An Update on the Chore Chart

We've been using our "chore chart"  for a little over a week now.  

It's been working really well.  Maddie loves to get high-fives after we move our pictures over.  Her favorite chore is unloading the dishwasher.  She's the master of the silverware tray. 

She can open the drawer by herself.

oops...sometimes we get a little side-tracked.

but they eventually end up in the silverware drawer! 

I read in Barbara Curtis' book, Mommy, Teach Me!  its best not to correct their "work" in front of them, so this is the state of our silverware drawer most of the time!

Trying Out Manual Mode

When I take pictures, I usually use the shutter priority, or aperture priority.  You choose one or the other and the camera decides what the other settings will be.  Yesterday, I was trying out manual mode...selecting everything on my own.  I ended up with a few great shots of Maddie that I just love!

50 mm lens, 1/125s, f/2.5, 400 ISO

I also introduced a new Montessori activity to Maddie.  She really liked it.  It held her attention for probably 15 minutes.  

She was really concentrating hard!  To set the activity up, I bought the tray at Lakeshore Learning.  The dog bowl and the sponge is from Dollar General.  I cut the sponge to fit the bowl and put enough water on the left side for two full squeezes of the sponge.  The idea is to transfer the water from one side of the bowl to the next, always working left to right to prepare them for reading.  

Right now she's less concerned about which side to squeeze and would rather just SQUEEZE!  It's a fun thing to do on a hot day!

Five A Day Books

I first fell in love with the Imagination Tree blog when I saw what this Momma (Anna) can do with left over spaghetti and a cardboard box.  It was love at first sight!  I get so many great, wonderful, and inexpensive ideas here, I just had to participate in the Five A Day Book link up...wow, another great idea! 

This week Maddie and I will be talking about ponds.  Here's our line up of books...

Pond Walk by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace.  This book is great because at the end it shows step by step how to make a rock turtle!

Scoot! by Cathryn Falwell. This book focuses on all the actions taking place at the pond (with the exception of the six, very still turtles!)

Pond Circle by Betsy Franco.  This is a fun add-on story beginning with algae and ending with a girl named Anna. 

Dimity Duck by Jane Yolen & Sebastien Braun.  A cute little story about a duck whose friends with a frog at the pond.

All of these I checked out at the library with the exception of this last one In the Pond by Anna Milbourne.  I bought this one off Amazon along with these little cuties!

I love these because they really make the book "come to life" with the 3-D objects.  

The book talks about the eggs, and you have the eggs to show or pull out of a mystery bag while you're reading the story...(extra drama = lots of fun!)

And then there's the tadpole...

and then he grows legs

and his tail gets smaller...

until finally, he's a full-grown frog!

I have lots of fun things planned for us this week!  This should help with the staying-in-from-the-heat-all-day-boredom.  Unfortunately, I think it would really cool if we could visit an actual pond, but with this heat, it's just not going to happen.  : (   oh, well...we'll just pretend.  Maddie's starting to get really good at that! 

Stopping to Smell the Sunflowers

Last week Maddie and I headed to Woodward for my nephew's birthday party.  On the way there we found these gorgeous sunflower fields.  I couldn't help put stop for a few pictures.  I had in my mind the shot I wanted, but getting a 2-yr-old whose been cooped up in a carseat for 2 hours to cooperate is like trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube.  I still think we accidentally came out with a few good ones! 

My First Engagement Shoot!

I just love photography...not only do I get to get creative behind the lens, but I also have the chance to meet great couples like Kendra and Adam. I had a lot of fun last night getting some shots of them.  When we were setting up the photo shoot, I asked Kendra what kind of style fit them best as a couple:  traditional, whimsical, or rustic.  She said they were definitely traditional, but then again Adam was a country boy so maybe they were rustic, but then again they were pretty goofy so maybe whimsical? 
I can see now why she had a hard time narrowing it down!  They are all those things rolled up into one great couple!  Here is a few of my favorite shots from last night. 

i'm not sure i like the vignette I made in photoshop...love the picture but I need to fix my editing.

Cucumber Quirks

Yesterday Kyle brought home some cucumbers one of his co-workers had grown in his garden.  I sliced them up and we had them with dinner.  Kyle starts to chuckle and then points at Maddie.  Evidently there is a right and a wrong way to eat cucumbers.  This is Maddie's quirky way of eating her cucumbers...

Playing in the Rain

Yesterday's afternoon rain was so nice!  Maddie and I had to get out and play in it for a little while.  Then we came in and tried to get some mirror shots. 

In the words of Winnie the Pooh, or "Pooh Pooh" as Maddie calls him, "Happy Winds-Day"