Virginia Beach Housewife: Toddler Art Day (and Giveaway Winner)

First off, we have "survived" our run in with Irene this past weekend. Besides being a rainy and windy day, it was pretty much a nonevent. We were even lucky enough to keep our power the entire storm; others were not so lucky (like my parents who are still without power, although they do have a generator so I don't feel that bad for them!).
With power in tact, I was able to sift through my giveaway entries from last week and randomly picked a winner (I used the same very official process as last time, so you can read up on it here if you want!). Thank you again to all of you who read, and especially those who read regularly and/or take the time to comment. Congratulations to..

CASEY!!!

Send your address to me at vbhousewife@gmail.com, so I can get your gift card in the mail:)

And one more piece of random blog business...I am linking up with Meg today over at Life of Meg. If you're visiting from there, WELCOME! If not, head on over and join in the fun
Mingle 240

And now we can resume with regularly scheduled programming
Ever since committing to my weekly Colton field trips, I have shockingly pretty much stuck to the plan! The plan was not complicated, but I have managed to devote one day a week (usually Thursdays) to doing something special for my little boy (as opposed to running errands or hitting the beach/pool like we usually do). Usually we go somewhere (we've been to the Virginia Aquarium, Botanical Gardens World of Wonders, First Landing State Park, Grommett Island Park, and the Children's Museum if you're local and in search of some toddler-friendly fun). But this week, we stuck around the house and had a little art day fun.
To prep for the big day, I bought us some sidewalk chalk. I also decided to make some pudding finger paint (just add a couple drops of food coloring to vanilla instant pudding...colorful, edible, and fun).

And finally, I made us some Kool Aid playdough, too using this super simple recipe:

2 cups boiling water
2 package Kool Aid
1/2 cup salt
2 1/2 cup flour
3 tbsp. vegetable oil

Mix Kool Aid, salt, and flour in bowl. Pour in boiling water and vegetable oil. Mix well. When cool enough, knead together.

You'll get something that looks kind of like this:

With our supplies ready, Colton and I began to tackle our art day projects. First up was sidewalk chalk. Admittedly, he had much more of an interest in walking around holding the chalk than he did in using it!

So, we moved on to Kool Aid playdough. I thought this was going to be a big hit! While Colton did play with the stuff, it took a bit of convincing to show him it was not meant for eating (Chipper needed similar convincing).

Luckily then, I had saved our pudding paint for last (because this actual was edible). It was a total mess, so again points for me for thinking ahead and doing it out on the porch at the picnic table, which could totally just be hosed off (along with a messy toddler) when done. To go along with the theme for the day, Colton didn't show much interest in creating art, more in eating the stuff, but at least this time we did get some sort of "finished product."