Red

We had our red photo shoot today. Only a few colors to go!

Playing with Ice

When I saw Jo Ebi's Ice Cooking post a few days ago, I knew it was something we'd have to try. Today was a super hot day, so this was the perfect way to cool off. At almost 7 pm, it was still 97 degrees, so we didn't stay out for too long. O was REALLY excited about playing with ice, and she had a super time. I was happy because I was able to quickly cut out some pics for a book I'm making for O while she played.

Orange

O and I had fun gathering orange items from around the house for her orange picture (for her colors book). However, she was done with the orange photo shoot before I was :)

Matching Fabric Swatches

My MIL gave O a big bag of fabric swatches several months ago, and I cut a few of them into matching squares. She was intrigued at 1st, but she lost interest quickly.

A Bowl of Music

I realized a few weeks ago that O would be more likely to play her musical instruments/noise makers if I put them all together in a designated location instead of just having them here and there around the house. I was right :) She loves her "bowl of music," and she is always getting it off the shelf for lots of loud fun! Her favorites are the harmonica and egg shaker, and I really like the chachis. I think the train whistle is Elliott's favorite :)

Peek-A-Boo Book

To make a peek-a-boo book you need a small notebook, old magazines with interesting pictures, glue, and scissors. I bought this felt covered notebook from the dollar shelf at Jo Ann's several months ago with the intention of making this book. I cut out pictures that I knew that O would find interesting- babies, animals, trees, food, etc, and my mom glued the pictures on every other page one night while she was here. I put the book away for the night and forgot about it for about 2 months. Last night I "found" it and cut the pages between the pictures into strips of 2 or 3. I showed O how to slowly and carefully turn just one strip at a time while trying to guess what the picture was. I was afraid that she would not be interested at all, but she really enjoyed guessing what the pictures were. I wish that the pages were cardstock instead of notebook paper because I'm sure that the pages are going to tear very easily. She also had trouble turning the pages on her own since they are so thin.

Unplug Your Kids: Paint

We haven't participated in an unplugged project for a while, so when I saw that this week's theme was paint I thought we'd jump back in! O is painting birdhouses to give as Father's Day gifts. She LOVED mixing the different colors of paint together, and she preferred to paint with her hands instead of the paint brushes.

O briefly tried out her new tabletop easel, but she was "done!" with painting by the time I thought of bringing it out.

Sorting and Matching Shells and Rocks

A few days ago O brought me 2 conch shells, and she said "niney (tiny)" as she handed me the smaller one and "big" as she handed me the big one. I told her that was a great idea for a montessori work. I gathered several shells and rocks that were big and tiny and put them in a basket together. I showed O how to put the big shells and rock in one basket and the tiny ones in the other basket. She caught right on and enjoyed this sorting work.
After she finished sorting the shells and rocks, I showed O how to match the big shells/rock with the tiny shells. She matched them quickly and then she was "done." (she loves to announce when she is "done!")

My Little Tree Hugger

We went to a nearby county park today, and O had lots of new learning experiences.
She was excited when I suggest that she hug the tree. She hugged each tree several times.
O didn't hesitate to walk across the Tree Top Canopy Bridge. I was a little nervous!
Checking out turtle shells and skulls in the Environmental Discovery Center.
Elliott was very impressed with microscope.
O's hand

I Have So Many Plans...

I have soooo very many things that I've had planned for O that we have just not gotten to do lately. I've been so busy with getting our house and yard ready for our family reunion (that we held here last Sunday), and then with finishing up my school year at work, that many of our activities have been put on hold. This summer I plan to do LOTS more painting with O. I've been seriously slack about letting her paint, and I feel lots of guilt over this. I'm also working on a fabric matching work for her, and I plan to make the red rods, sandpaper touch boards, and a listening matching work in the near future. There's just so much to do that I can't think clearly enough to decide what to do first!

Sometimes She Just Amazes Me!

O sat next to me on the floor looking at all of her new books, while I was cleaning them. She picked up Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? by Iza Trapani, opened it, pointed to the 1st illustration and said "teapot." My mom and I looked closely and didn't see a teapot, so we were a little confused. Then I suddenly realized what she meant...Iza Trapani also illustrated one of O's FAVORITE books, I'm a Little Teapot. Somehow she recognized the similarities between the illustrations and associated the 2 books together. Wow!

Today O and my mom read Marcos Counts by Tomie dePaola. When they were reading the book, O pointed to the word mama and said "mama!" Like I said...she amazes me!!!

Yippeeee, Skippy!

Tomorrow is my last day of work for the school year! I only work one day per week (occasionally 2), but I'm still excited about being finished for the school year. O and I will have a whole extra day to have preschool, do arts and crafts, play on the beach, bake, work in the garden, etc. Although I have to admit that I do really like my job, and I'll probably miss it just a little bit :) I do lots of different things as a School Psychologist, but my job consist primarily of evaluating children who are suspected of having learning disablities, observing children who have been referred to the Autism Team for a possible evaluation (this is one of my favorite parts of the job since my interest in autism is what led me into the field of school psychology in the 1st place), and developing behavior plans for children. We'll also miss our weekly visits by Guh-guh, but I'm sure we'll see lots of her this summer!

Thrifty Thursday

I hit the jackpot today!!! I bought 43 hardback children's books for 49 cents each (18 of these books were the Sweet Pickle books that I loved when I was a child. I was super excited to see them, and now I have several that I've never even read. I hope O will love them as much as I did!), 8 softcover children's books for 25 cents each, 2 loaves of Nature's Own Whole Wheat bread for 1.50, and a small caddy container for 50 cents. Total spent was around 25 dollars. That's much more than I ever spend at the thrift store, but I bought some GREAT books. I don't feel too bad about spending so much since the thrift store benefits people with disabilities.

What Are You Thinking?

I ask O this question every few days. Here are a couple of her recent responses:



Me: What are you thinking about?

O: bedt (standard response when she's not quite sure what to say)

Me: What are you REALLY thinking about?

O: Duggie (aka Guh-guh who is my mom)

Me: Oh, Okay



O heard me ask her cousin, Marg, this question. Marg said that she was thinking about fairies. Ever since then, O is always thinking about fairies, too.



Me: What are you thinking about?

O: Fayees (while grinning and looking very pleased with herself)

Me: What are you thinking about fairies?

O: Fayees, Margie, Fayees

Me: Oh, Okay

Homemade Apple Chips

When I saw Megret's post about making homemade apple chips, I knew we had to try it. O loves apples, and this is a perfect way to enjoy them. Luckily, Elliott was able to find organic apples at the grocery store near his office. I didn't have the nutmeg or cloves (and I didn't think to ask him to get them from the store), so I mixed cinnamon and sugar and put it in the empty cinnamon container for O to sprinkle on the apples. She loved it!

Here is the recipe from Megret's blog:

APPLE CHIPS

makes 25-50 chips, depending on slice thickness and size of apple
1-1/2 T. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

pinch cloves

pinch nutmeg

1 large crisp apple (Braeburn or Granny Smith)
Preheat oven to 200 degrees, then line a baking sheet with parchment paper.


I also didn't have parchment paper, so I just coated the pan with olive oil