Recent Gems

  ♥ ♡ ♥  I love my family ♥ ♡ ♥

A Trip To The Natural History Museum

If you think the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History is only for older children and adults think again. We visited the museum today and had the best time! My two year old has a great interest in dinosaurs so this seemed the perfect place to check out as they have the Dinosaur Hall. Wow, did this far surpass my expectations! There were many complete dinosaurs and tons of bones, eggs and fossils on display. In addition, there were multi-media stations which were just as appealing to my son as the displays. He especially enjoyed a touch screen puzzle where you drag the bones to the dinosaur body. Super fun for him!

We didn't stop at the dinosaurs though, we also visited the 'Age of Mammals' exhibit and the 'African Mammals' exhibit which were equally exciting for both my son and I. He kept going around the room saying "Oh wait, what about this one" and we would, again, go over what we were looking at.

We grabbed a bite to eat at Trimana grill on the bottom level of the museum. Perhaps it was because I was so famished, but the steak sandwich I got was the best I can remember having! In the words of Logan "Yummy, Yummy in my Tummy!" I enjoyed the ambiance - and understand that it could be completely different on another day, I liked the furniture choices (especially the highchair) and the staff were friendly and personable!

But wait, there's more! The other reason for choosing to visit this particular museum today was that they currently have the Butterfly Pavilion.
I have to admit, I got a little nervous when we first walked in and I saw my kid's foot headed for a butterfly (purposely). Then I realized that he was trying to make a shadow appear over the butterfly. You see, if a butterfly is on the ground and you place your shadow over the butterfly, it will begin to move and fly away! Once I explained how to have the shadow of his head cover the butterfly we were able to enjoy the visit with ease. A nice lady took us around and showed my son a caterpillar and the remains of a chrysalis.

There was more that we could have examined, but after about three hours of exploration, both of my sons had reached their limit and we left the museum with no tantrum (a rarity these days). We had such a great time and I cannot wait to return. The museum offers free admission on 13 Tuesdays throughout the year. Children 2 and under are free everyday! If you are looking for some simple fun for your toddler, definitely consider adding the Natural History Museum to the list!

Monday Fun Day ~ Bubbles Bubbles Everywhere

I have found that bubbles are fun for children of all ages.  When I was a child, we didn't (in my family at least) have all the fancy bubble blowing machines that are on the market today.  We simply used the bubble wand that came with the small bottle of bubbles and we were perfectly content.  I have made the decision to hold off on the elaborate bubble maker until my sons are a bit older - and may not ever purchase one.  That doesn't mean that we don't have fun with bubbles though! We have a great time! I blew bubbles for my toddler when he was a baby and he first enjoyed watching the bubbles, then delighted in popping the bubbles that he could catch!  He still likes to catch and pop bubbles. I really enjoyed watching as he learned to blow bubbles.  He first tried to blow bubbles by blowing air out of his nose! For a long time he put the wand directly on his mouth and once in a while a bubble would appear, which caused amazing giggles to emerge from his tiny body! As he has grown, his bubble blowing ability has too.

I recently splurged on a dollar bubble gun that I found at the department store.  My son was super excited when he saw it and I have to say it has been one of the best dollars ever spent!  It's a simple battery operated fan mechanism that blows the bubbles through two wands.  Perfect. This bubble toy keeps my son occupied for many minutes (an hour at times) which allows me to get the dishes done or vacuum (the blah work).  Oh yes, and as he blows the bubbles, guess who else is having a great time?  The baby.  Yep.  One dollar and bubbles to keep both kids occupied so I can get something accomplished! How great is that?!

That brings us to today's Monday Fun Day activity: Making your own bubbles.  There are many solutions online that I have not tried, but I can tell you what worked for us.

I took a milk jug and filled in about half way with water (1/2 gallon of water).  To that I added approx. 1/3 cup of dish soap.  Finally I added about 2 tbsp of glycerine.  We poured some in the bubble dish for the bubble gun and keep the milk jug close by! No more buying bubbles at the store!

We also made a game where we tested items to see what would work as a bubble wand.  For example, we poured some bubble solution in a baking sheet and dipped a slightly bent coat hanger in for big bubble fun.  Also, you know those kits that you used to decorate your easter eggs?  Well the egg dipping tool also works well as a bubble wand! It is such fun to experiment! Next we are going to try different size funnels to see if we dip the large end of the funnel in the solution and blow through the tube if it will create bubbles. We shall see!

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

"Mama, you are beautiful" ~ said by my toddler this morning

Made me smile. Made my day. Man I love that kid!

Monday Fun Day ~ For The Birds

My son loves using tools.  He jumps at the opportunity to help his papa complete a project and pretends to fix items around the house daily. Building a birdhouse seemed the perfect activity for him as he loves  both listening to and chasing birds!  It is so cute to hear him calling the birds - "birdie, come here little birdie!"

I picked up a birdhouse kit (there are many out there) while shopping.  We ended up with a Toysmith model and it worked marvelously for us.  I happened upon the kit at Homegoods, however I had also shopped for them on Amazon and found a sufficient selection.

To complete the project we had to first get ready, which for Logan means putting on his builder hat and grabbing his tools.  We are huge fans of green toys and the green toys tool set is yet another example of an exceptional toy for tots! Lowes has a build and grow series.  They sell sets for children (admittedly for children a bit older than mine but my darling husband can't seem to resist, and lets be honest, my toddler looks pretty darn cute in the builder duds)!

We carefully selected what my son could keep in his toys and what tools were only to be used under careful supervision (such as the hammer that we used for the birdhouse project).

Once we were ready to build we took everything out of the box and before I could even get the instructions open, my two year old was already correctly assembling the birdhouse.  The instructions were simple to follow and once we completed the assembly (a joint effort for safety reasons), Logan was able to paint it and pick out the perfect spot to hang it.

Building a birdhouse is not our first 'for the birds' activity.  One of the Logan's favorite books is P. D. Eastman's The Best Nest. After reading this book he began building bird nests out of found materials and placing them in his sand pails.  We also made our own bird feeders out of toilet paper rolls.

To do this we took a couple paper rolls, painted peanut butter around the tube and rolled the tube around in bird seed.  Simple eh?! We found a branch to hang it on and watched the birds come.  The dog really wanted to get the peanut butter down from the tree but couldn't quite figure out how.  Unfortunately the squirrel was smart enough to figure it out.  No surprise there. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

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Co-Sleeping The Second Time Around

When my first son wanted to sleep with mama and papa in our bed, I was conflicted about it.  I was constantly worried about his safety in the beginning.  I got used to it for the few months that it lasted and by the end I was over it.  Hey, I'm just being honest.  I know that there are many families out there who co-sleep from the beginning and sometimes the family bed is in effect for years. I have absolutely no problem with co-sleeping as a concept.  Personally however, I enjoy my sleep space. I like to stretch out so that I am taking up three quarters of the bed while my husband is on the far edge with just enough room to fit the width of his body.  Guilty as charged.  I see it as the trade off for the snoring that I put up with!

Fast forward to baby number two.  He is now seven months old and recently decided that he doesn't want to be put back in his crib in the middle of the night.  When he was a newborn I was so excited because I could actually put him in his crib awake and he would fall asleep. Amazing, considering that was never the case with my first.  Well, it didn't take long for him to recognize that it is more fun to be held than left in bed.  Who can blame him really? I am able to get him in his crib when he first goes to bed at night.  I can even get him back in his crib when he sometimes wakes an hour later.   That third time he wakes however, he has no interest in getting back in that thing.  For a week or so, I repeatedly took him out and put him in until he finally went to sleep.  As a result, my toddler (who shares a room with the baby) would stir, and I was getting no sleep.  I finally decided to place the baby in my bed and wouldn't you know, he was out like a light without even being nursed.  Silly baby.

I have now come to the conclusion that this is a phase that my kids go through. They must, for some reason, need to be close to mama and papa for a time.  Yes, I could continue to put the baby back in his crib.  Yes, I could implement sleep training at this stage, which would result in some amount of crying and no doubt a very angry, crying toddler who is more difficult to console than the baby.  A couple hours would pass and we would probably eventually get to sleep - until the next night.  I am taking the easy road. The first time the baby wakes after I go to bed, I have been bringing him back to bed with me.  Then, I sleep! and guess what?  I am enjoying having my little one in bed with me.  I am cherishing this time that I know will eventually pass and I will no longer have.  I know that in a few months I will have to train him to sleep in his crib, but for now I am simply enjoying the ride.

Mama's Simple Pleasures

Short and Sweet:  Here are a few things that make me smile.

• First thing in the morning when my baby gives me a huge grin and laughs as soon as I look at him
• When my toddler roars like a lion 
• When my baby laughs in his sleep
• When my toddler gets excited and says "Logan did it!" as proud as can be
• When my dog snuggles with me under the covers and rests his head on my pillow
• Hearing I love you from my toddler
• Watching my toddler console my my baby and hearing him say "You ok Ethan. Logan right here"

Proud Mama I am.  Sometimes life is hard.  Some days I get very little sleep.  Some days I want to pull my hair out.  Some days I want to cry..... but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love being a stay at home mom and I truly cherish the little moments that make it all worth while!