Inspired by SouleMama:   A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Turning Five ~ Sam Style

sam had a fun-filled birthday today...a class picnic, cool presents from his parents, dinner on the patio at the sky galley restaurant where we saw many planes coming & going, and then ice cream at DQ.  what a day! 

My First Crayola Art Supplies :: Review & Giveaway :: CLOSED

This Giveaway is now closed!
Congrats to Jamie who gave us a great craft idea...Mirror out of spoons!
http://www.addicted2decorating.com/how-to-make-a-decorative-chrysanthemum-mirror.html

Jamie, please email me at Katie(at)Cards-by-Katie(dot)com to claim your prize!
You all must know by now how much I love encouraging my children to be creative and express themselves through art.  The kids love to take art classes, we make visits to our local art museums regularly (the Contemporary Arts Center and the Cincinnati Art Museum), and the kids have more art supplies at their disposal than some preschool classrooms have.  We have a cool cabinet in our dining room full of stuff they can grab any time to create with.  I think that encouraging them to explore and create artisitically will encourage creative thinking in all aspects of life.  I want them to grow up thinking outside the box, and coming up with creative ways to solve problems. 

So you can imagine how excited I was when I was approached by BlogSpark about doing a review and giveaway of products from the My First Crayola line.  And you can probably also imagine the glee that ensued with all of the munchkins when a package arrived in the mail containing all of the cool items you see below:

Wow!  My kids couldn't wait to take all of these products for a test drive!  And we were not disappointed!  Here's a few things that I love about this collection as a whole:

- I love that they are washable

-I love that babes as young as 12 months can use some of these products to explore artwork in an age-appropriate way (the products are marked 12 months + or 24 months +)

- I love that my 2 1/2  year old can use the materials independently to entertain himself when I need a few minutes of peace to do something like cook dinner

- I love how fun they are!  

-I love that even though these products were made with the wee ones in mind, my "bigger" kids got a kick out of the products too!

Henry had a blast with the markers!

Toddler art fun! 

Robin was amazed by the magic paper that turned colors when you used the special marker

The dry erase activity mat is just perfect for Henry to use even when Mama is not sitting right there with him!  He's been using this at dinner time to occupy himself so mama can cook in peace.

And this...this is super cool, it's a musical Rub-Art Station.  It plays music while you rub crayons over paper on top of farm image plates.  Henry LOVES this one the best!  He just giggles and giggles when he uses it.

Here's a video commercial with more details about My First Crayola supplies ::

My First Crayola Giveaway  ::
I will choose one winner using Random.org on Tuesday, May 29th at 2pm, and announce the winner here on my blog and on the little things facebook page.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond via email or another name will be drawn.  Here are some of the items you might find in your prize package: My First CrayolaTM Washable Crayons, My First CrayolaTM Washable Markers, My First CrayolaTM Washable Stampers, My First CrayolaTM Washable Dry-Erase Activity Mat, One specially marked box of original Cheerios® cereal

How to Enter ::
1.  Leave a comment below telling me why you would like to win this.
2.  Leave a comment below linking to a super-cool arts & crafts idea you have found on the internet.
3.  "Follow" me on Pinterest and leave a comment below telling me you do so.
4.  "Like" the Crayola facebook page and the little things blog facebook page and leave a comment below telling me you did so.  If you already like the little things facebook page, please considering inviting your friends to like it ;)
5.  Give a shout out about this giveaway...either on facebook (tag the little things blog), or twitter (include @LittleThingsMom and @Crayola and include the hashtag #MyBlogSpark).  Or you can always spread the word using email.  Then leave a comment telling me how you spread the word.


And here's a special offer ::
Crayola and Cheerios® cereal are offering up to $5.00 in coupon savings on My First CrayolaTM products, so you can enjoy a little colorful fun at the breakfast table!  Look for My First CrayolaTM on original Cheerios cereal boxes. 

Disclosure ::
The information, products, coupon, video and additional My First CrayolaTM gift pack was provided by Crayola® and Cheerios through MyBlogSpark.  Thank you to all of them!

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

**it's usually all about the kids on fridays...but this week i want to pause and savor the night that the parents got out for the evening to celebrate a dear friend's wedding.

preschool graduation ~ sam style

the cool bus

Ella & Max had their art show at Baker Hunt a few weeks back, and as usual, the art-work from their class was out of this world.  I love all of the cool stuff that they create in this class....the sky is the limit!  Thank you to Christian, Lindsay & Anne for teaching such a cool class.

Here are Ella & Max's Masterpieces from the show ::

See that HUGE robot with the square blue head on the left?  That's Max's pride and joy right there.

And this?  It's the "COOL" bus!  Ella made it, and it was just awesome.  I don't know if you can properly grasp it in this picture, but this bus is HUGE.  And cool.  Note the stop sign..."Stop for the people".  Sounds like a good title for a rock album. 

Inside the bus...definitely cool.  It was a party in there.

And here's some cool artwork from other students in the class ::

The kids certainly had fun in their BOSS class this year!  You can see pix from last year's Art Show here, or pictures I took on the campus of Baker Hunt here and here (although these pix were taken all over COV).

Baker Hunt is accepting registrations right now for their Summer Classes!

And if you are a fan of the arts...don't miss my giveaway this week...4 tickets to Summerfair!  Ends Friday 5/18/12 at 2pm

Summerfair ~ GIVEAWAY [CLOSED]

Drumroll please!  The winner is....Alice Rericha who said :   My favorite kind of art???? How are you supposed to pick one.... made by a child. That's my favorite right now. 
Alice, please email me within 48 hours to claim your prize!  Katie(at)Cards-by-Katie(dot)com

Thanks to everyone who entered!  Stay tuned, another art-related giveaway coming very soooon!


Summer is just around the corner, and one of my favorite kick-offs for Summer vacation is Summerfair at Coney Island.  Imagine if you will...beautiful & unique artwork as far as the eye can see!  And it's all for sale!  Last year I found myself a sweet fabric purse, a hand-made wooden spatula for Michael and an adorable set of salt and pepper shakers.  Jackpot.  I love meandering down all of the paths and spending time checking out all of the booths.  There are potters, painters, woodworkers, photographers, sculptors, jewelry-makers, and much more...over 300 artists coming together to share their work.  

And for the young ones, there is a Youth Art Rocks! section where they can create their own masterpieces.  My kids loved this last year...they painted flower pots and made cool t-shirts.  I cannot wait to see what's in store for us this year!

Here are all of the important details about the event from my friends at Summerfair:

WHEN: Friday, June 1: 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Friday, June 1: 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (Little Black Dress Event)

Saturday, June 2: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, June 3: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

§ Admission to the fair is $10 for adults; kids 12 and under are free.

§ Advance one-day or multi-day tickets are available online at www.summerfair.org.
§ Tickets to the Little Black Dress Event are $15.
§ Parking is free, courtesy of Summerfair.

WHERE: Coney Island/ 13 miles from downtown Cincinnati

Interstate 275 at Kellogg Avenue ( Eastern Cincinnati )
COST: Adults: $10.00
Children (12 & under): FREE
Parking: FREE, courtesy of Summerfair

Advance one day, or multi-day tickets are available online at www.summerfair.org.

THE GIVEAWAY ::

I'm so excited to say that the folks at Summerfair are generously giving me a 4-pack of tickets to give to one lucky winner!  I think that your family would love this event.  I will be drawing a winner on Friday, May 18th at 2pm and the winner will have 48 hours to contact me. 

HOW TO ENTER ::

1.  Leave a comment below telling me why you would like to win these tickets.

2.  Share this contest and then leave a comment telling me how you spread the word.  If you share via Twitter, please be sure to use @LittleThingsMom in your tweet.  And if you share via Facebook please tag the little things blog & Summerfair.

3.  Leave a comment below telling me what your favorite kind of art is.

4.  Like "the little things blog" on Facebook, and if you are already a fan of that page, hit the like button on my other page to support my arts...the Cards by Katie facebook page.  If you are already a fan of both of these pages spread the word about them by inviting your friends to "like" them.  Leave a comment below telling me you did so.

5.  Follow me on Pinterest and leave a comment below telling me you did so.

Disclaimer :: In exchange for hosting this giveaway I was given two tickets to Summerfair...but even if they had not given me the tickets I would still be going to this event!  I wouldn't miss it!

a morning hike

chores seemed so much less chore-like today after an early morning hike.

and then on the way home drive with the window down.....

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:  A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

WNKU tour with the Scouts

Last night we went on a field trip with Max's scout group to our favorite radio station....WNKU.  We've been listening to 89.7 WNKU for years, and we are loyal listeners who donate to them each year.  It's such a great investment to help a cool radio station like this where they play such an awesome mix of music, and most importantly to me, they highlight all the great local music that we have in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area.  I love hearing the bands we see perform at our zoo and in local bars played on the radio.  And they are always introducing us to cool new music that we never would have heard on all the top forty stations.  Plus WNKU helps organize all kinds of great music events around town, inlcuding our favorite spring musical experience, Tunes & Blooms.  And best of all...no commercials interruptions every five minutes because they are public radio.  Thanks WNKU for being awesome.  And thanks to our tour-guide Aaron for an informative evening! 

 

Aaron had to spend time explaining this one to the kids. 

If only they were still together...

Pam Temple with the evening traffic

Hmmm....a future in talk radio perhaps?  How many people would tune in to a show dedicated to otters?

Treasures

Just a small snippet of the vast collection of music they have!

31 Prizes in 31 Days from Warren County!

I live in Kentucky, but often-times head over the river into Ohio to have fun with my family.  There are so many great things to do in that state!  The month of May is Ohio Tourism Month, and Warren County CVB is throwing their own little party by giving away awesome prizes each day of the month!

Here's some details about the prizes and giveaways from Warren County CVB:
Ozone Zipline Adventures, Kings Island, LM&M Railroad, Morgan’s Outdoor Adventures, Valley Vineyards, Fort Ancient State Park, and more.

Individuals may enter to win a new prize every day on the “Warren County – Ohio’s Largest Playground” Facebook page. Winners will be announced on the WCCVB Facebook page and on Twitter (@WarrenCountyOH). Individuals also may find information by searching the Twitter hashtag #31Prizes. (There’s always fine print: Certain rules do apply so see WCCVB’s Facebook page for details.)

What are you waiting for?!?!  Get over to the Warren County CVB Facebook page and enter to win!

Menu Plan Monday ~ In Reverse ~ May 7

Another Monday...another menu.  I've been crazy busy making note cards...no complaints though, I love creating note cards!  Just in case you are looking for cute cards to replenish your stock, or the perfect gift, check out my Cards by Katie Etsy shop.  All of my cards are on sale for $1 each until May 15th.  The Etsy prices do not reflect this sale, so email me if you are interested in ordering!  Katie(at)Cards-by-Katie.com
Last week's menu has lots of tasty goodness in it, but it's not a long list because we ate out a few times in celebration of my birthday!

Here's last week's Menu:
Beef & Black Bean Taco Bake
Chicken Tikka Masala (Slow Cooker Recipe)
Poutine
Steak & Herb Roasted Potatoes

We also went to my niece's First Communion Party this weekend and for that I made Crunchy Slaw and Pasta Salad.

Craft ~ Mother's Day Card

Are you looking for a cute and easy card to make with the kids for Mother's Day?  I came up with a simple card, and the best thing is you can use all of those extra school pictures you ordered this year that are still sitting in the envelope!  These cards are perfect for Mamas, Grandmas, Nanas, or even teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week!  So many uses!  And it can be done with kids of all ages, it's just that if you do it with wee ones you will have to help quite a bit with cutting.  Let me know what you think!

Materials Needed:

Colored Paper (whatever colors you'd like, we used orange, yellow, green & blue)

Scissors

Glue

Colored Pencils, Markers or Crayons

a Circle Stencil (you can trace with a cup if you don't have a stencil)

Pictures of your child

Like I said, it's a great way to get rid of all those extra pictures you get suckered into buying each year.

First you draw a circle around your child's face.  Then have them cut it out, or if they need help then you can cut it out.  This project is great for practicing fine motor skills!  Cut another circle out of paper the exact same size as the circle around your child's face

Then I free-hand drew some petals, leaves and circles for the kid to use.  Although the older kids made their own leaves & petals which was very cute.  If you look online you might be able to find petal or even flower templates you can print and cut out.

Then the kids used the glue sticks to adhere a stem that they cut out of green paper and the circle to the paper.

Add some petals

And some leaves

And voila!  You have a Mother's Day Card!

This is the message we put on the inside:

Dear Nana,

Thank you for helping me bloom & grow! 

Sam of course had to make his card unique!  Which I love!