Our Nature Bag

We have acres and acres of woods behind our house that are perfect for nature walks.  Now that weather is nicer, we're trying to take several "woods walks" a week. 


O and I painted a squirrel on a drawstring backpack (freezer paper stenciled) that we take with us on our walks.  We have several necessities in our bag...a magnifying glass, crayon rocks, a notebook, and a flashlight.  I intended for O to wear the bag, but it's too big for her.  Last time we took it with us, Elliott wore it (since I am usually wearing either the baby or O...yes, O still fits in the Beco and LOVES it!).



O sat down on a fallen tree to draw what she saw.



Sweet sisters



We have fun inspecting holes with flashlights and looking at fallen trees with a magnifying glass.  It's also fun to find odd trees in the woods.  O was thrilled to see this strange tree...she said it looks just like a climbing wall, and she immediately ran to climb it.



While we are in the woods, we are ALWAYS playing pretend...we are either characters from the Little House on the Prairie books or characters from the American Girl books.  Lately, we've had fun pretending to be the characters from Kaya's books.  Baby E LOVES Kaya and calls her "KyKy," so she was thrilled a few days ago when we were pretending that she was Kaya.  My mom gave O a miniature Kaya doll for Christmas which was the highlight of O's Christmas.  O recently gave the doll to E since E loves Kaya so much.  Her kindness and generosity floored me...I hope they will always love each other so much!

Arranging Silverware

E LOVES to arrange the silverware in the dishwasher.  She'll spend 10 to 15 minutes moving the silverware from one section to the next...totally focused and engaged in her task.

O's Recent Artwork

O started drawing faces more than a year ago, but it was shortlived, and she quickly went back to creating abstract art.  I was excited when she started drawing animals and people recently.  E always asks us to draw cats and dogs for her, and this is what inspired O to start drawing.  O loves to draw cats and dogs for her sister!  Here are some of her recent drawings...

a self-portrait
















a portrait of me




I love all of these drawings.  I'm thinking of making a photo collage of all of her cats, and she may do some embroidery with one of her drawings...she's very into embroidery lately!

Geometric Solids for Baby

I introduced 5 of the geometric solids to E last week (I left out the ones with sharp points).  I told her the names of the solids and showed her that she could stack them.  Then I sat back and watched.  It is so rewarding to just watch her explore new materials.  She loved stacking the solids, and she kept trying to get the ellipsoid to balance on the top.




That didn't work, so she tried to balance the sphere.




I thought this was a good lesson in physics...until it worked!  It ended up being a lesson on persistence and balance!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

More than anything she loved taking the blocks out of the basket and then putting them back in again.  She spent a LONG time with this activity and was so focused the entire time.  Gotta love Montessori for building concentration and the ability to be completely absorbed by a task!




She was very proud of herself when she got all of the blocks into the basket!

Planting Paperwhite Narcissus Bulbs

The girls and I planted bulbs which grew into these beautiful flowers as an activity from our January box of fun.  I  bought the set including 4 bulbs, a pot, and soil at WM for a little more than a dollar in the after Christmas clearance section.  The girls had fun measuring the water to add to the soil to rehydrate it.  We then planted the bulbs and waited for them to grow and bloom.  They are both very proud of these beautiful flowers.

Chasing Cheerios...The Book!

I turned my blog into a book using blog2print!  This is the first year of Chasing Cheerios, which I started when O was about 16 months old.  Now that E is 16 months old, I can easily find activities for her in the book (I'd much rather read a book than a computer screen).  I plan to make a book for each year of both of my blogs.  O has already said that she is going to use this book to find fun activities when she has children of her own!

Determination and Concentration

E was very focused and determined to get the q-tips into this bear container.  This was not an easy task, but she stuck with it.  I love to watch her when she is so focused on a task!



It is so hard to not jump in and help her, but it is so rewarding for her when she is able to do it by herself.  Her determination, persistence, and ability to concentrate AMAZES me!

Half Birthday Treats

O recently celebrated her 4 and a half birthday.  We always have a small celebration for half birthdays, and this year she got to celebrate at school!  Since O has a summer birthday, she was able to walk around the sun (a candle) holding the globe with her baby pictures for her half birthday.  She was so excited and proud, and so were we!

Here are a few of the half birthday surprises that her grandparents gave her.

Freezer Paper Stenciling

O and I recently freezer paper stenciled a few shirts and a nature bag.  I traced and cut the stencils out of freezer paper and ironed it on the shirts and bag.




I mixed craft paint with textile medium, and O and I painted the shirts.  (you can find the textile medium is in the craft section of WM near the acrylic craft paint).



Since I bought dark shirts (aqua and purple), it required a lot more paint to cover the area than it usually does.  Next time I'll only buy white shirts for this project.















The girls are excited about their finished shirts!