So Cal by Train

February 14, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

Taking a train isn’t a terrible way to travel. No security, no lines and not many people.

My trip started in downtown SD and I grabbed a seat by the window, ocean side of course. Computer, water, phone, Kindle and enough on my mind to keep me occupied. What more does a girl need?

The weather was AMAZING and so was the view. Amtrack runs along the ocean until San Juan Capistrano and then hit heads inland a bit. Making quite a few stops but they are so quick it’s almost unnoticeable.

The two girls in front of me passed the time talking about makeup and “oh my god, like totally don’t use a makeup sponge because it makes your skin so, bleh” Her words, not mine! Then they chatted about where to drink in LA. Reservations were made at Beni-Hana a few minutes later…typical.

The time went by fast, 3 hours later we were in LA. The scenery changed and I put more effort into a book that is hard to get going on.Then a woman went to get cup of water out of the dispenser and it sprayed her in the face. That was enough to decide that people watching and day dreaming is more fun.

Once in Ventura we stopped by the hotel to drop off my ~~shit~~ bags and then we walked up to Main st. for dinner. This was the view on our walk.

Not too shabby of a day.

Weekly Favorites

February 13, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Today I am leaving on mini vacation. Thanks to my family I can get away for the weekend sans K bear. Destination, San Francisco. I really can’t wait. Sitting on a train, watching the ocean go by, reading and writing. ALL BY MYSELF! I don’t get to say that often…so I am going to bathe in those words for the day.

Favorite Recipe- Scallops + bacon + brussel sprouts? Um, I have a feeling this is going to be good.

Favorite For The Home– In my other life, the one where I live in a beach house. This will be my bathroom.

Favorite Photo– Seriously, this is a good picture. David and Redfoo from LMFAO. They met at the Australian open. I told him to invite him over…still waiting.

Favorite Valentine’s Day Idea- Valentine’s day or Thursday, whatever you want to call it…This is fun for the kids, or the adults depending on who you are.

Favorite Quote– I may do just this.

Favorite Funny- There are some days I just outdo myself.

Everyday Life In Photos

February 12, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

Paper Towel Roll Heart Printing

February 11, 2013February 11, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

Replace a paintbrush with an empty paper towel roll for a twist on Valentine art.

Bend the paper towel roll into a heart shape. I taped mine just to keep it’s shape.

Kaili didn’t waste any time to get going.

So easy. So fun!

Happy Valentines Day!

Playdough Add Ons

February 7, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

PlayDough, an obvious favorite for children. It’s great for little hands to manipulate and helps build fine motor skills. A simple tactile activity and it can be used in so many different ways. They can pull it, squash it, roll, it cut it, flatten it, poke it and so on.

One extension to enhance their imagination is to introduce toy animals.

After a while you can introduce another element.

The ideas are endless.

PlayDough Tool Ideas

popsicle sticks

toy cars

toy animals

sticks, leaves, rocks from an outside nature walk

buttons

dried noodles

dried beans

shells for making imprints

sand for a different texture

googly eyes for funny faces or sad faces—> then you can talk about emotions. See how this works?

The Jewel of the Pretzel

February 5, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

I finally made these. I really like this girls blog, she is a kick ass baker and her posts are fun to read. These have been taunting me on Pinterest for like evAH. When Kiah and I started making these we realized quickly how bad at shaping pretzels we are and what a terrible job it would be. We slowly got better by the last batch. Not a 10 in the looks department but the taste is what counts and these are good. I also made the cheese sauce to go with it and it was a hit, they were all gone by the end of the day.

It was a perfect weather weekend and we took advantage and spent Friday in La Jolla. The Sea lions were showing off and even a squirrel got in on the action. Then we hit one of our favorite restaurants WhiskNLadle for lunch.

Heart Printing

January 31, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

Printing with cookie cutters is perfect for little hands. Easy to grab and manipulate plus fun to do. I gave K one heart cookie cutter and one color which she got to choose. A little later I let her choose one more color to add, she chose white {I would have chosen pink} what does she know?

Once she showed signs of being close to done, I gave her a paintbrush to extend this activity.

21 Months

January 30, 2013January 30, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

K turns 21 months old today, do you know what that means? I don’t either but I thought I would ask. Last night I gave some milk to the cat and told Kaili to just watch and not to touch. A few seconds later I hear a clink and I ask her if she spilled the milk. Her little feet pitter pattered to me, I asked again. “Kaili did you spill the milk?” She nods her head and says “yes” and then runs back to the cat. So innocent and so darn cute.

She loves berries, raisins, beans, macaroni and cheese, masala veggie patties and ketchup she will eat that stuff with her fingers if she has to. She still isn’t a huge eater so I’ve started giving her smoothies to get more nutrition into her.

Lately she enjoys watching Franklin more than Barney and has just recently found it amusing to take all her clothes and diaper off. Not so funny when I find her naked in her crib with pee everywhere, just pee luckily. I read a little on what to do about this and found a couple good ideas. One is to put a onesie on under her clothes and the other is to duct tape her diaper on. I will start with the onesie first.

We have introduced the potty but she isn’t ready yet, despite the nakedness.

She is in a speech class now and it’s once a week at Rady’s Childrens Hospital. The teacher is speech pathologist and at the end of the class {6 weeks} we will be told what our next step will be. It’s an hour long deal, the kiddos start at circle time, sing songs and read stories and then they play at the table with a manipulative toy or a creative activity. After clean up, they all sit at the table for snack time, it’s cute to watch. Throughout the class language is prominent, we ask the children a lot of questions and repeat certain words over and over along with using sign language.

Kaili has quickly picked up some words in sign language which has been a big help. I should have taught her a long time ago, oh well watcha gonna do? Since Kaili is getting the signing so well, her teacher told me we should start working on signing two words together i.e.. “more water?” Or “help please!” I guess this means I should start learning it myself.

Entertain Your Toddler

January 28, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

I have two activities that will help develop your child’s fine motor skills while entertaining them AKA keep them out of your hair.

Pipe Cleaners and the Colander

Grab a bag or five of pipe cleaners. {I found some Target in the $ bins} Then get out your trusty colander.

Show your kiddo how to put the pipe cleaners into the colander holes.

promotes- fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. You can also sort the pipe cleaners into color groups and have your child put all the blue ones in. This will promote color recognition and following directions.

Pop Poms and the Container

While you are out getting pipe cleaners also grab a bag or five of pom pons {not the rah rah kind, the craft kind}

Save one of your empty food containers {ie. sour cream or cottage cheese} and once it’s clean cut a few holes in the lid, this is easily done with scissors.

Show your child how to put the pom poms through the holes. You can sort by color or count them as you go.

promotes- fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, listening and following directions, counting recognition and color recognition

This should give you a free few minutes so spend them wisely. Once they grow tired of the activities put them away and re-introduce in a few days.

Valentine Art

January 25, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

I know, it’s not even February yet. However I have like a million valentine crafts I want to do and Shane and I will be out of town when the Hallmark holiday hits, so I gotta get a move on. Last year she wasn’t quite old enough to do much so instead I did this to her.