O's Adirondack Chairs

My sister and niece gave O this set of Adirondack chairs and table for her birthday. They were easy to put together, but it has taken me FOREVER to paint them! I actually planned on white just being the primer color, but I've decided that I am done with them for now. Next spring O can decide what color she wants them, and we'll fancy them up then :)

Running out of Room

I'm running out of blog space :( I keep having to go back to old posts and delete pictures. I guess I could stop putting so many pictures in my posts, but the pictures are my favorite parts. If I can't have a picture filled blog, then I don't want a blog at all! So...if you read any old posts and notice missing pictures that's why :(

Making Chalk Paint

Since our last experience with our homemade chalk didn't work so well, we decided to try it again using a different (and simpler) method :) 1st we crushed O's wet chalk using the mortar and pestle. Then we added a bit of water and stirred.
Viola! Chalk paint!
This paint worked much better on O's chalkboard, and we had lots of fun! (aside from the fact that I was attacked by fire ants in the middle of the process! I'm just glad that they got me and not O!)

We Love Playsilks!

Since O hasn't been playing with her playsilks much lately, I decided that they needed to be more accessible. I *think* that the idea for this display comes from The Rowdy Pea, but I can't remember for certain. I used a leftover floorboard and hot glued clothes pins to it. Super simple and fast! O was thrilled, and she has been playing with her playsilks nonstop. She loves to wear them as skirts and hats :)

Muffin Tin Monday

O was excited about Muffin Tin Monday today. She had bell pepper strips, frozen blueberries, cantalope, pizza pocket (made in our sandwich maker with whole wheat bread with spaghetti sauce in the middle), cottage cheese, and mini dill pickles. She LOVED the pickles and was disappointed that these were the last 3.

Homemade Puzzles

This idea came from One Little, Two Little , and I've been planning on making these puzzles for a while. I saved a Cheerios box and Goldfish box, and I finally found the time to cut them into puzzles. I'm not holding out too much hope that O is going to love (but I hope she'll at least like them) these puzzles because she really shows very little interest in puzzles (except for the Montessori puzzles that are quite difficult and somewhat frustrating for her!).

Phew!

This blog was starting to stress me out a little...I wanted to do a post each day, but I didn't like the pressure of having to sit down at the computer and actually do the post (even though it takes a very minimal amount of time). I don't work well under pressure, so I decided that I would start saving my blog posts as drafts, so that I have a backlog and don't feel like I HAVE to write one each day. I now have 12 posts in draft, and blogging is fun again! So...if you noticed that the dates are a bit off (its not something I would ever notice, but just in case..) now you know why :)

Toddler Brain Quest

I hesitated to buy this set of cards for O, but I'm a sucker for free shipping at Amazon, and I needed to add something to my order to qualify for it :) Once they arrived, they sat on the shelf for about a month before I opened the package. I don't know why I waited so long. I think I was afraid of being disappointed. I hate buyer's remorse! So...my mom saw the box, opened it, and read the cards to O. O LOVED it! She LOVES Max the monkey, and she thinks its great that he is pointing (she says "Max is mointing!"). The cards basically consist of pictures on each page with questions about what you see. There are also inference questions. There are lots of things that I've never thought to ask (or teach) O, and I am REALLY glad that I bought these cards :)

A New Spin on the Toddler Activity Bags

Ok, I have to admit that I CAN'T STAND ziploc bags. They just seem very wasteful and flimsy to me. However, I couldn't think of anything else to use when I made O's toddler activity bags. Then, about a month ago, I saw these pencil pouches. I knew they would be perfect for most (but not all) of the bags. They are much more durable, and they look so much better than the ziploc bags. I am VERY happy with them. These bags will also provide O with lots of opportunities to practice her zipping and unzipping skills. Also, since they have metal grommets, I can hang them from hooks or group them together with book rings when we travel.

Mini Animal Match

I bought these decorations for O's crocs a couple of months ago from a dollar store (Family Dollar, I think). I wasn't sure if they would work for her crocs (they didn't), but I knew they'd make a cute matching activity. I know she'll love this work since she loves "niney" things. Don't try an activity like this if your child still puts things in his or her mouth! O occasionally puts things in her mouth, but usually only after she makes SURE that I'm looking. She likes my reaction (or perhaps my overreaction). Regardless, she'll not be unsupervised while doing this work.

Frog and Lily Pad Game

The idea for this game came from a commenter on the magnetic fishing game. I bought a packet of plastic frogs from the Dollar Tree and stuck tacks in their backs to make them magnetic. Then I borrowed the lily pad that O got from the lake today to use as a pattern, and I cut lily pads from craft foam. The blue playsilk makes the perfect pond, and we'll use the fishing pole from the fishing game. When we play this game, we'll work on one-to-one correspondence by trying to put a frog on each lily pad. We'll also talk about sizes since the lily pads are 3 different sizes, and we'll talk about colors since the frogs are several different colors. I think O will like this game because she LOVES lily pads. She has to get a lily pad to hold every time we go for a kayak or pedal boat ride, and she gets excited when lily pads wash up on the beach :)

Just a Little Advice...

Don't buy your husband a telescoping limb trimmer for his birthday! Obviously, Elliott had way too much fun with his this past weekend :) It looked like a tornado hit our yard! The crazy thing is that other than the destruction on the ground, you can't really tell he cut any limbs.

Thrifty Thursday

A couple of weeks ago we went to a second hand children's shop, and I hit the jackpot! I bought the puzzle and game in the picture, plus 3 sets of BOB books, and a set of Brain Quest cards for 18 dollars. I am most excited about the game and puzzle because they will be perfect on our new Montessori shelf :) I put everything else away for later. Last Thursday I went to the thrift store and bought 20 children's books (yes, I am addicted!), a tray for Montessori work, 2 small bowls for Montessori work, and a ballerina costume (for O's suitcase of dress up clothes that I'm giving her Christmas)...all for 12 dollars! I love thrifting!

Hard at Work

Don't be fooled by this photo! I filled the wagon with sticks, and O only pushed it for a few seconds. She had trouble balancing it. I think we need to practice when its empty a little more before I fill it again :) Her Guh-guh and Grandpa gave her this great wagon for her birthday, and she's excited to have an "agon just ike dada!" Hopefully, I'll get a little more work out of her tomorrow!

Cake in a Mug

Thanks to Laura for posting about making cake in a mug! We tried this on Sunday night for a special treat, and it was delicious. O was talking about her "pecial treat" all day. I couldn't believe how easy these were to make! Here's the recipe:

You need: a mug, 4 tbs of sugar, 4 tbs of flour (I used 3 tbs of white flour and 1 tbs of whole wheat flour. Next time I'll do 2 of each.), 2 tbs of cocoa, 3 tbs of milk, 3 tbs of oil, and an egg. Combine the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, and mix WELL. We didn't mix our quite well enough, and we had egg and flour streaks in our cake :) Put your mug of cake mix in the microwave, and cook it for 3 minutes. Pour it into a bowl and enjoy!

While O and I mixed up the cake, Elliott was making whipped cream to go on top. He shook and shook a jar of cream with 2 marbles, but it was still watery by the time the cake was ready. We poured it into the mini blender (that we used to make baby food when O was tiny), and it was ready in a flash :)

O had fun mixing all of the ingredients together.

Delicious, but VERY rich! Thanks, Laura for sharing this fun and yummy idea :)