Styrofoam Ball Toss

I was about to throw away a sturdy piece of styrofoam that had a funny shaped hole cut out of the middle when I thought, I'm sure we could do something with this!
So I made a ball toss gave out of it. So easy - just propped it up, got out some little balls and we were set.

It was good to because the balls would just pop back to you if you missed.
I think I played with this longer than the boys did - their attention span was pretty short on it, but that's fine since it didn't cost a thing - no money or energy

Watching Professional Tree Trimming

Some families go and watch movies together. Others go to football games or basketball games. We watch tree trimmers.
Our neighbors got their two large palm trees pruned today. We sat together as a family and watched him climb up and cut off every leaf branch with a chain saw. Westley loves stuff like this.

That afternoon I had to go somewhere so Kevin was with the boys. He took them out and bought them a toy chain saw of their own.
So we almost have enough for our own gardening service
We've got the work truck, lawn mower, two weed wackers, leaf blower and chain saw!

Popcorn Kernel Shaker

Today we made more air popped popcorn. All the kernels do not pop, so I used a recycled little container and we put the kernels in to make a little shaker.
Westley had touched a kernel that flew out of the air popper (even though he was told not to) and got a tiny burn on his finger. Needless to say he had no further interest in doing anything involving popcorn kernels, so Will took over with the activity. He decorated the container and then shook the container making all kinds of loud "music"

Don't worry- Westley had no lasting mark, and got over the anger at popcorn quickly because he asked to make more the next day

Straw Glider

I saw directions for this is the free Family Magazine. This was simple, easy fun!Dad, Westley and I took a piece of construction paper and cut two 1" strips. Once longer than another. Westley helped tape them into circles (one circle bigger than the other) and then taped them onto a straw. It flies like a decent paper airplane. Westley and Dad had a great time flying it off our our second story landing.

Felt Necklace Part 2

The next day, the glue was completely dry.  We weren't sure if the glue was going to hold, but it did. Grandma Kathy cut the felt roles into small rounds (about 3/4 in.) so they looked more like beads. The Westley helped string them on to make the necklace (we used  a needle and thread).

It turned out better than we thought it was going to!
So I posted full directions on how to do it.

Felt Necklace Part 1

I got a book called Green Crafts for Children for Christmas.
Many of the crafts are more for older children and adults (especially ones who can sew) but there are a few Westley saw and expressed interest in doing.
Grandma Kathy, Westley and I are trying to do the craft shown on the cover. Today we rolled and glued the two pieces of different colored felt. One piece needs to be a rectangle about 5 by 4 inches. The other rectangle needs to be about 5 by 2 1/2 inches. Lay the smaller felt rectangle on top of the bigger. Center it so there is the bottom color of felt showing on each edge. Spread tacky glue on both those edges, then roll tightly. Rubber band it so the glue can dry and stick it together. It didn't seem like our felt was going to stay glued, but we left it overnight and it did.

Magnetic Mighty Mind

Grandma Kathy gave Westley this Magnetic Mighty Mind activity for Christmas.
Westley loves it. They start out easy and then get pretty hard. We have been doing one or two after dinner every night. I'm worried soon they are going to get too hard for me!
He really enjoys it  though and you can tell it is building great math skills

thanks again Grandma!

Train Play

We've had this little train track for a long time, and Westley used to play with it a lot. But it hasn't been put together in a year I'd say.
So, tonight I put it together for the boys. Westley transported people and trees. Will surprisingly and thankfully did not mess up the track. He just played along the side with a train.

Around the Block

Today was our first non rainy day all week. I wanted to take advantage so I suggested to Westley that we think about all the different ways we could go around our block.
First he wanted to push Will in the stroller. He ran with the stroller!
Then he went on his bike and Will rode in his "car", the Westley went on his scooter (with a lot of help - then tried to teach Will) and then they went in our "green truck"
We all enjoyed the time outside!

Paper Weaving

Westley saw something similar to this in a craft book and said he wanted to do it. That craft would definitely be too hard for him, but I thought maybe he could do some weaving with strips of paper - with help. Cut lines in one piece of construction paper with a razor blade type knife. Then cut another piece of paper into strips. First Grandma Kathy helped Westley do this, then he did it again with me. He definitely needed help to do this, but he was really excited about how it looked when it was done

I've done this with a bit older children as a craft before where once finished, you cover it in contact paper (or laminate it) and use it as a placemat

Floor Puzzle

We have a big floor puzzle that Westley likes to do, but can't do on his own yet. (Thanks Aunt Lisa for the puzzle as a gift form Westley's 3rd birthday)
Westley knows we have to have 2 grown ups around for him to do it - one to help him, and one to keep Will out of the way.
So this time, I was on Will duty and Kevin helped Westley with the big transportation floor puzzle

Ice Cream Ball

Last summer we got this ice cream ball maker that you make homemade ice cream in, then you shake rattle and roll the ball until the ice cream is done. The ball thing is kind of a pain to use (Kevin's not much a fan) but Westley had fun rolling the ball back and forth, and of course, eating the ice cream.

Bet not too many other people made homemade ice cream on this stormy rainy day!

Cut Paper Collage

This activity has potential to take a while with cutting and pasting involved! But today, he flew through it.
Westley loves to use scissors, so I gave him his scissors and some construction paper and he began cutting. Then, I gave him some glue to make a collage out of his cut pieces. We talked about making a tree out of his cut pieces, using them as leaves, but I think he turned his interests to squeezing out large amounts of glue and haphazardly placing the cut pieces on the big piece of construction paper.

This activity has potential to take a while with cutting and pasting involved, but today, he flew through it. Maybe we will repeat it again later this week

Pretend Pizza

Today I had both boys back at home and feeling better. Westley was eager to play!
We decided to make "pizza"
I started talking about materials we had that could be sauce and toppings. He said we needed a hard crust.
So I got some cardboard for the crust, he added all the "toppings" (playsilks and felt) and we used my real baking sheets.
We have a dome activity center toy that Westley on his own decided was the oven. He even preheated it!
He stuck the pizza in and made a door out of a pillow. At one point the oven broke, so Westley and Will got their tools out and fixed it.
Westley got out some plates and we ate the pizza - be he insisted we also save some for Dad!

Sick Days

The past few days Will and I have both been sick. We have not had much energy and haven't done anything but lay around and sleep. Westley is spending quality time with each grandma, I'm sure they are doing lots of fun activities together.
Hopefully I can return here tomorrow.

Puddle Hunt

It rained last night so I was hoping that there would be some puddles for Westley to jump in as we have been pretty cooped up the last few days as both boys haven't felt good. (Westley seems to be feeling a lot better)
He put on his rain boots and Westley and I went looking for puddles - just the two of us. We walked the neighborhood, but apparently our streets have very good drainage systems as there was only a little water in the gutters. We did found a few small puddles on our walk, but found the best ones back in our own back yard. They were perfect sized to make a little splash, but not soak his pants.

Lego Semi Truck

Both boys were really sick today without much energy. It wasn't until the evening that they had interest in doing anything but lay on the couch. So we needed a simple activity today.

We've had duplo lego blocks, but for Christmas the boys got a dump truck and other set of wheels to go with them. This has made them a lot more fun (Thanks Aunt Angie and Uncle Rick)

We worked to turn the dump truck into a semi truck and tried to see how tall we could build it.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yesterday Will was not feeling well. He wanted to be held constantly, so after naptime, I strapped him to my back and Westley and I made peanut butter cookies. I am trying to find a healthier peanut butter cookie recipe. This one had no added butter/oil, but they also didn't have much flavor, so we will keep looking.

Tea Party

Westley was not feeling well today. Even a trip to Hemet didn't completely distract him from his sinus headache and sore throat.
Knowing my mom would have tons of herbal tea, I told him tea might help his sore throat. He was up for it.
I found a mug I used to use as a young child and he had a some apple cinnamon tea. He sat so nicely and drank it all.

In all honesty, there wasn't much party to the tea party. I don't think Westley has ever played tea party before and I don't remember doing so myself. But... we sand a tea party song and enjoyed ourselves none the less.

"Homework"

Yesterday Westley saw two boys doing their homework in a restaurant. He was very interested and stared at them as they practiced their writing.
Today we were cleaning out some things and Westley found a dry erase book for kids to practice tracing their letters. He got so excited that this was his homework. I'm not big on pushing a child to do schoolwork/seatwork at a really young age, but since he wanted to I let him.
I didn't want him developing any bad habits, so I sat down beside him and taught him how to make the letters correctly. Meanwhile, Will sat in his chair with playdough where I discussed the different sizes of balls we were making.

I got a very tiny glimpse of homeschooling... while it might be fun for a few weeks, I couldn't do it. I need a break, and time to recharge my patience.

Freeze Dance

Today we got a new CD player that is kid friendly and easy to use that I put in our playroom.
Westley spent a long time listening to all his stories and music (we don't have too much..yet).
With the new player it is easy to pause a song, so we played freeze dance. Westley was really into it and enjoyed being in control of the player and when to freeze. At first Will didn't seem to have any idea what we were doing, but I think he started to catch on. Regardless, he enjoyed the dancing and music playing.

Wet Paper Painting

With watercolor, it is common to wet the watercolor paper.
We tried this with just computer paper and the little watercolor paint sets.
The boys both really enjoyed wetting the paper with the wet sponge brush. That was their favorite part.

But, Westley also noticed how the color spread more over the paper, and how is painting "grew"
I liked it because you don't have to dip for paint as often

One Man Relay

Just before naptime today, Westley still had too much energy. I was afraid he wouldn't be able to fall asleep. So, I took him in the backyard to wear him down!
I set up a little relay for him. He had 10 blocks in a bucket he had to take one at a time to the other bucket. To get there he had to crawl through the tunnel, run around the tree, and jump over the tube. I timed him to see how long it would take him to get all 10 blocks into the round bucket.

He repeated this activity for 45 minutes. I was impressed by his good jumping over the tube - even though he fell after most jumps.





PS - It worked! He was asleep after 5 minutes and took a 2 1/2 hour nap

Food Photography

I let Westley use my old digital camera to take a lot of pictures today. He was excited to take pictures of food so we set up a mini photo shoot (shout out to Aunt Lisa - maybe he can go on a field trip to a real food photo shoot someday!)

We picked foods we know how to sign. Maybe someday I'll make a little book out of the pictures and signs. Someday... when I have free time...

Westley signing yogurt

Westley signing water to Will

A long Winter Nap

Does all of us taking a nap together count as an activity? If so, this is my new favorite one!

We played with our playgroup all morning and then all napped until 5pm!

The boys always take a nap, and most of the time there naptimes overlap, but today I joined in as well (after being up most of the night with Will screaming and Westley waking up at 5am)

Lawn Mower Garage

We got a big cardboard box that Kevin's new lawn mower came in. The boys made it into a garage for our toy lawnmowers and/or a Wilson secret hide out spot.
They thoroughly enjoyed decorating it with markers (thanks Dad for that idea) as they were disappointed when I told them it was too late/cold to paint it.

There is no bottom to the box which worked out good as they can open the "doors" and go in and out much more easily

Happy Birthday Dad

We made breakfast and a birthday sign for dad. This actually was better than making cards because the bigger size was easier for both boys to color on, and we all 3 of us got to work on it together.
















Westley helped Dad blow out is candles on his morning "French Toast Cake"we made him