Cloud Dough

Today we made cloud dough for the first time. I was looking for a new sensory experience for Little Guy that would also keep us busy for a little while. I used 1/2 cup oil (I used canola oil, but I bet vegetable oil would work too) and 4 cups of flour. I mixed them (until Daddy took over) with a whisk until it started to clump as it was mixed and I couldn't see any more clumps of oil. Since this made a relatively small batch, I put it in a casserole dish. I knew it would be messy, so I spread an old fitted sheet on the floor to catch any spills. (The advantage of the fitted sheet is if anything does spill, it will stay contained on the sheet and can't slide off, as I put the elastic on top.)

Here is our cloud dough on the sheet.

I put Little Guy on the floor with it and he immediately stuck his hand in! He started squishing it and burying his hand in it.

In he goes!

The cloud dough is very neat in that it clumps if you squeeze or press it, but also crumbles. Daddy even got in on the action, enjoying the cloud dough!

Daddy and Little Guy enjoyed the cloud dough!

For "tools," we used mandarin orange cups. They were fun to pack full of dough. We could have made a great "sand" castle with them, except Little Guy kept breaking them up!  Little Guy really seemed to enjoy the cloud dough, as it was a new texture and fun to play with. I think he even tasted it, but since it was just flour and oil I didn't worry.

He let me know when he was done...he turned around and sat in it!

I'm all done playing, mama!

I put the cloud dough in a zip lock bag for future use. I hope it holds up, I guess we'll see. I plan on getting it back out towards the end of the week, when it will be novel again.

In the bag, it feels similar to brown sugar.

10 years ago

This post is different.

Its not about the joys of mommy-hood, but the sorrow of real life.

Its about memories, and grief, and saying goodbye.

Unfortunately, its not about Little Guy at all.

10 years ago (has it really been that long) my world changed forever.  I said goodbye to my mom that day.

How do you say goodbye to your mom?  How is it that I can no longer call her on the phone on my way home, asking how her day was?  Why can't I call her to ask her how to make spaghetti sauce, or biscuits, or any of the other foods that she made when I was growing up?

Why wasn't she around when I met my now husband, so share my joy, giggles, excitement, and hope?  My wedding pictures have a missing person, someone who should have stood by me.

And when we announced I was pregnant, she should have been one of the first calls, should have waited excitedly for news after each of my appointments, been at the hospital when Little Guy was born.

But...10 years ago my world changed forever.

I have lots of memories of her, helping with Girl Scouts, making blueberry muffins for breakfast, coming to school to eat lunch with me, helping with colorguard, visiting her at work, going home after I moved out just to do laundry, helping me set up my first classroom.

I also have memories of the last few days.  Calling home to ask if I could come over for dinner, to find out she had collapsed and an ambulance was on the way.  Her sleepily telling us that her right foot was attacking her left foot, as it would not stop twitching.  Moments of hope, followed by none.  Calling my best friend and telling her that my mom was going to die.  Making hard decisions as a family for the sake of one we loved so deeply.  Being in the room at the end, saying goodbye.

Crying in church two days later at a prayer for my mom.  A memorial service, where the church was filled with people whose lives my mom had touched.  A small service at the cemetery, with just family.  Greeting my first graders after being gone for a week and one of them asking if my mom was still dead.

Life still moves on.  New memories are created.  Other people came into my life.  But she is still missing.

I love you, Mom!

Pasta fun

Little Guy is a busy little guy. That leaves me to try to come up with new ways to keep him entertained and, hopefully, learning. I had bought some pasta for Little Guy to play with. Some was bow tie, and some was rigatoni. I also had some bamboo skewers in a drawer. I wanted to create an activity for Little Guy where he could practice some fine motor skills. So this activity was born.

I took an empty cottage cheese container and poked 4 holes in the bottom. Into those holes I stuck 4 bamboo skewers.

Then we took the rigatoni and put it on the skewers. This was a great activity for Little Guy. It was good for his fine motor skills as well as his coordination in order to get the rigatoni on the skewers.

Hard at work!  Look at him concentrate!

The Joy of Jello!

Everyday, I get an email from Productive Parenting with an idea for an activity I can do with Little Guy. One activity was to play with Jello! When Grandma B was here watching Little Guy, we made some orange Jello. I used about 3/4 of the water it called for, in hopes of making it a little stiffer.

Grandma B put Little Guy in his highchair one morning and put some Jello on the tray! Little Guy had fun with the Jello, and enjoyed eating it as well. One downfall: it stained his hands orange!

What is this stuff?

Ohhh...its kind of squishy!

 
The following weekend, we got out the rest of the Jello. I stripped him down to his diaper and plopped him into his highchair. I cut the Jello into strips and then let him play (and eat...see the orange around his mouth?!).  Little Guy was not the only one who had fun with the Jello. I enjoyed squishing it between my fingers, too!  This time, he ended up with an orange belly too!  We went straight to the bath!

I think I remember this stuff...

Oh yeah!  It's really fun!