Elise's Book Pick

We've had a sick house for the past few days.  Elise was sick first, and Millie has been sick for 3 days.  Elise seemed to be feeling better this morning, so I begged Bud to stay with Millie so I could take Elise to the library for a much needed trip out of the house.  Last time we went, she was so good, I had to pat myself on the back and remind myself what a great job I'm doing parenting my challenging toddler.  Well, today she set out to prove me wrong.  As soon as the librarian started story time, Elise got up and started handing books out to all the little kids.  It seemed sweet, until she started becoming disruptive.  I put an end to it by trying to hold her on my lap.  Fail.  She decided to work on puzzles instead.  Once she was done with that (after about a minute and a half) she decided to start pulling books off the shelves.  I had to chase after her, picking up after her path of destruction.  One of the books she selected, she refused to let go of, so I let her check it out.  After I had selected a total of 12 library books (we always check out 12 so we never forget how many we have to look for on library day), we left.  I was so flustered while checking out the books, and so busy talking to the librarian, that I didn't look at the books I was getting.
When I got home, I took the books out of the bag to show Millie what I got, and was surprised to see the book Elise picked out.  Yep, it pretty much sums up our trip to the library today.  Here it is:

Project Simplify - Week 1

I'm sooo excited to do Project Simplify!  We are a family of four, living in less than 900 square feet, so any help I can get decluttering and simplifying, is always welcome!

The week one challenge was to sort through our clothes and get rid of anything that we don't wear.  We are a little deprived in the clothing department as it is, so this was a super easy challenge for me. 

The week 2 challenge, on the other hand, will be very rewarding/challenging.  Stay tuned for before and after pics!  

Busy Bee's Virtual Playgroup

Every week my pal Heather posts an activity to do with Elise.  It's been so much fun!  Elise is trying new things, and I'm feeling less like a slacker-mom because of it. 

Here are some of the activities we've been doing for the past few weeks:

Week 1 we polished pennies with plain water, then again with vinegar and salt.  Elise spent about 20 minutes polishing the pennies until they shined!

The same day we filled a bowl full of water and a little bit of dish soap.  Elise blew bubbles for 25 minutes!

The following week, we made pizzas out of paper plates and paper bits.  Millie decided to make "the most disgusting pizza ever!"  What she meant was, "I'm going to put veggies on my paper pizza".

Last week we made a butterfly sock puppet.  Elise liked painting the sock, but really didn't want to have anything to do with it afterwards.  Our intention was to have a "butterfly dance" after her nap.  We'd listen to music, and dance slow when the music was slow, and fast when the music was fast.  That didn't happen.  It wasn't until Millie came home from school later in the day that she'd even put it on her hand.  Stinker!

Today we played with glasses of water!  We filled up three glasses at different levels, and listened to the different sounds they made when we tapped them with a spoon.  After that, we put in food coloring, and mixed the primary colors to see what colors they made when mixed.  Elise surprised me by telling me the colors "orange" and "green".  I'm starting to think she is only pretending that she doesn't know her colors...