Mya’s current go-to song to sing by herself is the ABCs. And if you try to sing along with her, you’ll get “Stop. I sing it myself.” And her favorite letter is “H.” I don’t know why. But up until the point of her very adamant alphabet independence, we used some fun learning tools to get the ball rolling. There are countless other alphabet toys than the ones we use, but these work for us… or I just think they’re cool.
Sure hope you’re not sick of Easter-related posts quite yet. Because I have one more for you this year! We drove up to Omaha to spend the holiday weekend with my Grandparents. My Gramps is a full-blooded Italian and my Gram is half Italian, half Czech. (She wouldn’t want me to forget mentioning the Czech part!) They always have more than enough for us to eat– my favorite being their homemade meatballs, Italian sausage, and spaghetti; but I wanted to cook something for them. I found a recipe for Italian Easter Bread and it’s just too good not to share!
Mya and I love going to storytime at the library or a local toy store every week. Sometimes she gets overwhelmed by the library class sizes, so the toy store has been a…
Today marks five years for us as a husband and wife team (8 years as an item). I can’t believe how lucky I am to have met the man they call Derek. And what better way to commemorate this than a pet tag! Ohmygoodness, as I typed that last sentence, I realize how lame it sounds. But if I say Mya helped make it, then he’ll cherish it forever, right?
This is by far the easiest little activity you will ever do in your life. Mya loves a good glow stick dance party, so we added a few more ingredients to make a glow jar.
After living in our home for almost four years, I’m finally getting our master bedroom put together. It’s not complete (not that I ever will think it will be!), but one of the items on the to-do list was printing and framing some pictures. After browsing through old phone pics, printing at Costco, and some at-home framing tactics, it turned out pretty shnazy. Here’s how we did it!
Everyone familiar with the movie “Tangled” (ie Rapunzel)? Ok, good. Well, when Mya woke up to her “heart attack” on Valentines’ Day, she claimed the “mean lady” came into her room and put the hearts there. Because in “Tangled”, the “mean lady” steals baby Rupunzel from her MamaDada when everyone is sleeping. So yeah, I don’t think the toothfairy’s going to go over very well.
The original plan was to have a bunch of “blue lizards”– currently some of Mya’s imaginary friends, along with a lion that has stinky armpits. But as it turned out, cutting irregular shapes out of thick poster board isn’t a walk in the park! So we cut out some hearts, slapped some painters’ tape to the back and underwent super stealth mode to place them in her room Friday night. (more…)
I can't say I'm much of a reader otherwise, but I love kid books. Bonus points go to rhyming and beautiful illustrations. Here are some of my favorite lovey dovey books…
Am I the only one that wants it to snow a boatload? I just want to get out and play in some snow! But I digress… “Salad spinner paintings” are exactly what you think. We put paint in a salad spinner and let it do its magic. Yup, we’re getting pretty desperate creative over here. Some of it turned into finger painting, but still fun!
Valentine’s Day is less than a month away. Call me a sap, but I’ve always liked this holiday– not because of the stereotypical chocolates and vibrant reds, but because it’s a nice reminder to give more love. And it’s usually low key. Besides making heart-shaped pizzas together, Derek and I usually don’t do a whole lot to speak of. And that’s alright with me. These heart themed happy things make me smile. (And you can find even more on our Heart Day Pinterest board.) You could easily use the designs of 2, 9, or 10 on some homemade valentines. I haven’t mastered the delicate pancake stylings of 5, but wouldn’t it be cool if I could?! In any case, I hope the images give you some warm fuzzies.
Recently, Mya hasn’t wanted to leave the house. “Stay home” is her most common demand. The cold weather makes it pretty easy to stay in and play, but we’ve been “forced” to do more small projects to prevent cabin fever. One of those projects was making crayon hearts. It might be a bit too early to think about Heart Day, but we made some Valentines’ anyway. Plus, they don’t have to be for any special occasion– just for everyday play.
