I've been looking forward to getting after Halloween deals for a LONG time! I'm putting together a suitcase of dress-up clothes and accesories for O for Christmas, so I knew that the week after Halloween would be the time to stock up. I got the wigs for around a dollar each, the gloves for 25 cents, and the face paint for a dollar :) I also bought fall cookie cutters that she can use now (for playdoh and maybe cookies), and Halloween foam stickers that we can have fun with next Halloween. I LOVE a good deal!!!
Chasing Cheerios
Friday, November 7, 2008
The Stairway
This is the last one I promise (for now anyway)! My mom and I hung these counting bird pictures in the stairway at O's level so she can enjoy them and count with them as we walk up and down the stairs. She's actually not very interested in them, but that's ok. I really like them, and they make the stairway much more interesting :)
O's Apron and Chef's Hat
Here are O's apron and chef's hat which are also hanging on a low hook in the kitchen. We also have her bibs hanging on a low hook so that she can get them herself when it's time to eat.
I wish I could put all of these prepared environment photos in one post, but I can only post one picture per post since I'm blogging through flickr :(
O's Coats & Sweaters
We hung low hooks right by the door in our bedroom (which is the door we primarily use since the main door is upstairs, and I don't like to take O down the outside flight of stairs), so that she can easily reach her coat when it's time to go outside. She loves to lay it out on the floor and flip it over her head to put it on "all by self!"
More from O's Prepared Environment
We hung hooks low on the side of our pantry in the kitchen for O's cleaning tools. She can reach them easily when she feels the need to swift, dust, or vacuum :)
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Another Shelf
Just in case anyone is interested...on this shelf we have O's lentil tray, her broom and dustpan (mainly used to sweep lentils), and her window washing kit. This shelf is right next to a sliding glass door that she enjoys cleaning often. All of the shelves in these recent posts are in the kitchen.
O's Playdough Shelf
Since O has really been into playdoh lately, I decided to make it more easily accessible to her. We recently bought the playdoh ice-cream maker which she LOVES! We try to avoid plastic toys, but playdoh accessories are an exception :) The ice-cream maker is really cool. O has a little trouble making the ice-cream by herself, but she can make the whipped cream. My favorite parts are all of the little tiny food molds that are built into the base of the ice-cream maker. You can make tiny pretzels, peanuts, teddy grahams, donuts, etc. I can't wait until my niece visits us again because she is going to LOVE this toy!
O's Art Shelf - Revised
After seeing O have some difficulty getting her art supplies out of the tote, I decided to rearrange things. After she woke up from her nap yesterday, she was VERY excited to see the new arrangement. She kept saying "ook (look), mama! ook, mama!" She was especially excited about the markers in the blue mug since buh-looooo (blue) is her favorite color! She's been making lots of art lately :)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
O Loves Turtles
We went to the aquarium this weekend, and O LOVED the turtles. There was an outside exhibit with a turtle that she kept calling "cutie pie." O spent the most time at the baby sea turtle exhibit. I love this picture of O and her Uncle illum (William) watching the sea turtles.
O's M
After coloring with markers for a while, O announced that she was going to use crayons. Then she said "ook at O's M's!" I certainly wasn't expecting to see actualy M's, so I was shocked when that was exactly what I did see. O has been talking about making M's for a while, but usually she just draws lines. I called my mom (because I certainly haven't taught her how to write an m), and she said that they've worked on it some since O has been requesting that we write everyone's name lately (and we have LOTS of M's in our family!). She was also shocked :) O said these M's are for "mama."
O's Art Shelf
After making salsa last night, O made art at her new art shelf. I put her art tote, a basket of crayons, and a pad of paper on a shelf that she could easily reach, and she was thrilled. I filled the art tote with her art supplies this summer so we could easily take everything with us outside (which was where we were doing most of our artwork), but after watching her last night, I think I need to move everything out of the tote so she can access it a little easier. I'm not brave enough to let her have free access to all of her paints, but I am going to let her have access to her watercolor paints and her dot painters. I'm so happy to see her making art of her own initative instead of me prompting her to do so. It's all about accessiblity and presentation!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Homemade Salsa
I made crockpot chicken chili for supper tonight, so after her bath I talked O into helping me make the salsa. She wasn't very interested until I was pouring the ingredients into the blender. Then she was ready to join in on the fun. She does not like loud noises, so she is cringing in this picture because she knows it's going to be loud. Here's the super simple recipe for our favorite salsa:
1 28 oz can of tomatoes (whole peeled or diced)
1 1.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with chilis
1/2 vidalia onion chopped
garlic and salt to taste
pour everthing into your blender, press pulse, and you're done!
Thanks to Auntie EB for inventing this recipe so many years and bowls of salsa ago!!!
Back to School
O and I had *school* this morning for the first time in a long time, and it was a lot of fun. When I first told her we were going to have school, she said "O not ont (want) to." But when I told her that we had a couple of new activities, she was ready to work :) It was good to get back into our routine, although it was something that I've been dreading. We've been at my mom's for the last week and a half, and I just wasn't sure how I was going to handle being alone with O out in the middle of nowhere again. Fortunately, we've had a great day even though the weather is nasty :) O was excited to see the knobbed cylinders and her puzzles which have been in the trunk (coffee table) for about a month. I put them in there to store when we weren't having school and promptly forgot about them :(
Family Game Night
I've been planning to start the tradition of a weekly family game night ever since O turned 2 (in July), and we finally had our 1st family game night last night! We had a great time! O was excited and insisted on spreading out her rug for us to sit on. We played crocodile rocker and Let's Spin and Play at the Park. Both of the games are great for toddlers, and Gracie (our cat) even joined in (she loved the spinner!).
Monday, November 3, 2008
Pixiedust!
Thanks to Chris for this amazing photo! Isn't it amazing? O and M are going to LOVE it! I've got to learn more about photo editing :) Thank you to everyone for the advice and offers of help in editing my photo. Thanks, Chris and Lynn!
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