Fall Sticky Tree

I found the original idea for this from Teaching Mama and thought it looked like an easy to assemble "art project" I could throw together at the last minute when I needed something to occupy the kids.  To my surprise Bea loved it and played for around 45 minutes with it and then went back to it the next morning and continued to add some of the fall stickers I had set out for them.  Charlie liked it for a few minutes but I think became frustrated when he couldn't reach the top of the tree (my fault) and I think for the next one I'll make them each a tree (or whatever, this has a ton of potential variations).

I drew the tree on contact paper and also set out the fall images and a packet of fall felt leaf stickers that I actually had from last year.

We'll definitely do another fall one, plus maybe a turkey for Thanksgiving, a Christmas tree, etc.  the options are endless!

Heather

I Love My Sister

5/365

First Day Back at School

4/365

St. Louis Airport

3/365

Beatrice, 30 months

This update is almost two weeks late but I'm a little behind since we've been visiting your 'Meatball and PawPaw' in Missouri.

It's hard to believe you're already 2 1/2.  You've become such a little lady.  You love to carry purses and backpacks and will take as many as I'll allow when we leave the house.  Currently your Dora backpack and a clear and green striped tote bag are your favorites.  And you fill them with all of the necessities, coloring book, crayons, sunglasses, and cell phone.

The other thing you love as much, if not more, than your purses are your babies.  There's Super baby, New baby,  Baby doll, Dora, Dora doll, and Ballerina.  Every night you tuck them in under special blankie and at least one will go with us on outings.

You also seem to be going through a dress phase.  Every morning when asked what you want to wear you respond, 'a cute dress with bloomies'.  If only I would've known this at the beginning of the summer I wouldn't have stocked up on tanks and t-shirts!  Size wise you can wear a 2T but it's usually a little big.  In shorts and skirts (when I can talk you into them) you're an 18 months.

Food wise you continue to be picky but you will at least try everything on your plate.  Fruit is a huge favorite, which is good, as is 'yogurt juice' (kefir) right now.  You've also surprised me by loving, and requesting frequently, tofu.

You continue to be a great sleeper, still taking one nap in the afternoon (for about 2 hours) and sleeping most nights until 7am.

Most of all you are such a funny and engaging little girl.  You love to make your little brother laugh, you love to read, you've found a new obsession in Max & Ruby, and you love to pretend play.  We've spent the past 3 weeks in Missouri and you've had such fun that I'm going to hate it when we have to leave.  But preschool starts next month and I can't wait to see what that brings!

Heather

What We Wore Wednesday

Jumpsuit:  Target

Sandals:  Old Navy

Heather 

Ice Ice Baby

It's been awhile since we've done any "art projects" (Bea calls anything creative an art project) in our backyard.  It's been so hot most afternoons that we've been staying inside.  However, today felt relatively nice, considering the highs of 100+ this weekend, so we spent the afternoon outside.

This was a pretty simple one.  Last night I made blue, green, and yellow ice cubes using food coloring and an ice cube tray.  This afternoon we put them all in a disposable roasting pan.  I gave Bea a cup with water and an empty cup.  She spent the majority of the time pouring water and ice cubes back and forth and Charlie spent most of the time grabbing the cubes and splashing in the water.  I was actually surprised how much he participated, although I'm not sure why considering how much he loves being a part of whatever Bea does.

After about an hour of playing we went inside and Bea and I had some jello (not the best snack, but I tried to make jello cubes for this and it did not turn out well so we had a ton leftover).

I'm definitely going to do this again.  Maybe next time I'll freeze some bigger blocks of ice and use a bigger container.

Heather

Morning/Afternoon

Our Morning

Our Afternoon

Our time in California has flown by and since it's coming to an end we're trying to pack in as much as we can.  This morning we went to the playground and met Aunt Shannon's friend Annie and her daughter, Leila.  Then after a lunch of In-n-Out burger Bea and Charlie went down for a nap, with Grey on baby duty (thank you Charlie!!!!  After several days of not napping you FINALLY went down without a fight!!!!) and we headed to a local winery, Concannon, to check out their new wine bar, Underdog.

Sadly we only have one more day before heading back to a very hot New Jersey.

Heather  

The Oakland Zoo

Yesterday morning we took our much anticipated trip to the Oakland Zoo.  Back in March we went to Turtleback Zoo near us in South Orange and Bea had a wonderful time.  So Bea's grandmother (Gray, as Bea calls her) planned a day to check out the Oakland Zoo while we're in California.

We decided to rent Bea one of the "special" zoo strollers so she could easily get in and out and see the animals.

We managed to see almost everything:  bunnies, alligators, macaws, giraffes, lemurs, tortoises, we really tried to fit in as much as possible in the few hours we had.

The children's area had a few playground pieces and Bea loved this slide.

This sign had me a bit confused though

What I'm wondering is where the half hog exhibit is.....

After lunch and a train ride we picked up a few new friends to remember the day and headed home.

This was about 5 minutes after leaving the zoo.

Heather

A New House

We arrived in California yesterday and this was waiting for Bea.....her very own playhouse!  And if you're wondering, behind the garage door is a tricycle.  After all, what good would a new house be without a new ride?

Bea's grandparents assembled it from boxes used to ship organs and her aunt Shannon and Shannon's friend Annie painted it.  Bea absolutely loves it and was constantly asking (when we would come inside) to go outside and "play with my new house".

Heather

California Bound

Heather

What We Wore Wednesday

This was one of those rare days where both kids are dressed, happy, and with nothing on them yet.  And it managed to stay that way most of the day!!!!

On Bea:  Dress by 77kids, leggings from Old Navy, socks from Target (Abby Cadabby socks found in the dollar spot that we HAD TO HAVE), shoes from Target

On Charlie:  Polo style onesie from Gap, plaid pants from the Gap, socks from Target

Heather

Water + Food Coloring = One Happy Toddler

Last week was unbelievably warm, I think it was 92 on Monday, so we spent a ton of time outdoors.  Bea loves her new tricycle (more on that in another post) but I also wanted to find some activities for her to do in our backyard.  We hope to have a sandbox in the next few months and eventually a swing set so up until now our backyard playtime has involved a lot of shovels and buckets, which she loves, but I thought it might be fun to add another element.

I can't remember if I read about this particular idea on a post over at Play at Home Mom or if I'm taking several posts and combining them into one, but I know I came up with the general idea through reading about their outdoor play.

I basically used several glass and plastic containers that we had and filled each one with different amounts of water and food coloring.

I also had a few empty containers, a big bowl, and a spray bottle filled with water.  Bea loves to pour and dump anything from one vessel to another so I knew this would be a big hit.

It didn't take long for her to pour everything together so the water was a deep purple/black for most of the time but she loved it.  She must have poured and scooped for over an hour, only stopping every so often to spray the water bottle.

And not to be left out, here's a picture of Charlie enjoying the sun.

Heather

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  We started the day with Easter service then had an egg hunt in our backyard followed by an afternoon of playing outside.  

A few from the afternoon, including Bea's first "self portrait".

Heather

Water Beads

Have you ever heard of these?  I hadn't until recently when I spotted a post on them over at Play At Home Mom.  They looked really cool and it sounded like the kids went absolutely nuts over them so I thought we'd give them a try.

I purchased a pack at Michael's (they are located in the floral section if you're looking) and you can buy them in two types, already hydrated and ready to go, or dehydrated, which is what we did.  I poured about a fourth of the package into a huge bowl and filled it with water one morning.  By the time Bea was up from her nap they were ready to go.

This was by far her favorite sensory project we've done.  She loved everything about them, the feel, the color, scooping them up and putting them into her bucket and then back into the bowl.  I think we were outside playing with them for well over an hour.  They have this crazy slippery gel like consistency, I think I enjoyed them as much as she did!

The only drawback is that they will break if you squish them too hard.  So now we have bits of water beads all over our backyard, but hey, at least it's not in the house!  I also need to check into storage.  I think you can store them in a Ziploc (minus the water) and they will last a few weeks.  We, of course, forgot them outside overnight and it was a little too cold for them.  Oops!  Or as Bea would say, "Whoop a see" (that's her version of whoops).

I also found this great idea for water beads over at Modern Parents Messy Kids for Easter.  Since I'm not planning on giving her candy and chocolates this would make a great alternative.

Heather