Fourth of July: Fireworks!

This is the first time A has tried marble painting.  I figured she would enjoy it, since she really enjoys playing with her Marble Works. 

First she helped me put dabs of paint and glitter glue onto the black construction paper.

Next, she tossed in two marbles.

She tipped the bin back and forth and then shook it really good.

After the paint dried a little, I gave her some red and blue foam star stickers to stick on the paper.

I love how festive it looks!  Our art clothesline is full of red white and blue this week!

Linking up here:

It's Playtime! 

Fourth of July: Star prints

Here is a simple little art project A and I worked on recently.  I took a dab of washable paint and put it in a cake pan.  I added a bit of water and showed A how to use a star cookie cutter to make star prints.  Really simple!

Linking up here:

ABC and 123 and
Delicate Construction

Listen and color

This morning while A was at the easel, I decided to tell her which colors the fruits were.  She carefully chose the marker and colored the fruit with that color.  If she was way off, I didn't say anything, but let her continue on.

I think she did a pretty good job for her first time coloring with directions!  If you look closely, you can see the fruit and what color she was using.  

Strawberry picking (and lots of recipes!)

On Friday morning, we picked strawberries.  It was A's first time.  She enjoyed picking the strawberries and placing them directly into her mouth, dirt and all. 

Once she'd had her fill, she picked a few and put them into the basket.  Her favorite part was carrying the (too heavy for her) basket for Mama.  We even got to eat some delicious apple donuts at the strawberry stand when we were finished.

With the few pounds we picked, this is all that we made:

Strawberry Jam and Rhubarb Strawberry Jam from Canning for a New Generation

Strawberry Lime Stuffed Cupcakes

Old Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

Strawberry Sauce to make Fresh Strawberry Limeade

Lalo's famous cookies

We might be done...or...we may go back for more so I can freeze a bunch.  We'll see!

Starting young.

This is the newest of "chores" I've introduced A to.  She LOVES helping Mama with laundry.  She puts the laundry into the washing machine, pours the soap in and closes the door.  When she's finished she'll say, "Thank you so much!" or "Great job, A!"  She's so proud of herself.

She also gets to have the responsibility of putting socks away.  She knows where her socks go and Daddy's socks go.  Soon she'll know where Mama's go too!  

I like that she knows she is helping Mama work and that it's an important job.  I also like how she feels a sense of pride after doing something herself. 

Snack drawer!

A now has her own snack drawer.  We've always had a few snacks for her in the family snack drawer (the drawer right above the one shown) and she's always been free to get them herself.  The drawer was a bit too high for her, so I took the baking items out of the bottom drawer, put her snacks in there and put the baking stuff in the old snack drawer.  There was still room for a few of Mom and Dad's snacks in the middle drawer.

Now, whenever A says, "eat!" we can just say, "go look in your snack drawer."  She gets so excited about choosing her snacks.  She's been very good about putting them away too.  I just have to remember to refill the fresh fruits and veggies (and put them away at night).  What a nice step towards independence!

Slow down

This is one of the ways my girl reminds me to slow down and enjoy being in the moment.  Anytime we are out and about and she sees a flower (and sometimes even leaves) she'll crouch down, sniff and say, "MMmm!!! Dewishis!"  I let her do it, too.  I love how little things capture her attention and remind me to stop and enjoy them as well.