Advent Countdown - Day 2

Today's book was 'Eloise Decorates for Christmas' By Kay Thompsen and others

We're big Eloise fans! Tonight our accompanying craft was to make snowman decorations of our own, with photos to give to friends!

 

Advent Day 14: Nutcracker Night

Since we had Viv's Nutracker performance today, the "elves" delivered her a ballerina ornament for the occasion. After the show we tried out the new build-your-own frozen yogurt place in town to celebrate, and we LOVED it! Between this place and the new Thai restaurant we're in food heaven lately!

Advent Day 6: A visit to Santa and surprise visitor

Today we took our annual vissit to Santa, but the real fun was that Nana J planned a last minute trip to come see Viv's show tonight!

(Santa photo by www.randileephotography.com)

Advent Days 4 & 5: Manger and Reindeer Games II.

This week is pretty light on activities because of play practices and performances. Between all of that and work and school, we had to choose things that were simple. 

We do this one every year, and Viv really loves it. She actually tried to get us to do this one about a week ago. This year we also read the book "Santa and the Christ Child" which is wonderful, and i highly recommend it.

Reindeer Games II: Holiday Memory game. She loved the Olaf!

Advent Day 3: Tree Day!

Advent Day 2: Snowman Slam! (Reindeer Games Part I.)

Today we played our first Reindeer Game of the year, "Snowman Slam"! This literally took 3 minutes to make and she played it for almost an hour after school!

Someone asked me where I made my photo layout from yesterday. I actually created it using a free design app called Canva. I created a template, so all I have to do is change the day number and drag in my (poorly taken, low quality iphone) photos. It takes about 2 minutes!

Mommy-and-Me Do Together Craft: Photo Frame/Art Display

My kiddo loves to paint, and I'm always trying to think of cool ways to display her art. I was at the dollar store scoping out frames for an office-redo project I'm working on, and had an idea to make some mother's day frames that for interchangeable artwork and photos.

While Viv got to work crating some masterpieces, I heated up the 'ol hot glue gun and started by cutting a few pages out of an old photo album.

Measure and mark on a paper instert exactly where you will want to glue onto the plastic... this will save you from having a crooked frame.

I covered by photo frame insert with felt and foam frames... remember not to glue the top of the insert and frame if you want to be able to change the photo!

Ready for artwork!

Kiddo Craft: Chalk Driveway Paint

This was so easy to do....we have more large sidewalk chalk than one family (despite our numerous chalkboards) would ever go through in a reasonable amount of time, so here's what we did:

• Placed the chalk in thick-ish ziplock bags, and used a meat tederizor to crush it up (a regular hammer will do, I just didn't feel like searching for one that early in the morning).
• Combine with water in containers with lids that seal! 
• Enlist a petite helper or two to mix mix mix and shake shake shake!

Make sure you frequently mix each  color!

Kiddo Craft: Birdhouses and Butterfly Feetsies

When we moved into our house we were given an unpainted birdhouse for Viv to decorate. Since we're in the midst of mother nature's fickle 'is-it-spring-or-is-it-winter' dance (an as I typed this, it started to snow again), we decided that today would be the perfect time to do something to welcome spring!

 

And since we had some paint leftover... we made a fe spring creatures of our own :)

 

Bring on the sunshine!

Laughable Moments AKA "$hit My Kid Says"

Viv is Unimpressed

The other day our darling daughter approached me and asked “What did people even TALK about before I came out of your belly?” [insert guffawing mama here] This led me to think about so many of the funny conversations she’s had with Mike and I. While there was certainly never a loss for topics before she “came out of my belly.” She certainly has brought a whole new level of unintentional humor into our home :)

Here are some of my faves, which, thanks to Facebook, I had a running record of! I knew all those status updates would come in handy one day!

Viv: "Daddy, I have to tell you something."

Mike: "What?"

Viv: "You're a boy, so you have a penis!"

Mike: "Um. thanks for letting me know…"

Viv: "You are VERY welcome!"

"My foots are dancin'!"

Viv: "What does 'car' start with?"

Me: "It starts with a 'C'"

Viv: "NO! It starts with a KEY!"

(Discussing preschool that day)

Me: "did you make sure to share?"

Viv: "Why, what did you hear?

Me: "Um, *should* I have heard something?"

Viv: "uhhhhh... no?”

Viv: "Thank you for the grape juice, mommy."
Me: "Thank You for having such good manners."
Viv: "Don't thank me, thank daddy."

(When asked about her art at the pretend art show we set up):

"Look at all the arts you see'd! If you believe what you believed, then you will see all the dance."

Viv: "I'm Princess Ariel!

Me: "Oh, whatch'ya doing Ariel?

Viv: "Nothing, just sittin' on my clam!"

Viv: "You have to say 'excuse me' when you toot?"

Me: "Yes, you do."

Viv: "Aaaand when you burp?"

Me: "Yes, and a variety of other things."

Viv: "And a variety of cake!"

Me: "Um..."

Viv: "Daddy's pooping"

Me: "Oh yeah?"
Viv: "Yeah, that means he's in the bathroom, so don't try to talk to him, okay? He wants privacy, and the door shut."
Me: "Is that what daddy says to you?"
Viv: "Yeah, a LOT”

After Viv asked me to "make her a word" with the alphabet chicken nuggets: 

Viv: What'sit say?

Me: Lets sound it out together..

"Puh" "Iiih" "Nnn" "Kuh"

Me: What does it spell?

Viv: INDIGO!"

Viv: "what's that?" 

Me: "a new toilet brush" 

Viv: "what's it do?" 

Me: "It cleans the potty!" 

Viv: "I thought daddy cleans the potty?"

Viv, pointing at a funnel at the Pick and Shovel: "haaaaaat!!"

Me: "That's called a funnel honey."

Viv(skeptically): "Well who's it fun for?"

"It's called a Christmas tree skirt so people know the tree's a lady."

(Looking at one of our photo albums):

"Is that the day I hatched out of your belly?"

(While playing office):

"Well mommy, we did it again... there's no business like work business. And at the end of the day, we get a sticker."

("Reading" a book to me):

"You should always put away toilet paper. There once was a girl who wanted to put away toilet paper. Her daddy said 'okay.' And then her mommy said 'alright.' So she did. And then there was a thing with feetsies that crawled BACK to the house. It was a baby. It growed to a big girl and lost aaaalll it's energy. And then lost her bones. She couldn't stand. She couldn't sit. She couldn't do anything without her bones. Her daddy said 'What happened to your bones? They were orange when I saw them in the sky.' She found her bones at a museum with a kookie slide. Oh wait, I skipped a page. So she found her bones and then she looked for her dream where she was princess. The end."

Viv: "When I hatched out of my egg, was I little?
Me: "What? Honey, remember we talked about how people-babies grow in their mommy's tummies until they are ready to be born."
Viv: "Oh. And *then* they hatch out of their eggs?"

Me: "Viv, Cinderella;s stepsisters are named Drizella and.... what is the name of the other one?"
Viv: "Latisha"

Viv: "How's the apples get mashed?" (applesauce)
Me: "It gets cooked and mashed in the kitchen at an applesauce factory."
Viv: "Who mashes up the milk?"
Me: "No one honey, milk comes from cows."
Viv: "It comes from a COW?! Does he mash it up, like, in his bum?!"

(As I arrived home):

Viv: "Hi mommy, can we play?"

Me: "What should we play?"

Viv: "Castle!"

Me: "Okay, I just need to change into some sweatpants or something first."

Viv: "How about something more princessy?"

Me: "What, like Lululemon?"

Viv: "is she a princess?"

Viv: "Why those boys have that doggie?"

Me: "Well, I think they own him honey."

Viv: "What's 'own' mean?"

Me: "You know how we have kitty cat? Well, that means they have doggie."

Viv: "AND we have a daddy!"

"What's a 'tough noogies'?"

Ahhh, I look forward to many more smile-worthy moments :)

8 "Facts" We Learned From Our Preschooler This Week

8 "Facts" We Learned From Our Preschooler This Week

1. FACT: "Only girls can go to cheese parties." We're not sure what a cheese party is, but I'm sad Mike will not be able to attend.Also, imitation cheddar is unacceptable, so don't even try.

2. FACT: Boobs are made of feathers. "That's how come they are kind of like pillows."

3. FACT: A Yoga mat is actually just a "fashiony runway" and a "royal princess carpet." Don't question her on this, she will demonstrate how to properly walk like a "fashiony" person, and will insist you follow suit.

4. FACT: The Easter Bunny, like many celebrities before him, has decided to re-brand himself with a one- name moniker. Instead of Peter Cottontail, this season he'll  be "Just Cottontail."

5. FACT: Mike's job is to "write about boy things."

6. FACT: China is "on the other side of the lake shaped like a ballerina."

7. FACT: Clearly, "You can wear a tutu, sunglasses, patent-leather shoes an no undies" is practically word for word the same thing as "Go put on something comfy for mommy and me yoga." Yes, if you're Paris Hilton. However, this "fact" is highly contested in our household, lol.

8. FACT:  It is possible to remember the precise location you lost a sticker in a department store 6 states away, a boo-boo from a year and a half ago, and every word of every line from 'Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses,' but impossible to remember what your mom asked you to do 3 seconds prior. According to preschooler law, all requests to do something must be repeated at least 6 times and submitted in writing with a cookie bribe 24 hours in advance.

:-) Ahhh, she teaches us so much! :)

KIddo Craft: Melted Crayon Madness With My Little Lady

Have I mentioned how much I love doing artsy-craftsy projects with my little lady? Well, I do. In fact, you could say I *luff* it even..We have an abundance of crayons (and were inspired by the Sofia the First episode 'A Royal Mess), so I decided today's craft would be the 'ol wax paper-and-crayon "stained glass. My husband claims to never have done this, and I'm kind of in awe. I thought it was a childhood rite of passage to have to iron leaves and crayon shavings between two pieces of wax paper! But, I digress...

You know I remember this being MUCH less messy to do as a kid... :)

Low-Cost Valentine's Day

Or would that be LO-cost Valentine's Day? Hahahahahah..hahha..ha...mmm. Yes, I'm often a lot less funny out loud than i am in my head. ;-)
We're not huge into celebrating Valentine's day, although it's certainly fun to do crafts with Viv and all that! Here are the two little things Vivi and I made for Mike:
Photo Collage: This actually only took a few minutes to do each part! About 10 minutes to take the pictures, 10 minutes to edit them and add the text (we used Picasa), and about 3 minutes to print. Total cost: $3

Message in a Bottle:
I saw this idea on Pinterest, and when I came across the bottle at the dollar store, I decided it might be fun! I opted to remove the gaudy faux rose petals (Mike doesn't really dooo faux petals, and the pre-written (well what's the fun in that?) note. We replaced them with some M&Ms, a "Daddy and Me" picture Vivi drew, and large amount of stickers that all preschool-aged projects require. Total cost: $4

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kiddo Craft: "Magic" Message Painting

Is it spring yet? We spent this chilly afternoon doing some arts and crafts!

Using the clear crayon leftover from Easter egg dying (white crayons would work too, but our paper was slightly gray so I went with this) I created some pictures and messages for Viv to water color and discover what each one was. Easy-peasy and really fun for little ones! Viv  painted about 12 in all, but would have gone on all afternoon if I hadn't started running low on crayon :)

Preschool and a Letter

I was torn as to which blog to post 'First Day of Preschool' Pics on. It's kiddo related, but personal too... sooo, I posted the Pinterest 'First Day' project over at It's a Daughter's World.

To My Darling Child on Her First 'First Day' of School,

Today was the first time of many in years to come, where Daddy and I will drive you to school, introduce you to your teacher, and wave goodbye as you run off to play. While I'm sure that you will not likely greet each year with the same enthusiasm that you did today, Daddy and I promise to be just as proud, if not prouder, of you everyday as we were of you today. <3 p="p">

Warm House, Warm Heart

Amidst tornado warnings, family and friends gathered for our housewarming last evening. While I'm bummed that my outdoor "Olmstead Homestead"/Country Chic theme couldn't really be translated inside (the burlap table runner idea I found on Pinterest was a little toooo country-smelling for indoors), we had a lovely time with good food and great people! I can't think everyone enough for coming!
Here are a few pics from the party... I didn't take many because I was too busy chatting, and clearly my camera was not on the right setting, but oh wells...

First of all, can we talk about this amazing cake, made by my good friend's husband? It tasted as amazing as it looked!

Photo Credit: Josh Drown

Mike, The (blurry) Grillin' King!

 

Homemade Salsa.... drool worthy!

 

Live performance by Viv & Av, The Homestead Singing Duo

 

Prepped for an outdoor evening, but it was not to be!

And check out this awesome housewarming gift painted by our friend Brian! 

You can check other art here