Organization

First, a picture of Nicole using the crayons from my last post.

Lately, I have been on a super organizing streak! Target has been profiting well from all the storage containers that I have purchased there in the last two weeks! I have also created a toy rotation system for Nicole's toys.

My current project has been to find a way to organize all the awesome ideas that I find on Pinterest! I have decided to use buckets to make premade kits of some of the activities so I have all the items that I need in one place. Unfortunately, Target only had 3 with lids in stock, so this has been put on hold.

I also wanted to have the activities on cards so they are easy to use and easy for me to pull out when I need to use them. On the front of each card is the name of the activity, a simple coding system for a brief overview of what the activity entails so I can mix it up during the week (see the key below), the ingredients needed, a place to check once I've tried it, and then a place to mark if I want to do it again and to make a note if I need to make any modifications or wait until she is older to try again.

The back has any directions that I need, a diagram (if needed), any changes to make, or it's just left blank if the front already explains everything.

Here is the key for the cards, I will add to it as needed.

At our wedding, we received this really neat photo album that can close like a book so I can keep it on the shelf, or I can flip it and it will stand up so I can flip the card and put it direction side out and the plastic will protect the card during our messy activities.

I can also put the cards on my rolling coat rack that holds other supplies so I know which activities I have planned for the week.

Yes, I know I have over organization issues....

Fun with colors

Can I just start with this: I LOVE PINTEREST!!!!!

As many of you know, Nicole is a VERY busy little girl!  This has challenged me to be a very creative mom to come up with fun activities! So, now I spend her naptime browsing on Pinterest (there are some super creative blogs created by moms with young children) and prepping fun activities.

Here are our activites so far:

Bubbles in the water table

Colored Ice Cubes

This ended up being a two attempt activity and I'm not overly impressed with it. I found that it takes quite a bit of food coloring mixed with the water and it didn't look as cool as it did in the instructions. However, Nicole still enjoyed splahing in red water!

Take 1

Take 2 *It also showed up better in the clear container instead of the water table*

Rainbow Crayons

I bought Nicole one set of toddler crayons, which she promptly destroyed. So I decided to make some fun rainbow crayons for her. Most blogs that I saw suggested that I melt them in a muffin tin in the oven, but I didn't see how those could be easy for her to hold. I then remembered some awesome ice cube trays that Nick gave me for my birthday a few years ago. They are meant to be used to make ice cubes that fit into the opening of a waterbottle. Consequently, they are also the right size and shape to make toddler crayons. The only drawback is that it can't go in the oven.......however, it's my favorite season: SUMMER! I just stick the tray outside for a few hours/days and now I have crayons!



Please note: This is my hand, Nicole is sleeping and I didn't want to wait to post this blog!



Child's Play

Today we had a playdate at a super fun indoor playground in Temecula. I quickly fell in love with this place because it is geared towards children who are under 6 years old. What makes it even better: older children are not allowed to play in the play area! This means Nicole didn't run as much of a risk of being run over! I was surprised at how many kids there were playing in the play area, but that didn't slow Nicole down one bit! She took the time to try out EVERYTHING in the room! Here are pictures from our morning:

She loved playing in the kitchen! She would open and close all of the cabinets and drawers over and over and over!

There was a cute little area with "baby toys" and Nicole loved playing with those toys while she was "recharging".

This little track has a car, but Nicole thought it was better to try to slide/crawl down it.

Nicole with her friend from our playgroup.

So while I was busy chatting with some of the other moms from our playgroup, Nicole followed the big kids up this jungle gym.....without help. At this point she was taller than me! She had been pressing her face against the plastic, but I didn't get a good shot of that.

She has no fear....

Yet again, no fear...

This is one of Nicole's BFF's going down the super fun race track! Nicole had smiles like this, but the glare from the window made it so they didn't turn out (I guess now mom has an excuse to take her back there!).

Nicole at the end of the race track.

Fun, fun, fun

Today was a very busy day with several activites to do!

Last week I found a link to this website on Pinterest and after spending some time looking at it, I decided to create an account. After your account is created, they will send you one email a day (on the days that you choose) with an age ap...propriate developmental fun activity for you to do with your child. Best of all, it's FREE and uses every day objects!!! Today's activity was scooping. We were supposed to scoop cheerios from one bowl to the other, but I thought scooping ball pit balls with a bucket sounded way more fun!

The website is found here: Productive Parenting

 

Later that morning, we had a play date with some of Nicole's friends. She loved having other kids her age to talk to during lunch!

 What's better than some good conversation over chicken nuggets, mac 'n' cheese, goldfish, and graham crackers?!?

 They also had fun playing in the water.

Nicole is forever flirting with other babies (especially boys). Today she decided kissing and hugging this little guy sounded like fun. Thankfully his mom also found the humor in her actions!

At home, Nicole found my deoderant that hadn't been put away from camping. She was showing me how mom and dad put deoderant on.

 I guess she thought I smelled bad because she was lifting up my shirt to help me put some on.

After dinner, Nicole and I headed out to Tyler Mall to spend some time with Grandma Joan (who I think was going through some serious Nicole withdraws since it had been almost two weeks since she last saw Nicole) and Aunt Hannah (who flew down last minute to visit a sick friend **our friend could really use some extra prayers during this tough time as she battles cancer**). Grandma Joan and Nicole bought tickets to ride on the train. Nicole surprised me with how well she did considering it was after 8pm (she normally is in bed by 8).

She was a little surprised when the train started moving.

But after a minute or two she was so fascinated with everything around her, that she started to have fun. After a few times around the track, she started to laugh and wave every time she passed Hannah and me, but I didn't get any good pictures of that because I was busy laughing and waving back to her.

 

Well, this is a glance into the busy day that we had today. I am so blessed that I am able to enjoy the little moments with Nicole as she grows!