Weekend-in-Review…and a Sand Table Project

This weekend was super fun AND productive.  Love when that happens.  On Saturday morning, I went for a run, the hubby picked up a used freezer I found for sale online and in the afternoon, we sat outside and visited with the neighbors while the kiddos played with their kids.  See?  Productive AND fun stuff happening around here.

On Sunday, I got ANOTHER run in (I’m seriously a much happier person when this happens…must be the endorphins??), some laundry done, bathrooms cleaned, the hubby washed my van (yup, a van…woohoo!  I actually love it.  I’m a nerd.), he installed a light fixture in the garage, I got the budget/bills tackled and the kids got to play outside much of the day.  They also love to help do things around the house.  Most of the time their help is appreciated, unless you’re in a hurry and need to get things done quickly.

I really love living in the desert and being able to enjoy the outside in January.  It’s about 10 degrees above normal and you can wear flip flops all of the time.  If the kids are at each other’s throats, I just send them outside to play.  Works great!  I don’t miss the frigid temps back home that’s for sure.  I would take snow every now and again, but I can drive 1.5 hrs north to experience that.  We will be having lots of company over the next couple of weeks. Should be a good time :-)

My daughter loves Curious George.  I was watching it with her one day and they had a sandbox with hidden metal objects in it and some kids were “fishing” for the objects using magnets.  I thought it would be cool to do this for my kids, so that’s what we did this weekend.

We bought these supplies at Home Depot:  5/8″ nuts, strong magnets and paint sticks (Ok, we didn’t BUY the paint sticks, but we did buy paint and got the sticks for free.).

Oh ya, and sand.  You’ll need sand.  We live in the desert and we still buy sand.  Seems weird to me.

My son got this water table from Grandpa and Grandma for his birthday a couple of years ago and since it’s too cold to fill it with water, I decided to use it for the sand table.

You’ll need a handsome husband to pour the sand in the table too.  Handsome and handy? Yes, please ;-)

Then you can have the kids bury the nuts in the sand.

Ooh, this reminds me, you’ll need some cute kiddos to help make and play with the final product.

You then clip the magnet onto the end of the paint stick.

Voila!  Have them go “fishing” to find the bolts.  It’s a great hands-on activity for them :)

Such a quick, simple and fun project for the kids to help with.  It’s pretty dang cheap too.  If you don’t have a water table, you could use an old kiddie pool or a sandbox.  Leave it to your imagination and I’m sure you’ll think of something!

Sometimes we cheat and use our hands.

While at Home Depot, I got a couple of paint samples for the Master Bedroom and Living Room.  Put them on the wall and I think I found the color I’m looking for.  It is now my goal to have the Master cleaned and take pics to show you the before.  I feel some painting coming on!  The hubby is thrilled…just thrilled.  He LOVES when I want to tackle projects. Not so much really.  I think the part he hates is that the room is in disarray.  The only time I ask for his help is when something is too heavy for me to move or if I’m pregnant (which I’m not) then he would need to paint.  I enjoy painting, so can’t wait to get started!

That was our weekend, how was yours?

**P.S. – I’m becoming an aunt again this week Thursday!  Please say a little prayer that all goes well for my sister and brother-in-law as they welcome their 3rd bundle of joy – a BOY! Can’t wait to see the little guy :-)