Violet, Volcanoes and Veggies- oh my!

I had a lot of ideas for V but many of them did not come to be because we all got sick. It was a very rough week. First, Dawson got Hand, Foot and Mouth. Lovely and that was on top of teething. He was miserable and hardly slept. Then, Ollie spiked a fever which ended with him throwing up for the first time in his sweet little life. I think we are all on the mend. We shall see.

Anyway, V started with Ollie painting a V violet. This was

interesting trying to get him to understand that purple was violet and violet was purple. To him, he was just painting the V purple. He decided that it was best suited with some dinosaurs on it.

We also made a volcano. We created this on the day that Dawson went to the doctor. Ollie's Uncle Jason was here as well as my niece Bella so we had a whole crew working on it. We used a paper bowl with a hole cut into the top and Ollie painted it to create the volcano. Then, Jason cut a down a yogurt cup to fit inside the hole. This is where our lava would be. Our lava consisted of baking soda, vinegar, red food coloring, water and dish soap. You'd have to ask my BIL how much of each since he did the mixing. Ollie loved watching this!

Next, I had Ollie sort pictures of fruits and vegetables and glue them under the appropriate header. I was actually pretty pleasantly surprised by how well he knew which was which (other

than the tomatoes and that is pretty confusing!).

Our final project is an awesome verse--1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.--Ollie enjoyed shouting "victory through Jesus Christ our Lord." I had Ollie glue what I'd call a "BAM" bubble onto a sheet with the verse and then the letter V. He also colored it. The V looks a bit like an arrow but the important thing is that the living word of God is in my son's heart!

Well that's all for now. Dawson is a mover these days. He is scooting, army crawling, rolling and crawling to all sorts of places. His favorite place to be is under the table where is tries to shove morsels of food he finds into his mouth. Ugh! Who thought carpet in the dining room was a good idea? Anyway, he is still so adorable. I love every one of his fat little rolls!

So what's Dawson up to?

Dawson is up to being sweet and cute and CHUNKY! We have recently over come two ear infections and a lot of night wakings. But through it all, he has been growing a developing. I took him in for an ear check on Saturday--they are clear. While at the appointment, he was weighed. The moose weighs 22 lbs 6 oz. He has the biggest butt and the cutest, fattest little thighs.

So what new things is he doing? Well, he is yelling. Yell, yell, yell. It is funny. He is rolling all over the house. He smiles at every baby he sees whether in a book or in the flesh. He can pull up to standing now. He has been pulling up on to his knees for quite a while and today for the first time he got onto his feet. Dawson has been getting from sitting to the crawl position for quite a while and now he is getting from his stomach to the crawl position and rocking. I know at any moment he will be crawling. For the meantime though, he rolls and wriggles like a worm. Or he lies on his back and arches and uses his feet to slide across the floor.

Me and my favorite baby!

U make me feel...

I am running out of super fun names for these letters. U was actually really, really fun. I always think vowels are intimidating. Like somehow there are less fun words that start with vowels. I don't know.

U began with Ollie making adorable little umbrellas out of baking cups and colored pipe cleaners. We folded them and glued them

onto construction paper. Ollie's favorite color is yellow. So the first baking cup he picked was yellow. Love that boy.

Next, we made urchins. I was shocked at how much fun Ollie had with this. I made yellow play dough before Ollie got up. When we started, I rolled two play dough balls and gave Ollie a bunch of toothpicks. Sticking them in was plenty fun however they soon began to fight each other.

(sigh) Boys!

We also created a Ukulele (well sort of). We used a shoe box and some rubber bands. It did not turn out quite like I hoped. Ollie loved it and enjoyed plucking the stings. It didn't hold up though. The rubber bands were a bit too tight and the box not so strong so

it soon collapsed.

Our final project was the best. Ollie decorated UNDERWEAR! HA! I gave him a pair of whitey tighties and some permanent markers. Together we wrote his name and then he colored. So fun!

I'm a blogging delinquent...& the letter T.

So I spent the last week at my parents house. This caused me to become a blogging delinquent. They live in the dark ages and do not have WIFI. I know, right? Who doesn't have WIFI?
Anyway, I didn't bother bringing my laptop and so although I could get on the internet. I believe they have DSL now versus the dial-up of a few years ago. However, I didn't have my pictures! Urgh. So here is T.

T started by collecting a couple of perfect twigs. Our twigs later were placed into the glue on a

sheet of cardstock to create the letter T. Ollie later tried to rip the twigs off of the paper so he could do what all boys love to do and whack everything in sight. I, being the craft lover that I am,

saved the T. whew!

We also made a T-rex out of a watermelon. Well Bob made it because it is quite obviously too tough for a 2 year old. Begrudgingly, he did it after much, "you are the best hubby ever"

compliments.

Using a bowl, construction paper and some paint, Ollie created a really cute turtle! I love it. And we most definitely love painting. He painted the bowl first while I cut out legs and a head for the turtle. After it dried, he glued on the limbs and head.

We also took a trip to the zoo and saw Tortoises. Ollie was fascinated. They are so huge and move so slow!

I almost forgot! We created a terrarium. The hardest part of this project w

as finding a two liter bottle since we don't drink pop. Luckily, my MIL brought pop over for our dinner after Dawson's dedication! Whew. Ollie really likes digging in the dirt so filling the bottom with rocks and dirt was fun, fun, fun! Rather than go buy a plant, I just used one I already had and replanted it.

Dedication Day!

We had Dawson dedicated to the Lord today! In our church, we do not believe in infant baptism. We believe that a person chooses to be baptized after they make a decision to follow Christ. Instead, we have a dedication. The dedication is a way for parents to publicly proclaim that they chose to bring up this child to know the Lord. I did tape the service but unfortunately it is too long to post! I put this video together of Dawson birth till now. Enjoy!

Yessss I am behind again!

So as usual I am behind. I haven't even blogged about our Easter party yet. Maybe if I had an iPhone, I'd be faster. Hint, hint Bob. Well, since he reads the blog about once a quarter, I may or may not have an iPhone answer say July. Anywho, S was a blast as always. It is so fun to spend time learning letters with my little guy. I do some learning activities with Dawson too just nothing that seems as formal. I'll try to post about some

of those later.

We started the week with string painting. We simply dipped pieces of

yarn into paint and drug them over paper. Ollie liked this. He does not, however; really like paint on his hands. When dipping yarn into paint, you

can guess there will be paint on those little fingers! Once the paint

dried, I cut an S out of the paper

.

Snakes and snails were on our lunch menu. I found both of these

ideas on familyfun.go.com. The snake is made of cucumbers and pieces of carrot. I made the snake out of a quesadilla and a pickle. So fun! Ollie loves quesadilla. He calls tortillas "tacos." Anyway, super cute ideas!

I also found this next idea at familyfun. It is a scavenger hunt and was perfect for a toddler. I took an egg carton and cut it in half

(leaving the lid on) so that it had 6 slots. Then I painted each one a different color. Since I had been in the yard recently, I knew which colors would be easiest to find. I chose purple, yellow, brown, green, white and pink. Ollie really loved this activity. Even after we finished, he continued to find things that fit in our categories while at the park the next day!

A perfect spring craft was our sunflower. I have seen these done before. I cannot tell you where but I pulled the idea out of the catalog of ideas I have in my head. Ollie first painted a paper plate yellow. I really think the cheap white ones work best for this. While the glue was still wet, he dumped sunflower seeds in the middle. After the sunflower dried, he glued on the stem. Ollie really enjoyed eating the sunflower seeds, shell and all. yuck!

Our final project was another snack that I also pulled from familyfun. I changed it however. There recipe called for pound cake, frosting and

shredded coconut. I used bananas, rice krispies and strawberries. So mine is slightly healthier. Both recipes call for fruit leather. I also used raisins and fruit snacks. What did I make? SUSHI! It is too cute, huh?

Our verse this week was, "This is my son whom I love, with him I am well pleased." Ollie continues to wow me with his ability to memorize. Such a smart boy. Anyway, I hope those of you with children are enjoying playing with them and watching them grow!