Painting Pink Pajamas

Easter activities and song for kids

2010-04-02T21:39:00.008-03:00

Hi folks! Sorry I dropped off the face of the earth/blog! Baby prep plus work deadlines have been overwhelming, and I've kind of been ignoring the computer during my downtime (or else I've been napping). I need to find time to write and schedule a few posts so that this blog won't be entirely dormant when the baby arrives and I'm too tired to do anything!Anyways, the reason for my post is Easter!

Bloggy inspiration - games and printables

2010-03-24T07:20:00.000-03:00

I've been getting a lot of inspiration from other people's blogs lately. There are so many creative ideas out there! Here are a few of my recent favourites (some are spring and Easter themed):Story Stones from Frugal Family FunFoil mushrooms for a fairy circle from Filth WizardrySponge painting shapes from NutureStoreMix and match Easter egg hunt from Snackpicks Coloured wooden eggs from The

Disney trying to silence children's advocacy group?

2010-03-23T11:41:00.001-03:00

Now don't get me wrong, I generally like Disney things (although the princess overkill bugs me). I went to Disney World on my honeymoon, owned many Disney movies before having children, and have Disney books and toys in my home.But increasingly, some of their corporate policies and actions bother me.Remember last year when Disney had to give refunds to Baby Einstein customers for false

Simple St. Patrick's Day fun

2010-03-23T07:41:00.004-03:00

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day a day late this year, but it seemed a shame to let the holiday go by without commemoration!We listened to Irish and Irish/Newfoundland music all day, and learned about the history of St. Patrick's Day through this cartoon on YouTube (Oh, how I love YouTube).We ate green snacks: leftover sugar cookies from the freezer, spread with icing and topped with green

Easter books for children

2010-03-19T15:36:00.005-03:00

For this week's edition of Feed Me Books Friday, everyone is sharing their favourite Easter books. Come join in, whether you prefer religious or secular books!The Best Easter Prize by Kristina EvansMy daughter received this book as a gift recently, and we both really like it! It's pretty simple, but I like that it (briefly) shows a family attending church on Easter Sunday, and then the kids go

St. Patrick's Day confession

2010-03-17T19:43:00.003-03:00

I totally forgot that today was St. Patrick's Day until the day was half over! I also forgot that it was Wednesday, so I didn't to take C to her playgroup this morning. Oops! I think we might celebrate tomorrow instead. I didn't have anything major planned, but it seems a shame to let the holiday pass by, especially with so much great Celtic music in my CD rack!Hope you had a fun day!

More pre-baby books for children

2010-03-12T08:03:00.002-04:00

The clock is ticking, and Baby #2 will be here in a little over a month! It looks like Baby will probably arrive early, so we're hustling to get things ready! It's funny how prepared you can be for your first child, and how late you leave the preparations with your second! We bought paint the other day, after I had an appointment with my obstetrician. Lots of work to do this weekend - yikes!So

Planning a Frugal Birthday Party for Kids

2010-03-10T21:28:00.000-04:00

My daughter just turned 3 years old, and although I know many parents go all out for birthday parties, I'm fairly low key. My key words are fun, low stress and inexpensive! Here are a few of my tips for hosting a frugal birthday party.Don't plan the party around mealtime unless absolutely necessary9:30 - 11:30am and 1-3pm are ideal times, depending on children's naptimes. Not having to plan and

Pre-baby baking + Homemade Granola Bars

2010-02-26T21:08:00.004-04:00

It's amazing how busy C and I have been while Hubby's been away! We've had an activity to do just about every day, including taking a Mother-daughter mini road trip, which was fun. Now I'm trying to get the house cleaned up before Hubby comes home and before my Mom arrives to take care of C while I go on a business trip.Thanks to everyone for the banana recipe suggestions! As part of prepping for

"Yes, we have no bananas..." Actually, we have TONS! Help!

2010-02-24T21:18:00.002-04:00

My daughter loves the song "Yes, We Have No Bananas" by Louis Prima. We've been listening to the Jazz for Kids CD a lot lately.And speaking of bananas...I have a ton of bananas in the freezer. Once they start to get mushy and spotty, I throw them in the freezer, intending to make banana bread. I've made a few loaves lately, but I still have a ton of bananas left. Do you have any yummy banana

Away from the Internet right now...

2010-02-21T23:05:00.002-04:00

... as I try to complete a report for work in my free time while Hubby is away for 11 days!I'm officially off work this week, but unofficially working towards the deadline.Laptop on the kitchen table, couch, and too many late nights!Whew - I need a rest!

Taming the chaos of electrical wires

2010-02-17T14:39:00.007-04:00

In preparation for our new baby, we recently changed our home office into an office/guest room, and that meant buying a smaller desk for the room. To ease the frustration of trying to figure out which cord belongs with which device, we labeled each cord before (or immediately after) disconnecting it. We just cut pieces of masking tape and folded them around the cords to make tags. Now we actually

Bowling in our hallway

2010-02-16T08:00:00.001-04:00

This one should be added to the Super Simple Activities posts!Super Simple Activities for Lazy DaysSuper Simple Activities for Busy DaysA couple of days ago C and I were listening to The Bowling Song by Raffi, and she announced that she wanted to bowl too! After some trial and error, we set up a bowling lane in our hallway.You will need:Paper towel tubesBallThat's it - it can't get much easier! I

Mommy Loves You, Daddy Loves You, God Loves You: Books for Children

2010-02-12T09:07:00.000-04:00

This week's Feed Me Books Friday topic is "Books about Love" - an appropriate topic with Valentine's Day coming up this weekend! Here are a few of our favourite love books:Mommy's Best Kisses by Margaret AnastasThis short book has beautiful illustrations showing mother animals giving their babies kisses to show their love. It's perfect for babies, but at 3 years old my daughter still likes it (

Organizing all of those barrettes!

2010-02-10T07:30:00.004-04:00

Fact of life: when you have a little girl, you have barrettes.Lots of barrettes.Teeny, tiny barrettes that always get lost.We don't have much wall or door space in C's room, and don't have room for a hanging barrette organizer (like this, this, or this one similar to what I had as a child). Instead, we just have a little barrette box that sits on a shelf, next to a little bucket of hair

Get out the tissues...

2010-02-09T11:16:00.008-04:00

Two child-related posts that made me cry.How to Handle Little People: A Parenting (Non) Tutorial.When You are Afraid of Dying.I've been thinking a lot about patience, and my increasing lack of it. Maybe it's the pregnancy, maybe it's having an almost-3 year old, maybe it's having so many deadlines and things to do lately... I've been feeling very much that I need to slow down and put aside some

Making doll clothes - quick hat and diaper

2010-02-06T10:42:00.004-04:00

C loves the baby doll that Santa brought her for Christmas.Polly goes everywhere with us, and gets fed, burped and changed almost as much as a real baby (practice for when our 2nd child arrives in May, I guess)!Soon after receiving her doll, I made a cloth diaper for Polly, because she is so small that real diapers went up almost to her chin! This week, C lost Polly's hairband, and was very

Super simple activities for busy days!

2010-01-31T12:23:00.010-04:00

As I've mentioned before, Hubby and I have been very busy and feeling kind of stressed lately. Although I feel like I should be doing more planned learning activities with C, we haven't been doing many, as I've been trying to squeeze in a lot of errands and work before I leave on my trip to Ottawa tomorrow.We all have those days (or weeks, or more) sometimes, so I thought I'd share a few super

Mommy's Having A Baby! Books to help your child understand what will happen

2010-01-29T08:26:00.004-04:00

I'm expecting my second child at the beginning of May, and my almost-3-year-old daughter is very excited. We've been diapering, burping and rocking her dolls a lot, and she's entirely fascinated with the idea of having a new baby (let's hope the reality goes as well - maybe I should get a CD of a baby crying to play every now and then!).To prepare, we've been reading a lot of books about babies.

Four tips to a more enjoyable winter

2010-01-28T09:27:00.003-04:00

Hate the cold? Join the club! But here in Canada, I have to make the most of it, because I can't hibernate all winter (especially now that I have a child - Mommy Guilt sets in)!Read my guest post on Because Babies Grow up for Four Tips to a More Enjoyable Winter, especially written for those of us who aren't snow bunnies!

Lots on my plate!

2010-01-26T11:44:00.007-04:00

Busy, busy here! I've been occupied with so much this week! Helping Hubby prepare for a silent auction at church, brainstorming birthday party ideas, working on crafts (stay tuned!), and preparing for a business trip to Ottawa next week (we have a couple of contracts with the Canadian Breast Cancer Network right now - it's such interesting work!). Whew!!C has decided that she wants her strawberry

Birthday prep, and a few online freebies!

2010-01-20T20:21:00.007-04:00

My gal's 3rd birthday is coming up on Valentine's Day, so I have some party prep to do! Due to my Hubby's schedule that weekend, we may have to have an evening party, which throws a kink into the party planning, but I've been brainstorming ideas until we finalize the time and how many people will be available to come.She has already informed me that she wants a strawberry cake. Not the Strawberry

To all the crafty people out there...

2010-01-18T22:27:00.003-04:00

I've been saving potential craft materials from the recycling bin, and while cleaning up our craft closet, I discovered that I've accumulated quite a collection of empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls!Do you have any ideas for crafts that will use a bunch of them at one time?

New music for our collection

2010-01-14T08:12:00.002-04:00

Last month I was lucky enough to win a contest on Because Babies Grow Up - for a CD! Rock and Roll Garden by the Bari Koral Family Rock Band is a great addition to our children's music collection. Although it's about child-friendly topics, the songs have a good beat, which makes Mummy & Daddy very happy! I think the song "Hey Ducky" is super cute, and C loves "The Backpack Song". Whenever she

Freezing breakfast

2010-01-13T07:00:00.002-04:00

We're a family of three, and whenever we make a batch of waffles or pancakes, we always have some left over. Instead of composting them or keeping them in the fridge to get soggy and never eaten, we freeze them for later! We wrap two or three in tin foil, label them, and then pop them in the freezer. Then we can eat them another morning when we're in the mood for something sweet - voila, quick