Picture Catch-Up and Pinterest Projects

We've been busy, busy lately!! School sucks up our mornings on Tuesdays and Thursday.  Whitney goes to lunch with Mac and Gramps on Mondays.  Last Friday was a good day to chill at home and rest since Whitney hadnt even entered her playroom most of the week.  But last Wednesday we went on a fun outing with our neighbor and her twin boys.  Summer invited us to join them for a morning at the Science Center.  We had never been there with Whitney, so I thought it would be fun!  I was right! She had the BEST time! We are still considering getting an annual pass since we were there for 3 hours and didnt even see a third of the exhibits.  Whitney REALLY enjoyed it :) 

Playing at the water table.

Conrad, Whitney, and Cortland :)

One part of the Science Center was all about oranges.  Whitney got to pick the oranges from the "grove", then put them in a sorting box. From there, the conveyor belt was controlled by a child riding a stationary bike, and the oranges were dropped into a bucket.  From there, the kids had to put them in "crates" and carry them to the "factory".  It was really cool and a great way to teach kids about the food they eat, how it is packaged and sorted, and how it gets to your local grocery store.  Whitney was loving it, and I was happy to see her interact with some nice big kids who included her, even though she was a little pokey compared to them!

soaked from previous fun at the water table :) 

There was a cute little music area where the kids got to make music with real instruments.  Whitney loves the drums the best :)

I think our favorite part of the day was in the transportation room.  Whitney had so much fun working on this car! There was a cute checklist of items to work on. Add wiper fluid. Check the muffler.  Rotate the tires. Etc.  Whitney was a little young to do some of the things herself, but that didnt stop her from trying! She REALLY wanted to change this tire. 

She pciked up all the checklists off the ground and put them back where they belonged :) 

Checkin' the muffler hahah

We had a really fun morning with Summer and her boys and several other friends! Im so glad we scurried to get ready and made such a fun day out of it! 

Whitney had really been into tools for a while.  She always says she needs a "scwew dwivuh" (screwdriver) when her toys need new batteries.  She loves to pretend to hammer stuff to fix it, and she LOVES using Daddy's tape measure. :) Eric and I ran into Kmart for something recently, and he spotted this cuuute took set for $6.  He couldnt resist and was SOOO excited to give it to her when he started working on another project in the house!

You see, I have become obsesssssed with www.pinterest.com.  I love it.  I could spend hours on there finding new ideas and recipes and things to sew and things to do with Whitney and ideas to reproduce (ok, fine, COPY) in our own lives and home.  Poor Eric is either loving these new ideas, or hating them.  He loves to build and make and do projects...I just dont think he loves that I keep finding new ideas and projects so frequently :) 

I recently pinned this picture to my pinterest wall:

Eric didnt even bat an eyelash...he got right to work, measuring and planning and creating.

He painted and sanded and measured and cut and planned and re-planned my new office, and it exceeds ALL of my expectations! It is WONDERFUL! He is the best :) 

Whitney was thrillllled to use her new tools to help daddy. 

The final product, all for $150: 

The two little shelves were my Grandma Mac's from 1950s. I spray painted them black and looove them! I also use her rocking chair...the one she rocked my mom in :) 

I can now use both my machines at once, while my dining room table doesnt look like a factory anymore! I absolutely LOVE this space, and think its one of the most romantic things Eric has ever given me :) He put so much thought and effort and time and sweat into this space, just for me.  I am sooo lucky!

I know Ive mentioned this before, but I have to say that we have the BEST friends in the world.  THE BEST. Our friends Kathy and Jimmy, and their daughters Emiley and Kacey continued to pass down the most amazing toys to our little girl.  The girls are growing up and have outgrown these "cottages", so Whitney is the proud new owner of her very own washer, sink, dishwasher, "family room", and "kitchen".  She LOVES them! 

THANKS KATHY, JIMMY, and GIRLS!! 

Another pinterest project we completed last week:

I hated looking at our fridge with all of our "stuff" on it.  It was such an eye sore when you walked into our kitchen.  Now, this wall sorts hides these items in a less obvious space, and Whitney is thrilled to get her magnets all in one spot.  She also loves drawing on the board while Im cooking dinner :) 

Tuesday morning, Whitney was super excited to head to school, and she was being especially cute :) I snapped these pics right after I did her hair, and noticed her handprints all of the mirror.  They are there on purpose :) I havent washed the mirror since I removed the changing pad months ago.  Her tiny lil fingerprints are still there and I cant bear to wipe them off yet. :) I'll wash it eventually, but I like seeing them for now :) 

This might be one of my new favorite pics:

My parents bought her the new Leap Frog LeapPad.  Its like a kid version of the Ipad and Whitney is LOVING it.  She rarely asks to use our real ipad now that she has her own.  We are anxiously awaiting more apps to be released this Fall, but for now she is really into the Pet Pals and drawing apps it comes with. 

Yet another brilliant pinterest idea.  (If you havent already, find me on www.pinterest.com/katbass I am FULL of other peoples' awesome ideas!)  I got two small canvases for $3 at Hobby Lobby.  I used painters tape to make a W and a heart, then I let Whitney use the $5 paint set I also found at Hobby Lobby.  She painted and painted and painted.  

She was having soo much fun!  When she was done, I put the canvases outside to dry and told her we would hang them in her playroom when she woke up from her nap. 

Unfortunately, I forgot about the canvases until it has already been raining buckets for 30 minutes. :( Her pretty, pretty paintings were....different.  They werent exactly what I wanted, and the Type A portion of my personality just HATES that the white parts are so smudgy, but Whitney was SOO proud and excited that I just HAD to hand them for her.  

I also framed these pics recently and think they are sooo cute :) They are my favorite pics from those stages/ages. 

And, of course, yet ANOTHER pinterest project. (Jeesh, I didnt realize just how many things I was making lately...)

I saw a similar sign on pinterest and had an old frame and bow. I just bought some $.25 scrapbook paper and wrote the short verse, then hung it in Whitney's bathroom.
(Oh, I made the towel recently, too..)

And these are some pics from this morning.  Whitney's class was making a "Friendship Fruit Salad" today.  Each child had to bring in their favorite fruit to add to the bowl, then they would eat the fruit salad for snacktime.  Whitney told us that oranges were her favorite fruit (weird...we know she can eat a whole carton of strawberries in one sitting...) so this morning she helped me peel and cut up the oranges and couldnt WAIT to get to school to share!

First...she got a call from "Uncle Scott" on her cell phone.  She told him to "feew bettuh soon!" 

She was very sad when I told her the oranges had to wait in the fridge while we finished getting ready for school.  Boy was I glad I cut them up this morning and not last night! She was pouty and sooo sad when the fridge door closed with "my fwendship owanges!" inside!

Proudly bringing them to class this morning:

And this is where Whitney sat this morning as she waved goodbye and blew me a kiss as I walked out :) Some kids are still tearful and upset when their mommies leave, but Whitney is just so excited to color and play and learn, she only hesitates for a minute before saying goodbye to me :) 

Another pic from last week....Whitney was sporting her fabulous light-up shoes from Aunt Gerry, so we had to send her a pic to her phone :) 

And Whitney has THE BEST Daddy on the planet.  She dressed him up with all her jewels and even added a "feather crown"! They were having so much fun :) 

That's the latest and greatest here!! Whitney continues to LOVE school! She loves it so much I alllllmost considered switching her to three days a week.  She really loves it and I can tell its good for her even after just two weeks.  But she will stay two days for now since she will go to school for soooo many years, there is really no rush to be there so often if she doesnt have to.  Next year we'll do three days a week.

I just got the phone call that "the eagle has landed", and my Aunt Gerry is here from Ohio this weekend! Whitney couldnt be more excited, and I cant wait to spend time watching Whitney interact with one of my favorite people in the world :) More pics soon, for sure!