Rainbow Crafts

Last week, I needed to keep the girls entertained! They were going stir crazy, so I sent them upstairs and hoped on Pinterest for some quick activities. I found some cute Rainbow themed crafts, and we had all of the supplies so I went with it. 

It was about lunch time, so I fixed them a quick "rainbow" lunch and called them downstairs with "Here Comes the Sun" playing. 

Their rainbow lunch consisted of cherry tomatoes (red), bell peppers (yellow/orange), cucumbers (green), a cottage cheese cloud, mac & cheese (more yellow) and some lunch meat. 

After lunch, I introduced the girls to their activities. First up, rainbow salt painting.

The girls had to use paintbrushes and glue to paint on rainbows (you can totally use bottled glue, our bottle just wouldn't squeeze out).

Then, sprinkle salt all over the glue. We were able to shake off the excess like you would with glitter. 

I let their paintings dry. 

Then, we got out the water colors, and they painted their rainbows.

For our next activity, the girls drew clouds on white paper and cut them out. 

Then, they cut out strips of paper in each color of the rainbow. 

We glued the paper to the clouds. 

Then, we drew faces on the clouds. 

Their rainbows turned out so cute! I told the girls to hang them in their bedroom windows so when people were outside, they could see them and they'd brighten their day!

Gretchen ended up taking all of the leftover paper, and cutting the tiniest strips out of them. She looped them all together and made a two story chain! It was pooling on our floor (you just can't see it in the photo)..... I had told all of the girls to make loops... Megan made hers, but Addy wasn't interested- we had planned to connect all of the loops and hang them in the playroom. 

If you do any of these activities, I'd love for you to tag me on Instagram (@ewelte_hap) so I can share them! 

Friday Favorites- Quarantine Edition

Well, that's not a title I thought I'd ever have to write! It's Friday, so I'm linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci for Friday Favorites! Basically, I'm sharing all of my favorites from all of our family time! 

Last week, we were able to get out and ride bikes and go to the park. At that time, our city hadn't closed parks, so I took the girls and we practiced social distancing while we were there. Megan wandered over and found a creek and ya know what? It was right then that I decided the innocence of their childhoods wouldn't be lost during this. While most people I know are hitting the books, we are playing and exploring and having family time as much as possible, with some reading and school work sprinkled in. 

I am still having to work. As a SLP who gives therapy to kiddos, my job is considered essential. And these are my essentials at work right now..... diffusing thieves, cleaning mine and my patient's hands, and spraying off toys and surfaces.

While I was at work, DJ and the girls had kona ice- they drove around the neighborhood which was a big treat! 

We've gone on lots of evening walks and bike rides. 

And we even had a huge dodgeball game in the backyard! 

My peeps were having so much fun! 

We played a game of Clue. 

Megan and Addy decided orange juice in a wine glass would be a good idea. 

And she made our dinner menu for the week. Can you guess what she wanted us to have every single night??? Pizza. 

After having rain all weekend, we had sunshine and it was wonderful! The girls were hot after playing outside and asked for popsicles, which we didn't have, so we mixed up a frozen fruit package, some ningxia, and water, and made popsicles for the girls to have later. They had fun helping to make them! 

Tuesday morning as I was getting ready for work, Megan came in to tell me she was ready to go to school :( It kind of broke my heart, but really she was just planning on homeschooling herself.

After work Tuesday, I took the girls for ice cream. They hadn't left the house in a few days so we drove through for a treat. 

And then we had an evening bike ride that found us in a field near our house so the girls could run and play. 

The next day, the girls went full on summer mode, and played in the sprinklers in the backyard. 

And this guy has been working from home all week- like, non stop. I went to bed at 11 pm, and he was still working away trying to get all of the coaches set up so they can continue to meet with the players while campus is closed. Thursday morning Megan joined him in his office! 

That's it for Friday Favorites! I hope you're hanging in there! 

Craft Time

It rained here all weekend, so we were stuck inside :( The girls didn't want to play with toys because they "didn't want to have to clean", so we drug out a few of our art supplies and perler beads and the girls had a blast making things, which led me down the Amazon rabbit hole. So, if you're stuck inside too and needing a change of place, here are a few craft ideas for you!

The girls had a blast with our perler beads. They're super fun to create, and you can turn them in to magnets, give to friends when school starts again, or mail to a nursing home. 

Megan received this sticker puzzle book for Valentine's day, and it's fun to pull out, when we don't want a huge mess on our hands. It can keep her busy for a while. 

Megan also received this How To Draw book for Christmas. 

Adalyn received this book for Valentine's day, and I even had fun completing it with her. It's similar to a paper doll activity, but with stickers. 

Gretchen went through a big origami phase in 3rd grade! She spent so many days folding paper and creating. We still have some origami paper left, so I think it would be fun to pull it back out again and for her to teach her sisters. 

Gretchen bought this book for a friend's birthday and then we bought her one because it is SO much fun! Each page has a prompt and the point is to wreck the entire book! It will keep your kids busy for hours! 

I love this modeling clay because you can let it air dry, or you can re-use it. Your kids can use their creativity to create to their hearts desire. 

When we lived in Oklahoma, the girls loved finding painting rocks! Our town had an entire facebook group dedicated to rock painting! This would be so fun for your kids to paint rocks and then hide them throughout the neighborhood to brighten another kids day! This rock painting kit is perfect! 

Suncatchers are so fun! Hang them in the window and let your neighbors know so their kids can spot them! Mail them to grandparents or send to their teachers. This kit makes 20 projects, so it should keep your kids busy for a while! 

Alright, what are you doing to keep your kiddos busy right now?! Any fun crafty finds?

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Tulsa

Our Spring Break this year started right as the madness began. The calls to stay home and social distance. Our girls were SO looking forward to seeing their old friends and going "home" again, so DJ and I heavily weighed our options, and decided to go, but to be cautious and cut our trip short a day, and call off a big play date we had planned. I know our trip annoyed people, and I get it, but I'm asking for a little bit of grace, because we did the best we could with the information we had. 

Friday was a professional day for teachers, so the kids were out. We had a big breakfast with some of our friends here in Austin. 

All the kids had their own table, and the mommas sat nearby and I was so grateful for the older kids who could help out their siblings! 

After breakfast, the kids ran through a field of bluebonnets. Because that's what you do when it's Spring in Texas. 

Saturday morning the girls were pumped for our trip to Tulsa! They even got in their seats before we were even ready to go! 

We stopped at The Czech Stop for some kolaches! 

We made it to Tulsa around 4 and settled in to our hotel room, then went out for dinner, where the new video coordinator at Tulsa joined us. Obviously, Megan was a little stir crazy, because she fixed my hair..... with straws. 

One thing we really wanted to do was go to our old church. So, Sunday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed off to church. 

Side note- Megan had a nightmare about elevators a few weeks ago, so we took the stairs a lot at our hotel. 

A lot of churches were making the decision to not hold services, but thankfully Asbury, held a service, but closed the elementary classes. The girls were not happy, but they quickly got over it when they learned there were doughnuts. 

I have pictures of these girls as itty bitty babies on this bench. 

#andjohnwesleytoo 

I remember taking our very last John Wesley picture before we moved. I don't even know how it became "our thing" on Sunday mornings, but it did. And I remember thinking I'd never get a John Wesley picture again. But, for this one day, we did. 

After church, we met Megan's BFF for lunch at Andolini's- one of our favorite pizza places. The girls were quiet at first, but quickly warmed up and didn't skip a beat. 

Oh this was a sweet friendship. It breaks my heart because Megan's had a harder time making friends here. Thankfully, she's met a sweet friend through gymnastics and has a friend in our neighborhood, but last year wasn't easy for her. 

I miss our old downtown. We took one more photo in front of their mural, and then.....

we had surprises in store for Gretchen!

We picked up two of her friends from their house, and when she rang their doorbell, they had the best embrace! Then, her elementary school best friend surprised her at Cherry Berry. (Megan had requested we get ice cream at Cherry Berry on our trip.) 

The girls chatted and exchanged numbers just as any pre-teens would do. 

Gretchen and Paige. 

Gretchen with Amelia and Julia. 

After ice cream we went to our friend's house for dinner. 

Gretchen and Conner have been friends since kindergarten. 

And his momma is just the sweetest. 

Lyla and Megan quickly became best friends since their older siblings were best friends. These girls share a love for gymnastics. 

We are so thankful for friends who were able to see us on our trip. It really did our hearts good to see friends and re-visit Tulsa. 

We headed home Monday, and honestly, it felt good to see this sign. 

Our trip home was so long! The girls did great on the way to Tulsa, but we had SO many stops on the way home. Thankfully, Texas has some pretty awesome rest stops with playgrounds, so we let the girls play. 

We got home Monday evening, and the girls spent their Spring Break at home, while schools made the call to be out an additional few weeks. 

Friends, this is such a difficult time, and wherever you are, if you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to reach out.