Workin' at the Car Wash

After playing outside in the sandbox (90 degrees in April!) we needed to cool off, and get the cars clean. So we set up a Car Wash in the bathroom!

The punk washed each car carefully, and made sure to get all the sand out of each one.

Then he set them aside to dry on a towel.

When he was finished he took his toothbrush cup and rinsed the sand out of the sink.

And took a big drink! Look how red those cheeks were. It was hot, and he enjoyed the cool water after playing so hard (and washing cars).

Happy boy, Happy Mom, clean cars - what more could you want?

This post linked to: We Play (Childhood 101)

Frugal Learning

I picked up a few educational things at the Target Dollar Spot a couple of months ago, and decided to bring some out and give them a whirl this morning. We started with a worksheet from a workbook called Pre-K Colors & Shapes. Even though the Punk is excellent at naming all of the basic and most of the more complicated shapes, he doesn't have the drawing skills mastered yet. In fact, he draws very lightly. You can hardly tell that he has outlined the heart and rectangle on this page. We will keep working on it, and see if we can come up with a way to learn to press harder (without snapping the crayons in two!).

The Punk and I went over the concept of rhyming today. We have talked about it some, and I think he "gets" it, but this game presented too many words at once, and I think he felt a bit of pressure to make sure he did it just right.

Next time I bring this out I think I will pre-sort a few cards so we have some matches right away, and not have to "draw another card" so many times to get the game started.

All in all, not bad for $2.00!

Feelin' Groovy

Slow down, you move too fast

You've got to make the morning last...

We did a little spooning work this morning. I love the sound of the glass beads plinking into the bowls. The Punk knows to be careful, and go slow with these, because we had a broken bead in our original package, and "glass is fwa-gile, Mommy".

His best friend, his confidant, his Pepper Cat watched us as we did our school Work this morning. She is irreplaceable, and the love of his life. I kick myself for not buying two of her when Ikea still sold them.

We moved on to beads and chopsticks. The Punk likes these chopsticks a lot. Other than beads and puff balls I don't know many other activities he could "tong" with them. It's time to get creative so he can use these more often! I love early mornings when he does work that helps him concentrate and take things slow. Sometimes we rush too often in the a.m. and it's nice to have an activity to do that lets us sit and listen to music while he works.

This post linked to: Montessori Monday

Easy: E

Eggs, Easter Bunnies, Ears, Eyes, Eyelashes, Elbows, Elephant's Trunk, and Ellen (The Punk calls her Ellen Magellan).

This post linked to: Tot School

Here we grow again!

Someone gave us this little gardening kit, so we put it to use today, and planted the seeds that came with. If all goes well we should have cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet peppers at some point this spring/summer. The Punk is more enthused with the watering can than the rest of it. I think the little garden stakes (with stickers) are cute - but I'm afraid they won't last once the plants are transplanted outside.

As for our last gardening post - our herbs have sprouted! The Punk loves to check on them every day, and we water them with a little medicine dropper. He heard (on Charlie and Lola) that plants grow better when someone talks to them, and I have heard him whispering stories to them when he's playing behind the curtain.

I took a little nibble off that bent chive leaf, and I'm impressed! I hope the plants continue to grow so we can transplant them outside with the others later on. I have a tomato plant and a banana pepper plant growing outside now, and we want to add more in a few weeks when we get a "proper" vegetable garden set up in the back yard.

My thinking is that maybe, just maybe if the Punk helps grow the food he might just eat it too....? But since I can't grow a chicken nugget tree that might just be wishful thinking.

This post linked to: Montessori Monday

just want to Do SOMEfing!

We have been ill. Very ill. Well, the Punk was ill first, then shared his illyness with us (how thoughtful). Now the Punk is on the mend and the grown ups feel terrible. Bronchitis to be exact. Meh. The Punk is done with all this "stay at home and get better" business. He "just wants to DO SOMEfing!". And that makes us feel even worse. 7+ days of being house bound (except for the occasional store trip for more Nyquil) isn't the wonderful Spring Time a 3 year old looks forward to. So we have been going outside to play in the sandbox for a few days, and today I managed to bust out the paints. The Punk was overjoyed to be getting messy and creative again. We really need to get back in the swing of things and do a little school time each morning. Sick or not, the Punk craves learning. After the craft we had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch (and talked about how much Elephants love Peanuts). Then before rest time we read The Saggy Baggy Elephant.

This post linked to: Tot School and Preschool Corner

Cupcakes for Dinner!

Cupcakes for dinner? Yes! Cupcakes for dinner!

It is April 1st, and we are having cupcakes for dinner.

The Punk is so excited! He asked for a Blue one. Cupcakes for dinner! He can't believe his luck! Wait a minute... "Dese cupcakes don't taste berry good, Mom."

And even once I explained they were meatloaf and mashed potatoes I still couldn't get him to eat them. Too young for a joke? Maybe. Did I have fun making meatloaf cupcakes? Yes!

And I will do it again, they only take 15 minutes to bake!