Saturday, February 4, 2012

{Outdoor Play Party: Snow!}




Yay, we finally got snow! This is the view of the garden from our kitchen window right now. We can't wait to get out there and build a snowman after lunch!

Update: We had the best time playing out in the snow this afternoon! Our friends who live across from us came to play too. It turned out to be dry, powdery snow, not at all suitable for building snowmen, but instead we took out some of our zoo animals for a snowy game of hide-and-seek.


We brought the black-and-white panda and zebra for a challenge for Princess Pea ...


... and the orange lion and cheetah to be easier for Sweet Pea to find in the snow.


They spent ages taking turns hiding the animals and finding them again!


This was Sweet Pea's very first time really playing in snow (last winter she was just learning to crawl - seems so long ago!) and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it!


But the bigger girls definitely all had a blast!
In the end, Sweet Pea wanted to try sliding too, so I took her down a few times on my lap - she loved it!
("More again! More again!")


Whether you have snow or not, this Ice Bowling idea shared by Train Up A Child on the last edition of the Outdoor Play Party looks like loads of fun! I think we'll see if we can try a snowball version of it :-) (Train Up A Child, please feel free to grab the 'featured' button from the sidebar!)



If you're looking for more snowy play ideas, there were lots linked up to the last Outdoor Play Party. Thanks to everyone who joined in on the party, we had our most link-ups to date!



How did your kids play outdoors this week?

Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week! The linky goes live every second Friday at 12:01 GMT+1. Here are just a few guidelines for sharing.

  • Any kind of children's outdoor play is welcome. If it happened outside, then please link it up!
  • Please do not share any competitions, promotions, or posts that are not related to Outdoor Play.
  • Please remember to link back to this post and help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play! Please grab the Outdoor Play button from the sidebar. 
  • Each time we will feature an activity from the previous party. By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished. If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the 'featured' button from the sidebar.




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Shared at: It's Playtime

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

{The Heart Project}

Today I am reposting an old post from last year (down below), for two reasons. One reason is that I'm pretty sure nobody saw this post except my mum and maybe a few friends as it was one of my earliest posts, and since Valentine's is rolling around again, I thought I'd share it with a few more of you. The second, and more important, reason is because it ties in nicely to introduce a heart-themed fundraiser project organized by Jamie of Hands On: As We Grow.



Jamie has put together a beautiful book of 'heart' art, crafts, and foods, titled The Heart Project, to raise money for the American Heart Association. It is a compilation of over 100 heart-themed projects made by or with kids from bloggers all over the world, with links to tutorials for each one. It is available in ebook format for $5 or paper book format for $20, and all proceeds will go to the American Heart Association. Please consider buying a copy and/or making a donation to the AHA at Hands On: As We Grow's Heart Project. This book is only available during this month of February, so don't miss out on this very special opportunity to make a difference and to own your very own copy of this beautiful book.


Here's a little sneak preview of the book:






You can read more details about this project (including accompanying giveaways!), buy your copies, or make a donation to the AHA over at Hands On: As We Grow.


Please stop by and thank the bloggers participating for their contributions to this project. They are:

hands on : as we grow
A Little Learning for Two Among Many Blessings
Angelique Felix
At Home with Ali Broken Treasures
Busy at Home
Busy Kids Happy Mom Carrie Saindon's Photo Journey
Child Central Station
Classified: Mom Classroom Magic
Creative with Kids
Creativity My Passion Critters and Crayons
De Tout et de Rien
Dilly-Dali Art Dinosaurs & Octopuses
Excited 2 Learn
Hand Over the Cookies Handprint & Footprint Art
Happy Hooligans
Heart Journey Imagination Soup
Jamie's Jumble
Kitchen Counter Chronicles Kreative Resources
Let Kids Create
Little Illuminationss Living Montessori Now
Loudness of the Lambs
Love and Lollipops  Mama, hocemo nesto da pravimo
Mama Pea Pod
Mama Smiles  MemeTales
Messy Kids
Mindful Meanderings  Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Mommy Labs
Mommy Perks  Mum Paints Lives
Mummy Mummy Mum
My Creative Family  NurtureStore
One Artsy Mama
Peace Love & Rainbows  Play Dr Mom
Putti Prapancha
Rainbows within Reach  Reading Confetti
Ready. Set. Read!
Red Ted Art  Sense of Wonder
Share & Remember
Stacy Molter  Sun Hats & Wellie Boots
Teach Preschool
The Artful Child  The Chocolate Muffin Tree
The Craft Barn
The Educators' Spin on It  The Golden Gleam
The Imagination Tree
The Iowa Farmer's Wife  The Joy of My Life
The Kids Fun Review
The Outlaw Mom Blog  The Preschool Toolbox
The Seeds Network
Toddler Approved


♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

{Princess Pea's First Valentine}
(Originally published on February 14th, 2011)



Last week we started talking about Valentine's Day and how it's a special day when you tell people how much you love them. Princess Pea, of course, absorbs every detail.

On Tuesday she went to a kids' concert. The musician is a popular local kids' singer. His music is actually very good, even though I can't understand most of the lyrics. Anyway, Princess Pea loves his music and thinks he's one of her friends. So when we got to the concert she bravely sat herself down on the floor at the front, in amongst a group from a local preschool (Sweet Pea and I sat further back on a chair). When he finally came out onto the stage, Princess Pea jumped up and started waving wildly - very cute!

At the end of the concert, the performer waved goodbye to all the kids, and Princess Pea again jumped up and started waving wildly. He saw her and gave her her own special wave and big smile - wow! She was sooooooo thrilled!

So on the way home she announced that she wanted to make him a Valentine's card ("I think I love him!"). Too cute! So all last week she's been working on making Valentine's cards. Here are the results - pretty good I think!


For the one above (this is the one for the musician), I made a cardboard heart template, which she traced and cut out by herself, then she decorated it with stickers.



For this one, she used a heart-shaped stamp and red and white paint to stamp hearts onto the pink paper, then she glued it onto a folded paper that I had cut and folded for her.



For the next one, she first used her heart stamp marker to stamp all over a square of pink paper. Then she traced and cut out a heart from it using the template, then used the 'negative space' to stick onto a square of paper then stuck that onto the card. 



This is the heart that she cut out from the space in the card above, which she stuck onto another heart that she had traced and cut out using the template.



The last one is the card I made for her from Daddy, Sweetpea and I.
I used a ribbon to hang it on her chair, so she'd find it when she came out for breakfast.





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Sunday, January 29, 2012

{Valentine Ideas Collaborative Project}

Another collaborative project from an amazing group of kids' bloggers, the Valentine Ideas blog hop!
On February 7th, be sure to come by for loads of brilliantly creative Valentine Ideas from:

Mama Pea Pod, Let Kids Create, My Creative Family, Hands on: as we grow, La Dolce Vita: The Sweet Life AngeliqueFelix.com, The Golden Gleam, Teach Preschool, Critters and Crayons, Living at the Whitehead Zoo, The Iowa Farmer's Wife, Nurturestore, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, The Chocolate Muffin Tree, Jamie's Jumble, The Outlaw Mom Blog, Mama Smiles, The Mommies Made Me Do It, Dinosaurs and Octopuses, Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas, Toddler Approved, Messy Kids, Rainy Day Mum, JDaniel4sMom, Glittering Muffins, Red Ted ArtMommy and Me Book Club, Putti Prapancha, Dilly-Dali ArtCreative Connections for Kids, Mommy Labs, De tout et de rien: Activités pour le Préscolaire, Imagination Soup.net, Rockabye Butterfly, Classified: Mom, Kids Creative Chaos, A Mom with A Lesson Plan, PlayDrMom, RainbowsWithinReach, Living Montessori Now, Curly Birds, Growing A Jeweled Rose, The Home Teacher, A Little Learning For TwoSun Hats and Wellie Boots, The Imagination Tree, Mummy Mummy Mum, Critters and Crayons, La-La's Home Daycare, Come Together Kids, Tinkerlab, Dirt and Boogers, Multiple Mummy.


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Friday, January 27, 2012

{Small World Play - Doll House}


For Christmas this year, my girls got my old dollhouse. 
My parents made it for me for Christmas when I was 5. 
I just cleaned it up, made new curtains for it, 
and Santa refurnished the whole thing with new Playmobil furniture and accessories.

I just have to say:


BEST


GIFT


EVER!!!


They've been playing with it every single day since!

And I've been having fun 'tidying it up' every night after they've gone to bed, too! 
(heehee)








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Shared at: It's Playtime

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

{Valentine Tea Light Votive Holders}



Princess Pea and I made these super-easy Valentine-themed tea light holders last weekend, and we just love them! They were quick and easy to make with items already on hand, and they look lovely glowing in our dimly-lit hallway.


We used some empty baby food jars, tissue paper, white glue, and then decorated one with foam hearts and the other with fake rose petals laid in a heart shape.

All we did was tear up little pieces of red and pink tissue paper and glue them onto the jars... 





... then brush a bit of glue over the top (you could also dilute the glue with water, but we didn't), decorate, and leave to dry (we did them in the evening after dinner and left them out overnight). 



The glue dries clear.



Sweet Pea joined us too, at first, and I gave her a plastic yogurt tub to decorate instead of the glass jar (obviously not for putting a candle into), but she just wanted to paint glue onto the tissue paper and then ran off to do other things. 




If you want, you can tie a bit of ribbon or string around the top (we had a bit of pink yarn on hand), pop in a tea light candle, et voilá! You're ready for a romantic candlelit dinner (or a less romantic dinner with the kids!).



Watch for our upcoming Valentine Ideas blog hop on February 6th!



This project is featured in a book available at Hands On: As We Grow 
as part of The Heart Project, a fundraiser to support the American Heart Association. 
Please consider ordering a copy of this book full of beautiful heart-themed art and craft ideas
(available as both a printed book and as an e-book).
All proceeds will be donated to the AHA.

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Friday, January 20, 2012

{Outdoor Play Party: Scoping out the New Neighbourhoood}


I must admit, I've been a bit disappointed that we haven't had any (significant) snow yet (I was so looking forward to building a snowman with the girls this winter as Sweet Pea is a bit snowman obsessed at the moment), but I can definitely live without snow for a while longer - winter is not my favourite season!


Instead, we've been taking advantage of the mild winter weather to enjoy some time at various local playgrounds. I've said it before and I'll say it again - playgrounds in Hungary are fantastic! They are plentiful, they are usually newly refurbished with great play equipment, they always have a water tap (though they don't run water in winter), and best of all, they are always a community hub!


It's always disappointing when we go to playgrounds in North America during the summertime to discover that there are hardly any other kids there, if any. We're always hoping to make a summertime new friend, but we find we are usually the only ones there. But here, there are always lots of new playmates to befriend, which is perfect for my social butterfly, Princess Pea!


This week we've been scoping out our new neighbourhood before our move next month. We spent a spent a whole day hanging out and pretending that we already live there! :-)





How did your kids play outdoors this week?



Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week! The linky goes live every second Friday at 12:01 GMT+1. Here are just a few guidelines for sharing.

  • Any kind of children's outdoor play is welcome. If it happened outside, then please link it up!
  • Please do not share any competitions, promotions, or posts that are not related to Outdoor Play.
  • Please remember to link back to this post and help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play! Please grab the Outdoor Play button from the sidebar. 
  • Each time we will feature an activity from the previous party. By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished. If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the 'featured' button from the sidebar.


    Our last party had a TON of fabulous ideas linked up, it was really hard to choose which one to feature this week - they were all brilliant! But one that caught my eye was the post on 'Outdoor play and learning opportunities'  from Sixty Second Parent. A great article with loads of suggestions all in one place. I encourage all of you to read and share it! 



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Sharing at: Family Frolics

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

{Visit to the Hospital}


This past weekend, as those of you who follow the Mama Pea Pod facebook page may know, was rather eventful in the Pea household. Poor Princess Pea caught a horrible gastrointestinal virus that caused her to throw up everything in her body, and couldn't even keep down a single sip of water for more than a minute. Concerned about her inability to take in any liquids, we called her paediatrician. She recommended that we bring her to the hospital for an IV, which would definitely help her, but mentioned there was also an option to get some kind of suppository from the pharmacy that may work, but may not. Not wanting to be extreme and go straight to the most invasive form of treatment, we opted to try the medicine first. Daddy Pea and Sweet Pea headed off to the 24 hour pharmacy to get it, but while they were out, Princess Pea's condition deteriorated. After throwing up yet again, she lay across my arms on the bathroom floor, head flopping back and eyes rolling in her head. As I held her, I knew in that instant that no matter how traumatic it might be for her, we had to take her to the hospital for the IV.




I knew she was really sick because she didn't cry or complain about anything. 


I knew she was scared of the needle, but she barely whimpered as they put in the IV line. She watched as they injected something, drew vials of blood for the lab (something I could never bear to see), and hooked everything up. My sweet 4 and a half year old was so brave! 


Within 15 minutes she noticeably improved. She perked up and began to speak. She asked questions about what the nurses were doing. She asked questions about the hospital room. In another hour or so, she was admiring the splint on her hand, placed there to hold it still so she wouldn't knock out the IV line.


After 2 days and one night in the hospital, she was released and we were able to come home. We received countless messages from friends, family, and many of you wishing her well - thank you! 


Many commented to me that it must have been so scary for her, and for me as her mother. I know it was scary for her, but she was so brave it barely showed. But interestingly enough, and contrary to what I would have expected, it wasn't really scary for me. Scary isn't the right adjective to describe it. I never doubted for a moment that she would be alright - thankfully it wasn't a serious illness, as many families must face. So I can't say that I was scared. But it was painful. It was painful to take her to a place that we knew would scare her, to have a procedure that we knew would hurt. It was painful to hold her arms still as the nurses inserted the tube. It was painful to see her little body in that great big, adult-sized hospital bed, hooked up to the IV. But most of all, it was painful to see her on the bathroom floor, barely conscious as she lay in my arms. 


In the end, her experience was a positive one. She acknowledged right away that she was feeling better because of the IV. The hospital facilities were very nice, certainly luxurious by Hungarian standards, and she commented that it was like a hotel because there was a number on the door. She received excellent care from helpful and caring nurses. She got to watch lots of movies, read lots of books, and play lots of board games. And she had a wonderful doctor who was kind and gentle and seemed very glamourous to a 4 and a half year old Princess because she wore high heels and could be heard coming down the hallway. 







This experience reminded me about all the families out there, including some we know, who do have to face serious illnesses in their children, who don't have the positive experiences we had, and who don't all have happy endings. It reminded me that we are very fortunate indeed.

Back home again and right back into it


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