How I'm occupying my toddler these days

With Matt working nights, Ethan and I are left with evenings all to ourselves five days a week. So in an effort to not just watch 3 hours of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which my child would do in a heartbeat), I've been trying to come up with more creative ways to spend our time. So here is a list of how I've been occupying Ethan (sans television) these days:

1.  We make a collage. A piece of construction paper, a little glue and a Pottery Barn Kids catalog and BAM! Entertainment for at least 45 minutes.

2.  We paint rocks. For a kid who loves to collect rocks, this was a no brainer, and hey, now I have pretty rocks decorating my window sill!

3.  We go to the grocery store. Normally, I'd shop during the day when Ethan was at daycare, but he actually does really well at the grocery store and it's something different that gets him out of the house. I even got a compliment the other day from the cashier about how well behaved he was! :) Proud Mama moment. Oh, and he loves to ride in the green racecar cart, of course.

4.  We go for an evening walk.  This one is just as much for me as it is for Ethan and fortunately, he loves it! He points out trees and airplanes and clouds and big bonus if the nighttime sprinklers are going and we just *have* to walk through them and *accidentally* get misted. ;)

5. We build with Duplos. What do we build, you might be asking? Well we build the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, of course. Seems as though it's impossible to completely avoid that beloved Mouse of Ethan's.

6. We play with Play-Doh. Ethan is a bit of a broken-record when it comes to Play-Doh, considering all he really wants is for you to make balls, and lots of them. But the kid loves it and (once again), we're not sitting in front of the television, so I'd say it's still a win.

So there you have it, folks. That is how Ethan and I have been spending our evenings. If you happen to have any other suggestions for ways to spend our time, I'd love to hear them! :)