Our Amazon February shopping cart had a lot of eclectic things in it. It ranges from video game accessories all the way to books and then all the way to gardening supplies. lol. Books and gardening supplies I will cover in a separate blog post. I do sometimes wonder if Amazon takes a look at our shopping history and wonders what in the world is going on in the O'Brien household.

My answer to them is "I have no idea. None. I need someone to tell me". That is the whole truth Amazon. We have no idea what is happening here from day to day.

January has come and gone, but it is never too late to share what we bought in the month of January in our Amazon shopping cart. The last few months have been a blur, so I can't even reflect on January lol. So we'll just say it was a good month and get on with it.

Grandparents day is quickly approaching. If you are anything like me you are scrambling at the last minute to do a nice little gift with your kids to give to their grandparents. This year, I am just a little ahead (ha ha) and have created an easy bookmark craft for you to do with your kids. It is so simple. 

​First, print this free file. (updated for 2022) I recommend printing on cardstock for durability.

Second, cut out the number of bookmarks you need (or all of them even if you don't... I can't control you). You can also have your kids cut out their own to extend the length of the activity.

Third, have fun. You can print a picture of your kid(s) to simply paste on to the bookmark. Or you can let your kids draw cameos of themselves using paint, crayons, markers, colored pencils, pens, etc.

Fourth, send off to distant grandparents in the mail. In this day and age, I recommend sending a few days early. Otherwise, plan to hand deliver to each of the grandparents on, before or nearish September 12th. 

Have fun with your kiddos as you create and most of all, have fun with your family if you are able to hand deliver the bookmarks.

Hey friends! I've decided to share our top ten books that we have been reading each month. Now, this may mean that I repeat a book, because well... I have a toddler and his likes and dislikes are like the wind. Sometimes, it is soft and gentle and stays consistent for awhile and other times it blows super hard and changes course every second. Anyone feel me?

So without further ado, let me introduce you to the books we have been reading lately.

So I've been saving toilet paper rolls because that is what every good crafting mom does right? I don't know, maybe I'm the only one. It was actually a game between my husband and I to see if I could get one before it went in the trash. Truth be told, it was a social experiment to see if my husband really knows how to throw the rolls in the trash. My answer has to be yes because I was finding fewer rolls to confiscate. His goal I'm sure was to have a less cluttered office, so what's fair is fair.

I saw a cute pin on pinterest where they used toilet paper and paper towel rolls to make different crafts and saw them making snowmen. I figured this would be a great December/January type craft, but alas, it's early November and it has already snowed three times.

This craft was relatively easy to start off with. My son is a super fan of painting. You give him the colors, paint brush and something to paint and he will literally do this for an hour. I'm unsure if he would go past an hour, but after an hour I am weary of his demands to refill his paint supplies so I wrap it up for him.

We probably could have continued on right away with the gluing because the paint was drying pretty quick, but we I gave it about an hour for it to dry before we attempted putting the pieces together. So this is where it got "sticky". I first tried stick glue. This has the potential of actually working if you have a toddler that is patient enough to wait for it to dry. Does anyone else have fights over creative differences with their toddler. No? Just me. Sigh. He is my kid. I guess I only have me to blame for his stubborness.

I gave up with the glue stick and went and grabbed an arsenal of possible uses from my craft area. I went first with the double sided tape. This actually did the trick and worked really well. I had also brought along regular tape, a stapler and as a last resort a hot glue gun. I reserve using the glue gun around my son because he can be very grabby and has no regard for my instructions of not touching something for the sake of not harming himself.

In all, it was a fairly quick and simple craft to do. My son enjoyed the time together making it and despite our creative differences we had a great time making the craft. I'm pretty sure we will be making more in the future because well... snow.

Last summer, about the time my son turned 1 1/2, I bought an art easel and some washable finger paints for him. Quite honestly, this has been one of the best investments I have every made for him. He loves to paint and can be quite creative. 

This is a great indoor and/or outdoor activity. My son loves to mix any number of colors to play with. We have numerous different brushes and sponges for him that he is able to use. It fills up time and it encourages his fine motor skills. (I looked it up and google confirmed that fact for me... lol) It is actually good for a number of skills. He is using his hands (sensory) and tools (fine motor) and when using the easel he is doing all kinds of gross and fine motor skill learning. Then you pile on top of this the fact that we can discuss colors and draw shapes, numbers and letters. It is a great way for him to learn while he plays.

The pro's for allowing my son to play with paint are so many. More recently, he is trying to draw shapes on his own. It can be hard not to try to take his hand and form the shapes for him, but I truly try to let him have his own learning experiences and only jump in when he is showing real frustration or asks for help.

Of course, there are con's. Let's be honest. There is paint and there is a toddler. The first few times we painted there was paint everywhere. The house could have passed for a crime scene on an episode of CSI. You can, of course, control this if it bothers you. You can set out plastic under them or keep them confined to a specific area. I'm not that mom though. I won't lie. It can be a total pain to go around and make sure you are wiping up all the areas that get hit, but eventually they grow out of that phase of running everywhere and stick to the designated spot for painting. Also, all the finger paints we use are washable and wipe up nicely. If you want to see the positive side of it, think of seeing a spot you missed a few days (or weeks... sometimes I'm not too observant) later and remember the joy your little had while making that mark. I could lead you on to a discussion of my philosophy of a well lived in house, but that is really a completely different blog in itself.