Preparing for the Beach!

This has been quite a week! We have spent a lot of time getting prepared for our beach trip. I had so many Ocean themed activities ready for both kiddos. Poor little man got a crazy fever virus and was sporting a 102+ fever for 2 days, no other symptoms really (thankfully). Maddy has been working on the letter "O" (for Ocean/Octopus).  I love how much she loves to learn! "School time" is one of the first things that she asks for when she wakes up. Here are some of the activities we have worked on this week. 
First, we painted our ocean/sand and made hand print crabs. I LOVE THIS! It turned out really cute and will definitely be hanging in a frame. Even little man helped out with this one! :) 

Maddy working very hard painting her ocean.

So proud!

My little crabs! :)

 Then we worked on the letter "O" is for Octopus/Ocean. Maddy colored the "O" blue for the ocean and then picked out the appropriate animal/sea creature stickers and placed them around the "O". 

 We made the octopus out of an old yogurt container (I told my husband I would make use out of all of these containers I have been saving!!). We used streamers, tissue paper and google eyes. Maddy practiced counting the legs.

Showing little man her Octopus.

He loves this!!

 The next day we worked on O is for Octonauts. Found this great pack here. Lots of great information!

Here she is using the sheet protector and dry erase markers to trace shapes.

 Here are some of the activities that we have been working on this week. A lot of the materials were found here and here. Both wonderful sites with so much information! I came up with the Octopus craft myself. We use a plastic sheet protector to place all of the handwriting activities in. She then uses a dry erase marker to practice. This provides for easy clean up and allows her to use it again and again. :)

This was our latest Tot Book, found here. I added the Land or Sea activity to the side, as well as the Montessori game. She really enjoyed this book and has been using it on and off all day.

If time (and health) permits, I have some great sensory bins planned to wrap up our "O" week before we leave this weekend.  

:) 

Crock pot Chicken Tacos

Our family loooooves Mexican night. So much so that it happens at least once a week, maybe twice. I was trying to figure out some recipes to use my crock pot to lighten the load around here.  I found some great recipes on Pinterest (of course) but decided to mesh a few ideas and create my own take on chicken for tacos in the crock pot.
It was awesome!

Here is what I used:
     3 chicken breasts
     Salsa (probably equal to a jar) as well as some fresh tomatoes
     2 green peppers

I did not measure but used the following spices:
    Chilli Powder
    Ground Cumin
    Cilantro
I would also add onion, but did not in this batch. I was using the chicken to also make my little E-man's baby food so I left the raw onions out and used just a dash of onion powder. (He looooved his dinner!)

Cook on High 4-6 hours, or Low 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken prior to serving and stir in the juices.
It worked out really well and was perfect for our soft tacos/burritos. My husband, 3 year old daughter and my almost 11 mo-old enjoyed this! (I did rinse the chicken a bit prior to making his baby food.)
Anyway, this was very easy and a huge hit! 

:)

Summer fun

For all of our relatives that read this, I thought I would post a few pictures of the kids over the past several weeks just having some summer fun. Enjoy!

Loooove the rain boots. :)

This is when she kicked it into high gear. ha!

This begins a fun sequence of pictures. Ethan loves pushing this car around. He loves it even more when he gets to push his sister around on it!  He is quite strong.

Oops... ran her into the wall.

Costume change and we are back at it!

Love the smiles!

Proof that they do play together nicely. :)

This little guy fell asleep in the middle of playtime... still holding the ball.

She is enjoying the gator.

Its been almost too hot to enjoy their little pool out back. It doesn't take long for the water to become like bath water!

Love this little guy.

Ethan will be 11 months old next week. I can hardly believe it! I just had to capture him sleeping in this crib. Can't believe how big he has gotten. Where has the time gone?!

<3

Maddy is finally able to reach the pedals of her tricycle! (She got this for her 2nd birthday.)

<3

And this begins my favorite sequence of pictures...
 
Maddy fell asleep in the middle of the family room floor. Ethan had also been taking a nap, but obviously woke up before his sister. His looks are just priceless.
I caught him as he was just standing there staring at her and whispered to him to come to mommy because Maddy was sleeping. This is the look I got...

And finally...

He couldn't resist anymore. :)

Mommy: "Ethan, what do you have?" 
Ethan, holding remote, just stares at Mommy....

Maddy decided to dress up. She told Ethan and I that she was the fairy princess/queen and that we needed to make her some food!

Sweet Ethan, bonding with Molly. Can't believe our Molly is 8 years old!! He makes the sweetest sound when he is petting the dogs. :)

 

More to come.... 

Blackberries!!!

 

Last summer, my mom and I planted some shoots off of my grandfather's blackberry bushes. Everything in my yard takes forever to grow or produce anything. The bushes have grown but most of the berries and shoots get eaten off by deer before I can do anything with them. 

This guy has a brother. They have been visiting my flowers for a long time. No more spots and now they have fuzzy antlers!

My mom's bushes however, have taken off. As a result, there were TONS of blackberries!!  Here's my baby girl picking some blackberries at Grandma's house. She could eat them right off the vine. :)




 We have really enjoyed them in the Harper household.  My husband REALLY enjoys this blackberry crisp.  Its a super easy recipe... oats, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, and butter for a crispy top. I also add some cinnamon and nutmeg. If you would like the recipe just let me know. I'd be happy to share. :) 





Hope everyone is having a great summer!