No More Missing Mattresses!!!

Well, I finally got tired of coming into the babies/little boys room to it looking like this. So, I decided to do something about it. I wised up and found me some ribbon. I know, it is kind of girlie looking, but I had a TON of it. Plus, once the sheets are on, you don't even see it. So, in order to keep them from taking their mattresses off their beds, I tied the mattress to the slats in the bed. That way, I am safe from them taking their mattresses off...that is, until they learn how to untie the knots underneath the bed! {smile} I think I am safe for awhile...they are only two years old and I made a bunch of knots!!Just wanted to share what Works For Me!

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Matching Fruit: Half to Whole

I made this great little file folder game. I just love it. The object of the game is to match up the whole fruit to the inside of what the fruit looks like (or the half fruit). I found the printables from this great site called Montessori for Everyone. You can get the printable fruit here. All I did was glue all the pictures of the whole fruit to the file folder. Then you can match the halves up with the wholes. An extension of the activity is to discuss the names of all the fruits. I just made this over the weekend and I can't wait to "test it out" with my kiddos!

Be sure to check out Kid Friendly Friday, and We Made It! Friday Showcase for more great ideas!

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"Bippity Bop Barbershop" by Natasha Tarpley

Bippity Bop Barbershop

by Natasha Tarpley

Illustrated by E. B. Lewis

This is a great story about a little boy named Miles and his first trip to the barber shop with his father. Miles is very excited, but at the same time has to be brave. Sensing his son's fear of the clippers, the Daddy encourages him to be brave and pretend that he is a giant and that the buzzing of the clippers is only a plane zooming by! Miles overcomes his fear and requests a haircut just like his father's. I wish that we had this book when my boys got their first haircut. Although it was not in a barbershop, I think it would have helped them overcome their initial fear of the buzzing clippers.

Want to know more about the "Brown Like Me" Book Review and how it got started? Click here!

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Raspberry Oatmeal Squares

We LOVE these Raspberry Oatmeal Squares and they are super easy to make!

And it is easy enough that the kids can help out with them, which they LOVE!!!

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter

1 c brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c all purpose flour (I have also used whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 c old fashioned rolled oats

1 c raspberry jam or preserves (We make our own)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x9" pan with non stick spray. In a bowl mix, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter mixture and mix until well combined. Stir in 1 3/4 c of the rolled oats. Press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam over the oatmeal base. Add the remaining 1/4 c of oats to the remaining dough. Crumble this mixture evenly over the top of the raspberry jam. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until nicely browned. Cool on a wire rack and then cut into squares. You can store these in the refrigerator, but we never have any leftover...{smile}

Be sure to check out Simply Made Sunday for more great ideas/recipes to make in the kitchen with your kiddos.

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Tot School~26 months: Butterflies, Fish & Superboy

~JI and TJ are 26 months~

This past week has been difficult for us. But, we did still manage to fit in a bit of Tot School for the little boys. Here are a few of the things that they did.

They loved looking at our butterflies and they even got to help release them, which was super cute. They ran around trying to catch them once we let them out! I just love this picture of them head to head looking at the butterfly habitat!

The butterflies were the highlight of the week for them.

They also had a blast playing with our fish game.

Finally, one more fave pic from the week. Check out TJ flying around the room in his Superman PJs. That's my superboy!!!
Be sure to check out Tot School for more great toddler ideas as well as my other website for free online preK resources.

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"The Blog Fast" (journal entry from 7.10.09)

For those of you who keep up with my blog, you may know that I deleted my blog for awhile. I have had this blog post (and a few others) sitting in my draft box for quite awhile and I figured there was no better time than the present to share it. It is actually an entry from my journal during the time I was not blogging:

In Zechariah 8:19, the prophet Zechariah gives a message from the Lord saying that the times of fasting will become joyful, glad, and happy occasions. That spoke to me because when I think of fasting, I think moreso about what I can’t do…like eat…or whatever I am fasting from…rather than the good things about fasting. Naturally, if you dwell on what you are giving up versus what you are gaining, you will have the wrong attitude. Can God really “work” in us if we are too busy being upset about what we are giving up? So…blogging. My attitude has changed and this scripture was confirmation. Yes, I miss blogging, but I am excited about what the Lord is doing and will do during this time of my “blog fast.” I am happy, joyful, and glad about what is to come!

Is there something that you have had to give up? If so, how is your attitude about it? Are you more focused on what you are having to give up rather than what you are gaining?

P.S. I do plan to periodically share a few of my journal entries in hopes that someone will be blessed by them. I have one in particular that has been sitting in my draft box because I don't want to "put myself out there." But, I do plan to share it in the near future!

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Preschool Corner: Letter C

I am a week behind in posting. We actually did a little bit of work on the letter D this week. But, I never posted C, so I figured I would post it now and post D later...once we finish it. (It has been a tough week for us and we have not gotten as much school done as we would like.) But, here is what we did last week for the letter C.

The boys played with their car file folder game. All it is is a bunch of car clipart that I printed off and glued to a file folder. I did add a road and some parking spots! {smile} I printed off two copies of each car...one to adhere to the folder and the other to use for matching. If you take a closer look, some of the cars only have slight differences, which makes it a little more difficult for the boys.
They practiced their penmanship. I just love this pic of DC writing his C's. He is so focused!!

The boys loved watching our caterpillars grow and eventually turn into butterflies. We did do more extensive learning about butterflies, but I plan to post about that whenever I get around to posting about my daughter's work. Her butterfly unit from My Father's World timed up fairly well with our live butterflies! (I found a great blog to link up to so that I can "showcase" what she is doing and learning...not sure why I feel as though I need a blog to link up to in order to post about what she is doing?!??!?!?! But, anyhow, I plan to also have more kindergarten/1st grade stuff posted in the future.)

We also made edible caterpillars out of bananas, raisins, and pretzel sticks. It was my daughter's idea to put them all together like a big happy family! {smile}

We also cut out pictures of things beginning with C and added them to our ABC books. Well, those were some of the highlights of our C week. For more activities that we did when my daughter her C unit, click here. There is a really cool cow-milking activity that you may like!

Be sure to check out Preschool Corner for more great preschool ideas as well as my resource list for free online preschool/kindergarten resources.

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Sensory Balloons

We made sensory balloons this week. So, what is a sensory balloon? Well, we took balloons and a funnel and filled them up with various items including rice, beans, quinoa, salt, oatmeal, and popcorn kernels. (Each balloon had a different content.) We made a green set and a blue set. The idea is that you have to feel the balloons and match the contents of the green balloons with that of the blue balloons. This is actually a bit more difficult than I expected. I put my husband to the test and although he was able to match all the sets, a few of them were a bit tricky.

I think the kids had more fun using the funnel to fill up the balloons than anything else. I guess picking up and putting all those beans in the funnel is also a good tactile activity for the little ones. You can see them and how much fun they had filling the balloons here.

I got the idea for sensory balloons from here.

Be sure to check out Kid Friendly Friday, and We Made It! Friday Showcase for more great ideas!

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stART ~ What Makes a Rainbow?

 

A Story + Art = A Great stART!

My kids made this rainbow art for our stART project this week. We read the book "What Makes a Rainbow?" by Betty Ann Schwartz. We love this book and I thought the craft went along great with it!

Each page highlights a different color of the rainbow. I love the pages because they are so bright and vivid. Our favorite part is that it is a "magic ribbon book." As you turn each page another color of the rainbow magically appears and on the final pages you get to see a complete ribbon rainbow. This book is so stinkin' cute!

So, to make our rainbow (in honor of the cute ribbon rainbow in the book), we used ribbon. You can see our supplies below.

I tend to save all the ribbon that I ever get. If a gift or a card has ribbon on it, I save it. You never know when it will make the perfect accent on a scrapbook page! {smile} Anyhow, I raided my ribbon stash and cut lots of small pieces (about 1 inch long). I drew six rainbow lines on the paper for the kids to use as a guide. Then, they got to work gluing the appropriate color onto the rainbow lines. Check out their artwork below.

I think they turned out great! In fact, I think I am going to frame them and put them up in our playroom/schoolroom!!!

For more stART projects, be sure to check out A Mommy's Adventures.

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Watching the Ducks

My husband snagged the camera from me and caught this picture of me and the kids watching the ducks swim down the river while on vacation this summer.

For more Wordful Wednesday, be sure to check out 7 Clown Circus.

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"Dancing in the Wings" by Debbie Allen

Dancing in the Wings

by Debbie Allen

Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

I liked this book because I could identify with it. I am tall (6'2") and for the longest time growing up I disliked my height...until I discovered basketball. Then, being tall became a GOOD thing. The same is true for the main character, Sassy, and her love for ballet. This is a story about perseverance. She is encouraged to "make her mark." Despite ridicule about her long legs and big feet, Sassy works hard and no longer has to dance in the wings, but is able to take center stage!

My daughter loves this book! However, I find that I have to skip over some of the words because I prefer to avoid the name-calling that is exchanged between Sassy and her fellow dancers as well as between Sassy and her brother. My daughter is old enough to understand that it is not okay to call people names and infact will comment on how it is not nice to say mean things to people. However, my boys are still quite impressionable and the name-calling is comical to them. So, when reading the book to all my kids I do skip over some sentences.

Overall, I really like the book and the message. I wish I would have read it when I was growing up and struggling with my height!

Want to know more about the "Brown Like Me" Book Review and how it got started? Click here!

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Tot School~26 months: Balloons, Beans, Balancing & Bubblewrap

~JI and TJ are 26 months~

Last week the little boys enjoyed quite a bit of activities for Tot School. Here are some pics to highlight their week...I/we made sensory balloons (I will post about these later in the week). The little boys loved using the funnels to put beans, rice, etc. inside the balloons.

Once our balloons were complete they had fun feeling and playing with them. JI was pretty impressed with himself for lining up all his green balloons!
Once again, the bucket balancewas a huge hit! Here they are comparing the weights of their animals. I love how TJ is putting the same things in each of the buckets. (Notice in his hand another giraffe to add to the other side!) Once the older kids were finished using the globe, the little boys got to have some fun with it. I just love this globe and the kids have so much fun learning with it! My 4 year olds and my 5 year old have actually been able to tell me facts about different countries that I don't even know...because of using the globe!!!
Finally, my fave pic of the tots from the week is this bubblewrap pic. TJ is popping the bubblewrap and JI is NOT trying to hear it!!!

So, those were the highlights from our week!!!
Be sure to check out Tot School for more great toddler ideas as well as my other website for free online preK resources.

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Butterfly {Matching} File Folder Game

This week we spent most of our time learning about caterpillars and butterflies and doing a bit of work with the letter C. (Next week, things should be back to normal as we move on with our letters.) It was exciting because we got to see our caterpillars turn into butterflies. So, attempting to seize the "educational opportunity" I got to work. I saw these butterflies online and was amazed by how beautiful they are. I knew I HAD to use them somehow! So, this is what I came up with...butterfly matching.You can save and print the butterfly pictures from here. (The photos are available to use for free and they are simply amazing!) Next, cut them in half. I glued the left sides of all the butterflies to a file folder and then laminated the right sides of the butterflies for durability and set them aside. I laminated the file folder (with the left sides only attached). Finally, I used adhesive velcro on the backs of the right sides. That way, the butterflies stay put once you find the match.

If you are studying butterflies, Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations has a list of some more great butterfly/caterpillar printables here.

Be sure to check out Preschool Corner, Kid Friendly Friday, and We Made It! Friday Showcase for more great ideas!

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