I week ..... extended ;)

It has taken us forever to do I week. We have literally been out and about everyday for almost 3 weeks now. It is crazy! The good part is that most of the things we have been doing are educational in one way or another. I will try to get everything caught up on here. In there mean time, here is our I week. I was trying to get Tristan to do something different for his letter I, but he LOVES the beans. So, once again, we glued beans on the letter. Whatever works, right?!?

Chicka Chicka boom boom

I just have to throw this out there. If you are looking for a great book on the alphabet that is not too boring, because lets face it, they can be, then you should check out Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Tristan and I love to read this book together. He likes to "read" it with me and try to name all of the letters on the page. If you are not familiar with it, check it out! Amazon has a geat deal on it.

I week

This week is I week. Hmm..... this should be an interesting one!

Here are some I words you may be able to use...

igloo
iguana
inch
inchworm
ice
Indian
infant
ink
insect
instrument
invitation

ice cream

H is for House

I say this ALL THE TIME, but this did not turn out as planned :)

This week we have been working on the letter H. One of the activities that we did was a house. The plan was for each window and door to have a member of our family peeking out. I had Tristan draw each family member on a piece of precut (and measured) paper. We are really really struggling in the people drawing area... Then we glued them behind the house. It is cute, but I probaby should have given him a photo of each family member and had his glue it in each window and door.

The other thing was I made sure that each part of the house was a certain shape. We talked about the colors, and shapes as well as the letter H. We had fun!!

I should have let him glue on bushes etc, but after this much, he was done. ;)

The letter H

This week has been H week. I am late posting this, again... sorry! I am trying to do better!

Here are some H words to get your creative juices flowing :)

helicopter
horse
house
hat
hair
hammer
hummingbird
heart
horn
hamburger
helmet
hippo
hands
Humpty Dumpty
Harry
happy
helper
hot
heavy
hard
heard
hear
hairdresser
hospital
hobby
hardware store
hop

just for fun

This is not a G post persay, but it was certainly a learning field trip! Tristan and I try to spend one day a week with my mom in Richmond. My dad tries to join up for the fun, too, when he can get off work. This week, we went to Maymont Park, in Richmond, Va. I LOVE Maymont. For those of you who have never been there, this is a beautiful park that is very hilly (so you get a GREAT workout) and it has animals spread out throughout the park. There is also a petting zoo. The park is free, however they do ask for donations. It is well worth the visit. It is also a perfect place for a picinic lunch!

Enjoy the pics :)

 The bears were fighting! The one in the back by the tree was on his hind legs. Ive never seen anything like it. So cool to watch!

 This goat was Tristan's BEST friend. He followed Tristan everywhere he went.

Tristan and his Grammee went over the steep bridge in the Japanese Gardens.

We had a GREAT day!!!

G is for simple grapes

G is for Green Grapes! This is also super simple, but that is the point of this blog! Super simple crafts for learning the ABC's!

We are constantly drilling (in a fun way of course) colors, letters and shapes. I try to use standard shapes for most projects.

For the green grapes, I only used a rectangle for the stem and circles obviously for the grapes. This did not turn out as cute as I had hoped, however, the lesson itself and the discussion made it worth it. Not to mention the fact that anytime Tristan completes a project, he is proud of himself. Isn't that what it is all about??

The letter G

This is super simple and you can use anything to glue on to your letters. It is all about your child seeing and hearing the letter. There can never be too many repetitions!

A Green letter G

Tristan has his favorite things he likes to glue, but get creative! I don't trust him with glitter yet. Otherwise, it may have been sparkly :)

G is for...

G week was last week. I unfortunately haven't been able to post lately. I will try to get everything up and current this weekend.

One of the things that I had wanted to make with Tristan was a guitar. He has a guitar, that is just his size, and he loves to play with his Daddy. But, I thought it would be fun to have him make a guitar. They are super easy so I wanted to pass it on to you.

materials
box
rubberbands
scissors
paint (optional)


All you need to do for this is get a shoe box. Cut a hole in the center of the shoe box lid. Put the rubberbands (at least 3) lengthwise around the box. PLAY!

If you would like to get more involved, you could have your child paint the shoe box before you put the rubberbands on it. You could also make a neck out of a papertowel roll and glue it on the small end of the shoebox. There are lots of possibilities!

Additional lesson:
Guitars make music. The "string" vibrate. Vibrate means to move back and forth quickly. Have your child strum the guitar to see the strings vibrate. Then have your child put his/her hand on his/her neck over the voicebox. Have your child whisper. Feel anything? Now have your child talk normally. Feel anything? Vibrations!

We used to do this when I taught first grade. We would pull out all kinds of instruments for vibrations. See what you can find! Or save it for the letter V ;)

G is for Giraffe

G is for GREAT GIRAFFE!
This is too cute! Bag puppets are so much fun! If you are like me, you probably wont print out the template, but I wanted to pass this great site on incase you wanted to! They provide the materials needed and the step by step directions to complete this giraffe bag puppet with your child. Have fun!

DLTK has some great ideas for toddlers-K kids!

G is for GRAPES!

This will be a two part post.... we are working on a grape craft but it seems to be taking us forever to get it finished no matter how simple it is...

But the other thing I wanted to pass on was a site I discovered accidentally. The DOLE website. Dole Grapes are mighty yummy. They have some games and activites for kids on their site. They also have a wealth of information on nutrition for parents as well. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE :)


http://www.dole.com/

G is for garden

Although I have not taken a lot of pictures with the letter G, there are so many activities for G (and most letters) that do not involve a craft, but just hands on learning time with Mom. I find that the best learning is through doing and conversation. Tristan loves to be outside with me and we love to plant. This year I regret not doing a real garden, but we were still able to do some gardening with flowers. Our yard really needs some TLC and there is no TLC like that that comes from a 2 year old. Whew.... what messy fun!

G is for grandparents

G is for Grandparents! Tristan is so blessed to have THREE awesome sets of grandparents! I hope one day he realizes this blessing! They would all do anything for him (or us) and we are so thankful for our relationships with them.

I encourage you and your child to write a note of thanks to your child's grandparents! Even if your child can not write, have them tell you what they like about them or his/her favorite thing to do with them. The recipient will be tickled!

Have fun with it and let your child sign the card/letter as well!

Happy Writing!

girl or boy?

Gender is one of those things that we just seem to know and take for granted. Tristan was very quick to remind me the other day that that too, has to be learned. When we were working our making our family last week, we were talking about Mommy being a girl, Daddy being a boy and Tristan being a boy. Tristan kept telling me I was a good boy. :) Ryan, my husband, kinda laughed and said, "Well, you are working on G next week so maybe you should work on what a girl is!" I think he was right!

So we have been talking about girls and boys, picking them out of books and I have been interjecting gender comments in casual conversation. It is amazing how just talking to your kids about everyday life, is so important! Improvement has been made, but as always, there is still more room.

The Letter G!

This week was supposed to be G week. We are going to extend G into next week as well considering today is Friday and we just got started!
Here are some ideas for the letter G...

glasses
glass
goat
grasshopper
glue
glove
goose
grapes
gavel
gate
globe
gift
guitar
garden
golf
golf ball
granola
grilled cheese
green
goldfish
garbage
girl
game
ghost
gingerbread

Field Trip idea- grocey store- call ahead of time and see if they will allow you and your child to view the back part, deli areas etc.

F is for Fish

Tristan loves Finding Nemo. This obviously looks nothing like Nemo, but he still enjoyed making his fish. He found a box of beads in my craft things and wanted to use those to glue on. I had planned on using sequins and other sparkly things, but this is what he wanted. Fine with me! I think he did a really good job.

F is for flowers

One thing I wanted to do was to plant some Mums. We finally got around to taking out the ugly dead plant and replacing it with a nice pretty yellow one. Tristan had a blast. He LOVES to be outside and get dirty so I figured this was the best option for an F activity. Nothing spectacular was planned, but there was still a lot to be learned!

I encourage you, if you do not already, to include your children in your everyday activities such as cooking, cleaning, gardening etc. It can be tough and you need a lot of patience, but it is well worth it. Have fun!

SO MAD

Now I am just MAD. I downloaded my copy of Extra Special onto the tablet and not ONE of the pictures showed up! What in the world! Please dont download it yet!!!! I will let you know when they have the glitch fixed. So frustrating....

IT IS LIVE ON AMAZON

My book, Extra Special, was finally put into eBook format! I am so excited!!!! It is currently on Amazon and can be downloaded onto almost any electronic device! It is so cool to see how technology works. Be sure to tell your friends :)

You can order your copy here!

I need some feedback so be sure to let me know what you think! Also, if you do purchase it, and like it, will you leave a positive review on Amazon.com so others will see it? Thanks you guys!

<-------OR you can click here on the box to go right to it :) Thanks for your support!!

F is for family

My son became super excited about making our family today. This, of course, excited me! We had a lot of fun! I had precut some simple clothes for him to make us with. This creates good conversation about gender and articles of clothing. After he put our outfits together and glued them down, he was excited to do the heads. He did not, however, want to give us hair.... which is why we are all 3 bald. I asked him to tell me some things about the picture and our family and I wrote it on the page at the top. This is one of my favorite things he has made. I think the main reason is because he was so excited about his family.  :)

"This is Tristan, Daddy and Mama. It has Beamer too! Thank you for loving me, Mama." -Tristan

The clothes were made from random fabric pieces I had around the house. I could have made the faces or heads to have Tristan glue down, but I wanted it to show more of his work. It everything had been pre done, I was afraid it would take away from that.

AGAIN....

The computer drama continues... My tablet seemed to just suddenly break today. It is always something with technology around here! Because of that, I won't be able to get the pictures of our lovely F crafts up until I can get a hold of my husbands computer. This one for some reason wont let me upload pictures to it.... Ahh....

On a totally different note, I have a book signing on Saturday in Fredericksburg, Va from 9-5 for my book, Extra Special! It is called Heartwood Days Festival and it is a very large festival for kids (and their families). There will be food, rides, vendors, freebies, crafts and much more! It should be a great time! We are praying for great weather because the hurricane seems to want to send tons of rain that way. NO NO NO!!! :)

F ideas

Here are some SIMPLE ideas for F week!

• Make a trip to your local fire house and meet the firemen! You may want to call ahead to make sure they are available.
• make a visit to a local farmers market
• visit a farm
• paint with feathers instead of brushes
• make fruit salad
• make french fries (YUM!)
• Fruit smoothies/shakes
• plant flowers
• paint flower pot

F week!!!

I am really excited about F week! Last week was an absolute struggle for ideas and time.... we really did not get to do too much. Now after this long weekend with friends, we are ready for F words! Can't wait!

Here are some F words you might want to do something with...

family
friends
farm
fish
five
fire hat
fireman
fire house
fence
feather
father
fan
flag
flower
fork
four
fox
frog
fur

and I am sure there are many more!

Tristan and I will be starting with the word FAMILY.  I am excited about the idea I have! I hope to have it up by tomorrow.

Happy Crafting and Learning!

Another Elephant Idea

I really wanted to take the time to make elephant ears and a trunk for Tristan to wear. He is not really into the whole "dress up" thing, but I figured it was worth a shot. We have company coming and it has been a hecktic week, so time has slipped away. I wanted to share this idea below incase you were interested (from ask.com).


ELEPHANT TRUNK AND EARS - this was posted by Sherri Osborn.




I really want to make the nose turn up. I was thinking if you cut the paper towel roll into small sections (about two inches long) and punched two holes in each side, you could tie them together with pipe cleaners and bend it up. I have not tried this, but in my head it seems like it would work! Then you could spray paint it gray. If you do give it a try, let  me know how it goes!

E is for Elephant

Tristan has really started to enjoy watercolors. I think he mostly likes the splashing in the rinse off cup, but whatever, it is fun! I am not the best drawer, by any means. When it comes to certain things, I have to trace. Tristan wanted to paint so I pulled up a big pic of an elephant and traced it with silver paint pen. Then he painted it. He also painted the E and e that I had drawn for him.

Below is the final product!

I am not sure why it is so fuzzy... sorry :(

E is for ELMO!!!

One of my lovely facebook friends passed this along. I really wanted to make sure you all saw it! And to make it even better, IT IS FREE!!! :)


FREE Personalized Elmo Song for Your Child

E is for....

I am a little slow with E week. We have had so much going on (that I never see ending) and I am trying to create an actual routine/daily schedule. I have yet to succeed with the schedule thing... Anyhow, we have started E activites. We mostly talked about the letter and tried to find it places. Tristan loves to "write words" using my computer so he tries hard to find letters. Its great! I wanted to provide a list of E words that could be used! Thanks to my friends on facebook for helping to create this list!

Elmo (more on this later)

envelope

energy

elephant

eskimo

elevator

eat

exit

eggplant

eggs

elf

empty

easel

E is hard!!! I like elephants and you can do some cute things with them so Tristan and I will start there :)

stay at home mom

I never knew how busy a stay at home mom could be! I wouldn't change my job for anything, and I am so thankful God is allowing me to stay home with Tristan, but I totally underestimated this job! I find that I am more tired than ever and I drink more coffee. ;) 

One thing I have decided, partly because it is the teacher in me, but also because I see the benefit in it for my son as well as other children, is to set up field trips. I am going to be a part of two mom groups this upcoming year. One, MOPS, which I think most people know about, the other is Moms and More which is through our church. I am really excited about both of these opportunities. It will be great for me to be involved with other moms as well as for Tristan to have some social interaction. I want to set up these little field trips for those kids involved. So far I have these places on my list...

Fire Station

Police Station

Library (although we mostly all go there already) (story hour??)

Post Office

Kitchen in a restaurant

Bank

and maybe some others.... any ideas of places for toddlers? (preferably FREE) :)

B is for butterfly snack

Better late than never!!!

I am finally getting around to posting the very simple butterfly snack we made. I ended up eating it because my son won't usually touch anything new. It was yummy!!

B is for butterfly...

I used peanut butter but if allergies are an issue, cream cheese or flavored cream cheese work well too. You could also use icing.
You need:
celery
peanut butter
pretzels


I used broken pieces of pretzels for the antenna but I am sure you could use pieces of string twizzlers (pull and peel) or something else.

This picture turned out terrible... but it shows the idea, anyways! Bon appetite!

D is for Daisy

I have had this ready all week but we finally got around to making it. To prepare for your daisy, all you need is a circle, petals and something to glue for the letter D. Tristan chose pompoms.

I precut everything out then I showed T where everything should go. Then he started to get it glued down. Not too bad!

D is for dinosaur feet

Yesterday, Tristan and I painted his dinosaur feet. They would have been really cute had we painted the claws a different color, but we stuck with black. It was the easiest way for Tristan to paint them :)

First, find some sturdy cardboard. We used a pampers box and it worked GREAT.
Next, draw and cut out your dinosaur feet. If you draw a basic tulip, you will be fine.
Then, PAINT!!

Let the paint dry completely.
Then you are going to punch two holes in each dinosaur foot. Through these holes you will be stringing ribbon or twine or yarn, whichever you choose. Where you thread the string depends on your child's feet. String it from below so that you can tie it on top.

Let the dinosaur fun begin! :) Have fun! I am picturing these as a party favor for a dinosaur birthday party. Haha!!

mod podge

wwAs I have stated before, I LOVE working with Mod Podge. MOD PODGE ROCKS reposted an awesome tutorial on how to make these amazing dishes. I was so excited to see this because the time I tried this, it failed. I know what I will be doing this weekend during Hurricane Irene...mod podging plates!

I get a lot of questions about whether or not you can Mod Podge on glass plates.  The answer is yes, you can.  One thing that you should always keep in mind is that you should Mod Podge on the back of the plates, because Mod Podge isn't food safe.  I spotted these at Frugal with a Flourish and I love the colors - Pretty Handy Girl did an awesome tutorial as a guest post to show you how Mod Podging on the back of plates works.  It's quite simple, and great for a beginning Podger.  Visit the complete tutorial here. (As written by Mod Podge Rocks.)

Thank you Mod Podge Rocks for passing this on!

 

 

BOOK GIVEAWAY!!

Angie, from My Four Monkeys, does some awesome giveaways on her blog! Be sure to check them out at http://www.myfourmonkeys.com/http://www.myfourmonkeys.com/2011/08/my-four-monkeys-story-time-extra-special-by-ashley-clement-frey-giveaway/.

This week she is giving my book Extra Special away in addition to several other items. Jump over and take a look! She also wrote a nice book review as well.

Doodles and Glue: ETSY!!!!!!!!!

Doodles and Glue: ETSY!!!!!!!!!

ETSY!!!!!!!!!

I love making things. I always have and probably always will. Now that I am a SAHM I actually have a little bit of time to get crafty. Although I honestly believe it is more of an enjoyment then something to profit from, I figured I needed something to do with the things I make. I can't keep it all! That is where my favorite website comes in. ETSY. I decided to go ahead and open a store on ETSY. The fees are minimal and hopefully I can sell some of my projects! Jump on over and take a look!

D is for dinosaur fossils

Ok so maybe your fossils do not have to be dinosaur ones, but have fun making fossil prints! Follow these simple steps to have your own fossil prints. Your child will have a blast!

If you already have dough or play dough, simply take a ball of dough and make it as flat as you can. Then have your child use household objects like coins, cars, and other toys to make prints in the dough. Encourage your child to be creative and to see how many items he/she can find that make cool "fossils". Have your child try to make footprints using toys in the dough.

Dough recipe
(1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp oil, 2 tsp cream of tartar)

• Mix all ingredients in a pot and stir over medium heat.
• Mixture will be soupy with lumps. Suddenly it will form into a ball.
• Remove from heat, and knead on a non-stick surface.
• Useful for many types of projects.
• Store in fridge, or allow creations to air dry.

Note:  By the time you have kneaded it for 3-5 minutes, it should look and feel like playdough.  This dough can crack as it dries depending on the shape of the object.

Dinosaur soap

I HAD to pass this on! What an excellent idea!!! All credit for this post goes to Hands on Crafts for Kids. Thanks for letting me share your idea!

by Tracia Ledford Williams

It's hard to resist adding a fun project to clean up. Make decorative soaps for a fun look at dinosaurs. You will need: Clear glycerin soap Colored glycerin soap Soap molds Plastic dinosaurs Microwave Glass measuring cups Sharp knife Optional: glitter and fragrance oil Instructions: Have an adult, cut clear glycerin soap into 1" cubes and colored glycerin soap into 1/4" cubes. Place into glass measuring cups and heat in the microwave on high for 15 seconds at a time. Check between times. Do not overheat soap, just melt it. Place dinosaurs into the molds, pour clear glycerin over them, and place small colored pieces of glycerin into the mold around the dinosaur. Allow soap to cool 1-2 hours, or place into refrigerator for 30 minutes. Lightly twist mold and remove soaps from mold. Soaps can be placed in a clear cellophane bag and decorated with stickers for gift giving. Delta Soap Creations™, Fragrant Accents™, Finishing Touches™, Clear Glycerin, No Tip Mold.

D is for dinosaur coloring sheets

Tristan is watching the Land Before Time right as I type this. I remember this movie from when I was a child! He is just now showing interest in dinosaurs. I found some great coloring sheets through ask.com and thought I would pass them along. All you have to do is print them! Thanks, ask.com! Enjoy!

CLICK HERE FOR DINOSAUR COLORING SHEETS

D is for...

This week we are off to a slow start. We have had so many things going on that we have not had time to sit down and create anything! Sorry for such a delay in posting. I have had lot of time for D planning and so I wanted to give you a list of ideas you can take to make some D items. I will be posting again once we get to make our projects. :)

D words...

Dad (we will be doing this one!!!)
dinosaur
dolls
door
dragonfly
dog
dice
dance
dime
dirt
dollar
doctor
dentist
daisy (we are doing this one)
dance
drum
    

What can you come up with for these words??? Let's share some ideas!!

C is for Clipboards

These are some of my FAVORITE things to make. Needless to say, this is a craft that Tristan did not partake in, but it could be adapted for him! I am sure he could make something cute. Anyways, I just wanted to share!

I make these (and most things I make) using Mod Podge. You can get it at any craft store. They sell several versions, but for this, you just need to regular kind. It has an orange label. :)

                                



The front of a mini clipboard. Perfect for note and check lists!

                                                                           The back...

                                                                             Aloha!

                                                        The back of the full sized one.

C is for Colors!!!

There are so many things you can do with "colors" but Tristan is really enjoying paper and glue. Works for me! Budget friendly and gets the point across. I do hope to venture into some other things soons, but for now, we are happy.

I am proud of him for remembering the words and letters and sounds we have been talking about. I am so honored to be able to stay home to have these times with my little fella!






C is for colors...

C is for Canoe

Let me begin by saying that I thought this would be easy....it must not have been our day...

I cut out two matching "canoes" and punched holes along the bottom. Then we laced a fuzzy yarn trough the holes. I just used what I had close by but any string, yarn, twine  would work. The reason we struggled was beacuse of the yarn we used. Even with taping the end of it so it would go through the hole, it kept getting stuck.

Anyways, I am sure you can do much better than we did! Tristan liked that it had a pocket. We only laced the bottom so that the top would open up. If you dont care about the pocket then just use one canoe and lace around the whole thing.

More caterpillars...

I am finally able to post Tristan's caterpillars. After working with the shapes and colors, he said he wanted to make another one. We glued it on the paper that he took to practice cutting. ;)




 With this one, we talked alot about colors and shapes. I let him glue them how he wanted. You can see the globs of glue coming through the paper!! :)

This is the second one he wanted to make. It was actually nice because he started counting the circles and talking about the shape.








I wanted to paint the egg carton and turn that into a caterpillar but we ran out of time. We have been busy, busy, busy! Hopefully we will get to that next week. If you try it, be sure to use the egg cartons that are cardboard. Paint sticks to it MUCH better than the styrofoam ones.

C is for caboose

 Being a boy, Tristan loves trains. This past weekend my father-in-law took Tristan to a train yard. He loved watching the trains. He was bummed he did not get to see the caboose, though. He said the train was too long. :)

This week we made our own simple caboose for the letter C. The bean gluing is a hit here so we have beans everywhere! I think the biggest thing with learning letters is that they get to see it often and talk about it often. It is amazing how quickly young children pick things up if you just have a conversation! My husband came home from work and started asking our son about different words like apple, cat, boat etc... and asked him what letter they all start with. He got about 90 % of them right. I was floored! It just goes to show that learning is fun and kids thrive on the quality time we spend with them.

Cool Site!

I follow a few awesome sites that have great deals and ideas on how to save money. Now that I am home, I am trying harder than ever to find those deals so we can save more! I was directed to TOTSY today and I really liked it. They had some really really cute things at really reasonable prices. I just wanted to pass it on to you! The other thing they do is allow you to pass the site on to others. If someone signs up, (which is totally FREE) then they give you $15 to spend at the site after your friend places their first order. Not bad!

C is for caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of my ALL TIME favorite books! Eric Carle is amazing! I think that this books leaves the door open for the imagination to make any kind of caterpillar craft. I hope the ideas below help!

Caterpillar on a Leaf
Cut a large leaf shape out of green construction paper. Glue eight penny-size pom poms in a row onto the leaf.

Caterpillar shaped C
For this activity, do the exact same thing as above, but when you have your child glue down the pom poms, have him/her glue them in the shape of the letter C.

Egg Carton Caterpillar
Cut a section of 4 egg cups from an egg carton. Paint and let dry. Draw on a face with black marker and attach a pipe cleaner for anetennas. I once saw an idea where a preschool teacher put wings on the caterpillar and put it in a paper bag (when the children weren't there) and told them that the caterpillar had made a cocoon. After a few days, she let the kids open the bags and see that their caterpillar had turned into a butterfly. It made a big impact on the kids.

Caterpillar Prints (using an apple or potato)
Cut a potato in half. Using the flat, round side, dip it into paint and make a print with it. Continue to make prints side by side until you have a long row or squiggle shaped line of circles side by side. Then draw legs, antenna, and a face!

It is C week! (song)

C Is For Cookie

(spoken)
Now what starts with the letter C?
Cookie starts with C
Let's think of other things
That starts with C
Oh, who cares about the other things?  
(sing)
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C
 
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C
 
(spoken)
Hey you know what?
A round cookie with one bite out of it
Looks like a C
A round donut with one bite out of it
Also looks like a C
But it is not as good as a cookie
Oh and the moon sometimes looks like a C
But you can't eat that, so

(sing)
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me, yeah!
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C, yeah!
Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C, oh boy!
Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C!

cute Back to School idea

http://dealseekingmom.com/easy-no-sew-pencil-holder-and-notebook-cover/

For those of you who have school age children, or just need a cute idea for pencil cases and book covers that you have around the house, I thought I would pass this on to you! They look too cute!

I am currently working on a NO SEW project for Tristan's room. I am making him a pillow case with his name on it. I will let you know how it turns out!

raising butterflies

Grow your own!!


I realize that we are deep into summer and it is probably too late to do this now, but as I have had butterflies on my mind, I keep thinking back to the ones that we hatched! We had the kit that you can order off of Amazon and other sites. It comes with the cage and the larve. It is amazing to watch the caterpillars get big and fat and then spin their chrysalis when they are ready. My son loved to check in on them daily. Out of 10, we were able to successfully release 6. Not too bad! I encourage anyone who can do order the kit. It is WELL WORTH the money!

butterfly chain craft

Another cute idea for a butterfly craft!


Check out this awesome website to get all of the steps on how to make this! I just LOVE this one! We will be making this very soon!

Click below to see all of the steps:
Chain Butterfly Craft

B is for Butterfly!

B is for Bats...yuck!

There are SOOO many cute ideas for making bats with your child. With Fall coming up, why not start getting ideas on different bats you can make!

Here is a cute example. I am a sucker for crafts made with handprints or cutout hands.



The body is a heart, the wings are hands cut out, and then the head is a circle with ears. You could use buttons, beads, candy or other household items for the face.

Banana Pudding!

Another recipe favorite for us is the very simple BANANA PUDDING.

Since it is B week, it fit in perfectly!

ingredients:
2 boxes of vanilla instant pudding
bananas
Nila Waffers
whipped cream
milk


Make the pudding according to the directions on the box.
I like to use a clear bowl so you can see the pretty display. Layer the pudding, waffers and bananas in the bowl. As you are doing this, be sure to have your child help! He/she will love putting the banana pieces and cookies along the top of pudding layers as well as along the outside of the bowl. Top off the yummy dessert with whipped cream. Enjoy!

Just another day

Today has been such a nice day! Tristan and I got to go out to the park and to the library. It is "B" week, afterall, so we needed to get new books! We had a great time sitting and reading together in the kids section. You have to understand, though, this is monumental for us. The last time we went to the library I thought we may get kicked out! I realized later it was really my fault because I had never really explained how quiet libraries needed to be and so forth. Today, walking in, Tristan put his finger over his lips and said, "Shhh, Mama....whisper..." The little guy whispered the WHOLE time we were in there! WooHoo!!

So today we focused on  books. Since quitting my job, I have  decided to make more of an effort to get to the library weekly. Tristan really enjoyed going through his section and finding some books he thought he may like. I encourage you, if you do not already, go to  the library and spend some time there with your child. There is lots to learn from books! 

potty training songs!

click here for potty training songs

I ran across these today and giggled like crazy. They are too cute! Enjoy!

Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear
(sung to the tune of row, row, row, your boat)

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, tie your shoe.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, that will do.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, go upstairs.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say your prayers.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn out the light.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say goodnight!

-Author Unknown-

B week :) brown bear with beans and a snack

Tristan and I started off the week with the letter B. He made a brown bear with beans and we made blackberry butterfly jigglers. Yumm-o! Enjoy!

Last week I posted about the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? It was perfect for this activity! Tristan enjoyed it alot!


 Tristan really liked gluing the beans on the letter B. He got really excited to try and cover up all of the glue spots. He told me that the bear needed paws so he glued some on his paws as well. :) You could also use buttons or beads, too!

This is one of our blackberry butterflies. They were REALLY yummy! I always cut the recipe for jigglers in half because we will never eat all of them, but we still got 6 butterflies out of the pan.

potty training blues...

I have heard awesome stories of how children suddenly decided they wanted underwear and bam, no more diapers!  That is not the case for us... whoa...

Some of the books we have been reading are The New Potty by Mercer Mayer and Potty Time with Elmo. Another all time favorite is Once Upon A Potty by Alona Frankel.


Once Upon A Potty is a favorite from when I was a little girl.  The book is sold where you can choose it for a girl or a boy. The books are super realistic with images but in a cartoon way. They are very real. I just love them!


We have tried all the tricks in the books for boys but we are still working...

Upcoming B week :)

Yesterday we had to go to Richmond for a doctors appointment so we did not get to do an activity as planned. Thats ok... we are flexible :)

I am excited about next week, though. There are SO many B activities that I am having a hard time deciding which ones we will actually get to do! Here are some thoughts to get your creative juices flowing.... bats, butterflies, bees, bears, blue, brown, books, black, bugs, birds, bird feeder, bug box....I could keep going! I want to also give you some fun songs you can sing and hopefully little puppet plays too. I am trying to think of the best way to get all of that on here, though. :) Get excited! It is going to be FUN!

One book I love for B is Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you see? By Eric Carle Such a a great book to read with your child!

APE time

I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination. I really wanted to make an ape with Tristan, though. I apologize for how much this does not look like one! I tried! He didn't care. He still told me that ape starts with A so I was happy!

 Because of my sons age, I went ahead and cut out all of the body parts. I wanted them to all be basic shapes likes circles and squares etc, but it didn't work out that way. We did talk a lot about circles with this project, though. If you child is older, try having them come up with shapes that they can make to put together to create an ape (or other object/animal) or draw it out and let them at least practice cutting.

 I put all of the pieces together (roughly) so he could see what we were trying to make. I wanted him to be able to try to get a picture in his head to see what he could come up with. I was just curious ;)

Tristan's final product! Not too bad! You can't tell too much, but there is a massive amount of glue stick smear on here. We will keep working on that! I'm thinking this guy looks more like several other animals that it does an ape. Oh, well...

Diecuts with a View All-Occasion 12-by-12-Inch Glitter Scrapbook Paper

Fruit Smoothies

My family LOVES homemade smoothies. A lady I used to work with gave me this recipe. It is the best! Of course, tweek it with your favorite flavors :)

1 cup of juice (orange works well)
1 cup of yogurt (I usually use one yoplait container or 1 cup out of the big tub of yogurt)
1 full sized banana
frozen fruit (prob. about 2 cups)

dump it all in the blender and blend until it is very smooth

This makes enough for my son, me and my husband. Not huge portions but plenty..

I like this recipe because I do not like to use ice. It is just my preference. Also, they are very healthy! When my son goes through his spells of not wanting "real" foods, I try to stick one of these in there. It at least makes me feel a tiny bit better :)

Bon Appetite!

recipes

For several reason, we have yet to make our "A" snacks. I have all of the ingredients ready to go so I will still post pics with the final products once we get to make them. I went ahead and put the recipes on their own page. Go to the tabs at the top of the page and you find them there. I will gradually add to them as we go! Don't forget, if you have any awesome ideas to share, please post them in the comments below each post. I know other readers would love to have more ideas :) Have a blessed day!

Making a Display

One of my friends and I were having a discussion several weeks back. We were trying to come up with the best idea for displaying the things that our children make without having those paintings and crafts overtake the whole house. Below you will find the step by step on how to make a magnetic board. It is simple and anyone can do it! The best part is you can make them in so many ways and for so many different purposes! The one I made below is very simple because I expect it to be totally covered up!!!
Materials:

• MAGNETIC white board (you can get these anywhere in any shape and size. Ebay is great for this too)
• STRONG magnets - I got mine pretty cheap on ebay otherwise try a hardware store. They need to be really strong to go through the art project and a piece of material
• ribbon for a boarder and to hang
• a large piece of material
• something to use for your magnet covers such as buttons
• glue gun

Let's Begin!

Iron your background material and lay it upside down on your surface. Place the magnetic board upside down on top of the material.

With a glue gun, glue the material on the edges so it is tightly fixed onto the white board.

Turn it over

(picture wont rotate) This shows the board now covered with the main material. Now you want to get the ribbon that you chose for the boarder. Because my brown ribbon with cars and trucks on it was so thin, I decided to use a thick white ribbon behind it to make a wider border. It is up to your taste on how you want to do this. Glue guns work really well but you are going to want to test a piece first because some ribbon shows glue through it.

Glue the ribbon around each side of the board. Be sure to pull it tight so it does not gap.

After the boarder is completed, decide how you want to hang the board. When I covered the board with the fabric, I covered the hardward for hanging so I had to cut out holes in the fabric. I used a solid brown ribbon and tied it to both pieces of hardward for the board to hang from.

If I had made this for a little girl, I would have used a lot more bows and ribbon. You could put bows with the ribbon on each side at the top. It would be too cute! :)

Again, I don't know why this won't stay rotated. Sorry! Anyways, above shows the final product.

Don't forget to come up with a cute idea for your magnets! I looked high and low for cute truck buttons to match the ribbon but I never found any. I decided to cut a up a piece of ribbon that had trucks, boats, planes etc. I glued one of each onto white ribbon to match the boarder then glued it on the magnet.

Have fun getting creative! :)