Tillery Tot School- Letter S

A few months ago, I decided when Seth turned 2 I would start incorporating a few activities each day to help him learn his letters, numbers, shapes, etc. So this past week we started Tillery Tot School. Thanks to watching Word World (my opportunity to take a shower each day) Seth already knows about 22 letters of the alphabet, but we are focusing on one letter each week for next little while to help reinforce his knowledge of the letters and more specifically to learn each sound. While the majority of our day is filled with playing, I do feel like Seth is ready and eager to learn for small amounts of time throughout the day. With time, we might have a longer, more structured learning time in the mornings, but for now, we are doing a little bit of structured learning, doing a little playing, doing a little bit of structured learning, and so on. We have even waited to do a few things in the evenings so that Bryan can be included. This week we learned about the letter S because Seth's name starts with an S.

I thought it would be neat for Seth to see all of his work displayed each week so I took everything off of his bulletin board in his room and we added all of our "S" crafts to it throughout the week. We also included objects or animals that we found around the house that started with "S." Here is our board this week:We started learning about "S" by coloring an uppercase and lowercase "s." We attempted using our kid scissors to cut them out. We added them to our board first and used them all week as a reference to what letter we were learning about. We also tried to learn a Bible verse that started with "S." I printed it out and added it to our board. Seth repeated Matthew 6:33 (as best as he could and just the first part) each day.

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously,
and he will give you everything you need."

We sorted Skittles by color and we counted them.

We went on a letter hunt for the letter "S."

We painted strawberries using watercolors.

Seth decorated foam stars.

We made a plate of spaghetti using a paper plate, paper for the sauce, yarn for the noodles, and Styrofoam balls (because I didn't have any brown pom poms).

We ate spaghetti that same day for dinner.

We made spotted snakes.

We drove our cars over the letter "S" road. You can find the entire printable alphabet here. I am going to print each letter, put it in a plastic sleeve, and keep them in a binder so we can reuse them over and over.

We made juice box sailboats and watched them sail in the bathtub.

We played with spider stickers.

We made the sun using our hand prints for the rays.

We also read several books that started with "S."
Some other learning activities throughout the week included:

Color sorting wooden spoons (found at Mighty Dollar)

Identifying different fruits

(the fabric set came from IKEA and the plastic came from the dollar store)

Using tongs to pick up jacks and pom poms and placing them in a container

and
Playing with animal finger puppets

I think it was a fun week of learning!

This coming week we are going to be learning about the letter "E"!

First Day of Autumn Celebration 2011

This morning our dining room table was filled with art supplies, a basket full of goodies, and

sweet treats...

(Pinterest-inspired acorn donut holes)
because it was time for our First Day of Autumn Celebration!!!
Our friends Lylah, Lara, Jaynie Beth, and Carmella came over to join in the autumn fun.
We started our celebration by painting pumpkin masks.
(Painting the table instead of the pumpkin was a big hit, too.)

I think they turned out so cute.
We also decorated pumpkin shaped cookies and the kids devoured the icing!

Yum, yum!

Then we made our own toilet paper trees.

Crafts are definitely interesting when working with toddlers and although Seth was being very grumpy during our morning (thus the reason for a lack of photos with his crafts), we still had a super time and are thankful for the friends that joined us.
For lunch, I made Apple Cheddar Squash soup again this year. For dinner I tried a new recipe that I saw in Rachel Ray Magazine called Pumpkin Patch Stuffed Shells.
While the recipe of beef and spinach stuffed shells covered in a pumpkin cheese sauce sounded delicious, it actually turned out pretty bland. It definitely won't be added to the recipe binder, but our dessert definitely will. These ice cream stuffed apples were a great end to a very fun and festive day!
Happy First Day of Autumn!!!

Breastfeeding: A Treatment for MS

Monday night I went to have a pedicure. I don't get pedicures that often, but I needed to have nice toenails and not-so-grody feet for my MS appointment yesterday. Back in March when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis I didn't realize how important my feet were to an MS exam. Your feet are pushed and pulled on and even scraped by this sharp instrument to make sure your nerves are working properly. I had stinky feet and ugly toenails for that visit and I felt so embarrassed and ill prepared. I don't think Dr. M even noticed, but I wanted to make myself feel better and have nice feet this time around.
Before seeing Dr. M, I walked down the hallway (to test my balance) and read the eye chart to the best of my ability (I can still barely see the big E on the eye chart with my bad eye). I also filled out a survey that was being conducted about the use of marijuana to treat MS. (Maybe one day I will be prescribed marijuana. Who knows?) Then I got to see the doctor. Since I hadn't started any MS treatments due to the pregnancy, I was anxious to hear how long it would be before I needed to start. Six months ago was assured that I would more than likely be safe from "flair-ups" if I exclusively breastfed as soon as Silas was born, but I would have to start medication after 3 to 6 months. Because I have been exclusively pumping though (at least 32 ounces a day or more) I think I extended the amount of time that I can stay treatment-free. By being able to know how much breast milk my body is producing (the more the better) I was told that I can breastfeed or pump in my case for as long as I like. That is as long as I don't have a "flair-up." So when Silas starts to eat solids and the amount of breast milk that he needs decreases, I can still pump what I always have and I should be protected. So
I was overjoyed with the news. I will still go back in six months for a general check-up, but I shouldn't have to start any medications until I give up pumping which will hopefully be at least a year from now. Yay for breastfeeding and pretty toes!

Seth's 2nd Birthday Party

On Saturday, we had Seth's 2nd birthday party! We reserved a pavillion at one of our favorite parks and had dinner with family and some of our good friends. It was colorful, simple, and most importantly Seth seemed to have a great time.

This year I made Seth a cake. It announced to everyone that "Seth is 2!"

We ate one of Seth's favorites, macaroni and cheese.

We also had mini burgers and fruit kabobs.

Thanks to an episode of Word World (Seth's favorite t.v. show), Seth learned that hats are essential when having a party. So we wore hats (at least for a little while).

Even Silas attempted wearing a hat for a second or two.

After we ate dinner, we sang "Happy Birthday" and Seth blew out his candle.

I think the cake was Seth's favorite part of dinner.

Then before playing on the playground Seth opened a few gifts which included a wristwatch, some marker stampers, a small bus,...

this really cool magnetic number board that helps guide your hand as you write,...

a homemade car caddy,...

and a toddler t-ball set from our friends.

Before it got too dark, we snapped our picture frame photos. These pictures were a favorite from last year's party so we thought we would do them again. It's such a neat way to remember who came to help us celebrate.

Daniel, Carmella, and Jaynie Beth

Pop, Nana, and Uncle Michael

Our family portrait

Happy 2nd Birthday, Seth!