Play at the Park

Today was a perfect fall day. A little windy, but nothing a nice sweatshirt couldn't handle. We added almost 2 hours to my 500 hour pledge bringing us up to 4 1/2 hours. The weekend looks gorgeous so hopefully we can keep it up.

I went for my morning walk/run, 40 minutes outside for me, while my girls get about 30 for recess ( I count the 30). We picked some carrots, composted some stuff and played outdoors a bit. We also went to the park for a while after school. I went to a different park today to meet a friend and am glad I did. My town's park, which is beautiful and new, is almost always empty. While sometimes I enjoy this so I can play and run around with my girls, other times I want to sit and relax and they want playmates. Its so sad to rarely see another kid at this park. I don't understand what does everyone do? My town doesn't have many neighborhoods so either the kids are on playdates, playing in their yards with siblings or alone, or doing after school activities. A neighboring town, which is really that, a nice little town, with houses close and a real neighborhood feel, is the park we went to today. There I saw children. A group of older boys playing football. Girls climbing on the monkey bars, kids swinging, running and having fun. An older girl pushed my youngest on the swings a bit while I chat with other moms. And no I don't feel one bit guilty about it. I love this town, to bad the taxes are outrageous. But it is the rare place I see kids playing, with no structure, no adults controlling the play. Just time to be a kid, like its the 70s. To not watch tv, no phones or ipads. Just actually free play. I love watching my daughter learn to navigate the kids and find her place playing. And how she keenly observes them to see how well they climb or jump. After some watching she tries to do it to. She's always been a watcher. Today she tried the monkey bars. She fell, poor kid has my upper body strength, or lack of. But practicing on those bars will get her there. And after seeing the other kids she was very determined to get right back up and try again. If we were alone at our town's park she wouldn't have tried. Thinking that's something big kids do, or not something she can do. Seeing her friends she knew she could. And she was right. I love watching her grow in her own right. Free to play, learn and grow

The Winter that Killed Moms

I've seen that post heading used several times this winter. Its been long, cold and snowy, which has kept up inside way too much. Normal I am not one to hide inside due to poor weather, but when the snow comes up to your hips (and I'm 5'7) with a layer of ice mixed in its not the best or safest idea to take a 2 year old or 4 year old out to play. We've had some rough days, filled with more tv than I prefere. I also struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder which makes it hard to motivate myself some days. Even worse with the ice there have been multiple stretches when we haven't left the house for several days in a row due to poor road conditions. So yes this has almost been to winter that killed mom. I've haven't been as nice and patient as I usually am, more yelling and more just feeling blah. We have been watching more tv and I've let go a little of that. At its worse its been almost 3 hours a day. But this was because I was shoveling snow outside for over an hour and tv is the only sure way I know they won't kill each other while I'm outside working. I've tried to think spring some days. We cut up this seasons seed catalogs and made collages of our favorite fruits, veggies and flowers. We've practiced our letters and made books. Liv drew a picture then wrote a sentence about the picture. They were basic like "the elephant is eating" and she needed help with the spelling and harder letters, but what an amazing practice for writing that was so much fun. We've had dance parties, baked Pinkilicious cupcakes, muffins, cookies. No wonder why my pants are tight! Playdates are rare since its hard to leave the house, but when we can I get out and try to get to a friends. This winter isn't over yet, and another Arctic air storm is moving in. This winter might still kill me yet, but I'm hoping to come out on top. Spring is almost here, but if winter doesn't end soon, I might go mad.

Fall is in Full Swing

The leaves are red, yellow and falling down on our heads every time we are outside, walking, playing or just enjoying the sights. The sound of crunching leaves, the smell of the autumn air, burning wood and the morning frosty dew. I just love fall. So far we've baked pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pancakes (best thing ever!), pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins. We collected leaves, glued them in our nature book and identified what trees they came from. We drew each leaves and colored them. We painted trees with falling leaves, painted and carved pumpkins. Gone on a few gnome walks and walks in our own yard. We made a leave pile and jumped in it. We climbed trees. We played in the park and on the playground as much as possible before it gets too cold. We danced in the rain, splashed in puddles and felt the rain drops on our hands. We trick or treated. We collected pine cones and made bird feeders. We collected nuts and acorns. The weather this fall has been a well deserved blessing and I'm so glad I've taken the time to enjoy as much time out and about in it. And I hope to continue til we need winter coats and gloves, but then I still hope I can make it out to enjoy the seasons and outdoors.

81 Cheap or Free Ideas of Summer Fun In the Garden State or Your Own

Schools almost out for some already for others. The summer can be a time of great fun,memories, relaxing and hands on learning. It can also be a time of stress for many parents filled with longs days of emptiness and too much free time. For many kids long gone are the days of neighborhoods being filled with bike rides and playing in the woods til the streetlights come on. Playmates maybe be over scheduled or on vacation so your kids may get lonely or bored with no one else around. While I think lots of free time and free play are great in the summer it can also be a great time to do things you may not have time to do in a busy school year. 1. Free play 2. Plant a garden 3. Pick blueberries 4. Pick raspberries 5. Make some jam 6. Make some homemade bread 7. Enjoy some homemade bread with your homemade jam 8. Go for a hike 9. Get a state Beach pass (In New Jersey we have to pay for beach access, this can make family trips very expensive but you can get a state pass for certain beaches, lakes and rec areas. Its a one time fee and it covers however many people are in your car) 10. Visit the beach 11. Visit a lake 12. Go fishing 13. Go for a bike ride on a trail 14. Go for a ride in a town and get lunch 15. Visit your local library and see what fun they have for the summer. My local library usually has summer storytime, a petting zoo, puppet shows and more 16. Pull some weeds from your garden 17. Visit a nature preserve 18. Go to the zoo 19. Visit a local river and get your feet wet. With older children tubing is great fun. NJ and PA Delaware River is always a great place to do this 20. Go for a boat ride 21.visit your local park 22. Visit a different park, pack a lunch and make a day of it. One of my favorites is Colonial Park in Somerset. They have a nicely renovated children's playground, a lake, paddle boats, and several flower gardens. 23. Make a playdate 24. Board games, old school fun, great for a raining day 25. Body painting. Outside let your kids paint themselves and use the hose to wash off. 26. Visit a local pool. 27. Play in the sprinklers like you did as a kid. Play with your kids and enjoy the cool fun. 28. Play mini-golf 29. Go for a nature walk along a lake. One of my favorites is High Point in Sussex County. 30. Visit a historic monument that tells a story. Again High Point is great if you can make it up. I got too scared 31. Go roller skating 32. Put on some music and dance 33. Explore the woods 34. Play hopscotch, jump rope, jacks or other old school games. 35. Have a bonfire, tell stories, roast some marshmallows and make smores 36. Go out and catch lightning bugs 37. Have a water balloon fight 38. Wake up early and watch the sunrise 39. Go out and watch the stars, try to identify constellations. 40. Teach older children to knit or crochet a scarf for fall weather. 41. Dance in the rain 42. Have a tea party 43. Read some fairy tales in your yard 44. Have a "bear hunt" in your yard 45. Put on a puppet show 46. Make a birdhouse 47. Make a bat house 48. Make some yummy bird treats 49. Visit a children's museum 50. Fly a kite 51. Create a play with your children in your backyard 52. Have a lemonade stand, give the profits to charity 53. Visit a nursing home or an elderly relative or neighbor 54. Volunteer at an animal shelter to play with and walk the dogs 55. Go to a carnival 56. Go see some fireworks 57. Make homemade tomato sauce, from fresh tomatoes from your garden 58. Make homemade pizza, dough and all 59. Go to a AA ballgame 60. Visit some old friends 61. Have a parade around your block with homemade instruments, or if your child plays real ones 62. Watch a sunset 63. Bird watch, keep a bird book 64. Create a scrapbook of the summer or the previous school year 65. Try to find some tadpoles and see if you can "grow" some frogs 66. Play flashlight tag 67. Build a treehouse 68. Grow a sunflower house 69. Make a gnome or fairy house and leave it outside, or on the Columbia Trail. 70. Visit a site of historical significance, like Washington Crossing Park. 71. Walk barefoot in the grass 72. Play in the kiddie pool 73. Build sandcastles 74. Make mud pies 75. Teach your kids cat's cradle 76. BBQ 77. Go camping, in your backyard or at a site 78. Swim in a lake 79. Pick fresh flower 80. Go out to Stewards for a nice outdoor, cheap dinner 81. Be together and be in the moment, smile and have fun

Harvest Party

This week I am hosting a little harvest party at our home for Liv and her friends. I thought it would be a nice simple way to enjoy some time outdoors, which soon will be limited. We are painting pumpkins and doing apple star prints. For the star prints you simple cut the apple in half, horizontal, and in the middle is a little star. Simply dip them in paint and make the prints on paper. We are also doing bird feeder with peanut butter and seeds on a pine cone. All of this will be done in the backyard with plenty of time to run around and enjoy the fall weather. I'm also hoping to make a leaf pile for the kids to jump in.

We are serving homemade pumpkin bread and apple cider. I'm hoping to make this a little autumn tradition in our home. How do you celebrate the fall season?

For the Birds

Over the winter I sat down and tried to make up a preschool syllabus for Liv. I am not sure if she will ever attend preschool so I wanted to start homeschooling at home. But after working on it for a few months I stopped. Liv is 2 1/2, which around where I live is probably the average age kids go in to preschool. I am not a huge fan of this, especially if it is an academic preschool. I don't think young children are made to sit around and be taught at. They need to experience life, learn with their hands and hearts. So I've been doing an unschooling approach for preschool so far. I just try to "teach" Liv things she is showing interest in. Recently it has been birds.

She was asking me what type of bird that was one day. Luckily I knew it was a blue jay, but there was so much I didn't know so I though what a perfect way to teach her about natures, categorizing, her colors and so many other skills that I probably don't realize. So the first thing I did was go to the library and get a bunch of books about birds, bird watching and how to attract birds to your yard. Blue jays are blue, cardinals are red, Baltimore orioles are orange and black. We spot these birds in our backyard almost daily and I go over their colors with her. We put out different feeders and seeds for different birds. She is learning which birds eat seeds, and how other like suet. We watch robins in our lawn pulling worms all day. Today we sat in our bathroom and spied on a cardinal singing for a mate. In addition to learning bird calls and how they attract each other she is learning how to be quiet and patient while watching these birds. Teaching a 2 year old to whisper and be still is hard, but when the motivation is watching a beautiful bird she does much better. Sometimes we listen to bird calls in the car. She loves it. She is learning all different types of birds, about the seasons, where they live, what they eat, what songs the sing, how baby birds come to be, about migration and so much more. So of this goes over her little head, but I know she is absorbing so much from just watching the birds and looking at the books with me. This also keeps us outdoors. We will go out and fill the bird feeders every couple of days so she is gaining a sense of responsibility too. This is just one thing I have been doing with her, but right now it takes a large part of our "schooling" since the birds are flocking to our yard and we often just stop and sit to watch them. She really enjoys looking through the bird books too. I love watching her get all excited about learning and wanting to know more. I hope this helps instill a life long love of learning. We are also working on a garden, but it is very early in the season for to be taking up too much time of our day. We have a nice weekly routine of activities but when ever we have nothing to do or a empty spot in our day I go to my some of my unschooling ideas to keep us occupied in a fun way.

6 months is enough

My newborn is no longer a newborn anymore.

In way you look at it 6 months is way out of the newborn stage, yet in many ways I feel I have been slacking like I'm still dealing with a newborn. I still take naps most days (with Ev) my excuse has been well she is not sleeping through the night. I am often in sweats, partly because I still need to lose some weight so I have a limited amount of clothes. Our routine is lacking, the tv is on more then I like, meals are done on the fly and I just feel like a general slacker. I decided 6 months is enough. Today Eve is 7 months so for about 2 weeks I've changed things up and am slowly starting to get back into a routine. I'm not jumping in head first, I'm slowing adding things back into our days and week to get us motivated, keep us happy and productive. The first thing I have done is eliminated my morning tv time. It just started the day off wrong. When Eve was waking several time I needed to sit and watch some morning news, that would role into some tv time for Liv then aroun 930 10 our day would start. We were still in our pjs and got nothing done. I've got Eve sleeping better and am trying to go to bed earlier so now its breakfast then right upstairs to get dressed. Some days I will let myself be in sweats, but I'm trying to limit that too. Its not possible 100% since I still don't fit in lots of my clothes, but I'm getting there. 10 more lbs and some toning and I will be at pre-baby weight. That is another reason why I wanted to get back into a routine. To fit in exercise time. On nice mornings I get everyone dressed and we go out for a walk while Eve naps in the Ergo. For our week we are now doing: Monday-market, grocery shopping in the morning afternoon-free Tuesday-storytime in the morning at a local library, then park afterwards if nice afternoons-free Wednesday-laundry day, outdoors garden day Thursday- cleaning day/errand day Friday-playdate, park day Sat-free Sunday-church I am trying to incorporate some more activities in our day so we don't depend on the tv anymore. I would love to get tv time back down to 1/2hour. Some days we are as high as 2 hours, most closer to 1. Right now Liv is loving birds so its taking up lots of our time. We bird watch, listen to bird calls in the car, identify birds from books, make sure there is food for them and try to listen to bird calls while outside. I'm trying to get some of myself back. Dressing nice, doing my hair or make up daily, knitting or reading in the evenings, yoga and pilates some nights to help get back in shape. I think 6 months is enough time and time to move on out of being all about the new baby. Spring is here so its the perfect time to refresh and get back to living life the way we enjoy.

Outdoors In

Even though it has been a mild winter so far we are spending more time then I would like indoors.
Its mainly because Eve is so young. She is only 4 months and I am not found of the idea of bringing her out in mild NE winter weather. Cold rain, blustery wind are fine for my toddler and me all bundled up, but I would rather not bring her out in it.
We do go out on the not windy, warmer days, but they occur not so often so poor Liv, my toddler, spends more time then I would like indoors. And on those warmer days we spend a large part of the day outdoors enjoying the weather.

I try to do some more active things with her on occasions she does not get to go outside.
We- dance, play right light green light,have parades around the house, do action rhymes like ring around the rosey, chase each other, pull and push special walking toys, pretend we are different animals, hide from each other and pretend we are outside. Today we pretended to splash in puddles, climb trees (the bed) and play in the snow.
I love the old Swedish saying "there is not such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes." But until I feel I can bundle up Eve in a carrier better (and even in rain and snow this does not work at all) bring the outdoors inside will have to do.

Home Pre-school

To help get a little more routine to our days and rhythm in our life I am planning to start doing a little home preschooling come March.
Liv will be 2 1/2, which around here is a common age to start pre-school. Personally I feel this is too young, but I don't feel some more structure and lose learning and playing is the same as actually going to pre-school.
I've been having a little bit of a hard time getting a nice routine with our days since Eve has been born. I am planning on starting the New Year with getting back into some more structure then come March do one day a week like a pre-school, or more accurately called a play school. Liv is too young for real schooling, but not too young for story-times, crafts and other types of play.
Thursday will most likely become our pre-school day.
Keep an eye out for my curriculum for her. I will be doing things to help learn letters, colors and shapes, using stories and other activities.
I think March is a great time for us to start since it will be Spring so I can use lots of seasonal things to bring in our home and play time.
I really enjoy the Waldorf philosphy so I'm hoping to use some of that in my pre-school for Liv.
I've been collecting ideas and started a binder for my ideas.
The binder is divided by months since I plan to teach along with the seasons and holidays. I'm going to put all sorts of appropriate activities in my binder for children up to 5 years old, but will only use age appropriate stuff. This way I won't lose any ideas that are great for older children, and I can reuse lots of fun seasonal stuff that is great for all ages.
Wish me luck!

Holiday Crafts with Toddlers

I just love Christmas crafts, but most are above the ability of my 2 year old. And I don't have too much time to really help with a newborn on me most of the day.
I found one craft in one of the many books I checked out from the library that show activities and crafts.
The first thing we made was snow. All I did was get a black sheet of paper and gave her a white piece of chalk to color snow on the paper.

The second craft I took a red piece of paper and cut it in the shape of santa's hat. Then I glued it on a pink piece of paper and let her color in his face. We also glued on cotton balls to decorate it.
The next day we decorated gingerbread men. Decorating cookies is easy enough and she loved eating the results. We will do more cookie decorating closer to Christmas, and make enough to leave some out for Santa.

Happy Holidays!

Rhythm with a New baby

I am expecting a new baby to enter my life any day now, official due date is Friday.
I have completely slacked on a lot of our routine that has been set up for the days and week since I have become so hugely pregnant.
It hurts to bend, to sweep, to stand for a while and wash dishes, to change sheets, I could go on and on. With my first pregnancy I had some back aches, but this time it starts to hurt much more quickly. I don't think carry my toddler helps, but as anyone with a 2 year old knows this can often not be avoided.
I have decided to get myself back on the flylady wagon to help with my cleaning.
I had some a nice routine with out using Flylady, but my house was never as clean as I would prefer so I hope this will help.
Since I can't do too much now I have been working on starting a control journal for myself.
I have kept some of out weekly rhythm and plan to keep things a simple and peaceful as I can.
I hate the word schedule and can not standing being over scheduled. I know too many moms who even with very young children, have become their chauffeurs. I did not become a mom, and a SAHM to be my child's chauffeur. I enjoy doing simple things with my child, staying at home or local and just doing things with the seasons. My new routine still allows for this.
I am not even going to attempt to keep up with most of the cleaning parts till I am a little settled with the new baby. Cleaning can wait.
But I have made sure to include days for specific activities for Liv. I don't want her to get lost in the shuffle of a new baby.
I have also been working on creating my own seasonal book. I read so many books on seasonal activities but haven't found one that works 100% for me.
I started with Fall since it is coming up soon. I am slowly adding actives, ideas, crafts, poems and stories that I have found in some many other resources, or just ones I love from my own childhood. The poems and story part is the biggest thing right now for me. We have so many great books with lovely seasonal poems, perfect for rainy days, but not one is organized in the seasons so finding the right stories can be a chore.
When I am done I will have all of this right at my finger tips.

For now with out the cleaning part our new weekly rhythm will look something like this
Sunday-Church
Monday- Market and Music day for Liv
Tuesday- Park day or other outdoor activity
Wednesday- Wash (laundry) Library or playdates for Liv
Thursday- Baking day
Friday- Craft day or Playdate

These activities for Liv, for the most part are to be done in the afternoon, except the playdates since they are usually in the morning. I belong to a mothers group and there are playdates once or twice a month. This is the perfect amount for us. They also sometimes do group seasonal actives, like apple picking.
In the morning I like to try to get outside and play in our own yard, or go for walks.
Now that Liv is 2 she likes to try more things and I would like to expose her to more. Crafts is something I think she will love. She has already taken to baking. My grandmother even bought her her own little apron.
I am thinking of getting a nice chalk board to write our daily activities on.
These types of things help me from going crazy staying at home all day. It can get lonely and where I live doesn't help. So if I wake up and know that I have at least something to do for part of the day I have something to look forward to and feel more accomplished

then sitting wondering what it next?

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Enjoying Summer's Bounty

Image via Wikipedia

One of the best things about living in the garden state is when our produce starts to come it.
Last week we went strawberry picking at a local farm.

I think Liv ate almost half our bounty on the walk back from the strawberry fields.
I wanted to freeze them, make jam and make a strawberry tart, but since we went late in the season and Liv ate most of them we just ate the rest of them up in their natural state. I have to say they are the best strawberries I have ever eaten. Nothing tastes better then fruit eating right of the vine.
We are going raspberry picking Thursday, and since they are more tart I know Liv won't eat as many so I will have enough left for some jam.
Blueberries are also coming in season so that will be out next adventure. I don't know how many of those I will get home. Blueberries are her favorite.
I just feel so blessed living in an area with so many great farms and markets that have so many fresh, local and organic produce.
SLOW food, Seasonal, local, organic, whole. There are so many benefits to eating this way as much as possible, for your health and the environment.
To find out what is in season in your area go here.

Reading to Your Child

Image via Wikipedia

I read to Liv everyday, several times a day. We read before nap time and before bed time. We also read at other quiet times during the day. She is learning so much from our simple reading, but mostly she is learning to enjoy reading, which is a life long lesson.
Recently someone suggested to me the book "The Read Aloud Handbook"
At first I was a little apprehensive about checking it out. I read aloud and though I don't need tips on how to read aloud to my child.
But I was presently surprised with the information in this book. In addition to showing a lot of studies about how reading aloud to your child can benefit them he also has some great individual stories about how reading helped these kids.
There is also a great list at the end of some of his favorite read aloud stories. In his book he explains what makes a good read aloud book compared to a silent reading book. He advocates reading aloud to much older children then people usually read aloud too.
I just loved how he gives some great advice to keep your children enjoying reading. Many toddlers and young children love to read, but often around 4th grade they lose that love. He gives lots of practical advice on how to keep that love and enjoyment going.
This book is an excellent resource for all parents and I would highly recommend at least checking it out from your library.
Right now reading with Liv is one of my favorite activities. I am now 30 weeks pregnant and feeling every bit of it. It being a hot, humid summer does not help much. Reading in the shade or on hotter days in the house with the ac on is one of the few activities that is relaxing and enjoyable for both of us.
I am hoping that these memories will stick with with her and she will love reading, and turn to it as she gets older for a relaxing activity, not the tv or video games like many children today.

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Pregnancy Slow Down

Image by State Library of Queensland, Australia via Flickr

My morning sickness has subsided. I am feeling much better, but I am not a happy pregnant person.
Some people feel full of energy and life while pregnant, while I am tired and cranky. I get bloated, I have a hard time sleeping at night, my back hurts, I could go on and one, but this pregnancy is much different since I have to take care of a toddler.
When my morning sickness was bad Liv had her first exposer to children's tv. It was the only way to keep her out of the bathroom while I puked most of the morning. Now that I am feeling better, and the weather is nicer the tv is off. I limit her to around 1/2 hr a day. I have many reasons for this that I will discuss in an upcoming blog.
Since I am fairly tired I have been enjoying some more quiet activities with Liv.
We color together,
play dough,
blow bubbles outside,
side walk chalk,
build with blocks,
bake,
play with musical instruments
read together,
do fingerplays,
do puzzles,
and play with sorters and other shape toys.
This keeps us busy for some of the day. Liv is still to young to do many crafts, and I don't have the energy to attempt many of them with the messy clean ups.
I find if I take time to sit and play with her everyday she will play better alone so I can relax, cook or clean.
Liv will read to herself, play with toys cars, play dress up with shoes and jewelry, push her dolls around, care for her dolls, drive a play car around, dance, sing, pretend to shop in our pantry, and other things to keep herself busy.
I really love watching her play and grow. She has such a good imagination for a 21 month old.
I am just glad that we have not turned to tv, become dependent on it, as a main source of quiet entertainment, or for something to do when I can't play with her.
Even while I am starting to slow down, you can't slow down a toddler, and why would you want to anyway? This is how they learn and grow.

What to do while trapped inside?

Image by WoogyChuck via Flickr

Even though the calender says spring in my area we are having a very long winter with unseasonably cold weather.
Usually I try to bundle us up and enjoy the outside as much as I can, but being pregnant and starting to show my nice warm winter coat will not zip up so I do not want to be in the cold.
Being stuck inside is hard, especially if its for several days so I try to break it up as much as possible. Playdates once a week, the library, grocery shopping, may visit a family friend, church. These simple activities help us not get bad cabin fever.
But while in the home I try to keep t.v. as a last resort. These are some of the simple activities I do with my 19 month old Liv.
Baking bread-she loves trying to knead the dough, helping me mix and then eating our finished product.
Action rhymes and songs- Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, The Hokey Pokey, Ring Around the Rosey
Dancing-We just put on the radio and rock out
Music-Liv got a music kit for Christmas that has maracas, a tambourine, jingle bells and some other odd instruments. We will march around the house with them or just sit and make music together
Puzzles-this is a quiet relaxing activity
reading
Finger plays-counting rhymes and other songs keep us entertained
Coloring
Play dough
cleaning-yes cleaning. Today Liv had a blast scrubbing the cabinets with a sponge and soapy water mix. I wiped them dry after she was done. I have to say she loved it and my cabinets really needed it.
Bubbles-we go in the basement to not make a mess on the floors.
Young toddlers can get bored easily and often won't sit for long periods of time doing one activity. This makes many rainy day activities hard for them to do, but with some patients and creativity you can fill up the day till you are able to get outdoors again.

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