The boys and I went strawberry picking this morning with our mom’s group…something we’ve all been looking forward to since last year…with an added bonus…Daddy surprised us and walked in the door just before we were about to leave to let us know that he took the afternoon off from work to go with us!!! We had a big time picking strawberries, ate a picnic lunch afterwards, and enjoyed some homemade strawberry-honey popsicles for dessert.
This morning, while Tom was working in the garage and Roman was taking his morning nap, the boys and I headed out to the backyard to play. We played soccer and tried to replace the batteries in the cheering goal, and then we ended up moving the pavers from around the blueberry and raspberry to dig up the grass and weeds and add a little bit more soil. Then, I remembered a fun Pinterest idea of having kids paint bricks for garden pathways and decided that we TOTALLY needed to do that today. We busted out the drop cloth, smocks, wipes, paint-filled egg cartons, brushes, and pavers and the boys had a giant go of it. Yay for backyard sunny day fun and for the little boys who bring color to my life!!!
The boys and I LOVE going to storytime every week at the library. It’s always interesting with my three little wild men…they all pretty much act their age (haha). Jonas has gotten to where he sits quietly, pays attention, and responds to Mrs. Karen’s questions. Xander usually goes and gets a book and sits in my lap and then gets frustrated with Roman for trying to get into his space. And Roman likes to toodle around, giving moms and kids alike pats, looking in diaper bags, and pulling books off the shelf. We’re so thankful for our sweet and understanding librarian, Mrs. Karen. I snapped this picture of her with the boys today after story, craft, and snack time and after the boys had picked out their books. She’s been reading to them since Jonas was younger than Xander and Xander was in the Bjorn!!! Yay for our community and yay for the library!!!
The boys and I (to the exception of Roman) are feeling a little bit under the weather today, so we decided to just take it easy at home. While Roman was taking his morning nap, I loaded up my arms with snacks, drinks, paint, and paintbrushes and headed out into the front yard with Jonas and Xander to soak up a little sun. I saw a cute idea in passing on Pinterest the other day of painting rocks to look like Easter eggs instead of dyeing them. So, desperate for something to engage the boys in this morning, I grabbed some bark mulch and rocks from our flower bed and tossed them onto a cookie sheet with paint, a paintbrush, a sponge, and a wet wipe. They had a blast…I love how the differences in their personalities and in their ages come out in their artwork (check out their cookie sheet palettes…ha!). After the big boys went down for their afternoon nap, I took Roman out into the front yard so he could have some fun in the sun too…his favorite thing is the tricycle.
After we dropped Jonas off at preschool and laid Roman down for his morning nap, Xander and I enjoyed some Mommy/Xander time. We put together our solar system floor puzzle, played the Ladybug Game, started some seeds, and finger painted. We had the most fun trying out the pot press that MeMe gave us. Xander cut out the strips of newspaper, after I gave him a starter cut…go, Xander! And he and I both took turns rolling and press making the little seed starting pots. We ended up ditching the trowel for a spoon, while scooping out the soil, as it made it easier to fill up the small pots. Afterwards, Xander liked dropping water into each one with a medicine dropper (he also poured the whole glass on them too…haha). We are looking forward to watching these delphinium seeds sprout indoors (our squash and zucchini seeds are already sprouting, so that’s been really exciting for us) and to planting them outside in our garden soon. Yay for spring and for little hands to welcome it!!!
The boys and I had fun getting a jump start on our garden this morning by starting some seeds to sprout indoors (in toilet paper rolls, no less…I thought that was a great idea when I saw it, as they decompose after you plant them in your garden). A few of our good neighborhood buddies from our mom’s group joined us; and even though it was a little brisk out, we all enjoyed playing in a little spot of sun.
The boys and I had so much fun working on these toilet paper roll rockets today!
It has been SUCH a beautiful weekend…thank God!!! I never realize how tough the winter is for me until it starts to warm up outside and the sun starts shining…I feel like I’m emerging from a dream (waking up from a bad dream even, if I’m being honest). Anyway, so we’ve been spending a lot of time outside this weekend. The cold wind really started whipping up this morning, so the boys and I headed inside for a craft. They tried their little hands out on salt paintings, and they turned out really cool!
While Roman was taking his morning nap, I thought Jonas and Xander would enjoy sorting opposites (a fun activity I saw on Pinterest). I gathered up things from around the house and gave them each their own bucket of things to sort. They had a BLAST and did a great job sorting…hard and soft, heavy and light, and floats and sinks. (The floats and sinks things trumped them…but putting them in water, testing them out, and having a visual really helped.) So fun!!!
We woke up this morning to a beautiful snowfall…the boys and I couldn’t wait to get out in it after breakfast. They all enjoyed exploring and after Roman went down for his morning nap, the big boys had fun painting snow (I don’t think we’ve done that since Jonas was Xander’s age!!!)
The boys and I had a super fun play date with the Los (Nicole, Henry…one of Jonas’ best friends from preschool, and Oliver) this morning…
We are a little late in joining but decided to take part in the Toddler Approved Acts of Kindness Project this month. The first week’s challenge was to show some love to the environment, so we made bird feeders.
(It was a lot less messy in the making than I thought it would be, so that was good. The bird feeders turned out really sweet, but I think I had something off in the mix, as the ones we made didn’t stay together that well. Daddy figured out how to rig a few up to hang in the tree in our front yard, and the boys laid the rest on our front porch. Every day there’s a little less, so I think our feathered friends are appreciating the work of our little boys’ hands.)
So, I saw the CUTEST idea on Pinterest and asked Tom if he would be willing to make one for the boys and put it up on our fence in the backyard…a backyard chalkboard!!! How fun is that?!? Being the handyman that he is, Tom had it all set to go in just a few days. Here’s a picture of Xander helping him put the primer on and a few of all of the boys checking it out a few days later, after Jonas got home from school (he was still wanting to wear his coat backwards) and Xander and Roman woke up from their afternoon naps. It’s a hit all the way around. The boys have an absolute blast with it, and I love seeing their chalk art outside the kitchen window.
While Roman was taking his morning nap and before we headed out to the library for storytime this morning, the boys and I tried out a round of Indoor Masking Tape Games (balance beam, long jump, bullseye bowling, and hopscotch).
I saw a great idea this afternoon that a mommy friend had pinned on Pinterest…a Shape Hunt and Sort. I thought the boys would dig it, so I asked Tom to pick up some masking tape while he was out and we tried it before dinner. The boys LOVED it!!! Yay for the collective inspiring creative mind of Pinterest.
The boys made tissue paper collages this morning. I saw one on Pinterest that was really cool that got my wheels turning. (The ones the boys made ended up being WAY different but they still turned out really neat I thought). It was a great way to develop those fine motor skills (even though they ended up wadding up a lot of the tissue paper instead of tearing it) and to recycle all of that holiday tissue paper.
The boys and I put out the cranberry popcorn garland we made for our Christmas tree for the birds this morning…
The boys and I decided to spend this rainy Monday morning having fun at home. We all played together for a while after breakfast. Then, after I put Roman down for his morning nap, Jonas and Xander and I talked about numbers. Xander and I talked about the number one with books, puzzles, pom poms, and magnets, while Jonas and I talked about coins (sizes and colors of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters…he’s really into patterns and sorting right now….so he had fun sorting a bag of coins). Afterwards, I thought it would be neat to try out one of the Play, Create, Explore 120 + Activities for Ages 1 – 4 (Toddler Science: Oil and Water + Food Coloring). It was really cool! Since they love to help me cook, we made some of MeMe’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies…a great treat that was fun to make and to enjoy after a good lunch.
After we dropped Jonas off at preschool, picked up a bag of fresh cranberries at Publix, and laid Roman down for his morning nap, Xander and I made some cranberry popcorn garland for our Christmas tree. He picked out his favorite cranberries and pieces of popcorn while I threaded them, using my Granny’s thimble. It’s such a natural and pretty holiday decoration, strung with love…and it makes me happy!!! I know it will make the boys SUPER happy to hang it up on our back porch after Christmas and watch the birds enjoy a nice winter’s treat.
