Little Learn & Play Academy {Week 1}

We finished our first week of 'school'!
This week is brought to you by the Letter : Aa, the Number : ONE & the Color : Red.

Here's a little re-cap of how our week went-

Our Science Exploration took us outside during a downpour :)
We filled different sized containers from different sources to see how
fast they filled & talked about where rain comes from.

My Sister & Niece joined us for a visit to our library to help us pick out
some new books for the week. The obvious favorites were Big Fire Engine
& TRUCKS, but I was delighted to hear Amelia Bedelia requested everyday.
We also wrote a note to my parents to mail. The kids dictated, I wrote.
It is sure to bring a smile to their faces :)

Our craft for Thursday was to make an Apple Tree. I had cut out & assembled
the tree beforehand, then 'J' glued all the embellishments on himself. He was
eager to put it on the wall for all to see. Later in the evening we took a walk
to the corner to mail our special note. On the way home we made sure to
take our time & look at all the leaves falling in our neighborhood :)

In Kitchen Class we made Lucky Charm Treats (click here for recipe)!
'J' helped measure/pour the cereal, cut the butter & count marshmallows. After I melted/poured the hot ingredients he helped to press the mix into a greased pan.
As part of our Life Skills for the day he helped wash the dirty dishes & dust the tables
before a family party we were hosting. What a great way to end the week :)

Even with all the 'extras' we had going on this past week (teething baby, potty learning, family party at our house, over night at Nana & Granddads & the hubby's birthday) we still had a great week of learning. Now that I got my feet wet a little, I'm feeling much more confident for the weeks to come. You know what they say, "It can only go up from here"!

Weekend Reel

How is it that another week has already passed? I can't tell you how many times I finally sit down at the end of the night with every intention of writing up a new post or two, open my google Reader & spend my quiet time reading everyone else's blogs! LOL. Then before I know it, its bedtime. And the weekends, don't even get me started on those. We are moving so fast in every direction that we hardly have time to take it all in. Then *BAM* its monday & the cycle starts all over again.
At this moment I find myself sitting here with the small dude asleep upstairs, & the medium & adult sized dudes sitting a few feet from me creating a new world out of wooden train tracks on the floor. And me with an open laptop on my lap. But the clock is tick tick ticking away & very soon it will be time put 'J' in bed for the night & tend to a house that has seen better days.
So before I go, I'll leave you with some snapshots of our past week, & a sneak peak of the Adventure we went on yesterday (fingers crossed you get the full story in the next day or two!)

Enjoy the Weekend Reel~

-MONDAY-

*Inspiration for a possible gift idea at the Pottery Studio

*Picked up my finished plate from Date Night with my BIG Sister

-TUESDAY-

(Due to frost damage to early apple blossoms, we have a small apple crop. 

As a result, we cannot offer U-Pick Apples this year) 

*I was shocked & saddened to learn that there will be no apple picking this Fall. It is a family tradition & I can't yet wrap my brain around it.

 *Blowing Bubbles IN a Bubble Bath. 

-WEDNESDAY-

 *Self-dressed toddler on a teething/congestion "hunger strike" 

equals long sleeves in 90* weather & baby food pouches

 *New project. Not even close to finished.

-THURSDAY-

*What, me? I'm just sitting on my own. No biggie :)

*Taking advantage of my mum's sewing room while she's away,

this won't be the only visit in the next couple weeks...

-FRIDAY-

*Mmmmm, pears

*Playing. Sharing. Giggling. Brothers.

-SATURDAY-

*Choo-Choo...All aboard!

*Yes, that is EXACTLY who you think it is...Life-Sized!

-SUNDAY-

 *The hit of the party

 *Our 2nd Annual baby group birthday gathering.

This is almost 1/2 the amount at last years, but it was

still fun to see the toddler hijinks that ensued.

I see your 4 & raise you a 5, K?

So let's point out the obvious...that Post title is pretty lame. No? These are the things that pop in my head. Stupid, stupid things that I often chuckle at. Nay, LAUGH at.
ok, now that that is out in the open, we can move on.

This past weekend we got outta Dodge & headed a few hours NorthWest to our dear friends, the Martins. Oh how we adore the Martins. What's not to adore- they are funny, they are nice, they are fun, their daughter is a gem & they let us stay at their house whenever we want. Our trek was for 2 reasons. First: they are the ones that talked us into doing a 5K (remember I mentioned it a while back in this post?). Well we needed to be at the starting line at 8:30am Saturday morning. And the second reason was really more of a BONUS reason... there is this thing called The Dream Cruise. Its an annual event where car crazy people hole up in/around our town all week & on the weekend they drive their (mostly, but not always, sometimes not even close to) classic/specialty cars up & down a certain road for miles. A certain road that we just happen to live off of. Which means we can't leave our house if we stay in town. Therefore we leave town. We have taken to calling it Nightmare Cruise. And it's not a little event either, it's huge. Like millions of people huge. Like celebrities have been known to come (like Jay Leno!) huge. Like a lot of Local Businesses just shut down for the weekend because you can't get to their store & there is literally NO parking for miles because the lots are all rented out HUGE.

Ok, moving on. Back to the 5K. We said in May we would start training for this. Take it seriously. Do our best. Well...we managed to do 1 out of the 3. We did out best. And you know what...it wasn't half bad! My last 2 races I finished in 51 mins. I said I wanted to do this race in 45. I thought that was a reasonable goal seeing as how I didn't really condition myself for it. Well I didn't make it in 45...I made it in 39.16!!! And the Hubs was a RockStar & finished just ahead of me in 39.09...and that was pushing 50lbs of kid in a double bike trailer!!! Then we all celebrated, napped & relaxed the rest of the day. We headed out Sunday morning so we could get home in time to see my WONDERFUL Grandmother before she left town. She came in for the weekend to watch my smartypants cousin graduate from UofM's accelerated Nursing Program. On a sad note, it was also the day I had to say goodbye to my smartypants niece before she heads North 4 hours to Ferris State for their Honors Pharmaceutical Program. That's all I can say about that...or I will cry...more...

Overall another jam-packed, fun filled weekend!

Here are a few highlights from the weekend:

We're so awesome at doing 5K's that we even
walked the 1/2 mile there, and back! That's an extra mile folks.

Turns out...this is a pretty big race. There were so
many runners it took over a minute just to get to the starting line!

The Hubby, stretching out. Work it baby.

Meet the Martins!

Post Race & feelin good :)

These two did SO good in the trailer!

Know what happens when your son poops/pukes
all over all of his packed clothes? You borrow some
hand me downs from your hosts & get a daughter for the day ;)

Oh Yeah, and THIS!!! He is sitting. On his OWN!!

I was able to finish an embroidery project for a friend :)
(I used this pin she posted as a template.)

This is what happens when you start to celebrate after
the kiddos hit the hay & somehow start talking about
 how crazy scientology is...one thing leads to another
& you're checking your electric output...

Cheers!! We did it!

The boys & I with their BisNonna.
(Don't mind 'J', he was a little annoyed to have
to stop playing to pose for a picture.)

My last picture with my college-bound niece!

There you have it, a looksee at how we spend our free time :)

The Great Outdoors {Re-Cap}

Ok, it's finally time for a Camping Adventure Re-Cap!!
All together now, "YES!!!"
Wait, why was I the only one that cheered for that? You all know you are totally excited to see the pictures & hear the details, just admit it, we won't judge, we're all friends here...except for that guy in the back...I don't know who let him in...

Anywho, on to the good stuff, you might want a grab a snack before the slideshow begins....

CAMP ROCK- LODGING:

• Our home for the weekend. Just because we were tenting it, doesn't mean things can't be cozy...or coordinating...
• Our view for the weekend.

THE FOOD & DRINK:

• Our Road-Trip Necklaces were a HIT!
• Campfire Breakfast
• Campfire Lunch
• Campfire Dinner (mentioned in this post)
• "Campfire" Cupcakes for dessert- devils food cupcakes topped with chocolate marshmallow frosting & graham crumbles.
• more dessert...
• ...more dessert & a lesson on how to really eat a s'more ;)
• Fresh homemade lemonade. Like the little log we burned all weekend? When in need head to the woods for supplies!
• Cheers

FUN & GAMES:

• Lots of exploring with the "dada"s
• The Hubs enjoying some Campfire convo
• Jill & Nate telling tales of their recent trip to Europe
• Boy+stick+dirt=Happiness
• Tossin the ol' pigskin (Why does that always sound so inappropriate?)
• Jamie (right) & Maddie (left)
• Charlotte taking a dip in our makeshift kiddie pool :)
• A campground with an Arcade, good. Jamie winning Jill a bangle from said Arcade, freaking awesome. 
• There's nothing like a game of Doggy Doo to remind you why you are all friends.
• Our doggy ran into some digestion issues so Dr. Nate came to the rescue
• Not only did someone actually make & market this game, but my friends actually bought it. And THAT is why we are friends :)

NOT SO FUN & GAMES:

•  We had a scare Saturday Night. 'J' woke up crying & when we checked on him his face & lips were starting to swell & he was drooling like crazy. Our first thought was "Grab the Epi-Pen, he's having an allergic reaction!" quickly followed by "I don't want to have to stab my son in the leg!!!" then "How did he get dairy?!?! He's been asleep for two hours!!". After doing a quick assessment we decided to try liquid Benedyl first. He quickly passed out so I took him back in the tent & lay down with him. I could NOT TAKE MY EYES OFF OF HIM. I took picture after picture to compare to see if the swelling was going down.
• Everyone else went fast to sleep, I on the other hand did not. I lay with my hand on his chest most of the night to make sure he was breathing. Even when hours had passed & he seemed to be doing a lot better, I just couldn't shake it. We have been dealing with this allergy his whole life, that is the closest we ever came to using "the Pen", & it's something I never want to have to use on my child. Ever.
• We woke up in the morning & embraced a new day. Thankful for the blessings in our life. Thankful I didn't have to use "the Pen". 'J' was in good spirits, & then about an hour later we started to see some allergy symptoms quickly returning. *LIGHTBULB MOMENT*, its something at Camp!We had just lit the fire. The Wood!!! There was something in the wood, when burned, that was getting in the air & causing an allergic reaction in 'J'. We gave him some more Benedryl & tried to keep him occupied away from Camp while also trying to pack camp up. I finally realized what a silent blessing it was that 'J' has food allergies, otherwise we NEVER would have been prepared with Benedryl (& an Epi Pen) within arms reach & things would have went from bad to worse VERY quickly. Thinking back his eyes started getting red/watery & his nose started to run saturday evening (you can see it in some of the pics of him above), but we thought that he had just gotten smoke in his eyes & they were irritated. Oh how wrong we were.

FRIENDS & FAMILY:

• The Menfolk
• The Ladies
• Sitting on our favorite spot at Camp Rock, the first of many annual trips to come :) You know those non family people in your life that are well deserving of "Aunt" & "Uncle" to your kids...these are those people. They may not be blood, but that doesn't mean they aren't family.
• And of course I had to toss in a pic of little 'A', please don't sue me if your ovaries just exploded...he brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "If looks could kill"...