Sunday Sunshine and Pretend School

It has become more and more clear that Brett loves structure. He loves to have a schedule, to be able to anticipate things, and to be organized in the activities we do. Before I had kids I thought you could just buy toys and the kids would play happily all day, not true! I feel like both Brett and Alana, but especially Brett need lots of organized events and planned outings with a purpose. We have started 2 new things in the last month at our house that have been super fun: Sunday Sunshine and Pretend school.

Sunday Sunshine:

Since Brett loves schedules he wants every day to have the same components. He likes to watch some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Daniel Tiger every morning, which is nice because I can get the breakfast dishes cleaned up and get ready for the day. He also gets to watch in the afternoon for a little rest and so I can exercise (with my new treadmill!!) =) We have 11AM church which means we are all wandering around wondering what to do with ourselves for the morning. Brett always asked for movies which created a dilemma for us. We want Sundays to be special. We want to teach our kids to keep the Sabbath day holy and that the day is set apart for better things than Daniel Tiger and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We also don’t want to make Sunday the day that you can’t do anything fun!

While in Disneyland in June, the kids were all getting crazy on Sunday afternoon and we were waiting for Eric to come so we could start the b-day party for Kaden and Jill. Someone mentioned that we could just let the kids watch the Disney channel. I thought that would work great to calm them all down and provide some quiet for us adults. Michal mentioned that we should have the kids play ring around the roses or duck duck goose. I felt so silly that with my Early Childhood Education BS, the only thing I could think of to occupy 5 toddlers was a TV! Thank you Michal for helping me see that there are so many options that are so much better than TV on a Sunday! (please note that I am not saying that you should never watch TV on a Sunday or that you are bad if you disagree with me or even that it would have been bad to watch the Disney channel on that Sunday in Disneyland!)

So I am rambling a little bit, but all these thoughts came together to create Sunday Sunshine. Sunday Sunshine is a special jar that has fun activities that are special and make Sunday feel out of the ordinary. It is meant to make the Sabbath different and set apart from all the other days, and not in a “no you can’t have any fun” way. We have done this for 2 weeks and it has been so much fun! Brett and Alana both love it, and Sean and I like spending the extra time dedicated to family as opposed to checking Facebook or reading articles.

The first Sunday Sunshine we pulled out said to write a letter to Papa and Mimi. Brett drew the best people he has ever drawn in that picture. He got to pick another paper because we had more time.

This Sunday Sunshine said to make a fort and talk about Samuel the Lamanite. We never got to the scripture story but we had a blast making a fort!

Alana enjoyed hanging out outside the fort.

Last week the Sunday Sunshine said to make a comfy spot and read books. Brett found all the pillows he could and piled them on our bed. Then he, Alan, and Sean snuggled in to read books. I got to listen while I curled my hair.

There are lots of other ones that include making treats for nursery leaders or the Bishop and going on scavenger hunts for different colors or shapes. Some are service oriented, some are family oriented, and some are just fun!

Pretend School:

Brett loves the idea of school. I love the idea of him going to school, but there aren’t any good options in our budget and driving capability around here. I haven’t been able to find a co-op so we are just doing it on our own. Brett LOVES it! We read books, sing songs, do calendar, check the weather, practice a letter, learn about something that goes with the letter (usually an animal) and do a craft. We have done Ant for A, Butterfly for B, Crown for C, Dolphin for D, and Elephant for E. Brett has been learning to cut and I think that cutting and calendar are his favorite parts of pretend school right now. He also loves the pointer stick that we use for calendar and calls it his handy helper.

Here are some pics of the cuteness at our house lately. I will post some good Alana updates soon. She is 8 months old now, doing a little scoot crawl, drinking mostly formula, and getting into lots of fun things. She is adorable as ever and is getting so interactive!

We planted a little garden:

Brett visited the Dentist for the first time and it was a horrible experience for him so we bought him a new car because he was so brave, and because I am a softy!:

Oh those eyes!!!

I want to eat the camera mom!

Why do we buy toys when you can get diaper boxes for $60?

This one is blurry, but I like the action =)

New outfit came in the mail from Grandma =)

I love the binkie line on her face and the giant pile of toys in the background!

She does have some hair!

Brett really wanted to hold her, but she was hungry and wet and wasn’t really into it. Look how big she is!!

They love each other!