Zoo Pictures May 2012

We go to the zoo quite a bit, here is one trip we took with some friends. 

 First, we brought along some bread to feed the ducks.

Then, we went into the zoo and saw the animals.

Ran in the misters and had lots of fun!

Twizzler Fun

My husband loves Twizzlers!  Lilly likes them a lot too!  One day, before eating her twizzler, she decided to create pictures with the pieces first.

Then, to tell a story.

Really?!

We have collected quite a few McDonald's toys over the years.  Some are really and cute and some not so much.  The most recent one was a necklace that sings a song.  The necklace is cute and if I hadn't noticed the words to the song on a piece of paper in the package, I probably would have never understood them and that would have been okay with me. The words are: "my best friends brother is the one for me."  Really?  That's not really the kind of song I want my 4 year old singing, but of course she loves the necklace and has wanted to wear it everywhere.  Oh dear!

Standing on Her Head

My little girl loves to play around on my bed by flipping off and rolling around on the shag carpet in my room.  I started trying to teach her to do a head stand by using the wall for her support. 

I demonstrated for her first, which she thought was super cool! (yeah, me!) Then, it was her turn - here she is.....

Maybe soon she'll be able to do it without the wall supporting her.

Errands

I feel bad when we spend the majority of the day riding around in the car running errands.  So, if at all possible, I try to put in at least one stop that will be enjoyable for Lilly.  Recently, we were running errands on another side of town where there is an arboretum so we took a few minutes to explore.  We had been there before, but it had been a while.  Lilly loved exploring the fountains, finding all the lilies in the gardens, and swinging on the swing with Mommy.

Tadpole Club

At one of the parks near our house, there is a free program for 3 and 4 year olds called Tadpole Club.  I had heard about it from a lady at church about a year ago, but never got around to signing up.  This month, since we were finished with cubbies and our weekly Bible study class, I decided to sign Lilly up for the club. 

The first week, they learned about logs - what are logs? What animals live in them?  What animals eat them?  Then, we went on a hike around the park to find logs and explore the bugs living in them.  They had a craft, a snack and a story after the hike.  Lilly was a little nervous because she was the "new kid" in the group, but overall she had fun and learned a lot.

Second week, we learned about how animals move.  Ranger Monty went around and asked each child what their favorite animal was and how it moved.  Almost every little girl said a kitten, but when he got to Lilly she told him a giraffe and a rolly poly. This made me laugh.  We went on a hike to look at different animals and the way they move - birds, fish, bugs, frogs, etc.  Again, there was a craft, snack, and story at the end.  Before the story, Ranger Monty brought out a snake and let it loose in the middle of the floor so the kids could watch it move.  Then, he brought it around so each child could touch it.

This past week, we learned about armadillos - the Texas state mammal.  Lilly learned that there were 9 different kinds of armadillos, but only the 3 banded one can roll into a ball.  On our hike, we saw a armadillos burrow and places where they had dug around to find food - grubs.  The craft was making an armadillo out of a paper plate. 

Lilly is getting more comfortable in the group, which I like and she is learning a lot, which I love!   Definitely, a great program!

What Will She Be?

I always look at my daughter and try to picture what she will do when she is older.  She is great with her baby dolls so I know she will be a great mother.  Her love for clowns and all things clown related - circus, fair, etc. make me think she will perform or make people laugh some way.  When we go to the library she loves to get books on dentists, doctors, or about the body.  This makes me think that maybe she will go into a medical field.  Of course, her love for art and creating will play in there some way as well.  Our God has given her so many talents and interests, it truly is amazing to me. 

Recently, we went to the Children's Museum of Houston and I just loved watching her in the kidtropolis area working at the different positions.

Painting her face like a clown

Scientist in training

Ambulance driver

veterinarian

surfer? - probably not, but you never know. :)

putting on a puppet show

fishing?

another puppet show

So, you can tell there are so many options.  I just pray that whatever she does, she will serve the Lord by doing it.

New Places

We tried this new seafood restaurant not too long ago and I would have to say the atmosphere really made the place.  The food was pretty good, but the fact that the place was right on the water and we could eat outside, that really made the experience enjoyable.

The waiter gave Lilly some popcorn and she had the best time feeding the ducks with her Daddy.

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

For the past month or so, I have been teaching Lilly and a few of her little friends about different community workers.  We have discussed post office workers, firemen, and just recently we talked about garbage men. 

As part of the lesson, we made a map of a neighborhood and put pieces of "trash" on it, having the kids pretend to be the garbage man (or woman) go around to pick it up.

I was truly surprised at how interested they all were in driving cars around the neighborhood and adding places on the map.