Playdough

I was so excited to try playdough with my two-year-old! I cooked it up using the traditional recipe and he even helped me dye it. That was about as far as it went! I LOVED coloring it, but thinks it feels "yucky". So mommy always has to roll it out and he just presses in the shapes. I suppose I don't mind so much. It ends up being some good one-on-one homeschooling time. I bought a HUGE set of different cookie cutters that included letters and numbers. Currently, his favorite is "x".
It's fun to watch him explore and learn. His favorite color right now is black. His does a great job counting to three (four if I encourage him), and his favorite shape remains a star (though he is getting good at identifying the others).

Actually LEARNING in church?!

Do you REALLY think a two-year-old can learn something about God during church? It seems so often we just bring stuff to entertain them (don't get me wrong - I'm a Disney fan too!) so that we can focus on what is being said and feel some sort of spiritual inspiration.
Just the other day I thought, "this just isn't working". Cadence has very few "quiet" toys, so he was getting bored pretty fast. Plus, I learned the majority of "quiet" things we usually do together at home, so he always expected me to help "entertain him" - which leaves both of us not receiving any spiritual upliftment! If we sit near other kids it is a disaster because they're either having a great time with lots of loud laughter, or fighting over toys with lots of loud frustration.
The answer to my original question is: YES! They don't go to nursery (our 18 month to 3 year old class in our church) to just play with toys and be babysat while mom and dad learn the gospel. They go there to learn about God. We have a BLESSED nursery leader in our stake, who has spent so much time magnifying her calling by making books and other manipulative toys that are cheap, yet still gospel centered. She buys stuff from the local thrift store, uses old church magazines, and re-crafts Christmas cards. She has INSPIRED me! Here are some of "my" creations:

Breastfeeding is Tax Deductible!

Check out this article! I was happy to hear some support in favor of breast-feeding.

Breastfeeding: It's Now Tax Deductible!

Recipes II

Here are more healthy recipes that we have recently tried in our family:

Asian Black Bean-Asparagus Salad
Avacado Dip
Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Sandwhich
Homemade Granola Bars
Crustless Apple Pie

These are on the waiting list:
Lentil Cookies
Lentil Soup,
Tuscan Bean Soup,
Quinoa & Beans,
Hummus,
Vegan Cheese Ball (made with cashews actually),
Zuppa Tuscana,
Chicken Divan.

Enjoy!