Advent

Christmas celebrating is in full swing around here. We are doing an advent calender with activities each day. So far, Persy's favorite event has been playing with the expandable fake snow I bought at Smith's. We also have plans to make cookies, see lights, and do kiddie art projects. It has also been so exciting to teach Persy about the birth of Jesus.

Gratitude

Good Things:
* Long, cold nights for knitting
* Sampling an endless variety of hot chocolate flavors from cafes and grocery stores. My two favorites have been Starbuck's Salted Caramel and Stephen's Cherry Chocolate.
* KUED "Circus" mini-series on Wednesday nights
* Sundays for snuggling with the husband and tot
* Polka-dot wrapping paper
* Winter dreams about an upcoming trip to Hawaii. I can practically hear that ocean surf!

(P.S. Persy and I have been attaching thankful feathers to the homemade turkey above. Zebras and Binkies have shown up several times on her list. :)

Beat the Heat

We've had a wonderful summer! There has been a lot of hiking, gardening, swimming, exploring, and playing. We also had several super hot days this summer filled with art projects, reading and science experiments. I had 42 activities I wanted to do with Persy this summer, and we completed 37 of them! Whew. Here's just a sample of what we've done:

Painting with Water- Persy loved watching the lines disappear in the hot sun.

Squishing Bag and then painting with it- Persy was bothered by the texture. The green food coloring might have grossed her out too.

Indoor 2 Litre Bowling - a huge hit that we'll do again this winter.

Fire Station

We had a fun little trip to tour a fire station this morning. I love that Persy and I get to do these activities together. It makes me feel happy that I get spend so much time with her because I love watching her discover the world. The firemen let the kids climb into the fire truck and look around the ambulance. We were about to finish the tour when they got a call and had to jump into their trucks. It was pretty exciting!

Children's Art Festival

Persy and I spent a fun morning doing various art projects at The Children's Art Festival in Springville yesterday. Her favorite projects were the paper mache balloons, card making, and sidewalk coloring.

Butterfly Release

We had the magical experience of raising caterpillar larvae and watching them transform into lovely painted butterflies. It was incredible to watch them just slip out the chrysalis. Persephone took an active part in our little science project and loved feeling the butterflies crawl on her arm before we released them outside for the remainder of their short, but hopefully happy, nectar filled lives.

Making Goop, Teasing Your Parents, and Other Toddler Adventures

Here's a little bit of what we've been doing . . .
Lots of teasing games of hide-and-go seek . . .

Playing in the Snow

Making "Goop"

Feeding the Ducks

We've Been Making a Mess

The long winter months have had us doing a number of fun sensory activities. We've also made a lot of cookies and spent a fair amount of time coloring. Persy's favorite indoor sensory activity is the bean box. We measure, spoon, and touch together. The spare shower curtain is put down for easy clean-up.

Playing in Nature's Toy Box

This past year, I've become more aware of the calming effects of nature on both Persephone and myself. If I'm feeling disgruntled, a little air and sunshine usually has the power to diffuse a bad mood. I make it a point to spend at least a little time outside each day, regardless of the weather. With perfect fall temperatures over the last couple of weeks we've been spending a lot of time outdoors walking, exploring, playing. I let Persy collect pine cones, leaves, stones and other small objects to bring home and play with together. She loves to take them out of her bowl and then put them back in again. Sometimes the best toys are the free ones that Mother Nature provides!

I Love the Mountains, I Love the Rolling Hills!

I am often surprised by the fact that I have lived in Utah nearly all of my life and I still feel like there thousands of places in the state left to discover. Here are some pictures from a lovely little Mommy-Daughter hike to Doughnut Falls that I took with Persy and my friend Megan. The fall leaves were just beginning to change and the drive up the canyon was quite stunning.

Megan and her cuties- I'm lucky to have an adventurous friend that will do such fun things with me. This is one of the same friends that traveled throughout Europe with me before we both got married. We are constantly planning excursions and expeditions that we want to go on when we are little old ladies.

The kids all loved tossing rocks into the water!

I love my Kelty backpack! I also use it around the city to do errands.