The Finished Blanket

I finally finished the baby blanket for Theo (made with Blue Sky Cotton). Can't believe it took me so long. I was just so tired at the end of my pregnancy, and once he was born, I was tired from being up all night with him. Here he is enjoying it with his sister and her peachy blanket ('peachy' as it's now called). We'll see what his ends up being called as he gets older!

Here is the finished blanket. It's not blocked. I had to wash/dry it numerous times to stop its massive shedding problem, but the shedding seems to have stopped. After all the washing, I was done trying to block it. 

Calendars

When I was a primary teacher, we did activities with calendars daily in class. Kids can learn so much from them! But, at home, I was not really exposing my daughter to them. Glad I finally did!

At age 2 Lucy began showing an interest in what I was writing in my personal calendar. And in her early 3's, she started counting while pointing to the numbers on my calendar. I would put my wall calendar on the floor and let her count with it. I really attribute this to her being able to count to 30 so early. I think she's a visual learner like me, so seeing those numbers while saying them really helped her. (She can now count to 50 at 3 1/2! Proud mama!)

So I finally decided to get her her own calendar. There was one on clearance at Target for about $3 so into my cart it went! I brought it home and she loved it! It's hung right at her level on the wall on a little hook that she can take it on and off of by herself.

We use it almost every day:
- At the beginning of each month, we sit together and fill in the activities for the month.
- We practice what sounds are in the words as I'm writing them and brainstorm a little picture to draw next to the words.
- We cross off each day together in the evening and talk about what's coming up soon.
- We count how many days until an exciting event- like Grandmommy visiting!
- We learn the order of the months as we flip through the calendar to find special days throughout the year.

This calendar is a bit boring looking, I'll admit. I'm thinking around Christmas I'll get her a special one for a gift.

Here's one of our favorite books to use year round. It's called Around the Year by Elsa Beskow. I absolutely love the illustrations! It stays near our nature table to refer to and read often!

Fall Nature Table

Here's the beginnings of our fall nature table. At our old house it always seemed to be in a spot that was hard for Lucy to access. This spot is great since it's down low where she can reach it, but not sure what we'll do if we ever want to use the fireplace!

I know this isn't really part of the nature table, but my favorite things to add are the seasonal books. I LOVE children's books! Lucy and I always get excited when the seasons change to get out our book box and reread books that we haven't seen for almost a year. The first one we had to read was Nuts to You, by Lois Ehlert. Anytime we see squirrels outside, we can't help but yell, "Nuts to you!".  Another favorite is Leaf Man, also by Ehlert.  One our newest fall additions is The Little Yellow Leaf. Such an adorable story about friendship.

Since we are now on the coast, our nature table seems to always include shells! We've also got some gourds from our recent trip to the local farm and our cute, little wooden squirrel.

We are on the lookout for more fun things to ad as the weeks go by!

Back to Reality

It's always so hard to come back from a trip, no matter how long or short. I guess, for me,  it's a actually mixed feelings of stress having to catch up on things, but some comfort being back to our normal surroundings and routines.

We had such a nice time seeing our family and friends. There was a picnic, play dates, football game, girls night, knitting and lots of meals out!  And the whole time I had nothing to worry about except enjoying each moment. I wish I could carry that feeling over to being home. Instead, I tend to focus on what I have to do next. Something to work on I guess...

Friends

We headed back to our hometown for the weekend. It's been so nice seeing all our friends. That's what we've missed the most about moving- so many wonderful friends nearby! Luckily we're close enough to make lots of weekend visits!

Here's Theo hanging out with his best friend. I think he missed her a lot!

A Trip to the Local Farm

It was a beautiful day so we decided to head to the Earthbound Organic Farm near us in Carmel Valley. I always drive by it taking Lucy to preschool and never think to stop- always in too much of a hurry. A few weeks ago Lucy was invited to a birthday party there (which was put together amazingly by this place) and I thought we need to come here often. It's a fabulous place to live so close to! And so today was the day!

We started off with a fabulous lunch. We ordered some lentil soup, panini (can't even remember what kind- just that it was good!), salad and finished with some raspberry and honey frozen yogurt. All the food is organic and sooooo delicious!

 Lucy really wanted to check out the pumpkins. I told her we'd come back and get our Halloween pumpkins, but for now, she could choose some little ones to decorate our nature table.

Then we took off to do some exploring. First stop was for sure going to be the raspberry patch! The have three different kinds growing that you just pick and eat as you walk down. They're full of butterflies and bees- gorgeous!

 A view of the farm

Some cute, little three year old hands picking a goldenberry. These were so sweet and irresistible! We couldn't stop searching for more!

 A close-up of the berries.

They also have an herb garden where you can even snip your own!

And off we go into the kids' garden. They have planters for each letter of the alphabet. Lucy had a blast! By this time, we were very hot and tired. Not pictured is my husband lugging around the 3 month old, which I threatened that he better not let a ray of sun touch that poor white skin.






We finished off the trip in the market to buy some produce to enjoy at home and some local honey to give as a gift. Tomorrow we're off to our old stomping grounds- Fresno.

Growing

So here's my daughter about 3 years ago. Who would have thought time could go by so fast! She's now reading books to her little brother,  who's sitting in the same chair she once did. Absolutely precious.

Honey Taste Test

Ever since we moved to the central coast, we've been looking for some local honey. I've been hoping it would help with allergies and building up the immune system. A few weeks ago we found the bottle on the left at the Earthbound Organic Farm. I was so excited! It was expensive though, 14.95 for 12 ounces. But, it actually tastes wonderful! My husband didn't believe me and thought it tasted just like any other honey. So, tonight we were at a local farmers' market and found some other local honey. This one was much more affordable- 6.95 for 8 ounces. I thought it was good, just not as good as the expensive one. When we got home we decided to do a taste test. The expensive honey won with me and my husband so my point was proven. (I will admit, I do like to win). Lucy, my 3 year old, wanted in on the action too. Her winner was the inexpensive one. Go figure! We'll see how long they last. Yum!

Smiles and Laughs

It's impossible to be grumpy when you see this! Had the worst day, but it ended well because I was able to enjoy the laughter and smiles of my little Theodore.

Farmer's Market Monday

I love our little routine of walking down to the farmers market every Monday evening. Lucy was glad to get to wear her rain jacket and rainboots (although a sunny day has never kept those off her feet!). It's probably almost time to say goodbye to the berries and peppers. I'll try to get excited for all the winter veggies, but it will be hard.