Pajama Preschool: Sink or Float?

For "B" is for Boat week, we did a little sink or float experiment. First, I had the girls make their own boats out of tinfoil (I helped my 2-year-old a bit). 

    Then they loaded the boats up with objects to see if they would capsize. 

All of our boats held up outstandingly well. :)

Next, we dropped items in one at a time to see what floated and what sank. We made lots of guesses, like, "Oh sure, the metal spoon will float!"

 Afterwards the girls got to just play and soak the kitchen floor. Good clean fun!

Gardening on a dime (-sized lanai/balcony!)

We just bought some more plants for our teeny tiny lanai today (our balcony). The girls absolutely love "taste testing" the herbs... we have oregano, mint, Italian basil, cilantro, and parsley. They pinch off little leaves of each and shove them in their mouths before the germ-a-phobe in me has the time to beg the girls to let me wash them. 

Today one of them may or may not have (but definitely did) eaten a tomato leaf!    

       (Not naming any names....^)

Besides the herbs, we have 2 tomato plants, a cherry tomato, chives, squash, 2 cucumbers (from seeds), 2 beans (from seeds), a strawberry, 4 sunflowers (from seeds), and 7 or so other flowers (I picked up the flowers, strawberries and chives today, so fun!). The girls help me water them every day, and it's so cute that they know the names of most of the plants. Even way up here on a tiny ledge they can experience dirt and beauty in our little apartment garden. 

Kooky for Cookies

Not all of us Mommies have the time to whip out cookies from scratch on a whim, especially while holding a child or two. I made cookies with the girls not long ago, and I cheated on the dough, but they were quick, yummy, fun, and awesome!

I bought a package of powdered cookie mix (I know, I know...), and prepared it according to the directions. Then I sprinkled powdered sugar on some wax paper and rolled the dough out on it (1/4" ish thick). I stuck another sheet of wax paper on top of the flatened dough, and popped that bad boy into the fridge for around 1/2 an hour. 

When I pulled it out, it was the perfect consistency for the girls to do their cookie cutter magic on, and they had so much fun! When they used up all the cut-able dough, I rolled it up, sprinkled more powdered sugar, and rolled it out again. I may or may not have eaten the extra bit of dough that was too small to warrant being rolled out in the end... then I baked the cookies according to the directions on the package. 

When I cook for others, I am an absolute germ-a-phobe, but this would be very hard for the girls to participate in without touching the dough with their hands. I settled on washing them up and then watching them like hawks. Sophi didn't last long as a helper, but she tried to resist the dough, bless her heart. 

I looked up a royal icing recipe on foodnetwork.com, but it was a bit too runny for our super humid climate 

(or maybe I didn't do it right). It sure looked pretty, but I had to freeze the cookies to get the frosting to harden. Who knew that frozen cookies were so refreshing??? 

If anyone out there has a nice icing recipe, I'd love to try it! :)