Saturday, July 27, 2013

A Cleaner Way to Paint

I think we could all agree that paint is messy. Especially in the hands of an almost two year old. So, thanks to Pinterest, I found a cleaner way to paint.


The setup is easy. You simply squirt blobs of paint inside of a plastic bag, seal the bag, and tape it to a table (or in our case, a placemat) over a piece of paper. Then you squish it around with whatever tool you choose. We played with a paintbrush, cars, a train, and various objects that we could use as stamps to make shapes. It kept Noah busy for quite a while. I'd call this little activity a success.


We also tried putting circle stickers on dots that I made on a piece of paper. Noah was less interested in putting the stickers on the paper and more interested in putting them on his shovel. This one was less successful, but it was worth a shot.



Friday, July 26, 2013

New to Nutella

Noah doesn't really eat much of anything. There's not one single food that he will eat consistently. So, we are constantly trying new things to see if we can find something that will please his picky palate. I wanted to try Nutella because I've heard great things about it. I didn't want to get the big jar in case he didn't like it. I found a to-go cup at Wal-Mart that has bread sticks for dipping. He was hesitant at first, just barely touching his tongue to the sweet stuff. But it didn't take long for him to decide it was delicious.


He never would bite the bread stick and eat it. He just kept dunking it in the Nutella and licking it off. His mouth and chin were covered in it by the time he was finished, and some had even found it's way to his shirt. I think Nutella is something that we will start keeping around for snacks. Anything that gets a positive reaction on the first try gets a place in the pantry.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Inflate-A-Fort

Taylor was perusing Pinterest one night and saw an interesting take on building a fort. Someone had taken a sheet, tucked in the edges, and put a box fan under one side of it. When the fan is turned on, it basically inflates the sheet and you have your fort. Easy peasy. He tried it one afternoon with Noah and it actually worked really well.



Noah crawled right in and found the whole experience to be quite funny. He likes to get close to the fan and yell "HELLO!!" because it makes his voice sound strange. Taylor crawled in with him and they had a good time playing in their inflatable tent. This was yet another winning idea from Pinterest.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

House Project: Framed Bathroom Mirror

The mirror in our downstairs bathroom is pretty small, but it was just so plain. We decided to give it a little character by framing it with some white trim. Here's before....


And here's after....


It was a simple and inexpensive project, but it makes the room look more finished and polished. We may look at doing this on the bigger mirror in the upstairs bathroom in the future.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Tiny Tornado

There is a reason that Noah has to go to daycare on the days that I have a lot of work to get done. When left alone for more than a couple of minutes, he can really reek havoc on my house. He loves to empty his bookshelves.


And he enjoys pulling out every single piece of paper in the trash can in the office.


At least if he makes a mess at daycare, I don't have to clean it up when I'm finished with work for the day.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Mini Mechanic


Noah likes to help his Daddy whenever he can. So when Taylor popped the hood of his car to check his air filter, Noah wanted to be involved. Taylor gave him a tool to play with and Noah was beyond happy to try it out. I think this grin is all that's needed to show just how much he enjoyed enjoyed himself. Maybe one day he'll be taking apart transmissions in our garage like his Daddy.


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Quick Trip to Pensacola

We recently went down to Pensacola for the weekend to visit Taylor's dad and grandmother. His dad has gotten into paddle boarding and wanted to take us to the bayou to try it out. After greeting the puppies and helping inflate one of the boards we headed to the water. Grandpa bought Noah a really cute Cars life jacket so that he could go out on the paddle board. Noah was excited about it...until we tried to put it on him. He was not happy with that at all, so he didn't get to paddle around for very long.


The next day we went to the beach. We had borrowed a tent and took plenty of toys. Noah wasn't crazy about the water, but he was content to sit and play in the sand in the shade of the tent.


He also enjoyed playing on the paddle board with Grandpa while it was up on the beach.


We had a nice visit, and even got a picture of the four generations of Larkins that were in the house. It was a short visit, but well worth the trip.



Monday, July 8, 2013

His Mother's Son

It's no secret that I love ketchup. On pretty much everything. There are certain family members who make fun of me, but I brush it off. It would seem that Noah may be following my example. On a recent trip to Chick-fil-A, he dipped everything in ketchup. Including his goldfish crackers. He truly is his mother's son.


Saturday, July 6, 2013

Sleepy Head

One Saturday afternoon, Noah woke up early from his nap. We're not sure what woke him, but he was not happy about it. He sat in Taylor's lap while we watched TV, made himself comfortable, and went back to sleep. He stayed there for about an hour. I guess his Daddy's lap was pretty cozy.


Friday, July 5, 2013

Concentrate

I found a new activity for Noah to work on his fine motor skills. I give him some beads in a bowl and have him put them on a pipe cleaner. It's amazing to watch the concentration is takes for him to make it happen.


He squats down and just stays there quietly until he gets all the beads on the pipe cleaner. He seems quite proud of himself when he's finished.


What makes it even more fun is when I wrap it around his wrist like a bracelet. He really wanted to show one to Daddy this particular day, but Daddy was at work. So we took a picture to send him. Thank you camera phones and texting.


Thursday, July 4, 2013

Clear the Cabinet

We have cabinets in the kitchen that have toys and puzzles for Noah. The way the doors are made, we can't really put the child-proof locks on them. So there are days when this is what happens while I'm making dinner.


The toys and puzzles all come out and get scattered all over the floor. At least he's happy and entertained while I'm cooking. Now, if only he knew how to put the puzzles back together....