Attempting to keep them busy AND happy

- We are trying to take walks more. Usually I can't convince the girls to go along unless there is a goal that they'd enjoy, like the park, store, library, you get the idea. So if I know a trip can be made without needing to carry much back home in return, I opt for walking (or bike ride) over the car.
- Watercolors can usually get me 30 minutes of quiet time to get something done.
- MAKING COOKIES. My kids love to help me make cookies (or anything edible for that matter), even if it's only so they can reap the benefits of cookie dough. Then we send them off to work with daddy.
- Playdough, both non-edible and edible! If I don't need to keep them clean, then we make peanut butter playdough. Otherwise, we break out the regular stuff and mommy's cookie cutters :-)

Peanut Butter Playdough
*Big scoop of peanut butter
*Big squirt/spoonful of honey
*Powdered milk, enough to make a playdough consistency
Stir them all together and that's it! 
Add fun little Teddy Grahams for added fun to play in the playdough (and inevitably get eaten as well)


Regular Playdough
*1 cup of flour
*1/2 cup salt
*2 tsp. cream of tartar
*1 cup of water
*1 Tbsp. oil
Mix all ingredients in small saucepan. cook over medium heat about 3 minutes or until desired consistency. Mixture will pull away from sides of pan. Add food color and knead to blend. Store in airtight bag or container.


-What about play with their toys and books? Well, that's a given. The amount of time I get varies depending on how invested they are in their activity. It sometimes come down to the girls dragging me away from my chores to play with them or my eldest talking my ear off to know every detail about what I'm doing. That's why I'm curious if any of you have tricks to getting chores like cleaning the bathroom (where I use cleaners I would prefer them to not touch and/or get on their clothes) or sweeping, without "shadows".... which the electronic babysitter ends up being my downfall :-(

(Did I mention my 3 1/2 year old hasn't done naptime for a year now???)

Topic: Jan 3 week

Hope you are all ready for a wonderful new year!

This week's topic is an idea collecting subject to help myself, and I'm sure other moms will also appreciate it, so if you can answer it, please do!

What activities do you like to do with your kids on just a regular day? 

You have nothing planned away from home and/or you have mommy chores to get done. 

What do your kids do so you don't have to resort to the default: Movie/extended TV?

(no guilt trips here...I'm as guilty as they come!)

If recipes are used that can be shared for our use, we'd appreciate it!