X Marks the Spot: X Day

Apparently, doing a crazy amount of P activities got D all excited about letter days again. He wanted to start X Day right away!

We started with his Confessions of a Homeschooler letter search.

Our first craft of the day was making our own x-ray! (I originally saw this one on Pinterest) I traced his hands with chalk on a black sheet of construction paper. Then, I drew lines of glue and then he placed q-tips on the hands for bones. He liked this one. It was super easy and looked kind of cool when we were done.

After we made our own X-Ray, we read our library book, Jessica's X-Ray by Pat Zonta. It was a great book. It had real x-ray pics in it and it was a great way to explain to D that he has bones inside of him too! He was totally into it. We felt the bones in his hands when looking at the hand x-ray, we felt his ribs when looking at the chest x-ray, and we knocked on his skull when looking at the head x-ray. Fun stuff!

After his nap we moved onto a different X theme. I wanted to incorporate a 'X Marks the Spot' part of our day. He loved our pirate time yesterday, so I wanted to build off of that.

I ended up drawing a Pirate Snack Map where X Marks the Spot! I found the inspiration for D's snack map here. Obviously, I did a very different map, but that's where I got the idea.

He had goldfish by the water, grapes by the palm tree, carrots by the volcano, Coco Puffs by the ship, and yogurt covered pretzel sticks marking the X. Dylan loved his map. We ended up taping it on the bottom of the fridge because "Dats where snacks are!"

We read one more X book before bed. I got the Harry and the Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, X Marks the Spot by Bright & Early Books from the library. 

P Day - The Biggest Letter Day EVER!

We had so much stuff for P Day, we weren't able to smash it all into one day. We tried, but there was just no way! So cancel all your appointments, this is going to take a while!

P Day 1

D and I spent our not-so-lazy Sunday at Mom & Bob's house and brought all of our P Day stuff with us. Boy, we were busy! I think my parents were really excited to be a part of our huge letter day.

As soon as we got there, Pa had Phineas & Ferb tattoos to apply. Dylan got a Perry tattoo for P Day. He and Pa have been doing tattoos quite a bit lately and they are getting to be pros. And I'm sure Bob likes showing off his Phineas & Ferb tattoos to all the guys at work!

Whlie his tattoo was drying he decided it was time to eat. It was a day of P food! He snacked on some peanuts while Nonny made him a giant pancake!

He ate the entire pancake. And he definitely didn't want to share any of it with Lili the cat. I know it looks like D is showing Lili how to count to 4, but he was actually saying, "No, Lili! Stop! Go away!"

Ahoy! Next up was pirate time! We both put bandannas on and got out the pirate stuff. We forgot to grab his big sword from Matt & Jenn, but we brought his inflatable one from his first birthday party, and his Jake from my dad and Connie.

It didn't take long before our pirate time turned into a full, blown-out pirate sword fight. I know that it looks like a very unfair fight, but D made me take the big sword and he used Jake's little one.

 

 

We needed a breather after all the running around and laughing, so D and Nonny had some quite time and looked at his Jake & the Never Land Pirates look & find book. They looked  and looked and looked! He loves look & find books. 

After that, D wanted to do stickers with my mom. I don't think he is capable of going to their house and not "doing stickers." So, the two of them searched through all the stickers and found ones with P stuff on them.

There was just enough time before naptime (Yes, that's right - I'm not even to naptime of Day 1 yet!!) for one more P craft. 

Last week, at his Arts & Play Class at the Y, Dylan made a shamrock craft that we made into a pumpkin craft for today. I cut out a yellow pumpkin from construction paper and then cut up an orange sheet. I covered the pumpkin with glue and let him place all the orange pieces. It turned out pretty cute. We gave it to Nonny & Pa once it dried and they displayed it proudly on their fridge!

I had gotten three pumpkin books from the library. So, we snuggled up on D's bed and got reading pre-naptime. My favorite out of the three was How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara.

When D woke up from his nap hungry, we filled his tray with P food! We adults had already indulged in a P lunch of Clints Pizza (So, we were happy!). Dylan had peanuts, pickles, pizza, peaches, and pudding!

P Day was definitely the easiest one for food. And it was a bunch of stuff that Dylan really likes!

On to another P Craft! It was time to make a pig!

I saw a similar craft online, but it was a plain plastic bottle with pink paper wrapped around the middle. I thought it would be much cuter if we painted it!

I squirted some pink paint inside of a clean and dry plastic bottle, put the cap on tight, and let D shake it until the entire inside was coated with pink paint (I used Martha Stewart high gloss paint).

D helped hold the pig still while my mom and I used her hot glue gun to glue a white pipe cleaner for the tail, pink paper ears, and squishy ear plugs for feet (the feet were my mom's brilliant idea - awesome!). I drew eyes, snout, and mouth with a Sharpie.

I think the pig ended up being the hit of the day. Although, I'm not sure that Dylan was as excited as the adults were. In my modest opinion, the pig is awesome!

After some pig play time, we got back to work! I had an actual worksheet for today along with all these crazy crafts. I printed off the Confessions of a Homeschooler letter search for P. 

Then, we made a pizza for Daddy. I had cut out some red circles and black mushroom shapes. Pepperoni and mushroom just happens to be Josh's favorite. So I asked D to make a really yummy pizza for Daddy. We glued all the pieces on and then took a pretend taste test. Hope you don't mind that we already had a bite, Babe!

While searching through his massive amount of books, Nonny and D found a picture of a beautiful peacock and a book about penguins!

By the time dinner rolled around D asked my mom if she would make some Mac & Cheese for him. Apparently  P Day was a little too much to handle because he started to fall asleep while chowing down.

I manged to get a second wind into him by pushing up bath time. By the time we got home, D was in his PJs and starting to get sleepy again. I put on Happy Feet (about penguins) and we snuggled up on the couch. Needless to say, he didn't make it to the end of the movie.

P Day 2
We didn't need a second day of P, but I had so many fun things to do, that I just couldn't stop myself. Day 2 wasn't nearly as full of letter stuff as Day 1.

We read Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear by Eric Carle (I know I've mentioned it before, but Dylan absolutely loves Eric Carle books) and then we made our own Polar Bear.

Okay, so I know that this is a pathetic attempt at a Polar Bear, but it was an easy craft that D could do all by himself. I drew a (poor version of a) Polar Bear, covered the paper plate in glue and let him stick cotton balls to it. Voila, craft accomplished.

For dinner, Dylan had Phineas & Ferb chicken noodle soup with Perry shapes. Perry, obviously, had to join us at the dinner table and check out D's food.

[Side note: for those of you who don't have kids or who haven't yet discovered Phineas & Ferb...you are missing out. It's pretty awesome. Just ask, well, almost anyone who has seen it!]

After dinner we were in a Perry mood. So we pulled out D's Phineas & Ferb look & find book and got a little assistance from Perry. We also watched the newest episode stored on the DVR while we were at it.

Before finishing our day with popcorn and the original Disney animated Peter Pan, we did one last P activity. I had some tri-colored pasta and had him separate it by color. He also spent some time pretending to chow down on the uncooked pasta.

I can't believe we are finally done with P stuff. I also can't believe that you made it through this entire entry! Whew! I think we may pick a less busy letter for tomorrow.

The Slutty Baseball Bat?

Halloween 2012. I had been looking forward to last night for quite a while. Not only did I finally get to attended the best Halloween block party in Moline, but Dylan is now old enough that he can grasp the idea of Halloween. Of course, that caused me a little trouble too! Let me rewind a bit…

The Moline Parks department had a Trick-or-Treating event at Prospect Park a couple weeks ago. So, my mom and I thought we’d take D for a practice run. This year, Dylan was Jake (from Jake and the Never Land Pirates). We can’t seem to escape Jake! We seem to tackle Jake once a year. Last year, it was his 1st birthday party, this year it was Halloween. It does really help that D is really cute when he says, “Ahoy mateys!” 

It's Jake! Oh, I mean, Dylan!

He was getting the hang of “Tick o Teat!” and “Tank you!” I think it helped that Mommy ad Nonny seemed to know all the people giving away candy – thank you, Music Guild. He did great and for the next couple weeks, we talked about Halloween and how he was going to dress up as Jake again.

The night before Halloween, Dylan was getting ready for bed at Pa & Nonny’s house (Mommy was lucky enough to be starting her Halloween off with a bang by going to the Rocky Horror Picture Show with some friends so D was having a sleepover - win/win for all!). 

Monkey Pa

Bob brought out his Halloween mask so Dylan could start to get used to it. Side note: Bob has been the same thing for Halloween for as long as I can remember. Some people (Like the May’s granddaughter) call him “Monkey Man” and Dylan started to call him “Monkey Pa.” We were a little worried that D would be scared of the mask, so we were trying to get him acclimated and show him that it wasn't scary.

Nonny told him that she was going to be a witch. I, on the other hand, hadn’t really planned on dressing up. But Dylan started listing off Halloween costumes, “Din-in be a Jake, Pa be a monkey, Nonny be a witch, and Mommy be... a bat!!”  Ummm, what? Now I have to be a bat? And Dylan was adamant about it! He said it about 8 more times that night and 2 the next morning.  So, now it was Halloween day and I, apparently, had to scrounge up a bat costume.

I told a few of my friends about how I had to scramble to get a last-minute costume. By the way, I have some really creative friends! I got some great homemade bat ideas and two of them suggested I twist Dylan’s idea and go as a baseball bat. My friends are awesome. I did think about looking for a Batgirl costume, but that was quickly shut down. There is a lack of non-slutty Batgirl costumes. Yes, I know that girls can make almost any costume into an excuse to show some skin. But not only was it frickin’ cold out there, but I was taking a 2-yr old trick-or-treating, spending the evening with my parents and all their neighbors, and my husband is on the other side of the planet…it was a no-go for the slut factor!

Just smile & nod and say I look like a bat. Please.

I managed to find a reaper robe thing that I cut up into a shirt (the arms looked a bit like wings) and bought a face mask. After I threw the outfit together I came out of my room and asked Dylan, “Does Mommy look like a bat?” His reply was a whispered, “Wowww! A bat!” I don’t really think I looked like a bat, but if the kid bought it, I claim success.

After making the rounds to Dylan’s great-grandparents (yes, we went to 3 homes in an hour and a half), we headed to my parents’ neighborhood. 

I am sure that very few people are aware of this, but my parents’ turnaround is the best place to be on Halloween! The neighborhood started this tradition a few years back and I had been looking forward to finally being able to go. If you've been to my parents’ house, you know that they live on the last street in the neighborhood and it has only one streetlight. Therefore, most parents will get to the top of the street, look down towards the turnaround and think, “Nope! Not going down there!” So after years of giving out candy to hardly any kids, everyone decided to just throw a block party and make up for the lack of kids with lots of food and adult beverages.

It doesn't hurt that my parents live next to the best martini-maker I know, who happens to travel with a mobile bar! After a few blocks of Trick-or-Treating I was more than ready to join the party!

The mobile work station for my favorite Martini Man

I wasn't the only non-resident at the party. One of my favorite girls came over to join the fun!

Ani & Erin

And Uncle Mike & Aunt Liz made a repeat appearance.

Ani & Uncle Mike

It was a great Halloween. The only downside is how cold it gets! 

Construction worker D telling Aunt Liz about his sword

But there was coffee & Bailey’s and there was a firepit in the middle of the turnaround.  But as I kept adding layers to both Dylan and myself, our costumes started to transform. Once I put Dylan’s orange Halloween hat on from Meme Gisele, he started to look like a construction worker…with a sword. And I ended up being a girl with lots of layers on wearing a black mask. Maybe I should have gone with “sexy baseball bat?” Oh well, there’s always next year.

And the Award Goes To…

Elleah checking out Dylan's huge stash of new toys!

Well, Dylan’s birthday has come and gone. And, boy, did he get spoiled! A HUGE thank you to everyone who gave my little guy a card or gift. We were definitely feeling the love. And Dylan has been loving playing with his huge pile of toys.

Josh and I have joined the club of Frustrated Parents Association of ‘How the Heck do you get this toy out of it’s packaging?’ What is the deal with that??

Because he got so many toys, I thought I would give awards out! But don’t get too excited, there’s no trophy or anything…

The Duplicated Award: Helicopter (The Gooch’s)
Even though Dylan got a ton of presents, there was only one duplicate! The helicopter that sings. And when you drop the colored balls into the top, it tells you what colors they are. Dylan really likes this one and it keeps him busy for long spurts of time (so I like it too!).

Best Themed Award: The Pirate Ship (From Matt & Brittany)
This ship is a Mega Blocks toy that you can take completely apart. And it makes noises when you push the little monkey on the ship deck. Matt & Britt also provided a second smaller ship because, “The pirates needed another ship to commandeer.” Brilliant!

Check out all those noise makers that came inside!

The Loudest Award: Drum Set (The Skala’s)
More often than not, you’ll hear single or kid-less couples say that they bought the noisiest toy that they could find. Our loudest toy this year was one of the only ones that didn’t require batteries…ironic? It was a drum with several instruments inside. It even came with drumsticks! He loves using the drumsticks (on everything) and really likes the little egg shakers. So much noise!!! The Skala’s don’t have kids, but they have a dog. I see a really noisy gift for Dixie from the Sitko Family sometime in the near future!

Best Immediate Appeal Award: Thomas the Train! (The Jordan’s) At Dylan’s birthday party, this was the last gift opened, and that was probably a good thing because he immediately got on his new train and continued to play with it for the next 25 minutes. At first he sat on it for a while and played with the buttons. But then he realized that he could push it all over the house. He forgot that there were about 25 people in his way and just took off. Who needs Mommy & Daddy when you’ve got Thomas? BTW, I find myself running up and down our hallway pushing Thomas around while Dylan sits holding on for dear life and squealing!

20 minutes later, he was still pushing it around the house!

Best Daddy Approved Award: Blue Car, Drumsticks, Green Balls
Let’s face it. My husband is just a big kid at heart. He gets just as excited as Dylan about having new things to play with. So there is an award for the Most Played With By Daddy toys. And it’s a three way tie!

~The Blue Car. This was one of the gifts from Jim & Diane Vana and I don’t think anyone realized how great this car was going to be. It’s one of those push and go cars. But what we discovered over time was that if you really revved it up, it would bounce off walls and turn around, pop a wheelie, spin around in circles, and more! Many hours are spent in this house with Josh letting the car fly and Dylan chasing it down and bringing it back. All boy, all the time!

~The Drumsticks. Yes, Josh is an accomplice with the ‘Loudest’ toy. His idle hands find themselves using those drumsticks on everything…his leg, the couch, the floor, other toys! One thing’s for sure - we’ve got the beat!

~The Green Balls. Danielle bought Dylan a variety of balls. A huge bouncy one, a medium sized one that looks like a giant tennis ball, and a smaller one with noise makers inside. These balls create elaborate games of catch between my two guys.

Best Gift Not At Our House: The Wagon!
I know I already posted photos of Dylan in his wagon. But he loved it so much! It was a huge hit! I know he can't wait to get back to Grandma Linda & Grandpa Bob's house so he can ride his wagon again!

Overall, all of the gifts Dylan got this year were amazing. I could have given dozens of awards, but I have to get back to playtime now.

Dylan's Pirate First Birthday Party!

I can’t believe that my little man has been One for 2 ½ weeks already! How did the last year fly by so fast? We, of course, had to have a big birthday party here for the little man. So we decided on a ‘Jake and the Neverland Pirates’ theme.

The great news is that ‘Jake’ is a super-cute show on the Disney Channel that all three of us enjoy. It has Captain Hook & Mr. Smee and some really great pirate music. The bad news is that the show just premiered a few months ago, so there is absolutely no merchandise anywhere. Not in stores, online, the Disney Store, or Disney World. So I really had to great creative and do some DIY stuff.


I made the invitations myself and also crafted a few other things. Then I went to a party store while Dylan & I were in Illinois and picked up some cute Pirate Party Supplies. We also DVRed lots of ‘Jake’ episodes and played them in the background during the party.

I worked really hard on the décor. I know that Dylan didn’t really care, but it was a big deal for me and I wanted it to look great so I went all out. I even handcrafted sails for my Pirate Ship watermelon fruit salad. I used colored sand pails for chip bowls, and I had a bowl of Gold Doubloons (er, I mean, chocolate coins). We also had a pirate Birthday banner and  several hanging decorations throughout the house. It was a lot of work, but I think it was well worth it!

Dylan was wearing a shirt with a treasure map across the front and he carried an inflated sword around all day. I think he was loving the pirate theme! He also sported a pirate ship tattoo on his right arm. What a stud!

And it wouldn’t be a birthday without CAKE! Like I mentioned before, there was no ‘Jake’ cake available, but we ordered a really cute generic pirate cake from Publix. And because it was a First Birthday cake, they provided a Smash Cake for Dylan for free. I thought they were adorable!

And Dylan loved making a mess out of his Smash Cake. The blue and gold frosting mixed together to make a fabulous brownish/black mess! But he was the center of attention and got the sticky sweetness everywhere…success!

Nice Pirate Tattoos!

I really want to thank everyone for coming over to help celebrate my little man’s big day. We had a really great turn out and everyone spoiled Dylan rotten. I was so happy that so many people cared enough to come and be there with our little family. We even had out-of-towners make the trip - Thank you to Matt, Brittany & Danielle! It was so amazing to have you here for our special little guy!


I love that little boy so much and I hope that (even though he won’t remember it) his first birthday was as wonderful for him as it was for me.