Toddler Fine Motor Activity

I try to think of new fun activities to do with Rowen each week. My husband sent me a link a couple weeks ago that had different types of cool activities for kids to try out. I saw one that looked fun and not to mention there were only 2 things I needed for the activity. We had both things in the cabinet!

What you need:

Pipe Cleaners

A Colander 

I just showed Rowen what to do with the pipe cleaner and turned a handful of pipe cleaners over to him and let him go! He thought it was so fun and bonus...he was working on his fine motor skills! He was occupied with this for about 20 minutes.

He has asked to do his "pipe cleaner game" several times in the past week. Give it a try if you have a little one!! 

Life Lately::Rowen Edition!

I am a huge fan of the summer weather that has come upon us lately! I have 2 littles that love being outside so we have had plenty of days recently to enjoy our backyard and outside activities around town. I'm sharing what Rowen has been up to lately and the things that he currently loves! 

He is one HUGE nature lover! If he could live outside, he would! He has actually always loved the outdoors and that's one of the many things that I love about him. Rowen enjoys going to the zoo and to the park. He also likes to just run around our backyard and hunt for bugs. I can't imagine having a little boy who didn't like dirt, bugs, rocks, etc...

{ He's holding a gigantic "magic flower" courtesy of a country road in Lebanon, hanging out at the Zoo, found a ladybug in our backyard, and looking at a spider who made her home in our rose bushes }

Lately he has really been into working puzzles and doing crafts. He is really good at puzzles. We have a few of the 24-30 piece puzzles for him and he has no problem putting them together.  I try to do at least one new craft activity a week. In the pictures below, I traced stars, he colored them, I cut them out, and he helped tape twine on them. We hung them up in his room. You can see he loved that idea! 

He sure knows how to have a good time! We blew up his very large pool last week and filled it up with the 100's of balls we saved from his second birthday party. That thing is entertainment for hours I tell ya! Another favorite thing to do lately is build towers...and knock them down! 

He's got the sweetest smile and I love doing things with him that make him happy!! Life around here lately has been crazy...but in a really awesome way! I will take an energy filled-crazy fun day over a boring day anytime! And there is nothing boring about our lives with our sweet Rowen in them!

A yummy treat for any time of the day!

We love smoothies at our house! They're quick...they're easy...and they're yummy( and good for you )!

 Last week I blended one up for myself and I shared with Rowen. It was his first time having a "smoovie". He thought it was cool that he had a cup like me and his own straw. We drank them together while watching cartoons. He kept looking over at me with a huge smile. It warmed my heart! 

Anyways, here is what I usually put in my smoothie.

A handful of frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries, and frozen peaches. We keep our smoothie fruit in the freezer so that we don't have to add ice! If you don't want to buy all these fruits separately, there are bags of fruit for smoothies in the freezer section at the grocery store! I add one whole banana, a dolop or 2 of plain greek yogurt, and a splash of either apple or orange juice as well. I prefer orange juice but we were out! Blend it up and you've got yourself a delicious fruit smoothie! 

2 DIY projects completed

So I posted about a few projects that I wanted to do a few weekends ago HERE. I finished 2 out of the 3 and wanted to share my finished projects with y'all! 

This project was super easy! With the help of my husband, it took about 15 minutes( minus the time it took for the paint to dry )! I bought the large mason jar at Michael's a month or so ago and the rest of the items came from Home Depot. 

What you need:

a piece of wood

spray paint

a mason jar

a pipe clamp

saw tooth hanger

I hung the new mason jar wall vase in our hall bathroom!

I finally put up the gallery wall in our kitchen and I love it! I got the frames at the Strawberry Patch Sale a few weeks ago and bought the "E" at Michaels. 

I wanted a little pop of color so I painted 2 of the frames yellow. I just need to print out the pics to put in the frames! 

Our Weekend{ soccor, golf, & strawberries}

Our nephew, Connor, plays soccer and we hadn't been able to go watch one of his games until this past Saturday. The games are an hour away from where we live so it wasn't like we could just jump in the car and be there in a few minutes! He did such a good job. Rowen wanted to be out there running around too! I knew he would. He loves any outside activity. I think he will love playing sports when he gets old enough. 

Rowen and Connor after the game.

We spent the rest of our Saturday resting and doing things around the house and out in the yard. We took a trip to Home Depot to get some stuff for some projects I wanted to do and we grabbed some flowers for around our mailbox. I had planted zinnias( I love how colorful zinnias are )there but I think a really late frost got them! I covered them up but it didn't seem to work. So I dug those sad wilty sprouts up and planted some really pretty yellow and white flowers. With a name like Lemon Twist, I just had to have them! 

Sunday was a nice day and especially since it was Mother's Day! My husband is really thoughtful. I woke up Sunday morning to get ready for church and he had my favorite drink( iced vanilla latte )and my favorite pastry( lemon pound cake )from Starbucks waiting for me in the kitchen! Yum. He also had picked out a beautiful bouquet of flowers and bought me a Polar watch/heart rate monitor...in pink. I had been eyeing that for a while! 

After the kiddos woke up from their naps, we headed to a local farm to pick strawberries. Rowen LOVED it! It's so fun to watch excitement radiate from your children. The smiles and all the giggles while we were out there was one of the best moments of the day!! 

{look at that beautiful sky}

Rowen asks to go outside and play a lot. I love that about him! He loves being outside...so do I! He got a golf set for Christmas so we got that out of the box and tested it out. 

He really enjoyed playing with it and he plays with it every time we go outside and play now. I love that we have room in our backyard for him to get out there and run around. 

We ended the by going to my parents house for dinner and celebrating with my mom. It was a really wonderful day spent with people that I love!

3 DIY projects for my weekend!

I have three projects that I am wanting to do this weekend. I have bits and pieces for each project so I just need to get a few more things. Home Depot here I come! The first one I have been wanting to do for a while...

Mason Jar Wall Vase

Things I need:

I already have the wood and a very large mason jar! Just need the paint and pipe clamp. I am wanting to paint the wood light yellow( to match the colors in our hall bath )and then put a bouquet of my favorite flowers in the jar...alstroemerias! 

The next project...

Criss Cross Planters

I love criss cross planters and with the help of Brent, we are going to make 2( smaller than these! )to go on either side of our back door. I just have to decide what color to paint them! 

And lastly...

A Gallery Wall in our kitchen

I already have the frames. I just need to figure out what kind of layout I want. 

I am leaning towards #7 or #11. Both layouts would need to be turned vertical though. I love DIY projects! I'll have pics of the final products next week! 

These 2!

{This is just a picture post!} Rowen and Isla are just the sweetest littles!! I am overjoyed everyday that they are mine and am extremely happy that I get to be their mommy!