Growing Up Our Style

Oval, Number 1 And Letters H And I

2012-01-27T21:02:00.001-05:00

Ok so i was supposed to write my Letter Hh and Oval post 2 weeks ago…whoops. Soooo im doubling up… 4 weeks worth of pre-k in one post! Sorry everyone :P

Here we go!

Letter Hh:

Science:

Listen to heartbeats (or pretend to anyway!)-

Measure height (i measured her height with a tape measure)

Large Motor:

Hop on letter H-

Art:

Handprint mural-

Small Motor:

Playdoh hotdogs and hamburgers-

Worksheets:

Oval:

Art:

Make oval prints with potatoes-

Paint on ovals-

Small Motor:

Lace an oval-

Cooking:

Oval baked potatoes! (no pic)

Worksheets-

Letter Ii:

Science:

Measure using inches-

Large Motor:

Explore instruments-

Move like an inchworm-

Art:

Igloo painting (using a little square block)-

Ice painting (after adding water, drop a few colors of food coloring into different ice cube tray squares, stick a popsicle stick in, lying on the edge so its somewhat standing and let freeze. Then use the cubes to paint with)-

Worksheets-

She finished learning about shapes and before she started on number 1, she did a little

review-

She can name all of these shapes!

Number 1:

Large Motor:

Put 1 apple on a tree-

Art:

Make a frog puppet with 1 fly-

1 double-sided fish-

Language:

Sing ‘There Is Only 1 Me’-

“There is only one Brianna,

one Brianna, one Brianna,

There is only 1 Brianna,

and there she is.

Brianna is smiling, Brianna is smiling,

There is only 1 Brianna,

and there she is.”

Worksheets:

Misc:

She learned about Martin Luther King Jr and winter-

Life Word 2012: Gentle

2012-01-20T22:13:00.005-05:00

I have never been big on New Years resolutions. I'm not sure why. Maybe because i rarely keep them? Ha! However this year i feel so led by the Lord to work on changing my life in one specific are. But before i get to that, let me explain something that happened a couple of weeks ago-

During a Wednesday night church service our song leader was giving a short devotion about the new year coming up. He gave everyone a challenge: Instead of making petty New Years resolutions that people will rarely keep, and will forget about, try praying that GOD would show you what He wants you do this new year. What He maybe wants you to work on, or what His will may be for your life the upcoming year.

I loved this! Over the next week or so i began telling others about this great idea and how they should do it too. But after a short time went by i realized i hadnt prayed and asked God to show me this yet! So i did. Twice. That same week i had one of those go-to-bed-feeling-guilty-because-i-was-such-a-bad-mom kind of nights. But every night that week. It was awful. So one night as i was reading my Bible i felt the Lord really tugging at my heart to stop and pray. Right then. After putting it off for a few seconds i did stop, even though i had no idea what i should pray about. But in the next moment i felt this rush of guilt for how i had been treating my kids and i immediately started to cry and beg God to help me be a better mom. I have prayed this many times, but never like this. The tears kept coming and i kept pleading. Pleading with God to give me the strength i need to hold my tongue. Pleading that He would give me patience in the most impatient situations. I realized in that moment that over the past 5 years i have been trying to be a good mom, but on my own. With my own tactics. Which is why i have failed. That night i realized i cannot be a good mom with the Lord. I will fail miserably every time. My eyes were opened so much and i felt so refreshed and so weak. Weak in that i need the Lord so very much. A wonderful kind of weak.

I didnt realize it until about a week later but that was most definitely God answering my prayer as to what He wants from me this year. He wants me to become gentle. Something i rarely am im sorry to admit. I anger easily, fly off the handle and i am very impatient at times. Unfortunately its almost always with my kids and my husband. Ive gotten alot better over the years but not nearly where i need to be. Being gentle has been a struggle i have dealt with for a very long time. But this year with God's help i know that can be changed. I can and will become gentle. A gentle wife and a gentle mommy.

Already the Lord is working in my heart and i am so thankful. I asked Him to show me when i am being harsh and He has. And i immediately let my pride down and change it. I talk to my kids in a more gentle tone and try not to discipline them out of anger. Im working on lashing out at my husband and just not saying something when my pride wants to. It will be a long road and i know it will be a lifetime battle to become gentle. But i pray that with God's help i can drastically change my ways and become the gentle woman i need to be for the Lord and my family this year.

I have already begun some different studies and started a binder/notebook where i keep bible verses, notes from sermons or blogs, quotes, anything about gentleness that speaks to me. I am also going to jot bible verses about gentleness onto index cards to leave around the house or in my purse, car, places like that so i can read them often and hopefully memorize some as well. I am going to seek out christian books about gentleness too. Also i HIGHLY reccomend checking out Courtney's gentleness challenge (from Women Living Well). Every week she posts about a different parenting topic that will help moms become 'gentle'. Perfect timing for me of course! God works that way :) Courtney also posts a video every week and its such an encouragement! I will be following along with this challenge in a section of my binder as well. After i have a bit more in my binder i will do a post all about it, in case you'd like to make one too! I cant take the credit for it though. Courtney had the original idea for something similar. And my friend Laurie too ;)

So that's it for now. I would LOVE any prayers out there as i start on this journey of becoming gentle. And i would love to hear from any of you out there about any tips you might have for me or any 'life words' you may be working on! And i will keep you posted on my progress and such!

Love to you all!
Rebecca

Recently Pinned~

2012-01-13T15:37:00.001-05:00

Here’s my first 'Recently Pinned’ post of 2012!

If don’t know, that means i show you some of my most recent ‘pins’ ive put onto my Pinterest account. Things i think you will like too. If you don’t have a Pinterest account, get one my friends!!

Adorable Valentines Day snack-

Winter activity sticks would be great when the after Christmas excitement wears off and they are getting bored of winter-

I love these fridge organizers. Just trying to decide if the price is worth it ;) Or if i can maybe buy something similar somewhere else.

Check out this step by step guide on making an A-frame tent for your kiddos!

Um does this cookie dough dip look amazing or what?

I really want to (try) to make this owl hat for Makenna for next winter!

Does anyone else hate that their wedding cards are stuck in a box somewhere? I do! So i want to make this wedding card book and leave it out on my dresser. Would make a great coffee table book too.

I want to crochet this cup cozy! Especially love the look with the big brown button :)

Window + scrabpook paper + pretty knobs= LOVE!

Buy some wooden X’s and O’s from a craft store for an easy but oh so cute Valentine’s Day decor!

Im going to be reading Stone Soup to Connor soon and here are some cute Stone Soup printables!

This is such an easy thing to make and can not only save space in your kitchen but make it so easy to find and grab those cutting boards!

To make this adorable dress up space it only cost the woman $15!! Someday when i do the girls room, i think i will ~~have my hubby~~ make this!

Hope you enjoy these recent pins of mine!

Playing With Pinterest~ December 2011

2012-01-08T22:18:00.001-05:00

So i only made 2 ideas from Pinterest in December. It was quite a busy month for obvious reasons :)

Go here to see my post for these peppermint cocoa jar gifts-

And here to see how i made these ornaments-

Already busy creating new things this month so check back!

Connor’s Schooling: December 2011

2012-01-06T20:28:00.001-05:00

Can you believe we are already in 2012?! I can’t. 2011 flew right by. Goodness.

Anyway, here’s some of what Connor did for December:

Language Arts:

He learned that every sentence begins with a capital letter. And he learned about periods and question marks. And that if there is a question mark, your voice should go up at the end of the sentence-

He learned his last cursive letter,Qq, so now he is focusing more in writing words-

Easy reading (blends, 3 letter words)-

Spelling 3 letter words-

He started to learn how to write his name in cursive!

Math:

He can count to 100!

And make members of the number families up to 80!

Also worked on simple addition and reviewed other things-

Continuing clock/time-

Counting by tens up to 100-

Social Studies:

He learned about England-

Science:

Continuing God’s plan for plants:

He examined real seeds-

I dont have any other pictures of his plant work.

Hope you all had a fantastic New Years!

Preschool Corner: Letter Gg and Star

2012-01-03T15:13:00.001-05:00

We just started school again yesterday, and its going good. Definitely hard to get back into the swing of it after 2 weeks off though! And i realized today i never posted Brianna’s Tot school post from before our break! Whoops.

Letter Gg:

Science:

Explore gems-

Large Motor:

Gallop (no pic)

Golf-

Art:

Make a gift bag-

Small Motor:

Drive cars to garages-

Writing Gg’s- (and drawing gems)

Guess who?-

Cooking:

Gingerbread pancakes-

Worksheets:

Stars:

Art:

Create star flowers-

Math:

Match sets of stars-

Small Motor:

Pick up stars with tongs-

Tweezering pom-poms into a star ice cube tray-

Cooking:

Star cupcakes-

Worksheets:

She is now working on letter Hh along with her last shape- ovals! In 2 weeks she will continue with her letters but also move onto numbers.

Most Popular Posts From 2011

2011-12-29T14:54:00.001-05:00

We are busy here- playing with new Christmas toys, spending time with family from out of town and working on our winter bucket list! All fun things!

While we are busy, i thought id show you 4 most popular posts from my lil ol blog for the 2011 year. Id do more if i knew how, haha! When i look at my Blogger stats i could only figure out the top 4-

Preschool Corner Garden Theme-

Garden Sensory Bin-

stART All You Need For A Snowman-

Tot School: Winter/Snow-

Apparently spring and winter themes are popular with you all! Ha!

Have a wonderful New Years everyone!!

(To see lasts years top posts go here.)

Peppermint Stick Cocoa In A Jar

2011-12-22T16:45:00.001-05:00

Every year i try to make something homemade for my friends kiddos. This year i went on Pinterest and found a post for peppermint hot cocoa and thought it looked perfect.

Here’s the recipe i coped from New Nostalgia:

Peppermint Stick Cocoa
Layer the ingredients for homemade cocoa in a jar, add a ribbon, embellishment, and a tag, and you have a simple but cute gift. This mix will fill a 1 quart jar (12 servings), but if your containers are different sizes, just keep the ratio of ingredients constant. On the back of the tag, write: "Mix contents in a bowl. For each serving, place 1/3 cup cocoa mix in a mug and stir in one cup boiling water. Store remaining mix in airtight container.
1 cup powdered milk
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy
Layer powdered milk, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, chocolate chips, and peppermint candy.
Yield: Makes 1 quart mix or 12 servings hot cocoa.

I used a 16 oz jar (1 pint) and halved the recipe, this serves 6. I also made 8 oz jars (1/2 pint) and adjusted the measurements, this serves 3.

16 oz jar measurements (1 pint) serves 6
1/2 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips
1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy
8 oz jar measurements (1/2 pint) serves 3
1/4 cup powdered milk
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 cup miniature chocolate chips
1/8 cup crushed peppermint candies

I had different sized jars so i LOVED that she posted the different measurements for the different jars.

I bought some fabric from Joanns to finish them off. The above picture was before i added the instruction tags.

Brianna’s Little Keeper Of The Home Class

2011-12-20T21:06:00.001-05:00

I love the co-op group we are a part of. I truly do. In Sept. another round of classes started and i signed Brianna up for a class called Little Keepers of the Home. I just had to share the adorableness of it.

Unfortunately i only took pictures of the very last class when they had a little party for the parents-

She received a little ‘medal’ and an award-

She decorated little gingerbread ornaments she had made prior to the party-

She then decorated a cake for her and i to eat-

She even got to pour my drink!

I loved the entire party :)

Some of the other weeks they practiced folding laundry, cleaning, decorating,driving cardboard box ‘cars’, baking and more. Such a wonderful class :)

Winter Bucket List 2011

2011-12-12T10:51:00.001-05:00

We did all but 2 things on our fall bucket list ,there’s always next year to do the rest :)

And now,onto win*ter…

Drive around looking at Christmas lights IN our pajamas, WHILE listening to Christmas music AND drinking hot cocoa (this was hubbies idea.. .love him)
Huge bubble bath
Give a secret gift to someone
Eat snowflakes as they fall
Enjoy the simple pleasure of warm homemade soup
Watch Elf
Read a Christmas book by the Christmas tree
Go see a live nativity

Connor’s Schooling- November 2011

2011-12-10T14:08:00.001-05:00

Here i what Connor worked on in November-

Language Arts:

He’s doing great with reading!

(-He read the above words and put the sentence in the right order)

Continuing cursive-

We did his Brain Quest cards a couple of times too-

Math:

He can count up to 69-

He knows how to tell the time if its exactly something o’clock. He has been learning to write the times too-

He can make members of the teen, twenty, thirty, forty and fifty families-

He started simple addition- (which he already mastered before starting Kind.)

Social Studies-

We learned about Peru!

And ate a mango because we learned they have mangoes in Peru-

(despite his face- he really liked it!)

Science:

He’s been learning alot about seeds-

That’s our sum-up of November :)

Homemade Ornaments- Pinecone Christmas Trees And Glittery Christmas Bulbs

2011-12-07T15:28:00.001-05:00

We do an ornament exchange at our annual family Christmas party and they encourage people to make them homemade. Now that i have my new best pal Pinterest in my life, making homemade ornaments will not only be easy but fun! Here are the 2 ideas we copied from my new friend ;)

Connor and Brianna made pinecone Christmas trees-

I bought a package of pinecones at the dollar tree and we found a small package of mini green and red pom-poms 50% off at Joanns. They just glued the pom-poms right on the pinecones wherever they wanted. (Note- lots of glue is needed so they dont fall off!)

I showed my hubbie some of the ornament ideas on my Pinterest board and he wanted to make the Christmas bulbs, so we did-

We bought a package of different colored bulb ornaments from Joanns Christmas ornament section. They were on sale so for a package of about 9 (?) they were only $2.50. Then we bought three .99 tubes of glitter (also in the Christmas section) in red, green and silver. At first we were dipping the ornaments right in the glue and then shaking glitter on. But when we tried to dry them, the glue and glitter slid right off. So instead Mike thought of painting the glue on in a thinner layer with a paintbrush and it worked! We then continued to sprinkle the glitter on. We had to go back to joanns because the glitter flaked right off. I bought this clear coat spray paint ($3 with a coupon i think?) to spray over the glitter. It helped and the glitter barely came off after that.

We had fun at the Christmas party and the woman who received some of the bulbs loved them and wanted to know how i made them :)

Letter Ff and Diamond

2011-12-05T12:55:00.001-05:00

We took the week of Thanksgiving off so even though it seems like Brianna’s been on the letter Ff for 3 weeks, its really only been 2 :)

Letter Ff:

Science:

She learned about fading. We kept one piece of black paper in a sunny window for a few days and one in a dark place-

Examining fingerprints she made (i didn't have a magnifying glass at this point but a few days later i bought one at the dollar store!)

Small Motor:

Making F’s in shaving cream-

Writing F’s-

Food:

Funny Face out of a caramel rice cake, PB and raisins-

Worksheets-

Misc:

We played her Fancy Nancy game-

Diamonds:

Art:

Print diamonds-

Food:

She made a diamond out of pretzels on a rice cake with fruit cream cheese. Small pretzel sticks would've worked much better than these bigger ones we had on hand.-

Math:

She found the diamonds in a deck of cards-

Other Fun:

Christmas sensory bin-

Homemade pinecone Christmas tree- (will be posting how she did this soon!)

She took a field trip to the FD where her uncle works-

We have already begun working on Letter Gg and stars! Also, keep an eye out for some upcoming posts- our winter bucket list and some homemade ornaments!

Fall Fun I Forgot

2011-12-02T23:44:00.001-05:00

There were a few misc. fall activities i never posted so im putting them all in this one :)

The kids painted with sticks and pinecones-

Brianna did an Autumn worksheet-

We went to a hockey game,

and to Color Me Mine to paint some magnets and ornaments for Christmas gifts-

And we had a great Thanksgiving!

It was a great fall :)

Christmas Sensory Bin

2011-11-29T21:39:00.001-05:00

I bought a bunch of stuff at the dollar store this past weekend and whipped up a Christmas sensory bin, throwing in a few things i had at home too.

The bottom is a white cotton tree skirt with some sparkles on it. Also from the dollar store was-

a bunch of poinsettia flowers that i pulled off the fake stems, a strand of garland, pinecones, fake silver berry plants and fake silver leaves.

From home i added a couple of ornaments, and a couple fake candy canes.

They've only played with the bin twice and weren't too excited over it either time. I cant make a winner every time i guess ;)

Hopefully you are as excited for Christmas as we are!

Fall Bucket List 2011- Revised

2011-11-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We are celebrating ours on Sunday :) Here is what we got done with our fall bucket list!

We got to all but 2 things! See below for pictures…

We didn't do a summer bucket list this year because i knew we would be busy with a newborn :) But i am back into the swing of things and came up with this list of fun fall activities i hope we can do this year-

~~Learn about our backyard birds~~ (see post here)
Navigate a corn maize
~~Apple Picking~~
See the fall colors in Letchworth State Park
~~Go for a walk and take in the clean, crisp autumn air.~~
~~Enjoy some apple cider.~~
~~Make~~ ~~pumpkin cupcakes~~.
~~Have the kids make homemade Thanksgiving cards to give to individual family and friends telling them something they are thankful for about each person.~~ (Our family loved them!)

Hubbie and i have already discussed our winter bucket list… will post soon!

Playing With Pinterest And A Thanksgiving Movie For Your Kiddos

2011-11-22T22:56:00.001-05:00

Before i show you the ideas i copied from Pinterest this month, here’s a video on youtube you might enjoy watching with your kids:

William Bradford- The First Thanksgiving

I only copied 3 ideas from Pinterest this month, which i still think is good!

I made a Thanksgiving Countdown-

Pumpkin waffles-

And copied some photography poses for Christmas cards-

(copied from)

(coped from)

I hope you are all having as much fun with Pinterest as i am!

Our Backyard Birds

2011-11-20T23:02:00.001-05:00

One of the things on our Full Bucket List is to learn about our ‘backyard’ birds. In other words the birds we’ve seen flying around our backyard! We spent some time in the backyard a few days ago and i tried to zoom in and snap a picture of a bird as fast as i could. It wasn't as easy as i thought it would be, especially with a couple kids around ;) But i did get a picture of this one-

After asking on Facebook (hehe) i found out it is a mockingbird. And thanks to whatbird.com (awesome site), i found out it is a Northern Mockingbird.

On the site we

listened to its call
found out what it eats
and learned that it ‘voraciously defends its territory, attacking intruders including house pets and even people.’ Connor and Brianna had some questions about that!

We also always have a ton of crows in our backyard, especially in the fall.

We learned they

eat insects, small invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, eggs and young of other birds, grains, fruits, refuse, and carrion. Steady direct flight.

will stand over an anthill and allow the ants to climb onto its feathers. One theory is that this allows the ants to discharge their formic acid, thus making them more palatable to the crow.

have been taught to mimic the human voice.They can count and work out solutions to simple problems and are fascinated with and collect shiny objects such as rings, keys and foil.

And we listened to its call.

Here are some pictures the kids made of each bird-

This was a fun science lesson. Id be curious to see what types of birds are around where you live!

Recently Pinned

2011-11-16T11:05:00.001-05:00

Here are some goodies for your enjoyment, courtesy of my Pinterest boards ;)

This is one of the photo ideas i coped for our Christmas card (which you will eventually see)

What cute placemats for the kiddies Thanksgiving table!

You have got to read this post and start making simple memory boxes for your kids!

This is the most adorable idea i have ever seen when it comes to storing books in a little boys room! I will be on the lookout for a wagon like this until i find one!

One of the coolest looking science experiments-cornstarch and water mixture moves to sound so kids can visually experience sound waves.

I HAVE to get around to making these cool seasonal sensory bottles!

Pancake mix in a ketchup bottle! I bet you could make cool pancake shapes!

Pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting :)

$3.99 spice racks from Ikea used as bookshelves. Just one of a zillion reasons i need an Ikea nearby.

Im so saving Makenna’s crib mattress for this reason…

Great use for an Altoid tin!

This shirt is on Etsy but im pretty sure i can copy it and make it on my own next year for my girls :)

That’s it for now!

Letter Ee And Heart

2011-11-12T15:29:00.001-05:00

*The batteries from my camera were dead for a couple of days, so some activities won’t have any pictures.

Letter Ee:

Science:

We talked about evaporation by wetting 2 paper towels and setting them down, once bunched up and one flat. Why did the flat one dry faster? Where did the water go? (camera batteries were dead so no picture)

And echoes-

Large Motor:

Exploring an eggplant-

Moving like a elephant- (camera batteries were dead so no picture)

Cooking:

We had chopped, cooked eggplant with pasta. We also had egg salad.

Worksheets-

Hearts:

Art:

Heart rubbings-

Math:

Counting hearts-

Small Motor-

Cutting out hearts-

Writing Ee’s-

Large Motor:

Her and Connor played Touch the Heart. I put different colored construction paper hearts on opposite sides of the room and whatever color i said they had to run to that heart, touch it and come back.

Worksheets-

Misc:

She got her ears pierced!! She didn't even flinch- i was shocked.

She wrote numbers 1-3-

And did the last of her fall worksheets-

And just because its cute…

Have a good day!

A Post By A Friend

2011-11-08T21:34:00.002-05:00

A picture of me and Makenna was used by my sweet friend Traci over on her blog Ordinary Inspirations... check it out! Make sure you read her awesome post while you're there!

Connor’s Schooling- October 2011

2011-11-03T20:24:00.001-04:00

Here’s some of what Connor did for the month of October…

Phonics:

He’s mastered many blends-

And continued with cursive-

He has no problems yet with reading-

Math:

He’s been working on counting and recognizing numbers up to 20…

Here he ‘made’ members of the teen family with individual flashcards-

Counting to 20 and learning about the ones and teen families-

Practicing counting cents-

Number order-

Science:

He learned about seasons-

He had to draw a picture of something you do for each season-

For Halloween he worked on a pumpkin growth worksheet-

Social Studies-

He’s going to be learning about other countries for awhile and we found them on our globe-

He started with Mexico-

He also did a Christopher Columbus worksheet-

Hope you all had a great October- we did!

Letter Dd and Rectangle

2011-10-31T22:21:00.001-04:00

Letter Dd:

Large Motor:

Doggie, Doggie, Where’s Your Bone?-

Small Motor:

Domino Build game-

Matching Toy Story dominoes-

Making the letter Dd-

Art:

Dot art-

Worksheets-

Food:

Doughnut Dots- (see bottom of post for recipe)

Rectangles:

Math:

Sorted/found rectangle blocks-

Art:

I gave her shapes and she made Rectangle Vehicles-

Worksheets-

Small Motor:

She drew rectangles in shaving cream-

Cooking:

She made rectangle structures with graham crackers and fluff-

Misc:

Things that rhyme with bat-

Color by number jack-o-lantern and torn paper pumpkin-

Doughnut Dots recipe-

1/3 cup butter (i softened mine alot)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 1/5 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

Topping:

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar mixed with 2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar together. Add in beaten egg and mix well. Mix in dry ingredients and milk. Fill greased muffin tins half full. Bake for 20-30 min. until golden brown. Dip the doughnuts in the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Playing With Pinterest~ October 2011

2011-10-27T22:45:00.001-04:00

Here’s my second post in the “Playing With Pinterest” ‘series’…

I’m still not sure how much i like this, but i made a fall centerpiece with sticks,

the kids helped me make these yummy candy corn cookies,

We also made these fun fall favorites books!

Glow stick baths have become a favorite in our house after seeing this picture on Pinterest!

Did you do anything extra fun this month?

MTM- Fall 2011

2011-10-24T11:18:00.001-04:00

Simple fall themed muffin tin lunch…

‘Hayride’ wagon wheels
Leaf shaped cheese
Candy corn/harvest mix candy

Makenna’s 3 Month Pictures

2011-10-21T20:19:00.001-04:00

Ok so even though Makenna is now 5 months (!), i still had to share some of her adorable 3 month pictures with all of you :)

Sigh… isn’t she adorable?

Letter Cc And Triangle

2011-10-15T23:23:00.001-04:00

Here’s what Bri did the last 2 weeks:

Letter Cc:

Science:

Mixing colors- (with food coloring)

Who lives in a cave? -(I put a blanket over the table)

Small Motor:

When we first started the letter C she thought it said “sss” because C sounds like it would. She now knows it says “Kk” but i also taught her that is sometimes does say “ss” like in…

Cereal-

Large Motor-

She carried cups of water, but i don't have a picture:(

Math (?):

Matching cookies-

Food:

Carrot and cucumber caterpillar-

Worksheets:

Writing:

Triangles:

Art:

Tape triangles-

Math:

Triangle patterning-

Large Motor:

We made a triangle on the floor with black tape and she ‘moved around the triangle’ but dancing around it, running around it, rolling around it. No picture of it though.

Food:

Yet another thing i didn't get a picture of- homemade pizza cut into triangle slices.

Worksheets:

Check out more preschool posts here!

Recently Pinned

2011-10-12T11:05:00.001-04:00

Hey there peeps! Hope your October is going *fabulous* so far. We enjoyed a few very warm days and now its back to the chilly-ness. Yep i made up a word. Anywhooooo…

Here are some of the cool ideas i recently pinned on Pinterest. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Home Fairy had some great non-carving pumpkin ideas for kids-

She also had this recipe for fall brownies-

My kids would think putting glow sticks in the bathtub is the coolest idea!

You can buy this wreath on Etsy but i bet it could be easily made with a wooden letter, twine, silk flowers and ribbon-

When Makenna was born i was given some adorable homemade burp cloths and i knew i could make them. Here’s someone else who had the same idea-

Coolest birthday party invitations ever!

This is soo sweet!!! Im thinking of somehow putting this quote in Connor’s room when we move him downstairs-

I have been wanting to buy some scarves and this little chart with 12 different ways to wear them will come in so handy when i do-

I love the idea to pin different places on a map where books take us. We will do this in the future-

If you like my pins come find me on Pinterest! http://pinterest.com/beccaboo435/.

Christopher Columbus Cartoon

2011-10-10T11:42:00.001-04:00

For all you moms out there looking for another way to teach your kids about Christopher Columbus, here’s a short cartoon about his life/story. Its from YouTube so it’s in parts and every few minutes you need to click on the next part. But i would say its worth it :) I did small cleaning tasks around the house and waited for my kids to yell “Next part, Mom!”

Christopher Columbus

Connor’s Schooling- September 2011

2011-10-05T22:13:00.001-04:00

Here are some of the random things I've been doing with Connor so far this school year as we go along with our Abeka curriculum.

In Phonics he…

circled the letters-

made a capital I with pretzel rods,

traced letters with playdoh,

found words with the correct sound,

matched the vowels to the word its in,

He ate an O shaped cookie-

He’s also started writing in cursive!!!

For science-

He’s learned about ‘our body’ and weather-

He learned about his senses. When we did ‘taste’ i put 4 foods in little bowls for him to taste: Bitter (unsweetened cocoa powder), salty (pretzel rod), sweet (chocolate animal cracker) and sour (lemon juice).

We also talked about condensation. We measured 1 cup of water into a measuring cup and marker the 1 cup line with a washable marker. I then poured the water into a pie plate and after a couple of days we poured the water back into the measuring cup and marked where the water now was. Where did it go?

For math…

he put the correct number of objects on the card,

He’s been learning cents-

Social Studies…

he’s been learning about government-

This is just a fraction of the worksheets he’s been doing but i am not going to take a picture of every single one of course :)

Letter Bb and Square

2011-10-02T23:03:00.001-04:00

Hope everyone's school year is going well so far. I can’t believe we’ve already been at it a month! Here’s what Brianna worked on the past 2 weeks-

Letter Bb:

Science:

We made a bubble bottle! (fill a bottle 3/4 with water, add some tear free shampoo, food coloring and we added Buttons and Beads)

Which balls bounce?

Large Motor:

Bowling-

Toss a beanbag onto a B-

Art:

Beautiful butterfly- (fill a small ziplock bag with torn construction paper, close and attach clothespin)

Small Motor:

String beads-

Sort buttons-

Cooking:

Butterscotch bananas- (cut bananas in half, stick a craft stick in and dip in pre-made butterscotch pudding and freeze on a wax paper lined cookie sheet, or spray with cooking spray)

Square:

Language:

Play where’s the square?-

Art:

How can you make a square?-

Math:

Toast and butter game-

Large Motor:

Toss a beanbag onto a square-

Food:

Square brownies-

Worksheets:

Match the squares-

In case anyone is wondering what I’ve been doing with Connor, in a few days i will be posting a summary of his schooling for the month of Sept.

Playing With Pinterest- Sibling Photographs

2011-09-27T18:59:00.001-04:00

So i recently fell in love with Pinterest. Way too in love. I have so many pins its ridiculous. And i recently came across a blogger who had the same problem- too many pins, but doing nothing with them. So like her, i decided i need to try to do/make at least 1 of my pins a month. I will call these posts “Playing with Pinterest”.

This month i copied a bunch of the sibling photography ideas from my Photography board. Here are the pictures i took (i did some editing too)-

What do ya think?

Dry Erase ‘Fall Bucket List’ In A Frame

2011-09-20T20:54:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post to show you what i did with my fall bucket list:

Cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit and put it in the frame. On the glass use a dry eraser marker to write and you will easily be able to erase it! I also put little boxes before each item so we can cross it off after we do it :)

Letter Aa and Circle

2011-09-16T22:51:00.001-04:00

Happy new school year everyone! We just finished our first 2 weeks of school, yeah! With Brianna i worked on the letter Aa and circles-

Letter Aa:

Large Muscle:

Moving like an Alligator-

Ring around the apple-

Carrying a (fake) apple on a spoon-

Science:

Comparing fresh and dried apples (to dry- peel and slice apples and cook in a 150 degree oven for an hr)-

Ant experiment (put sugar and salt on 2 separate paper plates and leave outside. Which do ants like? Sugar!)-

Cooking:

Ants on a log-

Applesauce muffins-

Letter Aa worksheets-

(this first one led to tears. She gets frustrated if she doesn't do it perfectly.)

Circles:

Art:

Hole punch circles- (she needed my help with this)

Circle collage-

Small Muscle:

Playdoh circles-

(I didn't take a picture of this but she used small circular lids to make circles in the playdoh)

Cooking:

Cheese and cracker circles-

Circle pancakes-

Matching the circles-

The next 2 weeks- letter Bb and squares!

Recently Pinned

2011-09-10T12:45:00.001-04:00

To read my first Pinterest post (and see how you can join, its free!) go here. Also in that post, you will read that i said i was going to start ‘Recently Pinned’ posts, showing you some of the great ideas i’ve recently pinned and wanted to share with all of you! So here we go!

I thought this playdoh zoo was a cute idea!

I want to make these fall favorite books with the kiddos!

A journal of letters back and forth for mama and daughter...great idea!

Thinking of you cupcakes to deliver to a friend!

Date night with daddy ideas!

Have you heard of 52 smiles? If you haven't you should definitely check it out! “52 Smiles- creative ways to show kindness with the kids, every week.”

Love this cute idea to do every year as the kids age.

Too hot for a regular picnic? How about a breakfast picnic while its still cool out!

I recently found a window someone was going to throw away and i picked it up for ideas such as this one,

and this-

I have tons more pinned, so if you’d like to follow me on Pinterest come check out my boards here! (You must join Pinterest to see. Look above for my original Pinterest post to see how to join).

Curriculum Choices 2011

2011-09-06T22:48:00.001-04:00

I have been such a bad blogger, we started our first day of homeschooling today and i haven't even told you what curriculums we are using this year! So sorry. We've been so busy and my mind has been elsewhere.

For Connor…

I am using Abeka grade K-

This is just one of their many books! I am borrowing the teachers guides from a friend but i bought the child kit plus a bunch of the supplements to go along with it. And we are also going to be using their social studies and science books as well.

Brianna’s main curriculum…

are books that feature all sorts of activities to go along with letters, numbers, shapes and colors. (We are skipping over the colors section). Here are the books im getting the ideas from-

Alphabet fun for little ones-

Color, shape and number fun for little ones-

I was so happy to have been given these books by a friend- they are perfectly what i wanted to use with Brianna. They are super creative and have some of the bets ideas ive ever seen.

I will be using a bunch of other little supplemental stuff along the way as well.

Hope your kiddies are all enjoying school!

Pinterest!

2011-08-24T23:27:00.005-04:00

Hey everyone! So sorry ive been MIA lately. We've been so busy and im truthfully just trying to enjoy the end of summer right now :)

But i did want to let you know that i recently found Pinterest and i must say, i am in LOVE! My fellow pinners know what im talking about! To those of you who may not know about Pinterest-

"Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests."

I have been pinning away lately and here are just some of my topics for my 'boards'-
kids crafts
travel
lots and lots of decorating ideas
birthday party ideas
recipes
photography
and more!

I wish i could show you every single picture/idea that i have pinned but i have way too many! So here are just a few-

TeePee Cupcakes-

Rustic Fall Centerpiece-

Paper Bag Scavenger Hunt-

Prayer Pail-

Cherry Chocolate Kisses-

Book Slings-

Ladder Turned Shelf-

This doesn't even touch how many 'pins' i have but like i said i can't show you them all! You will NOT regret signing up for a Pinterest account, trust me! (and in case you're wondering- yes its free!) You have to put in your email address and get an invite through your email (not sure why- they are just fancy like that i guess) or you can give me your email and i can invite you since ive already joined.

I am going to be writing up some posts every so often titled "Recently Pinned" which will feature some of my favorite pins that i had pinned recently. Hopefully they will inspire you somehow.

Oh and another thing- there are so many amazing ideas that ive decided that i will (eventually) hold myself accountable to doing (at least) 1 of my pins a month. Whether its trying a recipe, making a craft, copying a photo idea etc. I will be looking forward to it every month!

You can literally pin anything! Its awesome! You will love it! Go there already! (But be warned- you will be hooked my friends!)

Maryland & D.C.

2011-08-15T11:13:00.001-04:00

Hey there blogland :) We just got back from our summer vacation- we went and stayed with my sister and her family in MD and we also visited D.C. while there.

Here are some pics from our awesome vacation:

Lots of swimming-

Airplane Observatory Park-

Orioles vs White Sox-

Annapolis-

D.C. (capital building)

Smithsonian in D.C.-

Washington Monument-

Lincoln Memorial-

White House-

We think this was Michelle Obama and her daughter!

We were all screamed at to move way back and about a half hour later a long line of black cars showed up. We aren't sure who was in them, but its cool to imagine it was the president!

We had SUCH a great time! This was probably our last big ‘thing’ before we start school in a few weeks!!

Tot School: Gardens/Flowers

2011-07-30T08:31:00.001-04:00

This is our second to last theme for our Joyful Learning study! Can’t believe a whole year has gone by :)

(Let me know if you want to know where any of the worksheets are from!)

Gardens/Flowers:

Garden sensory bin-

Flower Patterns-

Paper plate sunflower-

She did the gardening section of her Brain Quest cards-

Sorting seeds-

Counting flowers-

Garden center field trip-

Planting seeds-

Watering rose bushes-

Picking raspberries from her aunts garden-

Other/Misc:

Number worksheets-

Diamond worksheet-

Number puzzles (from Target’s dollar section!)-

Green-

Tracing-

Outdoor fun-

Getting her nails painted at a friends bday party-

Happy end of July!

Garden Center Field Trip

2011-07-26T22:25:00.001-04:00

Since im working on a Garden theme with Brianna right now, i decided to take the kids on a ‘field trip’ to a garden center right up the street from us:

We walked all around looking at the different tools, plants and seeds. It was a great experience for them!

And they each picked out flower seeds…

that they planted as soon as we got home!

Here’s to hoping they grow! (And if they do, i’ll write an update post!)

Simple Paper Plate Sunflower

2011-07-23T14:54:00.001-04:00

Ok so this didn't turn out quite how i envisioned it would, but its cute :)

Connor and Brianna colored the inside of the paper plate brown,

the outside yellow,

and glue some dried black beans in the center.

Connor’s:

Brianna’s:

Tot (summer) School- What We’ve Been Up To

2011-07-11T16:50:00.001-04:00

Well we have been busy, with a newborn around here and all :) But i have managed to get some light schooling done a couple of times a week, which is as often as i had hoped to get it done. Here is what we’ve done-

**(because i don't have a ton of time right now i haven't put in links. But if you want to know where i got any of the worksheets etc, please don’t hesitate to ask!)

Here are a couple of baby animal activities we did to go along with the baby animal theme from Hubbard’s cupboard-

Baby/Parent match-

Cookie cutter animal prints-

That was about all we got done from Joyful Learning before Makenna was born and our life got super busy! This coming week week im planning on getting back into ourJoyful Learning themes, starting with a Garden theme.

Here is some more of what Brianna has been up to-

Small Motor:

spooning Mancala gems-

Tweezering pom-poms-

Tracing lines- (from the Summer Bridge activity book)

Playing with floam-

Math:

She counted flower drink stirrers-

Language:

She matched the letter flashcards we've been working on and reviewed the sounds-

and found the same 4 letters on our Little Einstein's poster-

Misc:

She reviewed colors-

I started teaching her opposites. She seems to be catching on quick to this! -

She found and colored the ovals-

I also got out her Aquadoodle wall runner-

Hope your summer is hot and sunny :)

Preschool Corner: June 2011

2011-07-06T22:13:00.001-04:00

We have been so busy since Makenna was born! We have managed to still get some schooling type work done though! Here’s what we’ve been doing-

**(because i don't have a ton of time right now i haven't put in links. But if you want to know where i got any of the worksheets etc, please don’t hesitate to ask!)

Math:

Number review-

He learned how to measure with a ruler-

Worked on greater than and less than by playing a game of War with his chuck-e-cheese cards-

He also worked on addition and subtraction with flashcards-

Language:

Connor found the word that had the given vowel in it-

Letter review-

He also reviewed letters by placing a star sequin in the letter i named-

I said a word and he spelled it with his letter tiles. We made lots of words from these letters-

Misc:

We started his new brain quest cards i found at a used curriculum sale-

He started the ‘people’ section in his Bible sticker book-

I got out his Aquadoodle wall runner-

Hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are!

Makenna Smiles :)

2011-06-30T07:31:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted anything about Makenna since her birth so i figured i should do a little update, followed by a few smiley pics :)

For the past 2 weeks she has slept from about 10pm-5/6am every night! Happy momma :)
She started to coo. Its soo precious.
Connor and Brianna adore her and are always giving her kisses and talking to her. Brianna especially.
The first 2 times grocery shopping by myself she screamed almost the entire time.
She only takes a pacifier sometimes and when she does it takes some coaxing.
She nurses great, every 3 hours. (Except at night)
She was 5’15 at birth and 7’8 at her one month appt. We got back in a couple weeks for her 2 month visit.
She likes being swaddled in her swaddle me blanket at night.
She likes to nap on her belly sometimes.
She likes her bouncy seat and her swing but isnt a fan of lying on her back on her mat or in her boppy.
She looks alot like Connor did as a baby.
She loves to smile, especially during a diaper change. She smiles at anyone who will talk to her, but also her little stuffed animals on her bouncy seat and the blinds in the kitchen (ha!) Here are some pics of her smiling. I wish my camera would've stayed in focus for these! Sigh.

Have a great day!

Handprint Stegosaurus

2011-06-23T21:21:00.001-04:00

Connor has been into dinosaurs lately. Recently at the library he picked out this book and he loves it:

It’s a cute story about a boy and his brother going for a walk and Patrick imagines seeing all the different kids of dinosaurs his brother describes. He becomes scared, wondering if they are real, but in the end realizes it was just his imagination.

And since he has been so into dinosaurs, we made this craft that i saw here.

Connor’s-

Brianna’s-

I copied and pasted this plain dinosaur picture into Microsoft Word and printed it out. After the kids colored it they painted handprints on its back to turn it into a stegosaurus! And googly eyes too, just for fun.

To see more stories+art, check out A Mommy’s Adventures!

Cold Stone Field Trip

2011-06-08T15:22:00.001-04:00

Our homeschool group went to Cold stone for a field trip a couple of months ago- yum :)

It was a cute field trip- Here are some pictures:

Mmm, i heart you Cold Stone!!!!

Garden Sensory Bin

2011-05-31T14:01:00.001-04:00

For spring , i whipped up this garden themed bin-

Pinto beans
fake flowers/leaves
pinwheel
shovels
watering can
mini pots
formula scooper
little tongs

Their favorite thing to do with this bin is bring me flowers :)

Baby Makenna Is Here!

2011-05-23T18:19:00.001-04:00

Ok so maybe some of you have guessed by now (since i haven't posted in forever!) but i had the baby! It was a GIRL!! Makenna was born on May 13th (5 days early!) weighing in at 5 lbs, 15 ounces and 19 inches long! She is our little peanut :) Here are some pics…

The kids adore her and are so helpful with her already! Its so cute. And i cannot believe how easy she is! At least so far ;) She sleeps SO good at night and spends alot of time during the day awake just looking around happily! We are so blessed! And so happy to have another girl :) We love you, Makenna!

Connor Is 5!

2011-05-10T21:44:00.001-04:00

My SUPER SWEET Connor turned 5 on Monday! Oh how i love this little boy! He has no idea how many times a day he melts my heart with the sweet, loving things he says and does. I hope he will always be like this.

Here are some pictures from his birthday-

He had a ‘friend party’ at the YMCA:

And the next day he had a little ‘family party’:

I can’t believe my BABY is 5!

Mother’s Day Handprint Towel

2011-05-04T16:15:00.001-04:00

I saw this idea here and thought it was a cute Mother’s Day idea. So we made some of our own for the kids grandmas!

I bought the towels at the Dollar Store last spring. And i bought fabric paint and fabric markers from Joann’s, both with 40% off coupons of course :)

They are supposed to stay permanent, even with washing. So we shall see!

Happy Mother’s Day to all you amazing bloggy moms who inspire me every day!!

Tot School- Spring

2011-05-01T12:41:00.001-04:00

*Brianna is 37 months old*

Spring:

Umbrella/Raindrop color match-

Spring tracing paper-

Matching spring pictures-

Finding the same-

Umbrella shapes-

Size sequencing-

(small to big)

(big to small)

Counting beads-

Not- Spring Related:

Clothespin counting-

She finished her Kumon paste book!

I just started working on letters with her-

Leap Pad-

Make-a-scene (i think this was from the dollar store a long time ago?)-

To see more Tot School posts- go to 1+1+1=1.

Preschool Corner~ Done For The 2011 School Year!

2011-04-29T15:53:00.001-04:00

Yep- we finished all of Connors workbooks this week! I was hoping to get done this early, since we have baby #3 due in a few weeks. I have a few books we haven't worked on yet that i am saving for summer when we do a more relaxed school setting- whenever i feel like doing it :) So i will still randomly post some Preschool Corner posts when we do some fun stuff.

Here are the books he finished, along with a picture of the last page of each:

Connor had a good Easter!

He also did an animal cookie cutter painting today-

Have a great weekend everyone!

(This post seems very random to me, lol!)

Maternity Pics!

2011-04-23T19:47:00.001-04:00

Here are some of the maternity pics my talented friend Heather took for me recently! Love her :)

I’m almost there peeps- ONLY 3.5 WEEKS LEFT!

Preschool Corner- April (Easter And Spring)

2011-04-19T22:22:00.002-04:00

Easter activities:

Tracing and writing the word ‘cross’-

Easter sensory bin-

Easter file folder game-

I drew a palm leaf shape and lines and he cut it out himself and taped a pipe cleaner on for the stem-

We celebrated Easter with my parents early-

Spring activities:

He read all of these ap, at and an words!

Worked on his ‘teens’-

Counting beads-

Misc:

We are trying to finish up all of his workbooks before baby comes in 4 weeks (!!) and he finished his first one- his Kumon cutting book!

Kumon Tracing book-

He’s now learning about the Earth in his science book-

Beginning sounds-

The letters Y and Z-

Crayola 3D-

We should be finishing up ALL of his workbooks next week! And then we will be doing more ‘relaxed’ Pre-K work- when i feel up to getting plans ready. It will probably be a couple times a week, as opposed to doing it daily like we do now. That is how it will be all summer, as we tend to do some schooling all year round.

Have a great Easter everyone!

Tot School- Easter

2011-04-16T15:35:00.001-04:00

Easter:

Egg sound matching- (i did pennies, cereal, rice and beads)

Putting plastic eggs together-

Easter Sensory Bin-

Egg matching- (sorry, i dont know where this was from)

Easter file folder game-

Counting pom-poms-

I cut out a leaf shape and cut slits in it to make a palm leaf to go along with the Easter story she has been learning. And she taped a pipe cleaner on as the stem-

Egg patterns-

My parents are going to be in MD for Easter so we celebrated Easter with them early-

I hope everyone else is enjoying some fun Easter activities too!

Oatmeal Easter Sensory Bin

2011-04-12T14:40:00.002-04:00

Just a super-quick post (with only 1 picture- gasp!) to show our Easter Sensory Bin:

oatmeal
plastic eggs
Easter cookie cutters
muffin tin
paper cupcake holders
pom-poms
cups
paper basket with white shredded paper

Have a great day!

Tot School: Birds

2011-04-04T22:45:00.001-04:00

Birds:

Bird seed collage-

Pouring birdseed-

Parts of a bird-

Using a “beak” (clothespin) to pick up “bugs”-

Edible nests-

Feather collage-

Panting with feathers-

Sorting feathers-

Bird bingo game-

We read this Hummingbird book-

Not-Theme Related:

Pinkalicous puzzle-

Kumon pasting book-

LOTS of drawing in her Abby Cadabby notebook-

Play-doh cake shop-

Fancy Nancy game-

Matching numbers (Bri can now recognize the numbers 2 and 3!)-

Brianna’s birthday tea-party!-

Check out Carissa’s blog for more Tot School!

*I am using the Joyful Learning curriculum.

Preschool Corner- March 2011

2011-04-01T22:07:00.001-04:00

Here are just some of the things we have been up to with Connor’s pre-k for the month of March.

*go here to see the list of workbooks (with links) that he is using this year. If you have a question about which worksheet came from where, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Sensory/Motor Skills:

I love that he is now able to cut pictures out!

(these are from his Kumon book)

He made cakes from our baking themed sensory bin.

And snails and slugs with play-doh.

Math:

We worked on math with this numbers fun set.

And practiced subtraction with these subtraction puzzles.

He worked on the numbers 16 and 17-

Science:

He LOVED the yeast experiment we did.

We’ve been studying AIR in his science book.

I put ice cubes in a glass and cold water in another. He poured the water into the glass with the ice and we watched as tiny AIR bubbles came up from the sides.

We also did another experiment (no pics) where Connor made a ball with a tissue and stuck it in the bottom of a glass. Then i filled the sink with water and we pressed the glass, upside-down into the water and talked about how the air trapped inside the glass kept the tissue at the top form falling.

Reading/Writing/Spelling:

Connor worked on the letters V, W and X-

He practiced spelling with these make-a-word cards.

I laid the cards out facedown and had him spell the word that way first. Then he flipped them over to see if he was right.

He can read his first book! But only because he memorized it ;) But i make sure he follows my finger as i point to the words he reads. I got this set of Clifford books at a used curriculum sale for like $1! Here is the one he can read-

Connor is now a pro at figuring out what letter is at the beginning of words! Here’s just one of the sheets we did on this-

He also worked on reading color words-

Misc:

For St. Patrick’s Day he counted the correct amount of objects,

And wrote out the word ‘hat’.

He loves this aquadoodle wall runner!

Go here to see more Preschool posts!

Edible Bird’s Nests

2011-03-25T21:41:00.002-04:00

To finish up the bird theme i am doing with Brianna, we made edible bird’s nests today:

These were soo simple and you only need a few ingredients-

rice noodles
chocolate frosting
candy eggs (or jelly beans)

First i heavily sprayed a muffin tin with cooking spray.

Then i melted the chocolate frosting in the microwave for about 40 seconds, stirred it and poured it in a bowl with the noodles and we stirred-

I then scooped some of the mixture into the muffin tins and the kids pressed it down into the tin.

Put it in the freezer for awhile (we went out for a few hours and they were molded together when we got home).

They came out of the pan easily with just a spoon since i had used the cooking spray. Add a couple candy eggs on top and enjoy!

Linking up to-

Brianna’s Birthday Par-TEA!

2011-03-20T22:29:00.001-04:00

Wow, i can’t believe im already posting another birthday party post! How does a year go by so fast?! This year i decided Brianna would love a tea party birthday with her little friends, since she’s into everything sweet and girly :)

I’ll start with pictures from the party and then add the details at the bottom of the post.

Here is the invitation i made-

(front)

(inside)

The first thing the guests did as they arrived was decorate cardboard butterfly wings!

They then were able to choose a feathered boa to wear and some dress-up shoes.

I had a little play tea party set up on a blanket for the girls and their dolls.

After playing and decorating for about an hour we had lunch!

For the little girls i made peanut butter sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut with a flower cookie cutter.

The mommies had chicken salad and tuna salad sandwiches cut diagonally.

There was also banana bread, cookies and fruit kabobs. And of course tea! Well iced tea, raspberry lemonade and apple juice ;)

After our lunch/tea Brianna opened gifts. Here is what she got-

Then it was time for singing Happy Birthday and cupcakes!

While they ate their cupcakes i read them this story:

Oh and during the entire party i had this cd playing as background music: (i found it at my local library)

For favors the girls each took home:

the tea cup and plate they used
their decorated wings
a boa
lollipops (one big, one small)-

Ok so for those of you who want to know the details of where i found what, here it is-

Ill start with the table set-up. I bought fabric from Joann’s for both the wall and the ‘tablecloth’. I just taped the one fabric to the wall. Then i folded some paper doilies onto string and taped them closed and hung them up:

For the table set up-

The long silver serving trays were both from the Dollar Store!

The tiered silver tray was $2 at Goodwill-

The pink, squared paper plates were on clearance at Target for $1.50-
The doilies (for the wall and under the plates) were bought off of Amazon-
The tea cups and plates were all on clearance at Marshall’s-

The cupcake holder was from Joann’s, but i taped some lace ribbon around it-

The doilies for around the cupcakes were Wilton ones from Joann’s. It was about $3 for a pack of 30. I cut out the middle and pulled it up from the bottom. And i added little pink gems also from Joann’s-

I found this teapot at Goodwill for $3 and added some real carnations to it.

I added lots of jelly beans to this metal pail that i’ve had for years and stuck in a bunch of lollipops! The big swirly lollipops were 2 for $1 at Family Dollar and the little flower lollipops were $1 each at Michael’s-

The butterfly wings were $3 for a pack of 6 at Michael’s-

The things used to decorate the wings were all from Joann’s and Michael’s-

I already had the Fancy Nancy Phone and book but the feathered boas were $1 each at Family Dollar-

The porcelain Tinkerbell tea set and the plastic Princess one were both previous gifts of Brianna’s-

That’s about it! All the girls had such a nice time :)

Tot School: Baking/Cooking

2011-03-12T10:24:00.001-05:00

Brianna helped me make english muffin pizzas,

and chocolate cookies.

She also made painted toast, with milk and food coloring.

We did a muffin tasting where i made a basic boxed muffin mix and Brianna added 3 different ingredients to the different muffin cups: blueberries, chopped pecans and bananas.

Then she had a taste of each muffin to see which she liked best. She said blueberry and banana were her favorite :)

She put the pizza making steps in the correct order. (she needed alot of help with this)

She played with the ‘baking’ sensory bin.

She made golf ball paintings in different pans.

She made play-doh cakes, complete with candles and rounds of “Happy Birthday”.

She laced the Very Hungry caterpillar cards.

and made a baker out of a toilet paper roll.

She counted buttons into a muffin tin.

She also played with her Melissa and Doug cupcake decorating set.

Both kids loved this yeast experiment!

To 1 cup of very warm water we added 2 TB of sugar and a package of yeast. Bri mixed it until it dissolved.

I then poured the mixture into an empty bottle and put the balloon over the top. and we waited…

until…

the balloon started to blow up! And then it got bigger!

Why? The yeast feeds off the sugar and makes carbon dioxide. And the gas has no where to go other than going up into the balloon. We talked about how yeast does the same thing when making bread, which gives it its soft fluffiness. The kids thought this was so cool.

Not Theme Related:

She loves this Aquadoodle wall runner!

I started having her use liquid glue with her Kumon pasting book, instead of glue stick.

She played Memory with our Curious George cards.

That’s it! Our next theme is going to be Birds :)

Go here to see more Tot School posts!

*I am using the Joyful Learning curriculum.

Baking Themed Sensory Bin

2011-03-07T11:56:00.001-05:00

With Brianna i am doing a ‘baking/cooking’ theme so i made a related sensory bin.

I dyed rice for the first time! I did a big batch of green and a big batch of blue:

If you don’t know how to dye rice, you just add lots of food coloring to some white rice in a bag, shake it up and mix it all really well and then let it dry.

Here is what is in the bin:

blue and green rice
muffin tin
little pans and spoons i found a long time ago in Joanns dollar section
measuring spoons and cups
a mini strainer
cookie cutters
wooden spoon

Both kids like this bin, but Brianna REALLY likes it! She loves to fill things up for some reason so she spent alot of time scoping rice into different containers until they were filled.

Connor liked to make me ‘cakes’ :)

I just want to note that rice got all over the floor with this bin! I got smart halfway through and put a towel underneath :) Now we always put the towel under the bin and when they are done i shake the rice back inside.

Science: Water Experiments

2011-03-04T11:14:00.001-05:00

We just finished up a water theme in Connor’s science book. Here are some of the easy activities we did over the past couple weeks. All can be used with just a few household items!

We did this super easy (yet affective!) cotton ball cloud experiment: (idea found here)

All you need is a cotton ball and a container for water.

1. Give each child a cotton ball to hold. Tell them to pretend that they are holding a cloud.
2. Ask them how does the cloud feel: heavy or light, soft or hard.
3. Instruct the children to place the "cloud" (cotton ball) gently over the cold water.

Explain that water that has evaporated has traveled up to the cloud and it is a lot colder up in the sky, so the vapor turns into water, and it is filling up the cloud. Ask: Can you see the "cloud" (cotton ball) filling up with the water.
4. Ask the children to gently pick up the "cloud" (cotton ball) from the pan.

Ask: How does the "cloud" feel now? Light or heavy. Warm or cold? What is happening with the water? Yes, the water is dripping from the "cloud". Why? The cloud cannot hold all that water, is too, too, heavy. What do we call when water falls from the clouds because they are too heavy with water? Yes, you are right, rain! It is raining! And what happens to the water? Yes, it is coming right back into the pan, and the pan could be a stream, river, ocean or the ground.

What Can Absorb? experiment:

You need an ice cube tray, a dropper and different items that can and cannot absorb water. We used a penny, paper, napkin, cotton ball and a plastic ring.

I gave Connor a cup of water and using a medicine syringe he transferred the water from the cup to the ice cube tray. (he loved doing this)

Then he took the different items and placed them carefully into the tray to see if they absorbed or not. I talked about how some things have tiny tiny holes that we can’t see and that allows the water to get inside the item. Some things are very solid and don’t have holes so no water can get in to absorb. He caught onto this quickly and for the next few days went around naming things that did and didn’t absorb water :)

The last experiment we did was a salt water vs freshwater experiment from his Science Tub Topics book:

You need 2 wooden blocks, 2 cups of water and 1 cup of salt. (however we used about 3/4 of a cup because we didn’t use alot of water)

First, mix the salt into the water until it dissolves. (we mixed a long time and it didn’t dissolve all the way)

Then place the blocks into the water. The one with the salt water should float a little higher than the glass with freshwater.

Why? Salt water is heavier and more dense than fresh water; that's why its easier for us to float in the ocean than in a pool or lake.

This experiment didn’t work quite as well as i wanted it to. We only noticed a small difference in the blocks. So then i saw the same experiment here, done with eggs. And their results seem to work much better! So we may try this again :)

Also to go with the water theme, he did these 2 pages i printed offline:

We talked about the different bodies of water,

(i made this sheet by finding pictures on google images and pasting them into microsoft word)

and we talked about water pollution.

Im linking up to Preschool Corner:

Port Discovery Museum In Baltimore MD

2011-03-01T15:51:00.001-05:00

Here are some pics of the museum we went to while visiting my sister in Maryland last week:

Anyone else ever been here??

Tot School: Doctor

2011-02-22T11:00:00.002-05:00

*I am posting this early because we are leaving for Maryland to visit my sister tomorrow and wont be back until next week!

Doctor:

Brianna used tweezers to pick up cotton balls and q-tips. She had a hard time with the q-tips because she was able to pick them up but then they would slide out.

She then wanted to put each of the q-tips to sleep on the cotton balls :)

She made band-aid prints by sticking several band-aids onto paper,

painting over them,

and when it was dry we carefully took them off.

She sorted band-aids into small, medium and large,

read the Good Samaritan story from her Bible,

and played doctor with her stuffed elephant.

She needed help matching the doctor tools with the right body parts.

Like we have done before, we did a germ experiment with lotion and glitter:

First she rubbed lotion into her hands,

then i put a pinch of glitter (germs) in her hands and she rubbed that all in,

She tried to get the ‘germs’ off with just a tissue.

We talked about how using a tissue or towel to rub the germs off doesn't work. Instead we need soap and water.

Brianna loved painting with cotton balls and q-tips.

She made a thank you note for her pediatrician. (which we will mail out soon!)

We got these books from the library:

Froggy Goes To The Doctor by Jonathan London

Kiss It Better by Hiawyn Oram

Not-Theme Related:

She played with blocks alot!

At home,

and at the museum.

She made butterfly prints out of cabbage leaves!

We went bowling with our homeschool group.

She worked on pasting in her Kumon book,

and matched the numbers on this wipe-off sheet from our Lets Count set. She needed some help from me but she did alot better than i thought she would!

I will be posting about our MD trip when i get back! Have a good week everyone!

I will be linking to:

*I am using the Joyful Learning curriculum.

Cabbage Leaf Prints

2011-02-16T14:43:00.002-05:00

I saw this cool idea here to make tree prints with cabbage leaves and we just happened to have some leftover cabbage that i was going to be throwing away very soon. So i knew we had to try it.

However… the cabbage leaves we had were alot smaller than hers because we were at the very end of the head of it.

But it ended up making pretty butterfly prints! (this one is Bri's)

Just cover a cabbage leaf with paint and press onto paper!

Voila!

(Connor says his are bat prints, not butterfly prints)

Although cabbage leaves are thicker, i bet this would work ok with lettuce leaves too. It’s a great way to use up some of the leaves if your planning on throwing it out.

Growing Up Our Style

Oval, Number 1 And Letters H And I

Letter Hh:

Science:

Large Motor:

Art:

Small Motor:

Worksheets:

Oval:

Art:

Small Motor:

Cooking:

Worksheets-

Letter Ii:

Science:

Large Motor:

Art:

Worksheets-

review-

Number 1:

Large Motor:

Art:

Language:

Worksheets:

Misc:

Life Word 2012: Gentle

Recently Pinned~

Playing With Pinterest~ December 2011

Connor’s Schooling: December 2011

Language Arts:

Math:

Social Studies:

Science:

Preschool Corner: Letter Gg and Star

Letter Gg:

Science:

Large Motor:

Art:

Small Motor:

Cooking:

Worksheets:

Stars:

Art:

Math:

Small Motor:

Cooking:

Worksheets:

Most Popular Posts From 2011

Peppermint Stick Cocoa In A Jar

Brianna’s Little Keeper Of The Home Class

Winter Bucket List 2011

And now,onto w*i*n*t*e*r…

Connor’s Schooling- November 2011

Language Arts:

Math:

Social Studies-

Science:

Homemade Ornaments- Pinecone Christmas Trees And Glittery Christmas Bulbs

Letter Ff and Diamond

Letter Ff:

Science:

Small Motor:

Food:

Worksheets-

Misc:

Diamonds:

Art:

Food:

Math:

Other Fun:

Fall Fun I Forgot

Christmas Sensory Bin

Fall Bucket List 2011- Revised

Playing With Pinterest And A Thanksgiving Movie For Your Kiddos

Our Backyard Birds

Recently Pinned

Letter Ee And Heart

Letter Ee:

Science:

Large Motor:

And now,onto win*ter…