Bike Ride to see the cows

Today we went up to Hemet. The boys have such great time up there- they love the open the land, exploring, and "helping" grandma and grandpa with outside chores.
Today Grandpa and Westley rode their bikes, while Grandma, Will and I walked to the neighbors to see the young cow. Grandma sang the cow her cow song while Westley and Will enjoyed mooed at it.

I wish this was the rode in front of our house!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for having us over this afternoon!

a letter for Grandma

We had something small we needed to mail to Grandma Martha, and we have some new address labels we wanted to show off, so today Westley wrote in a card, stuck in an envelope and licked it & sealed it by himself. He stuck on the address label and stamp and it was ready to go. Today was a rainy day, so getting it to the mailbox was the second part of the adventure - in rain boots and a rain jacket!

Will started to color a picture for Grandma too, but a few seconds later decided to bite a big hole in the paper, then tear it up, and then tried to color on the wall instead!

"Fishing" at Moonlight Beach

Today we met our cousins at Moonlight Beach. It was a beautiful day and surprisingly warm for February (no cool breeze). We had fun on the playground and on the sand.

Aunt Misty showed Westley how he could "fish" on the shoreline with one of the long sticks that were all over the beach. He was hooked and would have continued all day if we were staying that long! Thanks Misty!

 

Will has not been barefoot in the sand for a while... he wouldn't walk on his own!

Packing the "Tent Trailer"

Westley initiated this one. It was full of symbolic play.
He pretended our little play table was our tent trailer that we take camping. He was "packing" our tent trailer.
At first I didn't think he had any rhyme or reason for what he was loading up on the table, but as I became more involved, it made sense.  He actually had most of the basics covered! Water, sand toys, tools, blanket, etc.
The best part was when he hopped on and "drove" the tent trailer. Of course we had to stop on the way to fix a flat tire. We made it to the campground - spot 58 - Grandpa's new favorite, just in time for bath (with a promise that we could continue the adventure in the morning)

lunch @ gate park

Some other plans for the day didn't pan out, but since our lunch was already packed I told Westley we could eat and play a little at one of the little play structure lots in our neighborhood. He asked if we could go to gate park. Gate park is one of the lots in a different culda sac he has gone to with grandma before. I had never been there but had heard great things. I told Westley we could go if he could tell me how to get there. He did. - was surprised to see that gate park just had 1 tiny slide. (And a gate around the area) But Westley and Will played together really well in the sand with our sand toys. I love seeing them play together!

"Cake" fractions

Tonight I asked Westley if he wanted to make a pretend cake. Kids never turn down cake - even if it isn't real :)
I asked him how he wanted to decorate it and he chose to paint it.
So we used a paper plate upside down as the cake that he "frosted"
Will had one too.

When he was done, I asked him if he wanted to eat his cake. He enthusiastically said yes. I asked him if I could have cake too and he said yes, but I said, "but you only have one cake, what can we do? He suggested make another cake - good idea :)
But I was gearing for a different experience. I said we didn't have time to make another cake, but asked if I could share his. He said yes. So he said we could cut his. I talked about how I would cut it in half, and showed him how we had two equal halves and also showed how those two halves when put back together made 1 whole. He understands that.
Then I said, I think Grandma and Will each want a piece of cake too. What can we do? I walked him through how we could each cut our pieces in half and then we would have 4 pieces all the same size. We cut our cake into fourths. We gave 1/4 to Grandma, 1/4 to Will, 1/4 to Westley and 1/4 to me. We all pretended to eat our cake.


In no way do I expect him to truly understand fractions or do I push him to learn math skills of division, but he has an interest in numbers and through casual, playful exposure I think when it is necessary for him to truly know this stuff he might have a little easier time grasping the big concepts.

Will in Rainboots

Westley has been seen before in his rain boots, but this was Will's first time wearing his! They were both so cute to see out playing in the rain - jumping in the puddle that forms on our back porch, both trying to dry their toys of with little towels as the rain was still pouring down.
It's funny how kids can care less that they are all wet and cold when they are having fun!

HI HO Cherry O

We have had this game for a while, but have only played it a handful of times.
Westley was lucky today, he got to play with Dad this morning and me this afternoon.
Our game together lasted a long time... you have a 1 in 7 chance of spinning the spilt bucket of cherries that makes you put all the cherries back on your tree. I think we each spun that 1/3 of the time.
Besides dinner getting delayed and Will getting impatient, it was a fun calming activity.
It's good fine motor skill practice - even for adults!

Tin Foil Balls

While doing the dishes, I turned around to see this:

I had to quickly come to terms with 20 sheets of tin foil being ruined, but went with it.
I showed Will (and then Westley) how we could make tin foil balls.
They enjoyed kicking them, throwing them, and attempting to catch them, and playing hockey/golf with them.

They were actually real good for them because they aren't too heavy - as long as Will doesn't try to eat them!

The Marshmallow Experiment

The Marshmallow Experiment - but we used dried apple slices

The Marshmallow Experiment (click to see video) was an experiment done with 4 year olds on their ability to delay gratification. The original studies found that the 4 year olds who did not eat the marshmallow were the most successful adults. Ability to delay gratification was more strongly correlated to adult success than even IQ

They were given one marshmallow and told they could eat it right away, or, if they waited 15 minutes, they  would get another marshmallow.
The children were videotaped and you can see the kids being so tempted and trying to use strategies (like closing their eyes) to avoid eating the marshmallow while they sat there for 15 minutes.

Westley loves these little packages of freeze dried apple slices we get. They are usually a special treat just because they are a little expensive. In hopes to get Will to eat anything beside Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal, I opened a pack and Westley flocked over like a hungry seagull.

So I told Westley, he could have one and eat it, or if he didn't eat right away I would set a timer for 10 minutes and when the timer went off if he hadn't put it in his mouth I would give him 2 more slices. Westley made it 6 minutes, looking as antsy as the kids on the video, but then put it in his mouth.
He was disappointed and wanted to do it again and begged me to reset the timer and start over. I didn't want to drag it out or have him feeling bad or in trouble so I said no and then redirected him into something else.

Luckily Westley isn't 4 yet, we have a 3 more months!

Field Trip w/ Westley's class

Today was Westley's preschool class took a walking field trip to the campus' Horticulture Department that grows flowers, plants, and fruit trees.
I volunteered to help along.
Westley was so excited. Before the trip I was observing in the observation booth. At circle time he announced, "My mommy is coming with me on the field trip!"

All the children enjoyed the walk, picking and eating fruit, climbing in the trees, and finding worms.
It was fun, but tiring to go along (didn't help that we were awake at 4:30am this morning!)

Here's Westley and his walking buddy

And Westley climbing in the tree

And a pretty artistic photo I took without even knowing it

Will's morning

After I took Westley to school, Will was happy and ready to play!
I took him for his first neighborhood walk - where I let him walk.
Figures that every chance he can find he tries to escape and run down the street, yet when I'm ready to allow it, he insisted on being carried!
But we made it to the little park at the end of our street and had the best time playing tag/peekaboo with the playground tunnel

Animal Action

Animal Action is a song off a old children's CD called Kids N Motion by Greg and Steve
It says, "Animal action is so much fun, animal action ... move like a _____"
Cat, elephant, monkey, bird, etc.
Westley and I  sang and moved along before school today.

Will watched us.. but hasn't joined in yet

Sprinkles

This morning I needed to frost and decorate cupcakes for our little cousin Cole's first birthday party.
I was hesitant on having Westley help frost them because I knew that when he got a little on his hands he would lick it off, and then like it and keep licking and it would end up a gross germ infested mess - not what I wanted for a group gathering.
When it was time for the sprinkles Westley wanted to help out. That was good timing, and he was a good helper.
I would pour some into his hand and he carefully sprinkled them on the cupcakes with his other hand.
After we were done he had a good fine motor skills activity as he tried to put all the loose sprinkles back in to the empty container. This kept him busy for another 15 minutes!


Will wanted to see what was going on too

Organic Chocolate Cupcakes with homemade frosting - yum!

Love Bug

This ladybug valentine project came from a craft kit -thanks Grandma Kathy
However, it could also be done on your own - especially with some slid colored little paper plates from the dollar store.
The picture is kinda blury, but we had a pink paper plate and a red one. I drew lines like a pie wedge on the red and the Westley cut it out and glued it on the pink. Being able to use lots of glue is always a hit
Then we put on the head and he decorated the wings with spots (foam hearts)
He gave it to Grandma and Grandpa for Valentines Day.

Will colored on his paper plate with markers and then stuck on foam hearts. But the he took all the foam hearts off, rolled it up and tried to take a bite out of it

Happy Valentines Day to everyone :)

Roll the color dice

Tonight we used the color dice I made back in October for our Life Sized Colors Board Game.
This one was easier to play in the kitchen as I cooked dinner.
We took turns rolling the color dice, and then had to name something that was that color.
At first, Westley would just point to something in the room that was that color and say this, but he started getting better at it. He rolled yellow and yelled, Lemons!

Heart Man Craft

I remembered making this in my past, and thought it would be fun and festive. I wanted to be careful not to take over in hopes of making it look "right". I let Westley do a lot of it by himself with minimal help from me (cutting the heart, gluing on the face & feathers and drawing the smile  - he even folded the arms and legs with my help.
Westley was proud to hang him on the fridge. I suggested making him a Valentine's Day gift for someone, but so far he has insisted no - guess he really likes it!

Polar Bear Plunge

Westley woke up from his nap and asked to put his bathing suit on and play outside. (He had seen a water sprinkler toy I had bought) It was a fairly warm day for February so I agreed, but by the time we got outside it was shady with a cool breeze. The boys didn't care. They had fun in the cold water (luckily they didn't soak themselves) I asked Will if he was cold, he shook his head no as he shivered.
We only played for a few minutes as I didn't want them to get too cold, but I can tell this water thing will be a hit for summer!

Muffin Tin and Balls

This activity was for Will.
He pulled my mini muffin baking sheet out of the cupboard and was carrying it around.
I got out our bucket of all random balls and showed him how they could fit in the holes. He experiments with which ones fit and which ones didn't, and took them in and out multiple times.

I love cheap and easy fun!

Military Care Package

Today I tried to teach Westley about the military and their needs over seas. I showed him the website www.anysoldier.com where troops will post things that they need. Most of the time the needs are simple - hygiene items like toothpaste and soap, and snacks. I showed Westley some pictures that some have posted with their requests. Then I read him one of the messages posted about what they needed. I had already bought the items, but he helped me fill the box. We included a couple pictures, pieces of artwork, including the flag he made on Veteran's Day, and a quick note. Together we went to the post office and mailed it off.

I have been occasionally sending care packages for a couple of years now, but this was the first time I involved Westley. Next time, I will take him shopping with me. Most items can be found at the dollar store.

I encourage everyone to check out the website!!

Flying a Kite

Special thanks to Owen and Aunt Cheryl for this one!
We invited cousins Misty, Owen, Cole (visiting from Minnesota) and Aunt Cheryl to meet us at the park. Owen had requested to fly a kite while in California, so Aunt Cheryl bought one and brought it to the park. Westley was excited and eagerly took his turn flying the kite.
Once he learned that he had to run against the wind to get it in the air, he did pretty well.

I was inspired to buy us a kite of our own.

"Laundry" & Matching Socks

Grandma Kathy has been teaching Westley about pairs. He's pretty much got the concept down and enjoys pointing out pairs of things, so I thought he would enjoy this.
I raided all our drawers for colored or patterned socks. we counted that we had 7 pairs (and that meant 14 socks).
Then I used a cardboard box that Westley and I turned into a washer/dryer.
I made a big deal about how the socks were stinky and dirty (which he found to be hilarious). Then we put them in the laundry machine to wash and dry them. This was Westley's favorite part.
Then, when they were clean and dry, he pulled them out and matched them up.
Westley kept insisting they were dirty again, so repeated this all a few times.

Will was having more fun playing with blocks next to us, but he did like tapping on the top of our washer/dryer (which Westley didn't like) and took his turn putting some socks in the washer.

Tent in the Living Room

Kevin brought out his new backpacking tent, set it up with Westley and the boys got to play and read inside it. Will was a little more hesitant and kept crawling out to me.
Westley loved it. He's excited for the day when he gets to go backpacking and camping in it with Dad.

He wanted to sleep in it that night, but we will save that for another time, and another post :)

Find the timer

I bought a cheap egg timer at Walmart. Today I set it for about two minutes and then hid it. I told Westley he had to find it before the timer went off. For younger children it was good that it made a soft ticking sound. He learned to be quiet and listen for the ticking sound and then search that area. If he didn't find it in time, it would ring, and then he was able to find it.

We played this seriously for almost an hour, taking turns hiding the timer (but Westley doesn't hide it very well, and if he does, he tells you where it is)
We even let Will find the timer once - but he was too scared to touch it.

I know Westley will request to do this one again - probably at 5am tomorrow morning!

Insanity Workout

Kevin is doing a two month long workout program with daily workout videos. Westley and Will have jumped on board too!
Westley gets his water bottle out - just like dad.
He even "writes down" how many of each exercise he does.
They both will do the jumping jacks and push up position.
It is super cute

Where is your nose?

Where's your nose? Ah, there it is!
While this is a popular "game" to do with young toddlers (and I did it with Will)
I put a twist on it with Westley.
I would ask him, "Westley, where is your nose?" Then I would take his hand and force it to touch a different part of his body, like his chin. Then I would say enthusiastically "No Westley! that's your chin, not your nose!" He laughed hysterically as we repeated this over and over again with different body parts.
Sounds too simple, but preschoolers love sillyness.
Now we have a new thing to do when we are stuck in a long grocery store line, on an airplane, etc.

Lemon Curd Muffins

This morning we made Lemon Curd Muffins with more lemon juice and the lemon curd. The recipe was not good enough to post. The flavor was good, but the texture was a little chewy/spongy/dry. Could have been because it called for a cup of coconut that I did not add.
Westley enjoyed his muffin though, and we might keep experimenting with the lemon curd.

PS Westley was cute. He told me we need to water the lemon tree, I asked why- it is on a sprinkler. He replied, "because we need to grow more lemons!"

Juicing Lemons

We had a couple of large lemons growing on our tree outside that Westley had interest in picking.
So after finding a lemon recipe I want to try, I let him know we could pick them. It was dark out so we took our flashlights to pick the lemons.
Then we came in and juiced them, learning that one large lemon creates about 1/4 cup lemon juice.
Tonight I'm going to try and make the lemon curd. If all goes well, tomorrow's activity will be lemony and yummy