Keeping Autumn Busy

Autumn starts preschool in a week and I am so excited. I think she would be more excited if she understood more what I meant by saying she was going to be going to school. To her, she thinks she will be going to nursery (a 2 hour play & snack class for toddlers at church) an extra 3 times a week. What I am most excited about is she is going to the preschool at the elementary school, so she will be on the schools schedule for breaks, and be in a school environment. I even get to go to Meet The Teacher night on Thurs. I think it will really help with the transition to school when she starts Kindergarten. We have to walk through the main area of the school to get to her classroom, so she will get to see a lot of the school everyday. Even though this elementary school isn't where she will attend Kindergarten she will still be used to the environment and busyness of a school setting. In preparing Autumn for preschool I started doing a craft time with her this summer. It's been something we have both enjoyed. It's helped me see how truely smart she is, and when I give her something to do assuming it will be at a level above her capabilities she surprises me and has no problem with the task. It has helped me see the things she knew (which I didn't know she knew) and helped her review things she has always known. But the main reason I did it was to set aside a small time each day to have her sit and listen to instruction. Because preschool will be very structured, which she needs, and I know they will do crafts and activities and I wanted her familiar with scissors, glue, paint, and markers and following basic instructions. A few times I have let Weston participate but it's usually just me and Autumn sitting at the table, which Autumn loves the one on one attention and it's usually when she is on her best behavior because of it. So get ready for a lot of pictures!

Here Autumn is working on gluing square black and yellow pieces of construction paper to make stripes on a bee. We talked about bee's, the sound they make, and the colors black and yellow.

This craft is one I thought would be over her head. I printed 3 flowers in different sizes in 2 colors. She had to first match the color flower then match it to the right size. This activity included us discussing big, medium, and small, and the colors blue and orange. After correcting her once she totally understood what I was talking about and matched the remaining flowers perfectly.

This was a fun activity, I know she can count to 20, and I knew she recognized numbers up to fifteen, but just to watch her count and find the corresponding number that went with it was cool. Unfortunately the way I set up the paper we only went up to 9, but this week I plan to do 10 through 20.

This is a collage Autumn made, we had left over construction pieces and I let her cut them into different shapes and sizes. This was a day I clearly hadn't thought out a craft and she was begging to do a craft. We have done collages twice. This picture is of the one she made for my mom.

I printed out a paper doll online, I let her color it, I cut it out, and then I gave her free reign as to how the body was supposed to look, and let her put it together like a puzzle. It's not perfect, but to a 3 year old I am sure it was exactly right. And trust me, the hardest part for me in this process is letting her not be perfect, not correcting her to put something in the right place, letting her figure it out...I like to take control and if I could've I would have put the arms in the right spot to show her where they really go, but I like the way she did it.

The week of the 4th of July we did a flag, instead of cutting out 50 stars I cut out small squares, but while she put the flag together I had a flag on the laptop for her to look at. We discussed red, white, and blue, flags, and following a pattern. (the stripes) She did a great job.

This activity was a flower. I precut flower petals and had them randomly sitting all over the table. I had her find the number one and glue it on, then she had to tell me what number came next, find it, and glue it on. This was a fun and easy one.

This was one of the first activities we did. Autumn got to cut out circles, and glue them on a ladybug. This was a very easy craft, but one she loved- she always talks about her ladybug.

This is a lion, we talked about lions, the sound they make. I had all the pieces cut out for her and drew on a piece of paper what the lions face looked like, and she put the pieces on perfectly. We also talked about yellow and orange.

I precut circles, squares, and triangles in 3 different colors and had her match the correct shape. We discussed the 3 shapes and orange, yellow, and pink. I knew she knew the shape of a circle, I was surprised she knew square before I even told her. Since this activity she has learned triangle.

Yes, I realize this is a yellow snoman. I have tons and tons of construction paper, and I am out of white, so we used yellow. We talked about snowmen (Frosty), circles, and the color yellow. With this I had also drawn what a snowman looks like and she took all the pieces, big and small and glued them on correctly.

I think this was her favorite, it was different from cutting, gluing and matching. And super easy. We did a bunch of these because they turned out so different. We made tie dyed wipes. Basically wrap up a wipe, put rubberbands on it, and color with a marker. Let dry and admire!

Autumn is painting a styrofoam bowl green for a turtle shell. Then I cut out black pieces of construction paper for the head, arms, legs, and tail and had her glue them on where she thought they went. We talked about turtles, green, and black.

Even Weston has surprised me. This is his ladybug and bee. Although Weston probaby did the 2 most simplest crafts. I am still proud.

So what do you do with all these crafts?

Hang them up. We do the crafts after Autumns nap so when Drew gets home the activity is still fresh in her mind and she loves pointing out to him what she did that day. Whenever grandma or her aunt comes over she says, "Come on. Look. Crafts." Its fun to see her so proud of her work and she will point out each one and tell them about it. Which is great for reviewing her numbers, shapes, colors, and animals. I also have tons and tons of coloring pages covering my fridge from days when I didn't get a craft prepared in time. I can't wait for Autumn to start preschool and see all the new things she learns. She really loves to learn and it seems to come so easily to her.

A Messy Dinner Makes For Great Pictures

I am not one for messes, but being pregnant has lead me to having many days where I don't feel like eating, and so sometimes a messy dinner, is the easiest and quickest dinner to throw together for everyone else. Like spaghetti. So I have learned to avoid stained clothes, they eat w/no shirts on, and to plan these messy dinners on bath nights to ensure that I get them completely clean. Because somehow Weston just knows how to get it everywhere. My kids love pasta, and for whatever reason, once they're done their messy faces make for the cutest pictures. 

Since I knew we would be going outside to play right after eating, I figured since they would play in the water, it would make for less cleaning on my part. Wrong.

Plus-they were already messy, and dirty I figured Hawaiian Punch freezer pops would be sticky perfection!

Autumn enjoying hers:

Weston has more sensitive teeth, and eats his more carefully.

By round two (which they both asked for more) Weston was done, his mouth was too cold.

Our Backyard Friend

Every night after dinner we strip the kids down and let them go play in the backyard in the sprinklers. It's an easy and great way to get energy out before bed while the yard is mostly shaded and the temps are somewhat bearable. Drew is in the process of landscaping our backyard, and 2 weeks ago he rototilled the yard, put in a sprinkler system, and laid grass.  His next project for it is laying pavers to extend our patio and putting in rock, trees and in the fall planting a garden. The kids have loved having grass as much as we have. It's been so fun to go out everynight and let the kids play in the water. Mainly it's Autumn playing in the water, and once the cycle runs Weston enjoys running in the wet grass and kicking balls.

Well one night Drew was putting together his lawn mower and found a baby lizard. Autumn & Weston were completely fascinated by it. Autumn loved holding it, and Weston- well his big man hands wanted to just squish it, so he never held it for long. Autumn still talks about the lizard and looks for it every night we go out there. Drew has seen him, but those things are fast, so he hasn't been successful in catching him again.

Autumn did really well with it:

Here it is in Autumns hand:

Weston wanted a turn, but Drew had to quickly rescue the lizard from Westons hands wanting to squeeze it:

Just so you get an idea of how tiny he is, this is it on Drews index finger:

We are keeping an eye out for our backyard friend. Autumn just can't stop talking about the lizard, and even found a box and has set it aside for when we catch him again.

Your Experience Needed!

I am on day 2 of potty training and need some advice and 'know hows' from moms who have done this and been successful. Day 1 was a complete success and I couldn't believe how well it went. I took Autumn and sat her on the toilet every 20 min and she peed (just a tiny bit- but still) almost every time she sat on the toilet. We had 2 accidents in the early morning, back to back, but once she went in the potty and saw all the praise she got from then on we only had one accident, and it was while I was making dinner and I lost track of time. So the stats for yesterday were 3 accidents and 10 successful potty experiences. Well so what I need help with is how long do I keep taking her to the potty every 20 min? Today I am stretching it to every 30 min because when I see her hands start wandering or she tugs on her underwear I know it's time to run to the bathroom, so if I don't see any cues I just go 30 min. Because even then what does go in the potty is very minimal but it's better in there than on my floors. How long do I keep up the pattern of taking her so often, and when do I start waiting for her to tell me she needs to go? This is my 4th time attempting potty training with her, and it has been such a breeze...for now. She starts preschool in Aug. and has to be potty trained by then. So I figured I have to do it now- I am out of time. So! Let me know your routines and what worked for you. We do have a reward system, yesterday she got a lollipop after her first potty in the toilet, and she was so happy she never licked it, just held on to it, and so from then on I rewarded her with 2 m&m's and we are doing the same today- I will save lollipops for when she goes #2. Any tips and ideas on what to do from here are welcome!!

My Thoughts

My thoughts are similar to almost everyone who posted their opinion on my son sleeping with a doll (which only happened once, but I found it so comical). I really don't care that Weston loves all the same things his sister does. I think it's only natural because he sees her playing with it and doesn't think there is anything weird or funny about him choosing to play with her things too. He loves his sister, so he loves what she loves so that they can play together and have fun with one another.

Here's more proof, of my boy- enjoying what his sister enjoys:

Her new Minnie Mouse headband:

He was playing dress up with her, obviously he thought a tie should be worn under Snow Whites dress:

Her pretty princess tiara, he prefers this one over the Aurora tiara:

And her pink sunglasses, this is my fault, Autumn has 2 pairs, Weston none....so what's a boy to do?

I don't encourage the bahavior, but I don't discourage it either. My husband, luckily, feels the same as I do. There will come a day (hopefully sometime before he starts school to avoid being picked on) that he will realize Princesses, Barbies, tiaras, dress up clothes, and pink sun glasses aren't his thing and they aren't fascinating anymore. He loves balls, cars, and playing in the dirt. So while he may enjoy his sisters things, he is all boy as well. We put the kids outside and Autumn grabs the bubble blower, her baby stroller, or sidewalk chalk and Weston looks for balls, the rocks and plays in the dirt. Thats when we see the differences in our girl and boy. 

I don't think my husband cares because he grew smack dab between 3 sisters, he grew up playing with them, doing their hair, and having "sleep overs" in their room, because he loved the time with his sisters. But his mom will be the first to tell you, when he wasn't with them, he was outside with his dad in the yard or under the stairs playing in the mud. So while he enjoyed things his sisters did, he also loved the boyish things and to this day Drew will give me pedicures, and help me if I missed a section of hair when curling it, but he does constantly talk to Weston about fishing and hunting... I hope Weston has that quality too.

Your Thoughts-

I just wondered what your thoughts are on this:

I have formed my own opinion of my son loving his sisters doll (and Barbies, and bows, and tiaras). Even to the point where the only way I could get him to take a 2nd nap yesterday was to lay him down with the doll. So your thoughts?? Your spouses thoughts?? 

I will post my thoughts and my husbands opinion later. I am just curious.

yes- the sheet is pink- i can explain that later too. For now- he had a bad stomach bug and since putting the pink sheet on his bed, he hasn't had any issues at night.

Surprise Texas Trip

My sister and I had planned since Dec. to go to Texas for my mom's birthday since neither of us and our families were able to make it for Christmas. Then once the time came for seriously planning and setting dates and organizing both of us going we decided to surprise my mom for her birthday. The only person we told was my dad, because we needed someone to pick up my sister and her son from the airport and we wanted to be apart of birthday celebrations he had planned. None of our other siblings knew we were coming until just a few days before we got there so that they didn't make any plans because my moms birthday fell just a couple of days before Easter and some might plan to go out of town to see other family. The surprise was perfect. I wasn't there to see my moms reaction to when my sister and her son got there but I can only imagine it was something similar to the reaction she got once she saw my little family. Which my sister in law has those pictures. As soon as we pulled into town we went straight to my brothers house where we bathed the kids and got them ready for the day (apparently Autumn gets car sick after awhile and threw up twice when we were only a few hours away). When my mom and my sisters got to my brothers house we had Autumn open the door, and as soon as she opened the door Autumn said, "Hi Grandma!" I heard my mom gasp and Drew and I stepped out from behind the wall and told her happy birthday. She kept saying, "What are you doing here?" and "How did you get here?" She was truely surprised and never saw it coming. She had all 5 of her kids and all her grandkids together for her birthday. It was a lot of fun to spend her birthday with everyone and to do all the Easter festivities too. It's only my sister and I in AZ and all the rest of our family is in TX. So it was a lot of fun for everyone! Here are some pictures to highlight our trip.

Lots of fun and playing with Grandpa.

Painting Easter eggs. My sister in law found these awesome egg painting sticks at walmart, they look like Q-Tips and you break the top off and all the paint goes down into the other end and kids are able to paint and draw on the egg with them. Perfect for little kids.

The bigger kids painted eggs the more traditional way. :)

Here are the kids baskets and Easter outfits. I wasn't awake when the kids got up and went through their baskets so there is no pictures of the sheer joy they had.

We also went to the Dallas Zoo- my nieces preschool class was going and we got there late, which worked out great because some of the parents and kids who paid didn't show up so we all got to go in free, even though there was 5 extra people. This will get its own post later.

Autumn and her new BFF. She would ask to play with her whenever we weren't with her. She really loves her cousins.

We enjoyed lots of playing and all of Grandma's toys. Especially the shopping cart which Weston would climb into and sit in until someone pushed him around.

We went out to eat a lot. Here is Autumn  and my dad and sister when we met my dad for lunch at Pappadeaux's.

I don't have my moms pictures or my sister in laws yet. Otherwise I could post a ton more about what we did. That can be a later post. We had so much fun. I never thought that so many people could pull off a surprise like this, there were so many times when people almost let it slip and I know it had to be hard. It was hard enough for me. :)