Friday, April 19, 2013

Quick and Easy Entertainment for your Toddler!

Here is an activity that Lauren enjoys and it's an extremely simple idea using everyday items.

 Dropper Painting

Items needed:
Empty egg carton
Water
Food coloring
Medicine dropper
Paper towels
Cookie sheet or large shallow container

It's pretty self-explanatory. Fill each empty egg carton space halfway with water. Add different colors of food coloring to the water. Place paper towels on top of cookie sheet or container. Allow your child to use a medicine dropper to pull out water from the carton and drop it onto the towels to create their art.

They get to create art and work on their fine motor skills at the same time.

Easy!!



New Hairstyles for the Kidder's!

Last week Tanner took Turner to get his haircut and Turner requested a new hairstyle. He said he wanted something spikey and this is what we got. He LOVES it.




I took Lauren to the salon for her first haircut and she did really well! She didn't cry, but she wasn't overly excited either. When she was finished and got to look in the mirror, she was all smiles!



Tyler Veronica - 4 months






Saturday, April 13, 2013

What we're reading - April

During one of our trips to our library, Miss L. and I stumbled upon a few books that have now become some of our favorites. I had to have them! I went online and purchased some of them immediately.

Meet the Dr. Seuss Nursery Collection!

In this collection is all of the best pieces of classic Dr. Seuss stories that have been made interactive for toddlers. Inside the books are suggestion bubbles for parents, to help make the story even more fun and interesting for the kids. The kids can now use a puppet, lift flaps, feel sensory items, etc. as they go through the book. It's awesome and we really enjoy them.

I suggest you check them out!

Here are a few of our favorites.





 As for Turner and I, we've been diving into the "I Wanna" series by Karen Kaufman Orloff. We have read "I Wanna Iguana" and "I Wanna New Room" multiple times. The stories are about a little boy who wants things and asks for them  through little notes he writes and leaves for his Mother. The Mother and Son exchange notes through the entire book, each trying to make a point as to why or why not the little boy should receive what he has asked for. They are really cute and have nice endings to them. The illustrations that fill the pages are great and they give Turner lots to look at while I'm reading. We will definitely be checking out more books by this author.



Thursday, April 11, 2013

Pom-Pom Fun

Items needed:

Construction paper or paper plates
A bag of assorted Pom-pom's
Elmer's glue

These are the items that provided plenty of entertainment for Lauren on an uneventful afternoon.

First, we made a clown. Then, we worked on a couple of caterpillars.



Then Lauren wanted to create her own art.


It was the perfect post-nap project!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

HiHo Cherry-O

One of the games my toddler enjoys the most is HiHo Cherry-O.

Even though she isn't interested in playing by the rules, she loves sorting all of fruit and placing them in different baskets.

It is a fun way to practice learning colors and placing the fruit on the trees helps her work on her fine motor skills.

I can always count on her face to light up when I pull out this game!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Pineapple Coconut Chess Pie

My new favorite pie, and it was SO easy!!

I picked up this recipe on Pinterest and it was amazing. I will definitely be making this again soon!


Click here for the recipe!


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Regroup

Last month, I never got to post what we're reading, our favorite things, or some of the craft and food stuffs that we've been enjoying. (sigh)

It was just one of those months that stays one step ahead of me and I spend days trying to keep up.

Unfortunately, we spent quite a bit of time at the Dr.'s office last month with Tyler. To catch you up quickly, she has been diagnosed with Vesicoureteral (VUR) Reflux. We will meet with her pediatrician tomorrow where we discuss the diagnosis further and will receive our referral to a pediatric urologist. Fortunately, she's been such a trooper through it all and I'm blessed in so many ways to have our little sweetheart.

This is where I give my shout out to the staff at Akron Children's Hospital. They were AMAZING. Everyone was nice, compassionate, and they kept Hubs and I informed at all times. I was really impressed and I felt good having Tyler receive their care. I believe that they truly empathized with her and tried to do everything they could to help her and keep her calm through various procedures. Hubs and I cannot speak well enough of the hospital and the nurses. We are extremely grateful for them.

Turner has graduated two more classes at swim lessons. He's diving off of the diving board now!! It's so reassuring to know that if my son would ever fall into deep water, he is able to swim. That's always been one of my dark fears... drowning. I believe that knowing how to swim is one of the most valuable lessons a person can learn. We will definitely be signing Lauren and Tyler up for them as well. We started Turner in the swim program when he was three years old and it worked well. We will likely send the girls when they hit that age. What a relief it will be when they all complete the program!!

Long overdue renovations of our den has begun. We did a lot of spiffing up of the outside of our home last year and now we need to tie up a few loose ends on the interior. I can't wait to see the finished rooms and I'm not even going to complain about all of the hammering, drilling, etc. that seems like a continuous ripple through the entire house. All of the construction noise means that work is being done and progress is being made. I will be beyond thrilled when we have a large play area for the kids and we will no longer have a living area so littered with toys that there is not any room for anything else. I love my kids, but I miss having pretty rooms untouched by lego's, squinkies, and all of the other microscopic toys of the world.

Tyler has moved from her bassinet to her crib. It was a seamless transition. Mostly, because we have the crib in our room. My choice. It may not agree with some of you, but it suits me. I'm just not ready to let her go yet. I love having her close. As long as I have that feeling, she'll stay. I'm guessing Tyler will spend her first year in our bedroom. Hubs doesn't seem to mind. We'll see how it goes. Turner and Lauren were both moved to the nursery at 4 months of age and did well. I think the key is to have white noise near them from the beginning. Babies tend to lose themselves into the sounds and as long as they have that, they will remain comforted in any room.

I'm back to being nocturnal. You would think that only getting 5 - 6 hours of broken sleep for months would make me exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I have my days when I wish I could stay in bed and sleep the day away, but overall I feel pretty good. I keep telling myself that I need to go to bed shortly after the kids do, but here I am... blogging away after midnight. Hopefully, I'll be able to kick the habit of staying up late soon but I doubt it. I've always been this way. I prefer the late night to an early morning. Unfortunately, that isn't the schedule that the real world operates on so I'll need to make that change. The sooner the better.

And here is the most random add to my post tonight: I'm addicted to Snyder's Pretzel bites, the honey mustard and onion flavor . I've eaten so much chocolate over that past month that I'm actually craving healthy food. Cuties. You know, the little oranges... can't get enough. Bizarre. Anyway, when I want a snack I've been surpassing the bowls of Easter treats and find myself devouring handfuls of dusted pretzel goodness. Not that the pretzel bites are doing my health any favors, but they are more fulfilling and satisfying than the jelly beans and candy bars at this point.

Alright, I seriously need to call it a night. The kids aren't going to show me any mercy in the morning and I need to stay on top of my game with them. The energy spewing off of them in the morning is unbelievable. I wouldn't say it's contagious, but it's definitely motivating.