Our Week: End of June catch-up

Another few weeks slips by quickly and I thought I'd give you an update.

Two weeks ago we join my sister and her family for an awesome afternoon.  We had a picnic at a location with a lake and splash park!!  So cute seeing all the cousins playing together.

Always lots of small world play going on here.  At the moment it's farms using a variety of different sets.

TJ loves to play house.  The boys were so cute using our baby items to take care of the dolls.  They are going to be amazing big brothers and are very excited about their new brother.  He is due around the end of July.

Yummy baking.  The boys are so good at measuring, following directions and helping in the kitchen.  Our veggie gardens are looking fantastic.  We've been harvesting rhubarb, lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, peas and a few strawberries.

As always we are out in the forest.  One time we gathered sticks to paint.  We have made some wonderful friends who enjoy being out in nature with us.  The boys have had a chance to visit lots of new natural locations around us too.  All our forest meet-ups will continue throughout the summer.

We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Scott.  Everyone had a great time at Story Book Park in Owen Sound.

Skipping rocks in Georgian bay is always fun.  Rain doesn't slow these boys down a bit.

I already posted about MJ's birthday party.  

Father's Day was lovely.  We relaxed and hung around the house.  Grandma and Grandpa Jackson had come down for the party and stayed over.  The boys were so happy to have a visit.  TJ wanted to do something special to celebrate the first day of summer.  We had a BBQ and smores around a fire.

The boys had also received some money for their birthdays.  TJ was thrilled when daddy told him about a tent he could almost afford.  With a bit of help from family he got a new tent to play with in the yard.  He has also slept in it in the playroom a few nights already.

So what's up next?

We are taking care of a friend for the summer who has been in our daycare for years.  Loads of summer fun.  A new baby, new homeschool group adventures and our outdoor learning forest program.

What are you doing this summer???

Farm Birthday Party!!!

This week MJ turned 5 years old!  I just can't believe how fast time flies.  We celebrated on the day of his birthday by getting together with some friends in a forest (we brought some treats).  That evening we went out for dinner and ice cream.   We also gave MJ the Playmobil 123 farm which he absolutely loves.  He has taken apart every other Playmobil set, Lego, anything we give him.  This set has less removable parts, so hopefully it'll stay in intact for a while.

MJ has love anything to do with tractors and farms for several years now.  Everything he builds or creates is a tractor!  Of course I went Pintrest crazy on the farm theme for his party.  I'm probably going to downscale things a bit for next year... 

Some activities included a farm sensory bin in the water table (beans and farm toys), plant your own flower, pin the tractor on the scene, toss the animals into the barn, and knock over the barn with the tractor.  All of these had adorable signs I made stuck in the ground near by.

I also had out a playmat with farm toys, farm stickers and craft supplies.  As you can see the children enjoyed playing all the games, and our sandbox full of Tonka trucks.  Once the children discovered the trampoline they mostly abandoned the other activities.  Another huge hit was bubbles and out playroom.  It was a hot day and the children loved playing with all the boys toys inside.

Food was mostly snacks, chips, veggie tray, fruit, sprouted chick peas, animal crackers (I found some farm ones at the dollar store), mixed ceral (animal feed) and sausages in crescent rolls.  Again everything had adorable farm themed signs next to them.  Dessert was hay bales (rice krispie squares) and cake that MJ helped to bake and put the toys on.  To take home instead of loot bags the children could keep the bubbles we played with, plant their own flowers and they all got a farm/animal related book.

All the children played so nicely together while the parents got to chat.  It was a wonderful afternoon with family and friends.  MJ appreciates all the gifts he received and has played for hours with each one.

Our Week: Highlights since our last update

Wow we've done so much in the past two weeks.  I do post often on our Facebook page, so do go check that out.

After our last major purge we also reorganized all the toys.  We out some board games in the family room too.  The boys are really enjoying Junior Monopoly, Sorry and Checkers.  We all know of the math and logic skills they are working by playing, but I am most focusing on good sportsmanship.  It can be hard for a young child to loose a game.  The boy have been playing together without me and take turns winning some days.  I look forward to having board games coming out more often.

We went to the cottage.  The boys had fun floating on dock pieces while daddy helped to put in the dock.  MJ played a lot with his younger cousin.  We also did lots of fishing and did quite well (mostly sun fish).

I love that my boys often use something they've seen as a jumping off point for further exploration.  After watching Big Hero 6 for the millionth time in a few days, the boys made their own robot fighters.  MJ used our stencils to draw a lot of different robots.  TJ got to work gathering supplies to make a real moving robot.  We also watched some robot fights on You Tube.  Now they pretend to be characters from the movie when they play together.

We were very blessed to be given some wool longies for our little baby.  I decided to dye some of the pink ones to new colours.  I think it went pretty well for my first attempt.  The boys way me working on that and wanted to do something with the food colours.  They each made their own batch of playdough to colour as they wished.  Unfortunately something went a bit wrong with our recipe and the playdough didn't last as long as it should have.  But we still had fun.

We've been working a lot on our gardens.  We have a plot at home and a community plot up the street.  Our rhubarb is ready and delicious.  We have lost a few plants due to crazy weather, but we'll keep plugging away.  So much potential!!

I love the different colours that bloom throughout our gardens.

One day while at the grocery store the boys kept trying to convince me of all the reasons why they each needed a roll of toilet paper from the pack we bought.  It was soft so they wanted to sleep with it or something like that.  As soon as we got home they each made an alien friend.  MJ's was unrolled and spread all over the house, while TJ's is still around somewhere.

The boys and I just love our weekly forest meet-ups.  We have had the opportunity to check out many new parks and natural areas around us.  The boys and their friends use their imaginations, work together, climb and explore.  So much fun!!!

They boys are growing in so many wonderful ways.  TJ sometimes brings out our feeling cards.  He asks me to help his stuffies deal with tough situations and problems that come up.  Things like feeling left out and such.  We talk about the problem and play through it together.

MJ is a rather independent boy.  He has his own ideas and opinions!  We've ben talking a lot about eating more variety and things that work better for his sensitivities.  He has been helping prepare some meals and pick out what he'd like to eat.  

After one of our foret adventures I was in the mood for some painting.  The boys joined me.  Each of us had very different things in mind to paint.  I made a forest scene, TJ painted a house on the edge of a forest with oak trees, MJ experimented with painting he tractor wheels and also made some roads and farms.

TJ had been craving pancakes for dinner.  He wanted to make the whole meal himself.  So he read the recipe, doubled it and cooked the pancakes.  Very tasty!!  

We are very fortunate that there are so many homeschool groups in our are.  A great deal to the zoo made for an awesome day!  It rained most of the day but that didn't stop us.

So many amazing animals to see! 

What have you been up to?  I'd love to hear from you.

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