Fun at Home

Just some pics of some of our recent activities. In between t-ball and all the doctor's appointments we've seemed to have and VBS 2 weeks for Hannah (including this week) and sumatanga and the zoo and...well..anyway, we've been ATTEMPTING somewhat to spend the time we have free at home. Sadie has a need for things to be calm or at least not too overstimulating at the moment. Hannah, while calm is definately good for her too, also has a need to be BUSY. Or maybe, *I* have a need for Hannah to be busy. :-) So, we've tried to be home, but doing fun things as much as possible. Here's just a sample.

We pretended to be architects and created buildings from marshmallows and toothpicks. Hannah was very into this and did a great job.

Sadie was into this too - but as a two year old, it was in a completely different way. She was more into using the toothpick to stab the marshmallow and deposit it into her mouth!

Sadie enjoyed some afternoon painting sessions

A few days earlier, Hannah had made a clay bowl and spoon and enjoyed painting them.

Hannah's been learning to "sew" with plastic canvas. It's a slow project..maybe an all-summer project. We'll see. But, she's had a good time with it. It takes a lot of focused attention, so she's just doing one circle (or sometimes half a circle) around each time. At this rate, she'll finish in October! ha! But, she's enjoying it, it's developing good skills, and it's keeping her busy for 30 minutes in the afternoons. Definately a worthwhile project.

Sadie wanted to "sew" too. She's using a piece of cardboard wtih large holes cut out that she can push the string in and out of (a homemade lacing card). I know my school OT's will be proud that we're working on fine motor skills this summer!! :-)

These next few pictures I want my school librarian to see. She read my class and Hannah's class this really fun book last spring called Aint Gonna Paint No More. Hannah LOVED it. (So did my class) and sang it for days (it's a book but with a bit of song in it too). It's about a little boy who gets into the paints and paints his whole body...mama is not too happy! It's cute and I bought it for Hannah (through Scholastic if you're interested). Well, it totally made her day when I told her she could do that - paint her body. So, we read the book and then went outside with fingerpaints, plastic garbage bags, and paints. They started with the paintbrushes and soon ditched those to use their hands. They both LOVED it. Sadie was a bit more um..reserved..in her painting as you can see, but she laughed and smiled the whole time. Hannah went all out as you can also see. If you want to try this at home, it's so easy. The crayola washable fingerpaint comes right off with the water hose and a washcloth. Definately a fun hour...try it!

Getting ready to read the book

"I just can't STAND not to paint my HAND"

Sadie getting going...

Hannah - in full swing

Sadie - the final result

Hannah - the final result

And finally, for a less messy activity, we've been reading...a lot. I love to read. Hannah loves to look at books and be read to. Sadie likes to look at books..probably not as much, but she's 2. She's starting to really enjoy picture books. Our new rule in the car is no toys, only books (does not apply to long trips..just short around town trips). I figure they get to engage in literacy, and I get a car that's not cluttered with a million little toys. I got a plastic tub and had the girls decorate their "book box" with stickers. We then chose 10 books to put in it (wtih the idea we'll rotate them with books in the house from time to time). The box fits right between the girls' carseats. I actually stole this idea from another friend when I saw she had one in her car. The girls love looking at their books in the car and there's almost no fussing over them. It's also sweet when Hannah decides to read to Sadie. We're also doing the summer reading program at the library so we visit once a week to check out books and get logs signed and receive prizes. In addition, I'm trying something new with Hannah. I mostly still read picture books with both Hannah and Sadie, but I started wondering if Hannah could handle some simple chapter books (me reading to her..she doesn't read on her own yet). That's a big switch because the simple chapter books have very few pictures and the ones they do have are simple black and white drawings. I figure it's good for Hannah to use her imagination...and for her to practice paying attention by listening. She's GREAT at talking..we're practicing the listening. :-) Anyway, we read Stuart Little first this summer (a chapter at nap and a chapter at bedtime) and she enjoyed it. We checked out a Stuart Little movie from the library afterwards. Now, we're about a third of the way into Charlotte's Web. I'm sure we'll watch the movie of it too when we finish. I figure we may have time for one more simple chapter book before school starts. Knowing what I know now (I hadn't read either of those books since *I* was a child)- I'd probably read Charlotte's Web first if I had it to do over again. Hannah enjoyed Stuart Little because of the idea of a little mouse and all the trouble he managed to get into trying to live in a world of big people, but there were parts of it that were just over her head. (There was some humor I enjoyed however!) So far, while Charlotte's Web has some vocabularly that's new to Hannah, the actual story is not over her head (although..it does get into death a little..when the sheep tells Wilbur the pig that the farmer wants to kill him at Christmas for supper..but knowing the end of the story that it doesn't happen, I'm okay reading it with her). Well, there's your free book reviews about simple chapter books for 4-5 year olds if you're interested!

Sometimes I'll grab a book in the afternoon and sit on the couch to read for a few minutes. I used to always reserve my personal reading for when the girls were napping or in bed, but decided I wanted them to SEE me read sometimes. So, I'll sit and read for 15-20 minutes some afternoons. Hannah and Sadie are free to do what they want during this time (within reason!) Sometimes they play with their toys in the living room. But often, they'll grab books and sit with me on the couch and "read" for a while too. I love it!!

Well, I hope everyone enjoys this week. I can't believe how fast summer is flying by. Sadie had her orthopedic dr. appointment last week and this week, she goes back to the adoption clinic on Wednesday and to see an occupational therapist on Thursday. I'll post more about all that at the end of the week. I also had an appointment this morning for some minor oral surgery. I'm feeling fine and appreciate the sweet friends who helped take care of my girls and me today.