Little Miss' Unplanned Craft

Little Miss is 4 1/2. She is very creative, smart, resourceful, independent, curious, and active...and when all of these are combined can be quite the little trouble maker! So over the last couple of years I've had to find things to keep her busy instead of in trouble.

Between 2 doctor's appointments (in opposite directions from my house) and attempting to get this blog up and running today I just wanted her to watch some cartoons during the boys' nap. I came into the kitchen after putting the boys down to find her "making soup" ...with my entire container of oregano in a bowl of water!!!

Let's backup...this use to be a common occurrence (but not lately)...so I'm use to it. I use to yell and get mad. But now I calmly take the "soup" away, put away the teaspoon or so of oregano left, and usher her out of the kitchen. She whines that she wants to make soup. I tell her I can't think of any way to make soup without it being messy and wasteful. After a couple of minutes she comes up with the idea to use food coloring in water.

I finally cave...knowing that if I don't find something for her to do she'll just get into trouble again as soon as I turn my back. So I pull out some plastic cups, fill about half way with water, put it on a cookie tray (I LOVE this idea...I stole it from another blog!!!) and give her the food coloring drops. She goes to town making different colors of water and mixing colors to see what it will end up as.

She is quickly done with this color project, but NOT done being hands on artsy. She says, "this looks like water color paints. I know, I can paint with these!" So trying to keep her busy for a few more minutes I get her some paper and paint brushes. I had remembered seeing you could make water color paints with corn starch ,vinegar, food coloring, etc. But I couldn't remember exactly so just to thicken up the water, I put a spoonful of corn starch in each cup of colored water and let Little Miss stir the heck out it. Then paint.She painted a house with a chair and the dots she made with the end of her paint brush are meatballs raining down. I'm not quite sure where she picked up on that as she has never read or seen Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Her made up song as we drove to the doctor's office this afternoon was...High Ho the Mistletoe. She said it was her "virgin" and that there was another "virgin."
"VIRGIN?" I ask. Then got it... "Don't you mean "version?"
"No, I mean virgin...virgin means (I was laughing hysterically at this point!) "a story behind the song."

Little Miss is one clever and funny girl!!!

The aroma of oregano is extremely strong in my house now. I have an aroma overload headache!

REAL MOM'S DINNER: Pot Roast w/potatoes and carrots, orange jello (w/ mandarin oranges and Cool Whip)...was suppose to be Sunday's dinner, but I forgot to put it in the crock pot before church...so we had it tonight.