The Toby Show

Activity Jar

The 3 to 4 year old set can be a tad, well, obsessive about certain games.  Have you noticed this?  Huck will wear something out for about 2 weeks and then, POOF, it's gone.

It doesn't help that my brain is mush.  If Huck gets off of a game or an activity for a while I can forget it ever even existed.  Stephen is the same way.  We all fall into these ruts where we're doing the same 3 to 5 things with him over and over, which inevitably gets very tiresome and can take the fun out of playing.  "Let's pretend to be pirates who find buried gold" gets a tad stale after the 168th go 'round. 

"What?  A treasure chest?  Under this big X?  Who would have ever imagined?"  If the little feller could just change up the script from time to time to keep things lively it wouldn't be so bad, but my boy corrects you if you say your part a little differently than you did the very first time.  You gotta take notes or be constantly repremanded by a pint-sized Cecil B. Demille

And it's not just us.  Most of the time Huck has no problem deciding what to play, but occasionally even he wanders around at a loss for what to do.

So when I saw Jean's Spring Fun Box on The Artful Parent and then a few months later her post about a friend's Doorway into Summer, that was all the inspiration I needed.  Of course, I did it myyyyyy waaaay!

This is our new activity jar.

It helps get us out of play ruts, reminds us of loved but forgotten games and toys and gives us a focal point when one of us is at a loss for what to do next.  Oh, and Huck thinks it's way cool.

Below is a quick sampling of the kind of activities I included--not all of them because I think I ended up with close to 60!  I tried to go with things that could be set up easily.  Things I would have no trouble saying YES to.  A whole jar of YESES!  Can you imagine?  That's hard.  And okay, some of the yeses might be through clenched teeth. 

• Work Mazes
• Watercolor
• Make Muffins
• Play in the Sandbox
• Write a Book
• Play Dress Up
• Collage
• Play Soccer
• Call My Cousins
• Play Story Dice
• Beanbag Games
• Lace and Bead
• Make Popsicles
• Play a Board Game
• Go to the Library
• Build with Blocks
• Go on a Nature Walk
• Finger Paint
• Play with Play Dough
• Invite a Friend Over
• Count Things
• Play a Card Game
• Hunt for Bugs
• Play Soccer                             

You get the idea.  It's all doable stuff, but stuff you sometimes can't come up with between laundry and dinner.  And they're activities I already know are winners.  I thought Jean was right on with her Spring Box by not making the activities things that require a ton of prep, set up, time or clean up.  They are mainly things he already loves to do. 

And yet, The Doorway into Summer idea is also a great one for that bigger list of outings and special things that you can set aside a specific time to take on--going to the drive-in, having a camp out, etc.

Now there are a few items in our jar that can't just be done any old time.  I can't wisk Huck off to the library if Jemima is upstairs napping, or stop and make muffins 5 minutes before dinner is ready.  But you can always do something to set an activity in motion so that your ready to do it at the next available time.  You can write out a special invitation or ticket to go to the library at 3pm, then let them pick another activity for "right now."  You can set out all the ingredients for muffins so you're ready to make them right after dinner or first thing the next morning and then let them pick again.  I'd be careful about going the "that's not a good one, put it back" or "we can't do that, let's pick again."  Try to do something that makes it seem like you're doing each activity even if it's just a place holder or you're child will think that's part of it and start saying they don't want to do certain things. 

And hey, that may happen ayway over time.  Right now Huck is so thrilled with the activity jar that he'd eat asparagus and brush his teeth if it was written on colorful card stock. 

Now there's an idea.

Day Trippin'

Big day here yesterday.  Jemima and I took a day trip into town. 

You know, that's not entirely accurate.  A trip to town is the 10 miles into Driggs (approx. population 1500; 9,000 countywide) to go to the grocery store, drug store or bookstore.  A trip to town might even occasionally be the 45 minute drive over Teton Pass to Jackson (approx. population 10,000; 25,000 countywide ) to go to the bigger grocery store, a restaurant or the pool. 

Yesterday?  Yesterday we went to the big city.  Idaho Falls, people.  Population 55,000.  They have a Target.

But that's not why we went.  We went gravel shopping.  No, that's not a typo.  We went shopping for gravel.  That's the kind of exciting fun-filled day you can plan for yourself when you live out in the sticks and have things like "land" and "noxious weeds." 

See, we have a little home improvement project underway here and we need a large amount of gravel.  It turns out gravel comes in many, many shapes and sizes and there's not a totally uniform way of naming all the gravel in its various forms.  You can't just call up GravelMart and say I need a truckload of Gray #3. So, I am visiting every dusty gravel pit in Eastern Idaho in search of the perfect pebbles for our project.

Here's my growing collection of itty-bitty rocks so far.

A) 1-2 inch round; B) Natural round pea gravel; C) Mixed round;
D) Pea gravel from a friends playset, source unknown; E) 3/8 chipped;
F) 3/4 Pea Gravel; G) Pea gravel from a local school's playyard.

As you can see, there's more to gravel than meets the eye.  And today Stephen got 2 more samples of pea gravel that look totally different than from these.  Note how this term "pea gravel" is thrown about willy-nilly.  It's as bad as the word "gourmet" in New York City.  In case you haven't been, every sticky-floored bodega in the city has the word gourmet on the sign.

I think 9 samples of gravel is finally enough to make our decision, so we're calling off the search.  We're nothing if not thorough.

At least the drive was pretty. 

Jemima :: 6 1/2 months

ALL POINTS BULLETIN

This baby is on the move.

If you see this baby, please alert the authorities. 

Great care should be taken to keep small objects out of the hands of this dangerous criminal.

Hide jewelry if approaching the suspect.

A Hotline has been set up to assist the authorities with information about this baby's whereabouts.

Call 1-800-HOLY-SHIT if you have any information that might help authorities track and apprehend the suspect.

Sheriff's Log :: 33

JUNE 15

3:48 pm    Suspects were reported in mailbox vandalism

JUNE 16

9:56 pm    Suspicious activity was reported after several vehicles were coming and going from a house

JUNE 17

8:11 am    Two loose St. Bernards were reported

JUNE 18

10:14 pm  Suspicious activity was reported   

JUNE 20

6:43 am   Six cows were reported near the highway.

2:25 pm    Illegal dumping occurred.

2:45 pm    Illegal dumping was reported.

7:43 pm    A resident reported kids shooting at his animals.

JUNE 21

10:31 am    Horses were reported breaking over a fence.

Nest Cam :: RIP Scoot

Several people have wondered how Huck took the news that Scoot died.  The simple answer is, he took it well.  But that's a pretty boring blog post, so I'll elaborate. 

Unfortunately, Huck is not completely unfamiliar with death.  One of our cats died when Huck was almost 2, his Nana (Stephen's Mom) died when he was 2 1/2 and his Aunt Gretchen earlier this month.  Plus, we live in the country so he's also seen lots of dead deer, snakes, birds, mice and other little critters, some up close and personal.

Our explanation of death so far has been to say that your body stops working.  Your body can't walk or run or see or talk anymore.  It happens when you are very ,very old or very, very sick (as opposed to sick with a cold) or your body gets hurt very badly in an accident.  This all makes sense to him in the context of what he's seen with animals. 

Huck knew our trip to Texas was because his Aunt Gretchen died.  When we told him the news he asked, for the first time, "Where did she die to?"  Heavy.  We said simply, "We don't know."  Our thoughts about the afterlife are murky at best and our spiritual beliefs are very non-dogmatic so this felt right and honest to us.  The main thing we tried to convey was a sense of normalcy about it.  People and animals die sometimes.  It just happens.   We will always be able to look at pictures and remember them.   Yes, it's sad but it's okay to be sad.

My wonderful sister-in-law Gretchen

when she met Jemima on our big April road trip

Huck tried acting sad for a minute and then asked for a snack.  There.  Discuss death with 3 year old?  Check.  Sorry to be flip, but what else can you do?  You do your best, and move on.  I happen to think details and euphemisms are scary for this age.  I say keep it simple, easy-going, brief and honest.

Then we came home from Texas.  And we found Scoot.  You could say it was really piling on for the poor guy but, on the other hand, it might have allowed him to process his feelings a little bit, too.  See, Huck did not go to Gretchen's funeral or see anyone crying uncontrollably at any family events.  Even so, he did mention her a few times.  He'd say, "But Aunt Gretchen won't be there because she died, right?"  And we'd tell him, "That's right," and reassure him of all the other people who would be there.  I mean let's face, he's 3.  He doesn't really understand.  But you can't just pretend she went to Paris.

He asked if he could look at Scoot.  So we looked at him.  We talked about the way he didn't move.  Huck wanted to get his magnifying glass.  I let him. 

Yes, the nest may have been clean, but the floor?  Not so much.

We discussed what we thought happened to Scoot and decided that he tried to fly too early and fell out of the nest and hurt his neck.  I explained that this happens a lot with little birds and that's why Mommy birds lay so many eggs.  It was just an opportunity to talk about death in a more accessible way.  I didn't push it but I tried to answer all his questions.  In many ways the discussion paralleled those I had with Stephen and other family members as we tried to make sense of Gretchen's death. 

I told him that when people and animals we care about die, we put them in the earth (I felt this left room for cremation without having to get into it this early) and told him we could bury Scoot if he wanted.  He said that he did but was concerned that Scoot's mommy and daddy wouldn't know where he was.  I suggested that we could bury him under the tree that they liked to sit in and mark a rock with his name so they could come visit him.  He was happy with that. 

So we buried Scoot under the aspens.  Huck picked the spot, I dug the hole and we filled it in together.  Huck doesn't stand much on ceremony so we simply placed the headstone we decorated and said,

"Goodbye, Scoot.  You were a good little bird." 

Then Huck was off to play again. 

Idaho Sunset

These are right out of the camera with no color enhancements.  They're almost as fabulous as it was in real life.  Wow.

Sheriff's Log :: 32

JUNE 6

1:12 pm    A dog was reported ruining a neighbor's flowers

6:23 pm    A man called reporting a dog that ate his chickens

7:07 pm    Illegal hunting activities were reported after a hawk was killed

JUNE 7

8:13 am    A deer was hit southbound on Hwy 33

11:36 am  An ATV complaint was called in after kids were riding around the elementary in Tetonia

JUNE 9

5:36 pm    A fail-to-purchase occurred

JUNE 10

1:42 pm    An interviewed subject was denied a room and began harassing the room occupant

9:50 pm    A juvenile party containing alcohol was reported out near the Darby Girls Camp

10:22 pm  A reckless driver was reported at Broulim's

JUNE 11

8:05 am    Vandalism was reported adter a house on Cedron was covered in paintballs

JUNE 12

5:26 am    A man that shot rabbits was reported

10:36 am  Threats were reported

5:43 pm    An abandoned utility trailer was reported

JUNE 13

9:58 pm    Firecrackers were reported

JUNE 14

2:36 pm    A house was reported struck by lightening, all residents OK

5:27 pm    Suspicious activity was reported

 

Frozen Treats, Part 1

Here in the mountains the seasons seem to hit right on the Solstice and Equinox--well, except for Spring which can be slow to emerge out of the blanket of snow.  So no surprise that 2 days after the Summer Solstice, it was summer!  Yippee!!

We made up a bunch of fun frozen treats to celebrate.  Look at at these goodies!

The "cooking" involved in making these is perfect for kids--toddlers to teens in my opinion.  And if you've got craft sticks coming out the wazoo like me, this is a great project.  I only have a 2 popsicle molds so we used Dixie Cups for most of them.  You can also make mini pops using ice cube trays.

I saw the chocolate banana pops and grape skewers from this One Crafty Place round-up.   The Banana Pop recipe looks great but I must admit we cut corners on that one and just used Santa Cruz Organic Chocolate Syrup instead.  Still very good (note that there is only one left).  The Watermelon & Orange Juice Pops are just made up but no less yummy.

Watermelon Pops

6-8 cups of watermelon chunks
2 tbsp sugar

I actually used all of one of those personal seedless watermelons.  You could do this without any added sugar at all if you get a really sweet melon but a little added in does bring out the natural sweetness.  Mix in a blender, pour in molds, put a stick in it, freeze.

OJ Pops

Enough Orange Juice to fill your pop molds

We used Simply Orange.  Pour and put a stick in it.  Couldn't be any simpler. 

To keep the sticks upright when you're trying to freeze something thin, like OJ arrange all your cups on a baking sheet then wrap a layer of plastic wrap or tin foil over the entire thing.   Then you can just poke holes in the wrap with the sticks before you freeze. 

We're making a bunch more for the 4th. Stay cool!

Long Lost Giveaway Winner

Abby, where are you?  The winner of the Mama Merit Badges Giveaway is AWOL.  I'm going to wait until the end of this week to hear from her since not everyone reads their favorite blog every day--GASP!  If I don't heard from Abby, who didn't leave her email on her hilarious entry about barfing and tossing rotten tofu in the garbage at the same time while pregnant, then we'll just have to draw again!  Stay tuned.

I Love You Book

Yesterday Huck was talking about things he loves--blueberries, lollipops, books--and I came up with the idea of making a book full of drawings of all the things he loves right now.  He was game. 

It was a fun and easy way to quietly kill an hour while the baby napped.  And it will be a wonderful memento to have.

 

Why yes, I did recently get a mohawk.  It was going to be a surprise.

In the past I've pulled his pictures together and created a book with them after he's drawn them.  But this idea was different.  I wanted him to have the feeling that he was creating parts of a whole.  He was making a book.  I remembered these simple handmade books SouleMama made a while back and went with it.  We stacked 5 sheets of blank white paper on top of 1 sheet of card stock, folded it all in half, then stapled the spine.  You can also sew the spine and/or cover for a great look.  Then we just sat down with the art supplies and talked about things he loves. .  

Besides being a fun art project, it was also a really fun talk.  I may have to do these yearly.  At least.  And I will definitely keep a supply of these simple books on hand for when the mood strikes him.