pink play dough

The more I need a nap, the more Ivar refuses to lay his head down. We fought over this one for quite some time this afternoon. I am in the middle of a head cold that makes my face weight 100 pounds. I really could have used a nice long nap, but Ivar wasn't feeling it. So we got back up after a very, very long battle of the wills.

Lucky for me, I had thought about making play dough as one of my projects this week. So I got out of bed, put Ivar in the living room with some toys and made some play dough.

For me.

I have thought about this a lot lately. How hard I work to be sure Ivar learns to play, interact, develop, keep his routine. And I've been wondering how I can ensure that I still make time to play, interact, develop and keep a routine. I decided that I need more just-mama play dates.

And I decided that I need more playtime for myself. Hence Heart-and-craft Week...and the pink play dough I made just for myself to knead, to roll out, to cut into hearts. I squished, pounded, rolled it into snakes, rolled it into balls, made it into pizzas and ice cream cones. And it felt so good to play. Only trouble is that now I have a hankerin for rolled sugar cookies in the shape of hearts. (Remember these beauties?) That might have to be added to the list for heart-and-craft week.

**Here's my mom's recipe for play dough. It makes silky, lovely play dough that is easier to clean up than the store-bought kind. I have come to find that people are very partial to their particular play dough recipe. Sort of like all the varieties of chili out there, usually you like your mom's the best. I swear by this stuff, but to each her own.

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

4 tsp. cream of tartar

2 cups water (with food coloring added to the water)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

In a saucepan mix flour, salt and cream of tartar.

Add colored water and oil.

Place over medium heat. Stir constantly for several minutes. (It gets heavy! It's hard to stir!)

It will begin to separate from the pan and become more dough-like and look like a lump of mashed potatoes.

Remove from heat and knead with hands. Store in an airtight container.