A Kiwi Snack

One of O's daily snacks is kiwi.  She loves it, and I love that it is so healthy and easy to prepare.  I usually peel and slice her kiwi, but occasionally she wants to fix it herself. 

First, she washes the kiwi.  Then she slices it in half.


Finally, she eats it with a spoon. 


It doesn't get much easier than that!

Corks in a Container

Yes, it's another "putting objects in a container" post!  It's what she loves, so it's what we do!

My mom had a bunch of corks when we were at her house this weekend, and she asked me what she could do with them.  I told her we should find a container with an opening that was the same size as the corks.  She disappeared soon after that (I thought she was washing clothes, but she was really searching for the perfect container), and found the perfect container.  E was SO excited!  I wish I'd videotaped her because her excitement over this activity is not adequately shown by the pictures (especially since I'm trying to crop them to show less of her face!)





After she put the corks in the container, she enjoyed closing the top.




She opened it and tried to shake the corks out.



I eventually showed her how to take the whole top off to shake the corks out of the container.



E was supervised very closely during this activity since corks are a choking hazard.  I was very glad that she was so into putting them into the container that she spent very little time putting them into her mouth!

Knitted Kitten Hat Review

This is the first of several product reviews that I have scheduled in the next few weeks.  I hope you enjoy them!  I try to choose good quality, reasonably priced items to review.  Many (but not all) of the reviews are from Etsy shops.  I love to buy from Etsy to support the makers of handmade gifts.  If you've never shopped at Etsy, take a minute and browse.  You won't regret it! 

I LOVE cute hats for kids, so I was excited to find handmade knitted kitten hats at Sweaternana.  I was thrilled when Diane from Sweaternana agreed to send us a hat to review.  I requested a gray hat since our cat is gray, and she made it and sent it to us immediately. 

Not only are the hats well-made and adorable, they are also very durable!







Although, I originally planned for this hat to be for E, I decided that the girls can share it.  O fell in love with it as soon as she saw it.  She was especially excited about the braids "because they're just like Mary and Laura (Ingalls)." 












I chose Sweaternana as a shop I would like to review because her hats are very affordable...only 15 dollars for a beautiful, handmade hat!  Many of the hats that I looked at on Etsy were close to 30 dollars, so this seems like a steal!





These hats are made with 100% acrylic, Lion Brand Yarn.  They are machine washable and dryable.  Our hat is very soft, and I know the girls are going to wear it often this winter and for years to come!

Here are few more cute hats from Sweaternana... a bee, a bear, a snowman, and a panda bear.  I would love to be able to make hats like this for my girls one day, but for now I'm happy to shop at Etsy! (and maybe one day I'll learn how to knit with needles instead of just on a loom!)

Handmade Purse from Fat Connection

Pauline from Fat Connection sent O this adorable purse for her 4th birthday (I took pics then and just realized that I'd never blogged about it!  Sorry, Pauline!).  O loves her purse, and E loves it, too.  Luckily, O doesn't mind sharing, and E looks adorable with the purse over her shoulder as she walks around. 

Fat Connection is having a sale now, so you should check it out.  I love the iron-on transfers, and I may have to get this cat fabric to make something for my cat obsessed baby!

E's Rolling Elephant

I made a rolling elephant for one of E's handmade Christmas presents.  She LOVES animals, so I hope she loves it. 


The elephant was unfinished (it came from Michael's, but I don't think they sell them anymore).  I primed it with white paint and then painted it blue.  I glued the scrapbook paper to the elephant using Mod Podge, and then coated it with another layer of Mod Podge to protect it and give it a finished look.


I'm very happy with how this gift turned out and with how easy it was to do.  I'm doing a lot of Mod Podge and scrapbook paper gifts this year. 

I've just finished one of my most favorite handmade gifts EVER, and I'll be posting about it soon, so stay tuned...

Showing Growth

Every year I take pics of O in my wedding dress.  It's fun to look back on the pictures from when she was a baby, and when she is an adult (or maybe a teenager) I'll make a book of the pictures to show her growth through the years.  She always has fun with this photo shoot, but she was a little pouty this year...the dress wasn't flared around her exactly like she wanted, and she thought it wasn't beautiful enough.



E was thrilled to be a part of this photo shoot, too!  I love these girls!!!



Here are pics from previous years...2009, 2008, and 2007.

Acorn Stew

O enjoys using her outdoor mortar and pestle (bought a couple of years ago from a yard sale) to grind acorns to make acorn stew!  Yummy! 
When she moved the mortar and pestle, there was a baby snake sleeping under it.  I briefly contemplated trying to catch it, but O was not at all interested and the snake slithered away quickly. 


Does anyone know what kind of snake this is?  I know very little about snakes, but I tried to get a close look at his eyes and head shape to see if he was poisonous, and I don't think he was.  However, I could be wrong...he moved quickly, and I was a little nervous :)

O's Charity Read-a-thon

O is experiencing a surge of interest in reading books lately, so I proposed the idea of a charity read-a-thon to her.  She will have sponsors pay her a specific amount of money for each book she reads. 

When we first started discussing the read-a-thon, she said "I think I'd like to keep the money."  I told her that was not an option, and we discussed St. Jude's Hospital and how nice it would be to help the children there.  Since O is very interested in all things medical, helping the children at St. Jude's is very appealing to her.  She also knows a little about St. Jude's and sees pictures of some of the children there often since her Guhguh and Grandpa support St. Jude's and have pictures of the children on their refrigerator. 

O will read books to for this read-a-thon until Christmas.  We will then collect the money and send a check to St. Jude's.  She is more and more excited about this everyday, and she was thrilled to tell her grandmother about it on the phone yesterday.  She's already talking about her next read-a-thon, and she's looking forward to researching other charities to support. 

O has been reading Bob books, Hooked on Phonics books, and books printed from Hubbard's Cupboard.  We only write books on her list that she has read completely independently.

 

Demolition!

We demolished our Haunted Cookie House on Tuesday, and O loved it!  She said it's more fun to demolish the house than to decorate it.  Although, she may have changed her mind after she hammered her finger!

E's Birthday Tablecloth

Here's an idea that I've wanted to share for a while.  My mom and I made white tablecloths for each of my girls for their first birthday parties.  Everyone at their parties signs, writes messages, and draws pictures on the tablecloths using fabric markers.  I trace around their hands each year and write their names and the year on the palms of their traced hands.   O's tablecloth has enough room for one more year of signatures and messages, and E's is just getting started.  This is a fun keepsake for the girls that I hope they will treasure for years to come.

Putting Clothes Pins in a Container

Here's another of E's favorite activities!  To make this activity, I cut a square opening in a 2 liter bottle and lined the edges with duct tape.  E puts the clothes pins in the top, and she takes them out of the bottle via the square opening.  Since her current interest is putting small objects into any and every container, this is the perfect activity for her.  The clothes pins catch on the rim of the bottle if she puts them in with the open end down, and it's fun to watch her think this through and figure out what to do.  Watching her focus on a task is so much fun!






After she finished working with the 2 liter container, she took her imbucare box from the shelf.  She enjoys putting her small animals in it, and on this day she put O's yogurt drink container in it (she carried the yogurt cotainer around ALL day).  She had fun putting the clothes pins in the yogurt container, too.



Then we put her small animals in a Coke box and closed the lid.  She kept opening the box and waving at the animals.  It was incredibly cute.  She is the friendliest baby, and she waves at everyone (and everything!) she sees.  I adore her.