Toddler activities

17 month old Henry approves these activities. They are simple, yet entertaining. Most of the items you probably have in your house. 

What you will need:

Empty water bottles

Empty plastic container (cottage cheese, sour cream)

Pom Pom balls or cotton balls

Pipe cleaners

Crayons 

Clothes pins 

Paper towel tube 

We just had pipe cleaners, crayons and Pom Pom balls. But you can use whatever you can find. Put all the items on a low table your child can reach and let them go to town. Having them stand I think makes it easier for them to play & explore the items. We just did it on our coffee table. Henry was entertained for a good 20-30 min. If I played with him, it seemed to keep his attention longer. But if you had things you needed to get done, these items are safe enough for your child to play with alone {assuming they are past the stage of putting everything in their mouth}. 

*the pictures may show some of our "lovely" home remodel items. Welcome to our real life. Also Henry was dressed in his finest "cozy" clothes today. We don't get all fancied up just for blog pictures  :) 

Let your child push the Pom Pom balls into the water bottle. This is great for fine motor and problem solving. 

You can even cut holes in a plastic container instead of a water bottle. Or do both! 

They can try to drop just about anything into the holes. 

Henry preferred the plastic container. He would sign "more" and say "Mom" when he needed me to open the container to get the Pom poms out. 

We even had a paper towel tube that he put the pipe cleaners in. The possibilities are endless. Just remember to have fun, and let your child be the one in charge! Follow their lead. 

I would say Henry had an enjoyable afternoon today! 

September Norwex Specials

http://cs.norwex.com/pwsdata/NW/ContentImages/CustomerSpecials/September2013/USA-Sep13-CS3.pdf

Click the link to find the sales for September. They have some sets that are great for gifts or are great to start your Norwex collection. If they have things you want, it's cheaper to buy them in the bundle set. 

FYI

Can I just say I'm still loving my dry & wet mop and my enviro cloths. Our "remodeling" has left our house in a nasty layer of dust. Tonight we vacuumed the wood floor then I dry mopped and then wet mopped. Ahh it felt so nice to have clean floors. Then I took my enviro cloth and wiped down EVERYTHING! Not even kidding. Leather couches, kitchen table, stainless steel appliances, coffee table, bathroom counters, and Henry's high chair. Since things were really dusty I had to rinse my cloth 2 times and I was still done cleaning within 20 min. The floor took me another 30 min. So under an hour I was done cleaning. Awesome! I just go to town and I love it. 

Give them a try! You will love them too. 

We're up all night for good fun

For some reason I thought it would be fun to do the Ragnar Wasatch Back relay.  I am not a runner by any means so running 3 different legs in a 36 hour period sounded like a "good" plan.  I was actually signed up to do it in June of 2012 but I kinda got pregnant and had a baby in April and although some women would be ready to run after 2 months, I would not.  So I opted out and decided to try for June 2013.  No pregnancies or babies to keep me away this time.  For those who don't know about Ragnar relays, you basically have a team of 12 people with 2 vans each with 6 runners.  I was in Van 1 and I was runner 1 {ran a total of 21 miles}.  I'm going to recap my runs as best I can, just so I can remember the good, the bad and the ugly.  We had a start time of 5am on Friday morning.... 

My first run was 7.7 miles and Ragnar classified it as "very hard".  I started at USU and ran east up to the Bonneville Shoreline trail, along the trail until the start of Logan Canyon/First Dam then along Canyon Road from Logan to Providence.  I wouldn't say it was "very hard", but "hard" indeed.  The run up to the trail wasn't bad, but running down on a rocky/dusty trail was a little sketchy.  I'm really surprised I didn't fall on my face.  The last mile felt like 5!  Plus the last 2 blocks you run up hill to a church.... seriously.  Don't make me run up anything (I don't care if its not that steep).  The incline felt so steep, and I'm sure it wasn't at all!  I felt great after the first run, but I realized I was probably the slowest runner.  I think all the marathon runners were runner 1.  Whatever.  At least I did it right?!  

My second run had me nervous from the very beginning.  8.2 miles downhill from Snowbasin also a "very hard run".  I know.  This run was bad.  First they make you start running from the base of the mountain up to a trail and out where the old parking lot used to be.  I couldn't even run up the dumb grassy, dusty hill.  I was dying.  Then you run up and down for about a mile and then the rest is downhill from there (literally).  I was keeping an okay pace, even with having to stop and "use the bathroom" (TMI...sorry).  There was no van support (meaning the other team members in our van couldn't give me water since we were running down a 4 lane highway).  They had water stations which were like heaven.  I got 3 blisters on my left foot and they were killing me for the last few miles.  I had never been so happy to see a finish line in my life.  After that run, my legs were sore!  It was hard to walk, so I of course was dreading my last run.  How was I supposed to run when I could barely walk.  Friday night was a disaster.  We were all tired, hungry, and sore.  Saturday morning was even worse.

I felt like crying when I thought about running 5 more miles.  We were all a little grumpy Saturday morning.  But we were so ornery, we were laughing at everything.  Seems like an oxymoron.  So it was finally my turn to run again (I think it was around 8am).  I just decided I would walk/run as best I could.  Runner 12 came running in and handed off to me and I took off running as best I could.  Once I started moving, it wasn't too bad.  My legs were really stiff and sore, but I somehow managed to run.  At one point I was singing and running to the beat of my music just to keep me going.  I really didn't care at that point who heard me and really I was slow, so no one was around!  I ran/walked and kept a pace of about 11 min. mile, which was fast considering I thought I would be a 15 min. mile!  I ran with a lady who helped me keep going, so that was nice.  5 miles felt like they lasted forever!  Even longer than my 8.2.  But I was just so happy to be finished.  I was cursing Ragnar saying I never wanted to do it again.  But it's kind of like having a baby... eventually you forget the hard stuff and only remember the good.  Maybe I will do it again someday.  But I will not be runner 1!  Maybe something with a few less miles.  

I feel like we all had a challenging run be it a steep hill, a lot of miles, dust, heat, dark, blisters.... But we all did so much better than we gave ourselves credit for.  We kept teasing that we would be the last team to finish.  We were an ALL girls team and a lot of us were just casual/beginner runners.  Our team name was Run Slow Ski Fast, and we definitely ran slow!  But we were not the last team to finish.  woo hoo!  I liked being in van 1 because you mostly run during the early morning and the day, so you don't have to run at night. But we did have to wake up at the crack of dawn on Friday morning and Van 2 could sleep in a little bit.  I guess I will have to do it again to be in Van 2.  

Now for pictures:

^^ Van 1 starting at 5am ^^

Van 1 finished their first legs and passing off to Van 2 to start... Not pictured was my cousin Amanda cause she was runner 7 and was currently running!

^^ Van 1 girls at Snowbasin.  This was right before my 2nd "death" run! ^^

We FINISHED!

Van 1 girls

L-R: McKinley, Allison, Me, Adrienne, Katie, Kristin

^^ Team Run Slow Ski Fast at the finish line ^^

^^ Sisters ^^

^^ Cousins Love ^^

Until Next time Ragnar.... 

Lake Powell

Way back at the beginning of June we took a trip to Lake Powell.  My sister and her husband have a time share on a house boat at Bull Frog marina.  What started out as a family trip slowly turned into a friend/family/anyone who can come trip!  For awhile we thought we would have to beg people to come to Lake Powell.  Come on people, it's Lake Powell!  So it turned out to be a super fun trip with super cool people {My sis Allison and her husband Tyler and their two boys Max and Jack, my sis Katie and her "friend" Kyle, my cousin Kristin and her friend Emmy, our friends Todd and Bethanie, and our friend Kenny}.  This was the first time we left Henry for more than a couple of hours.  He stayed with my mother in law and my mom.  We were gone for 6 days!  That's a long time to be away from my little boy.  But we all survived, and it was heaven not having a 14 month old in Lake Powell on a houseboat.  

^^ Good old Canyon Rose... straight out of the 90's ^^

^^ Group photo ^^

^^ Sisters & Cousin ^^

^^ Cliff jumping Clark.  I hate cliff jumping.  It scares me. ^^

^^ I'm more at home playing in the water with the kiddos! ^^ 

^^ I always look so lovely in all the Lake Powell pictures. But it feels so nice being without makeup for a week! 

"Green" Cleaning

Today I decided I better clean my house.  It was getting a little yucky.  Plus there is someone interested in renting our place once we move out (hopefully by the end of this month...)  So I decided to put my Norwex products to work!  And boy did they work.  Henry even helped me because I'm not using any harmful chemicals, I don't mind him being in the bathroom while I'm cleaning.  Before, I had to clean while he was napping because I didn't want him breathing in the fumes or accidentally "taste testing" any cleaner.  But not today.  He was right there with me.  Another great thing about Norwex is they actually have a children's line of cleaning products.  Awesome right.  So if you have children that are actually old enough to have chores and jobs around the house, you can make it a little more exciting by giving them their own cloths and mops to use.  When I was a kid cleaning would have been much more fun if I had my own cool stuff to use.  Even at the young age like Henry when they start to want to "help" and they copy everything their parents do, you could give them their own dusting cloth or enviro cloth and let them go to town.  Since you don't use any cleaner or chemicals they can't really hurt anything.  If anything they will help get the job done faster.  And isn't that why you have children in the first place :)  

Henry loves to dust mop the floors

So the bottom part of the window in our shower always had white soap scum stuff on it.  I used a Norwex antibacterial enviro cloth on the left side and it cleaned it up quite nicely.  That's even after the water had dried, so it doesn't look that nice because it is wet.  That's just how clean it got.  (The upper part of the window is clean I promise.  The white is just the glare from the sun)

Henry just hanging out emptying drawers while I clean. 

Look how shiny!  Can you believe I only used water.  It's pretty sweet.  

Norwex

So I decided to become a Norwex consultant.  I've heard great things about the company and their products from a variety of people.  So I decided it might be a nice way to earn some money.  I don't like to be a pushy sales person so we will see how this goes :)  

But for real.  They have some great products.  The thing I like the most is that they are good for the environment and I can stop using so much cleaner and chemicals. With little Henry around, I always hate spraying cleaner or using Clorox wipes on surfaces he eats from immediately after.  Norwex has a ton of awesome microfiber cloths that grab all the dirt/dust/grime.  The antibacterial cloths have silver in them which has antimicrobial properties.  I probably don't explain it very well.  Just go to their website to learn more!  They also have a dust mop for floors that is awesome!  I usually just sweep my wood & tile floors and then use my Shark steam mop (which I hate by the way).  I swear it never cleans my floor, especially the tile.  So I swept the floor with a regular broom, and then I used the dry mop floor duster and it picked up a ton of stuff!  Awesome!  So if you want to know more about Norwex go to my website.  If you find stuff you love, you can order from my website or let me know and I can order it for you.  

http://LauraPierson.norwex.biz
or
email me at pierson.laura@gmail.com

Happy Shopping!  

Memorial Weekend part 1

Clark is the assistant coach for the Twin Falls Rapids U17 boys team.  They had the State tournament in Idaho Falls over Memorial Weekend.  So we made a little vacation of it.  They had a game Friday night so Clark left work a little early and we hit the road.  We made it to Idaho Falls just in time for their game.  Henry and I watched the first half, then we went and checked into our hotel.  It was right across from the falls and you could see the temple from our room.  It was pretty nice.  Then we went back and picked up Clark when the game was over. This was our first "real" vacation that we stayed in a hotel with a baby.... I don't recommend it.  We brought his Pack N' Play to sleep in, but since it is just one big room we couldn't really "hide" him anywhere so when it was time for him to go to sleep he just stood in the crib watching us and crying.  It was a long night of him finally falling asleep in our Queen bed around midnight, then moving him to the crib, then having him wake up at 3am and coming back in bed with us and then being wide awake at 7am.  The team had a game Saturday morning so Henry and I went and watched.  He fell asleep in the car on the way to the game (luckily) so I drove around Idaho Falls and found the Temple. When Henry woke up we went and "watched" the last half of the game.  Henry mostly just wanted to walk around and pick up garbage and other things off of the grass, or try to walk onto the soccer field. His favorites were a rock and a pine cone he found. He carried them around for a good hour.  The simple things that entertain a child!  At least he was happy.  The team had games on Sunday and Monday but Clark wanted to go explore Idaho so we didn't stay for the other games.  The U17 boys ended up taking 3rd in State, so Clark was a proud coach! All the boys signed a soccer ball and gave it to Clark, and I even saw a few give him a hug.  It was sweet.  We decided to hang around Idaho Falls for the day and went to their local zoo.  Clark's brother Brett and 2 of his kids had been in Yellowstone so on their way home to Utah they drove through Idaho Falls.  We met up with them at the zoo and then took some pictures down by the falls.  It was fun to see them for a couple of hours.  Then we drove to Rexburg to stay the night. This time in the hotel there was a wall where the bathroom was so we hid Henry behind it so he would sleep better.  It was definitely better than the first night.  But still not much fun with a 1 year old in a hotel room.  Sunday morning we got up and drove to the Craters of the Moon National Monument.  We went and explored one of the many caves/caverns formed by volcanic activity.  Apparently eruptions have been happening every 2,000 years and it has been over 2,000 years since the last one... Is Twin Falls far enough away from Craters of the Moon?  I sure hope so.  Southwestern Idaho really does have a ton of lava rock everywhere.  It's kinda crazy.  After our cave hike we made the drive home.  Henry did so well in the car.  He slept most of the time.  Luckily each time we drove it was only a 2-3 hour stretch with long stops in between.  It was a lot of fun to explore Idaho together as a family.  

Now for the pictures:

Cousins in Idaho Falls

Matthew, Liza, and Henry

Idaho Falls Temple 

Idaho Falls are cool since they are right in the middle of town, but the falls in Twin are way bigger (and cooler too!)

I'm not sure why I'm crouching down so awkwardly... I guess to get Henry to stay still.  You can tell in all of these pictures he just wanted to walk around and not bother with holding still or smiling. 

Random photo of Henry in front of the Tabernacle in Rexburg.  In the basement they have a little museum about the History of Rexburg and also about the Teton Dam & Flood.  

 These next pictures are of Craters of the Moon:

It was windy... What else is new?  Southern Idaho is ALWAYS windy.  

Cool Cave.  Henry was in Rock Heaven.  We were bad and let him bring home a lava rock.  Shhh don't tell the park ranger. 

Climbing out of the cave.  We were kicking ourselves for forgetting Henry's carrier.  It would have been nice to just strap him to our backs.  There's always next time. 

Oh look, it's Henry enjoying a rock.  

Pretty views of dark lava rock and then pretty green hills and mountains.

I'm gettin' artsy with the landscape photos, ha! 

More crazy lava rock formations.  

Now I'm sure you all want to drive to Idaho and visit Craters of the Moon.  You could actually camp there (but with the wind, I'm not sure why you would want to) and they had a lot more caves and rocks you could hike to.  It was pretty cool.  On Monday (Memorial Day) we hung out in Twin Falls and went to 3 different waterfalls.  I'll blog about that next.