Olvera Street in L.A.

Mondays are Jeff's day off, and my Grandparents from Sacramento were in town for a couple days, so we decided to take the Metrolink into L.A. and visit Olvera Street. They've got all sorts of Mexican-style shops and restaurants.

The train ride was a success!

It took about an hour, and the boys enjoyed walking around (upstairs and downstairs) and not having to be buckled in!

I really enjoyed the time visiting with my grandparents!

Jackson got a bus-- he has perfected saying the word BUS... we took a train and his favorite part, was the bus! :)

L.A. Fair in September

Growing up, whenever we used to tell my parents, "That's not fair!" My dad would always say, "Fair-time only comes in September." Well, September came and we had to go to the fair!

While taking this picture, my mom kept yelling "Kirsti, you're a boy, you're a boy!!" She wanted me to switch places with Jackson, but I was holding him up with one hand so I yelled back, "Dad's a cow, just take it already!"

We enjoyed feeding the animals, until they started attacking us...

this one was getting frisky with me and Tyler was terrified!

Then we had Dr. Bob's ice cream (a famous local treat!) Jackson stole my cone after a few minutes

...and was covered in strawberry sorbet

Tyler got to ride the pony ride. he was really excited. He told me that "Grandma told me it was a little horse. But it's not little. Silly grandma!"

The {not} little pony ride

Fake tractor ride!

We had a hard time getting the boys out of this place. It was super fun!

They had a really cool animatronic dinosaur exhibit. Tyler was fascinated and terrified all at the same time. This dinos' neck would move back and forth. While I was taking this picture, Tyler would not turn to look at the camera. He said, "Don't let the monsters get me Grandma!" and wouldn't take his eyes of them!

My dad said I took too many pictures. :)

We also saw part of the Bodies exhibit, which was really cool too!! Saw my old high school biology teacher who had us dissecting dead cats and looking at cadavers. It was cool.
We really had a blast!

Silly Jackson

We've recently discovered that our little Jackson has quite the sense of humor. Even without saying sentences yet, he cracks us up all the time. He can say a billion words and uses them at the funniest times. Today after dinner, I grabbed him to take him to the bathroom to wash his hands. He yelled "Bye, bye, bampa!" for the 20 seconds he was away from him. Then he ran back up to him and said, "Hi Bampa!" like he hadn't seen him in years!! Silly guy!

It's moments like this that remind me how lucky we are to be here and that my boys know their grandparents.

Just a couple funny places Jackson has been when I had a camera handy. He is always putting things on his head, like his dinner bowl or diaper, and crawls into the funniest places.

Anytime he sees bare skin, he has to buzz it. Be careful what you flash him :) Ond day, he buzzed my dad's leg.

If you tell him to say cheese, he makes this face. This is when he is happy. If you tell him to be happy, he chants the word "happy" over and over. Or if he's in a bad mood, he says, "uh-uh"

And he dances to any music at all, even hymns :)

C is for Colors, Counting Cars, and Clothespins

A couple weeks ago, we hosted preschool and learned about the letter C! We began with the Do-A-Dot markers and used this page from Confessions of a Homeschooler (link on sidebar)

Then we made a color collage with random craft bits- stickers, feathers, jewels, beads, foam stickers... The kids stuck or glued the items that match the colors in their correct square.

Snack-time with a Cup, Crackers, Carrots, Cookies and Craisins!

I made this really cool game that they LOVED doing! I used sharpies to color the clothespins and turned pipe cleaners into a loop. They then matched the correct color loop and pinned on the clothespin. Not only do they think about the colors, but use fine motor skills too!

They each got one bag with a set of colors each:

At playtime they did Crab-walks, Cat-stretches and played Catch. Then they played with toy Cars.

We finished the day by Counting Cars... I saw this idea here: My Montessori Journey

I decided 5 was ambitious enough, drew out 1-5 on the writing strip, and a number on each car. They had to match the number and count to 5 at the same time.

Somedays I wish I could teach Preschool everyday. And on most days, I'm glad I don't have to! I love the idea of having mom's teach and rotate around, it's genius. Our next day is H, full of fun Halloween crafts and learning games!

Saturday Tradition

Every Saturday Jeff works in the mornings and my dad plays racquetball... so it's a Mother-daugher/Grandma-grandkids kinda morning! We go to McDonalds for breakfast (yum!) and then to the nearby small airport that will remain name-less (can't be too careful for those crazies! :P) and watch the airplanes!

It's so fun to be so close and hear their engines so close and loud!

Jackson yells "airpum" and since we live so close we hear them all day long too!

Doesn't my mom's hair look super cute straight?!!

Look how close the landings are- like right on top of us! (I'm not zoomed in at all!)

I love our Saturday Tradition!!

Hollywood and Tyler Funnies

Today at preschool the boys learned about the days of the week.

Tonight Jeff looked up "How to Train your Dragon" to see when it comes out on video.

He said to Tyler, "Hey, guess what comes a month from TODAY?!"

And he said, "Tuesday?"

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Jeff took the boys to Hollywood on his day off on Monday! They had a blast.

Yesterday, we were doing errands with my mom and she was in a tight parking spot. She said, "Wow, I hope we can get out of here" or something like that.

Tyler laughed and said, "I have no idea how ta get outta here."

That made us laugh and I said, "You are so funny Tyler, you make me laugh!"

Then he said, "Just like Daddy."

And I said, "Yeah Daddy makes me laugh too."

And then he said, "Daddy say, I have no idea how to go outta HOLLYWOOD!"

Which made us bust out laughing!! I called Jeff to tell him and he was like "yeah, we were lost for awhile!"

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The tale of a happy boy...

A Solution for Sleeping Troubles:

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jackson. He is so cute that even when he is being a terror (ripping things off shelves, attacking the bird cage, throwing his food...) it's hard to be mad at him when he smiles like this.

Mr. Jackson is so talented that he learned how to climb out of his pack'n'play. He'd climb out, walk to the door and start pounding on it for a long time, at every naptime and bedtime. This, overtime coupled with traveling and time change led to a very tired baby who would wake up at 6am day after day. And not just wake up at the crack of dawn when it's still dark outside, but he'd wake up angry!

So Jeff and I spent a couple hours sorting through our storage to get all of Jack's crib parts. We get it home, build the crib and I put Jackson to bed with a sigh of relief that our unhappy baby days are over. I go in a couple hours later with Tyler and who do I find sleeping in Tyler's bed? Jackson! Oh Boy.

My lovely Mom sees me tired and grouchy and takes me to go buy a crib tent to solve this problem once and for all! We zip him up, say goodnight and tip-toe away.

The last couple days, the boys have been up at 7:00am instead of 6:00 {what a difference that hour makes}. And they lived happily ever after.

THE END!

A is for Anteater, Aquarium, Animals and Alphabet

Yesterday we did the second lesson for the letter A!

Last week he saw that picture of an Anteater and Tyler asked what he was called. I told him it was an anteater and he just kept laughing and didn't believe me. I told him he has a long nose and tongue to eat the ants in an ant hill and that's why it was called an anteater. He still thought I was kidding. Then he found one in his animals collection and was so happy he started laughing again. So that's what he brought to show & tell!!

The next thing we did was the Aa coloring page with these super cool paint markers:

and then a little play-doh fun (which I don't have a picture of). We took a printout with the letter Aa in dotted lines and put it in a page protector. Then they take a magic marker to practice drawing the letter a few times. Once they're done and erase it again, they can stretch playdoh into snakes and make the letter on top of the shapes again.

The big project of the day is the aquariums. I love the idea and found details here: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/diorama/aquarium/

It was a great day! Everyone had fun and did well! Can't wait for our next lesson I teach: the letter C!

Lately we've been working on the alphabet song, and recognizing letters. I thought of this fun activity for Tyler and I to do during Jackson's nap time-- I printed out an alphabet page and then brought out the letter tiles from Bananagrams (scrabble tiles would work too!) Then he gets to match the tile to the letter and name it as he does.

The other day we were eating apples and he said, "apple starts with A and A says /a/!" Then another time he asked, "What does B say?" I thought that was pretty funny. He's starting to catch on and it is really fun to see him make connections and learn new letters!!

Friday Five

1. Preschool Started:

This week we had our first day of preschool! We are doing a rotating joyschool again where the moms teach the kids and we trade off each week. Tyler had a little bit of a hard time on the first day, but I have to remember that the first month or so was tough last year too. He is the youngest in the class again and just has trouble sitting still.

I'm teaching on Monday and we are doing the letter A. SO I'll let you know how that goes :)

2. My Gym:

Tyler loved doing gymnastics classes in Texas (at the Metroplex) and we found a great place here called MY GYM. They have weekly classes plus a weekly free play, which Jackson can go to also. It's fun to have something special to add to our schedule!

3. A New Style:

I got my hair cut this week! Not sure if I love the style with the top layers down (they are really short!), but I do love the length of the longer pieces and how easy it is to do!

4. Sending Smiles and LOEP:

We are working on a project for the Liberia Orphan Education Project-- making ABC, 123, and color sign language flashcards. We are also doing school kits, so if you want to sew some bags or print flashcards, go here. My sewing machine is behind piles and piles of boxes in our storage unit, so I'll just be making the flash cards. But I think I'll make a set of regular ABC cards for Tyler while I'm at it!

5. Fall time Swaperoo

SO excited to announce we are doing another Fall Swap! Head over to the Swap blog for dates and details. I believe I will be making this:

and these:

Can't wait!