Keeping busy...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been pinning quite a bit these days and I've been trying to improve my pin to action ratio!  I've been pretty motivated to give miss Maya B some new things to do to keep her busy...especially since the rainy season has begun and our time outside is very limited!  

I had tried some "artsy" activities in the past, but she was never too interested.  Now that we go to toddler group, she's been exposed to more options and I think seeing other kids do art and craft projects, encourages her to give it a try too!  She wasn't too keen on painting for a long time...she didn't seem to like getting her hands dirty ;)  But recently, she's been much more interested and though she still doesn't "go for it" with full blown finger painting, she's getting there...

I used some ric rac and mini clothes pins to hang her art by our window in the dining room.  This window is pretty bare, so it's nice to bring some life to the dining room and see all of her work!

Another activity that's been keeping her busy these days is water beads!  You can find them in the floral section of any craft store.  I've had multiple friends recommend them and I finally gave them a shot.  Once you add water, they become marble sized wet beads, similar in consistency to jello (probably a little more firm).  They're a great sensory item and Maya loves scooping them with a spoon into bowls.

As you can see in the previous pictures, we had gotten into a pretty bad habit of allowing Maya to stand on the bench to do projects.  In order to avoid potential falls, we brought a small Ikea table that I had found at a garage sale for $5 (I plan on paining the top with chalkboard paint sometime very soon!) and one of her chairs into the kitchen to create her own "craft table".  She seemed pretty excited and hasn't complained about having to sit here instead of standing at the bench :)

lovely post-nap crazy hair

this picture makes me giggle because she is actually saying "cheeeese".  she's learning how to actually smile for the camera...makes my job much easier :)

If you have any other great crafty ideas for an almost 2 year old, I'd love to know!

Kisses from Katie...

My sister-in-law had been telling me all about a book called Kisses from Katie.  The minute she was done, I was excited to get my hands on it myself!  Little did I know how much it would impact me, my faith, my perspective.  It's an incredible story about a christian girl from Tennessee who went on a mission trip to Uganda her senior year.  She not only fell in love with the country and the people she encountered, she felt a strong call to return and continue to serve.  Now 23, she lives in Uganda, has adopted 14 girls and has started Amazima Ministries to feed, educate and encourage orphaned children and the poor in Uganda.  I'm completely convicted by Katie's story and her decision to say "Yes".  How often we hear of issues in our world and feel the "nudge" to act, but turn away instead since the problems seem to big and it's just so much easier to ignore!  The truth is that we can do something. We are so fortunate in this country and often take our blessings for granted.  We need to choose to say yes. 

If you have some free time for a read, I highly recommend!   

Once our eyes have been opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and hold us responsible to act. 

Proverbs 24: 12

Halloween at Little Gym...

Tonight was the Little Gym Halloween party!  Maya was able to wear her halloween costume for the first time and enjoy lots of games and activities...and some candy too ;)  

My dad had bought her a cute elephant costume for this year, but she's very anti anything on her head, so she wasn't at all interested in putting it on :/  Her exact words were "all done, mama, all done!"  So as much as I would have liked to dress her up like an elephant or some other adorable fluffy animal, I knew I needed a more subtle option.  When I came across the Seahawks cheerleader costume at Target, I knew I found a winner; no crazy head gear, wings or other accessories, plus it would be a big winner with dad and most everyone in Washington.  She wore it well and even let me put her hair in pigtails :)

We found our friends Andrea and Hallie as soon as we got there.  Maya loves seeing Hallie every week at Little Gym and talks about her all morning till we get there!

We played lots of games and Maya enjoyed getting candy :)

And she showed off all the "skills" she's picked up over the last couple months to dad...

There was also a craft table set up where she could decorate her own trick or treat bag.  She LOVED the stamps!  Her hands were a mess, but it's fun to see her try :)

We finished the night off with a walk (or 5...Maya loved this part) down the "catwalk" for the parade of costumes...

Thanks Little Gym for a fun family evening!  I think we're officially ready for the main event next week!

Potty Talk...

I wasn't sure if I should post this information, but in an effort to keep record of all our milestones, here it is.  It's about potty training (and I'm not interested in using PC terms), so if you're not interested or if it seems TMI to you, you've been warned...

BIG NEWS in our house...Maya B has gone "poo poo in the potty" 2 days in a row!  To say I'm proud is an understatement!  We've been talking about the potty for some time now, but definitely haven't taken it too seriously since it's still fairly early.  She definitely shows interest in it and sometimes likes to sit on the little kiddy one we have in the bathroom.  She went through a phase about two months ago where she would tell us when she had a poop (or was about to have one) but that stopped for a while and I hadn't thought much of it.  However, in the last couple weeks, she started telling me when she had "poo poo coming".   So yesterday was the first time I actually sat her on the toilet when she told me she had "poo poo coming" and low and behold, she pooped!!  I was quite surprised when it happened again today!  Yay!  So exciting!

I know that it is unlikely that it will continue consistently from here on out and there's no discussion about pee pee in the potty yet.  I'm definitely not running out for the big girl undies, but as a dear friend always tells me for moments like this, she's capable, and I'm so proud of her!

Pumpkin Patch...

I'm a little behind on this post, but a couple weeks ago we had our first trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Washington.  We were invited to join our friends Joe and Taunya and their two girls Coura and Ella (and some of their family and friends).  They took us to a great Pumpkin Patch in Snohomish called The Farm.  Besides the Pumpkin Patch itself, there were all sorts of fun activities offered at The Farm including a giant kids' play area, a corn maze, a petting farm, wagon rides, live duck races, plus some super yummy food options. 

We had a great evening!

 

Bit by the craft bug...

After a couple months hiatus, I re-entered the Pinterest world and got sucked in worse than before!  So many good ideas, so little time!  The last couple weeks I've been trying to actually create some of these projects and not just keep them stored on my cyber space pin board.  Most are for Maya, one for me!  Here they are in no particular order...

1- Contact Paper Craft  

As seen on Pinterest by multiple pinners...I think this website, however, was the one I was inspired by and actually pinned...No Time for Flash Cards

I found everything at the dollar store including the contact paper, fake fall leaves, foam leaves and tissue paper.  It worked perfectly for my Fall inspired contact paper craft and only cost me a couple bucks- win! 

I tried it out the other day when I was watching my nephew, Isaac.  At 3 years old, he was much more able and interested in the project than Maya B, but they both made a one of a kind creation :)

(She preferred the foam leaves)

Once they were done, I covered the entire project with another sheet of contact paper to seal the art. I think this will be fun any time of year as you can easily customize the theme!

2- Felt board

I've had a 24X30 blank white canvas sitting in the closet since we moved.  I've had all sorts of different ideas (mainly from Pinterest, of course!) on what to do with it, but hadn't executed any of them until now!  After seeing how much Maya seems to enjoy the felt board at our Toddler Group and at any library story time, I decided it was the perfect project for my canvas.  I bought some black felt from Hobby Lobby (my new favorite craft store...CA is missing out!) and borrowed my sister-in-law's staple gun.  It was quick and easy!

Ta-da!!  Felt board!

So, of course, I needed some felt story characters to go along with my new creation.  I have a list of ideas, but these are a couple I've created so far...

3- Felt Owls

I came across this website and it was full of great ideas...Storytime Katie. 

I saw these little owls and fell in love...they're too cute and the rhyme is easy and perfect for Maya as she is starting to learn to count!  (Originally posted by Leah at Sunflower Storytime)

Five hoot owls sitting in a tree,
One flew away!  How many do you see?
One, two, three, four.

Four hoot owls sitting in a tree,
One flew away!  How many do you see?
One, two, three.

Three hoot owls...etc.

4- Felt Dinosaurs

In one of Maya's books, there is a song called 5 Enormous Dinosaurs.  

Five enormous dinosaurs,

Letting out a roar,

One ran away,

And then there were four.

Four enormous dinosaurs,

Knocking down a tree,

One ran away,

And then there were three. 

Three enormous dinosaurs,

Eating tiger stew,

One went away,

And then there were two. 

Two enormous dinosaurs,

Trying to run,

One went away,

And then there was one. 

One enormous dinosaur,

Afraid to be a hero,

He went away,

And then there was zero.

She loves when I sing it, so I decided it would be a good option to turn into a felt board story.  I googled "5 dinosaurs felt board" and found this website with a template for these cute dinos...Mel's Desk

I just printed the template, traced my dinos, cut the felt and added little google eyes.  Simple and cute.

So far, Maya is enjoying her felt board!  I'm excited to add a few more stories for us to use!

5- Fall Wreath

Another Pinterest creation, I found this idea at Little Lovelies By Allison

I'm quite proud of this one!  And it was super inexpensive.  I got most of the supplies at Joann Fabrics.  I had a 40% off one item coupon and got the wreath itself for only $2.99.  The burlap was by the yard and I asked for only 4" off the bulk and cost $.38.  And the "S" was only $1.49.  The leaves are the same ones from the dollar store I used above and I had some yarn at home from a past knitting project that I used to wrap the "S".  Armed with my glue gun and inspired by the link above, I created this...

Not too shabby :) 

Phew!  Ok, that's all for now.  Happy crafting and pinning everyone!

What's new...

Maya is quite a character these days.  She has more personality than I think I can handle.  As we've always seen, she's very independent and must do everything by herself.  She is repeating everything and communicates pretty well with some two to three word phrases.  

Here are a couple recent videos of our little monkey...

One of her favorite things to do these days is read!  We often hear her babbling to herself as she flips through a book.  

We recently took advantage of what is sure to be one of our last dry days around here.  We headed to our favorite park where there is the perfect "Maya-sized" structure.  She's getting quite good at the slide and is clearly very proud!