Crafty

I have become quite crafty.  I decided to actually look at pinterest (I may be recanting my declarations of pinterest evil) and found some fun things for the kids to do.  My goal is not to be super educational or be super mom - but to keep them busy and to keep Julia patched.  So here are some of our recent fun things.  Beware - there are a LOT of pics in this post.

Playing kitchen

 

 

Playing with the kindle

 

 

We made some homemade sidewalk chalk paint.  The kids both really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

This was the second batch.  I had to make more blue for Jed.

 

 

 

We made food color ice cubes to have some fun.  We put them in a bin of water and then in the pool.

 

 

 

 

 

I went to the dollar store and for a small investment was able to get a ton of fun things.  I got a bunch of sponges and squirt bottles and the kids spent a good hour "cleaning" on the deck.

 

 

 

 

Today we were archaeologists.  I froze some toy dinosaurs in some water and Jed tried to "excavate" them.  He tried to hammer it.  Then tried squirting water in it.  After some discussion, he figured out that if he threw it in the pool it would melt like the ice cubes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did some more food coloring ice cubes today too.

 

 

 

See the sticky from her patch?

 

 

 

 

Then we had a "car wash" with Jed's toy cars.

 

 

 

 

Seriously, I love dollar tree.  I was able to get even more supplies for some additional summer fun.  They have all sorts of things like butterfly nets, sand toys, sponges, popsicle sticks, etc.  Cheap way to have a bit of fun.  And check out pinterest.  We are still going to try some "summer snow," goop, and play doh.

  

Picking, Pool and Popsicles...with a Patch!

We've been enjoying our summer immensely.  I've been trying to find things to keep my munchkins busy.  It hasn't been easy.  Monday, we went strawberry picking.  It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed it.

 

Jed seemed to enjoy picking them.  Julia spent most of the time eating them!

 

 

 

Here are some more pics.  Julia actually left her patch on while picking.  Patching has become quite a struggle again so finding anything to keep her occupied and keep her hands off her face is a bonus.

 

 

 

 

Jed finally ate one!

 

 

After putting the strawberries safely in our fridge, we headed to the pool.  The water was still chilly, so we didn't stay too long.  But the kids had fun (although Julia is not a fan of the water).  Jed found several frogs and splashed around while Julia ate snacks and sat with Mom.

 

A new patch, but keeping it on!

After coming home from the pool (and taking a nap), we went onto the deck for popsicles.  This is a messy affair, so we had baths right after (with glow sticks) but I didn't take pics of the bath.

This is one of my favorite pics of Jed.

So that was our Monday!  We've been to the playground, painting, gone to Chick-Fil-A and a million other things.  I literally try to plan 10 things for the day to keep them occupied and try (quite desperately) to get Julia to keep her patch on.  She has become such a stinker and will simply rip it off and hand it to me.  Then she runs! 

So if anyone has advice for how to keep her patch on, let me know.  I'm not sure what else to try.  And any ideas for activities, give me those too! 

I'll keep you posted on our summer adventures!





 

 





The start of summer

Summer has officially arrived in our household!  We just finished our first full week off of school.  So far we have been to the playground/splashpad, went to the pool (where it thundered and we had to leave), the indoor playground at the mall, the indoor playground at McDonald's, the dentist and strawberry picking.  Just to clarify - we didn't actually get to pick strawberries because we got there at 11:30 and they closed at 11:00.  Epic mom fail.  So we ended up at McDonald's.  Happy meals and a playland will save the day anytime!

Jed did awesome at the dentist.  This is probably because we see the most awesome dentist in the whole world - my sister!  He was more than willing to open his mouth for Aunt Jenn and hopefully next time he will let her "tickle his teeth."

We went to the playground and met our vision specialist there.  She observe Julia on the equipment and both of us are amazed at how well she does.  She was timid at first (but most toddlers are) but then she attacked the slides and other equipment with gusto. 

I am sure the rest of the summer will be just as much fun as this last week has been.  We are putting in a swing set, which will help with the day to day boredom.  Jed rides his bike everyday and we love sidewalk chalk and baseball in the front yard.  If you know of any other fun activities for us to try, let me know!

I promised some pics of Jed's birthday party, so here they are!  He actually had two parties.  One with my family and one with James' family.  Lucky boy.

Cake!

 

This is about as crafty as I get.

 

Julia loved the cake too....the different reflections in her eyes still scares me.

 

Jed got a lawnmower that blows bubbles.

 

And he got a new Lightning McQueen bike.

 

He wore the helmet the rest of the day.

 

And now for some summer pics.  We fully embrace our redneck side here.  We didn't have a pool, so we improvised.

 

 

 

We've been rocking out on a regular basis.

 

We finally got a pool.

 

Julia is not a fan of the pool but likes to hang on the deck

 

Books are a daily occurrence.  This is one of his favorites, "Happy Birthday Hamster."

 

Julia loves to play with her dolls.

 

 

I'll keep you posted on our summer adventures!  And seriously, if you have any ideas for toddler friendly activities (that are not too crafty), let me know!  We are always looking for fun things to do.  (Next week we are strawberry picking, cutting up empty toilet paper rolls to bead on string, going to the pool and maybe setting up a slip and slide.  And we are working on potty training.  More on that to come...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VOTE!

I entered Julia in a photo contest for the Children's Eye Foundation.  They are going to pick 12 photos to be in their promotional calendar.  That would be awesome!

What would be more awesome is to win the voting contest.  The top 10 pictures receiving the most votes win a new digital camera.

So take a moment and go to this website and vote for Julia.  You can vote once every 24 hours.  Her pic is labeled "Fall Fun."

I would appreciate it!  Thanks!  Here is the website:

Vote for Julia Here

Just living life

Things in our household have been good.  The weather is finally getting warm, the kids have been behaving (most of the time) and school is almost out for the summer!

Summer starts next week!  I will have 9 weeks at home with my kiddos and we are planning all kinds of fun activities this summer.  We are already signed up for swimming lessons, and I am hoping to be able to go to the zoo, Purina Farms, Grant's Farm and other local attractions.

It is warm!  Julia decided it was more fun to play IN the sand table.

 

Cooling off in the heat!

 

 

Jed had a great birthday. I will have to post some pics later. He got an awesome Lightning McQueen bike and helmet. Everyday, when I pick him up from daycare, he immediately asks to go outside and ride his bike.

 

Playing in the sprinkler!

 

Julia has started preschool! Well, sort of. Because she receives services from First Steps (early intervention), she qualifies for a weekly class at the local early childhood special education center. My wonderful mother has been picking her up from daycare and taking her there every Friday. Next year she will have class 2 times a week. We are still trying to figure out the daycare situation, but overall, I think this class is great for her. It is social activities with other toddlers her age. The class is run by a certified special education teacher with training in vision impairments (she has tons of training in all kinds of disabilities).

 



She found a patch and tried to put it on herself.

 

We love the new patches from Ortopad.  Julia thought the block needed to patch

 

 

Jed and Julia had their check ups at the pediatrician.  Both kids are growing and healthy.  Jed weighs 32 pounds and is 37 inches tall.  He is only in the 30% for height!  My little peanut.  Julia weighs 22 lbs and is 32 inches tall.  She is closer to 50% in height.  They are both growing so much and I am constantly amazed at how much they understand and talk!

 



Waiting for the doctor.

 

Julia is talking more.  She can say mommy, daddy, cup, down, outside, baby, night night, bye bye and a few others I am probably forgetting.  He doesn't say "no" yet (and I am thankful for that!).  When you ask her something, she says, "uh huh, " instead of yes.  It is so cute and my heart melts every time.  She is a snuggler and loves to be held.

Jed is talking up a storm.  Complete sentences and phrases and asks lots and lots of questions.  I swear his favorite word is "why."  He loves his bike and his favorite movie is "Wreck it Ralph."  He likes to pretend he is shooting the cybugs during the movie.  I swear he can quote the thing he ha seen it so much.  He can't wait to go deer hunting with daddy and I don't have the heart to tell him that it will be many years before he is big enough for that.

Ready for church!

Hanging with the bears.

 

Julia got herself a shiner!  She ran into a wall at daycare and her glasses pushed into her face.  She had a small cut and a large bruise.  She is pretty klutzy, yet fearless, which isn't a good combination.  Right now her knees and legs are completely scraped up from climbing and jumping off of things.  The lack of depth perception doesn't help either!

You should see the other guy!

 

I promise I will post some pics from Jed's birthday soon!  Hopefully I'll have more time to blog once school is out for the summer. 

 

All is well with the EYE.  Patching is going okay (it could be better, I'm not going to lie) and she is wearing the bifocals like a champ.  We see the eye doc in July and will have more EYE info then.