Happy at the park!
He just loves being outside... he's a nature boy for sure!
I took this picture (looking down the street from our house) to show how UNBELIEVABLY green the grass is! I can't believe it's only March.
Writing about all the big & little things
Category: Chloe (Page 16 of 20)
I made this list for Chloe a few months back and it has made our bedtime routine wonderfully easier!
I’m sorry I haven’t posted… every time I sit down to write something I think of a million other things I need to do or I start to complain about how stressed out I am. So, I opt not to write. No one needs to hear me complaining–except Tim who’s stuck with me! haha!
So, in an effort to be less “woe is me” and more positive I’ve decided to just post pictures from now until contest is over. It will be a whole week of “Wordless Wednesday’s!” Aren’t you excited? I thought so. 🙂
This was Chloe's creative way to hold JD up while he was playing so he wouldn't tip over. It looks pretty weird, but it's very effective! And look how happy he is!!
(oh, and since you asked Mom, I’ve only managed to fit in one day of good practice since you were here.. not good, I know… but tomorrow is another day! It looks like I’ll be practicing really hard for the week after contest before you come again… but don’t worry, I’ll get it learned. ;))
We enrolled Chloe in a Monday night class that runs for 8 weeks. It’s the first official class we’ve taken the time to have her take part of (besides BSF of course–but this one costs $. Only $20 but, still, that’s money!) It’s called “Young Athlete.” Here’s the description:
Young Athletes is an innovative inclusive sports play program for children with and without intellectual disabilities, designed to introduce them to the world of sports… Developing Skills for success as a future special Olympics athlete: Foundational skills / walking and running/ balancing and jumping / trapping and catching / throwing / kicking / striking / kicking / advanced skills…
Now Chloe doesn’t have any disabilities that we’re aware of, so you may think it’s silly that we enrolled her in this class. But it has been so good for her. Not only is she learning fun things (like kicking and catching) and she gets to run off some energy in a controlled setting, but more importantly she’s learning how to wait for kids who are slower than her–which is a tough thing to learn. She’ll finish a lot faster than the other students and she has to learn how to wait. It’s been a good learning experience.
So on Monday’s she gets ready and Tim will walk her across the street to the school and she gets to “go to school.” The sisters that live across the street actually help lead the class, which is how I heard about it, so this last week one of them offered to take her for us. It was so cute to watch Chloe walk away to “school.”
Oh, and she gets a cool t-shirt to wear to class. She’s proud of her shirt. 🙂
This has been a very strange winter. We had a tiny bit of snow in December and now… nothin’. It’s been so mild I find myself actually thinking it’s spring!
Chloe has been enjoying the time outside immensely. It’s not every year that you get to ride your bike in February!
Chloe loves play-doh. I thought this would be a phase, but she seems to be getting more and more into it as she gets older. Her favorite thing is to play restaurant. She’ll ask us what we would like to eat, then she’ll make it and bring it to us to “eat.” It’s funny how every thing we ask for seems to look strangely alike… all like plates of tiny play-doh pieces…. hmmm…
Anyway, the loves to cut / tear / rip / crumble the play-doh into tiny pieces which is creating quite the mess lately. But more than that, it’s drying out SUPER fast. So. The time has come to roll up my sleeves and make some homemade play-doh.
I have a recipe from my childhood days that I’m going to try first–I know it works and, if I remember correctly, it’s quite easy. But I also found 2 other recipes the other day that I thought were worth a try as well. Once I’ve attempted to make them, I’ll do a “product review” to let you know which one I think is better. Hopefully this will be helpful to any of you out there who might be going through play-doh like candy (like we are!).
Here are the recipes: (in case anyone else cares to try along with me)
1. MY CHILDHOOD PLAY-DOH
Mix in saucepan:
- 1 c. flour
- 1/2 c. salt
- 2 T. cream of tarter
Add…
- 1 c. water
- 1 T. oil
Stir over medium heat until it “globs.” Divide into sections and add food coloring by kneading WELL.
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2. KOOL-AID PLAYDOUGH
Measure and mix together in a bowl:
- 2 ½ cups of flour
- ½ cup salt
- 1 Tbsp. cream of tartar
- 2 pkgs of unsweetened Kool-Aid
Boil 2 cups of water. Add to dry ingredients with 3 Tbsp. of oil.
Knead together until well mixed, and let cool. Store in a plastic baggy or covered container in the refrigerator to last the longest.
You can make all different colors from one batch by putting in the Kool-Aid after you have mixed the dough and separated it into smaller sections.
This playdough is easy to make, lasts for a long time, and smells delicious!
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3. PLAY-DOH (FROM INTERNET)
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 c. water
- food coloring of choice
- 3 T. vegetable oil
- 2 1/2 c. flour
- 1/2 c. salt {yes it’s a 1/2 CUP}
- 1 T. powdered alum {found in the spice section}
DIRECTIONS:
- In a medium pot, mix water, food coloring and oil together and bring to a boil
- In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, and alum
- Pour boiling water mixture over flour mixture and stir until combined
- Let the mixture cool a bit until you can touch it with your hands
- Kneed well — like you would kneed bread dough {Brenda suggests using a cutting board for this as the food coloring can slightly stain light counter tops}
For Christmas Chloe got a suitcase (thank you Auntie Stephanie & Uncle Ryan!). It was actually Dora the Explorer and she loved it, but we noticed the zipper was breaking so we took it to the store to exchange it–since I want her to be able to use this suitcase for a long time. But when we got there they didn’t have any like it in the store, so we ended up getting her this one instead. And she adores it. She just loves putting her toys in it and “going places.” She loved it so much that she wanted to take it in the car when we went to church…
See--she loves filling it with toys!
She looks so grown up walking around with it. I realize it’s a big big for her right now, but I figure she’ll be able to use this for a long time–especially since it’s sort of girly neutral. I admit I’m a little jealous… it’s so cute!
Brand new "big girl" suitcase--she's ready for her first sleep over!
In other news, it sounds like Shannon’s surgery went just wonderfully. She spent the night in the hospital (last night) and is home now. Thanks for prayers! I’m planning to go up and see her on Sunday. Yay!
I admit I feel a little guilty writing about “transitions.”
You see, things changing in our household are nothing compared to the transitions going on in other members of my family… Nathan and his family just moved to a new state… And he also started a brand new job this week… And Kylene started a new job this week as well… And Luke & Krista are getting used to the idea of welcoming a new baby in just a few months!
But, these are the (somewhat less exciting) transitions that are going on at our household right now.
Josiah has officially outgrown his infant car seat.
Notice how his feet hang over the end...
He has been a giant in the seat for quite some time now, but he finally maxed out the weight limit. (As well as the length limit evidenced by his feet hanging off the end in the picture above!) So, with much dragging of my feet, I’ve moved him to the backward 5-point-harness seat. This means that when I take him into stores he has to sit in the cart. Which might be a tad bit problematic for the next couple of weeks since he hasn’t completely mastered sitting up by himself… but this will give him good practice. 🙂
They are growing up so fast!
Also, we’ve been working on transitioning JD into the crib in Chloe’s room. This change is taking a bit longer (with a bit more frustration). Chloe has to get used to his noises and try to ignore him when he wakes up at 5:00 a.m. to talk to himself for a bit. It hasn’t been going well, and we all know that I get crabby without sleep 😉 so tonight Chloe is sleeping in our closet and JD will be in the big crib. We’re hoping by tomorrow that they’ll be able to be in the same room again. The good news is that Chloe LOVES having him in her room. In fact, if he starts crying during the night she’ll start singing (sometimes VERY loudly) from her bed to comfort him. Yes, yes, I know that’s simply adorable–unless it’s 2:30 in the morning and I want to sleep!
Anyway, we knew it was due time for this change when his feet and head reach both sides of the bassinet… and when he could swing his leg over the side while lying on his back…
So, alas, like it or not, change comes. 🙂
Thank You Auntie Kristen!
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