In February I began making hair clips and jokingly called my "shop" – Sugar Mamma’s Shop. Just recently I decided to expand and add a new "shop" page to my blog. I am still making hair clips as a hobby, but if you are interested in buying any you should check out the new page. Just click on Sugar Mamma’s Shop above for details!
Here is a sample of the free business cards I ordered from Vista Print.
Mikayla loved her fall sensory tub so much, I decided to put together a Christmas/winter tub. I added in some scoops for her to use this time as well! Here is the completed tub. I hope she has as much fun with this as she did the fall one!
Here are some close ups of what I included this time:
Cotton balls (for snow) and scoops
Candles that "light up" and textured snowflakes. Turns out Mikayla is not a fan of the scratchy texture!
Tinsel garland and jingle bell bracelets
Tiny clay ornaments
Any suggestions for a January tub?
Last year I wrote about how making cinnamon rolls was a family tradition with my mom’s side of the family. Another tradition I have always taken part in on Thanksgiving and Christmas is making deviled eggs. According to my grandma, I have been making these eggs with her and my Aunt Beverly since I was around five. It is something I look forward to every year and take very seriously! Just ask Ben! Here is the process.
First boil some eggs, let them cool and then peel them.
Next, very carefully slice the eggs in half and remove yolks into a separate bowl.
Mash the yolks up really good! Add mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, and sweet pickle juice until you reach desired consistency. You just have to use your judgment here, years of experience make a difference!
Finally, scoop mixture in boiled egg whites and sprinkle with paprika. These are really best if made the day you will be serving them!
Last, eat and enjoy time with family!
Mikayla chilling with her great grandma!
In case you didn’t know, Ben and I graduated from Western Kentucky University (three times for me actually) where the mascot is Big Red (basically a big red blob with a huge mouth)! Everyone, at some point or another in their WKU career have a photo op with Big Red. Here is a picture from my glory days.
Over Thanksgiving, we decided to head to a WKU basketball game. Mikayla loved watching all the people and playing with the pom-poms from a little girl behind us. Even though it was well past her bedtime and went into double overtime, she still had a blast. However, I would say her favorite part of the game was meeting Big Red. After she got up close with him and took her picture she kept pointing to him around the gym. It was so sweet!
I think she was trying to figure out why his mouth was so big!
Silly faces!
Hanging with Grandpa.
Checking out the pom-poms! Notice her cutey Big Red clip!
GO TOPS!
After Big Red, I would say popcorn was the highlight of her night!
Watching the action with Grandma!
I bet you can’t guess who is lurking in the cabinet?
Any guesses yet? Here is a clue: She is the cutest blue eye, blond headed 18.5 month old…
Peek A Boo! I see you!
As Mikayla would say, "Mor" or in English "more"!
This child is starting to get a bit of a pot belly!
This has become one of Mikayla’s new favorite games. Along with snack, candy, chips and of course reading her books. Can you tell daddy stays at home with her? Just kidding, I am pretty sure I indulge in her requests as much as (if not more than) Ben! Here are some more cute snapshots of Mikayla.
She is turning into quite the "shaggy" girl!
On a non-Mikayla related note, I made these fantastic Fiesta Beef and Black Bean Enchiladas the other night. They were easy and surprisingly tasty. The only thing I altered was to add some bell peppers (red, yellow and green…all leftovers from a previous meal) and onions. As well as a dash or two of cumin, oregano, and black pepper. If I were to make them over again I think I would use the Queso Blanco from Nice and Cheesy (off brand of Velveeta found at Kroger) instead of traditional Velveeta. The cilantro on top is a must, as it adds a little extra kick to the dish. We served with chips and Mexican rice. It also warmed up pretty good too! This is a definite keeper in our recipe box!
Have 18 months really passed since Mikayla was born?
She wasn’t very happy here, just moments after her arrival!
Much happier here. Side note – she is sporting a hat made by the one and only Brittany. You can purchase one too for $10!
It is crazy how time flies! Dr. F said Mikayla looked great at her check up on Tuesday. At 18 months she was 32 inches long, weighed in at 22 lbs and her head was a whopping 47 cm. She has grown 3.5 inches since her one year appointment…the nurse was super impressed with this growth. I mean I knew she had grown, but wow! She is still below average in weight and head circumference, but is above the red average line in height. She is also talking more, not sentences yet, but she is putting "I" in front of a lot of statements. For example "I poo poo", "I eat", etc. She is also signing more and communicating with us when she has gone to the bathroom. She doesn’t usually tell us beforehand that she needs to go, but almost always tells us after the fact. I believe we are on our way to potty training this little baby! She still only eats one good meal a day, but apparently that isn’t stopping her from growing!
She took her two shots like a champ at her 18 month checkup! As a reward we went to the park for a little fun, including Ben attempting to fly his homemade kite!
Mikayla loves her tub! I am already making plans for a winter themed tub. Any suggestions?
Daddy’s kite!
Her concentration face!
Making mommy a snack!
Sliding with daddy is so much fun!
A somewhat successful self portrait.
Mikayla, what did you do when you were 18 months old? Oh I just hung around!
We don’t have very many leaves in our yard, but I wanted Mikayla to get to experience playing in fall leaves. So, we headed north to Smiths Grove to play in the leaves with Lylah and Lara. I think the girls had a good time, and as usual Mikayla was her typical comical self. We ended the day with a delicious breakfast for dinner and story time at the local library. Mikayla loved dancing around with scarves and got extremely tickled when I painted her hands to make a hand turkey.
She was so excited to play in the leaves!
Whoa!
Seriously, look at that expression on her face!
She thought it was great fun to lay down in the leaves.
Lylah, on the other hand, didn’t really understand why we were laying down in the leaves.
Mikayla buried in the leaves!
A failed attempt at capturing both girls sitting still, smiling and looking at the camera!
A cute girl in fun fall leaves!
In case you didn’t know, Ben and I have been working on teaching Mikayla sign language since she was about 6 or 7 months old. She knows quite a few signs and it helps her communicate with us and us with her. My friend wrote a great post on teaching children sign language here. Signing Time is a DVD series that we use a lot with Mikayla. I was first introduced to it when I worked at KAP last summer and reintroduced this year by our special education teacher at school. Mikayla loves the DVD’s and is now asking to watch them! Hopkins is the frog mascot they use in the series to help teach signs (along with a few other main characters Alex, Leah and Rachel). Here is Mikayla doing the Hopkins Hop!
I have been wanting for some time now to put together a sensory tub for Mikayla. A blog I follow, Counting Coconuts, makes a different tub for her three year old every couple of weeks. I am blown away with her creativity and thought I would try my hand at it. I love the idea of giving kids toys that stimulate creativity, sensory integration, and are made from common household items.
When she was younger I tried my hand at a few simple toys like a water table and a fine motor toy where she stuck chopsticks in holes. You can read about them here. Then a few weeks ago I made playdough. I thought a fall sensory tub would be the next best project! I had plenty of items lying around the house from my scarecrow costume and picked up a few last minute additions at the store today. It is simple and (hopefully) fun!
Fall Sensory Tub
Fall colored flowers and berries (all fake so they will last longer).
Fall leaves (some real and some fake) and pine cones.
Bandana scraps tied together to make ball things, ribbon, and rope.
Wooden spoons and tongs for picking up and exploring items. Piece of burlap sack, pumpkins (real and fake) and a straw brush made from raffia tied together.
When Mikayla wakes up from her nap she will get to explore the tub. I will try and post pictures later!
When Mikayla had some friends over for a play date a few weeks ago, we decided to try our hand at homemade playdough. I am so glad we did! It was easy peasy, smelled yummy, and not nearly as sticky as regular playdough. Plus, if Mikayla or her buddy so desired they could eat it. That’s right, edible playdough! In school, when we studied spiders, we always made edible playdough. The downside to this playdough was that it included peanut butter, something Mikayla couldn’t eat yet. So naturally I went to Google and found this website with a lot of different playdough recipes. We decided to go with the one posted below for our trial run. I am so glad there are crafty people out there who think to mix up common kitchen items and create fun things like playdough for kids! If you have never made your own playdough, you should very soon! So much better than the store bought stuff.
Kool-Aid Play Dough
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
3 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1 package Kool-Aid Mix (any flavor of unsweetened)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
Mix dry ingredients together in a large saucepan. Slowly add water mixed with oil and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens to dough. Turn out onto a heatproof bread board or counter top and knead until cool enough for children to handle. Dough will be the color of the Kool-Aid mix and will smell like the Kool-Aid mix. (Can be stored in a tightly covered container for up to six months; however after about a month it tends to get a little stickier!)
Here are some pictures of Mikayla and the playdough, just ignore her unruly hair it was right after naptime!
