Snow Day!

We had a pretty bad ice/snow storm these last few days (according to Lubbock standard) so church was cancelled. I feel bad for missing church (we are going on three weeks in a row without church), but it was fun to have a play day with Mike. Also, our water heater broke on us last night. Thankfully our maintenance man came today to fix it, so we were in our pj's until about 3 pm. Being "Texans" now, we are not prepared for snow. You can't tell in the photos, but Maggie has plastic lunch baggies over her sock because she has no shoes that cover all of her feet. Despite our lack of winter attire, Maggie loved being outside and the snow. I think Christmas in Utah will be a hit.

Preschool

Maggie doesn't nap long, so I have to be creative with our afternoons. I began "preschool" time this month, and it was been fun trying new activities. I see all these hands on activities on pinterest, so I made a list of all the ones I want to try. Some turned out better than others. I thought I would share what we have done and how it has turned out. If you guys have tried some fun things, post them so I can steal them (I have already stolen some of Amy W's and Rachel E's ideas).

1. Moon Sand (inspiration from Amy W, recipe is 4 C flour, 1/2 baby oil): Maggie loved this activity. She played in it all by herself for 30 minutes. Repeat. (Scoring is 1 being low, 5 being high)
     Enjoyment Level: 5
     Independent Level: 5
     Messy Factor: 5

2. Shaving cream: Squirt some shaving cream that foams up on high chair. Maggie didn't know what to do with this at the beginning. I think it works better with older kids who can practice writing their name, letters, or draw pictures in it. Lasted 5 minutes.

     Enjoyment Level: 2

     Independent Level: 5
     Messy Factor: 4

3. Bath paint (Inspiration from Rachel E, recipe 1 T cornstarch, 4-6 pumps of baby shampoo, 2-3 drops of food coloring, 1-2 t water): This was Maggie's first time painting and she enjoyed it. I think I put too much water in, so either do less or I would look more for a foamier recipe. Of course she ended with dumping the whole paint over and laughing about it. Lasted 15 minutes

     Enjoyment Level: 4
     Independent Level: 1 (you have to stay in the bathroom with them)
     Messy Factor: 3 (they are already in the tub, so we just rinsed everything off)

4. Black Bean tray (tray of beans/rice with egg cartoon, cars, measuring spoons): We have done things like this in the past, but the part that made it fun for her was the egg cartoon. She loved separating the beans out into the different compartments. Be sure to sweep beforehand, that way when you sweep up the beans afterwards, it is just beans and you can say them for dinner another time. Warning: It will always end with throwing the beans everywhere. Lasted 20 minutes
     Enjoyment Level: 5
     Independent Level: 4
     Messy Factor: 3

5. Easter Egg Hunt (hide either puff balls or small crackers in the eggs and place them around the room): Maggie wasn't the brightest on finding these eggs, so I just sort of laid them on the floor around the room. The first time, she liked carrying the basket, but after that, I think she thought it was work. She always got a kick out of opening the eggs, especially if there was a snack inside. Lasted 30 minutes.
     Enjoyment Level: 4
     Independent Level: 2 (I had to help her with finding some of the egg and keep her motivated)
     Messy Factor: 1

6. Color Sort with Puff balls (sort the different color puff balls into small containers): Maggie love it when I pull out the puff balls. I started out with jut a few colors, then worked our way up. She's not quite old enough to sort on her on, so it turned unto a game where she hovered the ball over the containers while I said yes or no-the more exaggerated the no, the better. Lasted 10 minutes.
     Enjoyment Level: 3
     Independent Level: 1 (as she gets older, hopefully that will change)
     Messy Factor: 1

7. Straws in slotted container (punch holes on top of oatmeal container and kid pushes straws/pipe cleaners through the holes): These type of activities are fun the first one or two times, but then they master it and get bored. Either put it away for a month or call it quits. Lasted 10 minutes.
     Enjoyment Level: 3
     Independent Level: 5
     Messy Factor: 1

8. String a necklace (using plastic or wooden beads, string them onto a pipe cleaner or yarn): Maggie is capable of doing this, but with a lot of help and supervision. I used the plastic beads from the dollar store, but if you got big wooden beads, it would work better. I think that I wanted her to like it more than she actually did. Lasted 10 minutes.
     Enjoyment Level: 2
     Independent Level: 1
     Messy Factor: 1

9. Play dough: Even though I would say that gack or flubber or whatever you call the other stuff would be easier for her to manipulate, she still had fun playing with it. Lasted 15 minutes.
     Enjoyment Level: 3.5
     Independent Level: 3 (I was able to cook dinner, but I didn't dare leave her by herself because I didn't want it wandering into the livingroom).
     Messy Factor: 3.5

10. Pointillism (paint using q tips instead of a paint brush): I was nervous how this was going to go, but Maggie really  did well. I drew the outline of a tree and she painted the leaves. Lasted 10 minutes (was hoping for more).

     Enjoyment Level: 4 (she really liked though it didn't last long)

     Independent Level: 2
     Messy Factor: 3 (we kept in contained in the hair chair and Maggie doesn't like to get messy-though with any other kid, it would be a 5)

Belly Time!

A couple of people have asked to see my belly, so here it is. The top one is me pregnant now at 21 weeks, and the bottom is me pregnant with Maggie at 21 week.I feel like I am about the same. Some shirts make me look bigger than others (I reserve those for days I am at home). Overall, this pregnancy has gone smoothly. We are excited about our little boy. We just got him his first pair of camo shorts-he will be a true Matthews boy now.

Halloween

I know that Halloween is officially tomorrow, but tonight was our ward's Trunk-or-Treat, so it felt like it. I love family-themed costumes, and now that we have a little princess, we are just accessories to her costume. This year, we went as Red Riding Hood. It is sort of a Price girl tradition. We have this particular cape that my mom made that each of us (and Dusty) wore several times. I remember when I was little, tripping over the hem while parading around the school. 

Maggie thoroughly enjoyed the evening. I was impressed that she carried her own basket. She figured out the candy quickly, though she would have been just excited for rocks. 

The Pumpkin Patch

This was our one free weekend for months. Mike took his final yesterday, so we got a school-free family time. A trip to the pumpkin patch was a must. It was our first time going, and it was so much fun. Mike took Maggie on the cow train, played hide-and-seek with the hay maze, took the hay ride to pick out a pumpkin, survived the corn maize, and enjoyed wonderful Texan brisket. It was such a perfect family outing.

Sunday Morning Fun

Most Sunday mornings, I am running away cooking breakfast for the 6 missionaries by 8am, clean up, get ready, get Maggie ready, gather my Sunbeam lesson props, and prepare Maggie's lunch and play bag (and Sunday is suppose to be a day of rest). This Sunday was fast Sunday and Mike got back from his meeting a bit early. We were able to sneak in some family play before we took off for church.

Mom of the Year Award. . .Not

First of all, can I just say that I feel like Maggie is growing up so fast. I know that every parent says that, but it just amazes me sometimes. Maggie is really happy in this photo, but that has not been the case for the last two weeks. If she could, I bet she would write a compliant to the MOMs org (if one existed) for how I have been treating her. First, we are trying to table train her (actually eat what we are eating for dinner and not chicken nuggets 6 out of the 7 days of the week). Next, our doctor told us we had to kick the bottle. I have been delaying this for the last 6 months, but yesterday we finally got serious. I wouldn't give her anything but milk in her sippy cup to drink all day. Finally by late afternoon, she caved in. There are still many tears shed over the lack of bottle, but she is doing it. To top all this off, she got two shots, has three teeth coming in, and realized that she can scream really loud during wee hours of the morning, and learned how to master temper tantrums. . . But at the end of the day, that adorable little smile gets me every time.