Ready to paint. I said earlier that That Grace had not painted with a brush before, but I forgot about this episode. So this was actually her 2nd experience, but the first time she painted on the easel. 
She liked painting, but hated getting her hands dirty. She kept wiping them on her pants. She does the same thing when she is eating if we don't give her a napkin.
You'll be happy to know that we survived the Blizzard of '09. We were snowed in for a while but thankfully we had the foresight to load up on the milk and bread late Sunday afternoon. Otherwise, I'm not sure we would have had such a happy ending. 
That Grace, still sickly but enjoying her first snow. When she woke up, I took her to the front door to show her the snow. I went out and brought some in for her to touch. Nope -- wouldn't go near it. She just kept shaking her head, "no." After breakfast we got dressed (that took a long time) and she went outside. She finally put out one finger and touched a few flakes that had accumulated on her sand table.
Back inside, warm and dry, we pulled out an old activity. She loves to do this but, of course, it requires constant supervision, so I don't leave it our for her.
Practicing pouring.
Cleaning up after practicing pouring.
She really wanted to go outside today. She put on her hat and stood at the door, signing "outside." Unfortunately, she's had a fever for the past couple of days. We had a big weekend planned, including visiting Aunt Donna and Uncle Craig and our cousins from out of state as well as going to a local children's museum. Instead, we had a quiet, cranky day at home.
Since she did so well on the calendar matching activity, I set up the step 1, level 1 Child-sized Masterpieces activity. She did it with ease and we did a few variations before she got tired of it and started throwing the cards.
I was inspired to pull out the easel after reading about the benefits of it over at The Write Start. I bought some paint and brushes to use later this week but for today, we just used markers. She'll write with the markers, but what she really loves is taking the tops off and putting them back on. 
My mom came to visit not too long ago and brought some extra calendars. I picked one out and sent the rest back home with her. After she left, I realized that I already had a calendar and didn't need another one (part of my ongoing war with clutter). I decided to keep it anyway because it had gorgeous pictures of wildlife. I cut it apart and make the matching picture activity from itty bitty love. Basically, I cut apart the calendar and then cut out the little thumbnail pictures on the back and covered it all with contact paper. The object of the activity is to match the little picture to the big picture. I thought That Grace might be a little young to do all 12 so I only put out 4 to start with. She did those with ease and begged for more, so I put out all 12 and handed her the little cards. She did great and apparently enjoyed it, because she kept signing "more" when I tried to put it away. We'll probably do some more of these. I didn't get the Velcro dots put on but I think that will add another point of interest.
Tea Party!
Driving the car buggy in Lowe's. She had a lot more fun than is apparent in this picture. We bought sand for her water/sand table. The rice is not a good idea if the table is going to be outside and the cover is not watertight. Just in case you were wondering.
That Grace loves applause. She was singing after supper and we started clapping for her. She joined in and sang some more just for the cheers.
That Grace played with shaving cream in the bathtub tonight. It's something we used to do when I taught preschool. She loved it once she got used to the idea. She would smack her hands in and then rub it all over her stomach. 
We did an activity with matching pots and lids today -- look at that concentration!
Reading Mother Goose.
Maniacal sweeping!
We roasted a butternut squash today. That Grace helped scoop out the seeds. 
Soup that we made from the roasted butternut squash. I had several recipes but I didn't have all of the ingredients for any one of them, so we just made up our own. I sauteed 1/2 an onion in some butter and added some cumin seeds. Cumin is my new love. I used it in the black bean stew last night, too. We're a little soup obsessed over here these days. Then I added the roasted butternut squash, thinned it out with a little water and added some cream. What? There are no carbs in cream. It's practically diet food. I didn't blend it with the stick blender because I like a chunkier soup. That Grace loved it. She also loved gradually uncovering the picture on the bottom of the bowl.
The new Babybug came today, always very exciting. By the time the new Babybug comes, we are tired of reading the old one, although we then have to get all of the back issues and read through them all. It is a great magazine and, as you can see, she really likes it. She carried it around hugging it for quite a while before we got around to reading it. She looks a little rough in this picture because she just dumped a cup of water on her head.
These are the last of the cute chicken pictures. We went to our church's Halloween festival. That Grace was a huge hit, although she is really not a "center of attention" kind of kid, unlike her big sister. People kept going on about her costume and how cute she was and she did okay with that. However, quite a few people tried to touch her or even, *gasp* pick her up, which she was not okay with! She really enjoyed the festival, though. Here she is playing with "World's Largest Rabbit (probably)." She loved the hayride and seeing all of the other children dressed up.
I tried to ply her with nutritious snacks before we left, so she wouldn't eat so much candy. She caught onto the grabbing candy notion really quickly. We didn't take a bucket for her, though, so we just got a piece of candy at one station and ate it a little at a time until it was gone, and then got another one. She had about 3 pieces of chocolate, 1 cupcake plus a few bites from another and shared a hot dog with Daddy. Not too bad, and we didn't bring any candy home with us. I'm sure this plan will have to be revisited in a couple of years, but it works for now.
Earlier today we did a big/little activity. It was very easy and required minimal prep time. I just grabbed a big and little object of several different items (shoe, cup, and spoon) and we talked about which was big and which was little and then I let her pick out the big ones of each. Cheap, easy, and educational entertainment!
We had our Tot Class Halloween Party today. We didn't stay the whole time because That Grace was still not feeling her normal self. She's still crazy about the babies, though. She had a great time but we left after the snack, so we missed the pumpking carving. Unfortunately, we had to forego Boo at the Zoo this year. I hate that we have to miss it, because she really loved it last year, but it is just too cold for her to be out.
Hmm, this was my first hint that she might need to go home and take a nap!
Just because I don't have that many pictures from today, here's one from a few months ago.
We went to the park to paint pumpkins with the playgroup today. It was the first time That Grace has painted with a brush. She caught on really quickly and was very enthusiastic (hence the blue neck)!
After the painting, the kids played in the sand for a while. She also loves the slide but I haven't been able to get a picture of that, yet. I need both hands free to catch her when she comes down! Maybe I can get Daddy to come along this weekend so I can get some pictures.
Snuggling with Daddy after a busy day!
Lunch is our learning meal. We usually eat at home and we have the time free from distractions to focus on skills, manners, etc. It is also a lot of fun. That Grace loves getting her lunch stuff together and setting her table. We start by getting her dishes out of her cupboard and putting everything on a little tray to carry to her little table. She loads the tray but I actually carry it to the table.
She unrolls her place mat and puts her fork down. Then she sets her little cup out. I put her plate out for her and pour her a little bit of water from her water pitcher. She is learning how to pour water, but we are working on that separately, so I do the pouring at lunch.
Sometimes she has company for lunch! After lunch, I put her cup, plate, fork and pitcher back on the tray and she rolls up her place mat. After all that work, it's time for a nap!
