Halloween Day

We had so much fun today.
We went to a Toddler Halloween Party, with all kinds of fun things to do.
There were two little black rat toys there. I hid them for Westley in the back yard, and then Dad and I took turns finding them in the back yard after Westley hid them for us. It was great for Halloween as it was kinda creepy to find them

This evening we Trick or Treated and passed out candy. Will did really well on his first true time Trick or Treating.
Westley was very polite with saying "Trick or Treat Thank you, Happy Halloween, Goodbye!" He was so excited and walked the whole time. He likes passing out the candy even more than getting it. We couldn't get him to bed until there were no more trick or treaters anywhere to be seen outside.

We made it through another Halloween without him eating candy. When we came back in from trick or treating I gave him half of a kid's Halloween wrapped Cliff bar and 2 pumpkin shaped pretzels with a promise that he could have more pretzels tomorrow :)

Pumpkin Carving & Decorating

Last night we carved our pumpkin for Halloween. Westley enjoyed helping clean out the pumpkin, but the true carving was pretty much all Dad.

While waiting for Dad to carve the pumpkin, I let the boys decorate another pumpkin with washable markers. This was great because it wiped right off. Westley liked to "erase" and draw new things.
I wish I would have though of this sooner- this could have been used to keep them both busy all week.
He wanted me to draw a potty. Then he drew a bird and had a little story about the bird flying in to use the potty.

Pretty sure we were the only people with a picture of a bird using a toilet on their pumpkin

Homemade Drum/Container Fun

I actually made one of these for a child development class project in college, but it took me 3 1/2 years to make on for my own children!

When I finished my last dishwashing tablet from the Costco sized can today, it reminded me of the idea.
So I covered it with construction paper and Westley picked put a photo (he only wanted one photo on there, but it can also be fun with photos of all family/friends) So he glued on the picture and decorated it with stickers.

Westley started to use it as a drum, Will liked to take the lid off and try and put it on again, and put things inside and take them out again.

Before they play with it more though, I need to decoupage it (or use puzzle glue) so the photo and stickers stay on

Mailing Tube Ball Game

Grandma Kathy actually made this for Westley when he was 1, but it got burried and I just found it again. Now Westley and Will are both enjoying it. We fill it with whiffle balls of all different colors (often available at The Dollar Store). The simple joys of putting them all in and dumping them all out, or taking both ends off at watching them roll through like this.

We still do what we learned a long time ago at greatly missed Weestart (a place like Gymboree).
say 1... 2... 3.. Rolling Rainbow! as they all pour out and then sing the Rainbow Song -Red, orange yellow green blue purple, Red orange yellow green blue purple, makes the rainbow bright!

Or to the tune of "Here we go round the mulberry bush" we sing
"Lets put all the balls away, the balls away, the balls away, lets put all the balls away so we can do it again"
or last line can be "lets put all the balls away - we'll play again another day"
It's a great clean up song... gives Barney a little competition

Pumpkin Pie with Fresh Pumpkin

I bought a "pie pumpkin" at Henry's and it came with directions on how to cook it and make it into a pumpkin pie. I thought that would be perfect as Westley keeps insisting that we eat the other pumpkins we bought for Halloween.
So tonight we cut it, scooped out the guts and seeds and baked it.

Then we scooped out the pumpkin which was pretty much already like a puree.

Grandma Kathy made a pie crust while we took baths, and then Westley got to help and use the big mixer (which he loves)

Westley had to go to bed before the pie was done, but Grandma and I sampled it already. It was good, but we found that the fresh pumpkin had much less flavor than canned pumpkin (and was a lot less orange as you can see in the final pie pic). So, it tasted more like a spice pie than a pumpkin pie. So overall, a fun experience, but not the greatest pie

Playsilk Dancing

I helped Westley dress up in his Playsilks and he had the greatest time dancing around the house.

I'm sure he will hate these pictures when he gets older, but I couldn't resist posting them, he was just so happy!

Will wanted nothing to do with having the playsilks tied to him, but he did enjoy having it put on his head and pulling it off for peek a boo. "Boo" is one of his first words

Special thanks to Jenny for helping us order and dye our playsilks!

Eggsperiments

Today Westley had some fun lessons with eggs. First he just helped me put the eggs in the water to hard boil. When they were done I got out one raw egg and one hard boiled egg. I asked him which one was which and he said he didn't know. I showed him the trick on how you find out. We spun both eggs (kinda like you would a top) the hard boiled egg spun really fast. The raw egg spun much slower and wobbled because of the yolk wobbling inside. He got a kick out of that.

Then, he enjoyed peeling the egg- which he is actually really good at (I will remember that the next time I make deviled eggs). We compared the insides of a hard boiled egg to a raw egg.

Then we cooked up the raw egg into scrambled egg and commented on how the egg white turns white when its cooked this way too. He likes to stir the eggs.

Tractor Rides

Special thanks to Grandpa for this fun activity! It was a tractor hay ride - minus the hay. Using lounge chair cushions was much more comfortable.

We all enjoyed this!

Poking Straws

A student of mine was telling me about her 2 1/2 year old who she had disciplined because he was opening all of the juice boxes at her house. I told her he was probably trying to practice putting the straw in the hole - a hard task little kids often want to master. I thought of this activity for her, but thought Westley would enjoy it too, since he always insists on poking straws in too.
So yesterday I took a canning jar and instead of putting on the lid put on a piece of wax paper, then put the ring on as tight as I could. Using stir sticks I let him poke holes in it. If you get too many holes close together it rips a big hole in the wax paper, so you either need not too many straws, or a bigger surface area.

Will could not poke his own holes but enjoyed putting the straw through holes I made for him

Westley then insisted on drinking out of the jar. This part actually turned out beneficial. Since the jar was clear I just put in a little water and told him to watch how when the jar was tilted the straw wasn't in any water. I showed him how you have to move the straw into the "deep end" to get the water out. He seemed to understand this concept better. Hopefully it helps when he drinks out of a cup/box with a straw in the future.

Apple Tasting

All apples were on sale for 77 cents a pound at Henry's. So, I got one of each for us to taste.
Yesterday we sat down and were going to talk about their different tastes, colors, textures etc. But Will wouldn't try any and was screaming the whole time, and Westley was hungry and just ate them all and said they all tasted good.
However, we did discover which ones are best for eating.
Good = Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Sonya, Braeburn and Fuji (our favorite)
Bad = Jonathon (too mushy), Rome (too tart), American Cameo (no flavor)

Apple is one of Will's first words!

Leaf Collage

With Grandma Kathy's help. Westley and Will collected some pretty Fall leaves from our neighborhood. Using contact paper, Westley made a mess free project out of them.

Cookie Cutter Biscuits

Today we made simple Bisquick biscuits but rolled them out and cut them with cookie cutters. I had a little extra dough I let Westley experiment with like playdough while the biscuits baked.

 I was going to try pumpkin shaped ones but I thought they would rise too much and not look like pumpkins. They didn't lose shape too much as they cooked, so I think the pumpkin shapes might have worked.
The hearts came out good.

Bates Nut Farm

Today we took our first ever trip to Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center. Westley got to go on a pony ride and through a hay maze. Both boys experienced the petting zoo where we got to feed and pet the sheep, goats,  ducks, chickens, pigs and more. The baby goats were so cute and we even got to see them nursing on the momma. Westley loved the animals, Will was scared by them

We also went on a tractor hay ride and picked out a pumpkin.

It was a fun little trip, but both boys would have enjoyed it more if they were feeling better. I only captured one smile from poor Will - here in the wheelbarrow

Watercolors

Today was Will's first time with watercolors, and Westley's first time in a while.

Westley really got into it, and on his own, decided to fill a whole page with color. I think it turned out pretty cool.

Haba Blocks

Still sick today, we spent the whole day inside. Both boys enjoyed playing with our Haba Blocks
We've had these blocks since Westley was one (thanks Aunt Lisa) but this was the first time Westley creatively and strategically placed the unique shapes and colors to design as he built.
I have fun with these blocks too. Endless possibilities!

You can tell he doesn't feel good!

Matching Game Puzzle

Yesterday Westley first started getting sick and was the most mellow we have seen him in a long time.
We did a quiet puzzle matching game together (given to us by Aunt Angie, Uncle Rick, and Nicole - Thanks guys!)

Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies

When Kevin picked up Westley from preschool he told Westley to ask me if we could bake cookies. So, I guess today's activity was Kevin initiated!

I am into finding ways to make baking more healthy - lower fat, sugar, more protein, fiber etc. Kevin misses the "real thing" so today for him, we were going to make regular recipe chocolate chip cookies.
My baking skills have suffered since having two children- I think it is the fact that I am trying to do it with one constantly trying to eat the dough and the other crying and holding on to my pant leg.
So, I misread the amount of flour and we only added 1 1/4 cups instead of 2 1/2 cups.
This made for some very flat cookies!
They actually tasted pretty good. If I was making cookies to be crumbled over ice cream I might bake them this way on purpose. (otherwise, I'll stick to the recommended amount of flour)

Westley's first time getting to lick the beaters

our sorry looking cookies

Milk Carton Pumpkin

I kind of made this up as we went along, but it turned out to be really easy and cute.

I took an empty milk carton and added a tiny bit of water. Then Westley squeezed in a lot of paint. I put the cap back on real tight and he shook and turned the milk carton until it was completely orange. 

Then I let him use scissors (which he has been banned from since he cut Will's hair) and he cut up a piece of black construction paper.


We picked out some that would make a good pumpkin face and he glued them on with tacky glue. I made the leaves for the top.

Now our cute little pumpkin is out front with the rest of our Halloween decorations!

Westley asked, Can we do it again? I told him we'll have to drink a lot of milk first.