Jen and Molly did some puff painting this week. I'm sure she'll post about it soon, but for now enjoy this video of a normal activity in our household.
Molly's friend Sadie had her 3rd birthday party at AIRmania. Molly and Jillian had fun jumping together.
Molly was skeptical at first, but quickly realized that sliding was a lot of fun too!
Is it possible to get a group picture of twelve toddlers in a bounce castle? Not really, but here's our best try.
Happy birthday Sadie!
We worked on the letter I this week, starting out by making an ice cream cone with sprinkles and a cherry on top.
Molly wanted to paint, so I printed a picture of Isa the Iguana (from Dora, of course!) for her to create her masterpiece.
Molly did a great job making an igloo, using royal icing as the glue. She kept asking to eat the marshmallows, and eventually she was given the OK! She also loved that she got to eat some of the igloo for an after nap snack.
We've been working our way through I Spy A to Z. Molly really enjoys look and find books.
We spent some time exploring The New York Philharmonic Kidzone. We learned about instruments in the orchestra, sorted mixed up instruments, played an instrument matching game, had a percussion showdown, and created our own musical mingles. Molly really liked playing on Mommy's computer!
The weather was nice at the end of the week for us to spend some time outside painting with colored ice cubes.
We did some learning with inchworms.
You can't go through I week without making ice cream. We tried to make "ice cream in a bag" like in chemestry class. The result? Molly ended up drinking a milkshake instead. :(
You can check out what other moms are doing with their tots at 1+1+1=1.
The hallway can be a lot of fun, particularly when the hall closet has mirrored doors.
Molly loved her A alligator. Several times she took it off the fridge and pretended that it was eating Daddy!
I originally saw this idea in an issue of Family Fun, but have since seen it all over the blog world. We made an apple print painting. Molly really enjoyed painting her apple green, and then using it like a stamp. I tried to get her to paint a red apple, but she only wanted green! The stubborness of a three year old...
We learned a little about ants. We made "ants on a log" for lunch one day. Molly ate one piece, then decided it was more fun to use pretzels to scoop out the peanut butter and raisins.
Molly also practiced sorting the big and little ants.
We incorporated our stART project into our Apple Pie Day celebration. In addition, I found a clip counting activity that coordinated with the Ten Apples Up on Top theme.
You can check out what other moms are doing with their tots at 1+1+1=1.
May 13th was National Apple Pie Day. So, what better way to celebrate than to have a playdate to honor the day. We began with a reading of Dr. Seuss's Ten Apples Up on Top.
We then made adorable yarn apples.
And topped off our celebrating by eating mini apple pies.
Leah was actually awake to play with the other younger siblings. This picture had to be captured very quickly since they didn't stay put very long!
Chad took Molly with him to buy a Mother's Day gift for me. I was shocked at how well she did at not spoiling the surprise. Chad had to keep reminding her, "Sssh, it's a surprise," when she said things like, "Daddy hided your present in his car." I eventually learned that he took her to the "computer store" and she played a Dora game on the kid computers, which made me even more impressed that she didn't spoil the surprise of where they went!
Molly painted cards for her grandmothers. She was so excited to give one to Grams and was again reminded, "Sssh, it's a surprise."
I made mint chocolate soufflés for our Mother's Day lunch. I was surprised at how well they turn out for my first attempt, and they were even on the healthier side since it was a Cooking Light recipe!
Molly had her first soccer practice this weekend. Now that she's 3, she's old enough to join the Jr. Striker Program.
Coach Mark did a great job with the kids.
One of the first lessons was to stand up quickly when you fall down, though I think the kids enjoyed the falling down more than standing up.
Molly even learned a couple of tricks. She learned to switch feet on the ball, as well as to kick the ball behind herself before turning around (as pictured here).
Here's Molly racing down the field. Go Molly go!
Molly did surprisingly well dribbling the ball. At the beginning, all the kids just kicked their ball and ran after it. Then Coach Mark told them to use small kicks and Molly got the hang of it really quickly.
Molly had a great time at her first soccer practice, and is looking forward to next week when we'll be outside (this week was in the soccer dome). Between playing tennis last week and soccer this week, she's becoming quite an athlete.
Our V week began with some pretty violets in a vase. This is what you get when you bribe a 3 year old with a treat if she'll smile for a picture!
We did a science project this week - the old school baking soda and vinegar volcano. Molly loved it! We did it at least 4 times.
We listened to Bob & Larry's Sunday Morning Songs all week and watched VeggieTales: Minnesota Cuke & The Search for Noah's Umbrella.
For our stART project (A Story + Art = A Great stART), we read The Surprise Garden. The story follows three young gardeners as they plant surprise seeds and anxiously await to see what vegetables have grown.
Molly then used vegetables as stamps to make a veggie print. She used a red onion, green pepper, squash, carrot, and celery. All the different shapes and textures were fun to paint with.
You can check out what other moms are doing with their tots at 1+1+1=1.
I played tennis with Dad. I was sad before tennis, but then tennis made me happy. We played on tennis courts number 3 and 4. Daddy throwed the ball to me, and I swinged my tennis racquet and hit the ball.
I bounced the ball into the air with a tennis racquet.
I threw the ball to Daddy and he swinged his tennis racquet.
And I throwed the ball into the air.
I runned and picked up all the balls. I weared my tennis shoes. I drank water from my pink water bottle. It was fun.
