A Little Snowy Fun

Got snow?  Here’s a delightful way to use it!

Wouldn’t it be fun to sneak outside tonight and do this to the family car?  Or even all the cars in the parking lot?! 

Happy Sunday!

 

In Praise of Silliness

“Draw a crazy picture, 
Write a nutty poem, 
Sing a mumble-gumble song, 
Whistle through your comb. 
Do a loony-goony dance 
‘Cross the kitchen floor, 
Put something silly in the world 
That ain’t been there before.”
― Shel Silverstein

Here’s to a new year of silliness and fun. 

What’s Your Pirate Name?

The kids and I got a fun pirate book recently and inside was a chart to help you find your pirate name.  Unfortunately, their chart left us a bit flat (9 out of 10 names were for boy pirates, for instance!) so we came up with our own pirate name generator.

To find your pirate name:

Pick 3 numbers, each one ranging  from 1-10 (you can use the same number more than once).

If you’d like a boy pirate name, pick a number between 1-5 for the last number.

If you’d like a girl pirate name, choose a number between 6 and 10 for the last  number.

Then find the word that corresponds from each list:

First word:

1. Big
2. Long
3. Blue
4. Jolly
5. Red
6. Cold
7. Green
8. One
9. Black
10. Stump

Second word:

1. Eye
2. Boot
3. Belly
4. Bottom
5. Leg
6. Ear
7. Mouth
8. Tooth
9. Lip
10. Foot

Third word:

1. Bob
2. Willy
3. Bart
4. Bill
5. Kid
6. Ann
7. Bonny
8. Bess
9. Gert
10. Sue

For instance, if your child chose 147, She’d be Big Boot Bonny.  752 would be Green Leg Willy.  333 would be Blue Belly Bart.  And so on.

Feel free to make up your own lists too!

A Little Picture and Poem by Victoria

Presents have boxes
Presents have bows
You won’t get a present
If you bite my toes

 

Happy Thursday!

Grape Expectations

Looking for a way to have some goofy fun with your kids?  Here’s a totally silly activity we did with friends on vacation one year.

We bought a bunch of grapes and handed out Sharpie markers, then altered the grapes to make little people, bugs, messages, you name it.  After that, we wandered around town and left the grapes in surprising places.

We left a little bulls-eye grape in an outdoor ashtray, a little “bless you” grape on a park bench, a row of “The Grapeful Dead” grapes and so on.

It was utterly ridiculous and grape fun!

Certifiable

When my girls were little, I sometimes came up with creative ways to occupy them when I was sick.  Between problem pregnancies and long-term illnesses, I spent a lot of time on the couch with little girls who were not the type to sit still and watch Sesame Street.

One of the ways I used to occupy them was to let them draw on the bottoms of my feet.  I’d give Victoria washable markers and she’d doodle halfway up my leg while I got to rest and not fall down or throw up for a little while.

(I still remember how idiotic I felt at the prenatal appointment when I stripped down and then realized I was decorated up to my knees in toddler art and had forgotten to wash it off!)

I still use the busywork trick.

Tuesday night, I really wanted to watch a television show.  My boys were bored so I sat Alex at the top of the couch with me and 25 Matchbox cars and Jack at the end of the couch with washable markers.

For a good twenty minutes, I lined up fire trucks and convertibles with one little boy while another enthusiastically decorated me.

On my right foot was a series of… well, I have no idea, but upside down they look a bit like a weird smiley face.  And on the left… I was orange.  Jack decided he wanted to make me an alien.

It worked.  I watched my show, the boys played and were happy (before moving on to the next busywork — even doing graffiti on Mom only works so long), and I’m pretty sure most of it was non-toxic.

And then today… I kept meaning to take a bath or jump in the shower but one thing after another happened.  And so I took a walk around the neighborhood with two little boys and decorated feet.  I drove to the lawnmower repair shop and rode along to the car repair shop to see about air conditioning.  I gardened and chased the kids outside.  I said “hi” to the passing teenagers.

All with these feet.

(Blue toenails courtesy of Annalee, who offered me a free spa treatment and pedicure the same night.)

My left foot kept scaring me throughout the day.  I’d forget about it all and then catch sight of that and think I’d missed some sort of terrible accident.

Even after I finally got that bath, my left foot is still pale orange.  And the brown heart appears to be permanent.  I’m surprisingly unconcerned, though.  It kind of makes me smile.

I can’t imagine what our townspeople must think of me. 

Rock Cuties

I just stumbled onto these pictures that Victoria took last summer when she was staying with Magical Mama Tiffany and her family.  How’s this for cheap, easy and delightful fun? 

She and her friend Judith, who was visiting from Texas, made all of these little folks…

Now if it would only stop raining long enough for us to go find some rocks of our own……

Happy Tuesday!

Quote for the Day

“You’re only given a little madness.
You mustn’t lose it.”
– Robin Williams

Happy Tuesday!

Meet the Roundbottoms

Tonight I was taking a bath with Alex
when Anna came in with a notebook and pencil.
She introduced herself as Allison Somebody
and wanted to interview me.

I said sure.

She asked how many kids I had,
so I answered 17.

She wanted to know their names.
Sure, I told her,
There’s Twinkletoes Roundbottom here
(Junior really, he’s named after his daddy)
and Eggbeater,
oh yes, and Lizardlump Roundbottom…

Victoria heard from the other room
and had to come join us.
For some reason my girls were laughing so hard
they kept nearly falling over.
It might have had something to do with the funny accent too.

Just then my 6 year old, Higglebott, came in.
He really prefers to be called Jack.
But Swarky Daffodill Strangebottom
(also known as Victoria)
didn’t mind her name at all
as long as I’d answer her questions too.

Those girls wanted to know about discipline
(throwing spoons, I told ‘em)
and sleeping arrangements
(the kids sleep on the roof
and it’s sloped, ya know –
all night long I hear tumble tumble tumble BONK).

Higglebott ended up climbing into the bath too
while Swarky and Chickenlips Eugenia interviewed me.
I told a lot of stories about our family adventures.
Boy have I done some dumb things.
Boy do my children laugh a lot.

We made so much noise Daddy went downstairs to watch his show.

I have such a small bathroom
and I never get a bath to myself.

Rotten children.

Just wait till I find my spoons.

Animal Splicing!

Here’s a totally silly way to occupy small children online!  The Animal Splicer 1.0 allows you to cross cartoon animals in its magical machine to make brand new creatures.  Alex is crazy about the Manke (monkey snake) but I personally love the Octobunny.   The Frobster is adorable too, while the Wartopus is just plain odd.  Next time you have a bored or cranky little person (or a bored or cranky big person!), give it a try!