Friday Faves-- Tot School Edition

School?! LOL. We just call it Tot School after I found the idea on Pinterest. Basically, the idea of Tot School isn't really school at all-- just some fun invitations to play that encourage learning throughout the day. 

As school starts, I'm going to get more serious and plan some activities for E. For now, I'm still learning and we are having lots of fun exploring some new toys! 

:: Plastic Animals: I've posted about those little plastic animals before. They are a huge hit! Besides practicing animal sounds, I'll have E pick out a certain animal, point out body parts, etc. I'm sure down the road she'll have them set up in her doll houses or something! 

We've never given E shaving cream and that was kind of fun. She was very unsure at first but this little sensory bin kept her attention for over 15 minutes! 

:: We got her this sorting pie (sorry no pics, it's very new) and it's a new family favorite. It comes with 2 sets of tongs and Emma is really mastering using them. It comes with 60 pieces of tiny fruit so she does have to be watched, but it will be a toy we'll use for quite a while. 

:: Toddler tools. Walmart and even the dollar store sell kitchen supplies on a smaller scale (think 6-7 inches). These can be used for all sorts of activities-- water, pretend cooking, sand, sensory bins. . . 

:: Do a Dot Markers. Another new item that Emma loves! Shoot, Nathan and I were playing with these and making funny faces. You can even print worksheets for your toddler to fill in. The colors are so pretty. I can't wait to use them at Christmas time to make trees and holly. 

Emma is not at the stage where she's able to fill in the worksheets, but we will definitely be working up to that. 

:: Buttons. We have these ones from Amazon. They are very fun, but still a little small. Emma knows she cannot put them in her mouth but will run to a corner, laugh and put it in her mouth. Not funny. 

We practice lacing, sorting, and down the road they can be used as counters. 

We've been having so much fun doing tot school! I can't wait to post more. Okay happy Friday, folks! xoxo 

Friday Faves

TGIF! So freaking happy it's Friday. Even though it was a shorter week for us, it still felt long and we just had a lot going on.

We are having some kiddos over this afternoon for a playdate. We are making a craft involving paint..wish us luck!

I have found some cool things online this week and had to share:

I find the most random things online and always laugh so hard. I should probably find a hobby but I usually send them to Nathan and he says he laughs too. 

:: Birkenstocks! I had several pairs growing up, but don't have any as an adult. They are totally in right now and I love them with cropped jeans or a bathing suit with coverup. I like this look.

I don't think I'll get any, but I love all of them. Especially these:

Ooo just realized these are leather, and guess what the 3 year anniversary gift is? Hmmm. 

:: Baby play makeup. My sister in law is major makeup obsessed, and when Emma sees it all out she goes bonkers. I don't really wear makeup, but I still love this little kit. I could probably just empty out old makeup compacts just as easily, but still cute for a birthday present. 

:: Another leather item. Crap I'm on a roll! I already have a bag, but this one is gorgeous. I love the inside as well.

Off to use my boring bag to go return something. Life is tough.

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend! xoxo

Friday Faves (On Saturday)

So yesterday was kind of wonky but I really wanted to share some things I'm loving right now! Poor Emma has a fever but she's upstairs snuggling with Daddy so I figured no better time than the present, right? :-)

:: I saw this on Pinterest and I am in love. We have a super tiny laundry area and this would be heavenly. When we were looking for houses, a laundry room was on my must-have list, but that somehow slipped through the cracks.

It doesn't seem that difficult, definitely doable.

:: Saw this on FB and laughed out loud:

:: I got these wedges for our "mommy & me" photoshoot (Can't wait to share the pictures!) and they are so comfortable. If you need some, I definitely recommend them. Bonus: Emma loves the zipper and it occupies her for the exact amount of time it takes me to brush my teeth. 

:: I posted about our summer bucket list and found these jellies online. Not sure how I feel about them so I'm going to keep looking. Maybe I'll look at Old Navy? 

Okay that's all I'm loving right now! Hope everyone has a great Saturday and a wonderful Mother's Day! xoxo 

Friday Faves

Hey y'all! We are finally on the up and up after the God awful tummy bug..it's been a long week! I just had to share some random favorite items I've found the past few weeks:

:: This shirt! I never ever spend more than $5-$10 on an outfit for Emma, but Gap was having a 40% off sale and I had to splurge. I'm so happy with it and the quality is awesome-- she'll definitely be able to wear it next year. I also liked this one, but it wasn't colorful enough for me. :-)

I've never been a huge Gap shopper for kids, but now I'm in love with it! They have lots of sales and I'm eyeing all their Easter goodies and clearance items

This hat is darling! I wanted to get it but Emma won't wear hats. Boo.

:: Lush! My SIL and another friend mentioned how much they love Lush's bathbombs, so I knew I had to try one out! Actually I got an email from my friend saying "I know how much you love baths.." Ha. So glad that's how people remember me.

:: I also really love this Easter bunny shirt! How cute! I didn't get it, promise.

Okay, hope everyone has a great weekend! xoxo

Friday Faves

Howdy! I'm typing this while Emma kisses the dogs and it's about to make my heart explode. We are so happy it's Friday here even though Nathan has to work Sunday. Oh well. We will just have to cram all our fun in tomorrow. ;)

Some random things I'm loving this week:

:: Kohls! I have never really been a Kohls fan. Not for any reason other than there was never one close to us. All the women in my life love Kohls. Even my FIL said his shirt was from Kohls! Anyway, E & I walked through there the other day and they had some good deals. Their kid clothes, children's books, and even toys are very reasonably priced. We didn't buy anything but I may be picking up a few Easter goodies for E's basket.

:: Some of these off Pinterest. . .

:: I just started following this blog and it is super cute! 

:: Felt food! Ikea sells felt food and I immediately fell in love. I never got any-- Emma needs more toys like I need a bullet in my head. BUT I found these felt cinnamon rolls and I love them! 

Okay that's all I can think of right now. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend! xoxo

15 & 16 Month Favorites (Friday Favorites)

Friday Favorites with a twist. ;) Our little E is 16 months old today! Where in the world does time go?

This is by far my favorite age-- E has a personality, can really play and understand things/toys, understands commands, etc.

Very few things can keep her busy for long. Some things we're loving right now:

Shape Sorter-- While she can't exactly "play" with this toy, she does try to stick the shapes in. She knows how to open and shut the box, and therefore she dumps the shapes out 500 times every afternoon.

Fisher-Price Little People-- We have the princesses and Emma loves them! We don't have a house for them or anything (apparently they make cars and all sorts of crap for parents to buy), she's just happy with the people themselves. So is Oreo because he ate off Repunzel's arm. She even puts them up on the windowsil and then throws them on the floor. They are the perfect size that she can also teethe on them without worrying she'll choke.

Melissa & Doug Standard Unit Blocks-- Best purchase ever! We play blocks at least twice a day. She can stack several up and loves carrying the stacked blocks around. I always try to create a big caste but it never lasts long-- Godz-Emma comes crashing through.

Pipe cleaners/Poms-- Really any kind. I found some on Amazon for $1 each. This weekend I'm going to try to put a hole in a container and have her put the poms in the container thru the hole. Should be good for hand eye coordination, cognition, something?

As I mentioned (back here), she loved the pipe cleaners and colander. That kept her busy for quite some time! Nathan likes to make one long pipe cleaner for her to play with. They are a big hit right now.

Bears/babies-- Another huge hit! Shoot, even the dog toys! It's crazy. We lined them all up yesterday (probably 30 small stuffed animals) and we played school. Emma was pretty disruptive and sat on half the class but we had fun. She will hug all the animals and kiss them. She loves to put them places and give them to the dogs.

Shoes-- Yup. Socks too but mostly shoes. She carries shoes around and yells at me until I put them on her. 7AM my kid is wearing sneakers with jammies. She loves it when I let her wear my sneakers or even Daddy's shoes.

Crayons/Markers-- Coloring is huge right now. I printed off a sheet for Ash Wednesday and we colored on that until I caught her eating the marker. Ayy yi yi. She does get frustrated when they don't write as well (if she doesn't push hard enough) which can end badly. Emma loves to color on boxes we get in the mail..especially if she can get in the box! Bonus.

That's what we're loving right now! I'm also loving nap time. :-) Hope everyone is having an awesome Friday! xO

Friday Faves

Happy Friday! Doesn't mean anything for us. . . it's technically our Monday, boo.

Some things I'm loving this week:

These magnetic letters for the fridge. Are they not the cutest thing ever? I cannot justify the $40 price tag but hey-- I can dream, right?

These labeled cutting boards. I read an article earlier this week on the dangers of cross contamination and how it's killed more people than..something. Regardless, I'm now obsessed and I want to throw out all our old cutting boards. I wish I was joking. 

This curio cabinet. I've been looking for a curio cabinet for a long time. I have a lot of do dads around the house that need a home. 

Our local garage sale site has a lady that is giving one away. Yup, for free. I still have to work out the details (like how it's going to get here), but I would love to fix it up, give it some love, and give it a new home. I'll keep y'all posted. :-)

:: And I thought this was funny (found on Pinterest): 

Okay! I gave Emma a pouch on our rug in the living room so I better make sure it's making it to her mouth. Peace!