Homemade Paint Fail... Or not?

  

So I had this crazy idea of painting with homemade scented paint on Thanksgiving day... So I found a recipe, made it, and let it cool on the counter due to a flurry of cooking that took precedence over painting with my son. Needless to say, it got extremely clumpy as it cooled. Running out of time, I put in in the refrigerator for painting with this morning....

When I took it out and dumped it over spices of cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon, (Of course we talked about how it smelled as we added fall colors of red, orange and brown...) the mixture was very, very lumpy. I tried adding water to it to smooth it out, but it didn't help.

Fortunately, my son had an idea of painting with his cars, so we went with it. It didn't matter anymore that it was lumpy. His exact words, as he put his car in the bowl of paint, were "look mommy, it's stuck in the muck."

Of course, the painting then led to a car wash which kept him occupied for at least an hour. It was great. I love it when he is so engrossed in play that I can sneak off to get a few things done....

I am thankful to have four days off to spend with family. I am also thankful that I have learned not to stress about perfection or mess. Everything washes, and I love watching my son create, and having the conversations that messy play sparks.

We have done lots of crafting and reading this month. I just took back ninety five books to the library to make room for our Christmas books I have been buying all year. We even read a few tonight while Daddy was making turkey noodle soup for dinner.

This brings us to our book of the day... Or should I say, the book of the month? I have read, Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne, at least ten times this month at bedtime. It takes me about an hour to read, and is full of Thanksgiving facts that probably led to my almost three year old to ask me yesterday "if the turkey was on the iron spit?" I love the things children say...don't you? 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, laughter, love, and of course wonderful food.  



Big, Big, Train Book..aka Hop Aboard! Here We Go!

I found Richard Scarry's Hop Aboard! Here We Go! book at a book sale a few months back, and when my son saw it, he immediately dubbed it his "big, big train book". He asks to read this book almost daily, and sometimes, two or three times at one sitting. Roger and his dog Flip are the featured main characters. They drive all types of cars, buses and trucks. They fly all different types of airplanes, aircraft and spacecraft. They drive all types of trains and locomotives including the Tom Thumb and the Lafayette. Then they sail the high seas in various ships and boats from a great Greek war ship to a submarine and last but not least, a large cabin cruiser.  



Reading Hop Aboard! Here We Go!



In the beginning of the book is a little poem:

“We go by car and we go by train,
We go by boat and we go by plane.
We go by land and sea and air,
We go, go, and go, from here to there.”

Who doesn't love Richard Scarry? This book has everything for the transportation loving child in your family. This is the first book we read this morning after getting out of bed. My son is obsessed with trains, hence, his nickname for this book.