LeBlanc triplets: Baked Cotton Balls (right)

So, in case you were otherwise unaware, it gets a little hot here in South Louisiana. Hot like - it's common to work up a sweat inside while getting dressed in the morning unless the A/C is kicked into high gear and your insulation is awesome. Hot like it's 99 degrees outside with 100% humidity (which means you may as well take your clothes off because it's pretty much like taking a bath...but don't because it's illegal...) Hot like...ok - you get the point I'm sure...

So, I am always on the hunt for fun projects to do inside during the hottest hours of the day. Ladies and gents: meet "baked cotton ball project 2012".

ok, ok, so it wasn't all sorts of amazing and it really didn't take long. But it was an opportunity to get some good old messy hands and was pretty fun just the same.

David gets a little concerned about messy hands - so we're working on that - he gets over it after a few minutes as long as I don't play into it and make things look super fun.

Mary Louise, on the other hand, is fearless:

ha.

So you mix half and half water and flour to make a paste. Dip cotton balls in, covering completely. You can put food coloring in the paste mixture, but it's not something I keep on hand...so...we baked them until browned in greased Corning Ware and painted the little "clouds" afterward instead of using the food dye.

It's pretty much like paper mache - just like it in fact (other than the whole drying thing).