Beast-day Wednesday

Today started out as any other, a little slow going. We met up with my sis, Sariah, and her crew at the zoo - Javin was SUPER excited to see cousin Alex, they have so much fun together. I was hesitant to even bring the stroller because I knew they'd just run the whole time. The boys went crazy, like I thought they would, running from animal enclosure to the next. First, the Elephants, then the Bird Show, next the new Rocky Shores, and lunch, then back to the front for the train - which was closed - bummer! Sariah had some appointments up at the U, so I got to keep Sabrina and Alex for a bit and finish the zoo. As we waited for our turn on the Carousel we talked about the B animals we had seen: Bears, Bees, Birds, Bald Eagle, Rhino Bum, etc. Conveniently the boys chose animals next to each other and grinned like fools the entire ride.

If you haven't seen the new Rocky Shores Exhibit, you must go to see the Seals, Sea Lion and Polar Bear!

Javin, reluctantly posing with the Polar.

The Grizzlies stopped play fighting for a minute to look at us.

Brina, Alex and Javin chillin'  with the Gorilla.

I made the mistake of getting the kids ice cream cones, the mistake comes in because I didn't share with Javin. He couldn't eat it fast enough for the HOT day it was, so it dripped all over him, he was filthy and sticky and whiny.

When we got home I wiped him down, we read: More Bears! by Kenn Nesbitt and Bare Bear by Miriam Moss (really good) and he passed out in his bed, good thing too, I needed a minute alone. After he woke up we played a little and ate Dino Chicken Nuggets, Peas & Rice. I gave Javin a Bath (he pooped in) and afterward we read: Berlioz The Bear by Jan Brett (pretty good) and Old Mother Bear by Victoria Miles (not up our alley). 

All in all it was a pretty good day.

We are well into B week

For those of you who don't know I work for jetBlue, I do reservations from my home. We just had our almost quarterly shift switch, I'm now working 4 days a week, 6 hours a day (Fri, Sat, Sun & Mon). Which means, our Preschool days are cut a little short on Mondays and Fridays.

Monday

We went to the Library to get a few more B books, we talked about how last week we focused on As, but this week we were going to do Bs. The first couple of times I asked what "Book" starts with he said, "A!". It took a while for him to figure it out, and I have to emphasize the "Ba..Ba...Book". We read  Big is Big (and Little is Little) by J. Patrick Lewis (mostly picture book), The Unexpectedly Bad Hair of Barcelona Smith by Keith Graves (pretty good). We ate Banana and Peanut Butter sandwiches, they were delicious! Jaron got home, I convinced him to take Javin on a Bike ride and for him to point out B things, and I went to work. Jaron made us Chicken Burgers for dinner and we had a great night - other than Javin being a bit of a pill.


Tuesday

While Jaron was on a Man-cation with the boys awhile back he stole some tadpoles from Nature and that have now matured into frogs, cute little baby frogs. Since they are just lil' guys we have to buy wing-less fruit flies for them to eat. Javin and I had to go to Petsmart and get the Bugs for the frogs to eat. I'm not quite sure why we don't just leave some candy outside on the ground and harvest the ants. Anyway, since we were in Sugarhouse, we went to Chick-fil-a for lunch and got a Berenstain Bear book that we read there. I'm kind of bummed about the Helium shortage; at first it sounded bogus, but I've heard about it from a few different sources.

Javin's Birthday is coming up on the 1st (Saturday) so I thought we'd read a Birthday Book, Every Year On Your Birthday by Rose Lewis. It's not a bad book by any means, but it wasn't what I expected. Its about a Chinese girl who was adopted and what her adoptive mom does on her birthday every year. More of a feelings book than what Javin likes. We also read Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris and for our treat today we made Banana Bread (see recipe below) and it was yummy!

We also went to the YM/YW Pool Party, Javin is such a little fish. He used to hate water and still isn't a fan of cold/cool water, but once he's in, he's a FISH! He also got to play with his favorite people: Collin Tate, Bailey Middleton and Gaby Hernandez (a Young Man and some Young Women in our ward).

We finished the night with Go Back To Bed! by Ginger Foglesong Guy (good one) and Besitos (little kisses).


Mrs. G's Banana Bread:
3 C. Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Salt
1 C. Sugar
(mix first 5 together, then mix each of the next 5 in as you go)
1 1/2 C. Uncooked Oats
2/3 C. Oil
4 Eggs
2/3 C. Buttermilk (You can make 1 C. of Buttermilk by mixing 1 C. milk with 1 Tbsp Vinegar)
1 1/3 C. Mashed Bananas (about 4 small or 3 large)

Bake @ 350 for 55-60 minutes.

fridAy

I was pretty busy yesterday, sorry I didn't update you all on our crazy fun-filled day.  We started with a trip on the "train" (Trax) to the Gateway.

Waiting for Trax, I think he is the ultimate stud.

We made our way to the planetarium and talked about Astronauts while there. We also watched Javin's first 3D movie! It wasn't very good, but it had dinosaurs in it, so he was hooked. It was funny to see him freak out when the 3D came toward the audience. We also ate Apples, Animal Crackers, PB&J.

On our way home we stopped at the library and returned some books, he LOVES the library. We spent more time going up the elevator and down the stairs than we did actually looking at the books. While waiting for the Trax again Javin bonked his head (not too hard), he was SO tired from a super full day that it was the end of the world. I had to carry him 5 blocks, along with a backpack full of B books for next week, stinker.

It took a really long time and a lot of energy to do our outing. I was way too tired to go back out to the store to get Granny Smith apples to make apple pie. So we just read Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie by Herman Parish - really good book AND there's an apple pie recipe in the back. Before bed we read Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss. We also did some A work sheets that I found here.

thursdAy

Yep, still A week. Today we read: Animals should definitely not wear clothing by Judi Barrett (pretty good), All For Me and None For All by Helen Lester (a little too advanced) and The Stuffed Animals Get Ready for Bed by Alison Inches (also pretty good). We talked about Animals and certain dinosaurs (ie. Allosaurus and Ankylosaurus). We also went to Walmart and discussed the fruits and veggie and whether they started with 'A' or not, he did surprisingly well. Then we came home and we made pictures with sticky foam animals, that we hung up on the fridge. We also made paper bag puppets, I told him we could make whatever kind of animal he wanted, his reply: an Allosaurus (not surprised).

Javin with his Allosauras

Our foam animal art work, the captions are: Elephant eating mouth and horn. Giraffes eating, crown monkey climbing and Alligator swimming in water.

Javin is for and against the taking of naps, depending on the day and today was an awful no nap day - I know its terrible to say, but the day just DRAGS on if I don't get a break from him. I love the dear boy, but he's a lot to deal with all day, even when he's well rested.

wednesdAy

Oh LOOK! Nemo and Dori!

We are still in the A week. Today we read Alligator Boy by Cynthia Rylant and Alligator Baby by Robert Munsch (I liked Alligator Boy better). We talked about Aquamarine, he just kept calling it Blue (I think it might be too early for colors within colors). We also talked about about Alligators and we went to the Aquarium, since Javin is still 2 he was free - awesome! It just so happened to be lunchtime while there, we ate PB&Js, Applesauce, Animal Crackers and Cucumbers.

While in the gift shop, trying to find a toy that wouldn't get covered in cat hair the minute we got home, nor would cost more than $10; I hear, "Mommy? Heehee." I turn around to this. Love this kid.

I don't want you to think my day wasn't without strife. As we were eating lunch, Javin decided he didn't want to eat his sandwich. In an effort to persuade him I pulled out the Animal Crackers, but that's when it started, the dreaded meltdown. He wouldn't stop screaming for the stinkin cookies. We had a two-minute screaming thrashing timeout and three bum smacks he was fine and finished eating.

Pictures & Preschool Dilemma

Where else would you put your finger?

Cousin Alex & Javin

Javin will turn 3 on Sept 1st, which means I could probably find a Preschool that will accept him, but do I really want to go through all the work and spend money we don't have for preschool? Plus, he isn't potty training, nor is he interested.

So...I've been toying with the idea of just doing my own mini preschool. I found this website that I'm basing my curriculum on. Time permitting we'll do 'school' from 11-3 M-F. I'm actually kind of excited, I teach Javin things everyday, but to have an actual plan is empowering (is that the right word?).

This week's letter is A.

TUESDAY-

We went to the library, which gave me a chance to teach Javin about being quiet with his mouth and feet. We got some great books with A words. Based on the books we got I gave Wed, Thur & Fri their keywords for the day. We'll read Abuela by Arthur Dorros and Alfred Digs by Lindsay Barrett George tonight.