Baby it's Cold Outside

We have been subjected to cold, cold, cold weather the past few days. Today, the windchill was -18. Now, I know that in the far northern states this is not cold. However, I am a cold-hater and it is COLD!

Along with the cold we have SNOW (yay) this is the only good thing that comes from the cold in my opinion. Snow makes the whole world feel look clean, fresh, and new. I love that about snow. There is a down side to every good thing it seems, and that is the fact that our energetic, rambunctious 18 month old LOVES to play outside. She would stay out there for EVER if I allowed it. But her fun has been put on hold to the the below zero temps and snow that is as deep as half her height. So, what is a Mommy to do on a freezing cold day when the wind is blowing, and the snow is flying? Turn to pinterest of course! I have a board of pins for a "rainy day" or "snowy day" or "extra, really whiny day" if ya know what I mean.

Yesterday was a combo, snowy and an extra, really whiny day. I love E, and she is so sharp, and knows so many words....just not enough. Mommy can only listen to so many "uhnnn, uhhh, uhhh" grunts referring to one or one hundred different things, that she knows very well she is not supposed to have. Thanks to Pinterest our afternoon was saved! I had found this link for a recipe on homemade finger paints! These paints are all made with ingredients in my kitchen, and I was not afraid to let E use just in case she decided to lick it off her fingers. Which would be no surprise if she did. (Now I know they have artificial food coloring, and it is recently more widely thought that these are bad for the health and a cause for behavior problems. I personally have not done a lot of research on this. E did not end up eating any, so no worries there. But if she had I figure that was better than eating actual PAINT chemicals!)

These paints were easy to whip up.  The mix thickens up quire a lot, and I chose to thin it down some more just for ease of use for E. The original post clarifies all of that. Over all we were VERY happy.E wanted to use the paint brush because she does NOT like to have gunky hands. Where she gets this from, I have NO idea! I plan to thin the paints out even more as it turned out goopy on the papers. The activity kept E entertained for a good QUIET 15-20 mins. That is a feat! Mommy got the dishes done in peace, another feat!

Here are the paints in containers. 

So for you mommies out there, try it, totally worth the 10 mins it takes to whip up. E gave one picture to MeMa (she was so excited to show it to her!) and we have one on the fridge, and several that are "all gone" to put in 1 1/2 year old terms! :)

So intent! Maybe she will be an artist! 

Maybe, it's too soon to tell....