Toddler Time: Watercolors

 I picked up a small set of watercolors for less than $3 because I thought it would be fun to let Olive paint.  Turns out that the water was just as much fun for her as the color!

You'll need:

a small bowl of water

watercolors

a few paint brushes

blank sheets of paper - I used printer paper

I explained a few "rules" to Olive before we got started...

the paint was for the paper and not her mouth,

no dumping the water

and try to accept some help from mom.

We also painted in our pjs so we didn't have to worry about making a mess.

I learned that she wanted to do everything herself, she wanted to use every single paint brush without my help, painting any surface was fun and dipping the brush into the paint and then making a burst of color appear in the water evoked some WHOAs and OH MYs.

I changed the water often and changed out her paper when it got too wet.  She loved it so much and painted 7 different works of toddler art.  I let them dry and have a fun Thanksgiving project in the works for you later this week.

The only meltdowns we had were when 

I stopped to get new water or clean the brushes.  Oh toddlers...

I just cleaned her brushes and she was anxious to taste them...

 We had a great time making art together.  I learned that toddlers are capable of more than I give them credit for and it's got me thinking about other things we can try together - play dough, sensory activities and other art projects.

Clean up was really simple.  I just ran the paint tray under a little water to restore the colors, dumped the water, rinsed the brushes and wiped off our coffee table.

Weekending

We had a great weekend at our house.

The weather was nice, the mood was happy and the company was great.

We played outside and made a bonfire.  This meant I got to have my first s'mores of the season and dessert is always a highlight for me.  We also ate yummy dinners, Olive slept in until 9:00am on Saturday which was an amazing since she's usually up at 7 and we watched our beloved Notre Dame find a way to lose once again.  At least the season is wrapping up and we can remember how fun the first part of starting out 6-0 was.

Olive's WINTER coat, hat and gloves arrived

so we are ready for any weather!

It wasn't cold enough to wear them, but it sure was fun to try them on.

Kevin was in charge of building the fire and for teaching Olive about fire safety.  I'd been wanting a fire pit so he got one for me for my birthday.  Olive wasn't so sure about the fire, but she loved climbing up and down into the chair.

 I ate a few s'mores.

 Our back porch was full of leaves so I knew I wanted to tidy up a bit before the rain came.  Sweeping leaves is actually pretty entertaining for toddlers so we swept for a while.  It was messy and took twice as long, but Olive thought it was the best game.  Maybe Santa should bring her a tiny broom??

 We played and enjoyed our backyard.

Swinging is Olive's happy place.

That and steering her pretend ship atop her slide tower.

She shouts gibberish and steers the day away

then counts ONE, TWO and slides down the slide.

We got a lot of rain on Sunday.  It paused just long enough for us to go to and from church and then we hurried home to watch it rain again.

Hope you had a great weekend!!

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Confessions...

I have a new bunch of confessions to share with you today...  Enjoy :)

//1// My husband took me out to my favorite Mexican restaurant for my birthday.  We went for dinner and were really looking forward to it.  We went to place our drink order and the server said they were having a two for one margarita special.  Kevin wanted to get one so he was trying to talk me into jumping on the fruity drink bandwagon.  He said, "Come on, Whit.  It's your birthday."  I shot him an evil look because we made a pact to never mention the B word (birthday) at restaurants.  We ordered margaritas, ate our weight in chips and salsa, ate dinner and then the server asked if it really was my birthday.  Kevin tried to back peddle and say that I didn't want anything for my birthday.  He thought he'd taken care of it, but I was skeptical.  Shortly after that conversation, a sombrero the size of texas and a group of singing servers were headed my way.  I played along.  Wore the sombrero and smiled.  Olive was confused.  They set this dessert in front of me and then scooped up a bite to serve me.  I didn't know what else to do so I opened my mouth to take a bite and he smeared the whip cream all over my nose/mouth.  Kevin looked horrified.  I could hardly believe what just happened and gladly accepted a napkin to wipe myself off.  They all walked away and Kevin looked like he wanted to die.  I kind of did, too.  The moral of the story... never say the B word at a mexican restaurant.

//2// I was shopping at Target with Olive and we were checking out the baby puree aisle.  There was a Target employee stocking shelves in the same aisle.  While we were looking around this ladies entire pony tail fell off and was laying on the floor.  I was surprised to see it and she didn't seem to notice.  She turned around to pick up something and then realized her weave was on the floor.  She quickly snatched it up and muttered something under her breath.

//3// I was in the check out line at Wal-Mart and Olive was ready to go home.  She wanted out of the cart, was trying to grab things from the cart and was throwing her head around.  I've mentioned several times that she's had a cold & ear infections lately.  So she sneezes a super sneeze and is a hot mess.  I did not have any kleenexes handy #momfailmoment.  I had to try to hold onto her hands, dig through my bag and do it all quickly so no one would be grossed out.  Lesson learned.  Keep kleenexes in my pocket from now on.

//4// I have just a little more Christmas shopping left to do and then I'm DONE!!  I took full advantage of on-line sales, free shipping and lots of list making to not have any Christmas shopping to do in December.  This is definitely a first for me and I'm thrilled at the prospect of going into December and not having to stress about shopping.  I'm hoping to fill my days with gingerbread house making, cooking baking and decorating.

//5// My cat, Topher, thinks it's quite entertaining to climb up the back of my computer chair and rest his head/paws on my shoulder.  He'll nuzzle my face and meow in my ear.  I never knew cats liked to sit on shoulders.

//6// I made an Oreo cheesecake for my birthday.  I broke the cardinal rule of only using name brand cream cheese and my cheesecake was lumpy.  I was trying to save money and it bombed.  I ended up making a chocolate cake the next day so I could have a birthday dessert do over.  I should have just been boring and made my favorite dessert - chocolate cake.

//7// I have zero Christmas decorations out and won't be putting up any until December.  Some years we've decorated in November (when Thanksgiving is earlier in the month or if we are going to be out of town for Thanksgiving).  We are going to get a live tree and are excited to deck the halls in December.  We'll probably leave them up half way through January, too.

//8// Kevin accidentally took both sets of our car keys with him to work yesterday.  I didn't really need to go anywhere so it wasn't a huge deal.  I figured we could go for a walk and play outside, but then I realized both of our strollers were in the trunk of my car.  I turned to google for some options and gave this one a try.  Called Kevin had him press the unlock button on my car keys and held my phone up to the car to see if it would transmit the signal.  It did not.  Stupid google.

Linking up with A Blonde Ambition & Fess Up Friday

Best of My Birthday Week

I've spent the entire week celebrating my 33rd birthday.  

We have done fun things as a family, gotten take out and I've enjoyed getting to do whatever I want since I was the birthday girl.  It's kind of nice to be queen for the week :)  I got to do some fun shopping, eat yummy desserts and heard from many family and friends.  My 17 month old daughter also said "Love you" to me for the first time which might just be my favorite birthday present EVER. 

The best parts of my week were...

1. I'm getting so excited for Thanksgiving

and definitely have turkeys on the brain.

I shared a chocolate turkey tutorial earlier this week.

 

2. My blog got a makeover and I LOVE it!!!

It suits me perfectly.

3.  These designer inspired sunglasses from Amazon have gotten a lot of attention lately and I knew I had to give them a try.  They only cost $5.50 a pair, come in black and tortoise shell and come with a little protective case.  I figured they were worth trying because they were such affordable knock offs, on trend and free returns.  

Let me tell you... they are GREAT!  I know they are large, but they fit really well and don't squeeze my head.  Which is saying a lot from someone who has a big head :)  You should check them out!! 

via Amazon

4. We went out for Mexican this week and it was great 

because (one) two for one margaritas, 

(two) Olive figured out how to dip her chips in salsa which was entertaining 

& (three) Our dinner was delicious.

 5. I was getting groceries at Wal-Mart this week and saw these Christmas leggings in the women's section.  They were so cute and festive that I knew I had to buy them.  I'm thinking they'll make great pj pants and lounge wear this holiday season.  They come in sizes S-1X and cost $5.88!!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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Game Days at Our House

Notre Dame game days at our house are always a lot of fun.

We eat yummy appetizers, watch the game together and cheer for the Irish.

Some games are more fun than others,

but we always enjoy the game day experience.

Olive has her share of ND gear to wear so she's always decked out and so are we.  It's fun to sing the fight song with her, to teach her how to throw her hands in the air for a touchdown and to read her Irish picture books.  Her favorite is Let's Go Irish by Aimee Aryal.  It's a sweet book that has the leprechaun go to all the favorite spots on campus where he hears a chorus of Let's Go Irish!  We read this book multiple times a day at Olive's request.

via amazon

My mom sent Olive her first cheerleader outfit this year and it looks so cute.  I bought some pom-poms at Target dollar bins and the cats are more interested in them than Olive at this point.  She loves to wear her outfit and ends up twirling around in it.  It's adorable.

 Being a football fan can be an emotional roller coaster, but it sure is fun :)

Do you have any fun game day traditions for your family??