Frog Day Crafts

We have finally finished up our two crafts from Frog Day!

Our first project was making paper mache frog bowls. We followed the instructions from the craft book, Make It! by Jane bull. They were easy and fun for the children to make, but I would warn you that the homemade paste cannot be put away to be used for later. I found this out the hard (and smelly!) way! Therefore, our second layer was put on using Modge Podge.

Our second project was making potato print t-shirts. These were super easy and a very fun family project to do together. I followed the instructions for the t-shirts in the craft book, Best Ever Craft Book for Kids.

And just for fun...

Frog Day

Yesterday, we had our 2nd theme day and it was so much fun! I decided that since the frog is our family mascot we should celebrate frogs! Here are the highlights...

We started the day with frog pancakes and milky pond water.

Next we began a paper mache craft project. This is a multi-day project and I will share the finished product when they are completed!

We took a break from the craft project to have a refreshing frog egg popsicle. The children loved them! I got the recipe here.

We read several books about frogs. Frogs by Gail Gibbons was exceptionally informative and taught us all about the different stages of frog growth and development.

For lunch we took a simple picnic (I used a cookie cutter to cut out the sandwiches) and hiked to a nearby creek.

After lunch we explored the creek looking for eggs, tadpoles and frogs. We were very fortunate in that we got to see tadpoles at all different stages and we even caught a frog!

Late in the afternoon the children and I gathered all of our froggy friends and had a teaparty! We enjoyed frog juice, chocolate frogs, gummi frogs, frog legs (sugar snap peas) and fly pie (this idea came from the creative Katherine Marie).

After dinner, the whole family participated in making t-shirts. These are not yet finished either but I will tell you that potatoes, celery and carrots were involved!

A frog sprinkler

Over the weekend while the rest of my family was enjoying time in the great out of doors, I was doing a bit of antiquing! I found myself in a favorite store eyeing an item that I've eyed for almost a year.

A year ago Gretchen told me about a frog sprinkler that she saw and really thought I needed to purchase. I went to see the frog sprinkler and couldn't really make up my mind about it. Was it ugly? Was it so ugly that it was cute? Was it weird? Or was it kitschy- in a good way?

The price was what made up my mind for me. It was too much to spend on something I was unsure about. So for the past year every time I found myself in the store I always asked them what their lowest price would be. It was always a little lower than it was before but still not enough for me to whip out my checkbook. Until this weekend.

Gretchen and I once again found ourselves in the antique store. This time the saleslady recognized me and laughed that I was asking (again) about this frog. However, this time the owner of the store was present and offered it to me for half off. Gretchen made me buy it.

I was still a little unsure until I got it home and hooked it up to the hose. And then I fell in love. I LOVE how the water comes out! It transforms the whole frog. Of course he looks right at home in the children's garden and actually does a thorough job of watering. And I suspect that on days where a pool visit isn't planned he will make a perfect sprinkler for the children to frolic around!

Favorite things

Here are a few of my favorite things right now...

My Mom gave me a set of three vintage frog dish towels for Christmas. Aren't they the happiest?

She also gave me this butter dish girl. She makes me smile when I open the refrigerator.

I think flannel pajamas and flannel sheets are heaven. My sister gave me these cute pajamas with cupcakes on them.

Bryce gave me the perfect purse for my birthday! I need a big purse because I always carry Harris' epipen and Bendadryl with me. This purse can fit an amazing amount of stuff in it! I can carry water, a book and various hats, scarves and mittens- and that's in addition to all my regular purse stuff. And of course it has a bow.

My in-laws gave me this tool for Christmas. I keep it in the kitchen and use it frequently. Honestly, I don't know what it can't do! I've used it to open packages, cut flowers, and unscrew a toy battery compartment.

Harris' frog invitations

Much of this week will be spent getting ready for Harris' birthday party on Saturday. He chose to have a "frog" party (with no prompting from Bryce or I). I love how his invitation turned out. It was easy to put together and hopefully fun to open!

The frog's tongue unrolls to reveal the party specifics.

Our story

Bryce and I have been married thirteen years today. He asked me this morning if it felt like 13 years. I answered honestly because I feel like we have been married forever. And that's a good thing. Here's our story...

Bryce and I met at Young Harris College (this is also where we met some of our very best of friends). Bryce and I didn't really connect until our second year and then I considered us just friends. He, however, had other ideas and kept trying to get a relationship started for much of the year. I resisted because I thought he was rather nerdy (read: smart) and I thought I was really too cool for him (I was delusional, I was really not cool at all). Also, he had a rather irritating (now endearing?) way of making fun of me (he says he was just trying to get my attention). The funny thing is that I remember chatting with a mutual friend, Angela, about Bryce and stating that if we ever did date I thought we would end up getting married!

Then came the blizzard of '93 and being stuck together in a exceptional situation made something click! I decided to bring him with me on an Easter weekend to my sister's house and that seemed to seal the deal! We've been together ever since.

Early in our dating relationship I told Bryce that he was my Green Frog because he turned from a frog to a prince. Thus our love for frogs was born and we now consider the frog our family mascot.

I consider myself very fortunate to have found a partner in life that values the same things that I do and has proven to be a really wonderful partner and father. We've had many, many great times and a few hard times, and I'm sure that in the coming years we will face much more together. There is no one that I would rather face them with.

Merry Mistle Toad Tree

We finished all of our Christmas decorating this past weekend. My two favorite decorations (other than the tree, of course) are new this year.

I've had a white tabletop tree for several years but have never really used it because nothing seems to look right on it. This year as we were unloading our ornaments I was once again amazed at how many frog ornaments we have for our tree. An idea was born and I couldn't be happier with the result. The tree is in our hallway outside of all of our bedrooms, and I love walking up the stairs and seeing the twinkling lights and festive frogs. I thought I'd share some of the frog ornaments.

This was the first ornament Bryce and I got together. My Mom gave them to us and she painted the red lips on the one! Can you see the resemblance?

I like to think that this is my frog alter ego!

My dear friend Patty gave me this ornament when I was taking adult ballet. She's a favorite.