Crafty Thanksgiving

I've mentioned before how I'm not all that crafty, in fact, my craft skills probably stopped at the age of 6! But the boy loves doing crafts, and at his age I can just about keep up.  In honour of Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, I decided we would make a  turkey themed craft today, and so we made Happy Thanksgiving/I'm thankful cards. So easy and the boy loved it! Plus it meant we could talk about being thankful, which was a good reminder of how fortunate we are.

The boy is really into tracing his hands lately, in fact many of his crafts that come home from his playgroup have his hand traced on them somewhere! I decided that we'd make turkeys with his hand print (who doesn't remember doing that at some point in public school?) and then put them on cards for the grandparents. We traced his hand, cut it out, he coloured them, glued them onto the cards that he'd folded and then we wrote on the inside that we were thankful for his grandparents. 

Then of course he had to write his name (a long process that takes up most of the length of the paper), and decorate the inside. And voila, a cute home made craft that helped to keep him busy for a little bit, and I'm sure will be treasured by the recipients!

Turkey (Lurkey) Cards!

My little story teller

Occasionally I'll write a blog post with the boy around, and then he asks me to read it to him. He likes hearing the stories about him and will ask for them repeated to him a number of times (which can be a bit tricky while I'm trying to do any kind of editing!) He also likes telling stories himself. Normally they're about things that he has done, or variations of things that have happened to him. But now he's really started to make stories up and it's amazing what he comes up with it.

He told me one the other day and said I could share it "where you tell the stories about me Mummy". So here it is, the story of the Daddy and the Kitty Cat. 

There was a Daddy and a kitty cat. They were playing catch with some string. When the kitty cat hit it, she hit it so hard it went up and up and over the fence. The next time she hit it, it went up and up and into a tree. The third time she hit it, it went up and up and hit some glass.

That's it, a real cliff hanger I know. I think he has more to say about the Daddy and the kitty cat, so I'm sure I'll have an ending for you soon. He's young, but I'm thinking future Giller Prize winner perhaps?  

Apple Fun

It's now officially autumn around here, and that means raking leaves, crisp nights, and apples! We love apples around here and eat them most days, so apple picking is a great way for the boy to appreciate them even more. We went picking early in the season, but blew through those apples in a few short weeks. So when we went apple picking with some of our extended family this past weekend, we picked up a storm! Now what to do with them?

On another note, the boy started a cooking class yesterday, a group of 3 to 5 year olds meeting once a week to spend an hour and a half in a kitchen creating things. So far the boy loves it. He enjoys helping me out at home in the kitchen, and now he gets to do it without Mummy - what could be better? This week they made an apple pie, and it was delicious! It was great and so simple to do with kids, I've shared it below.

So now I have something to do with all the apples, and the boy can help me make it - what could be better? He's really excited about it, telling me "Mummy, I'm going to teach you how to do baking!" Better get peeling those apples.

Apple Pie A La Boy

 

Sweet-Ish Apple Pie 

5-6 medium apples

1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

3/4 c Butter (melted)

1 c Sugar 

1 c Flour

1 Egg

1/4 c Walnuts, chopped (optional)

Pinch of salt

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Peel & slice apples into thin wedges and arrange them in a 10" pie plate 
3. Sprinkle brown sugar & cinnamon evenly on top of apples
4. In a medium bowl combine melted butter, sugar, flour, eggs, nuts, and salt. Mix until blended
5. Pour mixture over apples, spreading batter to the edges
6. Bake 45-55 minutes until crust is golden brown
7. Remove and let cool
8. Enjoy! 

What's better than exploring after a rainstorm?

Absolutely nothing!

Investigating the drains after today's rain

I like this one much more better

The boy dresses himself, and most of the time does a pretty good job of it. He manages to pick things out that match, and other than wanting to wear long sleeves most of the year round,  he gets things that are appropriate for the weather. Since I buy all of his clothes, I know he's not going to come out with something wildly inappropriate, in fact he often will 'over-dress', being fond of collared shirts and khaki pants.

We were getting ready to go out to the library this morning, and he'd already gotten dressed and was with me in my bedroom as I was picking out my clothes. He looked at what I had decided on, went and opened my closet, picked out a different shirt, handed it to me and said, "Mummy, I like this one much more better, you should wear this one." I never thought I'd be subjected to 'What Not To Wear' in my own home! 

Perhaps this means he'll have a career in fashion, and all those shopping trips he's been forced to accompany me on have started to sink in. I'm not sure that the people at the library would have noticed a difference in the two shirts I was going to wear, but if it makes the boy happy why not. As long as he does a good job, I will continue to let myself be styled by a three year old - how many people can say that?