Date Night

Woot! Woot! Date night!

My brother's girlfriend (Amanda) generously volunteered a free night of babysitting so we could get a night out. Plus we had a gift card from Christmas to El Camino Real so off we went for some yummy Mexican food and a little shopping. Oh, and Amanda even took our picture because she's a photo fanatic just like me. :)
We've really been enjoying catching up on some movie watching with our On-Demand movie channels lately (I'll have to give you my critique of about six or so movies later) so we decided to just do a little kid-free shopping before dinner instead. Craig had to stop at Lowe's for some things he needs to re-do our electrical box in the basement. Here's my handsome Mr. Fix-it:

Are you laughing to yourself about the fact that I took a picture of this? Why? It's not that weird. ;) We were having fun and this was our night out! Afterward, I insisted on a Target run where I found some more cute clothes for Sophie next summer and a jacket for the fall. Target is so impossible to leave without finding a million things you must-have. But I didn't do too bad.

And then we got to the restaurant, got seated right away and I got a mango margharita. Holy WOW! Those babies are STRONG! I was feeling it after about two sips. The fajitas were delish and we really enjoyed our evening out.

Thanks a lot, Amanda!!!

Teeny Tiny Tot School

A couple new activities, a couple repeats in this post. Still the majority of what Sophie's "learning" right now is just how her world works, how to excel in physical milestones, and "what happens if I do this?" :) That last one is always interesting.

Playing with buttons. Obviously highly supervised (choking hazard), but she really enjoyed just sifting through them and touching them...
...as well as transferring them into a small, glass jar.

I've mentioned before that I want to do a lot more sensory stuff with Sophie right now. I saw this idea on another blog as an alternative to finger painting. Obviously, it's not the same texture, but it's cool nonetheless and if she eats it (yuck!), no harm done.

We did this outside to minimize the mess. :) She was a little confused, but definitely enjoyed exploring.

And then... just because we were outside... I decided to go crazy and throw a pine cone into the mix. Soft vs scratchy.

Pushing golf tees into a hunk of styrofoam. The original idea was to use a hammer to "pound" them in, but that seemed a little too advanced just yet. I may try to "start" a few for her and let her finish hammering them in the near future. But for now, she just liked poking them in and pulling them out. Daddy gathered several colors for her to make it interesting. Also in the near future, I may have Sophie poke them all in and then have Will balance a marble on the tops of each. Hmm... very good fine motor work!

She'd collect them in her glass jar as she pulled each one out individually. :) She still loves any game that involves dropping something into the glass jar.

And she is definitely still in love with her green-coins-in-the-plastic-container game. I pull this one out any time I need a distraction while cooking or cleaning up the kitchen and, no matter her mood, she will instantly calm down and focus on this. I love it!

And remember this "game"?

It's hardly a game since it's so open-ended, but Sophie loves the sensory-filled fuzzy pom poms in the old wipes container.

Other things we've been doing that I didn't photograph: reading (her favorites, hands-down, are Sandra Boynton books right now), chunky puzzle, blocks, practicing body parts and animal sounds, practicing following simple commands, practicing patience and restraint - ha! ya right!(whew! the impulsiveness in this one!), lots of running/chasing/climbing/hide-and-seek games, picture/word flash cards, etc.

The nice thing about Tot School work at this age is that it can be completely spur of the moment and quick-to-organize. There's really no effort in it. Everything we do is basic and made out of random things. Will's activities usually takes considerably more time, though he and I have been doing a lot more puzzles and reading lately to make up for a lack of planned activities. But it's also fun to see how enthusiastic and interested and focused she is over the simplest work. It's an interest that Will used to take at that age, but now is too simple to hold his attention long. He needs more complex or else it's clearly boring. So I treasure this time with Sophie now. :)

What We're Reading...

A bit of a lighter week... just 5 books in all and no real advance planning put into the library visit last week. Usually I have a tentative list going before we leave and request several that aren't available at our branch. But instead, we returned all of our tree books and just browsed till we found a few we liked.

1) Dora the Explorer: First Day of School. I decided we should find a book about starting school in preparation of OUR upcoming start in preschool this fall. I just searched the topic in the online catalog while at the library and decided Dora would probably hold his attention better than anybody. :) He did love this one and we read it daily.
2) I Love It When You Smile by Sam McBratney. A super cute book about a pouty little joey named Roo and a mama that is trying to cheer him up. The illustrations are adorable and I think the kangaroos facial expressions look almost human, so that Roo is oh-so-cute cute and realistic. I could really get into appropriate voices with this one. Hehe! ;)

3) See You Later, Mom! by Jennifer Northway. Umm... Could there be a more perfect book for us at this time? I saw this one on the display shelf and only opened it long enough to see that the main character (the little boy that's waving on the front cover) is named William. I though "oh, he'll think that's cool" so I put it in our bag to check out. Come to find out, this book is also about a little boy starting preschool and how he starts out apprehensive and scared and his mom stays with him for the first few days. But then, he warms up to another nervous little boy and realizes that preschool is a lot of fun! At the end of the book, he says "You can go home now, mom. See you later!" (Tear.) The mom seems very cool and handled the transition perfectly in my mind. It was hands down the favorite this week, read multiple times a day, though I really have no concern of our William being apprehensive on his first day of school. :)

4) Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood. As you can see on the cover, it's "a book about colors" so it's a little too simple for Will and he didn't request it nearly as much, but the illustrations are pretty and you know how I feel about owls... soooo... I was adding an extra book onto our bedtime reading just to squeeze this one in a little more.

5) Oh, Look! by Patricia Polacco. Just "okay". Sort of reminds me of a Dora episode with a journey and descriptions like "over", "under" and "through". But it did have goats in it, so of course my boy enjoyed it. And you really can't go wrong with Patricia Polacco.

Okay, I'm pretty behind with this post and we've actually already gone to the library and gotten new books for this week... so stay tuned for another book post soon. I know. You can't wait, right?

My Buddy & Me

(Or maybe Kid Sister?)

Daddy stayed home with the kids this day (last Friday) and they were heading off to the zoo. :)

Look Who's Peeing On The Potty!!!

Yes! That's right, ladies and gentleman! Our 15 month old Sophia has shown us that she is quite comfortable and nonchalantly natural at using the potty! It started Saturday night when she was standing in the bathroom (naked), waiting for her bath water to run. She's seen Will use the potty lots of times and so she looked like she wanted to sit down. I helped her get seated and she peed immediately!! I couldn't believe it and she was clearly so very pleased with herself and with my excited cheering. Then on Sunday, she went on to pee six more times throughout the day and even poop once on the potty. And twice so far today. It's always pretty much instantaneous once she sits down and you can tell in her face that she recognizes when she's gone because she is SO PROUD and smiley.

I fully realize there is a huge difference between being able to go on the potty and recognizing the urge before it happens to get to the potty. Plus, there's the whole issue of getting pants up and down and she of course couldn't get her diaper on and off. But getting familiar is the first step, right? And I've heard girls are easier anyway? So maybe we'll be down to just a box of pull ups here and there by next spring?? Woo hoo!

Or is that wishful thinking?...

A Juicy Photo Shoot

A bunch of the friends that read my blog also read my sister's so you've probably already seen these pictures. In fact, Casey even withheld the pictures from me (since I wasn't present for the photo shoot) so that she could make her blog post first. (GASP!) I don't know about you, but I think that seems like a felony. ;)

Last Thursday, mom and Casey did a little photo shoot with all the kids in their coordinating watermelon outfits. I was at work during this time, so all of these photos are from their cameras. I'm pretty sure there isn't one picture where all are looking (DUH!) but they had a juicy good time and prepared a nice, sticky mess to clean up after. :) Poor Sophie and her head wound... somebody thought it a good idea to try to disguise it with bangs on her forehead... Umm... not so much.
No way is Will getting this watermelon slice all to himself. The girls are about to pounce.

Good thing he's learning to share! :)

Pretty soon, everyone had their own slice.

Umm... mom? Seriously, why did you give my son a comb-over? Still, this is a really cute shot.

Look at the juice running down her chest and forearms! I love it!

What's For Dinner? Week 4

You know, with a full work day for us and a day with a sitter for the kids, dinner time is really our main interaction/time together as a family each day. I know the older they get, the harder it will be to keep dinner time sacred, but for now it is so important to me that we eat a good meal together each evening. When I walk in the door after picking up the kids at 5:15-ish, there isn't much down time before I'm jumping into getting a meal on the table. The amount of effort that takes varies depending on the meal, but often it involves my cling-on hanging/whining at my legs until I pick her up. (This week, my latest method of distraction has been to leave a carton of blueberries on the counter and hand her a blueberry each time she comes up to me. :) She happily stuffs it in her mouth and toddles around the kitchen for a bit and then comes back for another.) Then we eat about 6 or 6:30 and immediately after, Sophie gets a bath, books and bedtime! So there's not much time!

Will's usually pretty good about entertaining himself while I'm getting dinner ready. Often he's outside riding his bike while Craig tinkers around in the garage. Then right after Sophie is down, he gets a little more one on one time outside or playing games or reading books.

Okay, onto the menu:

1) Saturday - For lunch I made my very favorite, light, summery meal: white bean dip with baked pita chips and lots of raw veggies for dipping. It's just so fresh and delicious. I added a few slices of cheese and salami as well as some sliced nectarines. (Why, yes, I was famished. Why do you ask? LOL I'd been outside weeding all morning.)

For dinner, I made my favorite Mini Meat Loaves recipe from Cooking Light, fresh steamed green beans, fruit, and I pulled a half of a loaf of that honey wheat bread from the freezer that Will and I made a while back. (I'd cut both loaves in half and froze some for the future.) These individually portioned meat loaves are SO MUCH BETTER than one large loaf - easier to serve, easier to clean up and the best flavor I've tasted in meat loaves. Plus, I make extras of these in smaller (2oz) portions for Will and freeze them (cooked) on a cookie sheet before storing them all together in a gallon bag for an easy last minute dinner. It's one of few meat main dishes I can always count on him eating.

2) Sunday - For our "dinner party" with friends, I made a fresh-squeezed, basil lemonade and a chocolate raspberry pie. The lemonade is super tart so I think it could stand to be diluted more than the recipe says, but the basil adds a surprisingly yummy flavor. At home, I would serve it in a pretty glass pitcher with basil leaves and lemon slices, but for transportation reasons I just brought it in a big plastic pitcher with a lid. And the pie was a super easy, clipped recipe from my old Quick Cooking subscription years ago:

-one chocolate crumb crust

-1/2 cup semisweet chips melted with 1 tsp shortening and smoothed onto bottom of crust

-2 cups of fresh raspberries spooned evenly over chocolate

-1 8oz carton of cool whip spread over the top

-garnish with raspberries and chocolate and refrigerate until serving (the melted chocolate hardens)

Angie made an awesome dinner for us all to enjoy: grilled bruschetta chicken, some awesome fresh veggies cooked in a grill basket, corn on the cob and bread with an olive oil dipping sauce. What a delicious summer meal and a fun night!

3) Monday - A good stand-by: spaghetti and meatballs in the crock pot (mom's/grandma's recipe), salad, bread and fruit. The kids had a ball with the unbroken noodles...

4) Tuesday - Another favorite: grilled chicken with peach salsa, peas, grapes and sliced cheese. I've shared the peach salsa recipe here before but feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment if you want it and can't find it. It's a summer favorite - fresh and delicious.

5) Wednesday - Leftovers.

6) Thursday - Leftovers again... oops... oh well.
7) Friday - Warm chicken salad sandwiches probably with grapes (on the side) and carrot sticks. Recipe shared from my co-worker. It has 5 cups cooked, cubed chicken (duh), 5 cups diced celery, 2.5 cups mayo, 4 tbsp grated onion, 4 tbsp lemon juice mixed together in bottom of 13x9. Then 1 3/4oz slivered almonds, 2 cups shredded cheddar and 2-3 cups crushed potato chips sprinkled on top. Bake to warm through 350 for 20 mins I think? Ha - super healthy. But I'll use light mayo and I serve it on bread instead of croissants (unless I'm serving it to guests), so it's not so bad. And it's sooooo good.