Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Maggie Videos

It's kind of funny that this is what Maggie would do with her first video turn, because she still acts embarrassed when we laugh at the video of her dancing to Handy Manny.  She said she wanted to do exercises.


Here's a good video where Maggie talks about what she does at school.



And, she tells you all about triceratops, complete with a frill.



Dalton Videos

I haven't taken any videos of the kids in a long time.  Here are a few I took of Dalton today.  The cute parts are not where he's singing or saying what he's supposed to but where he laughs at himself ("hah! I said 'Eeyore is his friend!'") etc.  There's some random static on some of them.  It's the video camera - sorry.

Singing I am a Child of God (like Maggie).


Singing Winnie the Pooh (like Maggie).


Talking about some Disneyland rides (and easy subject to get my kids talking).


Telling us what he's going to be for Halloween (like Maggie).


Monday, September 24, 2012

Yet More Ouchie Show

You would think Dalton's head and the sidewalk would be better friends for all their meetings.


Friday, September 21, 2012

DIY Ouchie Show

The kids played Ouchie Show today.  They set up chairs and blanket obstacles, including a rotating chair for the snowflake (they are watching Winter Wipeout) and a tipped over chair for a Santa Claus.  It got pretty intense, but amazingly I heard no crying, only screams of laughter.

This is Dalton's scared face.
 

He moved the chairs to make it easier for himself. Cheater.


They also played "roller coaster".  California Screamin', which explains Maggie's scream face.

Homemade Mermaid Costume

Memaid pose!


I finally finished up Maggie's mermaid costume for Halloween, though I still need to come up with some accessories.  I used this mermaid tail tutorial, but I made quite a few changes.  Some more good tips on using this tutorial from Poot-n-Toots. First of all, the fabric.  I used a lizard-print costume fabric for the tail. It's almost rubbery, and didn't fray at all.  For the fins, I used tulle.  I had to use 3 yards of it (instead of 1) but it was still cheaper than buying organza, plus - no fraying! So much easier to work with.

I used 1 yard on each side of the tail and 1 yard around the waist, folding it into fourths before gathering and sewing it on. Around the waist, I did an elastic casing, then I just tacked the bunched-up tulle down in four places.

The top is just a tube of sequined fabric, with a casing and elastic at the top.  We were debating whether to make it into a little tube top or something and Maggie asked if she would be able to pull it down to cover her tummy.  I guess that answered that.


Preschool Activities: Space

I'm trying to do more home preschool stuff for Dalton.  Last Saturday, I sat down and got some stuff ready to do a few space-themed activities with him during the week.  I put everything all organized in a folder so it was easy to grab when we had time to sit down and do an activity.  This worked out really well.

First was this Space book.  I basically cut out a bunch of shapes and he did the gluing. The idea is from Little Family Fun, click over to see all the pages.


This space sensory box is the first sensory box we've done in a long time, so both the kids were really excited about it.  I bought a small bag of black beans (they were SO expensive!) and everything else is just from around the house.  I included pony beads, bouncy balls, a small wiffle ball, a globe (from a cheap-o pencil sharpener), two baby links (to be planet rings), star muffin cups, silver spoons, a star cookie cutter, crumpled tin foil (not pictured), Lego astronaut (not pictured) and best of all, sea glass.  Dalton became obsessed with the sea glass. He carried it with him to the park and opted to sit in the stroller and hold it rather than put it down so he could go play (the park has sand and it would have gotten lost. Though it's lost somewhere in the house now anyway).  More ideas for a space sensory box at Counting Coconuts.


 I also printed out a coloring sheet of the planets.  He not only colored them, he matched up the colors with the sea glass he was playing with.



Outer Space Playdough: I made a batch of homemade playdough and added black food coloring and silver sparkles.


Thursday, September 13, 2012

Incredibles Costume

Here is Dalton's Halloween costume all ready to go! It's not as early as it seems because we are celebrating his birthday at Mickey's Halloween Party in 4 weeks. Ok, that's still pretty early.


I posted all the details of my homemade Incredibles costume at Mommysavers.


Here's another link with some creative DIY Incredibles costume ideas.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Maggie's First Day of Kindergarten

I took some fun pictures Wednesday morning on her first day.  Most of them have Daddy's iPhone in them...


Silly face.



Sweet face (and snuggled Piggy).


Trying to think of something face. I love her upturned lip when she says "or something?"




Daddy is helping her write out her birthday.


Sitting on the school sign.


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Halloween Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at the kids' Halloween costumes this year. We tried to get them to match, but eventually had to give up.  Any guesses?

Sunday, September 2, 2012

August at Disney

A few random pictures from Disneyland trips. We've been 26 times with our annual passes so far.


Storybook Canal Boats


Dalton boy, baby and Donald Duck!



Love this one of my three happy thumbs-uppers!


Saturday, September 1, 2012

Surrey Ride at Balboa/Newport Beach

Today we decided to rent a surrey (a pedal-powered vehicle, if you've never seen one) and ride from Balboa Pier to Newport Pier and back.  We rented from Seaside Rentals and it was $25 for one hour.  It didn't quite take us an hour to make the trip, and we had to take a few breaks. Pedaling is hard! The kids sat up front and got lots of attention for their general cuteness.





After, we played at the beach for a while, then grabbed lunch and went to the pool to rinse off.  I lost one of my flipflops climbing the berm (the waves were huge).  Lost and gone forever in the sand!

Random August

In the Peter Pan room at the ped.

At Target!


Dalton writes his name for the first time.


The kids learn how to draw Mickey Mouse at the Disney Store.


A boy and his iPhone.


Dalton got a new London bus and a taxi from Auntie Rachel.


Checking out the Newport Beach temple.



The kids didn't complain at all at the eyeglass store.


Hiking at Quail Hill.


Practicing for our new calling.


This picture is from Dalton's nursery teacher.


A few from Maggie's dance performance.