Hannah’s Artzooka Aquarium

We recently found a new TV show called Artzooka and my craft loving girl is trying new things after watching each episode!

Recently they showed how to make an aquarium using a plastic veggie container and since we’d had salad for supper that night we were all set.   (Unfortunately I can’t find a link to the instructions but will do my best to describe the steps she took.)

We picked up a few colours of tissue paper, watered down some white glue and were ready to go. 

Using tiny squares of the hot pink and navy blue tissue paper they were glued mosaic style into the bottom third of the dish.  She did the by dipping her paint brush into the watered down glue, then into the squares, then she painted them onto the tray that already had a layer of glue where she wanted the base to go.  Like modge podge, extra glue was painted on top of the tissue paper.

Next Hannah tore 3 colours of blue tissue paper into strips.  Glue was painted into the remainder of the tray and working from dark up to light while crisscrossing and twisting strips, she created the water.  I helped a little but was pleasantly surprised at how well Hannah did this task herself!

Next she added seaweed created using 2 colours of green tissue paper.

Green seaweed was also added to the front of the container which would create a 3D effect.

The fish was made out of a plastic water bottle.  The top and bottom were cut off to create a tube.  The tube was pushed down to create a flatter shape and a 'V’ was cut at one end to create the tail shape.

The other end was folded and secured with tape to create the head.

Hannah then covered this with red tissue paper although you could also use any combinations of orange/yellow/other that you want.

The following day when all was dry she added a googly eye and a piece of dental floss to suspend the fish in the aquarium.

Ta da!  Hannah and her aquarium featuring her fish – Goldie!

Hannah is into fish right now after she received her first pet for her birthday this year! (Thanks Makenna!)  Her first fish was a beautiful red Beta fish that she named ‘Goldie’ :o) and lived ummm…8 days!  Whoops!  I think it was getting too cold at night as we turn down our heat and have a ceiling fan on.

Hannah handled the loss of Goldie really well and was excited the next day when we went to a local Fish Store to purchase a new fish.  This time she chose a beautiful blue Beta fish whom she named….Goldie!  LOL!  I’m sensing a trend!  We now cover the top of her container to hopefully keep the water warmer.

Well, Goldie II has been with us for almost 2 months and happily swims around her little container and has been a nice addition to the family.  Anybody who knows me knows that I am not a pet person so I’m guessing fish and possibly small animals like hamsters will be the extent of pets in our home.  (Uh oh – wonder if I’ll be eating those words some day?) 

Hannah and her beloved Goldie!

Hannah’s First Field Trip

Thursday was an exciting day!  It was Hannah’s first field trip that included her first ride on a school bus.

Mommy taught Hannah how much fun it is to sit at the back of the bus!  (For the record Mommy forgot how bumpy the back of the bus is!  )

Before we left the school Hannah and M posed for a picture.  I was excited to go on the trip to see who the kiddos were that Hannah talks about at home and who she plays with.  She and Mya met the first day of school when we introduced them and they still enjoy spending time together.

It was a cooler than normal day and the coldest one we’ve had yet this fall but we didn’t let that deter us and we set out for a morning of fun.

When we arrived at the farm we boarded a wagon and took a chilly ride out to the pumpkin patch.  What fun that all these pumpkins were the perfect size for our pre-school kiddos!

I tell you, choosing the right pumpkin is a big decision!

Mommy, I found it!!

E is the friend Hannah talks about most often and it was fun to see them spending time together in the pumpkin patch.  Even in the video above you can hear her talking about her sweet friend E!

After riding back from the pumpkin patch the kiddos enjoyed some playtime and also prepared to watch a pumpkin canon.  Cool!

Hannah, I was so happy to share your very first field trip opportunity with you.  Looking forward to many, many more in the future!!

What’s the best thing to do with a little pumpkin?  Mommy thought we’d just put it on the front porch but Hannah had a much better idea.

Give it a bath

and then paint it many beautiful colours. 

Great idea XiaoFen!!  Your pumpkin is beautiful!

Seriously….Could She Be Any Cuter??!!!

Today you’re going to catch a glimpse of my amazing Hannah in action!  I am blessed to be surrounded by her sweet personality all the time but this time it was captured in video form for all of you to enjoy.  This is one of those videos you may want to bookmark for those days when you need a little pick-me-up!  I know I’ll be doing that.

Footprints….

This coming Friday is Grandma Dale’s birthday and we celebrated at lunch on Sunday.  Saturday afternoon Hannah and I made a card for her using her sweet little hand and footprints.

Getting her supplies ready

Green toes

Orange fingers

The finished product before Hannah’s awesome personalization

It takes many to blow out the candles

Happy Birthday Grandma Dale!  We love you!!!  xoxo

A Little Snip Here and A Little Cut There!

You would think Hannah won the lottery tonight!  For the first time ever she was given some little scissors to use and oh, the squeals of glee!  Before they were in her hand we had a talk about what she is able to cut: )Paper and only paper mommy says is ‘okay.’   Hopefully she remembers that for a very long time but I’m sure she’ll accomplish that right of passage someday and mommy will find little wisps (I hope it’s only wisps!) of beautiful black hair somewhere other than on her head.  Oye!  Already dreading that!

But for tonight, it was construction paper at the ready and an independent little girl with her own scissor style.  Picking my battles, it was easier just to let her have fun tonight with her own creative way of holding the scissors.

Hannah enjoyed this activity for well over half an hour and just kept snipping away and talking about how proud everyone would be of her!  She can’t wait to show her new skill to all her loved ones so if you see us within the next week or so, be prepared to be wowed with some awesome scissor skills!

This pic makes me giggle as does the video after it.  As I watched her cut away I noticed that most times her little tongue went in and out with each little snip.  So cute!

Cutting is exhausting work!

We had a few minutes after the paper play before it was time for bed so Hannah pulled out her Duplo blocks.  What fun to build a tower with her!  We haven’t played with these for a month or so and I was totally impressed with how her skills had changed and improved even in that very short amount of time!

Way to go Hannah XiaoFen!!  Awesome tower!

Loving the Long, Sunny Days and Beautiful Evenings

Oh how we’re enjoying this summer!!  The days during the winter are cold and the sun sets early so we take advantage of the summer weather as much as we can.  Last week we found a few evening activities that we could do at home and all of them were hits! 

One evening Hannah wanted to play with sidewalk chalk so we did that and then when a couple of neighbour kids came out to join her I whipped up a batch of sidewalk chalk paint.  (1/4 cup corn starch + 1/4 cup water + food colouring for each muffin cup of paint)

You’ll quickly see in this post that Hannah fully gets into whatever activity she’s doing!  My experience has also been that this paint washes right out of her clothes which is a bonus!

Another evening we went for a walk while she drove her Princess car.  I was amazed at how her driving skills had improved since last time we had the car out a little while back.

This final activity was one I saw on a friend’s blog and to say that Hannah got right into it is an understatement!  Since we don’t have a lawn to set up on I put an old sheet on the driveway and then some paper on that and let her go to it!

It started out much as I had anticipated:  cute little hand prints on the paper that I already imagined tucking away in her art keepsake box.

Very quickly this delicate approach was not enough for my girl. 

Who wants to paint on paper when there are lots of other canvasses available?

Cute little painted toes

Before hitting the tub we stopped in the backyard for a dip in her little pool.  A good place to take at least the first layer of paint off.

So many precious summer moments for my sweet little girl and I!