Potholder Islands

We were looking for a way to pass the time when M started pretending she was the baby blowfish from the Wonder Pets that needed to be saved.  AGAIN.  Somehow that inspired me to make islands on the floor for us to jump on as we tried to stay out of the "water."

Initially I went to grab the construction paper, but quickly realized that would not be a good idea if I wanted to reuse it with E, our one year old "playing" along.  Next I gathered up my potholders.  I'm not sure if I have more than the average person, but we have a lot.  

It took M quite a while to understand she should stay off the carpet.  She loved rearranging the potholders for me to jump on.  We had a goal to go from the loveseat to a music box (and of course play some music).

When M's interest waned, I had her match up the potholders.  She did as well as anyone could.  I have many single potholders...due to scorching and other unfortunate events.  (I don't want to use the word fire.  Fire extinguishers were never used, but for several years I probably averaged losing one potholder each year.  I am happy to say that I have not lost any since we got our ceramic-top stove 1 1/2 years ago.)   I was impressed that I didn't need to explain that she should match the patterns/colors and not the shape since some are oven mitts and others are the flat type. 

Anyway, this was just a little impromptu fun that we had...and I thought to take a picture, so I'm sharing it with you today.

Why My Husband Hates When I Clean

Really, I drive my husband crazy when I clean.  It's a new thing, really.  And it's not like I need a perfectly clean house.  (HA!)  It's far from clean.


In fact, our house is quite "comfortable."  You know, it's lived in.  We have toys throughout.  Our island always has a pile or two growing on it...and often a stray butter knife and some crumbs leftover from the previous meal (or more).  We are both the kind of people that can go to bed without picking up the clutter and toys.  Some might call that laziness.


So how is it that I am driving him crazy?  Vinegar.  I started mopping with a vinegar and water mix a year or so ago.  I only mop, at most, every two weeks, so that was tolerable for him.  I like that it is chemical free.  Vinegar is environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and incredibly frugal.  What's not to love?  Well, a little smell.  All cleaners have an odor though, right?  Apparently not all odors are created equal.


A couple months ago I decided I wanted to start using a vinegar as my all-purpose cleaner, especially in the kitchen.  Though I know good ol' soapy water cleans the counters and table just fine, sometimes I want a bit more kick to remove the syrup, medicine, or jelly.  (Oh, yes, E's anti-seizure medication is very sticky!)  I used to turn to whatever was under the kitchen sink, but then I read somewhere that using a 1:1 ratio of vinegar to water would be very effective in cleaning...and it's safe for kids.  It took me quite a while to get an empty spray bottle.  (Do NOT reuse a bottle that had chemicals in it for this.  Just recycle it!)


Well, a month or so ago I finally bought my empty spray bottle!  I promptly wrote on it that it was vinegar, since I didn't want it to mistakenly get sprayed, and filled it with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of white vinegar.  I went to town cleaning my countertops and our kitchen table.  I went on to clean E's high chair.  I spot cleaned under his high chair.  It felt great to clean!


Then Derek came home from work.  The smell really does disappear as it dries, but he really hates it!  He noticed it immediately.   I think he may have gagged a bit.  Sorry, Dear.  He told me he was surprised I could stand it since I tend to be sensitive to bad odors.  But I continue to clean with it, though I do try to do most of the spraying/cleaning several hours before he gets home from work.  He has asked that I light a candle, so I do if I'm still cleaning when he is in the house.


Our three year old has noticed the stink, too.  She tells me about it when I am cleaning...but she also puts her nose to the table to really inhale the full vinegar scent.


Vinegar has lots of uses.  One of these days M, E, and I are going to make a volcano erupt.  In the meantime, you can visit Vinegar Tips or the Vinegar Institute if you are interested.  Both sites have tons of ideas for cleaning with vinegar.


A friend suggested I use essential oils to change the smell of the vinegar and water solution I use.  I don't have any, so I have not done this.  Does anyone have any other tips for me?  I want to continue to use vinegar, but it really is not much fun to torture my husband.

Lucy and Seymour's Circus

My 3 year old is all about pretend play right now. We have now have a wonderful book to help encourage this pretend circus play.

Sally O. Lee wrote a delightful picture book called Lucy and Seymour's Circus.  It's a beautiful story that shows when one is disappointed about the turn of events, one can still have fun.  Lucy had big plans to go to the circus, but she wakes up sick.  Since she can't go to the circus, she finds a striped blanket to make a circus tent...and the circus fun begins!  Her little animal friends help her have a good time performing various circus tricks before it's time to rest.

This book is so sweet!  I love the imagination.  The story is fabulous and the pictures just lovely.  This book would appeal to a wide range of ages, and boys and girls.  I do recommend this book!

I recently reviewed another of Sally's books, Stop It!  (Click for review.)  I really enjoyed that book, too, but I like the depth and imagination of Lucy and Seymour's Circus even more.  My three year old enjoys both!


Thank you Sally O. Lee for providing me a review copy.

Pre-writing Skills

M is 3 years, 4 months.  She LOVES to trace her name.  However it is pretty difficult to read what she writes unless you already know what her name is.  We had her sign all of her classmates' and grandparents' Valentine Day cards to make it purposeful, but she does like to just do it for fun, too.  I wonder if the other parents thought I was crazy to do it, since only one (a 4 year old with nice writing and 3 letters in her name) of her classmates did the same.   At this point  we don't have her write any other letters/numbers, but we do ask her to draw lines, circles, rainbows, and smiley faces at times when she seems in the mood.  Using a variety of materials definitely motivates M.  Chalk, paint, and markers are her favorite.

To trace her name, we do what her preschool teacher recommended.  We use a highlighter/light colored marker and write her name in all capital letters with paper in the "landscape" position.  Then she traces it.  The reason this is thought to be better than tracing dashes is so that the child (at this age) sees the letters as a whole.  I really do agree that it seems effective!

We have two books that also assist with prewriting skills.  (We just wish something could help us with her left-handedness.)  The first is a workbook called Kumon's My First Book of Tracing (Ages 2-4).

 The other is My First Wipe Clean Farm (by DK).  This is a board book and M's preference (shown above with M).  Though the marker no longer works, we just use our dry erase markers.  There are several books in this series.

In another month or so we will probably start tracing all letters (1-2 at a time) just to help with her fine motor skills.

If you have any suggestions for helping a left-handed little girl and her parents, please share your thoughts!

Christian Book Giveaways

Mark, at Thoughts of a Sojourner, is celebrating two years of blogging.  (This is the only blog I read written by a man!)  He is giving away Christian books on his blog to celebrate...at least one each day for the first ten days of March.  The giveaways all end on March 15, so you still have time to check out his blog and what you might win!

Winners!

The winners of the A Century of Flavor: Nielsen-Massey Vanillas     cookbook are


#2 Lisa 
#6 The Harris Family
#14 Abi


Congratulations!  They will have 48 hours to give me their contact info.


Don't forget to check out our Rubbermaid giveaway, too! 

Comforting Caffiene

Since I have been so exhausted lately, I've been needing some caffiene to help me make it through the afternoons. I do not drink coffee...so this is the best I can do. Hot tea with some honey to sweeten it. Yum. Maybe spring's official arrival in a short time will help me! Who knows.