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At the beginning of this year I posted some goals for the year. I also wanted to set some small, easily-attainable goals for each month. For January, I decided to make a tutu for my daughter Emma’s third birthday next month. I had heard tutus are easy to make, but I’d never done it.
Here’s the finished tutu, made using this excellent tutorial from Vermillion Rules.
I didn’t actually follow the tutorial exactly since I wasn’t sure Emma would wear a super-full tutu (she doesn’t like layers as a general rule), but it was an excellent resource, answering every question I had from where to buy tulle to different types of tulle to use. I bought the kind that comes in 6” rolls, which requires less cutting.
As for my other goals, let’s see how I’m doing…
Find places to keep all those odds and ends that get stashed in random places: I’ve started on this, but there are still plenty of homeless odds and ends lying around the house.
Potty train Emma: No progress whatsoever. Any suggestions for motivating a completely unmotivated child to potty train? I don’t want three kids in diapers this summer!
Get Johnny to eat more solid food: He’ll eat sweet food now (fruit and yogurt) and the occasional bite of whatever we’re having…
Be more patient with cooking/baking that involves a rolling pin: Haven’t touched a rolling pin all month. In fact, I took away my kids’ play rolling pin because they were throwing it around and (being wood) it’s heavy enough to do some real damage.
Take the kids outdoors more: I took them both out once. Emma’s been out with Mike a few times. It’s been very cold here all month.
Get the kids to sleep through the night better (closer to achieving this with Johnny than Emma, unfortunately): Emma is sleeping about the same, but going to bed without making a fuss. Johnny woke up every ten minutes last night, but I think that’s because he wasn’t feeling great. I sure hope it’s not a new habit he’s starting!
This castle can be made using the same shapes from the Geometric Shapes Train.
Emma’s been asking for a play washer/dryer for some time, so when I saw this booster seat box I knew exactly what to use it for.
I took the box apart and built it again wrong side out, so that the kids would have plenty of space for decorating. We made a door by tracing a saucer and then cutting with a kitchen knife.
Both kids had a blast decorating the box. I added some triangle, square, and circle buttons in different colors (at Emma’s request).
Emma is thrilled with her new washer/dryer – she couldn’t wait to tell Mike about it when he got home. Johnny seems to think it’s pretty cool too.
Mike spent Sunday afternoon entertaining the kids so I could play the piano without help from Emma OR Johnny. He drew this maze with them to go under their desk protector play mat. Emma didn’t quite get the idea of how a maze works, but they all had a great time coloring.
Mike also made Jell-O with the Emma and Johnny, and for some unknown reason the Jell-O box became Emma’s baby. She’s been carrying it around ever since, rocking it, talking to it, and strapping it into her booster seat to be fed.
Oh, to have the imagination of a two-year-old…
Today is Chinese New Year!
2009 is Year of Ox. I love this 3D ox cut-out activity from Secret Agent Josephine.
No Time for Flash Cards has a cute, simple paper lantern.
Want a less-involved craft for your toddler? Try printing a few of these coloring pages from Activity Village.
Activity Village also has a brief explanation of Chinese New Year and several other Chinese New Year activities here.
Mike and I had been married for a few months when we decided to try an experiment. Last thing before falling asleep, we would each say three things that the other person did that day that we liked. It felt awkward and cheesy at first, but it grew on us over time.
Seven and a half years later, this practice continues every evening in our home. I think it’s the best experiment we ever tried. It’s easy to take your spouse for granted. Our “three things I liked today” ritual helps us recognize the little (and big) things we do for one another, and it’s nice to know that we are ending each day with a focus on the positives in our relationship.
Mike puts Emma to bed most nights, and a few months ago he started the “three things I liked today” ritual with her. He’ll tell her three things he liked that she did and she tells him some things she liked about her day (usually more than three). Besides ending her day with a focus on what she enjoyed about the day, this helps us learn more about what she likes and what is important to her. I’ll do the same during the day, often right before Mike gets home. Emma is still perfecting her understanding of time, and sometimes she talks about things that happened several days ago. That’s fine – we learn what things she likes so much that she remembers them for days (or months). And she always tells Mike, “I liked how Mama made dinner” – that makes my day!
MATERIALS:
- Instant pudding mix
- Milk
- Ziploc bags
STEPS:
- Pour mix into bags
- Add milk
- Add a second ziploc bag (or two) to prevent spills
- Squish/squash the bag for 2-5 minutes
- Remove outer bags
- Cut a hole in the corner of the bag and pour into cups
- Enjoy :)
I didn’t get any good pictures from this activity, but Emma had a blast. I think it was a good sensory experience for her, as well as a chance to do some “cooking”. Older kids can throw the bags of pudding water balloon toss style instead of squishing them, so it has potential appeal for a wide age range.
I got the idea this activity from Mom’s Marbles via Her Cup Overfloweth. It was a great way to use the icicles that currently adorn our house. I hope to do it again with a few more colors of paint/Kool-Aid.
1) Get some icicles. I was amazed at how quickly these melted on the counter (we keep our house at 67 degrees Fahrenheit), so you might want to stick them in the freezer.
 2) Pour powdered paint/Kool-Aid/pudding mix onto a sheet of paper.
3)Use icicles as a paintbrush (I wrapped a cloth around the end so the kids’ fingers wouldn’t freeze, as well as to prevent dripping) and paint away.
Emma had a lot of fun, although I think the final outcome would have looked nicer with more colors to mix. I just used the red Kool-Aid we had sitting in our cupboard.
 Johnny said he was too much of a man to use a cloth to protect his hand, and he preferred eating the icicle to painting. That’s one good reason to use ice cubes instead of icicles for this activity…
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get the kids outside more. We had a big snowstorm Sunday morning, so Monday there was plenty of beautiful snow for Emma to play with. It was even close to freezing, a vast improvement over the –10 Fahrenheit temperatures we had last week.
Emma had a wonderful time playing in the snow castle Mike built her, and throwing snowballs. Getting Emma to come inside to warm up is always the hardest part of playing outside, so I have to make sure I have a good activity/treat to bribe her back inside with.
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