Project 52: week fifty

June 1-7, 2014

 

Sunday Snapshot:

When all the kids wake from nap and we aren't finished with the garage....just make it a pool party!

 

 

This weekend's project was cleaning the garage! Our Easter decorations were still sitting in a pile to be put away because the box it went in was buried under other boxes.  We have a lot of Christmas decorations that take up a lot of boxes! So as Brent was putting away the Easter decorations for me he decided it was time to build some shelving. 

 

So proud of his handiwork! He built these right into the studs in the wall so they are super secure and give us SO much more space!! With two double strollers, a tricycle, toddler bike, adult bike and baby cart for the back, we need all the space we can get!

His next project is going to be suspended shelving from the ceiling so we can store the kids' clothes in plastic bins up there!

Colt supervising his older siblings

Sunday night Tank and Grandma came over to pick up Raelynn for a sleepover.  But Tank couldn't get away without reading Frozen to the kids!!

 

This week in our "tot school" time we are reading "The Snowy Day" as well as "Frozen" so we had to have a snow ball fight of our own.  SO FUN! The kids enjoyed it for a while...but I think mommy and daddy had the most fun!

My teammates taking a break to taste a snowball (aka marshmallow!)

 This kid.  One of a kind, he is.  And I can't believe he is going to be two years old next month.  Declan is such a super kid.  He is talking more and more every day.  It is so sweet to see how he loves others--especially his sister and best friend, Elliana.  He shows love to all, but with her he has a very special relationship.  He looks out for her like a big brother.  He is always often sharing his toy or snack with her without prompting.  If I give him a drink or snack his first reaction is "yana?" And she is who he asks for when he wakes up and walks down stairs looking for her.  

He loves reaching for "ights" ALL the time now.  Our lights are constantly flickering:)  Declan is also showing his obedience when I say "clean up" and that is all I have to say and he is picking up all the food from the play kitchen set or all the blocks from his building set.  I don't have to give him specifics--he sees it and does it.  Sometimes I will grow impatient wondering why he isn't coming downstairs when I told him to or coming to sit at the table because he is still in the other room--and I will go check and he is picking up his toys! He likes to please his mama!

 

 

 

We LOVE our little pool! The kids get in it almost every day and every night after dinner!

 

Frozen is everywhere....this makes the kids excited about going grocery shopping! :)

 

We have started a new little family tradition at Grandma and Tank's house called "Swim and Din" on Friday nights.  We were happy Kyle and Ashley were back after 5 weeks in Ethiopia and we could all be together!

The water was a little cooler than mama's liking, so we hung out in the little pool which feels warmer!

Grandma enjoying all the grandkids together again

 

Saturday we went to a Diamondbacks game as a family.  The kids did well and it was a lot of fun!

BFIAR: The Snowy Day (and tot school: circles and white)

Books: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and Frozen (Little Golden Book) by Disney
 

 
 

 

Color Focus: White

Shape focus: Circle

Ages: 18 months, 23 months, 40 months


This week's story was The Snowy Day and it was so fun! SO many things to do with snow.  This was my first attempt at focusing on a shape and color.  It's a little more effort to do that, but just takes some pre-planning. 
Circles are definitely an easy shape to do because they are everywhere and they tied in perfect with snowmen, snowballs, and snow.  And if we are going to be reading about snow I figured we had to tie in something that is quite popular with our kids right now--Frozen!!  Amazon had the Little Golden Book for $2.99 a couple weeks ago so I couldn't resist to get it.  We read it every.single.day.

Do you want to build a snowman?  Our felt board for the week:

Circles for pizza night!

Fine Motor practice: stringing circle noodles onto spaghetti

 

 

Drawing with chalk.  Olaf was making his appearance everywhere this week!

More motor skills practice: scooping and grabbing "snow" in circle cupcake tin

 

 

Dot markers--more circles!

 

 

Declan needs practice with sorting so I pulled this out one day because it had circles

 

Circle stickers!

 

Circle poker chips. We found them while cleaning the garage.  Mommy knew that she could put them to use:)

 

 

Fun with marshmallows: painting, stacking, counting, stringing on a skewer

 

 

and the most fun was a snowball fight!!

 

I refrained from taking pictures and just enjoyed the moments with my kids.  It was so fun! They liked hiding behind the forts so they could go try to eat the marshmallows, haha.  Mommy and Daddy had fun with it!

 

In The Snowy Day, Peter makes tracks with his feet in the snow.  They had fun making tracks in white play dough. We got a variety of animals out and compared the footprints. 

 

We had a lot of Frozen printables this week.  We didn't get through them all!

 

 

 

The Snowy Day printables:

Doing a story retell with pictures

 

Number clips: her first time doing this with the clothespins and she did so well! Definitely will repeat this!

 

She circled all the "S" on the page and all while Mommy was upstairs--she was so pleased with herself!

 

Resources:
 Frozen Q-tip printables
Frozen Tot Pack
The Snowy Day printables
Borax Snowflakes


 

Project 52: week forty-nine

May 25-31, 2014

 

Sunday Snapshot

This is one of my favorites! Declan smirking a bit and Everyone is looking:)

My helpers in the kitchen prepping our side dish for a Memorial Day party.

 

 

Happy Memorial Day!

 

 

We went to a party at the Gonzales' house! The kids loved playing in the pool. Declan was so brave--as soon as he saw an older boy go off the diving board he marched right up there all by himself and wanted to jump off! No fear!  He did it over and over again! Here he is just jumping off the side, which he loved too!

 

Colt is getting so big! He is sitting up better and better, but still falls over if not propped up with the boppy around him.  He enjoys the jumper so much! The only door frame it works in downstairs is the front closet, so it is nice to have him in there while I play with the kids on the floor.  But soon as he jumps more he will  bonk his head!

 

Enjoying a 'water popsicle' for his teething gums.

fresh and clean!!

Colt enjoys the swing! It's hard to capture a smile though while he is moving.

The twins of my heart. 

 

This picture would be much more entertaining if Colt was screaming his head off, I'm sure.  Mama was so grateful that even though I forgot his paci in the car, Colt fell asleep.  This. Never. Happens.  Normally he has a very hard time falling asleep even with a paci. 
So this is us in the store and me snapping a photo of Colt sleeping to send to daddy.  And what do I notice on the screen in the back ground? These two.  So hilarious.  Declan kept feeding her the cheese and then they would crack up.  He would put it in her mouth and then pull it out and say "no no no" and they would laugh.  That was, until she turned her head and he poked her in the eye with the corner of the cheese wrapper (ouch!).  Then she had burst into tears.  Very loud tears.

 

 

Enjoying another Saturday at a splash pad!!

 

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