Pink Door House

This week, to write about anything else seems trite. And yet I feel completely unequipped to enter the conversations regarding gun control, a society that normalizes violence, mental health.... So I remained quiet. Saw the girls off to school. Jason to work. Made another cup of coffee and another...and looked at my son. It's virtually impossible to wrap my mind around the fact that the shooter in Las Vegas was a mother's son. Conversations with family and neighbors indicate t

I read recently that parenting is simultaneously celebrating accomplishments and milestones, while grieving each stage that is left behind. In the fall, London and Quinn will start kindergarten. May brought with it preschool graduation...one step closer to those long days where their giggles fill classroom walls instead of the Pink Door House. Bittersweet. When I was first diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer, I read that the average life expectancy was 33 months. The gi

We did it! Three weeks of bug centered activities. If you recall, we started here...a bug nightmare resulting in a (pretty ambitious) round up of my favorite bug activities for learning and play. And boy, am I burnt out on bugs! Now I understand how my Aunt Charlene feels about 'Frosty the Snowman' after decades of teaching elementary school music classes. But, I can say this: There have been no more bug nightmares. London and Quinn can now identify crickets, grasshoppers, be

Some ideas are so good, you have to copy them just the way they are. This is one of those ideas. Squishy, smooshy baby bumblebees made from balloons filled with flour...and motions to accompany a memorable childhood song? Yes, please. Here's the original post from The Inspired Tree House. To make the bumblebees, you'll need: Yellow balloons (I used 9") Funnel All purpose flour Black Sharpie marker *I also found a pencil handy for packing a little extra flour into the balloons

This simple sorting activity was a low-maintenance addition to "Bug Camp"...our week(ish) of bug-focused learning and play. I combined some creepy, over-sized plastic party favor bugs with random handfuls of the kids' similar sized toys. I gave them an empty box that I recently brought home full of blueberries. The perks of living in farm country! London and Quinn have been begging to get their hands on these bugs since we picked them up at Party City. The instructions I prov

The day before we drove to Spokane, I sat down with the girls to make our "Bug Finder Binoculars". Jason cut to size a leftover gift wrap roll that I had, which was nice and sturdy. But toilet paper rolls would work just fine for this project. We kept it simple and offered the girls washi tape, scissors, and colored string. Here we are at work: London and Quinn didn't get overly excited about this project. I was surprised, because they usually go bananas when I get out my was

This activity kicked off our unofficial Pink Door House Summer Bug Camp. Hopefully after a few weeks of projects, songs, and games about All Things Bug, the girls won't be as intimidated by our tiny neighbors. If you want to see what else we have planned, check out this post. Colors blended and a little dry, the sun was setting on our last batch of Play Dough. It was the perfect time to create (and keep) bug sculptures with lots of add-ins. I provided the kids with twigs and

Ah, summer....Flats of raspberries and boxes of fuzzy, juicy peaches from the Farmers' Market. Backyard water parks constructed of wading pools, pails, and the sprinkler. Grilled hot dogs dripping ketchup. And bugs. One of these is not a favorite at the Pink Door House. If you witnessed the absolute, complete hysteria resulting from an encounter with 'lady bugs' (anything creepy crawly) and 'buzzy bees' (anything that flies), you would think, PTSD. Clearly PTSD. But I promise