Sylas’ 4th birthday is this weekend and my phone has been blowing up with people asking what he would like for his birthday. That’s a tough question to answer when I hadn’t really even thought about it myself. For inspiration, I decided to head over to Amazon and come up with a 4 year old boy gift guide.
He’s a pretty typical almost 4 year old and likes PJ Masks, sharks, Paw Patrol, building toys, play doh toys, dress up, puzzles, outside toys, drawing items, legos, etc. It’s such a large variety that it ended up being pretty easy.
I know that it is so tricky buying for certain age groups. Since I struggle with it myself ALL THE TIME, I turn to the internet for buying suggestions from moms who have experience with that age group. I hope you find this boy gift guide helpful and can find something to buy for the 4 year old in your life!
My son would be so excited about any of these toys! A few of them he’s actually specifically asked for. Anything similar to these items would work, too! Buying for a 4 year old is easier than it may seem, I promise!
***This post contains affiliate links. It costs you nothing extra, but I may receive a small commission.***
Where To Find The Toys In The 4 Year Old Boy Gift Guide
Here are the links to the specific items shown in the guide.
I hope you all had a good weekend! We did, even though it rained a lot and was cloudy the entire time. Except for Friday (I count that as the weekend because my weekend starts early hehe), it was pretty sunny then. It was still a good time, though.
On Friday I woke the babies up early and got them around to take Peyton to school. He usually rides the bus but he didn’t want to take his Paper Mache Diamondback Rattlesnake on the bus. Liam took an early nap when we got home and the older toddlers and I played restaurant.
When Liam woke up we went to playgroup at the park. We had a blast and the kids amazed me, as always. Josie is growing and learning so much and seeing her play on the playground equipment was kind of bittersweet because she was climbing up things she normally wouldn’t have without help from mama. I’m sad she doesn’t want my help but SO EXCITED for her because she’s learning new things every day. Sylas even had a tiny little milestone… he usually won’t go down the tunnel slides. He’ll only go down ones that are open and he can see out of. Well, Friday he went down ALL THE SLIDES. Even the tunnel slides. WHOOO. Liam still needs my help, of course, but he likes the slides, too. Mommy just has to hold him and that’s completely fine. LOL.
After that the day was kind of a blur… headache and anxiety all day so when Chris came home from work I laid down and he played with them and fed them dinner. I got up to read them their bedtime store and for some cuddles before bed. Momma guilt was kicking in from laying in bed all evening.
Peyton went to spend the night at his grandma’s house (ended up spending the whole weekend LOL) so after the toddlers were in bed we had a quiet house so we caught up on our shows and went to bed early (living the life, I swear).
Saturday we all slept in until 8ish, had breakfast and went to some garage sales. I’m obsessed with garage sales. You can find the coolest stuff. My hubby complains about them but then he gets just as into it as I do.
Hubby’s garage sale treasure. I have NO IDEA where he plans on hanging it.
The toddlers also like garage sales because … toys. I don’t go crazy because they don’t need more toys and we definitely don’t have the room for more toys but they did get a couple hot wheels cars, Josie got a couple necklaces, and Sylas got a hand clapper thing. Totally random stuff but it’s all stuff they’ll actually play with and didn’t cost me much at all. The hand clapper thing is annoying, however, and I’m sure it’ll somehow end up in the trash soon.
After dinner on Saturday Chris and I had some friends over to watch the NBA playoff game. Basketball is life in our house. Duke wasn’t playing though so I wasn’t really interested. I drank wine and pretended to know what was happening.
Sunday was Sunday… I always struggle with Sundays and I’m really not sure why. I always assume it’s just because the next day is Monday but I seriously don’t know. We had a lazy morning and then Peyton and Nevaeh came.
Peyton hung out for a while before going over to his friend’s house because his friend’s pool was getting opened! How can I deny him the first swim of the summer?
My blog went live FINALLY!! I’m so excited about it! I spent the rest of the day working on stuff for the blog, and then it was time to go to Pizza Night at Chris’ parents’ house.
I had yummy wine, the kids played outside. Oh, and Sylas fell down the stairs. Seriously, he just tumbled down the stairs on the deck. It’s only like, 4 steps I think, but he literally barrel rolled down them. I even saw his head make contact once. I was rushing out of the house and Chris (who was already outside) was running over. I’m waiting for screams and before either of us could get to him he sat up and said, “That was awesome!!”. Alrighty then, I’m gonna assume you’re fine. LOL! It was hilarious. Wouldn’t have been funny if he’d actually gotten hurt, though. Obviously. LOL
Oh, and my mother-in-law got me this super cute shirt!
Ssoooo that was our weekend.
Tell me about your weekend!! Did you do anything fun!?
My 10-year-old came rushing through the door after school a couple weeks ago excited to tell me about his newest school project. The kids in his class each had to choose an animal and create a 3-D figure of it. He already knew what animal he wanted to create and, after a little research on different materials he could use, he decided on a paper mache diamondback rattlesnake.
Peyton is amazed by snakes, especially diamondback rattlesnakes. He loves to watch YouTube vlogs about them and can list so many random snake facts, so I am not at all surprised he chose to create one.
When he decided to create the paper mache diamondback rattlesnake, I was beyond excited myself because I love paper mache and literally hadn’t done it since I was in middle school art class (using the balloon method, where I created a pig with fins and painted it sparkly purple and pink).
Honestly, I wasn’t very experienced in paper mache other than the few times I had done it before, and a paper mache diamondback rattlesnake was much bigger and more detailed than anything I had ever made.
Materials Needed to Make a Paper Mache Diamondback Rattlesnake
A stack of books, a tall cup, or something of similar height
This post contains affiliate links. It costs you nothing extra, but I may receive a small commission.
Getting Started on the Paper Mache Diamondback Rattlesnake
We needed a base to start with, of course, so we used paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls to make the shape of a diamondback rattlesnake. I showed Peyton how to cut the tubes width-wise (but not all the way through) so that we could curve the tubes into the shape he wanted, being careful not to cut all the way through.
When we got a few cardboard tubes of each size cut, he began creating the shape he wanted for his diamondback rattlesnake. He used tape (generously) to hold the tubes together and to keep the curves he wanted, and then we stuffed the tubes with paper towels as we went along so that they wouldn’t collapse when we started adding the paper mache.
Peyton wanted the head to be higher than the body, so we used a paper towel roll to create the area that ascended up to the head. This was the hardest part because we couldn’t figure out how to get it to stay up without propping it on books. We tried pipe cleaners, paper clips, and extra tape, but nothing worked and the head kept sagging. All of those items did help a little, but it still wasn’t staying where we wanted it. I’ll explain how we dealt with this a little later.
Making the Diamondback Rattlesnake Head, Tail, and Rattle
After getting the shape down the way he wanted, we started brainstorming how to make a diamondback rattlesnake head, tail, and rattle.
We decided to keep using the cardboard tubes, but this time we cut a slit lengthwise, only about 2 or 3 inches down, and only on one side so that we could overlap the cardboard tube, making the opening at one end more narrow. This is how we planned on making the tail and the rattle.
To make the head, he drew the head shape on cardboard and cut it out. Then, we folded up 3 paper towels and then cut those to the same shape as the head and taped them to the bottom of the cardboard head shape. This made the head nice and thick without cutting a bunch of cardboard.
Keep in mind: the paper towel doesn’t have to be cut perfectly, the paper mache will smooth out any uneven edges.
Once all of this was in place, we started on the paper mache.
Paper Mache Recipe – Paper Mache Diamondback Rattlesnake
There are a few different ways to make paper mache, but I used the flour, water, and cooking method. The measurements were 1/4 cup flour and 1 1/4 cup water. I also added a tablespoon of salt to keep bugs and mold away.
If you don’t want to make it, you can always buy it on Amazon. I’ve used this kind in the past (my first time making it from scratch was for this paper mache Diamondback Rattlesnake), and I absolutely loved it.
I brought the mixture to a slow boil on the stove and then set the timer for 3 minutes. It was a little chunky and I worried about that, but it went on super smooth and dried completely.
While the paper mache mixture was cooling, Peyton ripped pieces of newspaper into long strips. These strips were to dip in the mixture and stick to the snake base.
How to Apply the Paper Mache
When the paper mache is ready and cool, dip pieces of newspaper in it until they are completely covered. Remove any access paper mache, and apply in a single layer on your project.
The first layer of paper mache took the longest time to dry, about 8 hours or so. We only did one layer and then let it dry completely. Layers 2 and 3 we did at the same time, and those took about 6 hours to dry. We did 4 layers total, give or take a little in areas that didn’t need as much or areas that needed just a little more.
How to Form and Hold the Paper Mache Shape
We used a cup to prop the head on while it was drying since we couldn’t get it to stay in place with anything else. I was hoping for the best here, and it actually worked. After the first layer dried, the head stayed up on its own! However, when it wasn’t supported we could see the cardboard tube bending in the wrong directions underneath the paper mache and newspaper, so I left the cup in place to avoid tearing and breaking. After the 3rd layer dried, the head stayed up on its own with no problem at all!!
I also used a cup to hold the rattle in an upward position while it dried. It kept wanting to lay down, but the cup did the trick there, too. It’s all about getting the paper mache animal to dry in the exact position you want it to permanently be in.
The crease (pictured) is where the snake was bending without support under its head. After a couple more layers and drying completely, the head had no trouble staying up.
I was worried about it not being strong enough, so I had Peyton add a 4th layer using white paper. This final layer only took about 4 hours to dry. The plain white paper was helpful when it was time to start painting because there wasn’t any print to cover up.
Making Eyes For a Paper Mache Diamondback Rattlesnake
After Peyton finished the 4th layer, we made the eyes. Peyton had the idea to use a teal-ish colored playdoh mixed with a bit of black paint. Once it was completely mixed, he rolled the playdoh into eye shapes. We used the chunky part of the paper mache (the chunks were handy, after all!) to hold the eyes on. Then we ripped small squares of newspaper to cover part of the eyes and make them blend into the head.
Painting a Paper Mache Diamondback Rattlesnake
When the paper mache was completely dry, Peyton began the painting. I didn’t help him with this part except to get the underneath areas that would be visible.
He mixed colors to create the base color and painted the whole snake that brownish/tanish color. He used that same color, added more white, and did the lower part of the snake with the lighter color. This is because a Diamondback rattlesnake gets lighter in color near the bottom.
Next, he used black and white to make diamonds on the back and to put slits in the eyes.
Final Thoughts on Paper Mache Diamondback Rattlesnake
He did such a good job!! I’m so proud of him for working so hard on this project. At school, he has to display it for the class and give a two-minute speech. The speech is about the diamondback rattlesnake habitat, what they eat, where and when they sleep, and a fun fact.
This could be a fun project at home for your big kids! Peyton plans on displaying his in his bedroom when he brings it back home. It’ll keep them learning and being creative, and will definitely fight boredom!
Which paper mache animal do you think your child would choose to make? Let me know in the comments!
Mon: Chicken Fried Rice Tues: Leftovers/anything – we do this on some baseball nights when we won’t be getting home until late. We keep little things in the freezer and pantry for the kids to have for dinner when we don’t actually have time to cook, or they can eat leftovers from the day before. Wed: Brinner (breakfast for dinner) – I’m planning on chocolate chip pancakes, sausage, and assorted fruit. Thurs: 7 Can Soup Fri: Hamburgers with Brussel sprouts and fried potatoes Sat: Sylas’ choice (it’s his birthday this day) Sun: Pizza night with the in-laws Mon:Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Bake Tues: Leftovers/Anything Wed:Taco Casserole Thurs: BLT with avocado Fri:Pizza Quesadillas Sat: Oven Baked Meatball Sandwiches Sun: Pizza night with the in-laws
I just want to point out that when I say “pizza night with the in-laws” we don’t literally eat pizza every time. We go to Chris’ parents’ house and they order from Pizza Hut. We do sandwiches, pasta, salads, wings… whatever we’re feeling that day. I realize that it sounds like we eat a TON of pizza.
It’s Fri-yay!! Time to take a look at some of my favorite pins from this past week.
Flying School by Life As Mama – I know Peyton and Sylas would have fun with this one. Peyton loves making things from paper, including paper airplanes. He experiments with different ways of making them, trying to figure out how to make them go straighter, faster, or stay in the air longer. Sylas likes to do pretty much whatever Peyton is doing, and has been trying his hand at creating things from paper. He hasn’t succeeded yet, but he sure does like to try. This would be a fun trial and error activity as well as a fun aiming activity. Me or Peyton could help Sylas make a paper airplane that actually works and he could join in on the fun, too. It’s supposed to be rainy all weekend here again so this might just be perfect to try out.
I-Spy Bottle by Because I Said So – How fun is this? It could definitely help curb boredom this summer and I think it could be something to use for a calm-down time. I could make a couple different ones to target my different age groups (toddlers and a 10-year-old). They could also do these together which would be pretty awesome. There are so many possibilities of things you could put in an I-Spy bottle.
Cut and Paste Letters by Playful Learning in the Early Years – I actually kind of love this. I’m all about letters and learning how they can be different sizes, upper case or lower case, and something be written a little differently. I love that this activity allows kids to visually experience how letters can look different, and I feel like it will help with quicker recognition. My littles love to use their scissors to cut things out, too, and we have a stack of magazines just waiting to be cut up.
Threading Station by Busy Toddler – I LOVE quiet time activities. Sylas only sometimes naps and he can get quite noisy even when he’s “trying” to be quiet. Josie sometimes wakes up before the others (when Sylas actually naps), and she also has trouble using her whisper voice or choosing quieter toys. This is perfect and, knowing my littles, this will keep them busy for hours. I can’t wait to set something like this up.
What are some of your favorite pins lately?! I’d love to see some links in the comments!
My kids love water, love sensory, and love frogs. I saw a post by Fun at Home With Kids that inspired me to create this little sensory box, imaginative play for my kids. I actually featured her post on my Friday Favorites post a few weeks ago, check it out!
On the original post, it looks like she used more of the little blue stones in the bottom, bigger lily pads, and more realistic frogs. The kids and I went to Dollar Tree to find the material for this activity and we did find the rocks but I only got one bag of them. We couldn’t find bigger sheets of foam, so we bought the small ones they had. The pack came with several sheets of all different colors so we have a bunch leftover, too! Then we bought the only frogs we found in the whole store, which are actually bath toys and completely perfect for water play!!
Every bit of this (except the small tote we put it in) came from Dollar Tree, but they even have small containers there that could work for this!
My littles HAD A BLAST. I had to keep a close eye on Liam because he kept putting the stones in his mouth, but other than that it was a breeze! We will definitely be doing this again.
Later on, we put all these items in the bathtub, too!
Hey guys! I’m going to start doing a bi-weekly wine review on Wednesdays. I love wine and I love to talk about wine, so why not post about it here? I’m so excited for this! Please feel free to recommend your favorite wine so I can try it! I’m open to any kind – sweet or dry, red or white!
I’ll focus on inexpensive wines because every mom knows on a night when you just reaaallly need wine, you’re going to head to your local store to pick some up, probably not looking to spend a fortune, and head back home. I do love vineyards and wineries, I actually used to work at one, but that’s typically a special treat for myself.
I’m also not going to get into all the wine technical terms. I know most of us just want to know how it tastes and feels and smells, but if you want to get a little more in depth, I’d love to talk about the body and the tannins and any other aspect you’re interested in! Just leave me a comment and I’d love to chat about it!
So for the first Wine Wednesday, I am going to tell you about Richebois 2014 Red Blend.
This one came from Sam’s Club for only $11 and it is one of the best inexpensive red blends I’ve tried. I’ve had it a couple of times and it always hits the spot.
It’s refreshing and the smell reminds me of the beach. I’m not kidding. When I take a sip, I always envision an ocean or a lake, sitting with my toes in the sand.
It went down smooth and the fruit blend was well balanced, making it the perfect wine for sipping. It paired well with dinner but was perfect for sipping afterward. It isn’t too sweet and isn’t too dry so for me, that middle area is the best.
Drop a comment below and tell me if you’ve had it or if you decide to try it!! Also, drop a comment if you want to tell me your favorite wine or talk about this wine a little more.
We have been working on our green bean recipe for almost 5 years now. We started buying only fresh green beans and have slowly adapted our recipe over the years. Well, a couple months ago we finally got it. They are perfect. So delicious, covered in butter (don’t judge), not too soft and not too crispy. I can never stop eating them.
Oh, and it’s SO EASY. I’m not kidding. Try it. 😉
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. green beans trimmed and washed
Water
Salt
1/2 Cup Butter
Pepper
Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the ends off of the green beans.
Soak green beans in lightly salted water for 1 hour.
Drain water and place green beans in an oven-safe glass dish. The one I use is 8 inches and about 4 inches high.
Cut a stick of butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and then divide evenly over the top of the green beans.
Generously sprinkle salt, pepper, and Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning over the top.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven, remove the lid, and stir the green beans.
This weekend was pretty great. With it being Mother’s Day weekend, it was pretty relaxing for me and my hubby might have gotten me some cute gifts. 😉
So Friday was a lazy day, for sure. It was rainy and SO COLD and the babies and I just stayed in all day. We got out their instruments and we sang songs while playing. We also cuddled in our warm, comfy clothes and watched movies, read books, and colored. It was a wonderfully unproductive day.
Friday night I braved the cold and went with my sister and her best friend to dinner, shopping, and out for a couple drinks. While I was out I got a couple cute Snapchat’s from Chris and Sylas.
Saturday I definitely slept in, as did all of my kids… they’re pretty great, am I right? When we woke up, Sylas and Josie helped me make pancakes. Later, Chris took Sylas and Liam shopping for a couple grocery items and I took Josie and Peyton to buy birthday gifts for Sylas. Then we went to Tractor Supply Co. to pick out a Mother’s Day gift for my mama. There was an animal called a Brahman at Tractor Supply and Sylas was brave enough to pet him! This Brahman has a medical issue that requires expensive treatment so his owners were there collecting money for him. Sylas fell in love with the store and decided to add five more things to his already extra long birthday list.
We had fried chicken, green beans, and potato salad for dinner on Saturday, which is always an event in our house. Chris and I listen to music and sing (if that’s what you want to call it) while we cook, and it turns out to be so much fun every time. Plus, fried chicken night is EVERYONES favorite here so that’s always exciting. Chris makes the best fried chicken, I make the best green beans, and we are working together to master my mother-in-law’s AMAZING potato salad. She never measures so it’s a guessing game for us… we’ve gotten close but never gotten it perfectly.
Sunday was Mother’s Day and it was also my due date for Sylas 4 years ago, so it’s extra special to me! I don’t know why I always get emotional on his due date day, but I do. Probably because he was my first baby and I remember so vividly the way I felt when the due date came around and still no baby… he didn’t come until 13 days later. Stubborn boy lol
Chris surprised me with the best gifts… I was so surprised he nailed every gift perfectly. We had donuts for breakfast and I drank coffee out of my new mug.
We got all the kids around and went to visit my mama. Sylas and Josie made her a cute little craft. They wanted to cut out flowers and tape them to paper so I let them go to town on Saturday. LOL. I drew the flowers out for them so my mom would have some idea of what they were and then the rest was up to them. When they were finished I did write a little message on them.
We also got my mom a gift for her garden.
We came home for a nap (the babies, not parents, unfortunately) and then went to my in-laws’ house for pizza night. We got Chris’ mom flowers because she is too tricky to shop for. I had delicious wine (of course) and will be posting about it on Wednesday so make sure you come and check it out.
Mommy drank wine on the deck while everyone played. 😉
Josie played on the rocks.
Liam walked up and down the ramp with Nana.
Peyton and Chris played catch.
It was such a good weekend! How was your weekend?!
It’s Fri-yay!! Good thing because it’s been A LONG week and I’m exhausted. I wish my husband was home from work already so we could cuddle (AKA, I fall asleep on him). JK because I still have to go shopping for Mother’s Day for my mama. I didn’t realize it was so soon (I know, that’s sad). Oops. Well, while I sit here and drink my third cup of coffee this morning, I’m going to share some of my favorite Pinterest posts of the week with you.
Cozy Coupe Town from whatmomslove.com – This is one of many sidewalk chalk play ideas posted on What Moms Love. You have to check them out because they’re pretty awesome! I love this one specifically because I know my kids will have hours of fun with it. There’s a road for them to drive their little car on, a place to stop for snacks, a parking lot, and so much more. Plus, we could add whatever we wanted to our little town to make it more unique and fitting to our life.
Fire! craft from Fumbling Through Parenthood – Sooo cute. I like this one so much. We are going camping this summer and it’ll be my babies’ first time camping so I want to get them excited about it ahead of time. I think this will definitely help get them excited because they love bonfires and we can talk about roasting marshmallows and making s’mores. Ohhhhh, now that I mention s’mores, I may just look for a s’mores craft to go along with this one. I know my babies will also love gathering sticks and bringing them in the house. Mama nevvvveeeerrr lets them do that. 😉
PJ Masks Party Decor – Sylas will be 4 years old on the 26th. Seriously, where has the time gone? We are having his birthday party at a park so I don’t think we will need too many decorations, but I do still want to make it cute and fun. I really like this idea. It’s inspired me to do streamers on three trees that are next to each other – red, blue, and green streamers – with balloons on top. Then, on the middle tree or even draped between trees I’ll hang a banner (I’ll probably make it myself) that says “Happy Birthday Sylas!”. Then I’ll just print out some PJ Masks characters and tape them all over the place in the party area. I think he’ll love it and I’m going to keep trying to come up with some cute ideas for it.
From Julie O’Neill Photography – On the topic of Sylas’ 4th birthday … this is ADORABLE. I’m definitely going to try and recreate this and it seems simple enough, right?! I highly doubt my photo will turn out as beautiful as Julie O’Neill’s but I’m going to try my best. I’ll share it with you guys when it happens. 😉
Alright, I hear my tiniest little monster thrashing around in his crib so that’s it for today! What are some of your favorite pins right now?! I’d love to check them out!
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