Curious Bird

:games we play:

Felix loves dramatic play right now. LOVES IT. We pretend to be superheroes, pirates and space travelers every single day. And first thing in the morning is no different than the middle of the day -- he hops out of bed, and before having breakfast most days, he is ready to rescue someone or blast into outerspace. He loves imagining himself (and me or Dustin) in all of sorts of awesome, adventureous scenarios. I adore his imagination and find this kind of play to be the cutest thing ever. But...let's be honest, it also zaps my energy quite a bit and I find myself needing to switch things up after a good round of whatever it is we're pretending to be. This is where other activities come to the rescue. We often make art or do a sensory activity (e.g. water play, cloud dough, water beads) and we adore this activity to bring things back down to a quieter, calmer place. Lately, though, we've gotten more into playing board games, and it has been just the ticket. Of course, taking turns can get a little wacky sometimes (most of the time), and I always know when he's bored because he starts changing the rules of the game. 

Some of favorites currently are Sneaky Snacky Squirrel and the Goodnight Moon Game (snagged it for 50cents at a yard sale, yes I did). We've also got our eye on a couple of other games as potential birthday gifts.

Have any good board game suggestions? I love to hear 'em.   

:come back craftiness:

I am slowly trying to find the time and energy for crafty pursuits. It's challenging with two little ones, but slowly I think I might be figuring it out. I truly miss making stuff, which I haven't been able to do on a consistent basis since giving birth to Felix almost three years ago (yep, he'll be three in June. nutty, eh?). But every now and again I do find the time and it's thrilling. Sadly, though, I don't often find the extra time needed to photograph and write about it here. Today, I am trying to turn that around. 

So...here is a little block puzzle I created for Roman a few weeks ago. I had the super smooth sanded blocks on hand (a big bag was given to me by a woodworker friend) and I knew I wanted to try making a little puzzle. It turned out really cute and was so relaxing to work on. As I worked one evening, Dustin commented that I seemed really calm as I painted. And after a day of hanging with kiddos, calm is what I was looking for. Yes indeed. It was relaxing and satisfying and now Romy gets to bonk himself with blocks ;-)

Hopefully there are more puzzles to come. I have a few littles in mind who are due for a gift.

More soon,

L.

p.s. Just a reminder that I'm posting over at Habit the entire month of May. Go take a peek.  

:these days:

below are some recent moments captured with my iphone. damn, that thing is handy.
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we've been eating a fair amount of waffles lately. I've started making waffle batter up ahead of time and storing it in the refrigerator. we're trying not to eat them more than a couple of times a week, but they are sooo good and it helps that I've become a pro at getting just the right amount in the waffle iron so clean up is minimal. hate cleaning up a waffle iron with batter running down the sides. not fun. 

felix is obessessed with tools  -- he has been for a while now. the other day I took him out and let him hammer little nails into a stump I had found and brought home a while back. he was thrilled and luckily no thumbs were injured in the process. must remember to get him going with a little building project soon.

romy must be teething. nothing else can explain the river of drool flowing from that kid's mouth. I had to make a few bibs backed with a thick towel to keep his shirt from getting soaked several times a day!

lots of playing going on around here. we play happy birthday with a playdough cake and toothpick candles daily. and when not celebrating pretend birthdays, we are either building various tracks and towers using a nice set of blocks my mom gifted felix or we're exploring with a magnifying glass (often while wearing a cape). 

what kind of fun activities happen at your house? 

until next time, have a lovely tuesday!

:silly kid:

Some days are really challenging. Naps are extra short (Felix) or nonexistent (Romy this afternoon) and it's rainy and grey outside making for total indoor chaos by 4pm. 

I try not to get too caught up in it, and instead remember to look around and laugh a little (or a lot. maniacally even) to keep things as light as possible. This doesn't always work, but today I got lucky and noticed this silly pig wearing glasses while stuffed into the playhouse roof! Nice one, Felix. Thanks for reminding me to relax and keep having fun.  

Okay, back to it. 

L. 

:these days:

Hi there,

Here's a little view into our world lately.

Our big boy has been perfecting his climbing skills, and I am so grateful he has been accompanied by such a great spotter during practice. 
He has also been building daily caves and forts around here. Or...at the very least pulling all the sofa cushions off in order to bury us. Dustin had to be rescued from a pile of cushions and tinker toys the other day (luckily I had my camera nearby to capture this). Deep breaths as I continue to work toward finding a balance between tidy and chaos. 

Our baby boy has become a professional smile-giver. He is such a happy, smiley baby. LOVE that so much. :-)

As for me, well, my slowcooker is my best friend lately. That thing is a lifesaver. 

I have also been trying to find time to do some holiday making. Not sure exactly where to start, but I suppose crafting Romy a stocking is probably the right place. After that, I think I see some citrus salt, homemade biscotti and chocolate truffles on the horizon. 

Dustin and I went on a date the other night. We sat at the bar in a beautiful new tapas restaurant in town eating dessert and drinking grownup drinks. It was perfect. And the best part (besides getting to chat for two uninterrupted hours with my sweetie) is that I think we've figured out a way to make date night an almost weekly thing by swapping childcare with some friends who also have two littles. 

We're getting our tree this weekend and I'm beside myself with anticipation. Can't wait to get all the holiday decorations out and up around here. Good fun, indeed. 
I stumbled upon this holiday traditions article and thought I would share. I love a good tradition, don't you?  

Hope you're doing well out there. 

More soon,

L.  

:magic finding glass:

The title of this post is what Felix calls his magnifying glass. Hearing him say "magic finding glass" nearly makes me drop to my knees every single time. It is definitely one of the things he says that I hope sticks around for as long as possible. Like, till he's at least 30. Oh, okay that's crazy...20. 

Let's see...this week has really gotten away from me. Surprise. I'm moving in super sloooow waddlely motion around here -- 37 weeks tomorrow. That, and last weekend we did the 3 day potty learning method with Felix. It was a huge success (thank you dear Heather for telling me about it!) but I've had to be very aware in the "tell mama if you need to pee" department this week so everything moves along in the right direction. I'm a little afraid to type this as there could certainly be some back-sliding (like when the new baby arrives??) but  he has gotten it thus far so it's looking like we may have only one child in diapers instead of two! Wouldn't that be fantastic?! Indeed it would.  

Hope you have a great weekend. We're making personal pizzas on the grill -- a new idea that will likely work better than grilling one big pizza, something we still find a little challenging. Besides, I want pesto and artichoke hearts on my pizza and I'm guessing the boys (specifically Felix) will want nothing to do with artichoke hearts. 

For fun I will leave you with some favorites I've stumbled upon lately. 

This Washi Dress pattern is on my  post-pregnancy must-make list. So cute. 

Tricky people are the new strangers. An interesting read about keeping your kids safe. 

Felix definitely needs some tattoos from Tattly. Love the robot and the sun. 

 Take a look at Mars! So cool...and a little eerie. 

Pretty bracelets and a great tutorial. 

A delicious looking recipe for the figs that are starting to ripen on our little fig tree out back.

Be well out there, 

Leya  

 

:misty:

There is a new(ish) place to play and cool down at our favorite local museum. It's called Into the Mist and we had it all to ourselves one morning last week. So much fun. 

More soon, 
L.  

:countless hours of cloudy fun:

Who would have known mixing flour and baby oil together would result is so many hours of sensory activity fun? Cloud dough (or moon dough) is certainly well worth the two or three dollars and post-play clean up required. Well worth it. Felix loves the stuff and has asked to play with it almost daily since I mixed it up when his cousin Hazel was visiting a few weeks ago. I will admit that it feels pretty nice to the touch -- it is like sand (it packs together very well), but much softer and silkier

There are lots of recipes around the web that all say pretty much the same thing:

Mix 1 cup of baby oil with 8 cups of flour and store in an airtight container. (You don't want this stuff to get wet. Goopy mess supreme.) 

**Also, if you're wondering, the plastic bin we use is attached with zip ties to a rectangular milk crate. I drilled tiny holes in each corner of the bottom of a cheap plastic bin  -- water can drip through, but the opening is too small to allow any cloud dough or sand or good old dirt to escape. Having the bin off the floor at a good height for Felix to stand next to and move around seems to decrease messes and increase the fun. Besides, I always enjoy having an excuse to use a drill and zip ties. 

More soon, 

L. 

:bringing the belly laughs:

Popping in to say hi. Hope you're having a fun weekend. We are certainly having a few good laughs over here due to Felix's new(ish) orange sun hat and critter catchin' net...and his hilarious personality.
Oh boy. 

:we like to party:

Yesterday we celebrated Felix's birthday by having a party at one of our favorite parks. Lots of friends and kiddos showed up for a couple of hours full of eating snacks and Felix's requested green cupcakes, lots of frolicking on the playground equipment, and a five gallon bucket full of bubble magic!

Felix definitely enjoyed all the love and attention that came his way. (Funny tidbit: Our family arrived a little early to set up and Felix walked around for a minute or two before coming over to Dustin and I with a puzzled look and saying, "no friends". We assured him that friends would be arriving very soon. :-)  And they certainly did. 

Here are some of my favorite shots from the day. 

More soon, 

L.