Messy Morning

Ever since we started getting our old house ready to put on the market this past June I've felt like I've slacked off in the arts/crafts/learning activities with the kids. But now I'm trying to get back into a regular schedule of activities (based somewhat on the curriculum at Hubbard's Cupboard), so those unpacked boxes in the garage are just going to have to wait a while longer.

We can normally get at least one activity completed while Baby A. takes a morning nap. But today he kept sleeping and sleeping so I kept on going with activity after activity.

We started with a couple of painting projects. In the first one, you paint over dried glue, place a piece of white paper on top, and then make a rubbing. I thought we were supposed to wait for the paint to dry first, but apparently not because when we did the rubbings this afternoon, nothing showed up on the white paper. Oops.

As usual, Mikea chose to interpret the activity in her own way, this time by painting her tongue. I just cannot keep this child from putting everything that she touches into her mouth. (And please forgive the condition of hair. I really should have brushed it before taking pictures, but in a morning routine that includes changing 3 diapers, giving 2 nebulizer treatments, feeding 3 toddlers, feeding 1 infant, drinking 2 lukewarm cups of coffee and feeding 2 dogs, hair brushing just doesn't always fit in.)
Next we painted some fall scenes, and then got dressed and made "Clean Mud" out of toilet paper, Ivory soap, and water. If you look towards the left in the picture, you can see that true to form, Daniel had no interest in getting messy. He preferred to stand on his head while Joe and Mikea played in the mush.
Here's a close-up of the mush. The activity was somewhat disappointing because Joe and Mikea only played with it for about 5 minutes before they lost interest. We probably won't be repeating this one.

Next we went outside to play and I took the kids into the garden to pick carrots. I'd been putting this off because the garden's been muddy, but I knew it would be such a great experience for them that I didn't want to wait any longer. We needed to wash the carrots, and I knew I could either be a micromanager of that task, or just stand back and let the kids figure it out themselves.

I decided that the entertainment value of watching 3 toddlers in charge of a water spigot was too good to not pass up. Plus, it was loads of fun for them!

All 3 kids were soaked by the time they finished. I had them strip down and dry off before going inside. All in all it was an exciting morning, and the best part was that they took the longest naps they've had in weeks. Amen to that!