Oops I skipped an update for last week. I was keeping
track of the things we were doing, but Tristan was having some nap time
troubles so I haven’t really had any extra time to blog…and some days even
shower. Yikes. But the past two days have been back to ‘normal’ so I am trying
to update this as fast as possible! Here’s two weeks worth of projects (last Thursday and Friday are MIA as is my memory of what the crap we did those days). Also we had a
Photoshoot Friday today to keep us in the Christmas spirit!
Week Fourteen Recap
Monday:
Ashley, Aubrey and I took the kids to the Frozen Winter
Palace at the Short Hills Mall. It was quite the drive and the wait, but the
kids were very well behaved and they had a blast! They got their pictures taken
with Olaf and with Santa. There was even a snow globe to play in that had the
Frozen sing along on a loop. The kids were in their glory and although it took
all day, it was worth it. And yes, the sangria margarita martini afterwards
also made the drive home crammed in between two car seats a little more
bearable! 
Tuesday:
Today we started to talk about the letter M. We have been
slacking on the alphabet this month. Christmas has taken over, so we might put
letters on the back burner until January. We did play some Music with our
instruments and Marched around the house, but I still need to draw some sort of
M creature for them to paint. We painted some toilet paper rolls red (that will
eventually become Santa’s) and some egg cartons white (that might eventually
become snowmen). We had a big picnic with all of our large stuffed animals.
Wednesday:
After we ate and got ready today, we pulled out the train
set to play with. I made a large oval track and they were very good about
watching where they sat/stepped so they would not knock it down. Slowly over
time, they are playing with things the ‘right’ way, and it is so neat to watch.
Tristan set up the house, barn, and boat, while Lily connected the train cars
together and pushed them around the track. They’ve come a long way from the
first time we played with the trains and they were both basically mini
Godzillas, stomping and crushing. Once the trains were cleaned up, we moved on
to project time. I bought some foam ornaments complete with sticker pieces and
a place for the kid’s faces from Michael’s. They said 6+ which is probably just
about the right age to use them! But we didn’t do too bad of a job sticking on
the reindeer’s ears or Santa’s hat. I admit I guided them just a tad! They came
out very cute, especially with the goofy pictures we took to put inside of
them!
Not sure when this or the creamer snowmen projects were complete. Could be the blur that was Thursday and Friday! Christmas projects and the like have just become a whirlwind! I will try to get back on track in more ways than one come January!
Week Fifteen Recap:
Tuesday:
We had a guest star visitor today for the morning—our
cousin Dani! She wasn’t feeling so good so she mostly stayed on the couch and
watched TV while we played, until it was time to have snack and play with play
doh. I was very proud of the kids for sharing their play doh toys with Dani.
Usually they fight over who gets what, and today they were content with what
they had!
Wednesday:
Since it was almost 50 degrees today, we ventured outside
for a nice long walk. We were a little crazy in the morning so some fresh air
definatley helped us calm down and get ready for nap. After we got back from
our walk, we decorated some foam gingerbread men. I drew a few lines in Elmer’s
glue and gave each kid a handful of tiny pre-cut shapes. Both kids took circles
and covered the punched out eyes, and Tristan even added a triangle for a nose!
I love watching them do these sorts of simple projects on their own and drawing
from other projects we have done in the past!
Thursday:
Sadly it was back to being chilly today. We did our usual
morning routine, complete with a dance party. I try to find kid-appropriate
videos via YouTube for them to dance to but some of them are just so weird. I
found an animated version of C&C Music Factory’s Everybody Dance Now and
Tristan got down with Phineas and Ferb.
After we danced our sillies out, I started some prep for a photoshoot
Friday. I needed to make a sign for Santa’s workshop, and the kids helped me
color it. Tristan took his time and he can almost color in the lines! So
impressive! Then we had some free play and then it was time for snack. Once we
were fed and pleasant again, I pulled out a new play doh toy Aunt Meghan got
us. She was also an angel and bought two of the same thing so there were no
fights or whines. It was one of those toys you put the play doh in and smush it
through a hole to make snakes, crazy hair, or a banana, as the kids did. They
played with those for 30 minutes with NO FUSSING. It was amazing. It was also
neat to see them not only manipulate the toy in its regular use, but find
different ways to play with it. Lily used her cookie cutters to make a
helicopter and Tristan got to work cleaning the play doh out of every nook and
cranny.
Friday:
We started the day out with a Photoshoot Friday! I had
made a tool bench out of a big orange box I got from Fab.com last year
(probably for Christmas). I kept meaning to incorporate it in a Photoshoot and
it wasn’t until I was brainstorming what to do with the elf and Santa Pjs I
purchased from Target on Black Friday that it came to me. Yesterday the kids
helped draw the sign for Santa’s Workshop so they were very excited to dress up
today! They both wanted to wear the beard and be Santa so we took turns. I love
how cute all of the pictures came out! After we were done being models and having free time
play, we had some snack and worked on some odds and ends projects that have
been collecting in my project basket. We completed our foam reindeer, stuck the
fixings on Frosty, and made Rudolph out of a toilet paper roll, googlely eyes,
a red pompom and our hands. We added some more red paint to another empty
creamer bottle and shook it up. Those will hopefully be turned into a Santa
this afternoon. Hopefully both kiddos
nap just long enough for me to finish my quiet chores. Fingers crossed!
Happy Friday! Hope everyone gets everything done they need to this weekend and can relax next week. Hey, a girl can wish!
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)