Month: May 2012

Beach Sensory Bin

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During our afternoon in the backyard, I brought out another one of the sensory bins I recently put together for Gracen to explore.  This one was beach-themed and included all of the beach treasures Gracen’s worked so hard to collect, as well as a few fancy shells from Grandma Charlotte and a mini shovel and rake.

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After exploring both her ocean and gardening-themed bins,  she knows exactly what these bins are all about now.  She oohed and ahhed for a minute, and then got busy.

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The first thing she did was scoop up sand and fill her bowl.

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Then she flipped the giant shell and filled it up too.

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When she was done with that, she decided it was time to take all of the shells out.

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And once she had sufficiently patted the sand down, she placed each item back into the bin just so.

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She was sure to place the driftwood pieces upright and called them her “trees”.

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When she was all done, this is what her reorganized masterpiece looked like.

While she certainly enjoyed this beach sensory bin, it wasn’t as big of a hit as the others.  Maybe it’s because we have a full-sized sandbox in the backyard, or maybe because we spend so much time down at the beach, but either way, it’ll be a great addition to the growing sensory box collection we have in our solarium and perfect for those times when Mama needs a few minutes and can’t be in the backyard with her girl.

Ordinary Days

Sometimes ordinary days are the best kind.  Don’t get me wrong, Little G and I love to get out,  go on adventures, and visit fun places, but sometimes normal, everyday kind of days equally wonderful.  Today was one of those.

IMG 2925Some H2O and an energy bite post-swimming lesson.  (I’m happy to report, by the way, that our submersion day went well.  It was presented in a way I was comfortable trying and Miss Grae did not come up choking, crying, or looking at me like I had betrayed her. In fact, she seemed just fine. Yay for that.)

IMG 2927A playground stop was in order afterwards. Shhhhh…  Don’t tell Mama Gracen’s hiding.

IMG 2929Strolling in the sunshine.

IMG 2931In the words of Grae, “dig-a-dig-a-dig-ah”.

IMG 2939Backyard antics.

IMG 2943A quiet moment in the shade of our plum tree.

IMG 2977Tricycle tricks.

IMG 2995Sandbox play with the little girl from downstairs.

IMG 3000Itty bitty bookworm.

IMG 3004An afternoon treat – frothy raspberry milk.

IMG 3010Just like Mama. (Grae loves this ring I had custom made in Kuwait.  It says ‘Brad and Jen’ in Arabic, so I love that she loves it.)

IMG 3019A homemade popsicle for dessert.

IMG 3026Double-fisting.  (Of course Mama’s desert looked just as yummy as her own.)

IMG 3036Oops.  That’s not the popsicle hand.

IMG 3048Freshly bathed and ready for bedtime stories.

I’m so lucky to spend my days soaking in these magical little moments.

♥

Oh, Sad Day!

If you really knew me, you’d know how obsessed I am with my photos.

Years ago, while I was on Christmas vacation in the Okanagan, my good friend Steph was watching over my place and feeding my pet turtle.  I returned late one night to my place perfectly in order, but my computer tower missing.  After talking to Steph, I learned that she had arrived to crowbar marks on the door one day and she figured that someone had tried to break in.  After quickly surveying the situation, she took the one thing she thought I’d die without – my hard drive filled with thousands of digital photos.  (This is why we’re such good friends. ☺)

So with this story in mind, imagine my disappointment when we returned from our wonderful family Mother’s Day celebration at the beach to a camera card that was no longer readable…  Sad day.  And on the one day I actually had Bradley take some photos of the wee one and I together too. Booo.

Mama’s Mini Model

My miniature model did her Mama a big favour this morning by sitting pretty for a few new Littlest Lulu photos… IMG 2814IMG 2815

Does it get any sweeter than this? If I could look a quarter as cute as this with a giant butterfly fluttering atop my head, I’d be rocking one every day of the week.  ☺

Little Fishy

We took our little fishy to her third swimming lesson this morning, and since Brad and I were both able to go, I took the opportunity to take a couple of photos.  This little lady LOVES the water, and although our instructor is a little brash, our lessons have been really fun so far.  To date, she’s practiced splashing, blowing bubbles, dipping her ears and chin in the water, doing front and back floats, and doing front and back wall push offs.  Next lesson’s skill? Submersion. And us moms have already been told that it would be better if dads attend the session because dads have no qualms about putting their babies under water…  Should be interesting!
IMG 2824IMG 2828IMG 2830It may just be the protective mama in me talking, but all I have to say is that I won’t do anything that might jeopardize my little fishy’s love for the water…  We’ll see how it goes. ☺

Mother’s Day, Just Me and My Girl

With Bradley at work again this Mother’s Day, my little lady and I got to have a special day, just the two of us.  It started out with a low-key morning of puzzles, stories, and tickles at home while sipping tea and slowly getting ready for our day.

When we were good and ready, we ventured out to do something we rarely ever do – eat out, just the two of us.  We went to Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, a little restaurant on Main Street that is carbon neutral and offers an organic menu.  Despite the fact that it was incredibly busy and they could have used another server, we loved it.  The menu was filled with local, organic foods, their juices were fresh-squeezed, they gave Gracen crayons and a colouring page (which she was thrilled about), and there was a kids’ corner, complete with two wooden play kitchens, several tiny aprons, and an assortment of pots, pans, and felt food.  We ordered an organic fresh-squeezed orange juice (Grae even got a few sips and loved it this time around) and a Bradner Farms flatbread pizza, topped with local organic free-range chicken, nut-free pesto, roasted red bell peppers, and red onions.  It was a delish.  And to top it off – all moms got a complimentary fudge brownie topped with fresh whipped cream, raspberry coulis, and mint leaves…  Who could ask for more?

IMG 2720IMG 2722IMG 2724IMG 2728After lunch, we headed home for Gracen’s nap.  She slumbered peacefully while I prepped and packed for day two at the beach.  When she awoke a couple hours later, we climbed into the car and made our way to Spanish Banks for another beach adventure.  The afternoon passed quickly as we frolicked in the sand, splashed in the water, and collected all sorts of drift wood, and before we knew it, it was time to head home for dinner, bath time, and bedtime. IMG 2742IMG 2746IMG 2747IMG 2750IMG 2754IMG 2759IMG 2768IMG 2775IMG 2777IMG 2782

Although I’ve already had the perfect day with my wee one, tomorrow we get to do it all over again, as Brad is off and we’ve officially marked the day as our family Mother’s Day.  Bring on more beach time any day!

♥

Vitamin D

I am so, so lucky to have a wee one that loves being outdoors as much as I do.  We spent our morning at Granville Island playing on playgrounds, watching birds and boats, strolling the seawall, and taking in live performances, then came home just long enough for a nap, and headed right back out the door.  Our afternoon adventure took us down to Jericho Beach, where we played in the sand, dipped our toes in the ocean, and collected ocean treasures.

IMG 2577Captain Grae.

IMG 2578Water collection.

IMG 2583Cruisin’ around the water park (can’t wait ’til it opens!)

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Running with the birds.

IMG 2593Paddle boarders passing by.

IMG 2602Unicycle excitement.  (Grae was more interested in the rocks.)

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Tuckered out.

IMG 2606First visit to Jericho Beach.

IMG 2608Sand scooping.

IMG 2613Collecting.

IMG 2625“Gifts” for Mama.

And at the end of the day, after a healthy dose of vitamin D, we reluctantly headed home, hoping for another sunshiny day outdoors again tomorrow.

♥

Healthy{ish} Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

When I spotted big, bright pink stalks of rhubarb at the market this week, I just couldn’t pass them by.  Rhubarb brings back all sorts of memories for me…  Summers at my Baba’s (grandma’s) house, her immaculately kept yard and gardens, and fresh rhubarb stalks picked from the garden and paired with little glass bowls of dipping sugar…  Best.thing.ever.

And while I’m not quite ready to be handing Gracen little bowls filled with white sugar, I was sure we could use our rhubarb to whip up something delicious and healthy{ish} together.

So today, after a morning with friends at Campbell Valley Park and an afternoon outside in the backyard, we decided to bake a strawberry rhubarb crisp while our dinner warmed in the oven.  (These are the perks to making a big dinner the night before and having more than enough for a second night.)

IMG 2523First things first, gather the following: rhubarb, strawberries (fresh or frozen), wholewheat flour, vanilla, pure maple syrup, old-fashioned oats, and olive oil.  The biggest necessity however?  One silly little doodle sporting a tiny apron and her “smile face”.

IMG 2528To get started, dump your fruit into a large mixing bowl.

IMG 2530Enthusiastically add some wholewheat flour…

IMG 2531Some pure maple syrup…

IMG 2533And a touch of vanilla.

IMG 2535Then mix it all up.  If you’re feeling adventurous, follow Grae’s lead and sneak a piece of flour-covered rhubarb into your mouth (yuck).

IMG 2538When everything is mixed, pour the fruit mixture into a glass baking dish and spread it around evenly.

IMG 2540With the fruit filling complete, it’s time for the topping.  Grab a fresh bowl (or rinse the one you have) and dump in some wholewheat flour.

IMG 2541Next, add some old-fashioned oats…

IMG 2545Some cinnamon…

IMG 2548Some olive oil…

IMG 2550And a little bit of pure maple syrup.

IMG 2552Mix everything well.

IMG 2553Next, shake your oat mixture out on top of your fruit, trying to distribute it {somewhat} evenly over the dish.  Gently pat everything down in place.

IMG 2555That’s it!  Now pop it into the oven for a bit.

IMG 2556And take it out when the fruit is bubbling and the oats are golden brown.  Let cool on the counter while you eat dinner.

IMG 2565Then dish out two little bowls, one for you and one for your toddler, and listen to her exclaim “Mmmmmmmmm! Nom-a-nom-a-neh” while she shovels heaping spoonfuls into her mouth.  Be prepared – she’ll most likely finish before you do and then ask to eat yours on top of her own. ☺

I honestly wasn’t sure how this recipe would turn out…  I’ve made many crisps before and significantly reduced the amount of butter and brown sugar, but I’ve never omitted both ingredients all together and replaced them with olive oil and maple syrup.  I’m happy to report, however, that it turned out really well.  Although it’s not as sweet as a regular crisp, it’s just sweet enough to balance out the tartness of the rhubarb, plus it’s got lots of flavour and a good crunch to it.  And the best part is that I feel okay about giving our wee one a little bowl to enjoy too.

Of course, if you wanted to sweeten it up a little bit, you could increase the amount of maple syrup, add a touch of honey, or, my personal favourite – top it with a little bit of whipped cream or ice cream.

Healthy{ish} Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

  • 4 cups of chopped fruit (we used about 3 cups of rhubarb and 1 cup of frozen strawberries)
  • 1/4 cup of wholewheat flour
  • 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla
  • 1 cup of wholewheat flour
  • 1 cup of organic old-fashioned oats
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup of olive oil
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the first set of ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Spread the fruit mixture in the bottom of a glass baking dish.

Put the second set of ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Shake out the oat mixture on top of the fruit, trying to distribute it evenly over the fruit.  Gently pat down with your hands.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the oats are crunchy and golden brown.

Allow to cool a while, then scoop into bowls and serve.

Enjoy!

Gardening Sensory Bin

With today’s gorgeous weather and all of the fun Miss G had with yesterday’s sensory box, I decided to pull together another one this afternoon.

Gracen helped us plant our first ever garden this year and really loves checking in on it. She smells the flowers, strokes the leaves, and plucks out things that don’t belong, but she can’t do much more than that without disturbing the plants. So today I decided to give her a little “garden” of her own in the shape of a gardening sensory bin.

We headed to the garage and collected a few items, all of which we already had on hand.  We started with a good amount of soil, then added some eco-pots, herb and strawberry tags, gardening tools, and a couple of pinwheels (Grae’s favourite part of our current garden).  Grae’s contribution? A little fistful of rocks.

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Let me tell you, this sensory box was a HUGE hit.  Without a word of a lie, she played with it for nearly two hours.  She was so into it that I even got to lay on the grass and catch up with emails on my phone for a few minutes.  She filled pot after pot of dirt and I was hugely impressed by her ability to get heaping scoops of soil into her pots without spilling much.  My favourite thing was that in between scoops, she would tap the excess dirt off her shovel by tapping it on the side of the container like I’ve taught her to do when we cook.  When she’d filled a pot, she’d pat down the dirt with her hand and then top it with a cluster of plant tags or a pinwheel.

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She also quite liked finding clumps of soil and breaking them up with her fingers.

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Of course we eventually reached the point where she decided it was time to get in the sensory bin.  I mean which sensory bin isn’t better when seated inside?

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What she wasn’t overly impressed with, however, was having dirty feet.  After meticulously brushing them off, she carefully climbed out and stayed out for the rest of the afternoon.

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Here’s a little video of serious sensory box play in action:

♥

Snippets from a Sunshiny Afternoon

IMG 2393Outdoor baby.

IMG 2425Dandelion puff collection.

IMG 2445A serious sunhat.

IMG 2430Missing hands and feet.

IMG 2443Freshly bloomed.

IMG 2457Dirty little hands.

IMG 2461Afternoon snacks.

IMG 2473Watermelon monster.

IMG 2484Garden investigating.

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Beet greens.

IMG 2494Homegrown strawberries in progress.

IMG 2496Lawn rolling.

IMG 2501Pussywillow plucking.

IMG 2508A shoe full.

IMG 2517A teeny friend.

♥

Water Sensory Bin

I love the fact that we have a little solarium out back.  Unfortunately though, for us, it’s not just a place to grow pretty plants and relax…  It’s our laundry room, shoe closet, tricycle riding corral, and recycling depot, all in one.  And today it became a play room on top of all of that.

I’ve been squirrelling away little things for some sensory bins I’ve wanted to put together for Miss G for a while now, and today Gracen and I finally found bins that are the perfect shape and size.  As soon as we got home, we gathered our materials for a super simple water sensory bin, changed Miss G into a bathing suit, and headed out into the solarium for some fun.

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We laid a blanket down first to minimize potential flooding and slipping, filled the bin halfway full of water, added a couple of drops of blue food colouring just for fun, and plunked in Grae’s collection of shells, rocks, and driftwood.

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She was a little unsure of what she should do at first…

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But in a couple minutes time, she realized that this was going to  be fun!

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Naturally, all of the ocean items came out of the water and were put onto the blanket.

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Then she used a strainer to help her “wash” her treasures.

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And before long, she was gathering her own items and adding them to the bin.

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But her favourite thing?  Putting things into cups and then dumping them into the water.

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She liked doing this so much that she began retrieving containers from the recycling bin to fill up.

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Inevitably, this happened…

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And this…

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And this. (She’s kissing the water.)

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And by the time we were through, her hands were freezing cold, her suit was dripping wet, and our ocean bin had gained several new items.

Here’s a little video…

♥

Small Style {1}

After last week’s post about Gracen being featured on Baby Blackbird, I immediately heard from a few mamas asking me if I’d share some more of Grae’s outfits and where they were purchased.

While I love seeing other people’s fashion posts, I must admit that I had myself a little chuckle after reading the requests…  Why?  Well first off, because most days our 20 month old picks out her own outfit (or at least part of it), and secondly, although I adore shopping for baby girl clothes, it’s not something we do a lot of.  In fact, if I’m being completely honest, I’d have to say that we only do it two or three times a year when the season’s about to change and stores have really good sales (meaning that we buy next year’s clothes a year in advance).  Slightly crazy, yes, but it’s worked so far for us and has probably saved us a ton of money.  Of course, we do buy her the odd pretty dress for special occasions or a pair of shoes when her feet have a sudden growth spurt and jump up three sizes (seriously, this just happened), but most of the time, we just pull out a bin of previously purchased items and we’re good to go for a new season or size.

That being said, outfit posts are so much fun and I take photos of the little miss every single day, so I thought, heck, why not? I don’t know if this will become a regular thing or not, but here are some of outfits Miss G wore this week…

IMG 1670Rain jacket: Baby Gap / Long-sleeved tee: H&M / Striped leggings: Baby Gap / Gumboots: Unknown (gifted)

IMG 1740Knitted hat: Haute Tots / Sunglasses: Joe / Long-sleeved tee: Baby Gap / Cropped jeans: H&M / Runners: New Balance, thrifted

*These jeans are actually size 2 to 4 months and are supposed to be full length.  I think they’re cute at knee length, but after seeing this photo, Brad asked me never to let Grae wear them again.  Haha!  Maybe it’s finally time to retire them to the ‘too small bin’…

IMG 1678Knitted hat: Haute Tot / Striped tee: Baby Gap / Blush shorts: Baby Gap / Black tights: Unknown (gifted) / Gumboots: Unknown (gifted)

IMG 1969Floral hat: Joe / Pink tee: Joe / Hooded sweater: Levi’s / Khaki shorts: Baby Gap / Flip flops: The Children’s Place

*I spy misplaced toes.  Hahaha!

IMG 2016Striped tankini: Old Navy

IMG 2021Sunglasses: Joe / Shrug: Unknown (gifted) / Floral blouse: Joe / Denim skinnies: Baby Gap / Pink jellies: Baby Gap

IMG 2064Denim sunhat: Baby Gap / White tee: Next / Hawaiian romper: Joe (handed down from her little cousin) / Gladiator sandals: Joe

IMG 2209Baseball cap: H&M / Running jacket: H&M / Long-sleeved tee: H&M / Striped capri leggings: H&M / Runners: New Balance, thrifted

IMG 2276Hair clip: Unknown (gifted) / Sleeveless blouse: Old Navy / Floral skirt: Old Navy / Sandals: Joe

♥