My Mary Poppins Bag

So I've mentioned before that I have a "nanny box" in my trunk... Full of things that aren't usually in the family's home or things I carry around for different activities with the kids... Here's a look into the things I have in my version of a Mary Poppin's bag.. Just not as cool!

Most of this is from Walmart or the Dollartree/store. If it's from Walmart it will have a -W. If it's from the DollarTree/Store it will have a -D. If it's from any other store I'll label accordingly. 

Aprons -W

Table cloths -W

Cornstarch -grocery store

Vegetable Oil -grocery store (dollar store had small bottles)

Vinegar -D

Rubbing Alcohol -D

Liquid Starch -W (used for slime)

Paper Bags -D

Large Craft Sticks -W

Paint Brushes (sponge & regular) -W

Paint -W

Plastic Eggs -W (what kid wouldn't want to do a random egg hunt?)

Large Mixing Bowl -D

Leftover Colored Pasta -D

Balloons -W

Skittles -grocery store

Bird Seed -W

Toothpicks -D

Googly Eyes -W

Pipe Cleaners -W

Koolaid -W

Alka-Seltzer -grocery store (for lava lamps)

Bird Seed -W

Peanut Butter -W

Paper Plates -W (the super cheap kind- used as a painting surface or paint pallette, craft supply)

Chalk -D

Shaving Cream -W

Coffee Filters -W

Tape- packaging & painters -W

Giant Coloring Pages -W

Large Construction Paper -W

Stickers -W

Tacky Glue -W

Crayons -W (I bought cheap ones but I would suggest sticking to Crayola)

Pipettes (droppers) -Amazon

I also collected toilet paper rolls, water bottles, egg carton, tissue box (not pictured)

What isn't in the box that should be:

Food coloring

Baking soda (I would buy a large quantity from Walmart because its used in so many projects)

Marshmallows

String

Glitter

Scissors

Markers

Clear Glue (for slime)

IPad- I used my iPad all of the time, but never carried it in the box (post to come) 

What isn't in the box but used frequently at a family's house:

Bowls

Funnels

Plastic utensils

Cookie sheet

Muffin pan

Ziplock Sandwich Bags- gallon & sandwich

Bleach Wipes/409 spray to clean 

Almost all packed up

Completely packed

Bittersweet Ending

Last Tuesday was my last day of being an official Nanny. I've been offered a full-time job at a doctor's office doing a number of different things and it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

In honor of our last day together G, C, Kraig, and I headed to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Not going to lie it was a pretty expensive day trip for us with the cost of tickets- I would suggest any family to get a family membership because it's totally worth the cost and I would recommend taking kids multiple times in the year, they really do love it- and feeding the goats is worth the membership alone.

They have their new exhibit: Stingray Cove where you can touch (non-poisonous) stingrays. Unfortunately, we were at the exhibit between times and they were giving them a break... They also have a new baby that they started putting out for the public two days after we had gone to the zoo!

The boys were the PERFECT age for exploring the zoo and we had SO much fun together! I'm really going to miss hanging out with these two. G was thinking of ways that I could still come and hang out with them- it included skipping work, canceling work, and coming after I was done.

Tell me that's not one of the sweetest things you've ever seen!
If that doesn't put a smile on your face... well.. it should.

I will continue to make occasional posts of things I have saved up from the last few months, so don't worry I'll be sticking around hopefully at least once a week ;)

I Have Some Freetime!

Hello Friends,

I've been silent lately and I apologize! One of the parents of the boys I nanny was laid off so I haven't been working with them much and the other set of boys haven't been feeling too well so not very many pictures or exciting activities happening! I have started caring for J- a 7 month baby boy- for a couple of hours every Friday to give his mom a break but that mostly involves entertaining him with toys, naps, diapers, and feeding :)

SO I have some freetime! If you know of anyone that needs care for their children- one-time or part-time- let me know! I'm available Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and sometimes Saturday! Email me if you have any questions angela@harle.cc. Feel free to pass along my email to friends or family :)

In the mean time I've been able to spend some time to myself, organizing life, playing with babies, cleaning, and having fun!

Ice Cream Deals & A Summer Wishlist

Another BEAUTIFUL day today! So much time spent outside
(which of course means less for me to clean! :-) )

Took G & C to the park and because they were SO good and the weather was so nice we headed over to Baskkin-Robbins and found out they were have a huge sale on ice cream- Guest Appreciation Week!

Since the weather is supposed to nice for the next couple of days take advantage of this great deal! (Although they say one scoop cone- they allowed me to put it in a cup for the kids since it's easier to eat that way and ended up being a nice size serving for both kids!)

Before we headed to the park while C was napping, G and I composed a list of things he wanted to do this summer so I'm sharing with you! I think I'll be making this poster sized with check boxes so that as we complete an activity we can check it off! I'll be making a similar list with the other boys, K & T, and I'll post that and we can compare the two lists!

Tricked by a Two Year Old

Today was a very chill day, I got to hang out with little E all day. E is two and VERY easy going. We played with some blocks, danced a little, watched Sesame Street and Yo Gabba Gabba on Netflix, napped, had lunch, like I said a very chill day.
E is really good at entertaining himself and playing alone, it's amazing!

During snack time he was eating some Kix and I asked him for some... and this is what I got!

Day of Sunshine & Outings

Today was a rare day in Washington, it was sunny and warm during the spring. I think when I drove by a bank it said it was 57 degrees out! SO, the boys and I definitely took advantage of the sunshine! We waited for T to get home from school and do a little homework so we weren't able to get out until about 4:45 but the weather was still nice (but we did wear hoodies to keep us warm from the wind).

We headed down to Mike N Terry's (otherwise known as the Putting Zoo) to play some Mini Golf. It was decently priced for the three of us at $16.25. If you go on a Monday or Tuesday and bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the local food shelter it's half off a round! We didn't keep score and we went through this course really fast (they have two different golf courses) but the boys still had a blast doing something different!

Afterwards we went next door to Paintball Sports Park.  The boys are too young to actually play but they were able to go into the shooting range by themselves and just shoot at the targets! (They wouldn't normally be allowed to do this because you have to be at least 10 years old to actually play but I work there on the weekend and my boyfriend manages the field.) They had SO much fun I had to tear them away! I mean what boys don't want to shoot guns and have them make a mess??

We left having had a lot of fun, but if we go back next time I would make a full day out of it! Give the boys enough time to actually play golf and play both courses, which they had wanted to do today. They also have go-karts at Mike N Terry's and I promised them next time they would be able to ride them and buy popcorn from the concession stand! :)

Colored Spaghetti

So today was a short day with K & T, their mother is still recovering from surgery so I'm just there to give her a break for a couple hours a day and get some chores done around the house. We got to play outside today in some dry sunshine on the trampoline and just running around in the yard!

So today's post will be based on something that G, C, and I did a few weeks ago! I was there on a Saturday night so we had the chance to prepare a fun dinner together.

Colored Spaghetti

This is seriously SUCH an easy way to put a fun spin on an already easy meal!

Supplies
-Spaghetti Noodles (really you can use any kind of pasta)
-Sandwich bags
-Food Coloring
-Pasta Sauce
OR -Butter/Olive Oil and Parmesean (the boys don't like sauce so this is what we did and you could really see the colors since it wasn't covered in sauce)

• Cook the noodles as you would normally. 
• Once it's done cooking, strain and separate into sandwich bags. 
• Add food coloring into the bags and close the bags. I blew some air into the bags so the noodles would mix and shake better.
• Hand to the kids and let them shake it up!
• Cover in sauce or whatever you want to top it with and enjoy!

I've also seen online people cooking the noodles into separate pots and adding food coloring to the water. I didn't do this because I didn't want to make more stuff for me to clean up since bags I can just throw away!