A Week-ish

I was glancing through my phone and I have been snapping photos of my girls like crazy the past two weeks. It's funny because sometimes dumping my iPhone photos can be so spiritual for me. The way I feel about my girls these days is almost surreal. These quick phone photos from the past 'weekish' are so inspiring to me, they remind me that no matter what small things might be troubling me and my husband from time to time the big picture is that we are living an amazing life surrounded by amazing little souls. 

 

We had so many first moments - first time swinging from the monkey bars without help, first time blowing a bubble, ha the first time Lilly LET Ava read to her (Ava can read!), the first time seeing baking soda and colored vinegar react. Also, I remembered what happens when I let Ava turn on the hose for 'just a second to fill up her watering can real quick'. 

 We had excellent times playing and exploring the world. I am reminded every second how easy it is to make children utterly, blissfully happy and I think that's why I've always liked them so much. This week, Ava told me that 'when she used to be a grown up she was a doctor' - a very classically creepy thing for Ava to say. Once exactly when my hand touched her toy airplane, that she hadn't seen for weeks, high up on my tall chest I heard her say to her Dad in the next room 'can I play with my wood airplane now'. She's crazy happy so we've just decided it's fine that she talks like a tiny psychic half the time. 

That Lilly is just growing up. She (clearly) hates the sandbox, but I still toss her feet in anyway. She has finally started to grace us with words, when she feels the inclination and she clearly is understanding most of what we are saying to her now. Sometimes, Lilly just clear as day bursts out with some word like she has just always said it, she may or may not repeat it after that as she is basically immune to praise from us and chooses when she will do almost everything. Watching her grow into a mini person is just amazing, comparing her now at 16 months to where Ava is at 3 and a half and thinking about what will happen to her over the course of the next two years is mind boggling. I always think the biggest difference in having more children is that you don't know the latter children yet the way you know your first child. I will have always had two more years of knowing Ava in and out and it's in someways like Lilly and I are just beginning. Such a strange power to be able to choose when and how to add these little humans to your family, to the world. The awesomeness of being alive. 

Play Kitchen Recipes - Free Download

I was talking with my close friend Michelle about how our children were (sigh) starting to become bored with their play kitchens. I'll admit while Ava really has enjoyed her play kitchen she is really more of a puzzles and books kid. Lilly loves to bang stuff around at it but otherwise she really isn't into it yet either. Which actually I hate admitting because we have a kind of amazing and possibly a tiny bit ridiculous DIY play kitchen setup with that cool market. I think part of the problem is that we've had it all a while and I am noticing the appeal of putting toys away and rotating them now that Ava is older. Unfortunately, I can't just put the kitchen up for a while ;) Really it is a little annoying that my kids get tired of playing with their millions of toys and I have to rotate them out and find ways to represent them but ah well.

(Behind Ava is a giant $10 Walmart car oil pan we use for magnet play / learning = pinterest genius)

Anyway, I made up some play recipes for my three year old because Ava loves to follow directions and I figured they would help her see that she could really do a lot more with that 'tired old' (sigh) kitchen. Well it worked like a charm. I made five (the cupcake recipe is double sided) and I found three more on the internet here. They are all a similar format so they are easy to use together. I laminated mine (with a scotch laminator) and put a little ring at the top. I'd say in the least just print them up on card stock.

Mine are in Microsoft Word so if you need to edit out something you don't have that should be pretty easy. We used white yarn for our pasta. Oh! and if you don't have a kitchen you should think about making one of these mats because they are brilliant! I keep wanting to make Ava and Lilly one but let's face it that seems a little silly ;)

So here are my first files to download (hope it works if not just email me or leave a comment):
File 1
File 2 
Please share the link to the this post and not my actual file with friends or on your blog etc.

Oh Lilly (14 months) does have one toy she plays with. It's this random Joker house we now own. I don't know if even Ava knows who the Joker is but Lilly genuinely loves this toy. I was totally against buying it (it's a little violent and has a jail and cannon and we have nothing that goes with it) but it all worked out after the mall Santa told Ava he would bring it for her and our little wooden doll house people have all had their turn in prison - it's kind of added a spicy new element to the story lines around here ;) 

The Perfect Gift - Simple, Beautiful and Practical

I love holiday blog gift posts! I honestly have a hard time finding just the right gift for a few people on my list. I hate giving candles that will never be lit or 'one more' toy to add to the box. For birthdays I typically give gift receipts but at Christmas I buy ahead or buy on clearance so I don't always have a gift receipt!  My default gift when someone is very hard to buy for is always a restaurant gift card because who doesn't like free food?!

Here are some other gifts though, that have gone over really well for me -

For Babies 

Kid's regulation sized sports balls. Babies love balls and these are a 'grow with me' toy that most babies don't have. At our house my three year old only plays with her soccer ball for 'real' soccer but our baby is memorized by this cool bright red and black ladybug soccer ball.

My other default gift is a classic board book signed to the baby. Even if we have a book - a dedicated book feels like a keepsake, just make sure it is truly a classic book like Ten Little Babies - there isn't anything worse than a dedicated Elmo book that you feel like you have to keep because it is signed!

Older Kids

If I can't figure out what to get a kid over the age of three I always default to nice art supplies or nature gifts. Children love to create and be outside. I have never gone wrong with - 

sun print kit, flower press, magnifying glass, regional plant and animal guides, binoculars, or nature art / activity books like Blossom Buddies.  Another idea that would work for lots of kids is an Audubon iPad or iPhone app.

For Adults

My adult ideas aren't that original but I can tell you my husband's perfect gift involves good beer and an iTunes gift card. My favorite thing to give to women though is small, original framed art from Etsy. You can of course go larger but almost anyone can find a good place for original art. Photographs are easy but I try to branch out, I think you could easily find a piece of art to fit anyone's personality on Etsy. I would pick the print below for myself, it is an 8.5 x 11 limited edition print of 100 for $28 by Elsa Mora the author of Blossom Buddies. This print is beautiful and unique and would be a bargain to frame. A less expensive option would be framed art note cards like the ones from Sarah Jane Studios. I adore her holiday line for framing and I have the three little bears cards framed in Ava and Lilly's room. 

I am working on my top DIY gifts post too - I have some great, easy ones! 

Preschool Activity Swap - such a mom thing to do!

I organized a preschool activity swap for a preschool homeschool cooperative I am a part of here. We basically take turns teaching a lesson to the kids every other week or so and do some cool field trips as well. It went so well we are already working on our next one! So many of my friends have asked me for these and so here are the activities from the first swap:

1. Cookie Matching - This one was made with circles of felt hot-glued with cotton in the center for flipping them more easily. The mom that made them provided some awesome extension activities. There might be a simpler way to make this by using heavy weight interfacing ironed onto felt but these came out perfect. 

Shown here with my own cookie sheet and spatula. 

Lilly (12 months) loves to take these out of the red container and put them back and to inspect the toppings. 

 2. Lego Math - Just print on cardstock and provide a sheet protector. these have been so much fun for us. Ava has some trouble with the subtraction but not with the addition and they are really fun to use with your real Legos. http://thesixkents.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/lego-math-worksheets/

3. Emotion Play Dough Mat - Print in color and laminate. We have had so much fun making angry and scary faces for this poor girl. http://kidlutions.blogspot.com/2011/10/fun-with-feelings-faces-playdough-mats.html

 4. I-Spy Bag - Simple I-Spy bag with card. I did do coins to make it a little more academic. This is a huge pain to sew and if I did it again I would use fleece instead of felt. Also I used painters tape to tape the window in and then sewed through the tape and that made all the difference. I-Spy bags are much easier than jars because you can manipulate them with your hands. However if no one sews or is crazy like me then you could do this in clear plastic bottles or glass jars. 

5. Pom-Pom Magnets and Boards - These pom pom magnet activities are all over the internet so this starter set it nice to build on. You just put your cardstock mat on a cookie sheet when ready to play. Use hot glue to adhere the magnets and remove any paper backing from the magnets before gluing. http://engagingtoddleractivities.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/homemade-toy-magnetic-pompoms/

6. Consonant, Short Vowel, and Long Vowel Cards - 

Print Consonant Cards here http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Consonant_Cards.pdf

Print the Short Vowel Cards here - http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Short_Vowel_Cards.pdf

Print the Long Vowel Cards here - http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Long_Vowel_Cards.pdf

7. Read, Build and Write Mats with sets Word Cards - http://homeschoolcreations.com/Read_Build_Write_Printables.html 

http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Read_Build_Write_Mats.pdf

I think if I did this one again I would make it worth 3 and have the main mat laminated, sometimes the sheet protector slips on us. We also use magnetic letters at home on a cookie sheet instead of the letters provided. 

8. Clothes Pin Number Match - http://shared.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/math/ClothespinNumberMatch.pdf

9. Felt Board Skeleton - I did this one and we love it, but I don't know if I would recommend it for a swap. Only because if took hours and hours to cut these out and it doesn't take any less time to cut one out than it does to cut lots. We swapped in October though so I thought skeletons would be fun and we love felt board activities. I am showing them here with some word cards and a skeleton print out which I didn't give with the activity but it might have been nice. The kids aren't ready to read those words yet but some of the parents needed some help remembering the bones! 

10. Roll A Rainbow - This was laminated and given with m & m's and a die. http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/57547407?access_key=key-25r11p880rr7qp12ndj2

11. Shades of Color - Walmart is the only place we found that had enough shades of one color on a strip.  http://www.walkingbytheway.com/blog/?p=327

12. Play-Dough Number Mats - The moms that printed these just had to provide one sheet protector but we bound ours like this so Ava could easily just work through all the numbers and letters on her own.  http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Number_Playdough_Mats_1-10.pdf

http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Number_Playdough_Mats_11-20.pdf

13. Play Dough ABC Mats - There was the direction here to print these in color but the mom that did this one had them professionally printed in black and white on cardstock and they turned out very well so that may be an option if you want to make these mats worth only two activity choices. Printing 8 sets in color and on cardstock can really add up. http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Playdough_Mats.pdf

14. Fabric Roads - These denim roads have been a huge hit in our house. That might be because we don't have any other car tracks but Ava loves making a track for cars with these. There are lots of learning extensions as well like talking about directions of cars, setting up traffic lights etc. I am planning to make her more. http://lilmoptop.blogspot.com/2010/10/easy-fabric-roads.html

15. Felt Pizza - This one was me again. I had made these Pizzas for Ava and she loved them so I made this small set for the group. This was time consuming and so I didn't provide lots of toppings but it would be pretty easy for anyone that wanted to create more toppings. The crust is two circles sewn together with a small opening, then flipped inside out, and sewn again just inside the edge in order to catch the opening needed to flip it. I think everything else is pretty self-explanatory. These are just for play but they are also great for teaching fractions too (i.e. "Put cheese on half the pizza").

 This is a photo of Ava's big set at home with a cut pizza and more toppings. 

16. Two-Sided Popsicle Puzzle - http://www.amazingmess.com/2010/07/popsicle-stick-puzzles.html

Ava is fascinated with the color wheel side. I can hear her singing "red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple it's a rainbow!" right now ;)

Notes on organizing - I ended up with one master list that everyone chose off of. I came up with almost all of the activities this time but next time we are going to do some suggesting but still have one master control list. The real challenge is always getting everyone on board with what makes a good swap activity and what really doesn't. For example, providing the ingredients for homemade play-dough is fun but that is pretty easy to whip up on your own. The point of the swap is to spend time pulling together materials that if you did one of each would be very time consuming but since you are doing several (in our case 8) then it cuts your time down and in the end you have a whole bunch of great activities. The other thing is talking to the group about quality, including printing on cardstock, in color, taking the extra step of getting some things laminated instead of just proving a sheet protector etc. We have some crafty and non-crafty members so there are a mix of things you can just take to Office Depot and pay for and things that took a considerable amount of time to make. I figured if everyone did about $30 or so worth of printing or 10ish hours of work or some combination of that then we were fair. So everyone had to pick three but some activities were worth three (like the play dough mats for example) and some were worth two like the magnets pom poms. If you aren't familiar with how much printing in color on cardstock at home or at an office store is then you might want to check that before organizing something like this. I think some of the moms that picked the 'easy' printing activities were surprised by the cost. 

First Birthday Prints and Our Mia Nolting Draws Letters Prints

I can't wait to post about Lilly's birthday it was perfect! In the meantime here is Lilly's takeaway print. I decided it would be more fun just to have this be a keepsake as opposed to my regular first birthday invitation, plus me pulling together mailing anything is almost impossible these days. Even though alas I couldn't get it printed at 5x7 for less than $1.50 a print! So now I have to mail them with the thank you notes anyway, but they are all ordered on Arts Cow for a very good price. We did two different main images because one was from my phone and I was worried about the resolution - but just fyi they both printed well. These both came from KM Thomas and I am always happy with her work and she is super speedy too! Ava's first year invitation is still up on Oh Dee Doh.

Also! I got back my Mia Nolting Draws Letters files back and they are great! I sent her the names and $1 per word via PayPal (so $2 per print below) and two weeks later I got a high res .jpg file. I can't wait to get them in some sweet matted frames but I supposed there are lots of cool things I can do with them. The bonus is that Ava (three) is at the age where she loves to read her name and she was so excited about the prints. 

DIY light table

Well I really do actually do many of the millions of things I pin on Pinterest and we finally made a real light table!

I asked just about everyone I know who has done this for tips and looked at every blog post about it ever before I spent the $30 on it. Ours is one clear plastic under the bed storage box with plastic frosting spray from Lowe's sprayed very lightly in one coat (more and it will peel) in the main bin. Two florescent bar lights ($10 each bulb included) in the lid and some foil on the bottom to increase the reflection of the light in the box. It works super!

Ah ha ha this is Ava's 'I am so stressed Lilly is playing with this' stance.

You can make pictures. 

You can put a sensory box on it or just a dish with some rice like we did here. Think rice, liquids, paint, etc.

These are our first materials all from the dollar tree - clear airplanes, colored linking shapes, jewels, clear straws cut in different lengths.

This is just the sort of thing I love to do with the girl's. It is easy, appeals to both of them (11 months and 3), and is high on the exploratory open-ended play scale. There are hundreds of ways to play with this. I get really happy when something this easy gets so popular on the internet because there is an amazing sharing of 'mom ideas' and I love that!

Here are some links -
- Put a mirror behind it or make a mosaic - http://reggiokids.blogspot.com/2011/10/beautiful-house.html
- Color play with colored translucent objects, discs, wands, etc. http://kristin-senseofwonder.blogspot.com/2011/09/light-box-color.html
- Play at home mom really has the most activities posted. I really like her painting on plexi idea, liquid color mixing and the colored bubbles activities - http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/search/label/Playing%20with%20Light
- You can also buy x-rays and put them on the table or those cool water beads (I just ordered about a million of them here on eBay for $6 shipped) the possibilities are endless!

Next up for us playing with the black light I bought! Check out Play At Home's links for black lights!

A New Helper Tower and Metal Cafe Chairs - eek!

We have been crafting, building and doing kids projects by the truckload at our house. I think we are in serious withdrawals from the constant work of re-habbing our old 1950's house which is still in escrow or 'house purgatory' as we like to call it. I regret a thing or two about buying our old house, but I always loved working on it - repainting the walls over and over, ripping up all the flooring, cabinets on and on. I think though we've found the fix while we're renting in building projects. Ana White is brilliant and her free woodworking plans are awesome and easy and we are flying through them, I think up to seven now! 

I have always wanted a helper tower for the girls and now thanks to Ana and $15 we have one ;) I do all the finishing and Joe does all the wood cutting etc. and this is just finished with some sample satin orange paint with polyurethane on top. 

Lilly really likes it the most. 

Oh and for the longest time I wanted some metal cafe chairs and I finally bought these from Overstock.com. They had super reviews but I just couldn't imagine that they would be great for $50 each but they are awesome! Substantial, stack-able and both retro and modern at the same time. I can't imagine them not working for us somewhere no matter what our next home set up is like. Now of course I want another set of four in red so I can use both sets and host an outdoor dinner like Nie Nie. 

We sold our black hutch on Craigslist and put up some Ikea kitchen bars and shelf over the girl's little table. The little bins above it have napkins, silverware, small straws and cloth placemats so Ava can set her place at whatever table we are eating at. She really likes the process. We try to sneak in some Montessori style where we can ;) Oh and the clips for hanging the artwork are also from Ikea, they are curtain clips that fit the $1.99 kitchen bars perfectly.

These are my awesome set of chapatti rolling pins Joe gave me for my birthday. I just used long galvanized nails to hang them.

Ah having a little space to eat in the kitchen is so nice! Our other dining space is all carpeted and it was becoming such a stress with Lilly to eat there three times a day!