Ocean Update

So, our ocean week has now turned into 2 weeks which is totally fine.  We have done 4 out of the 6 ocean ideas I wanted to do.  Trying to cram it into a week wasn't a good idea for me anyway.  If they get too messy everyday, I get burnt out on messy play. I also don't take enough pictures, but such is life.  I'd rather make memories than try to capture them ;)

This was out gelatin tub.  The oatmeal was supposed to be the sand.  It's hard to see because of the sun and because the water table is also blue, but other than the oatmeal, that baby is filled with blue gelatin!  Autumn loved getting messy, Caleb didn't.  Just as I predicted.   

Caleb embraced the messy this day.  Well, for him.  Autumn would rub paint all over her entire body if I let her!  We have struggled doing crafts in the past with Caleb.  He tends to get super frustrated with the process (the steps I mean), but this day he did really well (hence the pictures!)

And, this was frozen blue rice with some aquarium rocks and seashells.  Good times.  Caleb can now say shell :)

So, the other two activities I had planned were for an ocean themed bath which will only happen if my husband is ever home early enough to let me set it up (doubtful) and some sand play. 

Ideas taken from:  No time for flashcards The Imagination Tree House of Burke 

Lately

My life of late has been as follows...

Craughing at it's finest ;)

She's getting so big!

We don't do this nearly enough!

This.  Always this. 

This looks like they all are happy to be sitting next to each other...

Looks can be deceiving :)

And this too.  We are battling food allergies :(

Oh, and this!

I've been getting "fit".  I use that term loosely ;)

I have been trying to put my health first lately and finding it to be challenging.  Working out everyday is nice in theory, but getting us out of the house everyday is hard and then coming back home hot, sweaty, and sore doesn't lend to much energy.  We would wake, eat, get dressed, go work out, come home, play for 30 mins while I sat on the couch, eat lunch, put Caleb to bed, shower, and then if I had any energy left over I would do something productive with Autumn.  It wasn't happening very often!  Then Caleb would wake up and they always watch a video while I make dinner.  So Caleb wasn't really getting any quality time with me.  So just in the last week I decided to only go 2 days a week and my parenting has been more focused.   I feel much better about everything.  In my opinion, my spiritual life and my family life must come before anything else.  I was sacrificing my kids for my health...which needed to happen because I was eating all kinds of junk and couldn't lose the baby weight and I think it is important to be healthy!  However, now that I got a grip on my eating, I needed to go back to having days at home with energy to play with my kids.   

I've got this grand plan for next week ;)  I will try to document it!  Here's my plan.

Our week will be ocean themed.  

On Monday we are going to make an "ocean" out of blue gelatin.  (Monday is "Messy Monday" haha)

On Tuesday we are to make fish and octopus crafts I found online. (Tuesday is craft day or maybe art day if I can get more into that...my kids are just so young right now)

On Wednesday we are going to have an ocean-themed bath. (Wacky Bath Wednesday)

On Thursday, they will play will an ocean themed sensory tub. (Sensory Day)

On Friday we are going to wear black and white and pretend to be penguins. (Pretend play)

Everything I found is appropriate for a 3 year old and a 19 month old.  I think it's pretty manageable.  We'll see though.  Sometimes I have these great ideas and then they flop.  Or I flop.  Or something like that.  Plus most of this stuff is just for fun...so as far as teaching Autumn to write or teaching Caleb his letters, I'm not sure how I will incorporate that stuff in.  I know they learn through play, but if you don't teach them their ABC's, they won't learn them by playing in blue gelatin.  Or something like that :) 

In other news, Chris has been gone waaaaay too much this summer.  Being married to a soldier is a total drag at times.  Last night I showered with all 3 of the kids.  Really!  I was just going to do the big kids and then Elizabeth had a poop monstrosity so I thought what the heck.  Anyway, he's only been home one evening this week.  It's a DRAG.  

At least it's one less mouth to cook for though, right?! :)

On that lovely note, I'm out.  Autumn & Caleb are fighting over a blanket.  We only have 200 of them in this house.   

Learning is Fun! Hand Tree & Stringing Beads

Yes, I missed a food post.  I cooked some yummies, but I didn't take pictures and I just think a recipe post without a picture is not so helpful (like that sentence structure?).  So, check back next week.  


Moving on, here is something easy and fun to do with your toddler:  

It's a hand print tree!  Isn't it so cute?  Just trace hand/arm on brown paper, glue onto a different color sheet of paper and glue your leaves (cut out from yet another piece of paper) onto the fingers.  We used a glue stick and practiced taking turns gluing and placing leaves.  If I let Autumn have her way, she would spread glue on everything all day long...including her lips :)  This craft idea came from Green Kid Crafts.  You pay for a 3, 6, or 9 month (I think) subscription and they send you 3 age specific craft packs a month made from "non-toxic, natural, and sustainable supplies".  Pretty sweet deal.  So far, we have had fun with them.  This particular craft is cool because you can do whatever colors you want and it's a nice substitute if you don't have the time and/or energy and/or patience to do a paint hand print tree.  Ours is pretty plain, but you could do fall or spring colors.  A grandma or aunt would love it!

Something she's not quite ready for is stringing beads.  Her little fingers are deft, but not quite that deft :)  I strung her a bracelet and about 3 seconds later it was broken and beads spilled everywhere.  Le Sigh, mama's too ambitious sometimes...

*On another note, if your 22-month-old can string beads, be proud.  Be very proud :)

Learning is Fun! Craft Stick Bugs & Painting a pillowcase

I still haven't come up with anything cute to call our activities.  I was thinking of Flops & _____?? Finds?  Friends?  I don't really like either one of those.  I'll keep trying to think!  


So, one thing we did that was awesome and fun was we made Craft Stick Bugs.  You just take a craft stick and have your child color it (we used markers).  Then you wrap pipe cleaners around it for the legs and glue on googly (googley?) eyes.  Ta-da! You have just made a bug.  Here's a pic of our bugs: 

She's wearing antennae and therefore we called her "Autumn Bug" for the rest of the day which she, of course, loved :)  If I did this activity again, I would also glue on antennae to the bugs. 

For our activity flop, I tried to mix food coloring and water in a spray bottle & then spray a white pillowcase.  The food coloring did dye the water, but it was barely noticeable once we sprayed it on the pillowcase.  I get I need to figure out another way to put paint in a sprayable format (Maybe tempera paint mixed with water??).  So instead we just carefully dripped the food coloring onto the pillowcase.  We still had fun so it's not exactly a flop, but still.

Now, go have some fun with your child!!

Learning is Fun! Lion Mask & Shadow Seeking

It's 5:15pm and both of my kids are sleeping...what's going on?!?! 


One activity that me & Autumn did this past week that was a lot of fun was we made a lion mask.  These are so easy and so fun!  Just go to Google & type in "Lion Mask Template" (or any animal for that matter) & you will get plenty of options.  Some websites have the option to print them in color if you want to work on cutting or gluing.  Since Autumn is on the younger side of doing those activities (22 months) we printed out a plain mask & let her color in her lion with colored pencils (I try to let her use different art mediums...you could obviously use markers or crayons or paint or anything you wanted).  Before she colored in her mask, I glued it on cardboard (an old diaper box) & cut around the outline and also some eye holes.  After it's colored you just cut some slits and tie elastic to it and voila! You have your very own little lion.  Here a picture of my little lion: 

I wish you could see the video of her "roaring".  It is pee your pants funny, but I am challenged in the phone to computer to Internet department.  I must remember to take cute videos on my Bloggie so that I can actually watch them on my computer!  If we did this again, I would use a more dramatic medium (paint maybe) to see the colors better & use something softer than cardboard to make it stiff because her little nose got a bit red.  I bet a paper plate would work. 

Now, for an activity flop (I really need to come up with something catchy and cute for our successes and failures).  The one that comes to mind right away is the afternoon we spent outside looking for our shadow.  Not so much looking for it as trying to explain to Autumn what a shadow is and where to find it.  It was very obvious to me where my outline was on the grass, but she was not getting it.  At all :)  We'll try again down the road!  Maybe if we watched Peter Pan before we went outside...

Learning is Fun Weekly Post

So, yeah, I might have to not call it a weekly post if this track record stays strong. 

So to recap, here were my goals from 2 weeks ago (age attempted 18 months):
1. Play with hats-I knew that wasn't going to happen.  Why did I even put it down? 
2. Bubbles-check, check.
3. Color with red, blue, yellow-we have done this a lot!  I think I was making up for slacking the previous week or something.   She is starting to notice the color red.  I think.  Maybe.   :)
4. Learn where her thumb is: Yes, that was easy.
5. Learn to sign "daddy" and "help".  She can do both of them, but doesn't do them unprompted.  I'm not too worried about daddy since she can say that, but I would like for her to use help since she just gets mad and starts crying when she can't do something.
6. Boo at the Zoo: so much fun!  Crazy and chaotic, but fun!
7. Crunch in some leaves: We did this last week and today.  She has a lot of fun with it.  I should take some pics.  Or maybe a video.  We also made a big pile and she walks through it and kicks it around.
8. Hula Hoop: mommy fail.

Extra Activities:

9. Fall Sensory Tub.  Pine needles, acorns, holly (with the thorns cut off), and pine cones.  She didn't really enjoy playing with that one.  What I did instead  was get some heavy cardboard and cut out a wreath shape and we glued all the goodies to the wreath (she stuck the pine needles on and I glued the acorns and the holly) .  It turned out quite beautiful :)  The coolest thing about this activity was all that stuff was in the back yard!
10. Halloween Sensory Tub.   Black beans, pumpkin seeds, little skeletons, pumpkin erasers, fake spiders, and Halloween finger puppets.  She enjoyed this one much more.  Her favorite thing to do with the tub was did out the pumpkin seeds and the little pumpkins from the black beans.  Here she is giving a black cat finger puppet she found a kiss :)

Luckily it was warm enough to play with outside because sensory tubs are quite messy! I'm not sure how we are going to do them this winter. 

11.  Does trick or treating count as an activity?  I think it should :)

SO...for next week, we have:

1. Learn where her ankles are on her body.

2. Learn to sign "cat"

3. "Cloth Pull" found here.

4. "Leaf Bracelet" found here.

5. "Pushing Puff Balls" found here.
6. Glue red, yellow, blue shapes onto paper (probably just circles and squares).
7. Song/Nursery Rhyme of the Week: "This old man...he played one"
8. Book of the Week: "The Potty Book for Girls".  Not that I am comitting to anything, but it never hurts to prepare...

Learning is Fun! Weekly post

Gosh, I can't believe I haven't been posting between these learning posts.  I guess I could try to do better ;-)


So, this is how we did this past week: (Age attempted was 18 months)


1.) Practice climbing down stairs: Check.  She did so good with this.  She kind of knew how to do it before, but not very well and now that I have purposefully taken time to practice with her, she does really well and I don't have to freak out when I am putting away clothes and she is running around :)
2.) Sidewalk Chalk: OMGosh she loves sidewalk chalk!!  She is obsessed now.  I don't love it since it gets ALL OVER her clothes, but she loves toddling around everywhere "chalking" everything and making her mark.  All the bricks and rocks and tree trunks now have chalk lines (or at least they will until it rains!). 
3.) Color again with Red, Blue, Yellow crayons: Mommy fail.
4.) Learn where her "bottom" is:  I think she knows.  Sometimes she points to her belly, but I think she mostly knows.
5.) Signs "dad" and "help":  Mommy fail with "dad" :(  With "help" she does pretty well mimicking me, but she doesn't do it on her own yet.  She did, however, for the first time ever sign "please" today totally umprompted!! 

6.) Drop clothespins in a bottle: check.  Proof:

She did very well with this.

7.) Pumpkin Patch:  Lots of fun!  

Love her :)

8.) Dance:  we did this a lot!  Mostly with me holding her (not for very long.  This preggo chick gets tired easily!).  I should give her more practice and encourage her to dance all by herself. 

Additional Activities:

9.) We rode on a train which was a fun learning experience.  I heard "choo choo" for several days afterwards :)

10.) Played with bubbles!!

Next week's activities:

1.) Play with hats (I don't really have any hats, but maybe I can scrounge some up)

2.) Bubbles again

3.) Color with red, yellow, blue (why am I such a slacker when it comes to this simple activity?!)

4.) Learn where her "thumb" is (should be easy since it's always in her mouth)

5.) Keep learning how to sign "dad" and "help"

6.) Go to Boo at the Zoo (yay! I'm so excited about this!)

7.) Crunch in some leaves if we can find any

8.) Play with a Hula Hoop if I can find one at the dollar store

9.) Featured Book (a book we read every day): "Elmo's First Book of Colors"

Learning is Fun! Weekly Post

I'm a day late!

Here is how last week went:
(By the way, age attempted is 18  months)

1.) Stacking Blocks:  I actually have misplaced them at the moment, but she did play with them several times and really liked them.  She can stack 3 blocks.  
2.) Sidewalk Chalk: Mommy fail
3.) Color with red, blue, and yellow crayons:  We only did this once and she kept eating them which was really driving me crazy!  She is sooo much better about putting stuff in her mouth when I say no.  I guess we better try this again.
4.) Learn to point to eyebrow: I thought she would have some trouble with this, but she learned it in about 10 minutes!  It's so unpredictable what she will understand and what she won't.  I have been trying to teach her "chin" for weeks and she still just looks at me or sometimes points to her mouth or nose!  But, eyebrow?  No problem! Maybe it's because she already knew "eye"?
5.) Learn how to sign the word "dad":  Mmmm, kind of.  She knows how to sign mom and dad is very similar so she sometimes signs mom instead of dad, but I think she will distinguish them easily if I keep working on it with her.
6.) Clothespins in a bottle:  Mommy fail :(  I have the bottle ready to go-I just have to cut a hole in the side of it.  We will definitely get to do this before next Monday!
7.) Pumpkin Patch: My friend's schedule didn't work out so we are supposed to go this Thursday.
8.) Stained glass leaves:  We made these, but unfortunately, Baby Girl couldn't do as much as I was hoping.  I wanted her to tear up the tissue paper and she did for about 2 minutes and then got bored.  She did help me stick the tissue paper on the glue...for about one minute :)  Oh well, maybe we'll try again next year!
9.) Read: of course, we do this every day.  I'm not even going to put it on the list anymore.

Additional Activities that we did:

10.) Made this:

11.) We painted pumpkins

So, we did 6 out of 9 activities.  67% success rate.  Not very good :(  Bummer.  However, if you add in the 2 additional activities we have a 88% success rate.  Ok, enough math.  We'll do better next week!  Speaking of next week, here's what we have planned:

1.) Practice climbing down stairs
2.) Sidewalk Chalk!!
3.) Color again with red, blue, yellow crayons
4.) Learn where her "bottom" is
5.) Keep practicing "dad" and learn how to sign "help"
6.) Drop clothespin in a 2-liter bottle
7.) Pumpkin Patch
8.) Dance to some music!

Learning is Fun! Weekly post

One thing that I do with Autumn and love love love to do is to play constructively with her.  What I mean is I get ideas from other blogs about learning and education and then do something with her other than just reading or letting her entertain herself.  My goal is to do these activities several times a week, plus do one artsy/crafty thing a week with her.  She is young (17.5 months) so some of these things are very simple.  For example, one day we might work on "kicking" a ball (which she still can't do!) or taking a homemade streamer outside and talking about wind.  Some are more complicated such as transfering cereal with a spoon from one bowl to another.  I would also love to have a themed book focus for each week, but that's not happening yet. 

So, why am I writing about this?  Well, because some days (weeks) I do better than others and I thought it might help keep me accountable if I have a weekly post about our "goals".  I am thinking I can go over the previous's weeks activities and how they went and also write down the next week's planned activities.

SO, for the upcoming week our goals are to:
-Have lots of practice playing with and stacking blocks
-Experiment with sidewalk chalk
-Color with Red, Blue, Yellow Crayons
-Learn to point to the body part "eyebrow" :)  (hee hee she may not be able to get this one)
-Learn how to sign the word "dad"
-Drop clothespins into a 2 liter bottle (fine motor skill maybe?  I don't know, I just saw the idea somewhere)
 -Go to a Pumpkin Patch (this may or may not happen depending on my friend's availability)
-Make stained glass leaves, found here.
-Read, read, read (which is a given and we do every day whether I want to or not! (My child is a bookaholic!)

That's not too much, is it?  Some of those are really easy and will only take minutes to do.  Plus, I don't work and I only have one child (for now) so I have lots of time to play with her!

I need to figure out what to call these weekly postings.  Playtime with the beast?  No! Just kidding.  Ummm, learning is fun?  I feel like I've heard that somewhere before, but surely it's not copyrighted so we'll go with that for now I guess.  I guess I'll update on Mondays how the previous week went.   Who's excited?  Me!  :)