K at 16 months

At 16 months, you:

* love to climb up and sit places - in chairs, on a step, etc.
* call goldfish crackers "fishies"
* just started saying "eat" and say it often!
* sleep from 8 ish to 6:30 ish, recently started sleeping through the night again - now that your one year molars have popped through.
* love puppies and notice them in book illustrations and when we are out and about. Your favorite puppy is our Sadie, and you're getting good at saying her name!
* still love the Fisher Price people and put them on your fingers, then make them do a little dance.

Kenley helping Wrigley with his dinner in Des Moines

* adore the baby dolls and like to have one close by at all times. Yesterday you put all four in the baby stroller and pushed them around.
* impress us with your fine motor skills. You love to move tiny things around from container to container.
* still like your paci and look for them to pop into your mouth. I've been trying (but not succeeding) to keep them for nap time and bedtime only.
* love to dance when music is playing and enjoy playing music instruments.
* get silly with your brother and "wrestle" with your dad
* love being read to and you are getting particular about hearing your favorites - and hearing them over and over again.
* love to eat any kind of fruit, and start the day with yogurt most mornings. You're interested in using a spoon by yourself - you like to place a bit of food on the spoon with your fingers, then put the bite into your mouth.
* take 3 or 4 steps at a time, but are not yet what I'd call a "toddler"
* wake up happy and ready to play every morning.

my new baby

After looking online, reading review after review, and feeling overwhelmed by all the choices, I finally just went down to our local camera shop looking for advice on which digital SLR to buy. They were very helpful and I am super excited to be the owner of a Canon Rebel T3i body and a Tamron 17-50 mm lens.

Time to resurrect my high school and college photography knowledge and re-learn how to take photos in manual. I'm already having lots of fun playing around with the settings, but I am planning to take a continuing ed. class to learn all the ins and outs. I think will make time to sew a camera strap cover, too.
Here's Mr. "I don't need a nap" crashed out on the couch.
And Kenley playing with her Fisher Price people - a favorite past-time.

Harvest Preserve Field Trip

Last Friday morning was a family nature outing for Lachlan's preschool class. We met at Harvest Preserve in Iowa City. It is a beautifully maintained and inspiring setting, and I didn't even realize it existed before our trip was planned. They have an excellent website, if you'd like to learn more.
It was a cool and sunny morning - one of the first days it has really felt like fall here, since our weather has been unusually mild lately. We gathered near the entrance, then set out on a hike to see the rest of the preserve.
The hilly trails led us through the forest and out into a huge meadow, where Helen and Marit played music and the kids sang and ran and played in the midst of the stone circle.
They snacked and drew and had a wonderful time just being together in this beautiful setting.
It was a treat, and a lovely field trip experience. Kenley rode along on my back in the Ergo carrier and enjoyed a nap as we hiked. I hope we be able to visit Harvest Preserve again soon and maybe make this an annual Preucil tradition!

Enjoying Nature

This past Tuesday, I led my preschool class in a family outing on a nature walk through Hickory Hill park. I was afraid that the early morning rain showers would put a damper on our plans, but it ended up clearing just in time. The sun came out and we had a wonderful time walking through the park, taking in the sights, sounds and smells. We have been studying forests in our class, so the kids were anxious to see all the forest animals we have been discussing. We had to settle for just one spider, but it was still a lovely excursion.


Whenever I take my class on a field trip, we make some kind of little book as a memento of the experience. This time, I remembered a one page hot-dog book (this link explains it well), and thought that would be a good format and quick to put together. Before we left for the walk, we made a list of things we thought we might see. When we returned, we wrote a story about the experience. I typed up the list (with lines through the things we did not see) and the story. Then I printed 6 photos from our walk to fill the rest of the pages. The size of each photo was 2.5" x 4". I taped them on a 8 1/2 x 11" page that I had folded into 8 sections, then scanned and printed one for each child. The final step is to fold the page in half, then cut halfway up the fold and assemble. I did add a couple staples in the spine to keep them together. Quick, easy and fun!

the year of the moccasin

It all started when Lachlan decided he is going to be Peter Pan for Halloween. I went looking on Old Navy's website for moccasins for him, but didn't find any. I did, however, find an adorable pair for Kenley. Then I went to order some for him, and couldn't resist picking up a pair for myself. Now we're all decked out in mocs for the fall.


It would have ended there, but last week I was going through boxes in the basement (in an attempt to purge some clutter and baby clothes, good luck!) and found a treasure trove of little moccasins. These were all Bill's when he was a baby/toddler. Apparently, his grandmother brought them back as souvenirs from her travels. They are so adorable, and well made. You can tell which ones were given after he started walking, because the soles are well worn. I was just tickled to find these after I had just ordered 3 brand new pairs. I guess it is true what they say about how fashion goes in cycles.



* I edited these with Pioneer Woman's free 70's PSE Action. Just for fun.
** Just realized I have 3 photo albums from Bill's childhood in my possession and that I'll probably be able to find a photo of him wearing at least one pair of these. Of to go searching...

Autumn Wreath

I wanted a new wreath for our front door before Oktoberfest - especially because I (embarrassingly) still had the spring egg wreath hanging into September.

Inspired by all the lovely fall wreaths around Etsy and Pinterest, I wrapped a foam wreath with yarn, then whipped up some fabric flowers and felt leaves (a la Dana) and hot glued them to the wreath. I think it looks a little wimpy on our door, but other than that, I'm happy with how it turned out.

J's Monster Art bag

I spotted this monster bag on Katie's blog and knew right away I wanted to make it for our sweet nephew for his 8th birthday. Like Katie, I added pockets for twistable colored pencils. Unlike Katie, my measuring was a little faulty and I only fit 10 of the 12 pencils in. Oh well, the other two fit inside the bag with the sketchbook I included. The beard is a little hard to see in the photo, but I used a scrap of brown corduroy that provides an interesting texture. It was a quick and fun little project, I hope he enjoys using it!