Week Nine Recap

I can't believe it is the ninth week of doing these lessons! It has been a fun experience and I overheard Lily tell Tristan while they were playing in her room "Ok now we do a project" and I watched Tristan pretend to paint Lily's feet and stamp them on a pretend piece of paper!!

Monday:

Whew today was a rough one. I am not sure if it was the weekend apart from each other, or the impending time change or the barometric pressure or an alien takeover, but wow did we have a rocky morning. There was about fifteen minute total where no one whined, cried, hit, bit, screamed, or threw a fit. I would say about seven of those peaceful non-consecutive minutes were spent doing some projects. We painted our letter of the week which was an Iguana I, and glued a witch together out of triangles. We took a lot of deep breaths today and had a few time outs given. Luckily, after nap and lunch we became our normal selves again and kept the aforementioned bad behavior to our usual minimum.

Tuesday:

Things were a lot better today. We had a few time outs and deep breathing exercises, but it was nothing compared to the meltdown chaos that yesterday provided. After our breakfasts, we helped each other get out of our PJs and put our clothes for the day on. The focus skill for this week is putting our pants on and pulling them up with little to no help. I am making a conscious effort to not put Lily in skinny jeans this week so we can master this skill. Once we were dressed and ready to go, we had some free play time so I could get some laundry started. This is usually when things get a little hairy, so once they did, we switched back to a more structured day and climbed into our seats for project time. We made a skeleton by gluing Q-tips to a piece of black paper. I made the outline of a body and handed them each a handful of Q-tips. At first, Tristan started dotting his Q-tip in the glue like we were painting and Lily started placing hers horizontally, which looked like ribs. Chances are, this project will not be staying glued on very long, but as usual, it is fun to see how they tackled a project when given little instructions. We zipped through that project so we practiced some more fine motor skills and peeled stickers to decorate premade monster faces.

Wednesday:

It was quite warm out today, so we started the morning off after breakfast with a nice looooong walk. I found more sidewalk chalk at Walmart last night finally so when we got back, we spent some time coloring with the new full sized pieces. Lily and Tristan also helped me to get some of the leaves out of our play area, and since it was warm enough, we took off our shoes and played in the sandbox for a little bit. We came inside to wash hands, use the potty, and get ready for snack, and they started fighting about who was standing where. Yes, toddler problems. Before I could sprint down the hall, they bit each other. I have been trying to keep them as busy and as active as I can, but sometimes I need to minute to grab snack, refill cups, straighten up. I know it’s the age and they are together all the time, but man, this week has been quite a patience tester! I have tried the calm, “use your words” approach, the scary “I am raising my voice sternly at you so please stop” approach, straight up ignoring them, time outs, and everything in between. I just keep telling myself to belly breathe, and if I am calm, they will be calm. Calm but stern? This is totally karma for the seven years of almost constant physical fighting my brother and I did which was pure torture to my mom. For that I am sorry!

After nap and lunch, we were refreshed and regrouped. During nap, I put together a few possible projects we could do, depending on the mood of the afternoon. We ‘painted’ a piece of paper candy corn with orange, yellow, and white rice and then we built a foam scarecrow face using googlely eyes, shredded paper for straw hair, and a foam hat. I was using cheap glue, though, and ended up with a nice clump of sticky rice in my hair from shaking off the excess that I did not find until later. These are the days!

Thursday:

It was back to being quite chilly this morning and the kids were back to being noticeably more behaved, so we did some fun things inside to make the morning go faster (and smoother). While I got my stuff organized, Lily and Tristan spread out a blanket and had a picnic with the fake food. They ended up bundled and snuggled and giggling which was music to my ears. After we cleaned up, we started our projects for the day. I have some odds and ends that need to be completed from previous projects (like the color of the week), so we did some gluing. We painted some paper plates black for spider bodies. While they were painting their plates, I began painting their piggies! I used green on the base of their foot and black up around their toes to make a Franken-foot picture. We took a break to go potty and try out a new game. Using a hula hoop and some packaging tape, I made a spider web that we tossed pompoms at to see if they would stick like bugs. They did not quite stick like I had planned unless you smushed them to the tape, but we still had fun tossing the bugs at the web. I might try this again with different tape and maybe some lighter pompoms or some crumbled up paper. When they started sticking their faces to the tape, we cleaned up and moved on to the next thing---snack. After our snack, we glued on some googlely eyes to both our spiders and our monsters. Then it was time for nap and lunch. After lunch we took a nice long stroller walk but since it was still a little chilly, we came back inside and played with the chalkboard in Lily’s room instead.

Friday:

Happy Halloween! We finished up all of our Halloween themed projects today with a secret spider web watercolor and making an Olaf inspired pumpkin statue! For the spider web, I drew webs on two sheets of white paper with a white crayon and had Lily and Tristan paint over the drawing with water colors! Thank you to Nicole for the idea! The kids went nuts when the web started to show! Lily and Tristan played upstairs in Lily’s room with the dress up clothes and blocks for a little bit while I organized all the junk that has been piling up around my bed. It is so nice to be able to let them play freely in there for short spurts of time while I straighten up. After nap and lunch, I have a few more simple projects up my sleeve, like making a ghost out of cotton balls and gluing to tie up some more loose ends. I am making a taco dip tonight and I might also let them help out! 

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween! I tried to train Lily and Tristan to go for the good candy this year since last year Lily seemed to be attracted to the shiny silver wrapper of the Three Musketeer Bar where as I am more of a Reeses or Twix girl. Here's to gaining a few pounds and making a few memories this weekend!

Lily's Rapunzel Costume!

Thanks for the inspiration,'Punzel!

This year I thought I could skate by with choosing Lily’s costume for her one last time before the demands started. I was thinking a retro chick with a poodle skirt and saddle shoes. Or Lucille Ball. Mostly because I wanted an excuse to buy her saddle shoes! But we asked her, and she said 'Punzel. I was so impressed with how quickly she came up with that answer, I had to oblige. I still planned on making it as long as I could find something simple to replicate. She came with me to Joann’s to pick out the fabric. I stumbled across a great tutorial with a pattern here, and even though it was a 5T, the pattern was a perfect jumping off point. I figured I would have to hem some things but I also knew I’d be layering her up that night and since I’m not always a super star seamstress, I figured this would give me enough room for error!

I liked the idea for the bodice of this costume, but I wanted to make a very full tutu for the skirt. She absolutely loves her big purple tutu, so I wanted her to feel comfortable in this one and actually want to wear it. I used the same technique as I did last year to make the skirt and it came out great. But when I went to attach it to the bodice, all hell broke loose. Well, not really. It just didn’t line up the right way, and when she tried it on, it was too tight on her belly. As per usual during my sewing adventures, I spent a nap time with my exacto knife (I really need to stock up on proper tools for my sewing kit) cutting the skirt loose from the top. I was considering using just regular purple fabric for the skirt, but when I tried to measure it up against Lily, she said "No mommy, tutu!" Sigh. At least I thought I did a pretty good job getting the bodice part right without too many re-dos or headaches!

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

I un-looped all the tulle from the elastic band and laid it in groups of three, all uneven sizes. Another fun project I may have grumbled a little during. But hey, you live and learn. I folded each group of three in half and then pinned it to the bodice. I did two layers of this, and then sewed them together, leaving the back open on either side of the Velcro to ensure it fit and was not tight around her waist. It fit! The skirt was a little long and needed some cutting to even it out.  

The last step was to add the white trim around the bodice and lace up the front. The trim needs some ironing and and I still need to cut all the loose threads, but overall I am happy with the finished product, and Lily enjoyed wearing it this weekend at my parent’s house for a little pre-Halloween fun!

Almost finished!

As for the hair, I bought a few headband wigs from the Dollar Tree and experimented with hairdos. I first glue three together to give the braid a nice full look, but it was way too thick to fit on Lily’s head. Oops. I did a single braid in another one, and even though it is thin, she kept it on her head for a little bit. I bought fake flowers (also from the Dollar Tree) and to weave into the braid. I am 99.9% sure she will not wear this the whole night, but hopefully I can get a picture or two in!

I caved and bought her actual Rapunzel shoes from Payless. I wasn’t going to, but I channeled my Nan and she said “JUST ET THEM FOR HER” so I did. They probably cost about as much as the costume did to make, but I had a 25% off coupon from my birthday, and she’ll be able to wear them to church with a few of her dresses. Note to self—buy more purple dresses.

I will post more pictures of the complete look this weekend after she goes trick or treating! I am a bit nervous about Friday night. She hasn't been to keen on seeing Halloween decorations in the stores or on people's houses during our walk. But today, during our walk, every time she saw a decoration she did not like, she said "it's okay, Mommy, it's just pretend" and rubbed my hand. 

Week Eight Recap!

Monday:

It was very chilly this morning so we planned to walk and go outside after our naps and lunch. After breakfast, we took our time getting dressed. Both kids help each other when it comes to taking off PJs and pulling on pants. It’s pretty stinkin’ cute! We set up our train set and played with that for a little bit. I have been setting up part of it, and letting them finish the track. They sometimes get frustrated but they’ll ask (whine) for help or just leave the track unconnected. Since we couldn’t go outside, we did some exercising and dancing to some of our favorite songs. We listened to a new one called Freeze and learned how to play the freeze dance game.  After we shook some energy out, we painted our H horses with water colors. I am always impressed when they notice what letter we’re doing, but also what my drawing is! After nap and lunch, we took a nice long walk and played outside for a little bit.

Tuesday:

Since it wasn’t as cold out today, we were able to sneak a walk in after we had some time for free play and cleaning up. We went down a few different streets to check out some Halloween decorations and down our usual route to say hello to the ones we’ve seen for a while now. I think of it as a dry run for Halloween night because something tells me Lily might not like this holiday too much this year! After our walk, we played outside in our cars for a little bit before coming inside for a snack. We read our book, Haunted House and talked about everything we saw in the book, noting over and over again that Halloween is scary, but it is just pretend. We had a surprise visit from Aunt Bobo so we played with her for a little bit before nap. After nap and lunch, we had another surprise visit from Aunt Lyss so we had more people to entertain!

Wednesday:

Today was quite dark and gloomy. Lily was the only smart one and slept in as late as she could. We had a fun visit from Tay Tay during the morning so the kiddos showed off all of their tricks! After Taylor hit the road, we had a snack and painted some paper plates orange to use later for pumpkins. We used a big foam brush this time. I like seeing how they use new painting tools. After lunch and nap, we played up in Lily’s room so I could finish up some things in my own room.

Thursday:

Today started off dark, wet, and gloomy again. I knew I had to keep them busy and moving or else meltdowns would be occurring more frequently than usual from any one of us! We did our usual morning routine and added in some exercise and dancing time. When I became the only one still dancing, I snuck out of the room to set up a Shape Hop game. I took two large pieces of paper and drew a few different shapes on each. Then I taped them to the floor and called them into the room. They had to use their listening ears to find out which shape they needed to be on, and what they needed to do on each shape. We hopped on stars, sat on circles, and even stood on one foot on triangles. Then they both decided to lay down on either paper and pretend to sleep. And that was at only 9:15!

We switched gears and did some cleaning and straightening up around the house. They like to dust (with washcloths) and vacuum (with their carts). When that got to be old news, we climbed into our high chairs and started a slew of projects while listening to the Halloween Party station on Pandora. They absolutely LOVED the Purple People Eater song. (I gotta remember that)!

First we glued faces on the orange paper plates we painted yesterday. I decided to not control where they wanted to put the eyes, nose, and mouth on the face and let them place the shapes as they saw fit. Both actually stuck with the normal face layout! 

After our faces were complete, we glued a rectangle, triangle, a circle, and squares together to create our haunted houses. I also did not interfere with this project. I told them we were making houses and we’d be adding stickers and it was so interesting to see how they placed their shapes. Lily actually made a house with a door and windows on the triangle. Tristan’s was a little more freestyle, but that’s the beauty of letting them do projects themselves.

While our glue was drying on our houses, we got down and dirty with some paint. 

I taped foam pumpkins to a sheet of orange paper and had them finger paint the entire sheet for a reverse sort of look! At first both kids only used their fingers until I gave the OK to use as many fingers and hands as they wanted. Lily dove right in, using two hands and smushing the paint around, while Tristan needed some time to warm up to that and used his pointer finger for a while. After both sheets were covered, we put those aside to dry and began putting stickers on our haunted houses. I let them choose what stickers they wanted. Lily allowed one skeleton face on her project, but when I handed her another, she said “no, he too scary!”

We spent the afternoon playing with toys we haven’t seen in a while and I took out the playdough for a little bit. Hopefully it is nicer out tomorrow because we’re all going a little stir crazy!

Friday:

Finally a nice sunny day! It’s definitely fall but it was nice enough to spend some time playing outside in the morning, and hopefully we will be able to take a nice long walk in the afternoon! After breakfast and some free playing today, we made ghosts out of our footprints and our scary ghost faces! They came out super cute and Lily and Tristan both cracked up when they saw them. We danced to the Ghostbuster’s Theme song, the Purple People Eater, and the Monster Mash today for some exercise. This week felt incredibly long and I think the gray, cold, rainy days played a huge part in that.

Hopefully we have a nice sunny weekend ahead to get outside and get moving! I am just about done Lily’s Halloween costume so I’ll be blogging about that soon. We are planning on celebrating Halloween Sunday with my parents so I need to really get cracking on the final details!

Enjoy the weekend!

Week 7 Recap

Tuesday:

Today we switched things up a little bit. We were all a little smelly in the morning due to a few different circumstances, so after breakfast, we took a bath. That was our sensory portion of the day! We played in Lily’s room until our hair dried and then we went for a stroller walk. It was slightly warm but we kept our eyes peeled for things that start with G, letter G’s on signs, and anything that looked like a circle. After our walk, we painted our Giraffe Gs and had some free play time. We took our naps, ate our lunch, and pushed our carts around for a little bit. We took a quick wagon ride and looked for more Gs and circles.

Wednesday:

We got our walk and outside time in early today before the rain started! After a potty break, we played with our foam letters. It’s pretty neat now how they can match the letters that have been punched out to the square they go in. We took them all apart and then helped each other put them back together. There were only a few moments of frustration but we took some deep breaths and tried turning the letters a different way, or asking for help. After nap and lunch, it was pretty gray and ominous so we opted to stay inside and do our project. Using paper towel rolls as stamps, we stamped pumpkin shapes onto a pre-cut white pumpkin. To make the pumpkin shape, you bend down one side of the opened circle and put a piece of tape on it. The first few stamps came out looking like Cs, and once or twice the paint filled the hole and made a solid shape, but it was a new way to paint and the kids enjoyed it!

Thursday:

It was a slightly wet morning, so after a fast walk, we brought out a toy we haven’t played with in a while—Lily’s train set! I was able to set up a oval shaped track with most of the pieces, and they played for about a half hour without any issues. They both even sat in the middle of the track, criss cross applesauce of course, and traded trains and cars. I was very impressed! The track would not survive 30 seconds when they were younger before someone tripped over it or sat on it. These little changes in each of their play behaviors are so fun to see firsthand! It makes me tear up a little because they are both getting so big and independent, but it is amazing to be able to watch them grow!

After nap and lunch, we went outside and tried painting with another different tool—a straw! My original plan was to just have them dot the paper with a straw dipped in paint, but where’s the fun or challenge in that? During nap, I looked up blow painting techniques and thought, why not? I watered down some orange paint, taped paper (in the shape of corn) to the bottom of a shoebox, and cut some straws. I sprinkled some paint into the box but it was not the right consistency. So I tried just straight paint and let them have at it. It didn’t work out the way I planned and we might try it again tomorrow, but they had fun and it was something new to try!

Friday:

As usual, Friday is slow going. We took our time getting dressed and ready and headed out for our walk. Today we looked for pumpkins and counted how many we saw. We were finally able to draw with chalk after a damp week, so we drew a big letter G and brainstormed what we could draw that begins with G. I need to keep my eyes peeled for more sidewalk chalk when we’re out because our abundant supply is finally dwindling! We played outside for a good chunk of the morning since the weather was so nice. After nap and some lunch, we headed back out to retry our straw painting. This time I cut out ovals (for Indian corn) out of paper plates and used some older tempera paint that was thinner but not too watery. I drop a couple drops on and let them blow their straws. Then we added more and dipped our straws in the paint and blew. This was fun until they both started trying to suck up the paint and/or flip the straw around and put it in their mouth. It was a change of pace though and overall we had a good time!!

Have a fun weekend! 

Week 6 Recap!

Tuesday:

We painted our Flamingo F’s with pink paint and talked about things that start with F. We went outside for a little bit and drew things that started with F with sidewalk chalk. After nap, we had a laid back day and played upstairs in Lily’s room for a little bit. Lily was having a pretty rough day and I couldn’t be sure if it was due to being alone with just me on Monday, the fact she saw my side of family this weekend where she is the only kid (and slightly spoiled), she’s coming down with something, or simply because she is two! 

Wednesday:

We were a little more on track today. Both kids ate full breakfasts without fussing once. I am still in shock. We took our stroller walk but came inside after to take Lily’s temperature. She woke up coughing this morning and her nose has been runny. After how unusually mood she was yesterday, I took her temperature but she didn’t have one. It has been a bad allergy day for me, but we made a doctor’s appointment for this afternoon anyway. Usually I would just give her some Claritin and wait it out, but with what has been going on medically, I do not want to take any chances, especially with any sort of respiratory illness. Before nap, we talked about families. I drew (stick figure) families for each of them, and we named everyone. When we got to Lily’s family, we named Grammy, Pop, Bobby, and Becky, and then she added Nan. We gave her a halo and wings and said she is now our angel. 

Thursday:
Today started off a little rough. For as nice as yesterday’s breakfast went, this was its polar opposite. There’s nothing more fun than trying to empty the dishwasher, eat your own breakfast and choke down some coffee with two banshees screaming at each other. But we made it. We took our stroller walk in the morning then played outside for a bit. We had our snack and I couldn’t remember what project I wanted to do today. I usually prep the night before but I was spending some time working on Lily’s Halloween costume and scaring myself by watching American Horror Story. We played with playdough for a little bit and practiced using cookie cutters and the little plastic knives. I attempted to sew a little during nap but that kept Lily up, and woke Tristan up once, even with the soundproofing I tried with some towels. After nap (that Lily opted not to take—but she just lays in her bed with her dolls) and lunch, we tried a new fine motor activity. I hot glued paper towel and toilet paper rolls of different lengths to a piece of cardboard and gave each of them a handful of large pompoms. I showed them how I dropped them in. They did this for a little bit until all the towers were full, then we dumped them out and I gave each of them new instructions. One had to put all the blue pompoms in the tiny tower, and the other had to put all the white pompoms in the tallest tower. They had fun helping each other out and sorting by color.

Friday

It was quite chilly this morning and both nuggets have runny noses, so we kept it low key. We painted things that are purple, made Bats on the Moon with our hand and footprints, and had a dance party in the living room. It’s getting grayer and chillier, so we might pop in a movie or watch some of our favorite YouTube videos after nap. This is perfect snuggle weather for that!

Have a fun weekend!

Week Five Recap!

Monday:

Our morning began just like any other. We took our walk and drew with some chalk outside. We painted our Elephant E’s and talked about things that start with the letter E. For our fine motor skill, I cut a donut out of a piece of cardboard and tied some yarn around the outside. I showed them how to weave the yarn in and out and around and around. They each tried a few times then got frustrated. Tristan started swinging it around like a crazy person and Lily threw a fit because she didn’t like how the string was tied to the cardboard. See, it’s not always rainbows and butterflies! We will be trying this again sometime soon and working on our patience.

Tuesday:

Today after our walk, we headed out for an adventure to the grocery store. Thank you Giant for having those carts with a two seater toy car attached to them. They behaved 100% better than my prediction! Both even listened getting in and out of the car, which is always a fun task. Every time we do it without a whine, cry, or a runaway, I take a deep breath and send a mental glass of wine out to the moms who deal with hustling and bustling on a daily basis outnumbered by children. We came home and grabbed a snack and began to make scarecrows out of paper plates. I precut eyes, a nose, hair, and a hat which they glued on to the plate. I gave them magazine pages to crumple and put between the plates and then I stapled up the outsides. Well, attempted to staple while cursing the stapler under my breath. They came out pretty cute so I think we might use them as the faces on an actual scarecrow I’d like to stuff with them!

Wednesday:

We were off to a slow start today. It has been slightly gray today so no rush was taken at all, except to nap! We went for a walk and looked for things that were blue. I love when Lily takes the lead and asks Tristan if he sees anything blue. I equally love when he flat out says “No.” We came back and played outside for a little bit until Lily said she had to go potty (we’re like 75% potty trained). They had some free play time for a little bit and then we had a snack. After snack and another potty break, we tried another fine motor activity using large beads and our trusty pipe cleaners. I originally saw the large beads done with thick (dry) spaghetti stuck in clay, but I couldn’t find our stash of silly putty and I knew playdough would be a distraction. So instead, I tried introducing patterns to them by making a bracelet of my own and Lily actually completed the pattern. Tristan opted for an all-orange look, which has been his thing lately. We read “5 Little Pumpkins” a few dozen times and I had all intentions of making a flannel board story about it during lunch, but my Fiskers have seen better days as of late and I didn’t want to chance the trek downstairs and waking up Tristan. That’s on my list of prep work for when I’m watching TV at night.

Thursday:

We had another slow start. These gray fall days are a motivation killer, man! I think our schedule is going to be slightly shifted so our walks are a little later and a little warmer! We painted things that are blue with water colors after our snack and then helped vacuum and clean our play room. As soon as the vacuum comes out, both kids grab a push toy to run around (and into me) with. After nap and lunch, we read our book, Five Little Pumpkins and did a flannel board story along with it which the kids really enjoyed. They even started reciting some of the story by themselves while putting up the corresponding felt pieces.

Friday:

We took a walk and counted how many pumpkins and scarecrows we saw. We also reassured ourselves that scarecrows and all things Halloween-y are just pretend. This year, trick or treating might be cut short for Miss Lilypad depending on what types of costumes we see! Hopefully the candy will motivate her to stay out. We played outside and danced to our new favorite song, All About that Bass. I love watching them mom-dance with each other! After a potty break and a little snack, we made some ‘thumb-kin’ patches. We ended the morning with our flannel board story and some beading. As usual, Fridays are a structured free for all. 

Have a fun weekend!

Five Little Pumpkins Flannel Board Story

In a perfect world, I would be doing one new flannel board story a week using our book of the week, but the books we’ve been reading have had quite a few characters and do not quite lend themselves to be flannel boarded. Also, by picking the simpler books and surprising them with new flannel stories, it will keep them occupied and excited longer. And as much as I'd like to be able to do that each week, something would have to be sacrificed. Like my showers aka my sanity. 

During lunch today, I quickly whipped up a flannel board story for our book of the week, Five Little Pumpkins! We’ve been reading and reciting the book all week and it has a cadence that both kids quickly picked up on.

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.

The first one said, "Oh, my, it's getting late"

The second one said, "There are witches in the air."

The third one said, "But we don't care."

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run!"

The fifth one said, "Isn't thisfun?"

  

Then Woooooo went the wind

And OUT (clap) went the lights.

  

And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

I used scraps of felt I have stuffed in my craft drawers and just cut out the basic shapes---orange circles for pumpkins, a long brown rectangle for the fence, a white ghost, and two blobby looking witches with simple brown brooms and green oval faces. I hot glued some faces and green stems on the pumpkins, eyes and a mouth on the ghost, and attached the witches to their brooms. They are not the most intricate of designs, but the kids could tell what they were. I could not wait to show them our new story!

After we ate our lunch and spent some time in the bathroom (I am pretty sure 65% of my day is spent in there), we got ready to do our pumpkin story! I did the story once using the flannel board and then I let them at it. It was adorable to see them helping each other not only put up the pieces, but say parts of the rhyme. Lily even fact-checked as Tristan put the story up on the board. There was only one meltdown about who got to hold the book and the ghost, which are pretty much the only thing I only had one of. But that's par for the course. I am glad they enjoyed it and can’t wait to do it again tomorrow!