Stitch Fix #1

Yay, I was so excited to see my first Stitch Fix arrive today!

Ohhhh....looks fun!

My 6 year old, Dori, was nice enough to be my photographer.  First, I tried on this maxi skirt because I knew right away that I would love it! I love the colors and pattern and it's actually not too long on me, which is so nice.  It's hard to find maxi skirts that don't have to be hemmed for me!  The navy top is mine and looks a little shabby but I already had it on, so it works :)

Next is a floral print keyhole blouse and some dark navy ankle length skinny jeans.  The blouse is cute, but I'm not too crazy about the big keyhole.  What do you think?  Plus, it's sleeveless and being at the end of summer I just don't know.  I guess I could put a cardigan over it!  I think the jeans are a pretty good fit!

Lastly is a draped-neck jersey top.  I do like the neckline a lot, but I think it may be a little too snug on my tummy.  Oh, and there is a crystal gem bracelet too, but I don't think I'll keep that.  

Hmm.....decisions!  I definitely will do this again, as I wouldn't normally pick some of these things out and it was so fun to see what my stylist would choose for me!  Here is a link to Stitch Fix if you'd like to try it out :)

Dollar Tree Play

I'm not in a hurry to start school this year, so we are enjoying the summer still!  I picked up some things at the Dollar Tree for the kids to play with: to "paint", "do laundry", and other things.  Their squirt bottles make great squirt guns, too!  We'll use the rice for some sensory play with Jonny and the spaghetti to stick into the holes of the cheese shaker.  I have gotten rid of a lot of toys this past year, because they create a lot of mess and don't get played with very much.  We still have a lot of Lego, Lego duplo, wooden trains and tracks, wooden blocks, and some other toys that are favorites.  Quinn has several baby dolls, a kitchen set (but with much less food than we originally had out), and we still have a ton of books and lots of board and logic games.  Anyways, the younger kids like to do these kind of "practical life" activities and the Dollar Tree is a great place to find materials.  I don't know very much about Montessori play, but I guess this is considered Montessori-like.  It's nice that even if the kids get bored with these things, the materials can still be used for other things around the house, too!  Like, the "clothespins" I got are actually chip clips :) and I think those little baskets are so cute.

Here Quinn is using a turned over crate we already had as a washboard and washing her dress.  She had so much fun doing her own "laundry"!

She rinsed out the soap in the bucket of water:

Pressed it down to squeeze out the water:

And hung it up to dry on the bungie cord "clothesline":

Jonny enjoyed "painting" the fence.  Actually, he enjoys pretty much anything that involves playing with water:

I didn't know Quinn would be so interested in the little spaghetti activity:

Jonny concentrating and hoarding the spaghetti:

This will be a good little activity for school time:

Oh, and look at this cute little guy!  He had just gotten squirted with water by Jonny but didn't seem to mind too much: