Activities and Memories

I've been trying to find different ways to interact and play with Drea. Here are a few we have enjoyed.

Yesterday she taught me how to play hopscotch. Yes, my three year old taught me the whole throw the rock part of hopscotch...I thought you just jumped around on the blocks. She said to me "You half a find a rock." I had no idea why. Then she threw it and it landed on a square. She jumped through the numbers, picked up the rock and then said "you half a turn around and jop back." (You should see her hop - very cute - she never picks one leg off the ground. That must come at a later stage.)

We received a sample of the younger version of Highlights magazine called High Five. I was very excited to go through the book with Drea because this is one of my favorite childhood memories of going to stay at my Dad's. He ordered the Highlights magazine for us and our favorite part was the Hidden Pictures puzzle. So since there were five of us, Dad and Beth would put contact paper over the puzzle and they gave us wet erase markers so we could wipe it off after one of us finished it. Probably sounds like a weird special memory but I always looked forward to the next subscription. So the younger version magazine has "My First Hidden Pictures" puzzle and Drea loved it. She would light up everytime she would find the objects. It was great to watch her and do it with her.

I have this book for children that suggests games to do for Drea's age. Sorting and categorizing buttons was one of the suggested activities that I thougth both of us would enjoy. So I pulled out my sewing box - it was my grandmother's.

Drea's eyes lit up like I found a secret treasure! Then I took out the two top shelves to reveal the old box full of buttons...any and every kind of button you could ever imagine. I figured this would be perfect for our sorting activity. As we sat there and sorted I thought about how special it was that I have my grandmother's sewing box. As simple and ordinary as it sounds, it is like a treasure trove of hierlooms and antiques. Most of the thread in it were hers. Mostly all of those buttons were hers. Yes, I live in my grandmothers old house, I have her corner cabinet full of all of her china, I'm pretty much surrounded by old things of her and my grandfathers but there is something oddly special about this sewing box to me. I tried to explain to Drea that it was my grandmother's but I don't think she seemed to grasp how special it is. Oh well, one day she will. Of course, my little girlie-girl asked me to make her a necklace with some thread and a button. If you see it on her in public...I tried.