Wizard of oz drawing

Ever since reading The Wizard of Oz and then watching the movie, Maddy has been obsessed with it.

She was sitting at her desk singing a song about it that she made up while she was coloring. 

Afterward she brought it to me. All the characters on the yellow brick road....

Mom's Play

As everyone who knows me knows, I don't believe it can ever be too early to plan or make things. So, with that in mind I began making some things for upcoming birthdays and holidays over the past few weeks.
First, I saw this idea on Pinterest of making dolls out of popsicle sticks and washi tape. I thought it was adorable and a really good way to give Maddy something she will like but won't take up a lot of room.
This is what I came up with....

They were really fun to make so I started brainstorming what else I could make. I decided to do another set but this time they would be Disney princesses. I didn't use any of the tape this time. Just markers.

In order: Jane, Ariel, Belle, Pocahontas, Jasmine, Rapunzel, Snow White, Aurora, Alice, Tinkerbell, Tiana, Cinderella, and Brave.

They didn't all turn out exactly how I wanted but I think they are really cute. 

Abi loved watching me make them and decided to make some of her own. She came out of her room a few minutes later with these...

I also started on Halloween costumes. I let Maddy pick from my Pinterest board and was so happy that she picked the scarecrow. I took my inspiration from this idea.

I couldn't figure out how to make the hat so I decided to just get a straw hat and sew some felt on it. It was a long process but I watched Doctor Who while I did it so it was fun!

Here is a picture mid process...

and the finished hat...

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve was a lot of fun. We did some things different because of Abi's accident. I didn't get some things on my to do list for Friday done because of it so I had to play a little catch up yesterday but for the most part we just relaxed and had a good time.

We worked on the daunting puzzle and I got out a gingerbread house kit for Abi to make.

Maddy hanging out...

Abi (and hippo) helped on the puzzle too...

We watched movies, played games and did crafts.

At dinner the girls had pancakes (Abi couldn't really have what we were having and Maddy doesn't like it) and we watched part of The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Then we did the pocket of the advent tree. It had reindeer magic (oats and glitter) to sprinkle on the lawn...

As soon as we came back in we got out our Christmas Eve packages.

Abi was thrilled with her reindeer jammies and new book.

Maddy too...

she tried to put on her jammies immediately.

the new pajamas...

the new books...

Doug didn't really care to get new jammies and he doesn't read much so I wrapped up a pair of his old pajamas and stuck in the Orson Scott Card book because I wanted it. :) 

My new book- Clockwork Prince.

my new jammies...

I forgot to get a family picture so that's all there is of my pajamas. 

Then we put Maddy to bed and watched the rest of Muppet Christmas Carol. While we watched Abi and I made nativity finger puppets.

After the movie we did our last devotional and then did the nativity program. This time we used the puppets.

After Abi was in bed we watched The Nativity Story and finished the puzzle!  This was a puzzle that toward the end was more work than fun but it is pretty and I mod podged it this morning so we won't ever have to do it again.

Bus driver gifts

I saw this idea months ago on Pinterest and knew I wanted to do it since Abi rides the bus every day. 

We got two big Hershey bars and made buses out of card stock to tape them in. 

Abi gave one to her morning bus driver and one to her afternoon bus driver yesterday.

Polar Express Night

We had a Polar Express night for advent. I made little North Pole cupcakes.

And I did make tickets that we punched. The top one is Abi's- Honest. Maddy's word was Joy. My word was Calm. Doug said to put Merry Christmas on his. Yeah, I put an M. My hand was tired by that point.

The Paper Bag Princess

Over the weekend Abi and I did a fun personal progress activity.

We read The Paper Bag Princess. It is a fun little book that has a good message about bravery and confidence.

Afterward I let the girls decorate paper grocery bags to make into dresses...

Abi modeling her dress...

Maddy still hard at work...

Maddy's dress...

The dollhouse

So, here is a closer view of the dollhouse I created for Abi's lalaloopsy dolls. 

It was a lot of work but also very fun to put together.

This is the art/dance area, the fire house, the space area

and the school area...

The bedroom..

the winter wonderland

the garden and kitchen

living room and future bathroom (they have a bathtub set that we don't have yet)

the treehouse/ fairgrounds

the wilderness

The best laid plans...

I recently mentioned that I was making a lot of things to give the girls a playroom for their birthdays. Well.... not really going to happen.

While my mom was here they shared Maddy's room so my mom could sleep in Abi's bed. It seemed to go really well at first when one day they slept in until 7!! But then Maddy started waking up at 4-5 and always waking Abi up. It was getting crazy. Abi even told me that she thought it would be better to wait to share rooms until Maddy is older and Abi has been wanting to share a room with her for a long time now.

So, my idea of a playroom went out the window along with all the planning, purchasing, and making I have been doing for about 5-6 months now. 

So, what was I to do? 

I decided each girl would have part bedroom/ part playroom. Maddy has to have most of it in her room because her bed is smaller but Abi was okay with that because they can go in there to play together whenever Maddy is awake. 

I started setting up Maddy's room last Tuesday. I brought the kitchen up. I took the closet doors off for more space and set up her clothes in the laundry room instead. I hung up all the dress ups and created a little vanity in the closet.

As you can see in the pictures it still needs a lot of work but it will take a while to get it all together. I basically created a little store area right behind the kitchen so they can go shopping and then go back and cook the food. The vanity and baby stuff is all over there so it is kind of like a house.  I have since moved the bed and some of the other things but this gives you an idea.

Since doing this Maddy has spent more time playing by herself in her room than I ever imagined possible. I love it. In the above picture you can see how messy she makes it every time she plays and how she likes to pile on all of the necklaces!

I also put this little tree on her wall...

Also in her room are all the Fisher price toys and Abi's big dollhouse on a table. I will post more pictures when it is all finished. 

Abi and I worked on her room on Wednesday because she was off of school. We moved her bed, moved around her shelves and new tables to create a Polly/Pet Shop area and put her lego table in a corner. I also let her put the other nicer tree up on her wall. She did a great job. She loved doing it. It is hard to see because of the Lego table but you get the idea. 

I made this Lego table by gluing down a Lego base plate I got at the Lego store to a $7 IKEA Lack side table. It works wonders. 

Her room still has a lot of work to do and one big thing to still put in it (on her birthday) so I will post more pictures in a couple of weeks.