Pillow flying

What child (or adult) doesn't love love jumping on the bed?  Well, we stepped it up a notch and piled all the pillows, couch cushions, and blankets in the house on the flour. Then we lept off the couch, flying through the air (for a foot) and landed on our mountain of softness. So fun! I took a video of my daughter jumping and then played it backwards for her. She loved it! She watched it over and over, laughing every time.

Animals! Elk and deer, and rabbits

We don't live near a zoo, but we have plenty of wildlife right outside our door. Elk and deer, pronghorn, coyotes, rabbits, moose, skunks, sheep, cows and horses. My oldest two learned how to mimic a bull elk bugle before they learned how to say most other words! Having your children around animals is so good for them. They can learn how to take care of them, what they eat, what noises they make,  how to behave around them, ect... I'm sorry I just have picture of elk. I will have to take my camera with me next time I go outside and get some picture of the moose, deer, and pronghorn.

Kayley and her Grandma looking at the elk

Oustside fun

We live in Wyoming and it is just starting to get warm outside. The warm weather only lasts a short time here, so we are taking advantage of it. We have been outside everyday. Playing in the sandbox, catching fish, finding bugs, and having campfires. And loving every minute!

tasting the sand. Sand is another good sensory item

Sliding down the hill!

Her first fish! So exciting!

Baby on the light table

Playing with the "see through" shapes

Babies need stimulation too. This is my son and youngest daughter on the light table. I filled a zip lock bag with water and put balloons and colored glass "rocks" in it. I also have laminated shapes and some letters on the light table. 

Feeling the water bag. Looking at the different things inside

"Spying"  the blue balloon

Shaving cream

Shaving cream! We love shaving cream. We paint with it, smear it, mold it into shapes, feel it, and cover ourselves in it!

Shaving cream paint on the light table

It started like this...

And ended like this!

My son has temper and was really acting up. I tried everything I could think of. I got pretty creative with the discipline. Finally I switched tactics and started my sensory activities and play biased learning. I have seen such a difference in him! He is still a normal two year old boy, but his behavior has improved dramatically. This is his bean and rice "dumping and pouring" sensory tub. Fun, and good practice scooping and pouring.

Climbing in makes it better

I'm a huge fan of sensory activities. So are my kids!

 I made a ton of jello and dumped it into tubs and let the kids go at it. Super messy, fun and tasty! I even got in myself. As you can see, it was a hit!

tortillas

The kids and i made tortillas today. I can't stand the store bought ones, so I make my own. This is a great project to do with your kids and the the side benefit is a yummy snack! We are having enchiladas for dinner, so this was the perfect time tortilla "play." Most kids love helping mom in the kitchen and it is a good time for them to learn about measuring, pouring, stirring, ect...  Its good for their hand eye coordination, it helps develop their hand and finger control, which comes in handy for writing later on down the road. And best of all, allowing them to help with the cooking and baking  teaches them a valuable skill while creating special memories with mommy.

This is my tortilla recipe:
4c flour
3/4 c shortening
1t salt
1 3/4c water
pinch of baking powder

mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles crumbs. Add water. Do not over mix. Handling as little as possible shape into 12 balls. Cover with a damp towel for 20 minutes. Using a generous amount of flour, roll the balls out into the shape of a tortilla. Cook in a cast iron skillet on medium/high for about 30 seconds to a minute on each side.  Store in fridge. 
This takes a little bit of time, but well worth the effort. Until your husband comes home and eats them all in one siting! Seriously though, once you taste these, you will never want to go back to store bought tortillas again. These are so good!
We made a huge mess, but the kids had a blast and so did I. My children can take pride in the fact that they helped make supper. I love the look of accomplishment on their faces. They love being able to tell Daddy that they made supper, and hearing him make a big deal over it.

What I'm about

My name is Rachel and I'm a stay at home mom. I have three wonderful children. Kayley is four, Caleb just turned two and alivia is almost seven months. I love God, cooking, my family, being outdoors, playing, and creating. There came a point when I realized my children needed to be challeneged. They needed to grow and learn. I wanted to make it fun for them, and so I started doing play biased learning. Pretty much they play and have fun and they learn new things while they do it. Sneaky, huh? I have become a believer in play biased learning. I'm also a believer in letting kids be kids. Let them make messes, let them get dirty, and let them play!

Today we played with worms. We let them wiggle in our hands and watched how they moved across the light table. We talked about how and why worms help the soil and decided we need to put some in grandmas garden.

Look Mama, you can se the inside of the worm! (then we talked about what was in there and what worms ate)

We also made strawberry fruit leather. It's a favorite snack around here. It is also healthy and super easy to make! Strawberry fruit leather Take two pounds of strawberries and purée them in a food processor. Grease a dehydrater sheet and pour on the strawberry purée. Stick it in the dehydrater and let it dry for several hours. Wala! I told you it was easy.