Happy Earth Day!!!

April 22 is Earth Day! To celebrate, we've been going on nature walks, talking about recycling and conserving our natural resources, and reading books. This past Monday, Doodle Bug invited his friend GS to come over for a story, activity, and Earth Day treat.

First, we read the story Clifford's Spring Clean-Up. It's about a dog who helps the neighborhood clean-up and plant new trees and flowers. GS loves Clifford!

While I read the story, GS and Doodle Bug colored their version of the Earth on a coffee filter.

When they finished coloring, we went outside to pick up trash. I had scattered some "safe" trash around our backyard and gave them each a paper bag. It was kind of like an Easter Egg hunt...kind of ;o)

SNACK TIME!!!! I borrowed this idea from No Time For Flashcards (great site if you have little ones). I baked blueberry muffins. I added green food coloring to represent the Earth and extra blueberries to represent the watter. I used my muffin top pan so that it looked more like the Earth.


Aren't they cute enjoying their snack together!! The get along so well!!

Remember that Earth they were both coloring? Well, they sprayed it with water and laid it on a tray to dry. Here is the finished product.

Of course, Doodle Bug has the whole world in his hands...

...he wanted to give it more of a 3D effect!!

Fun, Fun, Fun...

I know these last few posts have probably been kind of boring, but I love teaching Doodle Bug new things and watching him learn. I gave him a few clothespins and a bucket. I showed him how to squeeze the top and clip it to the bucket. Seems like a pretty simple task, but he had some difficulty at first. I was so excited when he picked this activity to do by himself later in the day and did it perfectly!!




I've been following a blog called Chasing Cheerios. It's about a Mom who is homeschooling her children using Montessori Activities. Now, I'm not a proponent of Montessori, it's just not a style of teaching that I prefer. However, at this stage of Doodle Bug's life, I like some of the activities. This next one also helps with fine motor skills. He uses tongs to pick up a pom pom and drop it on the egg tray.





Of course I had to extend the activity by then having him place the color pom pom in the corresponding color compartment.

Another outdoor activity we've added to our schedule is bike riding. Daddy finally found the bike seat he's been looking for and attached it to the handle bars of his bike. Doodle Bug LOVES riding bikes with Daddy!!! He's all smiles. He's not too thrilled about wearing a bike helmet though, but Mommy insists!!

Doodles wants to ride his own bike so badly!! He practices often, but he's still just a little too short. I think we might have to get him a tricycle :o)

Today, we've been working on our fine motor skills. I gave Doodle Bug some ziti noodles and
a pipe cleaner with button at one end. I showed him how to "thread" the noodle onto the pipe cleaner and slide it down to the button.

I love the concentration on his face!

A smile for success!!!!




Then we turned it around and made it a "banging" toy!!! That's a boy for you :o)

Easter 2010

The Easter Bunny hid Doodle's Easter Basket in the living room this year. It was fun to watch Doodle Bug "hunt" for it. He looked everywhere before he finally found it wedged between the sofa and the end table. As you can see by the expressions on his face, he loved everything the E.B. brought him this year!

Afterwards, Grandma and Great Granny came over to help us dye the eggs! Doodle Bug had fun putting stickers on the eggs and then smashing them! Once we were all cleaned up, we went outside for our Easter Egg hunt. Doodle Bug did a great job finding all the eggs. He worked up an appetite during all that hunting, so he went back indoors and ate the hard boiled eggs that he just decorated! Be sure to look at the faces he makes in the pictures below! He is such a Happy Boy!

After all that excitement, Doodle Bug took a nap and I quickly got started on baking our "Family Easter Bunny Cake". It's a tradition that my Aunt Sue started many, many years ago. It's just not Easter without the traditional Easter Bunny Cake. Here's mine from this year. I used a cool whip icing which only made the decorative blue and red icing bleed into the white. It didn't look that great, but it sure tasted good! Maybe I'll use fondant next year...that always looks pretty (it's just not my favorite tasting icing!)




That evening, we went to Grandma C's house for dinner and more Easter fun! Doodles received another Easter Basket filled with loads of goodies! We all had a very blessed Easter filled with family, fun, and lots of love. Life is PERFECT!

Spring Time Flowers

I've been trying to get better about blogging lately. I love staying home with Doodle Bug and spending lots of quality time together. I'm contemplating returning to work in the fall and I want to remember all the fun activities we do. Luckily, even if I do go back to work, I still get tons of time off to spend with Doodle Bug.

Doodle Bug is a VERY active boy with a short attention span, except for when it comes to arts and crafts. He can sit still and color for hours at a time. So I try to plan many art projects through out the week.

Today we made "lentil" flowers!

I cut out the flower and showed Doodle Bug how to glue the lentils on the petals. He glued each lentil in place one by one. I've never seen him sit still and concentrate on one project for 30 minutes straight! I loved this project! He was so into gluing lentils that he never even tried to eat them! We might do this craft again!!

Here is the finished flower!

Fun times with Dad!!!

Doodle Bug loves spending time with his Dad! Here they are creating an outside scene using felt shapes.

Doodles knows where to put the clouds, sun, and tree, but he still needs Dad's help to create the house.

Last Saturday, we took the boat out for the first time this year. We wanted to get it ready for the summer time and Hubby's cousin K was in town from Indiana. Doodles found a comfy spot to stand. He had a lot of fun, but he doesn't like wearing the life vest!

After boating, Dad took Doodle Bug out to get some ice cream. Usually Doodle Bug doesn't like to eat it, but I guess his sweet tooth came in because he chowed!!!