Ducks & Cool Tricks

It's been horribly stormy and rainy around here lately, but we caught a bit of a break on Saturday afternoon, so we pulled out the wagon and took the boys on a walk to see the ducks in the ponds. It was absolutely freezing outside despite the sunshine, and Sawyer spent most of our walk asking us if he could go home because he was so cold. There were some huge puddles on the walking trails, so I spent a good deal of time trying to keep Sutton from splashing into each and every one of them along the way - you know how much that kiddo loves water! The boys both love seeing ducks in the pond, and hopefully next time it won't be so windy and cold so we can spend some time feeding them our old Cheerios.

All bundled up and ready to go

Big brother pointing out the duck family to little bro

Sutton was cooperative for family pictures, but Saw just would NOT sit still for two seconds!

My turn to pull the wagon! I've got super big and strong muscles!

Whee! Wagon rides are always great fun!

We spent Friday morning at Gigi's house playing with Stella for awhile, and the boys got some cute Valentine's Day presents from her and Grandma Ardy - Grandma got them Yo Gabba Gabba shirts - yay! We had movie night on Friday night, this time watching Ratatouille since Mitch hadn't seen it yet. It's pretty cute. Sawyer swears that all of the rats in the movie are named Ratatouille no matter how many times we try to tell him that they all have different names (and NONE of them are named Ratatouille!). We had a pretty low-key weekend and mostly stayed indoors since there was so much heavy wind and rain. We're looking forward to Sawyer's 3rd birthday party next weekend and Grandma and Grandpa coming up to visit.

Sawyer giving Stelly her Valentine card

Sutton, showing off the "Cool, cool, cool trick (yeah!)!" he learned from watching Yo Gabba Gabba...

More Pictures, Just Because...

The kids going crazy jumping on Sawyer's bulldozer bed



Holly and I doing an awesome job of display and pose with our cupcakes



Sutton, looking guilty (of being too cute!)

Sawyer, getting bigger and bigger every day. I can't believe he's almost THREE!

The newest addition to our Mommy-made felt food collection - a sprinkled donut!

Kiddos' Valentine's Party

Today the boys had a pre-Valentine's Day party with Hattie. The kids used tons of different stickers to decorate little mailboxes that we had picked up awhile back at the Target dollar spot, and they exchanged cute little cards with each other. Then came the fun part - sugar rush! We all munched on lollipops, smarties and yummy cupcakes until it was time for some non-sugary food, so we loaded up the car and took them to the indoor playground at McDonalds to let them burn off some of their energy for awhile.

The boys always have so much fun with Hattie when she comes over, and Sawyer is still befuddled as to why she can't just come back to our house and take a nap with him instead of going back to her own house to rest. He just truly never wants her to leave, which is really adorable most of the time. Before he went down for his nap today he told me, "Mommy, I love when Hattie comes to my house to play. She's so cutie, and I love her." Awww. Tomorrow the boy's are having a Valentine's Day party at Traci's house, so that means that Mommy gets to stay up late again tonight creating a second batch of treats to share with their daycare friends. It's a good thing that I really enjoy being a creative and crafty mama!




Sutton all decked out in festive red and ready to party



Sawyer & Hattie playing with blocks



Decorating his mailbox with tons of blue rhinestone flower stickers

It's hard work choosing which stickers to use next!

Hattie lending a helping hand in finishing Sutton's mailbox

Nothing says "I'm celebrating Valentine's Day" better than heart stickers all over your face!

The lovely cookies that Holly made for us (which we're not going to eat yet, because we want to wait and show Mitch when he gets home from work!)

Time for cupcakes, yay!

The glazed-over sugar coma stare lol

Weekend

Yesterday was Free Museum Day in Sacramento, and since we all know that f-r-e-e is my favorite four letter word, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to take the boys downtown to the Railroad Museum. We've been wanting to take them for awhile, but we never could justify the admission cost (what if they're bored and want to leave after ten minutes!?!), so free museum day was definitely the best way for us to check it out.

Apparently, every other family in the greater Sacramento area also had that idea because it was beyond crowded. We had expected it to be crowded though, so that wasn't exactly a shock, but we hadn't expected for it to be so darn hot in there with all those people crammed in! Seriously, you could barely move around in there, and there were long lines in and out of all the tour-through trains. Luckily, the trains are gigantic and abundant, so even though the place was packed the boys were still able to get their fill of choo choos for the day. Sutton especially liked pushing all of the buttons that make the display trains whistle and light up, and both boys enjoyed the listening station where you pick up a telephone receiver to hear a woman telling facts and stories about the old time railroad. I forgot to charge my new camera battery before we left the house, so I was only able to get a couple of pictures at the museum (with a couple additional photos borrowed from Holly's blog, because they visited the museum today too...bright and early in the morning when there were apparently WAY less people there. Good to note for next year!).

Sawyer looking at some of the tools of the railroad building trade

Sutton and I watching Thomas go around the track (via Mitch's camera phone)

Mitch and Sawyer checking out some of the displays of model and toy trains

Afterwards we walked around Old Sac for a little while and took the boys into the candy store for a treat (which I think was probably the highlight of the day for them!). We came home with the intention of having our weekend family movie night, but both boys were so tired out from their busy day that they went to bed early!

The Lollipop Guild with their tasty sugar rush

This week during school time we've been working with some of the new materials that I made last week. Sutton has been having a great time doing a pouring activity in which he transfers about 1/4 cup of dried split peas between his pitcher and a bowl. Sawyer and I have been working on numbers and number sequencing, his favorite being the activity where we take six dice and put them in numeric order. Both boys have been having fun with a new game where we use their magnetic fishing rod to sort a big bucket of objects into seperate magnetic/non-magnetic bowls. I'm so glad that they both seem to be enjoying their school work! Although I originally had only planned on doing school activities on the weekdays, Sawyer has asked to "do school" both days this weekend, and of course I was happy to oblige!

Sawyer matching up number cards with the correct amount of laminated red paper dots

Sutton perfecting his pouring skills

Just For Fun

I was browsing some of my favorite blogs looking for some printable Valentines cards since the boys are having a V-day party at Traci's next Thursday, and I ran across this fun website called Obamicon.me and couldn't pass up playing around with it. In case you don't recognize it, it's based off of the now famous Obama icon. Super cute and patriotic!

Home School

In my search for new activities to quench Sawyer's thirst for knowledge and creativity, I picked up a copy of "Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Preschool Years" by Elizabeth G. Hainstock. Ever since I worked at Montessori Center School in Santa Barbara, I've been a big fan of Montessori education for children that are of preschool age, mostly because I was able to witness first-hand the amazing tasks that the children were capable of accomplishing (and most of the time they were having FUN doing it!). This new book has provided me with some great ideas for setting up our own home "classroom." Since each day is a great opportunity for teaching and learning, I've decided that we are going to have "school time" every morning that the boys are home with me, schedule and errands permitting of course.

I've been making some of my own teaching materials for the past couple of weeks (thanks in large part to Holly for letting me borrow her laminating machine!), and the boys have responded even better than I thought. Sawyer's patience and concentration when he is immersed in a task never ceases to amaze me, and in true Montessori fashion I am letting him take the lead in choosing his own "work" so that he picks out things that he is truly interested in working with.

Today we cleared the toys and mess out of our front living room and brought in the boys' table and chairs and art easel to set up our school area. I chose this room because it has a lot of light and nothing (like television) to distract them from their learning. I was planning on having school time for about an hour, but I was pleasantly surprised that neither boy wanted to stop working, and we ended up spending almost two and a half hours in quiet work mode. Amazing! It totally set the tone for the rest of the day, and I was SO glad that the boys were both extremely patient and helpful with each other all day long.



Working together on an animal matching activity



Matching up toy animals with picture cards of the actual animal




Pattern making with the Connect Four game - Sutton's first time playing with the game, and he LOVED it enough to play with it for 45 minutes straight!



Sawyer matching up the colors from two identical paint chip strips (one whole and one cut into each individual color). He was really good at it!

Tracing his name on the chalk board

Wish List Update

With their birthdays coming up, I just wanted to add a quick note to let you all know that I have updated the boys' wish lists. I've made it a little easier to navigate by giving the boys each their own list instead of one combined list. If you're interested, just click on the wish list links on the right side of the blog. Thanks! :)

Friday & Saturday

On Fridays the boys are both at home with me, so this week I decided to try out some new Montessori inspired preschool activities with them. Sawyer is amazingly focused when he dedicates himself to a task, and I really hope that he gets into the Montessori preschool this summer (we're on the waiting list) because I think the environment would really benefit him. Plus, they teach the kids to wash up their own dishes after snack and to clean up and put one project or task away before starting another - who doesn't love that? Sutton did his own version of the "work" that Sawyer and I were doing, but since his attention span is next to nothing, I decided it would be better to just set him up with a painting project since he would be happy to paint all day if I let him.



Sawyer transferring lentils from one container to another with tweezers



Sutton in the process of making the hugest painting mess ever!


(This video is unedited due to time constraints and laziness, sorry lol!)



We decided on a whim that Friday night should be Family Movie Night, so we took the boys to Target to pick out a special new movie (Scooby Doo & the Relectant Werewolf) and snack (Teddy Grahams snack mix - yum!). Mitch set up the sofa bed and we settled in for the evening. The boys loved the movie (which was 91 minutes long - 61 minutes TOO long, in Mommy & Daddy's opinion), but most of all they loved being able to stay up late and getting to use the sofa bed. They stayed up until almost 10:00 p.m. (2 hours past bedtime!), yet unsurprisingly they were still up at 7:00 a.m. sharp this morning. We've learned that it definitely doesn't matter what time they go to bed, they'll always be awake at 7:00! Next Friday we might hit up the free family movie night screening of Madagascar 2 at the Twelve Bridges Library, just to change it up a bit.



All snuggled up and ready for some "Scooby Dude"


Saturday we cleaned out our cars (well, Mitch did the cleaning and I did the kid wrangling), and then decided to take a drive to Sun City to try to find the sheep and goats that have been grazing to "mow" the open areas there. Unfortunately, we got word that yesterday was the last day of the sheep and that they won't be back until Spring. The kids were really bummed, until Sawyer spotted the Twelve Bridges Library and asked if we could go there and get a new library card instead. When they're disappointed about something, I'm never more glad that they can instantly shift their focus like that!

We spent an hour at the library coloring and picking out a huge stack of new books to read and one dvd special about bugs. I really love spending time at the library, and Mitch was really impressed at how huge and nice their childrens section is. With recent cut backs, the library is now only open five days a week for about five hours at a time (which usually fall at naptime/dinnertime), so I was glad it was open for our spur-of-the-moment trip. This was the second time that the boys and I have visited the library in the past couple of weeks, and I have been really impressed that Sawyer seems to completely comprehend that he needs to be quiet and on his very best behavior when we're there. Sutton, on the other hand, gets bored after about five minutes and would like nothing more than to pull ALL the books off of ALL the shelves. Yikes!



Listening to a story at the library listening station



No day would be complete without some outdoor swinging time - Sutton was SO excited that I let him try out the big boy swing today (despite the fact that he was clinging to it with white knuckes for dear life)!

My Kitchen Helpers

I’ve wanted a Kitchen Helper for a long time now, because having the kids play chicken with each other while standing on chairs to “help” with dinner makes me a Nervous Nellie Mom, but there was no way I was going to fork over around $150 for one. Thankfully, I have an amazing husband who is extremely handy and who was willing to throw away three hours of his Saturday afternoon to create one for me out of stuff we already had lying around in the garage. The result may not be quite as pretty as the pricey one (just wait until I get it painted!), but it’s incredibly sturdy, amazingly awesome, and just what we needed! It also stores nicely in the little alcove by our water cooler, and though it's heavy, it's easy to move around when and where we need it - perfect!

Since the unveiling on Saturday evening, our new kitchen stool has been properly utilized for two batches of pancake making (chocolate chip and banana!), lemon muffins, chocolate chip cookies, several dinners and numerous art projects. The best part is that I can put it off to the side of the cook top so that the boys can watch as I cook the pancakes, and I don’t have to worry about them being unstable or moving their chairs too close to the hot area. No more “Pick me up!” all the time, yay! It truly is one of the most wonderful things to have around, and I can’t be more thankful to Mitch for making it for us!

Sawyer watching Mitch finish up the project

They loved it from the minute he brought it indoors!

Sawyer helping make chocolate chip pancakes

Sutton also seems to think it's a great stage to climb up and perform on!

As usual, we've had a very arts-and-craftsy week, so here are a couple of highlights. This week we're focusing on making Valentine's Day decorations, the Chinese New Year, and working with paint, Play Doh, and the hugely popular glitter and glitter glue.

Sutton sponge painting - his favorite!

Intensely focused on his Play Doh work



Our new glittery Valentine's Day banner

The boys checking out their glittery Chinese lanterns



Sawyer "being Daddy"