Growing up

I know I know a week break turned into a couple. It is interesting how getting out of the groove of something totally throws you off. Well around our house lately I feel like a lot of growing up has happened. Will started pre-school a couple weeks ago and LOVES it! He tells me all about his friends he plays with and the songs he sings. I love to see his face all lit up when I pick him up. Here is a picture of him on his first day.

These two kiddos are hilarious together! Karlie suddenly thinks it is a blast to wrestle with brother and sometimes can not stop laughing at him. She just thinks he is the coolest. A few of them together on Will's first day of school before we left.

I think the day I realized that Will was growing up so fast is the day he learned to pump his legs by himself on the swings. Wow, it really hit me a few weeks ago when he finally caught on to that. He looks sooo big! The time goes by so fast. He also started playing in a fall soccer league. Here he is cheesing it up with the soccer pose. Go Will!

"W" is for Will

Finger painting is always a blast! This time we laid masking tape down first and then painted the whole paper like crazy. After it was all dry we gently peeled the masking tape away.  Will's eyes really lit up with amazement! Not only is the result way awesome, but it is also a good lesson on negative space. This one might need a frame to go over his bed. :)

Go Outside!

{Make time for Creative adventures.}

More Sensory Tubs!

The Construction Sensory Tub has been Will's favorite by far! It is his little indoor sandbox. We put this together maybe a month ago, but since the nice weather came we have been out in the big outdoor one. We will save this one for rainy days. :)

*included with the construction sensory tub: playing sand, two plastic construction equipment tractor things(i have no idea what the names are), wooden blocks, two plastic orange cones, popsicle sticks, two scoops, and several sand molds.

He also liked racing his micro cars through the sand as well.

...and then of course putting them into their appropriate ice cube garage stalls when done. :)

I have not shared with you several other sensory tub themes that we have done. Here are a couple that I took pictures of...

Rainbow Sensory tub (an I-Spy themed tub)- I gave him a list of things and how many of each object he needed to find.

*included inside: magnifying glass for searching, one scoop, pipe cleaners, plastic beads (different colors, shapes, and some animals), string to put beads on, stickies, variety of pom pons, foam blocks, plastic colorful shapes, and the plastic magnet letters that spell out "rainbow."

Ocean Sensory Tub

*included: water, variety of sea animals (fish, sharks, dolphins, whales, etc.), marbles, glass beads, one scoop, sea shells, and a couple of cups.

He loves his sensory tubs, but by far he has loved his indoor sandbox the best. He could play in it for hours...and of course making me dig into it too. :)

Videos!

I have been meaning to post these for you sis...and the rest of you all. :)

*Karlie giggles*

*Karlie's first time swinging*

Those were the sweet videos, and now on to the hilarious...

The first beautiful day after being cooped up inside for the winter. You think he was excited to run free in the sand with his shoes off?

*The Sand Dance*

...and this last one, oh dear. I think it is even funnier that Will wanted to keep watching it over and over again and laugh at himself.

*Super Will*

For the Love of Playdough

Will would sit all day and play with playdough...that is of course if I am sculpting everything he demands me to. :)...

Our family of snowmen. (Dad is the green one because we ran out of white playdough)

My attempt at Buzz Lightyear. :)

Our cupcake creations. Mine is white cake with strawberry frosting and sprinkles. Will said his was a green monster cupcake with lots of blueberries. :)

...My cutie...

cold, not so cold, and cold again

What a crazy week...It hit 60 degrees mid week and then down to like 10 degrees by the end of the week. In January!! Crazy, but I love it! I am not much of a winter person. If it wasn't for the beautiful fall, I think I could go live at the beach. :)

Last weekend we took Will ice skating for the time. He had a blast! At first I thought it was going to be a disaster for is all he did was play limp legs and Thad was bent over dragging him through the ice. The first lap around took like 10 minutes, then he finally started to catch on. He really liked watching his daddy skate. Thad used to play hockey so he was super speedy. Then we had Will try to skate with a cone, but it wasn't until about 15 minutes before we left that he started to catch on to moving one foot in font of the other and he was able to hold on to Thad's hand and balance with the wall on his other side. Every time he fell he wanted to make snow angels...we don't know why, but it was pretty funny to watch. :) He really liked it, and it really wore him out. I think next time we go he will really start to take off.

Then mid-week it started to warm up so we pushed our winter activities to the side and went to the zoo! I was so excited to make use of our membership one more time. This time of year there are only about half of the animals out, but we still had fun, and it was so refreshing to be outside! Will also got lots of practice on his scooter going around the block.

outside the new sea lion exhibit at the Blank Park Zoo/scooter ride

Then of course reality hit us again and it was winter a day later. Cold. Brrrrr. So with some of his Christmas money we went out and bought his first lego set. I can not tell you how exciting this was! It is pretty much all we have been doing around here lately. He likes to build monkeys and Buzz's, and other people to go in his "town."...and then constantly asks me to build everything he can possibly think of. Good times. :)

kind of blurry...Will and new lego town

...and Karlie was sound asleep in the ergo during all of these things. (just felt funny not including her)... :)

***Will and Karlie***

Thanks to the wonderful and talented Ryan Towe of Ryan Towe Photography who once again has blown my mind with his beautiful work. Aren't these two kiddos just darling. :)

Click here to see a folder of some of my favorites.

Sensory Tubs- Dinosaurland

I have been super inspired by this awesome mama over at Counting Coconuts who home schools her little boy. I am almost overwhelmed by the coolness of learning activities on her blog. I decided that I needed something consistent for Will to look forward to every week or so. Something new to discover and explore in, and something to keep the TV turned off. With mostly materials that I had laying around the house and a couple trips to the dollar store I made my very first sensory tub! I call it Dinosaurland! Will's eyes got big when I opened the tub and he saw all the rocks. Usually I might have an activity to go along with it, but I thought for the first one I would just let him explore it. He enjoyed digging in the rocks and transferring them from the tub to a bowl with the scoop and lining up the dinos as usual. He also liked collecting the gemstones in a pile. He had a lot of fun! It only held his attention for 10-15 minutes before he was ready to move on to doing something more active. I think next time I will bring it out in the afternoon instead. Usually the mornings seem to be his more active time, and the afternoons he likes to sit and do more activities. I plan to do a new tub every other week or so, so that he has plenty of time to enjoy this one first. I think I probably had way to much fun putting it together too. :)

I used a lot of the same materials that I saw over at Counting Coconuts, but changed it a little bit. Materials used for Dinosaurland:

-two bags of dried pinto beans (layered in the bottom for a digging surprise, plus they look like dinosaur eggs)

-decorative rocks-variety of small and big

-a few scattered gemstones

-scattered wooden beads

-fake leaves

-fake reindeer moss

-magnet letter "D"

-3 plastic dinosaur figures

-wooden scoop

-wooden cup

-large wooden egg

-a hidden piece of string(in case he wanted to string the beads)

...and he later in the afternoon had a lot more fun exploring in it on the floor while adding other objects as well. :)

Crazy for CARS

This past weekend we took Will to see his first movie in the theater. Cars 2! He was so excited and could not stop talking about. :) We got there and I thought he would be really overwhelmed by the large screen, but he wasn't. He just sat there like he did this sort of thing all the time. We watched a ton of previews and after every single one he kept asking when we were going to see cars. He giggled at stuff because others were, not necessarily because he understood what was going on all the time. :) He was so stinkin cute!! Although after a couple snacks he was kind of antsy and kept switching seats to sit on my lap or Thad's lap, and stood up to dance and move around a few times. But he did great! I didn't expect him to sit through the whole thing. Cars 2 was good, he recognized some of the characters from the first movie and enjoyed the racing scenes, but for the most part there was way too much of an action storyline for Will to follow with this sequel. I think I like the cuteness of Cars 1 better, and there is a lot less violence in the first one. But we had a lot of fun, and the last couple of weeks have seemed to be filled with activities Cars related.

cars+stickers+crayons=awesome race track!

...with some extra supplies around the house a made a few fun magnets to surprise Will

A man in Des Moines who restores old cars made a real life replica of Tow Mater. So my Dad took Will to see it. He was able to climb on the back too!

(My brother with Will)

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CF+ the Market + the Hair Salon=busy weekend

Will and I on Mother's Day :)

What a busy and wonderful Mother's Day weekend! It started on Friday as my Mom, Will, and I traveled up to Cedar Falls to see my sister for her birthday. We enjoyed lunch, playtime at the park with the little boys, and also some good chatting over delicious cupcakes and cakeballs at Scratch Cupcakery downtown. The sun was warm and it was genuinely nice to have some time just the three of us girls while the little boys took good naps.

...silly Kristin and Hunter...

Then saturday morning Thad, Will and I got up to meet all the other thousands of people at the opening day at the downtown farmers market. Oh my what a beautiful day! Downtown was bursting with energy and I feel as if the sunshine is finally warm around here again.

...Willie and Thad watching the performers...

Then came sunday (Mother's Day). I love Mother's Day. :)...and I felt extra special as I woke up to breakfast in bed from my two favorite boys. We also visited our mothers and ate lots of good food...but the big deal of the day was getting Will's summer cut! Yes, it was emotional...and exciting. Will was pretty tired since it was nap time so he didn't really seem to care about anything except the sucker that he got to eat to get him to stay seated for so long. As sad as we are to see his long hair go, he really looks handsome. :)

...back and front BEFORE picture...

...and AFTER!

...ok and one last shot of the long hair again...

You can see the rest of the pictures from our weekend here and here. Chao! :)

{this moment}

{this moment} - joining Soulemama for a a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember...those cute little legs caught in the moment with only a diaper and boots. :)

Don't put your groceries next to the car seat :)

{this moment}

{this moment} - I am joining Soulemama for a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

p.s. I may be absent from this blog for a while since we are moving next week. :) Have a fabulous weekend!

more photos of Will's b-day- click here.

Today My Little Man is TWO!!

Happy Birthday my sweet little Will! I can hardly believe it has been two full years since you came into this world! :) I love everything about you...your spunk, your charm, and your energy. I love how you giggle at everything and take your time doing whatever it is that you do. :)

Today we will most likely be playing dinosaurs, hitting the baseball and walking to the park. Maybe out to dinner tonight.

Happy 2nd Birthday Willie!

Will at Play

Building houses for all of Will's little people has been the thing around here in the past couple of months. He usually says "Biiig Huse! (house)" and then we drag out all the blocks and I start the foundation. He stacks a few blocks here and there and I usually finish it off. And of course I had to decorate the entrance with plastic trees. :) This is one of our very favorite houses we have built. He had the idea of using some blocks for beds. I am not sure if someone showed that to him before or not, but I thought that was pretty creative. Then I decided to set up a long table for them to eat. Then he decided to start lining up the cars inside too. So I guess it is kind of like one large house community sleeping garage room. :) And we usually end up making quite the mess at the end of the day. Pick up. Rebuild the next morning. Ha! Love it. :)