A few weeks ago, we offered to watch Aaron's sister's girls while she and her husband went out of their anniversary. The girls had such a good time and were sad to leave, so we planned on having a sleepover within the next few weeks.
Aaron's sister and brother in law live in Eldorado, so the only times we get to see them are when they're in San Angelo for something. Well, I shouldn't say that. We could probably see them as often as we want. But with everyone having different schedules and the busyness of life, we only see them when they're in town.
Jennifer and the girls came in to town Saturday evening and left David at home since he had to work over the weekend.
The girls wasted no time and got to playing right away!
I think Sophia especially enjoyed having the girls over. She felt like a big kid and was included in everything Ayla and Miley did.
Even Jennifer and I joined in!
(we should really get some blinds for that window... heh.)
Sophia's new shopping cart from Papa and Mimi Byrd was a big hit! We already knew Sophia loves it, but it was great watching the girls play with it too! Now we know we will be getting many years of play outa this thing!
And thanks to my friend Mary for the great "smoothie pops" idea. Milk and mixed berries, blended and frozen in plastic popsicles. They made a yummy bedtime snack!
Sunday morning we made homemade blueberry and banana pancakes, and scrambled eggs. Wish I would have snapped a picture of that. Both Ayla and Miley were very helpful!
After church we headed over to my Dad's for our normal Sunday lunch together. I love that Jennifer and the girls were able to come. They had a blast with Micah-Ray.
What a great picture of Jennifer and Aaron!
Since the girls were having such a good time with Micah-Ray, we invited him over while Sophia napped, and Jennifer ran a few errands in town.
Do I even need so say how well they all got along? Hee hee.
It was a great weekend!
I love getting to spend time with the people I love.
It seems like I was always showing Sophia her toys, and encouraging her to play with them instead of following me around, but she never really "played" with any of them for more than a minute. She never really cared for the "baby" toys either. She just wants what we have. ...or what she's not supposed to have! For a new parent, this is frustrating. So frustrating. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Buy them toys? Let the play? Why didn't Sophia ever play?
Ever since we started looking into clean eating, and living a healthier lifestyle (which is way harder than it sounds.. at least for us it is) I've started to rethink a lot of other things that are the norm in today's society. One of those being toys, and the way we let Sophia play/learn.
I wish I could say I thought of this all on my own, but I owe most of my ideas/brainstorming to the mom's at Play at Home Mom. They believe in positive parenting, and a play based learning. Awesome! Right up our alley.
I am so grateful for the many sources on the internet about life and parenting. I love learning how and why others do things the way they do, and being able to apply those things to our life.
So anyway, I cleaned out Sophia's toys.
I bought some super cheap containers, and filled them with things from The Dollar Tree and my craft closet.
Before
Goodbye, random plastic toys.
Hello, organization/simplicity/learning/sensory.
These are the toys we switch out weekly. Now that they're not all out at once, she has much more fun playing with them when I put them out.
Then...
We traded our old coffee table that we no longer use for my brother and sister in law's coffee table. It was a great trade! We both got our tables for under $10 at garage sales, and Arielle had always liked our table more than hers, so I asked if they wanted to trade and they did. Yay!
One of the things I liked best from the Play at Home Mom's blog was their "sensory table." So that's what I wanted to use the coffee table for. I would love to cut a hole for a big bin sometime... But this will do for now!
We covered the top with the backside of freezer paper, and taped it town underneath the edges of the table so she can color all of the table again, and again, and again. :) Oh, and we also bought foam corner covers. Safety first!
Then I headed to The Dollar Tree, and stocked up on some cheap goodies. Then raided the house and craft closet for interesting things.
I wasn't sure what to expect but everything I put together was a big hit! Sophia spent TWO HOURS "sorting" things into different containers. I don't even think she ever looked up at me the whole time we were in her room that night. I know it's partly because everything was new to her, but wow. She still loves all her containers, too.
It has been so neat to watch her play lately. Her favorite container would definitely be the buttons. Actually, we have a few button containers. She loves to move them around, then put them in the jar one by one, and close the lid after each one. I think she likes the "cling, cling" hitting the bottom of the jar, and the metal lid against the glass when she closes it. She also gets upset when others don't do it the way she wants to. It's pretty cute. Hopefully, that's not her mother's OCD coming through.. ha ha. I'm sure she'll be into counting soon, too!
Here's a little video of Sophia sorting the balls in the ball box.
and the beans...
and buttons.
We also had a random family painting session the other day, and let Sophia paint some "art work" for some frames above her table.
Here is our finished product.
Well, until I decide to add more to it. Heh. ;)
What's in the containers?
Well, the cool thing about all of this, is it will continually change to meet Sophia's interests. Also, pretty much everything can be used for "crafting" too, so I'm pumped about that!
Buttons
Bells
Giant, fuzzy pipe cleaners with cut up toilet paper tubes (also for stringing, or lacing)
Beans ... lots of beans!
Beaded necklaces.
We also have many extra containers of all sizes, and dixie cups for her to use.
And maybe you're thinking this isn't the best idea? All those little pieces?
Well, yes. But for Sophia, no.
This girl. She never seizes to amaze me. She's very good at listening when I tell her not to put something in her mouth. It usually takes one "no-no" and she won't do it again. If it even takes a no-no! We go lucky with that. ;)
There are so many things I want to add to her play/learning area! But for now, this is perfect. And I'm excited about it always changing!
As if this post isn't long enough....
Here are a few pictures I snapped from the other day.
"Hmm, what do I want to play with next? Oh yes, the balls!"
And hey, this is just really cool. We've been working on cleaning up and putting away after we're done with a box, and she totally does it! I'm really amazed at how much she understands. And how well she listens! Sometimes, parenting is so cool. So rewarding. Hee hee. (Oh, and I started putting a sheet down when we play. Easier to pick up beans and little pieces.)
I guess that's it for now.
This is definitely something I want to remember, and continue to do.
I also wanted to share this with those of you that read this! Gotta pass on these genius ideas. ;)
I'm a month late on Thanksgiving and only have one picture to show, and only took a few pictures at Christmas. Bleh. Luckily, Aaron snapped a few, and my cousin Rachel took some good ones too. So I'll use their pictures for this post. Thanks, guys!
For as long as I can remember, my family has alternated Thanksgiving and Christmas with my parent's sides of the family. Does that make sense? Like we spend Thanksgiving in New Mexico, then Christmas in Kansas, and switch the next year.
But now that mom and dad are doing their own things, Logan and I are married, and Jordan is in New York, I have a feeling it won't be like this for much longer.
We spent the day before Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving day at Aaron's dad's house with his sister and her family. I love hanging out with them! We played outside, picked pecans, pet the neighbor's horse, played with the many toys Mimi and Papa have, played some pool, Aaron and David shot Aaron's bow, watched movies, and stuffed ourselves with Jenn's amazing Thanksgiving meal!
Here are two of Sophia's cousins, Ayla and Miley.
The day after Thanksgiving we went to Logan and Arielle's house for another dinner with my mom, Micah-Ray, and Arielle's parents. We had a great time over there, too. Dinner was followed by board games that had us all in fits of laughter.
So, Saturday the 22nd, we made the long drive to New Mexico and spent Christmas with dad's side of the family.As I'm getting older, I'm realizing how special is it that we've always been able to visit our extended families multiple times a year. I'm so thankful Aaron and I have been able to make the last couple of trips with mom and dad for the holidays. I love that he has been able to spend time with all my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Christmas in New Mexico is always fun. Lots of laughing, hiking, games, movies, and pigging out!
This year, the stomach bug claimed about one third of our group. Ack! But, somehow, us Texas Reynolds/Byrds made it back without catching it. Hallelujah!
