Ice Cream Playdough!

Joshua pinched his finger the other day.  Matthew gave him an ice pack.  I make my own ice packs with ziploc bags and corn syrup.  The corn syrup seriously makes THE. BEST. ice packs.  It gets super cold, but never freezes solid.  So they can wrap it around a wrist, or a head, or a toe.  I double wrap them so if the bag gets blood or something on it I just pop off the outer bag, put on a new one, and put it back in the freezer.  We LOVE them.  Anyway, it was rainy so the kids were riding their bikes around in circles in the garage.  Somehow Joshua snuck past daddy and was using the ice pack on his hand while he was riding in circles... can you see where this is going yet?  Inevitably, he dropped the bag.  But instead of picking it up, I have a feeling curiosity took over and he decided to run it over with his bike... again... and again... and again.  Matthew went out to check on him and he couldn't figure out what the noise was at first.  Then he realized it was the sound of the bike tires sticking to the concrete floor as Joshua peddled.  Oops!

So that's how I ended up at WalMart at 8:30pm last night in search of a mop to clean up the giant sticky concrete mess in the garage... and a bike tube to fix a flat on the bike trailer.  (I'm generally a hands-and-knees mopper... but I'm NOT doing the garage on all fours!)  As I was wandering, I happened upon the baking aisle and suddenly remembered a recipe for ice cream playdough I'd been wanting to try.  So I grabbed two tubs of frosting (white and orange) and a bag of powdered sugar.  I'd gotten a couple little ice cream scoopers a while back to go with it too.

This morning after breakfast, I casually threw out the term 'ice cream playdough' and instantly had 3 children running around the living room.  To be fair, the littlest one may or may not have been running from me to avoid having a diaper change...  Anywho.  I told them to pick up and I'd get the playdough made.

Ice Cream Playdough

Recipe from HERE

1 cup frosting (not the whipped kind)

2 3/4 to 3 cups powdered sugar

I added the frosting to the mixer and gradually added the powdered sugar.  I used the paddle attachment and low speed.  Keep adding it until the dough isn't sticky anymore.  That's it.  I pressed it into pyrex bowls so they could scoop it out.  When you scoop it, it looks just like real ice cream (and smells pretty darn close too!)

I pulled the coffee table out onto the patio and taped a cheap-o tablecloth over it.  They brought out all sorts of accessories from their play-food box.  Then I set the stuff out on the table and turned all three of them loose. 

 The kids played (happily together) for almost an hour and a half with this!  One of the cans of frosting had come with some sprinkles and those were a huge hit too.  Next time I'd definitely have more sprinkles!

Here are a few more random pictures of our playtime...

 I really thought she would be shoveling it in her mouth with both hands, but she really didn't.  She'd lick off the fork once in a while, but she really seemed to enjoy playing with it a lot too.  Brielle and Joshua were the ones I caught with a mouthful once or twice!

 Sprinkles!

 They wanted to make ice cream cones, but I hadn't thought about buying cones.  (Silly mommy!)  They problem solved and decided that the cups would work, and I'd try to remember to buy some for next time.

 So focused

Aaah... sweet rewards!  :)  When they finally started to argue - and the temperature was inching up and up - I decided it was time to clean up.  Thankfully, this was much easier than I thought it would be!  They mushed the dough back into the containers and then we put all the dirty dishes into a bucket to go inside to be washed.  I shook out the tablecloth and then hosed off the concrete.  That was it!  I have it stashed in the fridge and we'll be doing this again soon!

Fathers Day 2014

Most moms think their children have the most incredible father... and I'm no different.  :)  My littles have the most amazing daddy.  He is so good with them.  He takes them for bike rides (and jogs behind... usually carrying Eliana... when Joshua wants to ride his own bike instead of riding in the trailer).  He lets them help in the kitchen, pushing buttons on the blender or cutting soft fruits for breakfast.  He throws them around and lets them tackle him when he gets home from work.  He spends time reading devotions every night (them comes out and helps with dishes!).  He prays with them.  He'll 'sleep' on the floor in their room till they fall asleep when they say they are afraid.  When I get him a piece of his favorite pie, instead of waiting till the kids are asleep, he'll eat it before they go to bed... and share with them.  When they ask to go with him when he goes out for an errand, even a super quick one, he'll let them go... usually all three of them!  I could go on and on.  I love him so much, but watching him with our children just pushes it over the top.  He's simply amazing.  I struggled as a child with the concept of a 'daddy' and I am so truly grateful that my children have a daddy they can count on, that loves them, and that points them to their heavenly Father.  What more could a mom ask for?!

 Pretty much everyone that knows Matthew, knows he loves chocolate cake.  So when I asked the kids what they wanted to make for daddy the decision was surprisingly easy.

Chocolate cake... chocolate frosting...

 I found some vanilla frosted star cookies at Withey's here in Kalispell, and bought them for the kids to add to the cake.  They loved getting to add the final decorations.

 Joshua had to get the placement just right.

 Eliana wanted to help... but her idea of helping was trying to remove a handful of cake so Joshua didn't have to put a star there... :)  I picked her up and let her watch instead.

 See... she still wants that handful.  Daddy had to hold her back.  They all had cake and of course daddy loved it.  :)  When I came out the next morning, all 4 of them were having cake for breakfast!  We had a pretty quiet weekend overall.

Then Monday came around again and he had to go back to work.  The kids were especially bummed so we had a Beach Boys dance party in the living room.  Eliana danced for a while and then Joshua started asking her where her belly was... and she's very happy to comply.

 Gotta love babies and their belly buttons.  lol

 Then he had to start hamming it up too.  Goofball.  Since I told them Grandma Milanna loved the beach boys, he had run and put on his Grandpa Al shirt.  He then pretended to be Grandpa... his moves were pretty hilarious.  It was a great way to pass some time and burn some energy before lunch and naps.  I slept The kids slept GREAT!  ;)

 After all the beautiful weather we'd been having, it decided to get yucky and rainy... for a week straight!  With all the rain, the kids decided it was only fitting to play 'Noah'.  We flipped the coffee table to make a boat and they all sailed away.  Eliana jumped ship a few times, but always managed to climb back aboard.

 She takes after Brielle and sure loves her baby dolls!  (She also loves to 'vroom vroom' the trucks around like Joshua.)

 See?  She's making sure they all stay dry in the boat.

 Some days at home are tough... but on those days the best thing to do is flip something upside down and just go with it.  I love seeing their creativity come out and listening to their problem solving process when they encounter an obstacle.  When they get so focused on the problem, a solution seems impossible and they start to melt down.  If I can pull them out though, and have them look at it a bit differently, they often come up with a solution very quickly.  I've even overheard Brielle asking Joshua, "What do you think daddy would do?" when they had a problem.  In their eyes, daddy has all the answers.  :)