"B" week

I thought I'd share some hi-lites from our "B" week (week of 9/19). 

Bead and Button "B"!

Doing her "find the letter" worksheet.  I just made a bunch of squares in an Excel spreadsheet with various letters, and went heavy on the B's and then gave her a hi-liter and let her go at it.  She really got a kick out of this, I can see it becoming a weekly staple.

Some of the books we enjoyed were:
The Bunny Book (I just love this story.  So much.)

Bear's Loose Tooth (We really like the "Bear" books at our house, and hadn't read this one yet so it was a special treat!)
Bertie at Bedtime (or its alternate title, Gemma at Bedtime ;-D)
We've all got Bellybuttons
Bible Stories from the Old Testament (this appears to be a little different than the version we had from the library, which I really like)

Bunches of Buttons (This was a fun little story that focused on counting by 10's.  Gemma really got into it.  I used it with the Counting By Tens song on our 102 Children's Songs CD's one day and it was a lot of fun.)
Bobby Baboon's Banana Be-Bop (I really like this "Animal Antics" series and am disappointed to find that our library doesn't have them all.  And they are $8 a piece and not sold as a set from what I can tell.)

We had a fun trip to the zoo one afternoon with my mom.   

B is for BEAR!!

I learned that even if there are all kinds of things I could do on a given day that go with the letter, it is best to just focus on one thing.  Case-in-point...with religion this week I tried to talk about the Bible, Baptism and our virtue (Being a Blessing) all in the same morning and it was just too much.  Gemma would have gotten much more out of it if I'd just focused on one thing.  As it was I think she was just confused and overstimulated with too much information.  Lesson learned (I hope).

Gemma's favorite activities are singing songs and doing crafts.  And of course reading stories.  We are both learning a lot.

Whiney Wednesday XXII

I haven't whined in quite awhile, so I figure I have some "rollover".

1.  Pink.  Everything is pink.  Pink.  Pink.  Pink.  Everywhere I look. The firemen are wearing pink shirts.  There are pink ribbons on my packages of paper towels and even my natural deodorant spray.  I do not like pink, specifically Komen.  In fact, I dislike it a lot, for multi-faceted reasons.  This article sums up my thoughts quite well, as does this one.  I really don't want to hurt feelings or step on toes by my position, so I'm not going to go into it a whole lot more (seriously though, if you're curious, please read the articles), but this is how I feel and the onslaught of pink especially this time of year honestly almost makes me nauseous.

2.  Gemma has been particularly unbearable lately and, well, it's getting to be pretty unbearable.  

3.  Kolbe.  Sweet sweet Kolbe.  I love that you know how to use the potty.  But seriously.  Pooping seven times in a row with a trip to the big toilet to dump, wipe and flush between each poop is getting a little ridiculous.  And seriously, the kid can pee like a half teaspoon every 15 minutes if he puts his mind to it.  Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!

4.  Workers in my house.  Loud nail guns hanging windows.  Noxious fumes.  Flies.  Cold air.  Hot air.  Blinds down.  Bright sun.  Curtains lying here there and everywhere.  Many, many items out of place. Trying to keep my children out of aforementioned items and maintain my sanity.  It's. Not. Working.

5.  Feeling like I'm being pulled a million different directions and then not really doing anything well.

6.  Lack of patience.  My horrible lack of patience.  And kindness.  And lovingness.  And all those other fruits of the Spirit that I just completely let fly out the window (because it's probably open or missing) on such a terribly regular basis. 

Okay, I'm done.  I could probably go on, but then alas, I probably shouldn't.  God, help me offer these "pebbles" for those who truly suffer.

If you'd like to take the opportunity to whine on occasion, click here for more details.

Twins!

One day Gemma and I ended up dressing alike and we didn't even do it on purpose.  Honestly, I am amazed how often this happens with one or the other kid (wearing the same color, etc.)  I guess it must be me, since I'm the one who picks out their clothing (well, Gemma helps with hers sometimes), but it really is uncanny the number of times I unintentionally end up dressing more than one of us in the same color of top or pants or both.  And on a related note...I remember when I was working outside the home (before children), there were days I'd show up to work and there would be three or four or five of us dressed alike/in the same colors.  It occurred often enough that we joked about taking a picture each time it happened and making an album to keep in the office.   Really, is it something in the air or what?  Someone should do a study on it.  Please tell me this has happened to you as well...

Monthly update - September 2011

Gemma - 3 years, 8 months

• She often yells "Watch out the log!" when she is playing.  Due to the context in which she uses it, we believe she means "watch out below!"  I'm not sure where she got this, or why she says "the log", but we all find it very amusing and will randomly yell this for no reason now. 
• she has started making her bed by herself and is capable of dressing herself as well.  typically though she likes assistance with both of these chores.
• she loves to help me fold rags and towels (and formerly diapers). this is actually very helpful!
• oh the nail-biting.  it is awful.  she bites them until the bleed.  toes too.  urrrggghhhhh!
• she is really enjoying our preschool at home and gets very excited for our Circle Time each morning. 
• she says the funniest things.  one day on the way into the library she picked up a leaf and said, "don't worry mom, it's not poop it's just a leaf."  really Gemma, thanks for the PSA.
• she can be sooooooooo mean to Kolbe it makes me insane.  and then she can turn around and be sooooooooo sweet to him.  GAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• still working working working on being a good listener.
• Gemma weighs 35lbs, wears size 10/10.5 shoes and is in 4T pants and and size 4-5 tops

Kolbe - 20 months

This has been a HUGE month for Kolbe

• He has learned to use the potty full-time during the day (and even stays dry for naps on a semi-regular basis)!!!  Completely his idea.  The first part of September he started going consistently every morning and when he woke up from his nap...he's done this on and off for the past 6-8 months.  Then all of a sudden he was wanting to go other times and keeping his diapers dry almost all the time and it got to the point that it just seemed ridiculous to put him in a diaper so I got him some underwear and he's been doing great.  He tells us when he needs to go by signing "potty" and is always very proud of his accomplishments (which include #1 and #2!!).  He usually has a few accidents a day, but they have all stayed contained and he often is successful about a dozen times a day (he really likes going a little bit very frequently).  He wears Gerber training pants (from Target baby section) with Dappi nylon pants over them.  I also ordered two Bummis trainers and two Kissa's waterproof pocket training pants that work well on their own or stuffed with a Hemp Babies insert.  I use these instead of a diaper for naps and when we're out and about.  He does pretty good at holding it and is not a fan of going on a big (adult size) toilet.  At any rate, we are SO VERY proud of our big little boy!!!
• We have converted his crib into a toddler bed and this seems to be going well.  He's been acting like such a big boy lately, it just seems as if we should treat him as one too.  He seemed very ready for a "big boy" bed.
• HE HAS ALL HIS EYE TEETH!!!!!!!!!!!!  No more teething until 2yr molars!!!!  His sleep seems to be reflecting this, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• He has cut way back on his nursing in the past month.  I decided to attempt to kind of day wean him and it was way easier than I thought it would be.  It took about 1-2 days of distracting him when he asked to nurse and he has for the most part quit asking.  I am certainly not against him nursing during the day, and of course would nurse him if he were hurt or sick and needed to, but it just seemed like it was time.  It felt right.  And it's been good for both of us.  He still nurses before bed and during the night but he seems to be cutting back on that considerably as well and usually only nurses once (closer to morning than bedtime).
• He has finally started saying some words.  Not many, but he says more, bear, banana (nana), cheese, book, mama, poop (in reference to needing to perform a bodily function) and Gemma on a fairly regular basis.  And of course "ball-ball"!
• he can now climb up the play-fixture at the park and go down the "big slide" all by himself!  He has so much fun trying to keep up with big sis at the park, and she enjoys having a more active playmate.
• he loves throwing rocks in the pond soooooo much
• Aaron put him to bed one night!  That was the first time he'd gone to bed ever without nursing/for someone other than me.  And it was apparently a fluke because it hasn't happened since.
• his favorite food is sushi.
• still snuggly as ever.  snuggling on my lap as I type this in fact (he just woke up from a nap).
• he does well at following simple instructions ("Go put this in the recycling." "Bring me the pillow." etc.) 
• Kolbe weighs 27 lbs, wears size 6.5/7 shoes and is in 24months and 2T clothing

Gemma, 3yrs 8mos. -- Kolbe, 20 months

We've all been enjoying the autumn weather SO much...just soaking it up with trips to the zoo, park outings, nature walks and time on the deck.  What a great time of year!

Thanks for checking in with us.

Sweet

This is what I found one day upon peeking into Gemma's room to see if she was awake from her nap.  About melted my heart (especially considering the rough week we'd been having).  Her baby normally sleeps in the doll crib at the foot of her bed, so I thought it was sweet when she requested to sleep with her, and even sweeter when I found her like this.

And yes, she still uses a binky.  Only at nap and nighttime.  We're getting ready to propose a bribe to get rid of it, but it just honestly hasn't really seemed like too big a deal for us.  Maybe she'll give it up on her own...

Our first week of preschool at home

We had a good first week of preschool last week.  The morning Circle Time seems to be a good fit, and then we do our activity for the day sometime later, usually after naptime.  I updated our lesson plan a bit now that I know a little more what to expect and what we are and aren't capable of.  Click HERE for the most recent version if you're curious.  I also sat down and typed out our daily routine after reading about Kansas Mom's and being inspired to do the same thing.

Here are some pictures from "A" week.

Gemma with our capital "A" flashcard for the fridge (yes, we do Circle Time in our jammies).

Working together one afternoon.  It was Gemma's idea to sit by Kolbe.  Much sweeter than pummeling him on the head I thought (because yes, that happens too).  Kolbe did surprisingly well with the watercolors.  It was the first time I had given him more than just a pre-dipped paint brush and he really did great.  And had lots of fun!

Hand-print angels from our Catholic Icing book.

When Saturday rolled around Gemma was a little sad that there was no Circle Time.  I debated for a bit about going ahead and doing it on the weekends as well, but Sundays we are busy with Church and I decided that if we take Saturdays off it will give her something to look forward to each Monday and maybe make it a little more special.

All-in-all it was a good week.  We definitely had our interruptions and challenges and things that didn't go as planned or fell flat on their face, but it was good. I think this is going to be a great fit for all of us.  Here's to the rest of the year!!

"Signing time"

Signing Time has fast become one of our favorite DVD series.  Gemma really enjoys watching them, and even Kolbe has been getting more into them lately as well.  If you haven't watched them with your kids, check your local library; they really are pretty awesome...a good combination of fun and education.  Here is Gemma signing "shoes" and wearing her daddy's shoes!

Blueberry muffins for the Blessed Virgin Mary

We celebrated the Blessed Virgin's birthday last year for the first time, and decided to continue the tradition this year.  I'm finding rather than trying to do every little thing for the multitudinous feast days the Church celebrates, that it is nice to pick a handful of feasts throughout the year and do something to make them special.  This year we had blueberry muffins** with blue birthday candles.  We sang happy birthday and had a special snack together.

Gemma and Kolbe each enjoyed a turn blowing out the candles.
 

** This was one of the better muffin recipes I've had recently.  I used brown sugar instead of white and less than 1 cup, I used half whole wheat flour, butter instead of margarine, and added some chocolate chips.  I baked in mini-muffin tins which cut the baking time about in half.

Scissors!

Gemma recently got her first pair of scissors.  She has been enjoying her new-found skill of cutting!

Busy bags

Recently a group of friends from my Catholic Motherhood group did a Busy Bag swap.  It was very exciting!  A busy bag is a ziploc bag containing an activity that would give your child something to keep them busy, either with you or without you.  Counting, sorting, shapes, alphabet activities, etc.  You can click HERE for more information on Busy Bags and to see a list of some links to various activities.  Obviously you could make all these activities on your own; but if you do a swap, instead of having to make 15 (in our case) different things (and buy all the various supplies), you make 15 of one thing and come home with 15 different things!!

I made the Spooning Beads activity to share.

We haven't made it all the way through our busy box yet, but the activities Gemma has done she has really enjoyed.  Here she is sorting some buttons.

And working with the felt number tiles and bug counting cards.

Kolbe likes playing with buttons as well!

 WE ALL LIKE OUR BUSY BAGS!!!!!!!

Backpacks

For her second Christmas (I think?) we got Gemma a personalized backpack from Pottery Barn Kids.  She really likes playing with it and Kolbe does too, and it really comes in handy for day trips and such.  We were just talking about doing the same thing for Kolbe this Christmas when our sweet neighbor gave us her son's personalized (with his initials) backpack from L.L. Bean.  Totally out of the blue.  She has been very generous with us before with children's books and other items her son has "outgrown" (we inherited our fish, aquarium and accessories from them a few months back).  She said she figured I could do something with it to personalize it for Kolbe.  And sure enough, a trip to Hobby Lobby and under $10 later I am super excited with the results.  Here are both kids with their backpacks.  I intended to take before pics of Kolbe's and completely forgot.  Too late now!  It had J's initials on the top part (where the K is) and a shark down where the iron-on ball decals are.

Autumn!!!

We're so glad to have a break in the weather here!!!  I finally pulled out our autumn decorations and candles (most years it seems like I'm doing this mid-August) and the kids even wore pants for the first time in months and had a picnic on the deck!!  Gemma's perspective must have been a little off after all the hot weather, as she asked for a hoodie, pants and gloves one morning when it was in the lower 60's.  Silly girl!!  We like Fall, and we definitely earned it this year!

Grandbabies galore

An exciting find!

A couple months ago I was at Joann Fabric's and came across this organizer.  I thought it would be just perfect for organizing our school items in the coming years but didn't really want to spend $30 on it.  So I practiced some temperance (very hard for me sometimes) and resisted the urge to purchase it on the spot.  I have thought about it often though.  Well, this past week - with all my preparation for the coming school year and such - I had a 40% off coupon so I decided I'd go ahead and purchase it after all.  Much to my delight, there was one left, and it was clearanced at 60% off!  So I got it for $12!!!!  I was soooo excited!  I have it in our front hall closet and think it will be ideal for keeping track of all our school items and making sure we don't forget anything as we go through each week.  There are seven labeled "cubbies", one for each day of the week, and pockets on either side for storing things like workbooks, flashcards, etc.  YAY for a good deal!

Simple "upcycled" skirt

My sister recently let me know about this post which gave a great tutorial on how to "upcycle" a men's t-shirt into a children's skirt.  I really like how it worked out.  I have shied away from sewing clothing because even though I tend to be pretty analytic, the driver in me tends to rush through things and not always pay incredibly close attention to detail on such projects.  But this seemed like something good to try.  The skirt is definitely a little big on Gemma, but it works (and should fit her for a long time)!  I am anxious to tweak this a little more and make a few more that might fit her better.

Easy tuna salad

We have been trying to do meatless/more simple dinners on Fridays all the year through, not just during Lent, so I've been trying to get creative as it seemed we were in a rut of baked fish and, well, baked fish.  We've had salmon patties several times and those always work out nicely.  A few Fridays ago salmon patties were on the menu and I just didn't feel like making them so I thought I'd throw together a tuna salad instead.  I went "fishing" for recipes on All Recipes and came up with the following (this is part what I found, part what I threw in on my own, that's my M.O. with cooking)

• 1/2 box whole-wheat rotini, cooked and drained
• 3 cans tuna
• 1 cup (ish) mayo
• 2tbsp Italian Dressing (I just used Olive Oil, Balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning and garlic salt to make my own dressing)
• 4 peeled, chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup (ish) chopped broccoli

Mix all these items together thoroughly and chill in fridge.  We decided next go around some chunked cheddar cheese, chopped apples and walnuts would be nice additions.