Mid-Summer Update!

Wow, is it REALLY the middle of July already? Where has the time gone?

In the last month, some exciting things have happened! Ella celebrated her THIRD birthday (I'm the mom of a 3-year-old!), Lucy turned 6 months old and is CRAWLING (!!!), and Wes went back to school!

My children really amaze me, every single day. I feel like in the last 3ish months, that I've really found my mom groove. There are a lot of things that I am not very good at, but lately I have been feeling really good about parenting. Ella challenges me every single day, and I try my best to respond to her appropriately and consistently. Of course, there are times when I respond in a less-than-ideal way, but I've learned to give myself a break, use my mistakes as learning opportunities, and do better the next time. Lucy and Ella fill me with such joy, and I feel so blessed by them! Lucy spoils me, she is so easy going. If all babies were like her, I would happily have many more! Ella's laughter just melts my heart.

Wes started taking classes this summer, working towards a business degree. His degree in architecture is not helping the job hunt--there are ZERO architecture jobs right now! With a business degree, he could open the doors to many different careers. Honestly, I think that this break from working is good for him! Financially, we're doing ok--hanging in there, watching our spending and trying to keep our bills low. Wes and I don't have health insurance, which is the only thing that really worries me. The girls do, so that's a relief.

Other than that, not a lot is going on here! We're kind of living in the moment right now! I am (of course!) planning for the upcoming "school" year. I'll have to do a separate planning post for that. :)

Summer Tot-School Themes

I’m still in planning mode for tot-school (preschool?), beginning next Monday.  I think it will help my brain if I scribble my thoughts down here, and maybe even pull links to resources and whatnot. 

So here’s what I’m thinking (these are brainstorming ideas, assuming that I have an unlimited amount of money to spend-which I don’t.  We won’t be doing all of these things—just ideas to kick-off on!  Also, a good old google search will probably happen prior to each week’s theme.  There are endless possibilities!):

-ocean/beach

• Confessions of a Homeschooler's "O for Octopus"
• Carisa’s Ocean Animals Tot-book
• Ocean file folder game on filefolder.com
• scoop and play fishing game
• magnetic fishing puzzle (or the target brand equivalent)
• water play activities (perhaps with some dollar store ocean animals?)
• "F is for Fish" by COAH

-caterpillar/butterfly

• "B is for Butterfly" by COAH
• "C is for Caterpillar" by COAH
• caterpillar art
• coffee filter butterflies

-birds

• birds preschool pack by 1+1+1=1
• "N is for Nests" by COAH
• Listen and watch for birds on a nature walk

-frogs/ponds

• Totally Tots Sensory Tub
• "Pond Life" preschool pack by Homeschool Creations
• Frog/Turtle sort (printable made by me)
• "T is for Turtle" by COAH
• “Five green and speckled frogs” song
• visit a creek

-birthday

• birthday puzzle
• birthday dramatic play (party hats, pretend to wrap presents)
• bake cupcakes/cake
• The Mini Birthday Pack by Homeschool Creations

-garden/flowers

• Garden preschool Pack by Homeschool Creations
• plant our own flowers
• dirt/watering can/tools to use in outdoor sensory box

-bugs

• magnetic bug puzzle
• Insect & spider theme box
• pretty bugs preschool pack by 1+1+1=1
• "A is for Ant" by COAH
• "L is for Ladybug" by COAH

-zoo

• "E is for Elephant" by COAH
• "M is for Monkey" by COAH
• visit our zoo!

-Camping

• dramatic play-set up a tent, flashlights, make a pretend camp fire
• make s’mores!
• talk about moon/stars/constellations

 

Hmmm… maybe I’ll just try to stick with those 9 and spread them out/allow myself extra time (and hopefully by the end of summer, I won’t feel guilty that I didn’t squeeze in everything that I wanted to).  I can also add in more if I need to.  And if I can manage 9 themes each season, that’s 36 total.  Seems like a good goal, right?  I would love to hear your ideas as well!  What are your summer tot-school/preschool plans? 

Back on the “tot-school” wagon…

I admit that I am not a very organized person, even if I always intend to be (this blog, for example, is something I think about often, and even outline posts in my head… but clearly, following-through is not always my reality!).  I first read about tot-school a year (or more?) ago, and have had “good weeks” and “bad weeks” and everything in between.  Ella became a big sister in January, and OH MY I can’t believe how fast time has gone since then. 

So, I’m giving myself a break (because LIFE happens and feeling guilty over not being a perfect housewife and perfect mom isn’t doing me a single bit of good) and hitting the “reset” button with tot-school/preschool.  I’m also taking a new approach: planning ahead!  Instead of making or printing off activities to do TODAY, I’m going to take the next 2 weeks to plan, create, gather, and relax! 

I am also going to plan differently.  Instead of outlining specific activities to do each day (or week), I have created a generic planning sheet that fits me better.  Although I love the tot-school planning sheet (found here), I find that having certain things to do on specific days just doesn’t work for me long-term.  I’m a more open-ended kind of girl, which means I like to

If I was super savvy, I would give you a download to my planning form (which is essentially boxes where I can write in ideas for different categories.  These ideas and activities can be implemented at any time.  There is no “date” listed on my planning sheet, just a space to put in “age” and a “theme” if you want one.)  Anyway, if you would like it, I would be happy to e-mail it to you (leave your e-mail address in a comment or on facebook and I’ll send it ASAP!).  I’ve also included ideas on how to use the planning sheet and different open-ended activities to try. 

For more on tot-school, visit Carissa’s blog by pushing this button! 

Photos from the past month

This month has seemed to fly by!  I feel like I say that a lot, and it’s true!  I can’t even tell you what has been filling our days and time lately.  A few “big” things (like a last-minute trip to Tennessee over labor day weekend!), but as far as the day-to-day happenings go, I find myself wondering what we’ve actually done this month (you know, beyond the normal—raising a toddler, cooking, cleaning, growing a baby… that kind of stuff). 

Instead of a “tot school” entry today, I mostly just have photos.  I think I’ve said before that we’re kind of “on again, off again” with tot-school.  Some weeks (or months!) are better than others.  Anyway, onto photos! 

This one is just cute.  Ella, 26 months old:

We went to the zoo last month for Wes’ annual family picnic.  It was fun, although rainy toward the end.  We didn’t end up walking around the zoo much, since we have passes.  Plus, it started at 1pm, which is usually Ella’s naptime, so she skipped a nap that day and was asleep in the car within about 3 minutes of leaving.  :) 

It was raining lightly that day, so naturally, she found the puddles she could stomp in…

 

   …and riding the carousel is always a favorite! 

She painted this cute little birdhouse that she picked out at JoAnn’s (on clearance for $1). 

Her new favorite thing to do when Wes gets home (or sometime before bed), is to dance with Daddy!  He seems to like it too.  :) 

He made her these silly glasses out of pipe cleaners.  She thought it was hilarious.  :) 

We took a last-minute trip to Tennessee to visit Wes’ parents over labor-day weekend.  While we were there, we went on a pontoon boat!  Ella’s first boat ride! 

She even got to “drive” with daddy!  

Football season started!  …but she was more interested in Blue’s Clues stickers than watching the game.  :) 

…and then something smudged on my camera, and my pictures are blurry after this!  I need to find something that is safe to use to clean the lens! 

(And then I need to commit to taking photos more often!)

So what's new?

I haven't been a very good blogger in 2009! I even switched blogging sites and still didn't update often! So how do I summarize the last 7 months? Bullets, I guess!

• I started watching 2 little girls on a regular basis. One came over once a week for a few hours, so that her mom could have some time to do some things at home without any "help" from her daughter. This arrangement worked out well for all involved--but they ended up moving across the country. I'm happy for them, since they are close to family and are where they want to be. But, I do miss this little girl and her mom! (I feel weird about writing their names, since this is a public blog and I didn't ask for permission). The other little girl started coming in April, and has been here for 1-3 days a week since! The little girl ("A") is 2 months older than Ella, so they get along wonderfully. This summer, the girls and I have gone to the library for "babytime," gone swimming in our little baby pool, gone to a playgroup, and lots and lots of walks! It's a great arrangement--she's part-time, so I still have days with just Ella, but Ella still gets some peer interaction, so that's great too. And, the money I earn goes straight toward my student loan!


• It's been a busy year of weddings! Ella has now been to 4 weddings and 3 funerals. WOW. 2 of the weddings were ones that I was in, so that has made it especially busy! Ella did so well at all of them--and fell asleep on Wes a couple of times, too. Congratulations to Lisa & Josh, Heidi & Ryan, Megan & Perry, and Janna & Eric!


• Ella loooooves water! Splashing in our baby pool, taking a bath, even washing her hands--she loves it! Recently, she's started saying "weeee!" when playing in water. And sliding down slides, and with anything else that she's having fun with!
  
• Speaking of saying "weeeee!"... she speaks! She says mama, dada, ball, baby, shoe, kitty, hi, bye, hello, that, wow, yay!, wee!, no (I don't like this one!), and others. :)



• We celebrated Ella's first birthday in June! (above). We had a party with some friends and family, ate cake (she smashed hers and played in it, but didn't eat it!), and opened presents. It was a wonderful, fun, exciting day! I thought that I would be teary or cry that day--but I did really well! The only time I was teary at all was when everyone sang her Happy Birthday! My birthday girl was all smiles and the center of attention, and I couldn't help but think back to that day a year earlier when she was born. She was so tiny and precious--and here she is now, my "big" girl!
• We've made the switch to cloth diapers! I took the plunge a couple of weeks ago, and so far, we're loving it! Our trash has almost completely disappeared! We already recycle, so we were mostly just throwing away diapers. Using cloth diapers is completely different than it used to be. No more pins, leaks, or messes! They're not complicated--and actually, the ones we use are pretty much just like disposables with a velcro-type closure. And the laundry isn't bad either. So far so good! And I must say, she's pretty cute in cloth!

I'm sure that a lot more has happened that I'm forgetting, but I guess those are the main things! We're loving Ella's newfound independence with crawling, and are waiting for her to start walking. We know that she'll do it when she's ready! But, she's still my mama's girl. :) She's adjusting better to being away from me occasionally, especially if she's with Wes!! We're going to start weekly "Ella and Daddy" nights soon, where they can have their special time without me, and I can spend time with a few friends in a bible study/fellowship.