Houses and updates

Every day now Killian's vocabulary is growing (FINALLY)... and he speaks more and more, giving detailed sentences and dictating everything he does. His newest word that he's obsessed with is: 'houses" In killian's mind, anything that has a roof and a resemblance to walls is a house, and EVERYTHING needs it's own house. All his toys need to be in their houses... everyone he knows needs to have a house, and even in the playground, when he goes under the overhang, he says it's a house. Last night, he was cracking me up while putting money into his piggy banks. He has two banks: his piggy bank for savings, and his train bank for spending. He's supposed to put equal (or more in the savings) all the time. Last night, with his pile of coins, he was saying, 'one for the piggy, one for the train. one for the piggy, one for the train.' Once and a while it was: 'two for the piggy, two for the train." After the coins were gone, he said, "no more, back in houses". He then picked up the piggy bank, looked back at me and said, "mama stay back", and put the piggy back on top of the toy shelf (in it's spot) saying, 'back in house'. Then he put his train on the bottom shelf of his night stand and said 'train in house'. OH he makes me laugh. It used to be hard to get him name his banks... now he's telling me every little thing he does.

He's so particular about his houses, that when I found this adorable truck shelf at a thrift store for eight dollars:

I thought it'd be perfect for (1/3rd) of his trucks to sit on. So, I put his cars in there. NOPE he did not like this new house... he said, "not trucks house" and kept putting the trucks back in the big basket where they had been. It's still a battle right now, because he just doesn't like the new truck shelf. Personally, I think it's adorable, but I guess it's not a suitable house for his beloved trucks.

A funny story about going thrift store shopping with Killian: When we get to the toy section, EVERYTHING is his and he's SO excited about it all. Yesterday I kept saying, come on bean, we're done. And he said frantically (while touching each toy), "but mama, a truck! a airplane! a helicopter! a school bus! mama!!! a school bus!!!" I told him he didn't need ANY more trucks or planes or ANYTHING.... and though he argued, I stuck with my decision. Our house is like a toy store exploded... he has enough toys.

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So what have we been up to lately?? UGH, school school school. ;( Our days are packed with school, work, and just relaxing at home. We're enjoying the weather, playing outside as often as we can. Killian's really enjoying soccer practice (the two times he's gone... this saturday will be the 3rd time):

He loves school and his teacher Ms. Jackie. He tells me all the time that he's going to play with Ms. Jackie at her house. I've tried telling him that Ms. Jackie doesn't live at the daycare.. but he's positive that she does.
On another note... Killian and I read our 1000th book last week! It took us 11 months to read 1000, and he finally did it :) He got his sticker on the wall of the library, and a free book. :) It's so crazy to think about when we started, Killian would ONLY read touchy-feely books, and they had to be the right kind. Now he's reading LONG books, and even reading them back to me when we're done. He knows almost all of his letters now, can sing ABCs, and puts together abc train puzzles by himself!
We have a fun weekend planned... soccer practice saturday morning, and then the library has a BIG READ thing going on... an hour of story time, songs, art projects and finger play. :) Then Sunday he's off to his dad's and I have SO much homework to do it's not even funny. We're going to try Monday night story time at the Menasha library... because he LOVES 2 year old story time at the Neenah library, but it's during a class that I have... so he never gets to go ;(
WOW... lots of updates.. but I want to make sure I write down all my funny stories of this crazy boy so I can look back on it when he's 18 and remember. :)

SPOILED LITTLE BOY

I have one little spoiled boy here! Why?

Well, today was a complete Killian day. Starting with Soccer practice in the morning:

Dribbling... Killian's very good at dribbling :) And that's not just proud mama talking.

Then, he had to stand behind to goal like the coach.. telling the other "little kickers" what to do. :)
THEN.... we went straight to Quarry quest... spending 3 hours there.

He loved watching the diggers

Sitting on the firetuck

Digging for an egg with gammy

He found the egg

Then came his favorite part... hammering open the egg

What was inside??? A baby dinosaur :)

Then, he made himself a pet rock

He laid bricks down

Putting the mortar down
After 2 hours of sleeping... we woke up and headed to the mall for ice cream and build a bear... OH yes. Killian got a dog build-a-bear. Which he loves... and calls doggie... and drags around by it's leash. Don't believe me?

Taking the dog outside to go potty like I was doing. YES, he's adorable :)

Life is Beautiful... beautifying my life

I recently decided that I am going to beautify my life AND take all the pollutants/air pollen out of our air.. naturally. How? Plants my friend, plants. I've done quite a bit of research and found the top 15 plants that have been proven to be the most effective at removing air pollutants. Now they say for every 2,000 square feet, you should have 14/15 of these plants. I have a little over 1,000 square feet, so for the next 7 months, I will be collecting one plant of different variety until my house is both beautiful, full or green living wonder, and air pollutant free. :)

So what are these plants???

1. Philodendron scandens `oxycardium', heartleaf philodendron
2. Philodendron domesticum, elephant ear philodendron
3. Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana', cornstalk dracaena
4. Hedera helix, English ivy
5. Chlorophytum comosum, spider plant
6. Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig', Janet Craig dracaena
7. Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii', Warneck dracaena
8. Ficus benjamina, weeping fig
9. Epipiremnum aureum, golden pothos
10. Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa', peace lily
11. Philodendron selloum, selloum philodendron
12. Aglaonema modestum, Chinese evergreen
13. Chamaedorea sefritzii, bamboo or reed palm
14. Sansevieria trifasciata, snake plant
15. Dracaena marginata , red-edged dracaena

Now, I started with the peace lily (which I found at steins for 12.00):

I did research of course, and found that this plant grows well with little water and low light... perfect for me. :)
The next easiest is the spider plant (which is my October plant of choice):

 and the english ivy

So give it a try :)

Little Farmer... APPLES, APPLES, APPLES

As much as I hate it... fall has come this year. I really hope we get our summer weather back soon, but this weekend has been all about 50-60 degree weather. And what's to do on these crisp fall days? Apple picking :) Killian and I go apple picking multiple times throughout the fall every year (even the year he was only 3 months old :) )
So, Saturday we hit Little Farmer:

On our way down to Little Farmer.. Killian loves his bob the builder doll I found at a rummage sale for .50 :)

Riding the wagon down to the apple trees

I taught him how to twist the apples off the branch

He liked carrying the bag to the wagon

Then pulling it along to mama

Of course you have to eat an apple or two while picking

And look for bugs

After picking apples, we headed to the playground. Killian wouldn't come into the corn tepe until he saw the bike :) Have I mentioned that he now can pedal his own bike as long as it's not uphill?? I'm SOO proud of him

The slide was his favorite... he went down at least 10 times.

He also enjoyed the haystack maze... especially because I couldn't come in there after him :)

Finally.. he loved the tire jungle... jumping down and climbing up... for 20 min!

Up on the very top of the tire jungle

 And he loved the wooden tractor.... Ok so he loved the whole playground :)

We went on a 20 min. hayride... while we waited, Killian played with the tiny wooden tractor he bought for 1.25

And what do you do with a 1/2 bushel of apples?? Well... applesauce, apple cider, apple crisp, apple pie, fruit leather to name a few. :)
Today Killian and I made applesauce and apple cider. First we read one book by one of my favorite kid's authors, Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, called Apples, Apples, Apples

Then we made applesauce:

The recipe is really easy:
6 apples, skin removed and diced
2 Tablespoons of maple syrup
1/4 cup of apple cider
cinnamon to taste
Put it all in a pot, bring to a boil
Then simmer until soft, smash apples as they cook (about 20 min.)
If you want it really smooth instead of chunky.. wait for it to cool and run through a food processor/blender. Depending on the apples used, you may need to add more maple syrup or honey to sweeten it up. :)

And we made a little apple cider- Which is just running apples through a juicer

(it's in a bowl, because the juice I bought for 5$ off craigslist didn't come with the piece where the juice drips into... so I have to hold the juicer over a bowl. A little annoying, but for 5$ not a big deal)

And what do you do with the skin and pulp??

Well you put it in a bag for my mom's horses :) Waste not, want not. Tonight.... We will be making apple crisp. YUM

It's September?

Wow, I can't believe that the summer is over!! It makes me so sad. :( Killian and I have had a pretty quiet week. Monday Killian peed on the potty 2x (I was SOO proud of him :) ). We went to the zoo in Oshkosh with some friends and their sons.. and rode the train of course. Killian's getting bored with the small zoo, and can tell me all the names before we even get to them. Tuesday we had Killian's day care open house. We went for about 45 min. so that Killian could get reacquainted with his room and teacher. I thought he'd need more time... but he jumped right in! I don't think he'll be sad at all when he goes next wednesday! Wednesday we had the carpets cleaned in our house, so we stayed home all morning. Killian's become quite a good picker-upper and helped me pick all the stuff off the floor and vacuum before the carpet cleaners got to us. Then he got to lay on the bed and watch a movie with mama. :)
Today was a slow day. We had a playdate in the morning, and after nap/work, we walked to a local ice cream shop, where Killian happily traded ice cream cones back and forth with me. :)
Tomorrow I plan on taking Killian to the park in the morning, and in the afternoon, we are picking up my mom's dogs for Friday night-Saturday. Killian will be quite happy to have 2 more dogs to imitate.