Big Boy Bath

 Look who's taking a big boy bath now!

Seth is very helpful and loves to help make sure Silas is very clean.

Our new bath arrangement makes things a whole lot easier,

 and the boys love it too!

The Lemon Tree Challenge: Conclusion

Two years ago I embarked on a challenge to grow a lemon tree from a seed and keep it alive. If I could keep it alive for two years, then Bryan agreed we could buy a 2 to 3 year old Meyer lemon tree which costs about $50 before shipping costs. Well it's the end of March and I did it. I kept it alive for two whole years and it's still growing! There is just one problem. I don't want to buy a lemon tree anymore. Why buy one, when I already have one growing in my kitchen? Bryan commented on the very first post I made about the challenge. He said, "You'll be over it in 2 years, so I'm not cutting the check just yet." He was right, like he is about so many things. My two year lesson taught me a ton about patience and a whole lot about contentedness. I think instead of buying an expensive new tree, I'll just buy a bigger pot for the one I've got.

Clap, Clap, Clap

For the past couple of days we have tried teaching Silas how to clap. Seth would show him. I would show him. Bryan would show him. He caught on pretty quickly, because today he started clapping and it's just the cutest thing!

Tillery Tot School- Spring

Since the first day of Spring was last Tuesday, I decided to spend the entire week doing some fun Spring related crafts and activities with Seth. After our Spring celebration, I brought out a Spring sensory bin. Inside I placed a small nest with two pom pom birds, some tiny pots, lots of artificial flowers, some gardening tools, and some garden gloves.

 Seth loved it!

 On one of the not so Spring-like days, we still went outside and blew some bubbles.

 Nana and Pop happened to be visiting and we had lots of fun.

 One day we made a bird's nest outside using some shredded paper, 

half of a paper plate, and a pom pom bird.

 We also played with some foam flower stickers.

 We made flowers using our fingerprints.

 Then to change things up a bit with the sensory bin, we took it outside and played with it along with a container of potting soil. We filled it with flowers.

 Then we practiced scooping and pouring.

We've had lots of fun! 

This week we move on to the letter "J."

Bringing Spring Inside

Spring is here and it has been just beautiful outside. When all the flowers begin to bloom and new life is all around us, I get the urge to bring the happiness inside. My decorating has really changed over the years, and I have really tried to find things that I can be happy with for a long time. I have had the same vase sitting on our mantle for the last five years and it's been in every other place we have lived too, since it was a wedding present. The vase stays the same but what goes inside changes with each season. So recently when I spotted these "flowers" at Hobby Lobby I knew they would be the perfect Spring and Summer addition to the vase. They are made of paper and wire and they bring a new cheeriness to the mantle.

On one of our side tables I typically have a glass cylindrical vase filled with some seasonal items. Not too long ago I was changing the contents of the vase and dropped it. Since we have significantly downsized the amount of stuff that we own, I no longer had an extra glass container and recently purchased this vase for $5.00. I filled it with a candle and some dried split peas for a pop of green.

I have a thing for salt and pepper shakers. If I wanted to have a large collection of something, I think I would collect all different kinds. But since I am trying to simplify I only have a set for each season and a set that belonged to my grandparents. I picked up these little chicks after Easter last year for $0.80 at Hallmark.

 Then for our door I made a wreath. I started wrapping this wreath form at Christmas. I didn't know what I was going to do with it at the time, but I knew the blue speckled yarn would be perfect on our front door. After being inspired from Pinterest, I spent $3.00 on a nest, some eggs, and a spray of flowers from Dollar Tree. I think it turned out pretty cute and I just love a frugal Pinterest inspired project.

 

First Day of Spring Celebration 2012

Today is the first day of Spring! To celebrate the arrival of Spring, we invited a few friends over for our special Spring celebration. We had such a fun morning! 

To begin we made bird nest hats. 

They were just made using a paper plate with a bowl glued on top of it. 

We filled the "nest" with some shredded paper and a little blue bird.

 

The kids weren't too enthusiastic about actually wearing these, but they did turn out cute.
 

Next, we planted seeds in tiny pots.

  

Then, we made bird nest making kits. We filled wire bird suet feeders with yarn and shredded paper. It was as easy as that. Hopefully we will see nests in the near future with colorful pieces of paper and yarn woven into them.

 

After that, it was time for a snack. We came inside and had some tasty treats.

 

While the kids were munching on their snacks, I went outside to hide some eggs. I found solid white eggs at Hobby Lobby the other day and I thought they would be great to use for my version of an egg hunt. Inside the eggs I placed a little "chick" made out of a pom pom, some craft foam, and googly eyes. 

  

When the kids were finished with their snacks they were told that we had to find the hidden eggs and take them back to their "nest" that was in the center of the yard. I used a hanging basket liner as the nest.

 Once all twelve eggs were found the eggs could "hatch."

 I think the kids had a lot of fun!

 After our planned activities were finished, we just played in the yard.
The Little Tikes truck was a big hit among all the kids.

 For party favors, I had seed packets for the mommies and carrot bubble necklaces for the kids. We only managed to give these away to two people, because we forgot about them, but we can pass them on to our friends when we see them again.

 Happy Spring!

Tot School- Letter G

This week we learned about the letter "G"! Even though it was an extremely busy week, we were able to fit in a few crafts and some fun "g" themed activities. 

Here's a look at our Tot School board: 

We colored our letter of the week green!

 

We made a bunch of grapes out of construction paper.

Because I forgot about these until Friday and we had a cookout to go to that night, we had to play with our glow sticks in the bathtub during the day. We turned off the light and they still glowed, so I think it was just as fun as if we had played with them outside.

Seth stayed in the tub until the water was almost ice cold and he still didn't want to get out.

 I think the glow sticks were a hit.

We made a giraffe out of a "G." I realize giraffe has a soft "g" sound but I still wanted to expose him to it and we will revisit soft /g/ and hard /g/ later. That goes for soft /c/ and hard /c/, too.

 

 We made a goat out of a capital "G."

  

We read several "g" books. We loved reading about Gossie. Gossie is a goose.

 

So this weekend when Granna and Papa were visiting, we went to the park to try to see some geese. Unfortunately we mostly saw ducks. I guess we should have visited during "D" week.

Just as we were about to leave we spotted some geese.

We were thankful that they came over for a quick look.

Next week we are going to be focusing on Spring since the first day of Spring is Tuesday. 

We are so excited!

I Can See Clearly Now

Today I went from this...

to this...

That's right, I got glasses. Not just reading glasses, but I can't see as well anymore glasses. I had been complaining for a while that I couldn't see as well, but I was told by two different doctors it could be pregnancy related (before Silas was born) or hormone related. Last Saturday I really noticed it when I looked across the room at a party and I could barely make out a person's face. Thinking I was going blind in my good eye, I immediately went to the eye doctor on Monday. After examining me thoroughly and seeing no sign of swollen nerves, I was thankfully told that it was probably just a need for glasses. Just to be on the safe side I saw my eye doctor from Vanderbilt on Tuesday. Sure enough I needed glasses. I took a refraction test today and within a few hours (thanks to LensCrafters) I had glasses that correct my 20/50 vision in my left eye. As for my right eye there is just a piece of glass in there, because I still can only make out blurry fingers about two feet away (and that will probably never change). I never realized how poor my vision was until I look through my new glasses. I can see clearly now (at least in one eye) and it sure is nice.

Tillery Tot School- Letter F

This week we learned all about the letter "F" in Tot School. It was the first week though that Seth wasn't enthusiastic about the letter we were studying. Usually after the first day Seth can name the letter we are studying without any hesitation. This week I would ask Seth what letter we were studying and even after telling him and showing him numerous times, he would name random letters and even numbers. I guess we will have to revisit the letter "F" again. That's how it goes sometimes with a toddler.

Here's a look at our Tot School board:

We colored and cut out our letters to add to our board.

We made a fox out of a capital F.

I had every intention of making this lower case "f" fish after reading The Rainbow Fish, but when it came time to read the story, I couldn't find our book any where. So we just made the fish without and it just happened to be colorful.

One night this week we also went and got some new fish for our fish tank.

We played with a magnetic farm set...

and with our Little People farm set.

We made cupcake liner flowers.

We made a frog using a capital "F."

We pretended to be a frog thanks to a Target Dollar spot frog mask.

We made a Five Little Firefighters craft using our hand print.
We even used blue sparkly paint for the water coming out of the hose.

We also read and played with My Little Red Fire Truck.
It is an adorable interactive book given to us by Uncle Michael and Kristen for Christmas.

So it was a fun week, but "F" is going to be a letter we are going to have to revisit after we have made our way through the alphabet.

Next week we will move on to the letter "G"!