B is for...

This week was the letter C, but Thing Two has been sick all week, and I'm more than embarrassed to post what we did for the letter C.  Exhaustion does not make for a good tot school experience.

So....here's last week's work:

 

 

These look a little more like banana peppers, but Thing One had fun making them.

 



We made peanut butter and banana pancakes, which were a HUGE hit!

I just made our basic pancake recipe and added a spoonful of peanut butter and some of Thing Two's pureed bananas.  Thing One ate six of them in one sitting.

This one is my favorite.  Thing One was really proud of it too. He likes anything where he sticks his hands or feet in paint, though.

 

When Shawn got home, I told Thing One to show him the picture he had done that day.  He told him about the clouds and sun, but when I pointed to the stickers of the bugs and said, "What's this?", he said, "A sticker."  Close enough.

 

 

 

When he was eating a cup of ABC's 123's, he did say excitedly, "It's an A!"  It's a B!" so maybe it's working!

 





Letting Boys Be Boys

I'll admit it:  I sometimes cringe when my boys get dirty, only because I know I will have to clean them up.

Thing One already has a knack for taking on dirt, as you can see.  Here he is "scrubbing" the back porch with a brush he has dipped in potting soil.  Very helpful. 

And every time we do a tot school project with paint or glue or anything that could possibly messy, a large part of me goes, "No, don't do it!  It's just one more thing you'll have to clean up!"

But I do it anyway, which is how he wound up with a green goatee.  It's adorable, and looks great in pictures, but in real life, I'm chasing him to the tub calling, "Don't touch ANYthing!"

I can handle these things and the extra clean up, because I've learned that Thing One, like most kids, learns on the run.  He has to be doing something in order to be engaged.

But things like this....

 and this...

make me think ER.  Stitches.  Broken bones.  Permanent disfigurement. 

And then I have to grab a metaphorical paper bag and take deep breaths. 

I want to protect my kids.  They are my responsibility, after all.  But I also have to let them learn from experiences.  Thing One climbs everything that is over six inches off the ground.  Thing Two grabs anything nearby, electrical plugs, salt shakers, Thing One's hair, pretty much anything dangerous.

Some days, it feels like all I do is try to avoid major and minor crises.

It makes me think about God and how he watches us along our journey and sees how we are about to stumble.  He could catch us, sure, or send a miracle mattress to soften our fall, but then, what would we learn?  Sometimes God lets us stumble in order to develop our spiritual muscles and wisdom, just like we have to do for our kids.

I threw this in there because it's just too darn cute.  Soon he'll be crawling all over the place.  I just have to keep my perspective...and my SANITY.

Labor Day Weekend Staycation!

We have friends who will literally spend ALL day playing video games.

We don't own any kind of gaming system.   Wait...I think we might have an old Super Nintendo in storage.  Maybe.

One of the older gentlemen at our church once told us, "You make time for the things that are important to you."  We don't want that to be video games.  Or TV.  Or cell phones.

We want it to be our family, so we spent Labor Day at a local state park and had so much fun!

Thing One had a BLAST playing in the splash pad.

 

Thing Two even got in on the action.

 

We had a picnic lunch...

 

 

 

 

Played on the playground...



 

 

And walked around the lake.

 

 

We were all worn out and took LONG naps.  :)  It was a day full of wonderful memories that we made as a family.  I can definitely say it was the best Labor Day ever!