Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree!

Since it is December, of course we've been reading some Christmas books and singing a few (non-religious) carols.

Here's a picture of my Christmas tree.  Every day the kids love to spend time looking at the ornaments.  They've been very good about only touching them gently.  I always remind them, "Gentle.  Only use one finger." which seems to be working since they haven't broken any yet.  Even so, next year I think I might use only shatterproof ornaments, just so I don't have to worry about it so much.

Conversations about food

Kids love stickers.  I bought a Melissa And Doug Make-A-Meal Sticker Pad from Amazon.  With a variety of table settings and lots and lots of food stickers, kids get to design their own meals.  My daycare kids loved it!

It was fun and also a great way to start a conversation with young kids about food.  We talked about which foods they liked best, what a balanced meal looks like, and about which are healthy foods and which are unhealthy food choices.

To the left are some of the first meals that L created using the stickers.

Pretend Play

This morning the kids decided to use the butterfly nets to catch imaginary ladybugs.  I love it when they really get into pretending.  They were so cute and also got a lot of physical activity in while they ran around.

That's our $50 Black Friday playhouse in the background.  They kids love it and are always asking if I can bring it inside with them when our outside playtime comes to an end.

Child Art

A beautiful painting by V, using tempera paint.

Daycare Retro

A fair amount of the books and toys at my daycare are from my childhood (the 1980's) and my youngest brother's (the 1990's).  My dad is quite the packrat and has held onto a lot of our old toys.  Every now and then he brings over a box of random toys.  The kids love it and don't seem to mind at all that they don't know any of the characters.  They say, "Yea!  Pops brought us more toys!"  Then I have to quickly sort them and wash them since they've been in the basement for 20 to 30 years gathering dust.  Here are some of our retro items:

These are my Lonely Doll books from my childhood
(but they were actually published in the late 1950's)

More books from my childhood

Books from Ryan's childhood

Weird little monster guys from Ryan's childhood

Ewok battering ram (Return of the Jedi)

A Gizmo stuffed animal doll (Gremlins)

2 different versions of the Batmobile (from the 90's)

Legos from my childhood
(Rob and I had tons of Legos!)

Various action figures from Ryan's childhood
(TMNT, Batman, X-Men, The Tick, etc.)

My Fisher-Price teddy bear picnic basket from the 1970's
and Ryan's 90's Koosh balls and Dot Warner figure

We also have a number of new toys that were originally popular when I was a kid; like My Little Ponies, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Star Wars figures.  And a number of new "classics" like Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, Hot Wheels cars, and more.  Everything old is new again.

my easy day

I call Tuesdays "my easy day" because it's just the two girls.  They play together pretty well and they play very peacefully separately.

Our only real difficulties come from the two of them competing for my attention.  They both seem to develop an uncontrollable need to be held right when I start to cook lunch, complete with whining and crying if I don't comply immediately.

V sometimes gets annoyed with S's lack of understanding about personal space, but she is still a baby after all.

Overall, it's still a pretty easy day.  There's never any hitting and very rarely any crying.  It's the least messy day, toywise.  The girls are good at cleaning up after themselves and they like helping me.

Playing together

L likes to set up house inside the little circus tent and he pretends that we are all one big family.  We always have to have a dog and a cat which he gives the same names as his real dog and cat.  The  "family" today also included a little stuffed hamster, lots of babies, a few dollhouse people, and lizards.  We had bacon for our pretend dinner.  The lizards ate ice cream and then had to sun themselves on the roof of the tent to warm up again.  L always leads the play and dislikes it anytime I suggest something.

Package from California

Last Thursday we received our state culture swap package from California.  It contained a map of California, wildflower seeds, chop sticks, fool's gold, Sees chocolates, pepitas, a mexican bingo game, a California magazine, a Bay City guide, a map of San Francisco, a SF Giants magnet, seaweed chips, information about Redwood trees and a specimen, a California mobile activity, other activity pages, brochures, and postcards.

The kids went to work on the chocolates immediately and L applied the Giants magnet to the refrigerator.  Today we got a chance to go through everything in more detail.

The kids all tried the roasted seasoned seaweed.  L said it was "interesting", but stopped declined a second piece.  V really liked it and would have continued to eat it, but I cut her off after her third piece.  S made her scrunched up face, but ate her whole piece anyway.

L liked the idea of the California mobile activity, but we tried to do it twice and it just wasn't happening.  So I finished it by myself.  S enjoys examining it when I stand under it while holding her.

What we did this week...

Here are some of the things we did this week:  played with Play-Doh, gave animals figurines and our dollhouse dolls "baths" in the bathroom sink, had pretend tea and cookies together, played with baby dolls, danced to music, tried out our new tutus, made funny faces in the mirror, made shape pictures with glue sticks and cut-outs (see left), played pretend clothing store, played hide-and-seek, emptied my piggy-bank and then refilled it twice, looked at different pennies, played My Little Ponies, had an indoor picnic lunch, picked and ate up the last of the sugar snap peas, and so much more!

Favorite books we read this week included Baby Dear by Eloise Wilkins (which I must have read nearly 20 times), A Tree Named Steve, and An Earthworm's Life.

We also received our state culture exchange package from California.  The kids were really excited about opening it and tore through it, but then the Sees chocolates distracted them from paying much attention to anything else.  So, I plan on going through it again with them in more detail on Monday.

MORE MUSIC!

Still more additions to our kid music library:

 

• Sing Me To Sleep:  Indie Lullabies
• Yo Gabba Gabba:  Music is Awesome! vol. 1
• Yo Gabba Gabba:  Music is Awesome! vol. 3
• VA:  Mother Goose Songs

Package from Utah

Our state culture swap package from Utah has arrived.  It contained Utah postcards, brochures, a map, recreation guides, hot cocoa, salt-water taffy, a Jacob's ladder game, a Utah chocolate truffle bar, a lacing project in the shape of Utah, statue symbol flash cards, instruction and equipment for how to play a pioneer game called Graces, lime Jello mix, information about Utah's signature foods and recipes, info about how Utah was settled, and state facts.

The kids really liked it, especially the salt-water taffy.  L really enjoyed the Jacob's ladder and he liked the flash cards too.  V said the hot cocoa was yummy!

Now that he has an idea of what to expect,  L is very much looking forward to the arrival of the other state packages.

Week review...

We took advantage of the nice weather on Wednesday and Thursday with trips to Washington Park and Jacobus Park.  All the kids love going to a park but getting out of the door is always a challenge for me.  Sometimes it takes a good 20 minutes or more for us to get ready.  By the time we get out the door, I'm already exhausted.  Everyone needs a change before we can go and then I have to get everyone's shoes, coats, and hats on too.  By the time I get the last person ready, the first person has removed their shoes and socks and I have to start over.  But still it's worth it because they have a blast once we get there and it's great exercise.

Other things we did include decorating little pumpkin gourds, making halloween sticker pictures, playing dollhouse, ponies, baby dolls, little legos, pretending to be a variety of different animals, having play-food picnics, coloring with crayons, and much more.

Here are some of the books we read this week.

"A Good Day" and "The Salamander Room" continue to be favorites.  L really enjoyed "A Log's Life".  And S seemed to like "Happy to be Nappy" and "Sing-Along Song".  V is oddly particular.  She did not like "The Watcher" and refused to listen to it after the 4th page, but she was content to be read "Harry The Dirty Dog".

State Culture Swap - Wisconsin

General Wisconsin Info

My state exchange culture swap packages are all ready to go!  Here are some pictures of the package I made for Wisconsin.  Each package contains 4 envelopes.

The first envelope contains a Wisconsin Map, a Milwaukee Map, a variety of tourist brochures and information, worksheets and coloring pages about Wisconsin, Info about Wisconsin Dairy Farming, a recipe for cream puffs, a postcard of Lambeau Field, a Packers pen, and Harley-Davidson playing cards.

Wisconsin Wildlife

 The next package is about Wisconsin Wildlife.  It contains information about animal tracks, Wisconsin woodland animals, an eagle mobile activity, coloring pages, and Schleich animals figurines.

Famous People From Wisconsin

The next envelope contains information about Famous People from Wisconsin:  Georgia O'Keeffe, Golda Meir, Les Paul, Harry Houdini, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.  It has a little quiz,  a little house book, a shoebox guitar activity, magic tricks, and more.

The final envelope contains information about Native Americans in Wisconsin.  It has coloring pages, a map showing reservations, a maze activity, a summary about Black Hawk, and more.

Wisconsin Native American Indians

Each package also contains a letter from us about Milwaukee, Milwaukee postcards, a Racine Danish Kringle, and some nature we collected at Washington Park.

I hope our exchange families are happy with what we've put together.  We are expecting packages from California, Utah, Florida, and Pennsylvania.  I know the kids will like opening the packages when they arrive.  I can't wait!

Greetings From Wisconsin

China

This month, D is supposed to learn about China.  Here are some of the books and DVDs we got from the library to find out more about China.

At the end of the month there will be a quiz and she will have to get all the questions correct if she wants to open the Barbie Doll of the World that represents China.  L is rooting for her and he already has his eye on the panda that comes with the doll.

The quiz this time looks like it's going to be even more difficult than last month's about Argentina.  And there are more questions this time too.  I'm sure if D applies herself like she did last month, she shouldn't have any problems!

L's latest masterpiece

L says this is a "pass walk" which he describes as a walkway through a forest of trees and a pond.

I think it's great how he fills the whole page with paint.

Fall Theme

These are some of the books we've been reading over the last couple of weeks.  Our theme is FALL, but we always read a variety of other books too.

Earlier this week, we took a walk to Jacobus Park.  It's a pretty long walk, but there's a lot along the way for the kids to see from the stroller.  They were really interested in the surroundings when we went over a bridge and they could look down as we went over the train tracks and across a river.

L & V enjoyed playing on the playground and the swings, in particular.  After we were done playing we took a little walk and collected some fall nature:  colorful leaves, seeds, nuts, twigs, etc.  L also collected a beetle along with his other nature items.

I could earn stars too!

L's Good Behavior Store

Items in V's Good Girl Store

After seeing D's Homework Store, L asked if there was a way he could earn stars too.  So I planned out and set up L's Good Behavior Store with items chosen specifically for him.  Most of the items are from the dollar store.  L can earn stars by not hitting, pushing, or grabbing, by taking a 30 minute nap, and by going pee-pee on the potty.  L gets paid in stars when he behaves well and then he can save and spend his stars on items in his store.  The items cost between 2 to 5 stars.  The goals of this are behavior modification, for L to learn and practice self-control, and also counting with meaning up to 5.

A few weeks after I set up L's store, V asked if she could earn stars too.  So I set up V's Good Girl Store with items chosen just for her.  She can earn her stars by going pee-pee on the potty and by not having her "horsie" pacifier at the table during meal times.  The items in her store are priced between 2 to 4 stars.

Learning about Argentina

D and I have a deal that she will spend a month learning about a country and if she passes a quiz at the end of that month, she gets to open a Barbie Doll of the World for that country.

The first country we've been working on is Argentina.  In a few days D will have a 13 question quiz to determine if she can open this doll or if she needs to spend another month on Argentina.

She needs to be able to locate Argentina on the globe, tell me what continent it is on, what the main language they speak, know the capital city, the most popular sport, about the tango, Eva Peron, the Andes, and more.

I really hope she gets them all right!

Crickets in the house

We've had a variety of crickets, grasshoppers, and moths as our house guests for the last couple of weeks.

L loves bugs, so Pops caught a bunch of insects for L to examine.

We read a book about crickets and another about grasshoppers.  And we've been feeding the crickets fruit, plant clippings, and water.

They seem to be doing ok.  However, I've informed L that this will be the last day with the bugs since I plan to free them all tonight.  He decided he ought to give them one last look and he got out some magnifying glasses.

I love how much L enjoys nature.  He's such a cool kid!

Kid Art

V paints with brushes & her hand prints

V:  "I'm making polka-dots!"

V really gets into painting.  She always starts off using paint brushes but quickly moves on to using her fingers and then her whole hand.  If nothing distracts or interrupts her, she'll produce more than a half dozen little masterpieces in one painting session.

L:  "I'm drawing a ghost."

We've been painting with washable tempera and watercolor paints.  A while back, I purchased some kiddie paint smocks from Ikea and they've turned out to be the perfect size for the kids.  They really help keep their clothing clean while still allowing the kids to really get quite messy.

A couple of L's best paintings

One of the best things about L's works of art is asking him about them.  One of his favorite things to paint or draw is water.  He's produced several waterfall, river, ocean, and just plain water paintings.  Sometimes he will make up words for what he's painting and then he'll explain to me what his invented word means.  Often he'll have a whole story to tell about what he has painted.

Hawthorn Glen Park

Today we walked all the way to Hawthorn Glen Park, which is a little over a mile away.  It was worth the effort though, because the kids had a great time!

On the way there, we talked and I pointed out different things as we passed by them.  We went under a few overpasses.  We saw a monarch butterfly and a little yellow butterfly.  We saw our mailman, a forklift, big trucks, a loud motorcycle, and a person on a bicycle too.

There are 2 big kid playgrounds at Hawthorn Glen, but the little kids did pretty well on them.  V always waited at the top of the slides for me to go down with her.  And L would call me if he needed help while climbing on anything.

V's favorite thing was the tire swing.  The whole time she kept smiling and saying, "I'm on the tire swing!  Wheeeeee!"

L invented a pretend game where he and V were little monkeys and I was a big hungry bear that wanted to eat monkeys.  When I caught him and gobbled him up, then he changed into being a hungry baby bear.  V made it known that she preferred to remain a little monkey.

I tried to entice them into taking a walk on one of the nature trails, but they were set on staying at the playgrounds.  There were a lot of dragonflies buzzing about, but the kids just weren't interested.  Maybe we'll try again next week!

Exploring the new playgrounds at Washington Park

This morning we took a walk to Washington Park to explore the several new playground areas that recently opened there.

Each little playground area was about a different topic in nature.  The first one we stopped at was about bees.  The next ones we went to were about leaves and how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.  One playground area had a giant spider web.  There was also one about pond life and another about fungi.

Pops came with to help make sure the little climbers were safe from any falls.  And it was a good thing because climb they did!  I kept a really close watch of them and I was really impressed with their skill and bravery.

It was a fun day for both kids and for me too.  I love it when I can send them home really happy.

There are a lot of parks within walking distance from my house, so next time we might check out another one.  It mostly depends on how much energy I have in me because it's quite a workout pushing a stroller!

Week in review

Since I was getting tired of the multiple outfit changes each day that accompanied water table play, I decided to shell out the money and buy 50 lbs. of Sandtastik playsand.  To me and my wallet, that sounded like a lot of sand, but as it turned out, it wasn't enough to fill a sandbox.  It was enough to fill a plastic storage bin though.

I thought that the kids would kneel next to the bin and play in the sand, but the first thing all the little ones did was climb into the bin and sit in the sand.  Oh well!  The other thing that I didn't foresee was that the sand would not stay in the box.  This has been driving me crazy because in my mind every bit of sand that is lost is like money that is lost.  But I know I've got to get over it and stop thinking that way.

Why did I buy such expensive playsand?  It's because I found out that the normal playsand that you buy at a hardware store contains crystalline silica and asbestos tremolite which are know to cause lung disease, cancer, and cause reproductive harm.  You can read more about it at Safe Mama.  Better to be safe than sorry.

Other new things include finally getting a stroller and remembering about this play tent that had been sitting in the closet for the last few months.  With the stroller we've begun taking walks in the neighborhood.  The tent I thought of one afternoon when S was cranky from teething.  I was hoping it would distract her for a bit and it did the trick.  She just liked to sit in it and look at the colors.  We also played peek-a-boo with the door to the tent.

L likes to hide out in the tent.  He plays in it with toys, pretends that he's a baby bear and that it's his cave, and also uses it when he wants to have a pout.

We also played with play-doh, painted with watercolor paints, named the animals on some animal flash cards, and we read a lot of books this week!