself. 

 

I am excited for him to embark on this new adventure - to learn new things, to make new friends, to explore a whole new world. 

 

But I am also sad.  He is growing up far too quickly.  I won't get to see him with his friends every day.  He won't be there to run and give me a hug when I go into the room that he's been in for the past year.  I won't know what he's done every day and if he's listening to his teachers or not.  I won't be able to kiss his bo-bos.  I know that I am very lucky to have had him here at the daycare where I work.  I know it is a luxury that most working parents don't have.  But it still makes me sad.

 

And I have to admit that I am a bit worried for him.  What if he is scared on the bus?  What if he doesn't like his teacher?  What if he doesn't make new friends?  What if he needs me and I'm not there?

 

I am pretty sure that my worries will amount to nothing.  He is excited about going to big boy school.  He loved going on the school bus for our daycare field trip.  He's been trough countless daycare teachers in four years and they have all adored him and he's loved them all.  He is super social and he makes friends with kids anywhere we go. 

 

I think this is where I have to admit that I need him here more than he needs me here.  Even when he was a toddler and we were in the same room almost all day, everyday, he was content to do his own thing most of the time.

 

September will be a month of big changes and many new routines.  I expect that there will be a lot of chaos as we adapt to these changes and learn new routines.  I am sure that there will be tears (probably most of them will be mine!) but there will also be lots of excitement as we embark on this next stage of life. 

 



 

 

 

 

Conversations With Liam - The Driller Bug Story

When you have a four year old with a very active imagination, you never know what the next conversation is going to be about or when you might have to have it.  This one happened at 3:00 in the morning yesterday.

 

 

Liam: "Mommy, MOMMY, MMOOMMMMYY!"

Me:  Stumbles out of bed and across the hall.  "What's wrong?"

Liam:  "Turn on my actual light."

Me: Turns on light.  "What's wrong?"

Liam:  "Come sit with me."

Me: Plods across the room and flops onto the bed and closes my eyes, realizing that the boy is not upset, he is happy and full of energy. 

Liam: "Mommy, sit up and open your eyes.  You need to look at me."

Me:  Slowly sits up.  "Why aren't you sleeping?'

Liam:  "Mommy, a long time ago, when I was a baby a driller bug drilled these two fingers."

Me:  "What?!?"

Liam:  "A long time ago, when I was a baby a driller bug drilled these two fingers."

Me: "What is a driller bug?"

Liam: "A driller bug is a green bug with four legs that goes 'chut chut chut bzzzzz' and drills."

Me:  "Umm, OK, where did you see a bug like that?"

Liam:  "I saw it a long time ago when I was a baby, when it drilled these two fingers.  But it's OK.  WHen I grew up and was a three year old, the thing the driller bug gave me when it drilled into my fingers died and fell off."

Me:  "Ummm, that's good."

Liam:  "I think the driller bug is under my bed or a big rock."

Me:  "There is no driller bug under your bed."

Liam:  "What about a big rock?"

Me:  "I guess there might be a driller bug under a big rock somewhere."

Liam:  "No, Mommy, under my bed.  Is there a big rock under my bed?  A giant rock?"

Me:  "No, there ar eno rocks under your bed."

Liam: "There is something under my bed.  It is either a driller bug or a big giant rock."

Me:  "No, there's not."

Liam:  Leans over and looks under the bed.  "You're right.  It must have disappeared."

Me:  "Can you go back to sleep now?"

Liam: "Yep, good night Mommy."

Me: "Good night Liam."  Turn off the light and close the door.

Liam: "MOMMY!"

Me: Open the door.  "What?"

Liam:  "You forgot to say I love you."

Me:  "I love you Liam."

Liam:  "I love you too."

 

So, I have no idea where I was when the driller bug was drilling into my baby's fingers.  Or why I didn't notice when the "thing" died and fell off.  But there you have it.  The Driller Bug Story.  The fun things I do at 3:00am!

Halloween Fun!!

Every year, Halloween gets more and more exciting!  Two years ago, we Trick or Treated at 2 houses because every time someone opened their door, Liam cried.  Last year, we had to be right beside him to knock on doors, ring door bells and take the candy when he decided to be shy.  This year, he was a pro!  Walking up to houses by himself, knocking on the door, saying Trick or Treat and Thank You and having a wonderful time!

Here is our Halloween adventure in photos!

 Miller's Farm in Manotick.  Liam would have played on the hay bales all day if we hadn't reminded him that we were there for a pumpkin!

 Checking out the pumpkin patch.  So many pumpkins!

 "I want these two.  One can have a happy face and one can have a scary face."

 "You want me to put my hands in there?  I don't think so!"

 "Are you sure I have to touch this stuff?  It is like slime."

 "I guess it's not so bad after all."

 The scary pumpkin. (We got a small pumpkin that was supposed to be the happy face, but it started to rot before we craved them.)

 Captain America . . . ready to save the world . . . if you have candy!

"Come on people!  There are more houses to go to, lots more houses."

Captain America and all his goodies.  We told him that he could choose 2 things to eat before bed.  He was very good about it but probably only because he was too exhausted to put up a fuss!  We stopped Trick or Treating because he asked to go home to bed!  I don't ever remember asking to stop Trick or Treating, we were always trying to talk Dad into one more house!  But then again, I don't remember being three years old!  When he finally went to bed, Liam was very sad that he couldn't wear his Captain America suit to bed!

Conversations With Liam

As time goes on, conversations with Liam get more and more interesting.  He is just over 3.5 years old and he loves to talk.  My mother will tell you that he gets that from me.  She always said that once I started talking, I never shut up and I find myself saying the exact same thing about Liam on a regular basis.


Here are just a few of the conversations that have occurred over recent months.

Liam: "I need two mommies."
Me: "Am I not good enough?"
Liam: "No, I need two mommies."
Me: "Why do you need two mommies?"
Liam: "Because I am a little boy and little boys need two mommies and a daddy."
Henry: "Who do you you want your other mommy to be?"
Liam: "I don't know, you can pick. But you can be my one daddy."
Me: "Do I get to be one of your mommies?"
Liam: "Yes, but I need two mommies.  Daddy, who is my other mommy going to be?"
Henry: "I have to pick now?'
Liam: "Yes, I need another mommy soon."


Driving home, Liam could see smoke from a bush fire, he said:  
"Look at all that smoke, it must be a volcano.  I want to go see the volcano right now."


He frequently tells me the following:
"When I grow up, I want to be Tony Stark because he had a lot, a lot of money, he is really smart and he's IRONMAN!"


There are a lot of made up words in our conversations lately, but everyone has a meaning.
Liam: "Mommy, is that a shickhitter?"
Me: "Huh?  What's a shickhitter?"
Liam: "It's a small, very tiny, little digger machine.  You should know that."


Friends of ours, Ashley and Danny recently got engaged, Liam will be their ring bearer, although I don't think he has any idea what a wedding or a ring bearer is, he has plans for their special day.
Liam: "Ashley should get married in a princess castle."
Me: "No, Ashley's not getting married in a princess castle."
Liam:  "OK, I want Ashley and Danny to get married on a horse.  Actually on two horses, one for Ashley and one for Danny."

Liam wants a castle:
Liam: "Mommy, I really think we need a castle."
Me: "Really?"
Liam: "Yes, a big one."
Me: "Where are we going to find a castle?"
Liam: "We'll have to build one.  I want to build it with you."
Me: "I don't know how to build a castle."
Liam: "That's OK, it's easy, really easy.  First you get all the parts and put the parts together and then you put the top on.  Then you put lots of toys inside.  You put in the floor and paint it.  They you put the walls on and paint them.  And you have to put on a top that you can walk around on.  That's a castle."
Me: "What colour are you going to paint it?"
Liam: "We can paint it red or blue or grey or any colour, really."
Me: "But what colour do you want to paint it?"
Liam: "Well, red, I think red is good."
Me: "What colour are you going to paint the floor?"
Liam: "Well, blue of course."
Me: "are you going to live in your castle?"
Liam: "Sure.  I want you to live in my castle with me."
Me: "OK.  Who else is going to live in your castle?"
Liam: "All the kids from preschool."
Me: "All of them?"
Liam: "Of course."
Me: "What about Daddy?"
Liam: "Well, sure, Daddy can live with us."



There are some farms close by that use propane canons to scare birds out of the corn fields.  Here is Liam's interpretation of the situation.
"That noise is to make the birds fall off the corn so that the farmers can get the corn and feed the corn to the cows in the winter because cows are hungry in the winter."

I really never know what he is going to say next.  I wish I could always have a paper and pen near by to capture some of the stories that he tells because I can never remember them all.  

Wordless Wednesday - Saunder's Farm

This past Saturday we met up with my sister, Teanna and my nephew, Denver at Saunder's Farm.  We have never been before, I looked at their website last Halloween and thought that it was a little too expensive for what Liam would have gotten out of it at that point.  And I honestly didn't know until about a month ago that they had summer stuff!  I always just thought of them as a Halloween activity!

I wasn't sure how the day would go, Liam and Denver really do get excited to see each other and have fun when they are together but I was worried that at a place like this with so much to do, the difference in age (Liam is 3 and Denver is 7) would prove to be too much to keep them together and both happy.  I was pleasantly surprised at how content they were to do most things together.  

The boys had a wonderful time and Liam is already asking to go back again.

Seeing as how this is supposed to be a Wordless Wednesday Post, I guess I should get to the pictures!  (I don't do the Wordless part of  Wordless Wednesday very well!)  

I wasn't sure we were going to 

 "It's OK, we don't have to go anywhere else, we can just play here all day!"

"Umm, I got up, but how do I get down?"

"This is supposed to be challenging?  For who?"

"THIS. IS. AWESOME."

"No, I'm not going to fall, I'm good!"

I'm not going to lie, I had a blast on the jumping pillows and would have spent more time there if the boys hadn't lost interest!

Mazes from the look out tower.

"I can find my way through here, no problem!"

"Just follow Denver, he knows where he is going!"

Liam wasn't too sure what to think of the splash pad.  He's never been to one before and isn't a fan out getting sprayed with water.

He did however have lots of fun spraying the water and running around the edges!

Witch's Mountain Slide.  I was very surprised to see Liam go down by himself!  It is very high and very fast!

After a few runs on his own, he talked Auntie Teanna into a couple of rides.

And even one with Mommy, but then he requested Auntie Teanna again!

Much like the tree house when we first arrived, we weren't sure that we were ever going to get to leave once the boys found the pirate ship play structure!