Figuring Out What Works and General Cuteness

In an attempt to tweak our routines, particularly our morning routine, we have been trying some new things around here.

It is clear that my almost a preschooler needs some more time outside to work off energy and some more structured one on one time. He is EXCELLENT at entertaining himself....for hours if need be. But we need to also start working on settling down and getting things done and learning how to focus on a given task.

So this morning we took some balls out to the park behind our house to have some run around and be loud time before Anna's nap. A few snafoos: I didn't have their clothes for the day set out including socks and shoes so then there was a mad dash to find what we needed. With limited time before Anna's nap this was a big deal. The other issue is that the grass was still quite wet. Not sure what we can do about that, but Ben is in that "must have clean hands" etc phase so he was not pleased with sticky wet grass. And Anna generally got soaking wet with all her toddling and falling and crawling. So she needed to be stripped down when we came in. Either way it was fun to get out in the cool sunshine!

And look at that face!! I just love it!!!!

Ben and Anna got this nice bouncy balls at their cousins' birthday party this weekend and they are loving them!! Great favor idea Aunt Laura!!

Cute action shot ;)

And there is Little Miss assessing the situation with a little grass snack before she decides what she wants to do.

You can see the wet grass stuck to her legs

Once Anna goes down for her nap I am trying to get Ben involved with whatever household tasks I need to take care of. This picture is from a few days ago where he helped me get a soup into the crockpot by meticulously putting the veggies into the the pot for me. He had a lot of fun doing this and it definitely kept him occupied for a good amount of time! Today he helped me make some banana bread by pouring ingredients into bowls for me and mixing the dry ingredients with his hands. And tasting the dough for me (since it is egg free I let him taste as much as he wanted....it was basically just sugar, apple sauce, and banana!).

And a "smile" for a job well done!

In other scheduling news/ideas I hope to try and incorporate a "circle time" in the morning either before or after outdoor time. We will include a picture book story, morning prayers, days of the week/date, nursery rhyme. There is a circle time worked into the Little Saints program so hopefully this will seamlessly transition into Little Saints when we start it this winter.

And onto the general cuteness :) Here are Anna's new adorable sneakers that we got with some of her birthday money! They were on sale at Olly's and I just couldn't pass them up! So now she has nice dressy/church shoes and nice sneakers for everyday.

I was trying to get a good picture of her outfit because she just looked adorable in these little floral denim overalls and her new sneakers etc. But she wasn't too cooperative so this is the best we got.