Making Wings Tutorial

Materials

• Two Wire Hangers
• Pair of tights
• Duct tape
• Ribbon, flowers, etc to decorate between wings

First bend the wire hangers into the shape you want the wings to be. Then, Lay them flat and use the duct tape to tape the two together.
Cut the tights from the knee down and use this material to cover each wing. Tie the two pieces of tight material together in the back to secure them.
Where the tights are tied together in the back you can add the arm holes which are made of two segment loops from the left over tights material. Tie these segments to the tight material in the back. I also glued it to secure it better, then added some black ribbon to cover the knots.
You can use flowers, ribbon or whatever kind of embellishment to put in between the wings. I also used a puffy fabric paint pen in gold color to put designs on the wings.
This is the finished product. Lizzy tried them on and ran all over the place laughing. I'm planning ahead for Halloween this year. Lizzy will be a bee and I will be making her costume so I started with the wings so far. I asked Lizzy what she wanted to be for Halloween and she said "bee"!

Practical Life Activity: Stitching Block

The stitching block encourages hand eye coordination and concentration. This block was recommended to me for Lizzy but I think it's a little advanced for her. In any case she sure was concentrated on it.

Happy girl

Living Simply with Children

Lizzy has been busy doing things with family but I haven't documented it because I dropped my little camera that I take everywhere in the pool and since then it hasn't recovered so I haven't taken pictures of our adventures. I have a larger more bulky camera that takes better pictures I just don't like to carry such a bulky camera in addition to my bulky diaper bag. Lizzy is getting to an age where she doesn't need much when we go out so I maybe just keep a couple essentials in my purse and say goodbye to the diaper bag so that I can carry my camera comfortably. In talking about simplifying I will give a review of a book I read recently called Living Simply with Children.

This book talks about living a simpler life by getting rid of consumerism, excess and waste to live a simpler life that allows more time with your family. It contains lots of resources, and it's very informative for those wanting to start living a simpler family life.

In my experience so far Lizzy has more toys than a 1 year old needs. Since even before she was born I have purchased all the latest baby toys that are out there and she's also received many gifts in her short life. Being native I thought the more flashing, talking (educational) toys the better but now I know too many toy choices are overwhelming to a child and do not allow the child to play with one toy very long or use their imaginations. Lizzy has actually outgrown most of her baby toys so I have slowly been giving these toys away. Now we mostly have simpler, more natural toys that can be used in different ways so that they are able to grow with Lizzy. In any case we still have way too much stuff compared to most of the world. For a better world we must live simply and be a conscious shopper. Find out if the item was made fairly meaning the worker and environment was treated fairly. So much excess is at the expense of abused workers and a polluted earth. I'll get off my little soapbox and close with this quote I love:

"Live more simply so that others may simply live" Gandhi.

Tiny Helper

Lizzy Helping sweep up all the little crumbs she leaves on the carpet after snack time

Such a little helper

Mommy and Baby

Lizzy and I on the couch watching Yo Gabba Gabba!

Corners of our Home

I had seen a picture of a mobile somewhere with hanging wooden hearts that looked so cute and easy to make, it inspired me to make my own mobile for Lizzy's room. I used an embroidery ring that I took apart for the hanging base, little wooden spirals that I painted with watercolor, and rainbow yarn to pull it all together.

I hung it above the rocking chair in Lizzy's room. Here she is getting attacked by the snake:

Here she is again just rocking in the chair:

Lizzy

I usually don't post much on the weekends. That is my time to disconnect but here are some pictures of Lizzy being Lizzy. Enjoy and have a nice weekend!

Toddler Yoga

Yoga is a great way to relax and be active at the same time. With a toddler it's a fun activity to do with them. I have done yoga with Lizzy since she was a small infant and now that she is a toddler it's a lot different. With a small baby you put them in the positions and move their limbs for them and as a toddler they choose if they want to imitate the positions you do in front of them. Many of the yoga positions are named after animals and resemble animals, this is a great way to get toddlers and children interested because many kids like to imitate animals.

We haven't been able to make it to the mommy and me yoga class in our area because the class is taught very early in the morning and Lizzy is use to sleeping later. For reference we use baby/toddler DVD and books which are great. I recommend the Little Yoga books for toddlers which have very simple pictures for toddlers to see.

Lizzy is very energetic and as soon as I got the yoga mat out she was running up and down the mat. She reminded me more of a little gymnast than a toddler yogi. Maybe we will try gymnastics when she is older. Here she is on that mat letting me snap a quick picture:

Toddler Foods

Now that Lizzy is off pureed foods I have to be creative and find good healthy food Lizzy will eat.

Lizzy and I have breakfast together every morning. Breakfast is simple because we eat the same thing and she usually eats pretty good. For breakfast we usually have either cereal, oatmeal, bagels, fruit, eggs, toast, or yogurt.

For lunch we eat together and Lizzy usually eats sandwiches and quesadillas. Ham and cheese, PB& Jelly, grilled cheese, grilled peanut butter and bananas, tuna, and cream cheese sandwiches. Other things we have for lunch are different kinds of rice, pasta, mac and cheese and left overs.

We had rice for lunch today:

For dinner our little family eats together and Lizzy eats whatever I fixed for dinner. Since dinners vary so much it's a win or lose situation. Lizzy may like what is for dinner and eat everything and want seconds or she may pass on it.

Lizzy has snacks throughout the day. Her favorites are goldfish, graham crackers, cheese, soups, pretzels, fruit leathers, yogurt, ham, and fruit and veggies.

Eating can get messy so we put a rug under Lizzy's chair to catch the mess. Bella also helps clean up. Lizzy can eat with a fork and spoon but it's hard for her to get the food to stay on the spoon or fork on its way to her mouth. The joys of toddler hood. Bon appetit!

Cooking in the Kitchen

Lizzy has been imitating me cooking in her little play kitchen area. Here she is cooking something up:

Preparing

Stirring

Flipping

I just ordered a little chef's hat. I can't wait for it to arrive!

Bean Bags!

I made some bean bags for Lizzy this weekend. I'm trying to take on some small sewing projects here and there. So...I decided to make simple bean bags for Lizzy with scrap fabric I had. 5X5 pieces of fabric sewn together and filled with rice. Ta Da!
Lizzy likes taking them out of the basket and putting them back in. She grunts when she picks them up as if they are very heavy. I guess they are heavier than most her toys.

Bean bags can be used for:

• Stacking
• Tossing
• Teething
• Juggling
• Bowling
• Counting Ect.

Summer Fun

Lizzy and I went to the pool today and she had so much fun. She's so comfortable in the water. Today she started "diving" she stands on the ledge in the pool and jumps in, I'm there to catch her. She has also become quite comfortable with going under water, we tried this several times today and she was totally fine with it! I'm surprised by her confidence, I love my little water baby!

After the swim we had popsicles and blew bubbles on the porch

One of Lizzy's Favorites ...

So one of Lizzy's favorite things to do is wear my shoes and sometimes her daddy's shoes and walk around in them, such a goofy girl. Here's her little foot in my shoe:

Fun with Scented Kool Aid Play Dough

Recipe:

1 Cup Flour

1/2 Cup of Salt

2 Tablespoons of Oil

1 Package of Kool Aid

1 Cup Boiling Water

Mix together the dry ingredients, then mix in the wet ingredients and knead on a piece of wax paper. That's it! Now you can play with the play dough!

Here is Lizzy playing with the play dough:

Playing with play dough builds muscles in the baby's hands and helps with motor skills. I like this recipe for the scent and the bright colors.

Staying cool with Homemade Popsicles

After breakfast Lizzy had a homemade popsicle I made with fresh squeezed orange juice and orange slices. She absolutely loved it! We will be making more popsicles using different fruits and maybe sneak in some veggies. Homemade popsicles are a great way to control the ingredients used, no high fructose corn syrup!

Pita Bread

I made pita bread this past weekend using this recipe (Click to View) . Lizzy and I like pita bread and this recipe was pretty good.

Summer day at the pool