Madison: 3 Years Old

I know it's cliche but I can not help but think "where has the time gone?" every time one of my kids has a birthday. My little girl is now 3 years old or 3 old as she'll tell you. She'll be the first to tell you that she's a big girl now and that's why she can...fill in the blank a long list of things that only 3 year olds can do! The time has flown by! But at the same time I'm often reminding myself that she's only 3. At 31 lbs and 3ft 3in she's bigger than her 4 1/2 year old brother so there are even times where I have to remind her that she is younger than him. She takes it in stride because she's the spunky one. At times that causes me to wonder if she turned 3 or 13. After her party she told us that the reason she kissed her friend Charlie was "Because he likes my kisses!". He's supposedly her boyfriend. See!? 13 I tell ya! My mini teen is a firecracker. There's never a doubt how she feels. When she's happy, she's very happy. When she's sad, she's very sad. When she's mad, she's furious! Don't get in her way when she's mad! But when she's loving, you won't find a better cuddler. Hugs and kisses are one of her favorite things. Unless you're daddy. She randomly told Richard recently that she does not like his kisses anymore. I don't see that lasting long! She tends to gets a little carried when it comes to babies but she means well. One of Maddy's most favorite things at the moment is art; the messier the better. Hand her art supplies and she'll stay busy for hours. So what a better theme for her party!?

Her birthday begun with sprinkle cake batter pancakes. They were a huge hit!

I got the idea/recipe from I'm Bloggin'.


Then it was time to get ready for her art party! Our house is just not big enough for birthday parties so we hoped and prayed for no rain so that we could have it outside. We got a beautiful day! With rainbow paper chains, rainbow fruit, Maddy's art gallery and the rainbow aprons attached to the fence easel, the yard was equally beautiful!

The guests arrived and the kids got to painting. Off to the side I had a little washing station set up for the impending mess. We may try this party idea again in the future. The kids seemed to love it but the older kids did more painting while the younger kids got distracted but the yard toys.

At last, it was cake time! I had my own plans for the cake but at the last minute Maddy informed me that she wanted a princess cake. What's a mom to do but combine the two! She got a princess cake with a twist. I knew I had done good when, as I was putting the finishing touches on the cake, Maddy exclaimed "WOW!".

Princess Belle waving hi in her cake dress:

Surprise!

The birthday girl chowing down:

For more art party ideas, check out my art party pin board.

Stay up to date by "liking" my Facebook page.
© Mama Dani's Musings

School Days: Rainbows/Colors

What a fun week! There's quite a lot you can talk about and do when the topic is rainbows! The picture above is from when we made our own rainbow inside! The kids learned that all you need for a rainbow is light and water (prism).

Here's what else we did!

We learned about patterns!





Then came the fun part! Colors!!
Using Venn diagrams to mix colors to make new colors.





Free paint to experiment with the 3 primary colors:


The serious painter:


Almost made black!


More experimenting...What colors make the colors in our markers?

Red, Orange, Green and Black markers:


Lastly, we used oil, paint and water to make artwork.
First we mixed oil and paint.


Then we used paint brushed to drip it into water.


Gave it a little swirl..


Placed a piece of paper on it..


And ta da! Art!



And of course we can't forget our rainbow lunch on Monday.

This week's books:
What Makes a Rainbow? - Betty Ann Schwartz
What Is a Rainbow? - Chris Arvetis and Carole Palmer
The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow - Joanna Cole

Sean's pick:
Musicians of The Sun - Gerald McDermott

Muffin Tin Monday 3-7

This week we're learning about rainbows so for Muffin Tin Monday we had a rainbow lunch.


Red-Pepperoni, Orange-Cheese, Yellow-Corn,
Green-Broccoli, Blue-Jello, Purple-Grapes

More Muffin Tin Monday ideas: