{two}

Two is ...
... full of giggles and hugs
... doing things her way
... being a big girl like her sisters
... loving "bottles and shows"
... playing pretend with her toys
... afraid of spiders
... afraid of the "darky" and insisting on sleeping with the lights on
... a great shopping and errand-running buddy
... stomping her feet when she's mad
... working on saying please and thank you
... talking non-stop
... knowing how and when to say sorry
... good at putting on her shoes
... happiest when she's being pushed on the swings by Daddy
... pointing out everything that is out of place
... singing and dancing when the music is on
... walking around in mommy and daddy's shoes
... a force to be reckoned with
... full of life and full of love

Two years ago today our 3rd baby girl was born and our world would be forever changed. No matter if she's being a little stinker or a "precious baby", those blond curls and blue eyes melt my heart. I just can't help but love this girl to pieces.

STL 250 Cake Quest - Kimmswick

Tim and I took the kids to Kimmswick for the first time over the summer. It is such a cute and easily accessible little town. The Apple Butter Festival will be held October 25-26 from 10am - 5pm. I can't wait to go back around Christmastime. Christmas in Kimmswick looks like so much fun. Especially the Christmas Cookie Walk.

We ate lunch at The Blue Owl Restaurant & Bakery, famous for their Levee High Apple Pie.

We sat on their front porch and had breakfast.  

The STL 250 Cake is right outside the restaurant.

Next door to the restaurant is The Blue Owl Sweet Shoppe.  

They have tons of treats and lots of cute gifts.  

We walked around the little town - it's easily walkable - and checked out the shops.  The girls and I found lots of cute things.

On our way home we stopped by the Mastodon State Historic Site and found their STL250 Cake.  Can you tell what the girls picked out at one of the shops in Kimmswick?

Mastodon State Historic Site contains the Kimmswick Bone Bed where scientists discovered the first solid evidence that humans and the American mastodon coexisted in eastern North America.

To find out more events going on in Kimmswick, click here.

Click here if you want to see some of our other STL 250 Cake Quests.

Letter of the Week: Dd

D is for Dog
Here's what you need for this project:
- card stock (white, black, red and yellow)
- googly eye
- glue

Click here for free printable Upper Case Letter templates.

D is for Door
Here's what you need for this project:
- card stock (red and yellow)
- stickers
- glue

Sidney loved this project! After I took this picture she filled the inside of the "d" with more Dora stickers!

Click here for free printable Lower Case Letter templates.

Sight Words

This week's Sight Words are:

- do

- down

- did

Handwriting

I found these large lined sheets in the dollar bins at Target for Sidney to practice writing her letters.  I write an example of each letter for her to use as a guide.

Books

Here are some library books we reserved to go along with the theme:

Letter of the Week: Cc

C is for Caterpillar
Here's what you need for this project:
- card stock (white and purple)
- pom pom balls
- googly eyes
- glue
- markers

Click here for free printable Upper Case Letter templates.

C is for Cat
Here's what you need for this project:
- card stock (black, white, pink and purple)
- glue stick
- markers (to color eyes)

Click here for free printable Lower Case Letter templates.

Sight Words
This week's Sight Words are:
- come
- can

Books

Here are some library books we reserved to go along with the theme:

Letter of the Week: Bb

B is for Butterfly
Here's what you need for this project:
- black paper
- contact paper
- tissue paper (various colors)
- scissors

Click here for free printable Upper Case Letter templates.

B is for Buttons
Here's  what you need for this project:
- white card stock
- buttons
- Elmer's glue

Click here for free printable Lower Case Letter templates.

Sight Words
In addition to practicing writing the capital and lowercase letter b, I thought I'd introduce Sidney to some sight words each week.  The sight words for this week are:
- big
- be
- blue

Books
Here are some library books we reserved to go along with the theme:

Healthy Banana Muffins

As I mentioned before, I am (slowly) trying to revamp Ava's school lunches.  Two things led to this: 

1. I was bored of packing the same foods in Ava's lunch and I had to figure that she was bored of eating the same old lunch everyday.  

2. Ava was starting to notice that her school friends were bringing more "fun" food to school (and by fun I mean treat-y stuff).

Let me first say, I'm all about letting kids eat treats.  Everything in moderation is our motto. However, if I can trick my kids into thinking something is a treat when it's actually healthy, well that's just a win, win!  I found this recipe for Healthy Banana Muffins on 100 Days of Real Food.  

INGREDIENTS:
2 ¼ cup whole-wheat flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed
¼ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup honey
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil (I used coconut oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tbsp Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal
Raisins (optional)
Nuts (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease mini muffin pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and flaxseed meal.
3. In a separate bowl mix mashed bananas with yogurt, honey, eggs, oil, vanilla and raisins.
4. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture until blended. Do not overmix.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Top with nuts if you prefer.  I made one batch with nuts (for home) and one without (for school).

6. Bake for 15 minutes or until it comes clean with a toothpick.

Ava loves these little muffin!  And they're a much healthier alternative compared to processed packaged treats.  Also, they freeze really well.  I take them out the night before and put one in Ava's Ziploc Divided Container in the fridge.  By lunch time the next day, it's ready to eat!