Getting Ready for Dog Days of Summer

 

I don't like the Dog Days of Summer!  But I know they are coming, so I thought I could plan some things to look forward to  and keep our minds off the hot, yucky weather.  

Here's some of what we have planned for Maddie:  

Weeks One and Two:  All things Dinosaurs, followed by a trip to Sam Noble Museum of Natural History

Week Three:  Sea Life, followed by a trip to Oklahoma Aquarium

Weeks Four and Five:  All things Circus, followed by the Ringling Brothers Circus

Weeks Six and Seven:  Zoo, followed by Story time at the zoo

Weeks Eight and Nine:  Farm, followed by a trip to U-pick orchards

Weeks Ten and Eleven:  Transportation, followed by a trip to Oklahoma Railway Museum

That's all I've got so far!  We're going to have to be planning her 3rd birthday party too!  This year's theme is Sesame Street!  She's going to love it! 

So, hopefully this will help us have a great summer with lots of fun instead of dreading the miserably hot, disgusting-ness of 100+(degree) weather!

Taking Shelter

The tornadoes were a little too close for comfort last night.  We didn't have a great plan.  We were going to leave and just drive away from the storm.  In Oklahoma, we have plenty of warning time to plan ahead, but it still wasn't a great plan.  Then our wonderful neighbor knocked on our door.  Her parents have a large storm shelter a mile north of us and offered to let us stay there.  She also told us Gracie was of course welcome as well!  Thank goodness!!
The sirens wailed 3 or 4 different times but luckily it was only strong winds, some hail, and rain.  We WILL be investing in a storm shelter.  Things change when you have a little one to keep safe!  The one we were in last night was really nice and big.  At one point we had 8 adults, 2 kids, and 5 pet crates.  Maddie handled things remarkably well.  She was scared of the hail.  It was really loud, but that only lasted a short while and she was easily entertained with a flashlight and shadow creatures the rest of the time.



And because I can't seem to post without a picture, here's one of my favorites from this weekend!

 

 

One Toy, Many Uses

Maddie found a new use for the No-spill paint cups we used in THIS post.  I had left them on the table and found her doing this...

 

She was very proud of herself!!

Mementos

I entered this photo in a contest under the theme Mementos.  I entitled  it "El Rafa" which is inscribed on the necklace and is Hebrew for "God who Heals."  I bought this when I was pregnant and my purpose was two-fold.  1)  I was told by my medical Dr. I would never be able to have children.  2) At the time Maddie still had excess fluid on her brain and we were not sure how our story would end.  I believed God had already worked a miracle in the fact I was pregnant and I really believed He would heal my baby.  Little did I know at the time He was forming an extra chromosome in each and every one of her cells.

Now, her joy heals many hearts. 

This is a memento I will keep forever! 

A Natural Rhythm

In some of these Montessori books I've read they talk about establishing rhythm in your day.  I figured they probably weren't talking about musical instruments and that's the only rhythm I knew about so I really had no idea what they meant...until yesterday. 
I love days when we get together with friends for a play date, or run errands, hopping around town from one place to the next.  Places to go, people to see!  It's so exciting!
But lately, I've really enjoyed time at home with no where to go and nothing on the agenda but play time.  When we let the day unfold on its own, we find a natural rhythm for ourselves. 
We spent most of the day outside.  The weather was amazing!  Not too hot, not too windy, not too cold!!  Perfect! That rarely happens in Oklahoma so we had to take advantage of it. 
We played with play dough and bubbles...

And then when Maddie was finished with that we naturally moved on to the sandbox...

We played the Bury The Foot game

Maddie would sign, "again" after each round...

We went on for at least 20 rounds...and then we naturally moved on to discovering other things. At this point Maddie did her own thing and I picked some lettuce from the garden. 

Sticks became toys...

After lunch and nap we naturally had to do some painting...

After that we naturally made our way to the cherry tree and found our first cherry of the season!

And naturally, a day of play would not be complete without a run down the hill...

 So that's how we fell into a natural rhythm yesterday, and I get it now.  Our day was unscripted and Maddie set the pace.  We had a general schedule for lunch and nap time, but other than that, she decided when we moved on from one activity to the next.  It was her curiosity and natural sense for discovery that dictated what the day would bring.  We had a full day of play and incidentally, she slept really good last night!!

Happy Friday!!

Learning to Paint

I've had this idea swirling around in my head for a while now and we finally got to do it yesterday!  First, I bought a sheet at the thrift store.  Then I nailed it to the fence and when Maddie woke up for her nap, this is what happened...

It's helpful to have these spill-proof painting cups from Melissa and Doug, but then again it's nice to be outside and not have to worry about spills!

I also diluted the paint with water to make it easier to paint.  Maddie really enjoyed it and was so proud of her work.  She's already spotted the paints on the table this morning and is ready to go out for more painting! 

Update on Maddie's Assessment

Friday morning Maddie and I found our way to one of the Moore Public Schools.  We met with the psychometrist, the speech pathologist, and the occupational therapist.  Everyone was super impressed with Maddie!  At one point the occupational therapist jokingly said, "Will Maddie even qualify for the program?"  There were several things they didn't expect her to be able to do but she did it.  It was nice because it was like they were rooting for her and wanted her to do well, and I think that's all I needed in order to feel comfortable.  They were as excited for her as I was and I realized it wasn't us against them, but we all have the common goal...to discover what's best for Maddie!

We won't meet with the teachers or know the results of the assessment until August.  I'm still not sure I want Maddie to go to school four days a week!  That's seems like so much!  She'll go to Antioch Christian Preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then I'd like to suggest she only go to the Special Needs Preschool one day a week - but we'll see. 

Thinking about her leaving for preschool makes me want to soak up every single second of time we have together!  I've got some fun things planned for us today...things that involve lots of messy goodness!!