More Thursday Park Favorites

For the record, Jasper is covering his face because he is having a melt down because he lost his little Gladware container full of Sun Chips.  

He set them down in the middle of the field and I brought them over the picnic area while he was out running around.

He lost it when he went back to retrieve "his chips" and they were gone. I had no idea he would remember them.

Park Preview

The sun was shining    
(and unfortunately the  wind was blowing) at O'Callaghan park today.

The kids were are cute as ever and I had so much fun taking pictures.  So much fun that his will be a two part post.

The last photo is of Jasper demonstrating his "I own this place" walk.

I could kiss these little Jasper cheeks all day long...if he would sit still long enough.

Like I said in my previous post -- I LOVE THESE KIDS!

Caterpillars and Butterflies

Today at story time we read:
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar",
"The Crunching Munching Caterpillar"
 "Caterpillar's Wish"
and my favorite of the morning:
"Where's My Mom"

For the craft the kids made butterflies with coffee filters and clothespins that they decorated.

Today I decided that Seth the story time leader has no children because if he did he would not give the kids non-washable markers for a craft.

Markers are one of Jasper's love languages and by the time the butterfly was complete Jasper's hands were completely green with matching marks on his pants and shirt.

Here's a photo of me and the story time gang winding our way through the parking lot.  Today we had Evan, Peyton, Abigail, Jasper and Rook.  Sometimes Avery comes too.

We are quite a spectacle.  I make everyone hold hands and I feel like we are a giant caterpillar.

I love these kids and I am so glad that I get to spend time with them.

The story time room is decorated with colorful paper lanterns and I took a photo of it just to remember it before the library moves.

I have always loved the action word cards on the wall.  Cute idea for home.

In case you didn't know the library is moving in a couple months to the shopping center with the new Target on Lake Mead and Water Street.

It will still be called the Gibson Library -- but it will be in a brand building with plenty of parking.  HOORAY!


Parking today was a nightmare because there is a carnival in the parking lot for the next few days.  Here's the info. on the rides and events if you are interested.

Where to Find Sucker Making Supplies

Full of excitement I headed out with Jasper to buy some sucker molds and flavoring oil for our Valentine suckers.

Unfortunately we quickly found out that Michael's nor JoAnn's carry what we needed -- hard candy molds and flavoring.  I even called Wal-Mart and Smart and Final in a last ditch effort.

I was pretty disappointed because I was really looking forward to making these suckers with Jasper.


I did an internet search that night and found a little mom and pop store that is only 5 minutes from our house.

It's called Tempting Treasures on 30 South Water Street in Henderson.  They sells all kinds of candy making goodies and cake decorating supplies.  Their phone number is 564-5029.
 
We stumbled in the store on a very rainy Saturday morning.  They have some great molds for suckers and more candymaking supplies than I ever knew existed.

They have all kinds of cupcake and cake toppers and all kinds of doo-dads.

Jasper was very happy about his $1 large white chocolate heart shaped sucker.


Other than circles, we got football helmets, retro roller skates, kangaroos, butterflies and zoo animals

We ended up buying our sucker sticks and little plastic bags at JoAnn's because they were less expensive there.



LorAnn Oils sells the best flavoring oils, and the bigger the bottle you buy the better the price.  I found a few super deals on Amazon.com if you want to buy in bulk.

As I said in my previous post, I doubled the flavor that the LorAnn Oils recipe calls for.

LorAnn oils also has a great selection of the hard candy molds as well.

Let me know if you want to borrow our molds sometime.  We are happy to share!

Valentine Treats 2010 -- Homemade Suckers

This year we made homemade suckers for our Valentine treats.

I remember making these all of the time when I was little, but I don't see them much anymore.

My favorite flavors are watermelon and root beer, so that's what we made.

We also made some suckers that are key lime flavor just to bring things out of the 1980's --which is where I seem to be stuck most of the time.

We let our Valentine's pick out their own flavor and shape.  The only problem we had is that Jasper thought he should get a sucker at every house we went to. 

Our sucker labels came from a free template download from Blonde Designs Blog.  They always have a ton of great ideas on their blog.

 I used the recipe off the LorAnn flavoring oils box with two exceptions.

First, I doubled the amount of flavoring.  I did a few experiments with the amount and found that doubling it made the suckers taste much more flavorful.

Second,the recipe says to turn the heat off at 300 degrees.  I turned the heat off at 290 because the temp. will rise to 300 on it's own. 

If you leave it on until 300 degrees after you turn the heat off it will rise to 310, and your suckers will taste a little burnt.

The suckers were a hit and we can't wait to make some more! 

Valentine Deliveries 2010

 Last year I realized that delivering Valentine's to your friends and neighbors is not a one day job. This year we did a few deliveries each day the week before Valentine's day.

We had fun visiting with everyone for a few minutes during our deliveries.  Most of the time Jasper would walk right in and head over to play with their toys.  (He did the same thing on Halloween when we went trick or treating last year).

While we would wait on the porch for someone to answer Jasper would play with his trusty red car.

We skipped doing deliveries at Mike's work since he's new.  I have to admit that it really made me miss seeing all of our friends at Mike's last job.  We had so much fun on our deliveries last year.

Below are Jasper's Valentines from last year (I had 2 different poses)  up next to this year's version.  He looks so different in just one year.

Valentine card templates are from the very talented Heather Melzer at Heather Ann Designs. Her blog is my absolute favorite.  She is so crafty and fun -- I wish we were neighbors!

Monkey Monkey

Two weeks ago Jasper's road rash on his face from his fall during the Red Rock Canyon hike was looking pretty bad and oozing pus.

I decided that we need to keep a bandaid on it if possible.

Luckily I purchased some Curious George bandaids on super clearance last year and even more lucky for me, Jasper LOVES monkeys.
 
He resisted at first, and then Mike told him that a bandaid is like a sticker for your face.  Brilliant.  Pure Brilliance Daddy. 

That was all it took, and now he's upset if he doesn't have a bandaid on. Not just his face, but he likes to sport at least one additional bandaid on his arm.

And thoughout the day he will say, "Monkey", meaning, "I want to look in he mirror at the monkey bandaid on my face".

I sure love my little monkey!

Bike Run with Rook

When we got Jasper's bike two weeks ago it seemed a shame to not go for a test run that afternoon.

It was a little chilly, but we braved the wind.  We invited Rook and his Skuut bike and hit the path at O'
Callaghan Park.  The little hills, bridge and gully were a perfect course.

The boys had a great time.  They rode back and forth across the bridge several times.  They even ventured down underneath the bridge and into the gully.  

The sky was blue on the side of the park where we played and there were hundreds of birds in the big tree near the bridge.  The boys tried to count them but gave up at 10.

My favorite moment was when Jasper was having a tough time getting his bike up the hill.

He asked me for help several times but I assured him he could do it himself.

Rook could tell that he really did need help and dropped his bike and came to Jasper's rescue.  It was very sweet. 

One of Jasper's friends from preschool, Abe, was also at the park and he really wanted to give Jasper's bike a whirl.

Abe waited patiently until we came back over the side of the park he was playing on and Jasper let him take a spin.

I was really proud of Jasper for sharing his new prized possession.  He kept repeating, "I share".  And I would chant, "Hooray for sharing" as I raised my arms in excitement.

At one point Abe went a little way off and Jasper followed in hot pursuit.  I guess he didn't want to let his bike out of sight.

At nap time and bedtime we make up songs for Jasper per his request.

I have lost count at how many times he's said, "Sing: Share Bike Abe".  It's a top 10 hit at our house.

New Guy in Town

Jasper came hopping down the stairs this morning telling me all about Josh.

He is a Hummer that Jasper rediscovered in his toy box last night and apparently he's named him Josh.  He spent the day with us, and Jasper especially liked telling Josh what to do and when to do it.

I have no idea how or why he was named Josh.  But that is his name.  He ate our meals with us and even came Visiting Teaching this afternoon.  Josh is probably very happy to be asleep all snuggled up next to Jasper after being bossed around all day.


Of course there is usually a "Pa-Chow" vehicle with us at all times on any give day.  Any small red car is a Lightning McQueen in Jasper's eyes.  Jasper's "Ka-Chow" comes out as "Pa-Chow".

And Jasper thinks that "Pa-Chow" is word that people use in every day language.  So when he is really excited about something, instead of saying, "I'm excited", he will let out a very enthusiastic "Pa-Chow."

Popcorn Popping

For the last few weeks our trees really do like like popcorn popping.

It is a beautiful sight to drive up and down the streets in our area and catch a glimpse of the pink and white blossoms.  We even had some buds pop up on our Ash trees last month.


Jasper made a cute craft in preschool last week with a tree adorned with real popcorn.  The only problem is -- he wants to eat it!

I took this photo of the buds one month ago on Feb. 7th.  Seems early for Spring but if sure feels good.