Activity Jar: Moon Dough

The rain has left our yard too soggy to play in leaving me with a restless two year old. After a two hour attempt at getting her no nap with no luck I was on the verge of pulling my hair out. So... activity jar to the rescue!

The activity: make moon dough

I found this idea through pintrest and there are lots of posts about it like this one. With the rave reviews it got I thought it was worth trying out. I happened to accidently purchase a bag of self rising flour a little while back that I stashed away for this project. It's a simple recipe: 8 cups flour and 1 cup baby oil mixed together by hand. It makes a soft moldable dough of sorts that you play with much like wet sand. It provided a couple hours of entertainment for Amelia (It would have lasted longer but she didn't heed my warnings to stop eating it or I would take it away. Really? You want to eat flour and baby oil?? Only my kid...)

So I may have rigged the drawing today, but I needed to get some cooking done. As much as I love help in the kitchen, I don't always like it in the form of a napless monster. She didn't seem to mind too much that I had already picked out the card, probably because of the excitement of what sat in front of her.  I let her go at it and make as much of a mess as she wanted. The floor needed mopped anyway so we might as well get it good and dirty first!

Here are some pictures from our afternoon. Enjoy!

Practice Baby

I have been working on getting my pictures organized and filed away neatly, a project I started a while ago that got put to the side with the onset of morning sickness. I'm quite pleased with my progress, I've made it all the way up to February of this year! (Quite a feat seeing as how I picked back up somewhere around February '09)

While going through them I came across some from my time as a nanny so I took a break and spent some time going back through and reminiscing about my adventures with Athena. I jokingly refer to her as my 'practice baby' because I was with her for the first year and a half of her life. Andy and I would joke that if she turned out bad that I wouldn't have to deal with her as a teenager (although I do believe her mother may hunt me down if that happens!)

It was fun to get up to go to work and get to take care of a tiny little baby and spend my days snuggling her (usually on the couch while watching bad tv because laying her down would almost always end in tears.) And as she got bigger I was there to see her smile, find her feet, play with toys, say her first words, try foods for the first time (and go to doctors appointments to find out she was allergic to EVERYTHING!) We spent a lot of time together and she spent time with my family as well. She was particularly fond of Andy, who would come have lunch with us on his breaks.

When I decided that I was no longer going to be her nanny it was bittersweet. I knew it would be hard leaving after being with her almost every day and watching her grow but I knew I would still see her and her family. It wasn't longer after I left that I found out I was expecting and would be having a baby of my own. I think my time with my 'practice baby' helped me take a very educated approach to my pregnancy, birth plan, my decision to breast feed, as well as the way I wanted to parent.

Athena and her family are in Hawaii now (really? had to live somewhere good after I quit, got married, and had babies so I couldn't go??) and I keep in touch with them through Facebook and Skype. I still get to see how things are going for them and watch her grow in pictures. I know she won't remember much, if anything from our time together but hopefully there will be stories to go along with the pictures of our adventures together. (And I'm sure her mother will continue to blame me for the squeally voice she uses when she says "hi" or "good morning")

Hopefully it won't be too long and my 'practice baby' and my babies will get to have a play date and make some memories of their own!

White Trash Birthday Bash

My husband turned 27 today. He jokes about my being so old (since I'm a year older then he) but the fact he stayed in bed all day, sleeping off the beer he drank last night, may be proof that he's the old one. It may not be a glamorous way to spend a birthday but I think that after last nights events, it's appropriate.

I had the idea to do a "white trash" themed party a couple of years ago but work schedules never allowed for it. Andy happened to have a schedule change at the beginning of April that freed his weekends so I knew if I was going to make it happen that this was my chance. So I did what any classy gal would do and sent out a facebook invitation (and a few texts to those who don't have facebook) announcing the party.

Since having children parties (at least as Andy once knew them) have become a thing of the past. Needless to say it didn't take much persuasion for Andy to jump right on board with the idea for this one. He was actually very excited to go to the thrift stores and found some sweet clothes to wear. For him: a plaid flannel shirt,  a tee shirt that read 'call the ugly police I just witnessed a felony,' jeans with holes in the knees and a mullet wig (from a party store.) For me: a tank top that laced up the sides with General Lee (that I made out of a men's tee and borrowed shoelaces), acid wash jeans (one size too small), and pink faux snake skin pumps. Oh and a scrunchie of course!

We broke out the turkey fryer Andy inherited from his grandpa to fry up corn dogs, fish nuggets, tator tots, onion rings, mushrooms, okra, sweet potato fries, as well as Twinkies, Oreos, and Snickers. Throw in a giant tub of cheese balls, a ranch fountain, and a kiddie pool full of beer and you've got yourself a party!

At one point it started raining and I was afraid the party would be over before it really started but it blew over and we spent the night relaxing on the couch in front of the fire pit and playing beer pong. With excessive amounts of fried food consumed (the Twinkies were everything I imagined them to be!) and equally excessive amounts of beer I'd say the party was a success!

Oh, and did I mention the crowning jewel of the food table, the jiggling jello mold? (Made with vodka of course!) Or the White Trash soundtrack featuring the likes of David Allan Co, Toby Keith, Lynard Skynard and Hank Williams Jr? ....it's a family tradition...

travel tea party

Little girls and tea parties go hand-in-hand (Not that little boys can't have tea parties too, we have had many boys at our tea table!) and they are a great time to sit an be guest at your child's table. Amelia happens to love her singing tea pot so when I saw the idea for this on the Prudent Baby website I thought it would be a great idea for this years Easter basket. But then Easter came and went and I still hadn't made it. The forecast calling for rain all week turned out to be the nudge I needed to get going! I broke out the collection of fabrics that I have had a love affair with for sometime (perfect for a girly little tea table!) and started sewing. Here's what I did:

activity jar: rice krispie treats

Today was the first day we put our activity jar to use and I think it was a great success! I have had it ready to go for a couple of weeks, but with house guest it seemed impractical to do it sooner. Seeing Amelia's face when I pulled it out of hiding was great! She remembered talking about it while we were working on it and couldn't wait to pick a paper.

After being out of routine for a week and a half and missing out on a lot of sleep we had a rough couple of days. Trying to get a two year old to readjust to our normal routine is a lot of work! I thought that today would be a good day for some mommy and Amelia time so I put Marinn down for a nap and let Amelia draw from the jar.

She picked 'make rice krispie treats' so we pulled out our ingredients and got to work. I love that she's big enough to help make things now and she's very insistent that she do things by herself. When we were done she told me what a good job I did and squeezed her little arms around my neck. I think we both needed a little break and some time together!

Here are some pictures of our afternoon.

bumps and bruises

As I was dressing my girls in their Easter dresses I cringed as I slipped the dress down over Amelia and saw the large number of scrapes and bruises down her shins. I wanted them to look perfect so I could get a few good pictures in before they hunted for the eggs we colored. I grabbed a pair of white tights and started working them up onto her wiggly legs and as I approached the scrapped knee I realized this was pointless. If I put these tights on her it would be a mere matter of minutes before they would either be dirty or torn.

I took them off (to her relief) and stepped back and took a good look at her. Her hair was neatly combed, her  big eyes were sparkling, her dress neatly pressed, and her shoes were clicking on the floor as she raised to her toes and dropped back to her heals and peaking out below the skirt of her dress were a half a dozen bruises and scrapes.

As she stood there asking, "How am I look?"
I told her, "You look beautiful! You look like my Amelia!"

Those bumps and bruises are a part of who she is; a curious little girl who shows no fear. I have such pride as I watch her explore her world and try new things. She never cries at the failed attempts, but gets up and tries at it again until she's accomplished what she's set out to do. It's an innate part of her so I can take no credit but I do hope to always foster an atmosphere that will allow her to keep this part of her. I can't help but well up with pride when I look to the future and think of what great things she will be able to accomplish.

So I think from now on I'll look at those bumps and bruises and take them as she does, with a smile on my face as I watch her set out to do new things!

morels

While returning home from a trip to the park my brother-in-law came across a treasure in our yard: morel mushrooms! Before meeting my husband I had no clue what these were and would never have thought to eat anything growing in my yard (unless I intentionally planted it.)  It was early in our relationship he introduced me to morel hunting and we would walk an empty lot near his grandparents house in search of these. I never had any luck finding any and was never brave enough to try them when his grandma would fry them up so when we came across some in our yard I figured now was as good a time as any!

Although I still didn't find any myself ( I just don't have the eye for it apparently!) I did cook some up. We soaked them in salt water to get rid of any bugs and then cut them in half, battered them, and fried them. I'm not sold on the idea that this is the best way to eat them but I did try them and Andy and Amelia loved them! I think I'd rather try this or this with the next ones we find!

this is the only pose Amelia would do, she gets it from her daddy!

oh, husband, why do you always make these faces?

activity jar

My days are filled with routine. Lots and lots of routine. I'm not complaining, I love routine. I find I function much better with routine and everything you read about small children emphasizes the importance of establishing routine. We all know that in the mornings we: eat breakfast, get dressed and make the beds then play and, without fail, bedtime is: dinner, clean up, bath time, book and bed. As great as routine is I feel like I've been getting too caught up in it lately. Having a second child and dealing with the sleeplessness and emotions that come with a new baby as well as the additional work that it takes was a harder adjustment than I had anticipated. I feel like I have been holding tightly to our routine as a way of holding on to my sanity. In the mix of it all I haven't taken the time that I used to with Amelia to be spontaneous and creative.

She's such an animated little girl with this excitement about her with everything she does. I love watching her see and try new things and she's growing and changing so fast that I wish I could slow it down sometimes! I want to make sure that, while a lot of my time has to go to Marinn right now, she still feels like she's important. This desire is what led to the concept of an activity jar.

I took a canister from my kitchen that was no longer being used and filled with pieces of paper, each containing a different thing for us to do together. Things that will stimulate creativity and imagination and give us some time to not worry about the day to day things that usually dictate our day, but just enjoy each others company and do something fun. I hope to, at least once a week, let Amelia draw a paper from the jar, drop everything we are doing, and get busy having some fun!

Most of the activities in our jar are simple things that we would normally do with a few fun things that will get us out and about and even a handful of things I feel no sane parent would encourage! The idea isn't necessarily trying new things so much as making sure to take the time to do things. I can't wait to add new activities as I come across ideas on pintrest and other blogs. I hope that as she gets older we can continue this, adding things for both her and Marinn to do.

Here are a few activities from our jar:
Go on a scavenger hunt and collect things of one color (to start a book like this)
Take a bath with glow sticks
Paint an old sheet to use for our forts/tents to play in
Make a giant ice cream sundae and invite friends to share it with
Go fishing and make fish prints (if we're lucky enough to catch something)
Fill an entire room with balloons and play

I can't wait to share pictures and stories from our adventures!