Spa in a Jar

Tomorrow is Emma's last day of preschool for the summer. I can't believe that her first school experience is already over! She has learned so much and has loved everything, especially her teachers. I wanted to give both of her teachers a gift that they would enjoy and could "use up." Teachers collect so much "stuff" over the years. I saw a great idea on Pinterest for "Pampering in a Jar." It looked easy, cute, and something that anyone could enjoy.

We found most of our items at Target for pretty cheap: Ball jars, Dove chocolates, fuzzy socks, lotion, gel eye pack, lip balm, and a face mask. 

We put all of the items into the jar, tied a pretty ribbon around it, attached a little note, and deemed it a Spa in a Jar.

 

These were super simple to put together and came out pretty cute. I think I need to make one for myself!

Handy Helper

My sweet girl received a smiley stamp at school today for being the "Most Helpful" during clean up time.

We've really been helping her practice here at home.

 

Super Why!

We took Emma to see "Super Why Live" today and it was so much fun! The show was right in the middle of nap time, so we decided to let Sophia spend some time with Mimi and Papa while we took Emma on a special date with Mom and Dad. It worked out for the best because computer problems caused check in to take an hour...without air conditioning. She would have been miserable (and so would everyone in her path!)!

Once that was over, the rest was amazing! Our seats were in the very front row. There were a few people in the orchestra pit in front of us, but we were in the perfect spot to see everything! I never thought I would be so excited about a children's concert, but let me tell you, I couldn't wait to share this fun day with my sweet girl!

Emma was stunned and didn't say anything for the first 30 minutes. She just couldn't believe her eyes! I loved watching her. The show Super Why is really cute and they made the live show even better with lots of stunts and special effects.

I love watching the girls experience new things and seeing their little eyes light up with wonder and amazement. What a blessing to experience life through a child's eyes!

Weird Science!

Today I had some time alone with Emma. That's not something we get very often and it was nice to get the chance to do some "big girl" stuff while Sophia spent a special day with Mimi.

Emma originally wanted to go swimming when I asked her what she wanted to do, but she woke up with a cold, so we had to change our plans. She didn't know exactly what she wanted to do, she just said "something fun." Now that, I can make happen. We were going to do science experiements!

While I got our materials ready, she got to work painting a snail magnet. Now, I do fun stuff with my kids, but rarely do we do things that involve mess. Paint, glue, glitter (oh, the glitter), sand, and the like just aren't my cup of tea. So when I told Emma that she was on her own to paint while I got things ready she wasn't sure if she heard me correctly but she didn't wait to find out. Luckily, she is extremely meticulous and I have nothing to worry about with her. She did a great job on her magnet.

Once the magnet was put aside to dry, we got ready for our first experiment. I told her that we were going to make lava lamps. She didn't know what that was, and she didn't care. She was ready for anything. I gave her a jar filled up with about three inches of water and she poured in 1/3 cup of vegetable oil. We were all out of food coloring, but that can be added after the oil. We observed the mixture and explained what we saw. Then, she shook a little salt onto the top and watched the magic happen! Try it for yourself to see what it does. ;)

Next on our list was making volcanoes. I gave her a vase, three tablespoons of baking soda, and 1/2 cup of vinegar. I put everything in a pan to catch the mess and explained what she needed to do.

She was amazed at what happened and she didn't tire of this easily. She did it over and over again. She didn't give a hoot about the explanation of what occurred, but she sure had fun making it happen!

After we had our fill of volcanoes, we talked a little bit about how she wasn't feeling well and the germs that invaded her body. I asked her what she thought germs looked like and she said red with teeth. Pretty good visual! We talked about microscopes, viruses, hand-washing, and good bacteria. I was pretty impressed with her level of attention. She was very intrigued that she had little "monsters" in her body. This all led up to an art project that I have been wanting to try.

I pinned this idea from Raising Sparks and Emma loved it! It was really easy and the outcome is adorable! I put a few drops of paint on the paper, gave Emma a straw and she went to town! I thinned tempera paint to almost the consistency of water colors. This first try was a little thick. The paint should move around easily.

We tried again and got a good consistency. Once it was dry, she glued on the eyes and I drew on the mouths. I asked her which ones were germs and which were good bacteria. Of course, the red ones were germs and had "teeth." I LOVE the way this looks. My favorite little guy is the germ on the top right. He looks a little boogeyman-esque.

Here are both of her creations, proudly hanging on the refrigerator!

I hope both of my girls follow in their parent's footsteps and love science and learning. I sure love being their first teacher!

Children's Museum

Today I took the girls to the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, which is one of our favorite places to go. I asked my mom to come along with us, and the girls loved having Nana with us on our "field trip."

The museum has lots of different rooms, each with a different theme. It is so much fun to watch the girls explore and realize that they're supposed to touch stuff!

I love going to the same places each year to see how much the kids have grown!

"Driving" the train!

What a different experience this was from last year when I took a young toddler and a sleeping baby. Fast forward to today and my girls were all over the place, having a ball. It's hard to believe how big they are!

Quiet Time

Today was just one of those nice, quiet days at home with the girls. We spent the morning just playing and listening to music. I brought down the girls' blocks from upstairs and it was like a brand new toy. They played with them for, literally, hours. They built towers, pretended they were ice cream cones, used them as obstacle courses, you name it. They played so well together, which, let's face it, just doesn't happen all the time!

Sometimes it's the simple things that bring the most joy!

A Week in the Life - Sunday

I hope you haven't been bored to tears reading all about our life. I hope you've felt like you've been a part of the Stegner family this week! It might be pretty uneventful life, but it's ours!

Today was a wonderfully relaxing day with my family. I didn't even take out my camera until the end of the day because even though I love documenting with pictures, sometimes I just have to be present without the camera.

We spent the day at home and it was so nice to have some quiet family time. Our morning started around 7:00, when both girls woke up. Daddy made pancakes for breakfast, which is always Emma's request. Mimi and Papa came by for a quick visit and the girls ran around like wild children. They always have fun showing off for company.

After lunch, Emma and I went grocery shopping. She is a great helper and "reads" the list while I shop. She made one customer laugh out loud while we were shopping when she told me that she needed to have a Matchbox car that she saw on display because she had been dreaming about having one. When I put mandarin oranges in the cart, she said, "Now, I haven't had any dreams about oranges. I don't need those." What a character!

After the shopping was done and put away, the whole family settled down for our favorite weekend activity--nap time!  When we woke up, the girls and Andy played in the living room while I made dinner. I tried a new recipe that I was planning on posting for Mmm, Mmm Monday, but I wasn't crazy about it so I'll be trying another new recipe this week.

After dinner, Andy mowed the lawn while the girls and I got in our swimsuits and got ready for the pool. Once Andy was done, we all headed out to try out Emma's new puddle jumper. Emma hasn't really been in the "big" pool this summer and she was a little nervous, but she warmed up and asked to go back every day. It sounds like a plan! The water was perfect and we all had fun.

After we were all dried off, we put the girls in the bath and then got them ready for bed. Since Emma took a nap, she was able to stay up for a little bit once Sophia went to sleep and she wanted to watch Team Umizoomi.

Just like Mommy! :)

Both girls fell asleep pretty quickly and Andy slipped out to TCBY to pick up a frozen yogurt for the two of us. I'm going to watch The Next Food Network Star and then head off to bed.

I really hope you enjoyed reading about our daily routine. I know that sometimes it's nice to see that your life isn't so different from someone else's after all. Or isn't that bad! Ha! ;)  It was so much fun for us to look back at last year's series to see how much has changed and how big our girls are getting. I'm sure that next year will be just as big of a shock.