Just My Rambling

It’s mid-winter break this week. That means no school! So I am at the mercy of a 4 year old all day. So far it has been fun just hanging out with my little one. Guess where we were at all day today? The bookstore!!! Yes, I realized that my little 4 year old is a total bookworm. She could just sit and read all day. Yes, she can read all by herself too. Lil’ C started reading even before she turned 3. Now she is into reading chapter books already. It is actually a little scary for me because I feel that some of the contents of the chapter books are not appropriate for her yet. So nowadays, I try to do a little pre-screening of the books.

Anyway, I realized that through all the reading, she has reached a point where she is creating her own story too. So recently I decided to cut up some papers, added a colored paper for a cover and created some blank mini storybooks for her to write her stories.

This was the first story that she wrote a couple of weeks ago.
The cover:

Pages 1&2:

Pages 3&4:

Back cover:

She still has all her uppercase and lowercase all jumbled up but it doesn’t matter. I was pretty surprised that she wrote the whole book by herself. Since then, we have been working on a few more books. Yesterday we had one about monsters & princesses!!! That one has lots of pictures instead of words. But it was definitely an interesting read.

Just before we got snowed in for the Christmas holidays, we went ice-skating in the freezing weather. This outdoor ice-skating rink is only there for the holiday season. They just set up the ice-skating rink in the middle of the park under a tent structure.

It was definitely more fun skating in an outdoor rink than an indoor rink. It was also really beautiful since it had just snowed the previous day.

The little one really enjoyed herself!

Unfortunately a few days after we skated there, there was a mishap. We had a snowstorm and there were just too much snow. That caused the entire tent to collapse. Luckily there were not many people skating since most people were snowed in. Most of them escaped with minor injuries. The ice-skating rink has since reopened but without the tent. It is now an open-air rink.

an internet-savvy 4 year old!

Conversation 1:
Lil’ C: Mommy, can you bake some cornbread muffin?
Mommy: But C, I don’t know how to bake cornbread muffin.
Lil’ C: Mommy, it’s very easy. Just go to the internet, type in cornbread muffin and you will see the recipe and all the ingredients you need to make them.
Mommy: *speechless*

Conversation 2:
Lil’ C: Mommy, what does this word mean? (pointing to a word in the book)
Mommy: I don’t know.
Lil’ C: Mommy, just go to your computer and open the dictionary. It will tell you what it means.
Mommy: *speechless*

Ahhhh, the powers of internet to a 4 year old!!! : P Whatever happen to the good old-fashioned recipe book and dictionary???

Yup, it’s gingerbread house time again. After having so much fun with last year’s gingerbread house, Lil’ C wanted to make another one this year. So I got this kit for $9.99 at Costco.

Lil’ C having fun putting it all together. Unlike last year where she wanted to eat the candies, this year she was the one who reminded me that the candies are not for eating but for making the gingerbread house. : )

Ta-da….the finished product now proudly sitting on top of my fireplace mantel.

As a mom to a preschooler, I am always on a lookout for fun educational toys. So I was very glad when I was given the opportunity to review the Toddler Tote by Lauri. The Toddler Tote comes with 3 animal-shaped puzzles, 4 mini and 1 large geometric-shaped puzzles, 2 mini pegboards and 7 Tall-Stacker pegs. The puzzles are all made from crepe rubber and washable. It also comes with its own 9” carrying case complete with a handle, thus making it easier for my little girl to carry with her all over the house. It is also great for travelling.

My little girl loves the bright and bold colors of all the pieces. She likes the puzzles but her favorite are the Tall-Stacker pegs.

If you are looking for a gift for toddlers this Christmas, this is a great gift. It helps to develop their fine motor skills while teaching them about colors and shapes. The best part is that if any of the pieces are missing which happens very often with toddlers, Lauri will replace them!! The Toddler Tote is currently available at MNC toys.

I have read a lot of mommy blogs that talk about their kid crying when they go to school. Well, guess what? I have a similar problem except that my problem is completely opposite!! My girl cries when I pick her up from school!!! Today when I went to pick her up, the moment I walk into her classroom, I heard a loud cry. It turned out to be my girl!! She was very upset that school time was over. She wanted to stay back with the other kids who were in the afternoon class. It took a lot of comforting and a little bribery to get her to leave the school. Sigh…. kids!! They really make life interesting, don’t they?

Today Lil’ C’s preschool had a field trip to the pumpkin farm. Even though the weather had been awesome the last few days, it decided to rain this morning. Mommy was not a happy camper but Lil’ C was so excited because she got to wear her new rain boots. Luckily the rain decided to stop when we got to the farm but it was still muddy and wet everywhere. Lil’ C and her friends were so excited and started jumping in the mud puddles! I think that was the best part of the field trip!! They took a hayride around the farm and then went to pick pumpkins from the pumpkin garden. After a snack, we headed home with a very mud-caked girl!

It’s pumpkin season and pumpkins are everywhere! They were even at a birthday party we attended last week. Give a couple of bottles of glitter glue to a couple of preschooler and you’ll end up with pumpkin masterpiece!!

Birthday boy got even more creative and decided to take off the cap and just pour the whole bottle of glitter glue on the pumpkin and himself.

My family has been asking me to post videos of Lil’ C for the longest time. Unfortunately the video-ignorant me could not figure out how to download from videocam to my pc!!! Duh!!! I still don’t and my technical support aka the hubby is too lazy to help me!! So I finally ended up using the video feature of the camera. So hopefully this works!!

When we first received Nana Star a couple of weeks ago, Lil’ C was so excited to see her and since then, they have been inseparable. Nana Star is like her little shadow now. She has been all over the house, the town and even on our recent vacation!!

Nana Star came to us along with a book and a CD. This book is about a little girl who found a lost baby star. The baby star wanted her Nana and so the little girl took on the responsibility of taking care of the baby star. That’s how she became Nana Star. Together, they embarked on a magical journey to bring baby star home. The CD has an audio version of the book and also a song. I can’t even begin to count how many times we have played and replayed the CD over and over again. Lil’ C just loves it.

One interesting fact about the Nana Star series is that all the Nana Star stories have a mistake in them. This was done on purpose because Nana Star believes that we all make mistakes in life and we can create something beautiful even with those mistakes.

The magic of Nana Star is brought to us by 4 generations of a family. Elizabeth Owens, the grandmother, is the creator of Nana Star. Her daughter, Linda Saker is the illustrator while her granddaughters, Elizabeth Sills and Elena Patrice are the writers and publishers of the book. Elizabeth Owens created Nana Star, Moonman and other friends out of love for her grandson who lived far away. She hoped that her grandson would have a sense of love and belonging wherever he went.

If you are looking for a great children’s gift, Nana Star is one that you need to check out. I am sure that your child will love her as much as mine does.