Cheesy Abby Grins

Abby has the biggest, cheesiest grin ever!  The only problem is that she hardly ever does it for the camera.  I guess we should feel good that she likes to smile for us and not for camera because it means she loves us!  Here are the few pictures I’ve managed to get of her cheesy smile.  I try A LOT and am rarely successful!

Family Pictures

Our friends Rob & Julie Snow at www.rjsnowphotography.com took pictures for us a few weeks ago and we love them!  Abby pretty much refused to smile even though she’s got this great cheesy grin that she does all the time at home…just not for a camera!  But, we got some cute ones anyway I think!

            I really hate getting pictures taken because I CAN NOT narrow down which ones I want printed.  So, it makes for lots of pictures that will never be hung on the walls, but I still love having them to look at anyway.  Thanks Rob & Julie!

View From My Ironing Board

Abby was napping, fun music was playing, and Adam was on the floor with a basket full of books reading to himself while I ironed Nat’s shirts.  Do I have a great life or what?  It’s not every day that I have moments of sheer happiness while doing the mundane tasks of homemaking.  I sure am grateful for those moments though! :)

Trip to the Mall

I was getting bored of being stuck at home, (Abby is napping from like 10:00-12:00 every day so that majorly cuts down on out-of-the-house time), so I skipped Abby’s nap and headed to the mall to finally use some birthday money.  I got yummy fall and winter candles at Bath and Body Works and a couple of books from Deseret Book.  Thanks Mom and Grandma!

Along the way Adam rode in a little airplane toy and played in a play area.  

Apparently KSL sponsored the play area because they had a little news desk and a camera/TV hooked up so you could pretend to be on the news.  Cool huh?

Here we are on the news

No trip to the mall is complete without lunch at the food court!

I need to proclaim my love of Chick-Fil-A for a minute.  Not only is their Chicken Club Sandwich YUMMY but the kid’s meal came with a bendy straw, a disposable placemat that sticks onto the table and a BOOK as the toy!  Clearly, they are catering to the Mommy-Market and I approve!

Thankfully this little lady was very good the entire trip even though I left her Wubby (pacifier with a lamb attached to it) at home.  Duh Mom.

Adam loved all the walking around like a big kid, talking with the sales associates and playing.  Now I just need more money to go spend again!

Tot School - “Ask Mr. Bear”

– Adam is 34 months old –

We spent this week reading a cute little story called Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack.

The story is about a boy named Danny who goes on a hunt to find something to give his mother for her birthday. He asks several animals who all suggest things they can give Danny to give to his mother (an egg, milk and cream, etc.) but Danny says his mother already has all those things. Finally, the cow suggests he go see Mr. Bear in the woods. Mr. Bears whispers a secret to Danny and Danny runs home to give his mother a Big Birthday Bear Hug!

We used the Before Five in a Row manual along with printables from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ for activities to go along with Ask Mr. Bear. Here’s what we did.

Adam colored a birthday cake
(even though you can’t see it in this picture)

We made a birthday cake for our Family Home Evening treat on Monday night! Of course we had to sing the Happy Birthday song (to Adam obviously) and he blew out the candle. It’s good practice for his 3rd birthday in 2 months!
Adam matched the animal to the sound it makes
On another day, he matched the gift to the animal who suggested it. I had to help him remember a few of them.

He then carefully put the animal cards into the animal pocket and the gift cards into the gift pockets. He insisted on doing it himself and it was a bit tricky….which is good! He concentrated hard to maneuver the cards just right to slip them into their holders.

I made this little barn “game” and Adam slipped the cards into the back pocket and then named the letter in the window and opened the barn doors to reveal the animal. He mainly just played with a few of the cards and pretended to put the animals to bed in the “barn house” and then wake them up in the morning. I wanted him to name more letters and animals but he wasn’t in the mood.

Our little action song this week was the Hug Your Bear song. It is to the tune of Row, Row, Row, Your Boat and goes:

Hug, hug, hug, your bear,
Squeeze him very tight.
Hold him high,
Watch him fly,
Then hug with all your might.

This is Adam watching his bear fly!

Our signs for the week were to review bear, walk, and run and to learn chicken, cow, and sheep.

This is Adam asking me what the signs were on his flash cards (just like I ask him each day). He’s showing me how to sign “walk”.

We also read the following books I picked up at the library to go along with our main book:

A Birthday for Bear by Bonny Becker
How About a Hug? by Nancy Carlson
Hug a Bug by Eileen Spinelli
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow

For other Tot School activities Adam had lots of fun finger painting.
He scooped beads with a spoon into an ice cube tray and another day he scooped them into little bowls. He LOVES these beads and asks for them almost daily. Unfortunately, they end up all over the floor!He also scooped beads into his dump truck and then dumped them back into the bowl.

He did number matching and letter matching file folder games….kind of. He lost interest VERY quickly.

Adam was a little off this week and resisted our Tot School time so we didn’t do as much as I would’ve liked. Hopefully he’ll be more into it next week!

Check the Tot School posts on 1+1+1=1 for more great ideas!