More Sticker Fun!

If you read my blog regularly, you know we love stickers at our house.  Here is an idea that I originally found somewhere else, I just can't find the link.  I'm so sorry to not be able to give credit for a great idea!  I love making activity bags for my kiddos to keep them busy while waiting at doctor's offices, in stores, at church, while I'm cooking dinner, etc.  I hope to do a better post on this later...

Back to the activity:

I cut xerox paper in half and drew simple shapes onto the half sheets with a sharpie. (Do you love the old-school copy paper I'm using?)  Then, I give the kiddos cheap stickers (you know the ones from dollar spots, etc.) and have them fill in the shape with stickers. 

If you are sitting and waiting somewhere while your kids are doing this activity, use the time to engage in conversation about what they are doing.  What shape is this sticker?  What animal is this?  Which is your favorite?  Can you find a letter A?  This is a great easy way to help build your little one's vocabulary.

For Mr. Two, he is just mastering the art of peeling the stickers off of the sheet, so I let him stick away however he wishes.  Mr. One is old enough to stay within the lines and fill the shape.  I also encourage him to use the smaller, chart stickers.  Do not peel the stickers off for your kids.  Let them do it themselves.  I sometimes help Mr. Two by bending the sticker sheet down so he can pull up a corner.  Using those cute little pincher fingers is a FANTASTIC and fun way to strengthen those fine motor muscles. 

This is really a favorite activity for both of my boys and will keep them happy for long stretches of time.  (This is a huge lifesaver while waiting in doctor's offices!)  As an added bonus, it is something you can easily throw into your purse and have on hand.  Just make up a stack of paper outlines, add a sticker book and throw in a ziploc or zipper pouch.

I Believe...

 (image found at about.com)

This is a synopsis of a conversation between Mr. One (who is four) and my brother, his uncle.

1:  "Do you believe that Santa is real?"

Uncle:  "What do you think?"

1:  "Well, last year, I asked Santa for a Corvette McQueen and my wish came true." (a very specific Lightning McQueen die cast car that Santa had to do some real searching for...)

I think he still believes.

I do too.

I love the magic of Christmas.

(By the way, we did get our decorating finished and our home is full of holiday cheer.  The boys loved decorating the tree with all of their ornaments.  And, if I do say so myself, the tree does look magical.)

100th Post Reflection

I cannot believe I am already at my 100th post!  As I thought about why I blog and what I have learned through blogging, a few things have come to mind.

First, I blog for my family.  I want to remember what we did, the little moments, the funny little sayings, the activities, the big life lessons, firsts, traditions, failures and successes.  I want my family who are far away to know what we are up to.  I want to create a record for myself, my husband and children.  I want us to remember the good times and to appreciate the struggles and to see Heavenly Father's hand in our lives.

Second, I blog with the hope that someone, be it family or friend or random stopper-by, can learn something from what I write.  I think it's the teacher in my veins.  I feel compelled to share and hope I can inspire.  Maybe I can give someone hope or faith to carry on who is in a tough spot.  Maybe I can brighten someone's day with my family's antics.  Maybe I can share a tip or two about teaching young children.  Maybe I can inspire someone to try something new, whether it be a craft, or recipe, a new book, or learning activity.  I have seen so many wonderful ideas on other blogs and websites that have encouraged and helped me learn.  I learn so much from others:  from my children, my husband, my family and friends, and even complete strangers. I feel compelled to share in my own small way.  I will continue to learn and share, and I sincerely hope that others can benefit from this little corner of the world of mine along with me. 

I also wanted to thank a couple of sweet gals who have given me awards in the recent past.  I truly appreciate the thought and their compliments, and love to see what they blog about as well.

Thank you Kristi!  I love your sense of humor and your great crafty ideas for preschoolers, plus we share a love of California!

Thank you Cindy!  You have an adorable crew and I enjoy seeing what fun things your family does together.

With the Honest Scrap award, you are supposed to list 10 things about yourself and the pass it along to 10 other bloggers.  I will give you my 10 facts.  To be honest, I hate the idea of choosing just 10 blogs that I love and singling them out.  I hope it doesn't seem like an easy way out, I just cannot decide...  Know I love you all! :)

1.  I love doing laundry, the sorting, the smell of detergent, the clean, warm piles of clothes, but I don't really like putting away the laundry.

2.  I love to sew and craft, but it doesn't always turn out the way I want it to.

3.  I am trying to let go of some of my perfectionist ways.  Having 2, soon to be 3, boys helps.

4.  When I'm upset, I clean. And cry.

5.  I am into trying new recipes, but they don't always turn out. While making pecan pies for Thanksgiving with my mom this year, we burned all three and had to go back to the store at 10:30 pm to buy more pecans and butter.  At least the second round turned out.  And they were delicious!

6.  I love girly things: pink, glitter, vintage prints, pastels, ribbon, and white furniture.  This is a problem with so many boys in my home.  I strive to find a balance between the masculine and feminine.

7.  I cannot stand beans.  Any kind of bean:  pinto, black, lima, green, even jelly beans!  (I will tolerate fresh green beans on occasion...)

8.  I do not enjoy driving.  I love that my husband does, so I rarely have to on family trips.

9.  I love to read and have a large collection of children's books.  I could sit in Barnes and Noble for hours.

10.  I love being pregnant.  Despite the back aches and heartburn, I think it is such a magical time.  Losing the baby weight afterwards is a different story...

Thanks for reading, and Happy Holidays!!!

A Corny Post

A few corny ideas for Fall..
(even though it is now December 1st, but still officially fall...  oops, this little idea got lost in the Thanksgiving shuffle, but I thought I'd post it anyways...)

Finger Painted Indian Corn

You will need:
orange, yellow and brown paint
white construction paper
lunch sack
glue stick
scissors

Have your child cut out a pre-drawn oval corn shape out of construction paper.  Cut out two ovals using the same pattern out of the lunch sack.  Let little fingers dip into the paints and dot the construction paper oval to look like corn kernels.  After dried, glue another oval shape cut from the lunch sack onto both sides of the corn cob.

Corny math:

This activity was shared with me while I taught kindergarten several years ago.  On yellow cardstock, draw a large oval and divide it into 10 sections.  Type numbers 0-9 into the sections, in random order.  Add green cardstock leaves behind corn cob.  Laminate.  Give your child a handful of popcorn kernels and have them pick them up one at a time and add the correct number of kernels onto each section.  This not only is great one-to-one correspondence and number recognition practice, but picking up the tiny kernels is great fine motor practice as well.

In Transition

My Handsome Husband loves getting ready for the holidays.  So do I.  After a whirlwind trip or two over the Thanksgiving break, filled with family and good food and late nights together, we were eager to usher in the Christmas season, but too tired to put away all of Thanksgiving.  I guess I'm just not ready to let go of all the pumpkin-y, fall-colored splendor.  I had so many crafty fall projects I wanted to complete, recipes to try, and activities to do with my children.  Perhaps next year I can squeeze them in.

For now, I guess we're in transition.

We will eventually put away Fall and finish Decking the Halls.

Maybe tomorrow.

However, I think I have figured out how to reconcile the sadness I feel at leaving Thanksgiving aside and embracing Christmas.  I will hang on to the gratitude and let go of the turkeys.  I will remember the Reason for the Season, and try not to get lost in the trappings of the holidays.  (I just want my home to look a bit more put together.)

So in the spirit of gratitude, here is a small list of things I am grateful for this year:

little boys, loving- dirt-encrusted- full-of-energy little boys

I love you kisses

the dustbuster (trust me, if you have little boys and travel, this is indeed a wonderful invention)

a loving husband, who thinks his wife's expanding baby belly is actually adorable

a new job for above-mentioned husband

faith and hope and the gospel

wonderful friends and family (including the great blogging ones that may be reading this right now)

Pirate's Booty (aka "Pirate Popcorn" at our house)

second-trimester energy

the opportunity to rediscover the joys of Christmas with my family

online tutorials and inspiration to make my handmade Christmas ambitions a little more achievable

Christmas Book Advent

Being a former teacher and a confessed bibliophile, I have collected many Christmas books through the years.  I found this idea somewhere on the 'net a few years back and knew it would be a perfect holiday tradition in our home.

Each year, I choose 24 holiday books, and wrap them individually and place them under the tree.  Each night, we take turns unwrapping one book and reading it for our bedtime story to get us in the holiday mood.  For Christmas Eve, we always unwrap 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  (I wrap it in different paper from the rest so we know to save it for that night.)  We have a good mix of books, religious ones about the birth of the Savior, stories about love and sharing, funny Santa books, gingerbread men, simple board books for the younger ones, and longer story books for the older ones.  I hope to incorporate a few preschool activities into our day after reading a few of the favorites.

Here are just a few of my favorites for the season:

 

 

 

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!

Piece of Cake... I Mean Pie... Projects

Thanksgiving for many is not complete without a slice of pumpkin pie.  (I'm more of a chocolate cream pie gal myself, but my husband loves the pumpkin.)

I couldn't end our Thanksgiving preschool fun without a few tasty "desserts."  These are little gems I picked up teaching kindergarten.  Enjoy!

First off, a slice of pie that at least smells good enough to eat:

What you will need:

paper plates (cut into quarters)
orange paint
paint brushes (I like the small sponge brushes)
cotton balls
brown crayon
glue
pumpkin pie spice

Color the ridge of the plate triangle with the brown crayon to make your crust.
Paint on the pumpkin filling with your orange paint.
While still wet, sprinkle on some pumpkin pie spice (or if you don't have any on hand, try any combination of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice).
Wait until your pie is dry (you could even put it in the unheated oven to "cook" for your drying time just for fun.).
Glue on a cotton ball dab of "whipped cream."

A Pumpkin Pie game:

You will need:

1 file folder
sheet of cardstock
markers
scissors
2 dice

To prep the game, use a plate to trace a circle for your pie pieces and pan outline, tracing one circle onto the opened file folder and another onto the piece of cardstock. 

Cut out cardstock circle and decorate your pie with markers.  Divide the pie into 12 even pieces, writing the numbers 1 to 12 on each slice.  An easy way to get even sections is to fold in half, then half again to get quarters, then just eyeball each quarter into thirds and your 12 pieces will come out even.

Divide your file folder circle "pan" into 12 pieces, tracing dividing lines with a marker.  Glue the 1 piece into place on the pan.  (You can't roll a 1 with two dice...)  To make it more durable, laminate the pie and the folder.

To play, take turns rolling both dice.  Count your dots together to get your number (ex:  if you roll a 2 and a 4, you would find the piece with 6 on it) and place the appropriate slice of pie in the pan.  Start with the 1 and count on clockwise to determine where your slice should go, that way, your pie will be in numerical order.  (Ex:  If your number adds to 8, count on from 1 until you get to the space for the 8th slice in the pan.)  If you roll a number you already have in the pan, you pass the dice to the next player and do not place a slice your turn.  Play until you have filled the pie pan (feel free to do a bit of cheating if it's taking too long!)

Now, if you are still feeling a bit cheated after all of this pumpkin pie fun and need a little pumpkin fix, you can go here or here for some good pumpkin-y recipes to make together.  Happy Thanksgiving!