fall craft

Since the painting was such a success, I've decided that I need to find activities that keep Kyalo busy, but are also things I can help with/figure out/supervise.  There's a LOT on the internet that truly astonishes or overwhelms me.  I like to keep it very simple around here.

I came across this post for a salt dough leaf impression and thought it looked like a good -- and doable, and affordable -- activity.  I'd never made salt dough before, but I thought it couldn't be too hard.  And I knew Kyalo would enjoy it.

The general idea is to make the dough, stamp a leaf into the dough to make an impression, bake it for a few hours, and then, when cool, let the kid color in the leaf's impression.  I also had the idea that this could be a nice little gift for Grandma, and Kyalo was keen to 'make sumpting Grandma.'

It was a great activity, but I don't think Grandma's getting her gift for a while.

This was pretty easy to throw together, and I really let Kyalo do most of the work.

First there was stirring. . .

then kneading. . .

 there wasn't quite enough flour on the dough; needed a pinch more, of course

 doesn't he look professional??

(sorry for my voice, but I thought you might like to watch him in action.  Perhaps that's just me!)

And then there was the leafing pressing. . .

Kyalo was really into this part of the 'project.'  When I gave it to him to color, though, he scribbled a few lines on it and said, 'all done dis.'  So, he liked the manual labor of it all better, I guess. I will say that I think I didn't do this project quite right -- didn't get the leaf into the dough enough to make a good impression, and possibly didn't cook it enough -- so in the end it was kind of a fail.  But hey, Kyalo had a good time.  And he was a total floury mess when all was done.

This leaf bowl project looks like a fun thing, but I think I'll save it for next fall.

One way I know this activity made an impression on him is that a week or so later he was collected leaves, and when home, got out his play dough and pressed the leaves into it.  That was satisfying to me - to see him do it all on his own at a later date.

artist at work

I'm discovering that Kyalo really likes art!  As I mentioned, his favorite part of the Halloween Fest was the little apple basket craft he did there (stamping with apples) and he'd carry that painting around the house for days.  Even before we went to that he kept asking to 'do painting' though I'm not sure where that idea came to him.  So I was at Target one night and picked up a $2.00 tray of watercolor (and washable!) paints.  The next morning I let him have at it.

He painted a solid two hours.

I'm in love.

I'm also discovering just how much artistic ability Dexter has, which is awesome since I have Z E R O. Dexter's oldest brother went to art school and the next brother can do glass sketching which is a big deal in Kenya.  Obviously, Kyalo comes by this naturally.  This is another place where father and son can get in a lot of extra bonding time.  I'm happy to help him foster his talent.  Especially if it brings him so much joy, and brings me so much time :)

 I scoop up these seasonal-themed coloring pages at our library each week.  We had a big stack of Halloween-y pictures going for a while.  

 you know this is the real deal when the tongue comes out!

getting into it!

Papa, trying to show Kyalo the right way to hold the brush

Kyalo plowed through that first tray of paints in about a day and a half, so I thought it might be a good idea to get something a bit more heavy duty.  Off to Michael's we went - which, since I'm not generally crafty or creative, totally overwhelmed me - in search of some new activities for Kyalo.  I thought I might be really inspired. Alas, I wasn't.  Still, we left with some new sponge brushes, acrylic paints and, at the last minute scooped up a plain wood model plane for $1.00.  I thought this would be a fun thing the guys could do 'together' - painting and building.  Painting was great, but a little early for the building.

I never got a picture of the final product.  But this was something that Kyalo was very proud of.  I'd say it was fun for all of us, really!

And lastly, we were at the park one day a couple of weeks ago and a woman was with a little girl.  They had been collecting leaves, and I heard the woman say to the girl, "what colors do you want to paint these when we get home?"  I thought that sounded like an interesting idea, so we started collecting leaves, too.  I'm not afraid to steal others' good ideas!

We got home, got set up, and got to work.  It worked in theory, but Kyalo painted everything BUT the leaves, so. . . that didn't go quite as planned, but he had a grand time, of course!

 You can see the leaves in this picture.  In some cases he seems to have painted around them.  Or perhaps he just painted his body instead.  Jury's still out on that one. . .

happy, messy artist

wedding escape

This weekend Dexter and I dashed up to Massachusetts for a whirlwind weekend to celebrate our friends' wedding.  As a bonus, their wedding was on my birthday!  Their wedding, and Lisa's birth last year is really making my birthday a memorable occasion.

As a gift to me, Dexter took Friday off from school -- his first time doing that since school started. I'd say it was over due -- and so we were able to go up on Thursday night, giving us more time there.  This is important, because I need to take full advantage of a dryer while home.  Counting the days til we have a dryer (or outside lines...).  This also meant we went out to dinner Friday night and left Kyalo with my parents.  Since we NEVER go out, this was a real treat.

Saturday was the wedding, at a beach house in nearby Gloucester.  Kyalo was supposed to be the ring bearer so we were to get there a little early to do a little run through.  Kyalo tends to get a little scared in big crowds, so I wasn't sure how he'd perform.  We never did have that walk through, but Dexter and I tried practicing with him ourselves before the big moment.

With this kind of focus, don't you want him to come carry your rings in your wedding?

Needless to say, the bestman had the rings safely tucked away in his pocket.  Which turned out to be especially good because when things got started, it was a bit hectic and rushed.  I handed the pillow to Kyalo and he threw it away and went and sat in the chairs.  So, that was a ring bearer fail.  But it will make me laugh forevermore.  And hey, at least he wasn't in the bathroom crying like the flower girl!! 

Otherwise, the wedding went smoothly.

Bill's mom (the groom) and Keziah, praying before the wedding

 about to walk in

Bill, one happy guy!!

One of the best parts about the wedding was that it was catered by a Kenyan company, so Dexter and I had our fill of Kenyan food.  I'm pretty sure Dexter ate his weight in goat.  It was also fun for Dexter to be surrounded by so many Kenyans.  Bill is the cousin to Andrew, who was the best man in our wedding, so there were others there (like Jimmy, the best man in the photo above) that Dexter already knew.  It was a fun, fun time.  

My parents came for the wedding and the food, but left with Kyalo early on, so that Dexter and I could hang out a bit more.  Bill and Keziah move to Australia on Sunday, so the extra time there was extra special.

A few random shots from the day (some before, some after the wedding).

 nap time; someone was not amused to be taking pictures

 that skin!!  I love this picture, even if he isn't smiling

we never look this good - a picture was a must. It was my birthday after all

I look like I'm about to fall over from exhaustion.  Clearly, I can't handle the late hours any more.  Age is catching up on me.

Godspeed, Bill and Keziah.  Thanks for including us in your day! We love you and miss you terribly.  Hope to see you in Kenya in 2014! (Or Australia. . . sometime. . . )

31 months

Kyalo hit 31 months on Sunday, but I just got around to taking pictures today.  The fact that he is closer to being three than to two is significant for two reasons: 1) he's close to being three!! and 2) we only have about 6 months of school left - graduation is at the end of May.  Both seem to be unbelievable facts in our life right now!

As usual, this was a good month.  After the Halloween Fest at the Y, I discovered Kyalo has a serious love for all things arty and crafty.  I bought him $2.00 water colors from Target and he painted with them for TWO HOURS (post coming soon). Obviously, I'm in love with that.  Plus, Dexter also has an artistic side so it is something they can do together.

I'm realizing that the more Kyalo is occupied with things that he truly enjoys (painting, play dough, markers, etc) the happier we all are - I can get things done, he isn't underfoot as much, thus getting into less trouble, I'm yelling less.  As you can see, this is a win-win-win all around.  I think he gets easily bored with things though (something that he loved yesterday he might not love tomorrow) so need to up my game and have more things at the ready.  I'd welcome suggestions from any of you moms out there.

Other things of note for this month...

- potty training is going S L OW.  I thought we'd have hit it out of the park by now but he still won't poo in the toilet, and was waking up so much at night that I decided I needed him in diapers.  After two years of waking up to nurse him, I only have so much tolerance for middle-of-the-night clothes and sheet changes!

- He recently learned to climb out of his crib.  As my mom says, life as we've known it is over.  I'm hoping we can keep him in the crib until we move, but we'll see what happens in the coming months.

- One of his favorite things to do is to wash his hands.  We have chairs that he can push all around the house, and I'll often find him in the bathroom washing his hands.  He only uses about a half a bottle of soap each time.

- He also like to brush his teeth, but I think his favorite thing is to eat our toothpaste.  Hard to remember to keep that out of reach!

- In addition to painting, he's also showing interest in taking pictures.  I dug out our old camera to let him play with it. While most of the pictures were of the floor or wall or the light switch, I like that he's showing an interest in these things already.  It won't be long before he's taking better pictures than me!

- He likes to be involved in all things.  Today, I found him in the kitchen trying to put the KitchenAid together.  I think it freaked him out a bit when he actually turned it on!

- And he still loves reading.  In fact, he'll sit and listen to multiple stories.  Current favorites right now are any Clifford the Big Red Dog ('Cifford') and Mr Gumpy's Outing which is a funny little book about a man taking a bunch of animals for a boat ride down the river.  We've probably checked it out from the library more than it has actually been returned!

This weekend, a dear friend visited us.  I've known Judy my whole life - her laughter is part of the background of my memories - and so it was extra special to me to have her visit me here in New Jersey, and for her to spend a bit of time with Kyalo. She hadn't seen him since last May, and he's obviously changed so much since then!

 of course, it was impossible to get Kyalo to look at the camera. This was the best we could do.

it was almost 70* F on the first Saturday of November - pretty different from last year when we were having snow!

It would seem that today Kyalo is not taking a nap, which would be about right, since I was thinking that I would nap while he napped.  Sigh.