snowflake playdough

January is long.  January is dark.  January stinks. January usually makes me wish I still lived in a warm weather climate.  January makes me pull myself up by my boot straps and come up with things that will make me a happy mommy with happy kids that aren’t bored from being stuck inside.

So when I came across this gem of an idea, I went with it.  Having fun with playdough around here.  Snowflake playdough to be exact.

I went with my own variation (of course, because when do I ever really follow all the directions? :o) and we came up with this fun conglomeration of ooey gooey sparkly hands-on delightfulness.

It’s your basic salt playdough recipe (2 cups flour, 2 cups water, 1 cup salt, 1 T Cream of Tartar, 2 T vegetable oil – cooked at medium until it forms a ball and then let to cool on a heat proof surface.)  But this is where it gets fun….

Cool it a bit and then put it in a baggie. Add a bit of blue food coloring (because Anna wanted her snow to be blue) and a ‘goodly’ amount of glitter.  I also dropped in a bit of almond extract to make it smell yummy (it’s winter, I don’t have kool-aid).  Let your helpers wiggle, jiggle and shake that bag.  (After a bit, I put it on the counter and kneaded it thoroughly.)

Play and have fun.  Simple and enjoyable.

And now for the obligatory cute growing baby shots.

1/2 a year, baby

6 months old and blowing us away by your unconditional love everyday.  We are all enjoying every moment we get with your beautiful eyes and infectious smile.

This month you began solids; you like carrots, avocado and sweet potatoes best.  Mama had to ease you into apples and bananas by mixing it with oatmeal because for some reason, you just didn’t like those as well at first.  Meat is not your friend either (and do I blame you for not wanting to ingest gelatinous foul smelling baby meat?  Not at all.)

You had a fabulous first Christmas and a week full of snow – you didn’t mind the cold, but you didn’t like when snowflakes bopped your face.  You did, on the other hand, love to lay under the tree and reach for ornaments and lights.  You got your first cold and your first ear infection this month.  Mommy only knew something was wrong because you didn’t sleep well one night and cried.  You hardly ever cry.  So when you do, we know it is something worth making noise about.  You are quite adept at pretending you’ve taken your medicine.  You hold it in and when we least expect it, you push it back out of your cheeks – stinker.

This is Hadleigh in my Dad’s stocking – Dale.

Her middle name is in honor of him – Dalea.

This past month you’ve started to give kisses (oh, be still my aching heart!) by grabbing a face with two hands and opening your mouth and leaning in.  It’s one of the most precious things EVER.  You also rocked your first ponytail this month…you’ve got so much hair for a little babe!  I think even some adults are jealous of your wavy and shiny locks.

Your eyes are blue.  Definitely blue.  We think at the moment they are actually blue like grandmother’s, but for sure a lot like Daddy’s too.  Your cheeks are rosy like Mom-Mom but you’ve got the Engle chipmunk cheeks like your siblings.

You are developing the fine girly art of flirting (is it genetic? Because it’s not like we taught you!) and you love your toes.  You grab your feet at every chance and investigate those very interesting things that are often hidden by socks – much to your dismay.

We’re so excited to live life with you – and to grow with you and to love you more each passing day.

(*this post is brought to you following a severe blogging drought because of a crazy sick-y new year. 20 days down with someone sick wore me out!)