View From a Farr

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to stay home with my children. It's a life-long answer to prayer for me. I have the dream job I've always wanted, and I don't take it for granted. Maybe you can relate.

Since Grayson's been born, Sky's been so hungry for extra attention. She'll just come out and tell me, "Mama, I'm jelly. (Jelly is her word for jealous.) Can you put down Grayson and hold MEEE?"

So since he's been born, I've been a lot more intentional about including her in activities I'm already doing. My little helper is by my side all day, and I'm loving it. She'll help me follow a recipe during lunch or dinner and help me sort our laundry. She's impressed that she can fold ALL the wash clothes and put them away *by herself* in the "John Lennon Closet". She even sits next to me and reads her Bible, while I read mine. This was an idea that my friend Caitlin gave me, to help me fit in my times with the Lord amidst a crazy day. Sometimes, I don't get to having MY time with the Lord, because I only have enough time to read Sky a story from her story Bible. But God is faithful to meet me in those times, just the same.

Sky helping me make egg salad sammo's. (Yes, she's still in her jammies and it's lunchtime.)

This winter, we've also started to have "Preschool Time" on a regular basis. My goal is really just to have fun with her, but I know too that she's getting a broad spectrum of activities that encourage different ways of thinking. You don't have to spend a ton of money to spend a ton of time with your preschooler! Here are some things we've been doing this month, all FOR FREE! :

"Where's My Mommy?"
Sky and I made this one up. :) We've made some alphabet flashcards, with uppercase letters, and then with lowercase letters. I will hold up a "baby" (lowercase flashcard) and say, "where's my mommy" and she has to find the mama flashcard (uppercase flashcard). She says in a mommy voice, "Here I am, sweetie" and pairs them together on the floor.

ABC Go Fish
I've been surprised with Sky's love for this game! With the same upper case and lower case letter flashcards, We play "go fish" with the alphabet instead of a deck of playing cards.

Homemade Play Dough
Using materials we already had at home (flour, salad oil, water, salt, cream of tartar and food coloring), we were able to make our own play dough. It's cheaper than the other stuff and tons of fun to make. Boy did the smell of this stuff bring back memories! I used to do this one with my younger siblings when they were little.

Sky wanted it to be "gray". Viola.

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Noodle Necklaces (works on fine motor skills)
I give Sky an assortment of different noodles, and she paints them using a tempera paint. Then she strings them to a piece of yarn and makes the necklace.

Winter Hopscotch
Hopscotch indoors. Using masking tape or painters tape, make a hopscotch form on the floor. We also like to make paths on the main level of our town home and ride the scooter on the path. (Yes, I let her ride her "inside scooter" inside. I know. I'm crazy.)

Use large plastic milk jugs with cut-out bottoms to catch balls.

Sorting by numbers, Sorting by colors
Using an egg carton, I'll write down numbers at the bottom of each egg cradle. She takes a bowl of different small candies, and drops in each the amount that the cradle says. I'll also have her sort them by color:

...More to come. :)

Can't believe I'm just now getting around to posting pictures of our newest addition. ...Actually, I take that back. Life has been jam packed with busyness since Grayson has been born. I've forgotten how time-consuming having a newborn is! Do you ever get through an entire day that is so completely busy, and at the end of your day you look back to reflect on all you've accomplished, only to realize that NOTHING around your house has gotten done? I wish I had thought ahead to take pictures of how disgusting my house looks right now. You would laugh. ...I laugh. Because this tiny little baby boy is growing up SO quickly. His adorable dimpled smile with sweet baby blues, and my sweet and curious curly-haired big brown-eyed girl, take up ALL my time.

There's a poem that used to hang in my nursery when I was a baby, that I've nearly memorized just from reading it so much when I was younger. It's called "Song for a Fifth Child" by Ruth Hullburt Hamilton. It sums up this blissfully sweet and emotionally draining season that I'm in:

Mother, oh mother, come shake out your cloth!

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking!

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(Pat- a- cake, darling and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard and there’s a hullabaloo