Messy Night with Parents As Teachers

Last night our Parents as Teachers group in Columbia sponsored a "Messy Night" for toddlers and walkers. We hadn't been to one yet but figured, what a great way to make a mess not at our house! We started off with a table of shaving cream that Abby would have nothing to do with, then "clean mud" which was just wet paper towels and still she wouldn't touch things. At this point and time Tim and I didn't think we would be having a very messy clean up at all.

Then Abby found her first activity she wanted to do. Chalk wasn't messy really at all and she now recognizes circles and can draw them too, so we're pretty proud of that.


After chalk, we moved on to "Sink or float". Basically she just put things in the water to see if they would sink or float. Not a lot of mess there either.
Next was kind of a shoveling and texture feeling activity with birdseed. She likes to scoop things so she enjoyed it. Basically she would just scoop the birdseed and then dump it in Tim's hands.
Next we went fishing. There weren't a lot of fish in there as the girl next to Abby in the red just threw them all out of the tub.
Next we moved on to the sand. Abby has been to the beach before but that was almost a year ago. Of course with a shovel and bucket she was entertained.
Next was the sprinkler. As you can see there were a lot of kids there. This is where the messy part started somewhat. She was soaked down her whole front. Just in time to do some artwork.
This activity was ketchup and mustard art. It seemed like a good idea at the time. The smell got to me a little, but Abby enjoyed it. She really likes drawing and painting.
Just rubbing it in.
Next we moved on to stamping. Which for those of my friends who are crafty with scrap booking know I have no interest or skill in that area so they should be proud of Abby. Her artwork was actually very nice and is now on display in our kitchen. Some parents helped their kids stamp to minimize the messy factor. We just let her go at it.
Our last event included painting a cardboard house. She actually does have a paintbrush in her left hand but is preferring to paint with her hand. Tim thinks she is ready to help paint in the basement now.
In the end Abby did get a little messy. It was time to wash off and head home for the evening.

OCCI Picnic

This past weekend was Tim's annual company picnic. It was held out at their office and they had some games and inflatables for the kids. Which ended up being Abby's favorite part of the whole day. Out of the 3 hours we were at the picnic she was probably in the bounce toys for 2-1/2.

Here she is going down the slide. She was a little hesitant at first but then was jumping down it like the big kids.


Here is Dave helping her over the wall of the obstacle course. That part was just a little too tall for her to do on her own. Not that she didn't try.
The hand off to Laura to get her over to the other side so she can continue the course.


Not the most graceful entrance but she was determined to do it on her own. She probably wasn't exactly big enough to be on the toy but that wasn't going to stop her.
2-1/2 hours later of playing and she was kind of tired out. We thought it would be an early to bed evening as we were tired from standing in the sun watching her, but no, Abby got her second wind when we got home. Where she gets her energy we'll never know.

Let there be walls!

This past weekend was a work weekend with the basement. We aren't home that many weekends so when we are it's always catching up with something. Plus with baby #2 on the way the deadline to finish the basement is a little more permanent. Tim almost finished hanging all the drywall. On Saturday he decided to re-wire the cable again (third times a charm) so that took a good chunk of the day. All that is left is 2 closets and a bottom row of the long wall in the main room. Honestly I did help a little bit when Abby took a nap, but then resorted to cleaning up all the dust and trash until I started sneezing and had to get out of the dust.



The foot of the stairs is now completed.


This is going to be the office. It looks a lot smaller with walls now, but the closets look huge, go figure!

We did get out of the house though on Saturday evening. We went to church (which Abby now sings during songs, very entertaining for all of those around her) and then headed to Mexico, MO for my previous manager's 25th Wedding Anniversary Party. It was a very nice gathering and the weather was perfect to be outside. Abby occupied her time going up and down the deck stairs and eating grapes and cheese. Everyone enjoyed seeing her and she of course enjoyed sharing her grapes with everyone.


We had to leave around 8:30 to get someone to bed so Teresa sent us with some cupcakes "to go" and Abby enjoyed them the next day quite a bit. They were actually pretty small but she managed to make a big mess either way.
Next weekend will be more of the same with finishing the drywall part and cleaning out the "crap" in the basement. Certain items have been marked that are either going to Goodwill or the dumpster. Either location is fine with me as long as it's gone. We'll see if Tim agrees with what I think is "crap".

Madeliene's First Birthday Party

This weekend we traveled to Princeville, IL to visit the Pollard/Harn family and to celebrate Madeliene's First Birthday.

Part of Suellen's family traditions is to always make the cake yourself and decorate it.

The family before cake, Madeliene was getting ready to dig in.
Madeliene during cake. She turned in to an icy mess but enjoyed all of the sugary goodness.
Present time! Being that this was a Little People Fire Truck, this of course was Abby's favorite present of Madeliene's. It had plenty of attention and will probably need new batteries by next week.
Madeliene also got a froggy pool that needed to be tested out by the girls. Abby's swimming suit stayed in Columbia so we improvised. Both girls had a great time splashing around and playing in the water. They were pretty much wound up for the rest of the evening with squealing and laughing from dinner until bedtime. Abby was dragging Madeliene around on her blankie and both thought that was a great ride, along with some wrestling.

Suellen and Justin had a good group of family and friends at the party and we all had a great time. Plus there was Godfather's Pizza involved so the weekend was perfect in my opinion.