Life tends to get a little hectic around here with two tiny kiddos. It is very easy to life in survival mode. Dirty diapers, dirty dishes, crumb-filled floors, smelly laundry, babies ripping apart your decorations, toddlers whining about who-knows-what, cooking the next meal, another dirty diaper, babies sticking scary things into their mouths, spills in the bathroom, toddlers belly-flopping off their booster seats in a tantrum, another dirty diaper... Before I know it, weeks have passed, and I have spent all my time evading crises and scrubbing up messes - instead of attending to the fun, adventurous, whimsical sorts of things that make for the best memories. Our theme weeks, this far, have been an excuse to plan and do some special (yet, simple) things.
This week, we dusted off the bird feeders that had been sitting in our garage for over a year, we filled them, and Mark & Will hung them... And then we waited... And then, we spent another two weeks watching and marveling at the birds who came to pay us a visit. Simple, but special. I cannot tell you how much excitement this added to our lives. Will oohs, and ahhs, and exclaims, and points, ''WOOK! Birdie, mama! WOOK!" This never would have happened, had we not been purposeful about it. Such is the season of life we're living in. I know it sounds silly, but theme weeks have been a way to hold us accountable in having more fun.
WHAT WE DID
Red play-dough (the week's color!), and some cutting tools.
Plastic eggs and tongs - the idea was to use the tongs to place the eggs in the carton, but Will is so not interested in this. I think he thinks it's totally lame to use the tongs, when it is much easier to just use his hands and put the eggs in the right place. Duh. Why make things difficult, mom?!
Lots of fun birdie books from the library.
Free coloring pages.
We read "'The Singer'' story in our Jesus Storybook Bible, adapted from the Sermon on the Mount. If God takes care of the little birdies and flowers, surely He will take care of us!
The bird seed sensory bin was a HIT this week. Best ever. Unlike the tongs, Will did get a kick out of using the scooper to fill jars with bird seed. Accidentally, he learned the difference between a blue jay and cardinal, since both were guests in his bin for the week.
We threaded "'worms'' (pipe cleaners) through the holes in a colander.
Painted bird houses for Grandma Betty and Auntie Marliss!
We used up some of mama's paper scraps to make bird nests... I made lines of glue across a page, and Will had to match up a rectangular scrap of paper to stick in the glue. It ended up being a nest, of sorts.
Puzzle piecing! Will scored a new puzzle for his birthday that he loves. It is super handy because it covers all the basic shapes and colors. He's a pro!
That's all, folks!
Okay. This hit home for me-- being purposeful. That needs to happen around here. It doesn't seem that a TON of time money went in to planning this. I could do this! Thanks. I will now be stealing bird week
ReplyDeleteYes! Totally. I don't spend a lot of money. At least 90% of everything I use is stuff I already have crammed into my cupboards and repurposed. Another 8% is borrowed (library, etc.), and a very small percentage is bought. I bought bird seed - would have anyway, for our yard. Also bought 99 cents worth of feathers at Wal-Mart! :) And "yes'' on the time thing, too! I don't do a theme week EVERY week. In fact, the bird thing was about 2.5 weeks long. Only when we have time as a family and only when it is not stressful. The point is to serve our family and make life more exciting vs. add another silly thing. I hope you have fun with some of this stuff!! Send me pics, friend!
ReplyDelete