My Challenge to Myself... Cardboard Towns - Bradley Town and Jaxsonville

For today, I actually had another activity planned to do while daddy was sleeping, but after having some other unexpected events occur, the teacher in me was flexible and quickly came up with an alternative and less complicated activity.

I feel like we watch way too much TV in this house, I have been trying to shut it off around 9:30am and leave it off until well after nap time is over. Some days are easier than others, it just depends on how many things I have on my to do list and if Jaxson is cranky. So this is an activity that we will continue to work on and add to in days to come.

So in the end we had some large sheets of cardboard that we taped together and then made roads and houses so the matchbox cars could have their own towns. We have the rug with roads and the plastic mat that you can lay out for the cars, but this was more fun since it could be personalized. Bradley drew his house and driveway, put a tractor store in the town, and he drew all his grandparents' houses. We talked about how cool it would be if they actually all were in the same town. His town had roads, parking lots, and of course it had to be a town in Indiana because it had a corn field. Jaxsonville had a road that I drew and some crayon scribbles.

Jax is sitting on his town, apparently Bradley's is better.

 

I think that Jaxson left his car in the cornfield, yikes what am I in for?

In the days to come I think we will add some 3-D elements to this town and elaborate on it more.

Up next week... Bath Tub Crayons! (At least that's the plan...)

Jaxson's First Dentist Appointment

On Thursday, we took booth boys to the dentist. It was Jax's first trip to the dentist. He did not seem to be a fan of having Tara clean his teeth. However, neither of the boys had any cavities or sugar bugs as we call them in our house.

Bradley had to have pictures (X-rays) taken of his teeth for the first time. (Nice smile Tara!)

County Fair 2012... Rides, Tractors, Trophies and More

The fair started on Monday and I was wiped out by Thursday, but I had to make it through Saturday.
Dan and I are in charge of the commercial building and coordinating the commercial exhibitors. Dan is also the fair board, so we spend a lot of time at the fairgrounds.

Monday was pretty calm, we went to see their cousin Delaney in the Little Miss contest and then everyone went on rides.

Tuesday was great fun! The boys went to stay the night at Papa and Nana's House. It was concert night at the fair, Easton Corbin and Thompson Square were in town. My friends Amanda, Mary, Monica, Kristen, JR, my cousin Darcy and her friend Kandis all met before and went to the concert together. We had a blast, it was a very late night.

Wednesday, we went to the rodeo, but Jaxson was bored so we didn't stay long. Then it was off to ride rides again.

Thursday, the boys and I got down to the fair grounds and they were setting up for the kiddie pedal tractor pull. Bradley asked what the stuff was and I explained how it worked, not thinking he would have any interest in participating in it, he is not very audacious when it comes this type of thing. I was shocked when he saw the trophies displayed on the table and wanted to sign up, so that is what he did. He was in the 3 and under category with four kids. He pedaled the tractor 26 feet 10 inches and placed third. He was was excited when he received the green participation ribbon and then was on cloud nine when he was called back up to accept his trophy. He did tell me, "Mom, I don't know why they put that thing on the back of the tractor, it made it hard." He cracks me up!

Friday, was the real Truck and Tractor Pull. Bradley talked about it all day and couldn't wait to leave the house to see it. Sometimes he is sensitive to loud sounds, so we borrowed a set of headphones and then went to buy some for Jaxson. Of course, when we got to the store, they only had pink headphone left. Bradley decided he wanted to wear the pink head phones, I think Dan was a little embarrassed.

Saturday, the boys and I headed out for the final night of the fair. The dirt bike races were in the grandstands and Bradley couldn't wait to see them, all day he had been asking how long until they started. We watched those until, Jaxson couldn't stay in one area any longer, then it was out to the midway. We met up with his friends Owen, Madison (aka Sissy), and Peyton; whom he had been riding rides with all week. We took a short break for some ice cream and dancing at the free stage tent. 

Bradley, Madison, and Peyton enjoying their ice cream.

Jaxson spent most of the fair in his stroller. The only ride that he did not bring him to tears when he sat down on it was the carousel. I am hoping he will experience more enjoyment during the fair next year.

Whew! After all that, we are exhausted!

Show'n That Pig

On Saturday, Bradley got to show Buckwheat the crossbred barrow.

It was a LONG super hot afternoon, for the entire family at the fair.
My mom flew in from New Orleans, my dad and his wife drove the hour north and many of our local friends and family came to watch as well.
The temperature was near 100 degrees and I made the mistake of dressing Bradley in his show clothes (JEANS, boots, and nice shirt) before we left, he was SO hot, note to self I will not do that next year. He asked if he could go play in the sandbox at the fairgrounds while he was waiting,  I of course said no because he had his show clothes on and I didn't want them dirty, so he had to wait until after he finished showing. After about 3 hours, it was finally time to line up for class number seventeen. Bradley went back to the pens and helped his cousin Morgan get his pig ready and then they walked it down to the waiting area to go in the ring. By the time I got back around to the show arena, he was already in there! That judge watched those pigs walk around forever, finally he started placing them in pens, Bradley ended up in pen number four. He got fourth place, which meant no ribbon for him, but he didn't care he just wanted to go play in the sandbox with his friend Peyton. So off he went!
Sometimes, I forget that he is only three. He did such a great job showing, he kept that pig moving the whole time, he has so many years ahead of him to learn about showmanship. A big thanks to "Aunt" Bryan, Aunt Janet, and his cousin Mogan for helping him and for the wonderful opportunity. Yeah, this former cattle show girl is so elated that at least one of her children already seems to enjoy this livestock showing thing. Those memories from working with and showing animals are some of my greatest childhood memories and I hope that I can help my children create some similar ones too.

 Getting ready before his class...

Finally show'n that barrow, for the first time by himself.

My Challenge to Myself: Sidewalk Chalk Paint

Today, I decided to do my craft activity with the boys for the week. I am not sure why I chose today, I am trying to get ready for my mom coming in tonight, organizing things for fair, other monotonous chores, oh and the boys didn't get much of a nap because the smoke detectors started to intermittently go off about a half hour after they laid down.

So the boys were ridiculously crabby, but we decided to make sidewalk chalk paint anyways, it was fun and easy.

This what it looked like after a few brushes went through it. It made a neat picture, I thought.

So what I found on a Pinterest, it looked like using a muffin pan was the best option and I had an old one the was perfect for crafts. Bradley put 1/4 cup of cornstarch in each muffin cup, then he put 1/3 cup of water in each up and added food coloring appropriately.

We used a spoon for each muffin cup, if you have ever made oobleck or glurch, it was a little "gunky" to stir at first. I started it and Bradley finished the stirring.

It was so easy, and even Jaxson tried to paint with it. It worked better when you painted it in the sunny area. It took a while to dry in the shady areas. It was the start of Bradley's name, no I wasn't advertising for a mom bra.

Walk'n Them Pigs

Last year, Bradley was able to show a pig with his cousin at the open show at the fair. My sister-in-law, Janet, gave him the opportunity, we got him ready, took him out to practice with the pigs a couple times, but I never actually thought he would go in the ring with his cousin Morgan, I was shocked and amazed when he did.
This year, Aunt Janet asked him if he was going to show a pig again and he said yes. A few days later, he informed me that he was going to show all by himself and he wanted a trophy!
I told him, he would probably get a ribbon.
So he has been out walking or trying to keep up with them and attempting to wash them.
Last night, "Aunt" Bryan told him he would be showing Buckwheat the Crossbred Barrow. He practiced trying to keep the pig between himself and the "judge" and it sort of worked. We will see come Saturday afternoon if he actually shows by himself, his cousin Morgan will be on standby just in case he shuts down, after all he is only 3!

Practicing with the "judge."

 This picture is from a different day of practicing.

 Practicing washing pigs with Morgan.

 Jaxson was busy looking for a kitty.

My New Challenge to Myself... Activity of the Week- Microwave Puffy Paint

After reading some other blogs, I have decided to challenge myself to be a more

hands on mom. I was looking forward to being a SAHM so that I could keep up with the laundry and household chores along with being at home with my kiddos. However, I tend to obsess over the cleaning and the household chores and I know in my heart I need to focus more on the boys and doing activities with them more often and teach them how to play.

So once a week, probably on Thursdays (it just works for this wife of a railroader) I am going to do a hands-on craft type of activity with the boys and blog about it. Feel free to share activity ideas and steal them.

Last Thursday, we did microwave puffy paint art.

It was so easy we mixed

1Tbsp. Flour

1Tbsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Soda

2 Tbsp . +/- Water

Food Coloring

Each batch is enough for 1 color of paint, we made four batches.

I was feeling quite daring and I let Bradley do most of the mixing and pouring in of ingredients.

No crazy colors for us, but I suppose it could be an option.

It works best if they really glob on the paint and paint on cardstock instead of printer paper.

Microwave for 20 seconds to create "puffy" paint.

Tada! This coming Thursday I think we are going to make sidewalk paint that I am stealing from my friend at Brining Buzz as long as it isn't too hot or raining. (I won't complain one bit if it rains.)