Preschool Basketball

Micah has been doing preschool basketball this summer. Since we are out in the country, we have to drive 30 minutes for him to participate in any sort of programming, but it's totally worth it since he's just so cute out there and he's learned a TON.

While we were sitting and watching him, I overheard one mother saying that they were gone for 12 hours the other day, from 9-9...ENTIRELY doing kids activities. Basketball, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, t-ball, swimming, swimming, soccer, softball....it was RIDICULOUS. Her four year old did not want to play basketball that day and went up to her 4 times throughout the hour asking if he could be done, and she said "No! Stop whining! You signed up for this stuff and you need to do it." The poor kids was just exhausted. I totally get wanting your kids to have opportunities, but parents- Let your kids be kids! They need unstructured down time to just play and be silly. Micah has taken swimming, gymnastics, soccer and now basketball...but we spread it out so he gets the experiences but isn't overprogrammed.

Anyways, off my soap box. :-) In case you want to run some drills with your kids at home...here's what they learned. Just a warning- all you athletic people will read this and think "Duh! Is she kidding me?!?!" Nope, not kidding. I truly did not know any of this stuff before watching Micah's teacher. But if you're not sporty like us, you'll be thankful to know how to teach your kid "proper" technique.

Preschool Basketball Pointers

•Practice dribbling on the side on both sides. If you dribble in front like most kids start off doing, it can land on their feet and bounce off.

•They're supposed to use their fingertips to dribble the ball, not slap at it.

•When they go to shoot, they should spread their feet, bend their knees and "put their hand in the cookie jar" when they extend.

•They practiced shooting with little foam balls and volleyballs first before using basketballs since they're lighter (but they only used basketballs for dribbling).

•For passing, they can learn how to do chest passes or overhead passes. And you take a step forward when you throw it. (seriously...did not know this stuff beforehand)

•They also practiced shooting and passing against the gym wall so it went back to them. I can see that occupying the kids for a long time at home.

Thank goodness for coaches to teach our kids the things we don't have a clue how to do. We're happy to reinforce their lessons at home! Today was his last day, so we brought it some basketball cupcakes to share with his teammates in celebration.

Now we need to find a portable basketball hoop that goes as low as 6 feet, but up to standard height, so he can use it now and grow into it. If any of you have any suggestions of one or ideas of how to make our own, please let me know!!!

Duluth!

This last weekend we got to go visit Duluth! We are only able to make it back once a year, but it always feels like coming home.

I was particularly excited this time because we also got to hang out with my friend Anna and her sweet baby boy!

While we were there, Micah got to push baby N around in his stroller for awhile. He took his job VERY seriously!

I was so pleased to see how much Micah remembered Duluth! We heard, "Hey! I've been here before." a LOT! He was just under 3 when we left and it's been 2 years now, so I would have thought most of his memories were gone...but he was asking about visiting Playfront and the children's museum, and describing them beyond what he would have just seen in pictures or heard in stories. He didn't ask about our old house, so we didn't bring it up or drive by.

Liliana was just a baby when we left, so she doesn't remember anything. But we told her lots of fun stories about her time there. The night before we moved, we went down to throw rocks in the water one last time and she would sneak rocks into her mouth when we weren't looking and then not move her tongue so we wouldn't catch on that she had one...she was a very stealth-like baby. So we had to constantly squeeze her cheeks to pop out the rocks. It was a little like a baby gumball machine.

The highlight of the trip though was visiting our church! Jeremy preached, I did the children's message, and the kids had their own posse of friends to play with! It truly felt like we had never left. When we were on our way home Micah said, "Duluth is the awesomest!!! Let's turn the van around right now and go back!!" and Liliana said, "That was cool!" and then promptly feel asleep. She was worn out.

We can't wait to go back again next year!!!

(easy and free) Make Your Own Toy

This post is quick and easy because this activity is too!

•Find a bunch of a small object laying around your house, they should all be about the same size. Could be paper clips, beads, pennies, milk caps, etc.

•Find a plastic container with a lid. Think margarine tubs, cool whip containers, drink cups from fast food, etc.

•Cut a hole in the lid slightly smaller than your object, so the object can go through, but they have to push it a bit instead of it just falling through.

•Line the hole with masking tape so they don't cut themselves.

Voila!

So the concept here is that they push the object into the container. (Great for refining fine motor skills and eye/hand coordination) But Liliana found lots of other ways to play with it too. She counted while she put them in. She started using different body parts like her chin or her elbow to push them through. It took me less than a minute and no money to make and she played with it for over a half hour on three different occasions. Micah also liked it, but he pretended that the bead things were bad guys and he had to put them in jail.

One other tip- whenever I give the kids something new that may not have super kid appeal at first...like a yogurt container with beads for instance :-), instead of giving it directly to them, I take it myself to the table and start playing with it without acknowledging their presence. If they ask me what it is I say, "MY new toy!" Instantly, it is cooler than any toy at Target and they must. have. a. turn. NOW!

Fishing!

Finally! A sunny day! We were so excited to take the kids out on the lake! Actually, we were more excited than they were. They would have been fine running through the sprinkler all day.

They'd been fishing before this summer, just off the public access dock with corn. So this was their first time going boat fishing with worms this summer. Liliana was less than thrilled about posing for a photo...she wanted to get started right away.

Since we're not residents, only the kids get to fish. Liliana was totally fine with that. She wasn't about to have any one else touch HER pole.

Micah decided that it was a fishing contest. Girls against boys. Liliana was catching them left and right and he'd dramatically sigh every time. Loudly. Towards the end, he started catching some and then he cheered up. I agree that it's not any fun if you're not catching anything.

I LOVE the hands on science lessons we get to do in the summer time. The kids didn't shy away from touching the fish at all. They asked lots of great questions and had a bunch of cute theories about the fish and why they were or weren't biting. Liliana was very "lovey" to the fish, like she is with all living things. Here she is telling it "It's okay fishy...don't be scared." We told her we were going to eat the fish and she looked appalled and said "But it has LIPS!" We dropped the conversation. :-)

I would take the kids fishing every day if the weather would cooperate. I love the summer memories that we're making and the quality time we're spending together. It's memories like this that get us through the 10 months of winter!

Fun with Fondant!

I have been dying to try fondant for some time now, but was way too intimidated. Rallying from the success of the cake pops, I decided today was the day. For those of you who don't spend hours watching TLC shows, fondant is a dough-like frosting that the professionals use to create cake masterpieces. I think that's partially why I was afraid of trying it- it's not something the average housewife uses to make a birthday cake. Which is just plain silly. This was SO EASY I'm still in shock! Seriously, anyone could make it...I'd say it's even easier to make/use than regular buttercream icing.

We made cupcakes instead of cake since we wanted to start small. Keep in mind that it's so easy, the kids helped with every part of this. That's Micah's "seal" on the top of the tower.

Marshmallow Fondant
* 1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
* 4 tablespoons water
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided

I wanted to do different colors, so I divided this all by four and made one batch at a time.

Microwave the marshmallows in a large bowl for 30 seconds at a time until they start to melt. Add in the water, vanilla extract AND the FOOD COLORING you wish to use (yes, you could just knead it in later, but it's really much easier to do it here.) Stir. Here's what it looks like with the color mixed in and no sugar added yet.

Then stir in the sugar a little bit at a time until you have sticky dough. Put some confectioners' sugar on the table and rub your hands with some vegetable oil, crisco or butter. Knead the sticky dough. As you knead, it becomes easier to work with. Put the dough on the table and keep kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch. I had to add in a whole bunch more powdered sugar to get it to that point (probably because I had divided the recipe and didn't do the math correctly or something.)

I loved making this because it didn't dirty hardly any dishes...a bowl, a spoon and a couple measuring cups/spoons. Granted, the table where I kneaded the dough was a mess...but still, so far easy-peasy and the kids could DEFINITELY help with every step!

Next wrap it up in saran wrap and refrigerate overnight or for as long as you want to. It keeps for a LONG time (weeks and weeks).

When you're ready to use it, let it come to room temperature. If you want to, you can microwave it for like 10 seconds to make it softer. This is where the fun part comes. Roll it out, squish it up, make little cut outs. Basically, if you can make it with playdough, you can make it with fondant. Put cornstarch on the table and your rolling pin to prevent sticking.

The kids LOVED this project! They could have played with the fondant all day. It is REALLY easy to work with. To get it to stick to the cupcakes, you're supposed to put a layer of buttercream frosting on first, but we didn't and it still worked fine. To get fondant to stick to fondant, just use your finger to put on a little tiny bit of water.

Liliana stayed in a chair and was occupied for well over an hour...for those of you that know her, you know what a big deal that is! Even if we did have to bathe her afterwards.

Okay, so some quick tips:

•Do NOT buy the premade fondant. It's expensive and tastes gross. This recipe is easy, cheap, and delicious. You CAN do it!

•Also, you don't need any of the fancy fondant tools they have in the craft stores. We used a regular rolling pin, a kitchen scissors, butter knife, cookie cutters and a jar lid for "tools."

•We discovered afterwards when we were playing with the scraps, that you can mix the colored fondant just like paint to make new colors! Next time I make this, I'll be making red, yellow and blue and then mixing to get any other color I need.
You can see here we started off with the pink, yellow/greenish color, and turquoise and then mixed to get all the other colors.

This truly is an easy, cheap, and fun project! Don't get scared off. I had been waiting for a birthday or special occasion to test it out, but I'm so glad we did it today.

May the Force be with you

And also with you.

Micah is WAY into Star Wars right now. And if you asked him why at first, he'd respond with, "Because Colin likes it." Yep. My son was basing his likes and dislikes on what his peers approve of. And he's 4. At first we were really hesitant about it, wondering when he'd move on to whatever the next craze is, but the more he learns about Star Wars, the more he seems to like it...and now he'll list of a whole bunch of reasons of why HE thinks it's great.

He asked me to sew him a Yoda costume weeks ago...when we were in the middle of packing up our entire house and every free moment was filled with boxes. So I did what any parent would do and pushed it off, saying, "Sure thing...as soon as we get to Nana and Grandpa's." The SECOND we pulled into Nana and Grandpa's house, he asked me about it and continued to harass me daily until I finally bought the fabric.

Here's the thing about my history with sewing. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. And so if I don't immediately succeed at something, I give up entirely. I would rather just say I can't do it, than try and fail. So this past spring, I decided I needed to get over my perfectionist tendencies and give sewing another shot. It doesn't have to be award winning. I don't have to be the best at it. But I can't walk away from something simply because I don't excel at it.

And as it turns out, I really love to sew! I've made two dresses, a tank top and capri outfit, a quilt, a toy organizer and now....a Yoda costume.

Micah LOVES it! Yesterday, he ran all over the house asking everyone "Who wants to hug Yoda???" Our nieces weren't so sure about it, but Liliana thought it was a hoot!

Here he is using "the force."

The fabric was the $1.50 kind from Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart here has a REALLY good selection compared to other ones I've seen. I didn't have a pattern, so I just held it up to Micah and traced around him with a sharpie. And I didn't bother pinning, I just folded the hem over as I went. I wasn't all that concerned about how finished it looked, since the "rugged" look kind of works for Star Wars. We made the head piece by hand stitching fabric onto an old hat, and then sewing on ears made from a pool noodle. I say "we" because by this point, I had reached my frustration level and Jeremy had to help me get the ears on.

What a GREAT husband/dad he is!

I'm glad I stepped outside my comfort zone and gave sewing another try. I've learned that you don't have to do something perfectly to still enjoy doing it. And I'm thankful to be able to pass that lesson onto my children and encourage them to try new things as well.

Cake Pops!

I have it from a good authority (Ahem...Mrs. Ivy Adams) that "cupcakes are out and cake pops are in." If you go to google and do an image search for cake pops you can see photos of amazingly intricate works of cake art. They rock! Now that you're officially amazed...lower your expectations....way lower....

Here's our first attempt on cake pops for a Father's Day fishing themed cake.

It was MUCH harder than I thought it would be. And is definitely NOT a project to do with kids...unless you're just doing something basic, like cake balls with sprinkles.

So here's the general concept:

•Bake a cake, any flavor.

•Crumble it into a bowl. (this part the kids did GREAT at and loved!)

•Mix in some frosting, any flavor. (imagine the cake/frosting combination possibilities!!)

•Roll into balls or whatever shape you need for your pop.

•Put sticks in them if you want them to be lollipop style.

•Stick in the freezer for a few hours.

•Cut out any add on pieces you need. (Most bakers use fondant for this, but I used rolled laffy taffy as I didn't want to mess with learning another new cake technique in the same day.)

So far....you're going to be thinking...oh this is really easy and fun! My kids could definitely do this! Then....

•Dip in melted candy wafers (this is the part where Liliana learned a new word! A colorful one. It's not so bad if you have full concentration. Just spoon the candy melt over the ball and let it drip off. The problem is with trying to get a smooth look. It drips a LOT. Some turned out better than others, and there really seemed to be no one thing that made them work. I think I would do cake pops again, but only if they didn't have to turn out smooth...Elmo- yes! Dora- no.)

•Attach the add on pieces you made to the dipped pop, you can either do this while the melted candy is still wet, or you can wait for it to dry, dip the little piece in more melted candy and then attach. Tweezers are helpful during this.

•Proudly display your cake art and fend off hungry children who will devour in seconds what it took you hours to make.