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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Sweet Rewards


Beekeeping is a lot like life. It is hard work and you may get some stings along the way but the more time and care you put into it, the sweeter the rewards.


We did a hive check today and put our 9 frame converters in place. We had one frame that we had to keep out and we couldn't let all that honey go to waste!


Liquid gold!  We had heard people tell us that our own honey would be the best we have ever tasted but we still weren't prepared for that taste bud party. So mild and sweet and literally THE BEST honey we have ever had. We aren't sure why everyone thinks their own honey is the best...  Is it because it really is the best?  Is it because we are so accustomed to the smells of the flowers and such in our area so we already had a natural inclination to love it?  Or perhaps it is because we have put so much into them that it makes the fruits of our labor that much sweeter. 

All I know is that as I was tasting our honey for the first time I was thinking of our marriage, our son and everything else about our life together. We put in effort, love and hard work everyday. We experience stings along the way but our efforts are always met with amazingly sweet rewards. 



~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "The Power of Play"


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Friday, August 30, 2013

Full Toddler Swing

Ayden gave us a pretty big dose of toddler medicine tonight. We had a pretty typical morning and went to have lunch with David at work which is always fun.


Ayden is starting to get into the defiant toddler stage. All toddlers get to this stage at some point or another and at varying degrees. I feel Iike overall, Ayden is still a relatively "easy" toddler compared to most. He seems to have a couple of areas where he tends to test and push his limits (pouring water out of the bathtub, sitting on the cat, throwing food on the floor and now he's beginning to throw anything and everything). Anything outside of those behaviors, he responds well to any disciplinary measures we use but for those, we go back to the drawing board again and again.

Today, Ayden did not get a decent nap in. He fell asleep right before we got to David's office and wasn't asleep long enough to transfer without waking. Once he got a glimpse of where we were, there was no way he was falling back to sleep. Our visits with Daddy always get Ayden excited and happy so he babbled and sang songs all the way back home. I had to stop by Kroger and again, he began dozing off just as we got into the parking lot. After that, the nap window closed on us. He rallied and barreled through the day despite my efforts to get him to nap once we were home (bare in mind, he typically naps around 2 and we were home by 1:30). Then it just got too late and we didn't want him to nap or else he'd be up all night with us. He started getting irritable at around 6 and then completely lost control of himself by 7. He was throwing anything and everything he could while laughing hysterically, then he was having meltdowns left and right and doing the opposite of everything we said. He was over tired and needed a reset that only sleep could bring him. We gave him a very quick bath, got him ready for bed and he was asleep within 5 minutes, before 8:00.

It is hard for David and I when we have this kind of day because Ayden has spoiled us. As far as toddlers go, on any other day he is such a joy to be around. There are so many more happy and well behaved moments than not and because of that we have a hard time finding the patience we need to help him through days like this. It is hard but we do it. It is our job to rise to the occasion to help and guide Ayden through his life, especially when he is not at his best. It is our job to take a step back from the situation, remember the source of his actions, take a deep breath and get through the rest of the day.  It is so important that we don't let him down when he needs our guidance and patience the most. 

 I often become very quiet when going through the motions of a rough patch of a day.  The struggle of a squirmy, fussy diaper change or tooth brushing, the defiance, the meltdowns, etc. I usually sing and encourage and am very peppy but when we are having a rough day like today, and I am feeling frustrated, being quiet is my way of coping and keeping my cool. I just work to remove myself emotionally, focus on the task at hand and get it done as quickly and efficiently as possible. That way we get him to where he really needs to be which tonight was tucked away in bed for the night.



It has been a long time since he has been as over tired as he got today. It will be interesting to see how it effects his sleep. As adults, we seem to sleep better when we are exhausted but for most kids, being over tired has the opposite effect.  Sleep begets sleep...  I am just glad we made it through the day and guess what?  Tomorrow is a new day!!  Now David and I are going to snuggle into our TV room, turn on a Netflix movie and enjoy some much needed toddler free, quiet, grown up time!!

What is your coping mechanism during one of "these" days?  What do you do to keep your cool?

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Errand Day"


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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Hammer Time

We ended up gong to our usual storytime today. My sister had invited a new friend and thougt I'd like to meet her.  She was right, we all got along very well. Our kids played well together afterward while we fed the ducks. Then we had lunch, hung out some more and were home by 3:00. 


I was able to tidy our messes from this morning and get dinner ready before David got home which are things that don't usually happen on errand day. It was a nice, relaxing day!

From dinner to bed time, we played and played. 

Tool belt!
Stop!  Hammer time....
My loves in the pool!

Another great summer day for the books!

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "We Share Everything!"

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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Broken Window Theory

I was texting with my sister in the wee hours of the morning this morning and we made a dog park date for today. 


We ended up being the only ones there (us along with one more friend) and it was really fun!


Before we had kids and our dogs were our only babies, we met at the dog park all the time!  Now all of our kids are big enough to enjoy the park too so it would be fun to start making it a habit again. 

As of right now, the housework is in "maintenance mode" so that makes things really chill around here.  I always say it but I could really get used to this!  What typically happens, though, is that we have some whirlwind of a weekend or get a little lazy and the window gets broken.

I read about broken window theory in this book:

Checked it out from the library. 
It talks about areas of high crime and how buildings with broken windows are most frequently vandilized because the vandals take the broken window as a sign that the caretaker is absent or doesn't care. The author goes on to compare this theory to our homes. When everything is in its place, everyone puts forth that extra effort to keep it that way. But as soon as the window is broken (junk mail left on the table, shoes on the floor in front of the couch, dirty dishes left in the sink, unpacked bags on the closet floor, etc, etc) we are more likely to add to the mess. Before we know it the family tornado has done its work and the house is trashed. I don't know about everyone else but this is so true at our house!  We work for a few days to put everything back in it's place and everything else I discuss in this post but once we get tired, busy or lazy the window is broken and there's no turning back. 

For me, once the window is broken it takes a good week to get things back to where they are right now. I think it is because at our cores, David and I are not naturally "do it now" kinds of folks. We feel good when we are those people but it takes effort. When we are tired or busy, we revert back to our natural states of just leaving things wherever they land. 

I'm going to enjoy our "repaired window" while it lasts because we have been having extra time for the pool, the dog park, extra projects and errands. Just in time to enjoy the end of summer. It has been so fun!


How long are you able to keep your house in "maintenance mode?"  What do you do with the extra time??

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "A Doting Nurse"

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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Toddler Tuesday: Stick Puzzles

This week we made puzzles out of wooden craft sticks!



Here are the supplies we used:

Pictures
Craft Sticks
Mod Podge/Sponge Aplicator
Scissors
Razor Blade

And the play by play:

Cut out the pictures

Lay out the sticks and coat with Mod Podge

Press picture onto Mod Podge

Add another coat

Set aside to dry and repeat with remaining pictures.

Once dry, fold to break Mod Podge seal between sticks

Score picture along cracks between sticks with a razor blade.

Finito!

Quick, cheap and easy!!

I put a different shape at the top of each puzzle to help us sort them later.
I also numbered the sticks and wrote the animal names.
An activity that will grow with my little one!
I made these for my preschool and kindergarten students. It is a very versatile ativity that is easily customizable to suite a wide age range of learning levels. 


Toddlers will most likely need help putting the outer sticks in the right places but Ayden is able to put the inner pieces, the ones with the actual animal on them, together independently. 


While playing with these puzzles, we talk about body parts on the animals (he points out eyes, ears, nose, etc). We talk about what the animal is eating or what they are doing in the picture. We count the sticks and I point out the letters, numbers and shapes. He may not memorize/identify them yet but early exposure is only going to pave the way for when he is ready. 

Once we were done making animal sounds and discussing all we could we got to his favorite part:

DESTRUCTION!
(Afterward, he'd pretend to be concerned and say, "Oh no!" and try to fix it.)
As with any toddler activity, it is okay if their attention spans seem short or if they'd rather distruct rather than construct. The most important part of activities like this is that they spark conversation which, in turn, exposes them to a wide variety of vocabulary words and facilitates a lot of thinking on their part.

To make this activity even more fun, attach magnets to the back of each sick.  You can put them on the refrigerator or dishwasher.  You could get one of those huge oil pans and hang it on the wall in their bed or playroom. You could also make it a travel game with a cookie sheet in the car.

I printed these pictures from Microsoft Word's clip art. You could also use family photographs, real photographs of animals that you and your child take together (what a great culminating activity after a trip to the zoo, orchard, aquarium, etc!) or magazine clippings. You could also just draw pictures on the sticks with a permanent marker. Just put some scotch or painter's tape across the back to keep them lined up while you draw. There are so many directions you can take with this activity.

Ayden has been LOVING these and I know your children will too, young and old alike!  Here are a few little clips of him enjoying his new puzzles:




What have you used wooden craft sticks for lately?

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Quite the Predicament"


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Monday, August 26, 2013

Busted

We started our Monday off right with the best flourless pancake recipe I've found to date!

{Recipe}
David and I checked out a couple of DVDs from the public library while we were there donating our old text books over the weekend. They were 3 day rentals so I kind of made today my errand day instead of Thursday. I wanted to make the trip to the city worth it so I spent the morning getting the house back in order from our lazy/busy weekend and then headed out after lunch to run some errands. I had a couple of things to do at the mall so we took a break to play in the play area. 


Ayden was the only boy in there but he still had a blast. I had to carry him out kicking and screaming because he could have played there all day!

David grilled lamb kabobs for us for dinner and then he and Ayden played upstairs while I tackled kitchen cleanup and got a batch of kale in the dehydrator for kale chips. 

Ayden ended his day with a busted lip after getting himself so riled up that he fell and hit his crib rail. That took him from giggling to crying in no time flat, poor baby. I suppose the old saying, "it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt" applies here...  He has been taking a while to fall asleep here recently so we read some books by book light and it really seemed to help him wind down and get sleepy. We read so many books during the day that we never needed to make them a big part of Ayden's bedtime routine. I think we will add them back in for a bit since he seems to be winding himself up right before bed these days. They are the perfect way for him to wind down since he sits so quietly and could read them forever if we'd let him. He went to sleep very quickly tonight so we'll definitely be reading before bed again tomorrow night!  

I feel like today was a good day. I am glad I was able to get the cottage cleaned and get Thursday's errands taken care of. That means on Thursday, we'll be trying out our local storytime. I am looking forward to seeing how Ayden likes it!  As for tomorrow, I think we will try to go swimming if the weather permits. Gotta milk these last weeks of summer for all they're worth!

What is the wind down part of your toddler's bedtime routine?

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Mountain Bikes = Baby?"

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Sunday, August 25, 2013

A-Ma!

Ayden's new 2nd favorite animal is the llama (after the horse, of course)!

He would say, "A-ma! A-ma!" over and over.  
I think goats may come in at a close third. I ran the tie dye station at the pet store where I used to work for their 20th anniversary celebration today. David and Ayden came along to take part in all the fun!  Along with the tie dye station there were inflatables, pony rides, a petting zoo, free sno-cones, popcorn and cake. They were raffling off products from every animal category in the store and customers got 20% off of their entire purchase for the whole day. There was also a DJ playing 90s hits that transported me back to middle and high school dances ("I'll put my hand up on your hip, when I dip you dip we dip..."). It was a fun day but also very hot!  We were on a blacktop parking lot and it was a supper sunny day. At the last minute I had David get our pop up tent out of our shed and it was a LIFE SAVER!

Here are a few more pictures from the day:





After a long day of sun and rainbow hands (even though I wore gloves) we were all ready for a low key evening once we got home. We watched a movie and David threw together some salads for dinner with whatever he could find in the fridge. Then Ayden had a bath and was off to bed. 

This turned out I be an even better weekend than expected. 

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Fashion Statement"

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Saturday, August 24, 2013

Lazy Days

We had a busy day planned for today. We were going to the Farmer's Market, to David's parents' house, to the post office, home for lunch , yard/housework and then we had a farm field day at a vineyard 45 minutes away. It seems as though we had set ourselves up for yet another non stop weekend (tomorrow is going to be a little busy too).

This morning, while we were at the farmer's market, we tossed around he idea of skipping he farm field day. We knew we'd enjoy it if we went, knew we'd learn a lot (they had bees!) and knew we'd probably make some fellow young farmer contacts and possibly a new friend or two. It was a tough decision but we finally decided not to go and that's when the feel of the day totally changed.

Instead of having to watch the clock and be on any sort of schedule, things slowed down big time. We still visited David's parents and went to the post office. We came home for lunch and David encouraged me to take a nap with Ayden while he mowed, cleaned out the gutters and took care of some other yard/cottage maintenance stuff. 


Ayden and I didn't wake up until close to 5:00 (Ayden has always taken monster naps when I nap with him). Then we had dinner and went to my parents house to let Ayden play in the sandbox and visit a bit. Such a relaxing day!

We have such a hard time with this sort of predicament...  To get out and experience the world or to just stay home. Obviously, as with everything in life, we just need to find balance. To find our own happy medium. Perhaps we could try scheduling outings only once or twice a month, while also taking care to work around any obligations on our calendar (bee hive checks, etc) so that we don't have too much in one day.

This is all part of our journey to simplify our life and to find what works best for our family. We don't do much outside of the house once David gets home from work during the week so hyper-scheduling ourselves on the weekends has become a habit.  Today made us realize that we miss the days of not constantly being on the run and just enjoying our weekend. Even if everything we have planned is fun, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing!  We need periods of rest in our days. 

Do any of you deal with this pedicament too?  How do you find balance?

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "A Bust"


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Friday, August 23, 2013

Cutting Room Floor

Every now and then, I go through the pictures on my phone and delete any that aren't worth saving to the computer before clearing space for more. When I do that I always come across pictures and videos that didn't make it on to the blog either because they weren't relevant to a post or because I just don't include everything I took in a day. Here are a few photos that didn't make the cut but still made me smile:

He looks miserable but he covered his eyes, saying "su-shy" (aka, sunshine) and wore them for a whole couple of minutes before deciding that they were more uncomfortable than the actual su-shy. 


He loves working out with us!  We finally have that little workout buddy we always wanted!



Ayden was so proud to carry this package into the post office. He confidently walked in and said, "hi" as if the people inside were old friends. 


No need for smocks when you've got a birthday suit!  This was Ayden's first time fingerprinting. He has done water colors lots of times and we tried finger painting once before but he was more interested in trying to taste it than painting with it. This time he covered the whole canvas! Then he was ready to wash his hands. 

I know this is no secret but I just LOVE photographs.  I love how each and every one brings back memories and feelings of all of the wonderful times in our lives, freezing moments in time.  Good stuff.

~Sarah

Do you love looking back through old (or even not so old) photographs??

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Reminiscing"

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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Ayden's Favorite Things {19 month edition}

It's been a long time since I've written about Ayden's favorite things all in one place. I wrote a favorite things post when he was 1 month old, and another when he was 6 months old.  Now here is what he is loving at 19 months.

His #1 favorite thing to do is still READING!  Some current favorites are his potty book, his new Fall book called Barnyard Baby (it's a flap book about a farm so automatically a fave), From Head To Toe (he does all of the movements now), Hop On Pop (probably because he can say most of the words in it), and the list could go on and on. 


Something else that has been a favorite since day one, and still is, is water. He still loves baths, he loves swimming and he plays with water at any chance he gets. He'll splash in Maverick's water bowl or play in the tub faucet if we leave the bathroom door open. He seems drawn to water so we will see where that takes him. Maybe he'll want to be an Olympic diver or something. Haha. 


He likes to snuggle for a while when he wakes up. This could easily double as one of my favorite things too. I love it so much. He typically has a lot of energy so I relish the moments where he is awake but sits so still and quiet, snuggled into my neck.  

He still loves music. Anything and everything. He claps and dances whenever (and wherever) we hear a good beat. Just today he was dancing to the music in the shopping cart at Whole Foods. He still plays the keyboard that he got for Christmas everyday and still likes to DJ our dance parties with all the demos on the keyboard. We stopped by Lowe's today right when he woke up. As usual when he first wakes up, he wanted to be held but he's too heavy for me to carry him with one arm and push the cart with the other. We also have a very consistent rule that he rides in the cart when we are in a store.  He started to wail when I put him in so I leaned in and put his head on my chest and hummed Baby Mine. It worked like a charm and he was good to go after a few minutes. The right song at the right moment can really bring him peace. Baby Mine has been a great tool for when he is upset ever since he was a newborn. 



Ayden is still a die hard animal lover. Horses, Maverick and Polly, fish, birds, mice. Even spiders and crickets entertain him. He is very hesitant to touch anything that isn't furry but he did stroke a cockatiel with one finger, several times, at the pet store today. I carried him out of there practically kicking and screaming. I think he would have been happier had I dropped him off and left him to play for the day. When I told him to tell David what we did at the pet store today, he animatedly said, "TAT!" because he spent a good 10 minutes watching the kittens play saying, "Hi, Tat.  Hi, Tat." Over and over again.



Ayden loves to be outside. The farm has been a perfect match for him. He likes to dig in sand and dirt and collecting rocks.  He likes inspecting creepy crawlers and he loves when we all go out to play in the yard after dinner. And, of course, he loves feeding the horses at my parents' house "sass" (aka, grass).

He also LOVES to "help" us cook!  Really, he just stabs all of our produce and throws a lot of scraps on the floor.  This mama is not complaining, though, because 9 times out of 10, we are cooking in peace because he is involved and occupied.



There are obviously things that he does not like too but his likes far outweigh his dislikes. What's the fun in focusing on the negatives, anyway?? I could sit all day and talk about what a happy boy Ayden truly seems to be. I'll just say that it makes this Mommy's heart very happy to know that her little boy has so much to be happy about in his little life too. Afterall, isn't that what life is all about? 


It was fun to go back and read about his favorite things at these different stages of his life.  It's is also very interesting how some things have been constants from the beginning and how those favorite things manifest at the different stages of his development.  I suppose he's a boy who knows what he likes...

What does your toddler most enjoy these days?

~Sarah

Flashback: Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "The Next Step"


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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Old Pros

Every time we take Ayden for a well baby exam it takes me back to his first 2 month appointment. The whole "first set of shots" experience made us regret having it done and made us question whether we'd continue to have Ayden vaccinated at all.   Vaccinations are a hot topic among parents and medical professionals. We personally think vaccines are beneficial to the greater good of our country but it didn't make it easy for these first time parents to help hold our tiny child down while he was injected with viruses...

Fast forward 17 months (Ayden turned 19 months today!  What??) and we are all old pros. Each time we have taken him in, the shots have gotten easier and easier for everyone. I still can't say that I like it and Ayden still cries but only for 30 seconds or so but by the time we leave the office, it's like it never happened. Then he just gives the nurse the stink eye for the rest of the appointment. He rarely has any side effects from he vaccines and the fact that we are staggering them so he only gets one shot at a time also helps. 

At this visit, Ayden got his last DTaP (at least until he's 4).  He was 21.5 lbs and 31" tall. I didn't get our usual doctor's visit pictures, but I did catch Ayden on video hiding from the nurse:


Hiding is his new thing. Yesterday, he ran and "hid" from David when he got him but all of his giggles from anticipation gave his location away. Then a giggly game of chase ensued. It was hilarious but I digress...

After his appointment we went home for lunch and then to my parents' house for a swim.


This was the most comfortable he's been swimming and even tried out his float. 


He is such a big boy. We love him so much!!  David was bummed that he missed out on the swimming but we had a lot of fun all playing together at home after dinner.

How about you?  Did seeing your babies get shots ever get easier?

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "7 Months Old!"


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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Toddler Tueaday: Manipulatives

I spent the time I usually devote to making Ayden a fun, new activity on making a gift for a 3 year old's birthday party. I bought enough supplies to make Ayden and my nephew a set too but only had time to make one. I'll definitely devote a Toddler Tuesday to it once it is made because it is loads of fun!

When I don't have the time (or energy) to make a fancy new activity, I don't sweat it. Though I know Ayden enjoys and benefits from the activities that I make for him, it doesn't mean he can't also enjoy something that is cheap and easy just as much!  Heck, half he things he plays with aren't even toys at all. 

This week, I decided to get out some frog erasers that I had from school. He saw a lot of real frogs during our vacation and has shown an increased interest in them ever since. At school, these would have been classified as "manipulatives."  Manipulatives are anything that the child can manipulate (kind of self explanatory, I know) and can learn a wide range of skills through exploration with them. 


We counted them (Ayden just says, "2, 2, 2, 2!"), worked on some one-to-one correspondence by adding some little lids for him to set the frogs in, we talked about big and little since there were two different sizes, we discussed "in and out" as we took the frogs in and of of the Baggie we keep them in.  We also pretended with them, making them hop, eat and such. 


For older children, you can also use them for patterning and positional words (get a small cup and have them put a frog on top, under, over, in, out, etc).


In summary, manipulatives are any group of materials with which a child can work on pre-mathematical skills, learn concepts and build vocabulary. By that definition, rocks, twigs and such would even qualify. Quick, simple, and CHEAP but very useful!

Here are a few more of Ayden's favorite manipulative activities at 19 months:

A hungry old wipe case with multi colored pom poms.

Sorting Bears

Lacing Beads

Foam Tiles

What are your child's favorite manipulatives?

~Sarah

Click here for more early childhood activity ideas!

Flashback! Here's what we were up to one year ago today:  The Beginning Of The End

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