Clothes Pin Jar

Putting clothes pins in and out of a glass jar kept Micaiah busy for a really long time.  I don't know exactly how long he played, but it felt like forever.  I pull this one out when I need to make supper, and he'll just sit and contently play while I work.

Solar System

Today we put up our solar system in Abishai and Micaiah's bedroom.  I bought it a couple of years ago when we were making a playroom for the boys.  My plan was to paint the playroom purple and then place the planets on the walls for decoration and inspiration.  After the shelves were put up and the toys put back, there really wasn't a lot of wall space left.  So, I moved the idea to the boys bedroom.  It's been fun watching them look at and touch the different planets.

Planets arranged from near to farthest from the Sun.

 Abishai saying the names of the planets as I read them out to him.

 Abishai trying to remember the names on his own.

Developing Interests

Abishai loves working with tools and often calls our shed his garage.  So I decided I would make a little work area for him in the shed and brought up his work-bench from the basement.  I spent an hour rearranging the shed just to make a special place for him.  I found some wood and a nail, put his tool box with all his tools in there and bought him his very own tool belt with suspenders.  Every day he heads out to his "garage", picks up his tools and gets ready to "work".  I often wonder if one day he'll end up working with his hands like his Grandpa Erwin.  It's fun to watch.

Practicing hammering a nail and then removing it.

EARTH DAY!

In celebration of Earth Day we planted a Maple tree! 

Happy Earth Day Everyone!

Tent Making

Today I read Alfie to the boys and then we made a tent out of bed sheets in our basement.  I hope to try this outside in our backyard this summer.  I think it would be a nice shady place to hang out.

Tracing Shapes

We have done shape-tracing with straws in the past, but Abishai showed little interest in it at the time.  I decided to try it again, and this time it went better.   Here Abishai is tracing a square, triangle and rectangle.   You can do this with yarn as well.

While Abishai was shape-tracing, Micaiah was entertaining himself by stacking cups and moving them around.

Life Skills

House and yard chores are good for the soul and they prepare little ones like Abishai for adulthood.  Home is the best place to learn and practice these life skills. Abishai, who is almost 3 now, is helping to bag the leaves and put away the clean cutlery.

Planting Seeds

The boys and I planted Impatiens the other day.  It was a lot of fun, especially since I've never grown my own flowers before.  We're hoping that in the next 10-18 days we'll see some life.  If not, at least Abishai learned how to plant seeds.  He cried when we were done, because he wanted to plant more.

All of our supplies for getting started.

I poured the potting soil into a bowl to make it easier for Abishai to transfer into the egg cartons.

Ready for planting.

Abishai poking holes for the seeds.  The seeds were so small that I had to place them in each hole myself.  Abishai was disappointed that he couldn't do it himself.

Micaiah watching us plant.

Covering the seeds with soil.

Watering.

Isaiah 61:11
For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Staying Sane While Traveling

We have family who live seven hours away from us, so the drive can get pretty long, especially with two children under the age of three.  On our last trip, I wanted to have a pleasant seven hour ride, so I planned ahead and came up with several activities to keep the boys busy, hoping they would enjoy them.  Some of them are my own ideas, and some came from the Activity Mom (located in her travel section), and some came from Little Family Fun.  Most of the activities went over really well, and we ended up having a great and happy fourteen hour round trip.

I-spy jar.  I filled a glass jar with rice and different objects that the boys had to look for.  This activity didn't interest them.  They handed the jar back to me rather quickly.  Micaiah threw it on the floor. 

Clothes pins, rocks and pom poms for my baby to take out and put back.

Micaiah liked the colors and softness of the pom poms and the smoothness of the rocks.

Buttons and pipe cleaners.  When I saw this activity I thought this would be difficult.  I was wrong.  Abishai played with this for a really long time.

For this activity you're supposed to match alphabet stickers to the letters on the paper roll.  This activity would have gone over really well if I had larger stickers for his tiny hands.  We ended up having to abandon it. 

This activity, "match the pipe cleaner with the identically colored hole", was intended for just Abishai, but Micaiah didn't seem to have any trouble getting the pipe cleaner in the hole.  It became a baby activity as well as a toddler activity.

Abisahi matching the colors.

Snack time is very important for keeping my little ones happy.  We had a range of healthy snacks; raisins, juice, banana chips, bananas, and these crackers.  I normally don't buy crackers of any kind because the ingredients aren't healthy- even the supposedly "healthy" ones.  However, this box was new to the store shelf and didn't have anything in it that sounded like a chemical, so all you ingredient readers out there, my boys gobbled these up.

I-spy book.

A folder of Poo puzzles.

Lots and lots of books.

Matching letters again.  We were missing the E.

I had a few more activities planned like memory and a parking cars game, but we didn't have the time.  Next trip, I guess.

Opposites, Nursery Rhymes and SuperBook!

Today we went over opposites with Abishai.  Sang nursery rhymes and songs over and over with Micaiah at his request and watched one of the newly animated Superbook DVDs: David and Goliath.

Every time the Super Book (aka The Bible) comes out in the video, Abishai says "Wow!"