Golf Anyone?

We went to Santee, which is where my parents live, to camp this past weekend.  Our plans ended up changing and we just spent the night with my parents.  The good part was that my dad, Mary Scott, and I went and played 9 holes of golf on Friday, and she had such a good time Kevin and I took her again on Saturday afternoon.  Kevin and I are hoping to brain wash her by taking her often when we she is little in hopes of her playing when she is older:) There are so many college scholarships in women's golf and you can play golf when you are old!  And let's be honest if she gets Kevin or my incredible height golf is the only shot she's got!

 So excited!

 Big Grandaddy and Mary Scott

 Serious golfer

 Look at that form

 Trying to figure out who is winning

 This girl loved riding in the golf cart

 So sweet

 2nd favorite part was taking the flag out and in

Back up job- Caddy

We had such a blast, and can't wait to take her back.  Looking forward to many more memories on the golf course!

Awesome Science Experiment

I found a really cool experiment on Pinterest, and I knew I wanted to try it with Mary Scott.  All you need is Ivory Soap and your microwave.  You put the Ivory Soap on a paper towel in the microwave, and I set the microwave for 3:00 minutes.  Then you just stand back and watch what happens!  Make sure you get a chair or something for your children so they can see the microwave.

                                                       Watching the soap get BIG!!

                                                 The soap is hard and not messy at all.

                                      Mary Scott is mixing the soap and warm water together

Putting the soap mix into the molds.  I wish I had a picture of the completed Mickey Soap, but I forgot to take one!

After we watched the soap "get big" I broke it off and put it in a bowl.  Then I added some warm water to the bowl and mixed the soap and water until it was like a pie crust consistency.  This is also when we added the food coloring.  After we finished mixing, we put it into the molds.  The first go around I couldn't get it out of the molds so I put it in the freezer for a little while and then it worked much better. I thought they turned out pretty cute, and we gave them as part of the favors for her birthday.  Mary Scott loves using the soap in the bathtub.  I would highly recommend this to anyone with children, and I think older boys would think this was so cool!

Oh "Two"ddles

Mary Scott had a Mickey Mouse 2nd birthday party!  She is OBSESSED with everything Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and she was so excited about her "Mickey Party."  We counted down the days, and when I would go get her in the mornings she would ask "birthday party day."  We had the party at our church, and had a great turnout with all our family and friends.  An important lesson Kevin and I want to instill in Mary Scott is giving to others, and one way we do that is to have party guests bring items to donate to a snack sack program at our church instead of bringing a gift.  I love it because we are teaching a great lesson, and I don't feel guilty inviting people because we aren't asking for gifts.  It also helps keep our house cleaner :)
I decided over the summer that I wanted to have an organized party with activities for the kids, which lent itself perfectly to a road rally (that is what they do on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for all you non fans).  I also had TONS of school supplies leftover from my classroom that I used, which really cut down on the cost.  I had 6 activities set-up around the gym, and had a path leading to all the different stations.  I gave the kids black paper plates to use as their steering wheels to drive.  I was nervous about having a lot of 2 year olds in an open gym and how well they would stay together, but they did great and their parents were a big help.  Anyway, enough babbling here are some pictures.

           I know I am biased, but I have one beautiful girl!  She was so excited for her party!  Her dress was from Etsy, and it was so cute and a great price!

 The awesome cake made by the best friends someone could ask for- Laura and her husband Nick!  They even dressed up for the party!  

 The kids made their goodie bags when they came in.  I had mickey mouse face cutouts to glue on the bags

 The smallest Mousekateer and Mary Scott's love- cousin Wyatt!

 The beanbag game was first and we had mickey mouse beanbags (sewn by Laura) to throw in a hula hoop that I covered in red wrapping paper with black circle ears made from construction paper.  I actually felt crafty when I made these :)

 The next activity was to paint sun catchers.  This didn't really fit into the theme, but it was inexpensive and I knew the kids would enjoy it.

 This was the kids favorite game!  I put mickey stickers on half of the balls, and we set up 4 buckets.  The kids had to run and get the balls with stickers and put them in the bucket.

 You can see some of the kids outsmarted me, and brought the bucket to the pool!

 We then had Mickey Bowling!  I found a mickey bowling set in one my closets at school.

 I had a ton of felt that I brought home from school, and I knew I had to use it in someway.  I realized I had the perfect colors to make a mickey face.  The kids glued on Mickey's face, eyes, nose, and mouth. Someone (Nick) did point out that Mickey's nose should have been black, but I had red so that is what it was.

 The birthday girl making her Mickey face

 The last game was a freeze game.  We had to have the hotdog dance, so we taped down pictures of the characters and the kids danced and then would freeze on one of the pictures when the music stopped.

 Mary Scott stuffing her face with the delicious cake!

 Mary Scott and her buddy Graelyn from "school"

 All of our birthday friends!

On her actual birthday we went to church and Sunday School and then took her to Monkey Joe's after her nap.  She had a blast!

The past 2 years have been incredible and we have gotten to watch our baby morph into a little girl.  I never dreamed I would have a child who would look like me (especially once I married Kevin) and the fact that she even acts like me is just hilarious!  

At 2 years old you love:

Babies (real and pretend), cooking (real and pretend), playing outside, talking, coloring, playing the iPad, Mickey Mouse clubhouse, talking, swimming, gymnastics, reading books, and talking!

Mary Scott- we can't wait to watch you continue to grow and to learn to love the Lord, and we hope you continue to shine and light up the lives of all those around you!

Da Beach

Mary Scott has been talking about going to "da beach" since Kevin and I came back from Mexico.  She loves playing this game where she covers her eyes and says, "Where's Mary Scott" and then I pretend like I can't see her and talk about where she may be and she always says she's at the beach.  It is really cute!  Anyways, we went with Kevin's parents and brother this past week and had a blast!  Mary Scott was unsure of the sand the first day, but then was all about it by the next day.  She would wake up and want to go "dig in the sand."  We had a great time!  Thanks Nana and Papa!  Here are some pics.

This was such a great vacation, and Mary Scott still asks about going back to the beach!

They're Only Young Once

Time seems to be flying by!  I can't believe that Mary Scott is going to be two in just a couple of weeks.  This time is so precious to me, and I have been so convicted lately to make sure that I have no regrets and give Mary Scott the best of me that she can be given.  God has blessed our family with the ability for me to be able to stay home with her part-time, and I plan on using that time wisely.  Kevin and my number one priority is to raise her to become a Godly woman, and I think an important part of that is letting her be a child.  I hate how fast children have to grow up in our society, and how quickly media bombards them.  I want her to enjoy the simple things in life, and to be able to "have fun" without the use of the TV, iPAD, phone, etc.  My goal is to try and do some type of fun and special activity at home with her, and to do one recipe with her a week.  I want her to learn through experience not through me forcing rote memorization down her throat.  I think parents can often get so concerned with how "smart" their chid is, and doesn't just let them be kids.  I just want her to be a happy well rounded kid who can get along with others.
 This week, when we did her water table I put in colored ice that was in the shape of stars.  We made the frozen stars for a kid's drink for our Olympics party, but I forgot to bring them out.  She had a blast putting them in the water, and she had an even better time eating the ice!  This was such an easy way to make the water table even more fun, and to talk about colors.

   Putting the Ice cubes in the water

This girl loves ice!  She was so excited when I brought this out.  I love the joy in her face!  She reminds me daily to find pleasure in the simple things.

One of the plusses of teaching special ed. is that you find all kind of cool things that are fabulous for preschool aged kids.  At school we have a computer program that provides us thousands of pictures of pretty much anything imaginable that we use to help children who are non-verbal be able to communicate through the use of pictures.  Before school got out, I went and downloaded and printed recipes that I had done with my kids at school, and some other recipes I found on the share sight.  They are wonderful, and provide so many great learning opportunities.  Mary Scott loves helping me in the kitchen, and the pictures really let her help, and let me teach her about recipes.

 Today we made Cinnamon Apple Muffins

 Stirring the Eggs

 Still stirring!

 I made her her own recipe book, and I put the recipes in page protectors, so that she can mark off the ingredients as we put them in the bowl with a dry erase marker.

 This is great for her fine motor skills, labeling, and sequencing

She helped me put the mix into the muffin tins- Can you tell?

She is so proud of herself when she cooks, and there are so many things that I can "teach" her while we are doing this, but we are having a great time and she doesn't even know she is learning.  This is some of my favorite time to spend with her (no matter how much of a mess she makes).  I can clean my house when she is 18, and she has moved out.  Until then, I am going enjoy every minute I have with her!  If you want to find some of these picture recipes you can google Recipes with Pictures for Children, and you should be able to find some.

Blueberries, Babies, and a Big Girl Bed

Blueberries
We have been busy lately.  I am trying to enjoy my last few days of full-time summer with Mary Scott! Last Saturday, we went and picked blueberries at Blueberry Hill in Lexington.  It was only 10 minutes from our house, and it was fantastic.  Mary Scott had a blast picking apples, grapes, strawberries, I mean blueberries.  We kept asking Mary Scott what we were picking and we got one of these 4 fruits each time, and then on the way home asked to go pick more apples! ha.

                   Carrying her bucket that blueberries did NOT get in because they all went in her mouth.

 Feeding daddy some blueberries

Babies
Mary Scott is OBSESSED with babies.  Real babies or baby dolls it doesn't matter.  She has two babies who she has named Lindsay (after a girl at daycare) and Katy (after Muah!  I will remember this when she is 15 and says she can't stand me).  We treat them like real people and they are included in all of our activities.  They get fed, read to, potty, and do everything else we do.  It is so cute the way Mary Scott talks to them and shows them things, and makes Kevin and I treat them like they are alive.  We even have to kiss them goodnight!
We also got to go meet a real live new baby this week at the Vitters' house.  Mary Scott couldn't wait to go to "Hannah's" house and meet Hayden.  He was so cute, and Mary Scott loved talking to him and getting near him.  She also loved their beautiful new house and playing with all of Hannah's baby dolls.  

                                                             Sweet Baby Hayden

                                     Baby Katy and Mary Scott eating- notice they are "sharing" the plate
Big Girl Bed
Kevin and I surprised Mary Scott with a big girl bed after she and I went to see my parents and grandma.  She is thrilled with her big girl bed, and has done great transitioning so far.

              Such a big girl!