Last post until the New year!

I have not posted in a while but we are still alive here.The elf  who my kids named Buddy is still up to his antics.Maybe next year I will make a better more sturdy Elf.

Cutting out Cereal faces and sticking his head through

Stacking things on the counter

hiding under a glass

Writing on the mirror Elf was here

Wrapping up my son's backpack

don't forget the bow

This December has been a rough one with the passing of my husbands Grandma.She was a neat lady and we miss her.Tragedy has struck us all in one way or another and it is important we talk to our children to help them feel safe and accept death as a way of life.I am hoping as I take the next couple of weeks off to be with family that I will feel renewed and ready to make goals again and have more fun posts than ever!Merry Christmas!

The rest of the letter E

      

Letter E continues with having the kids match up the plastic egg pieces.Then they wanted to hide them.We rolled them on the tile floor.I pretended that they were turkeys and stuffed their shirt.They would stand up and then they would all fall out again.

 The rest of the time we made animals that would go inside eggs and we talked about mammals,reptiles, and birds.Here are some of our creations!

Snake

Snake and its eggs

Dragon

Rowen creation.He liked the big eyes

 

 

I mentioned on the last post that I had made an elf and this is where the kids found him!

Letter E,purple and the number 5

 

Circle time:Intro to letter E and sound. and Days of the week.We read The Elves and the Shoemakers.We talked about how it is nice to help others without being asked or to do secret acts of service.

Next we practiced writing our E and tracing it with our finger for the Tot.I had him find the purple crayon and make a picture.

I laid  out a whole bunch of shoes and had the kids count.My Lexi counted by twos and we decided that was a faster way of counting. We counted to 5 but agreed that you couldn't have one shoe without its mate.

Next I had the kids try on the shoes and we talked about when we would wear them.What does a ballerina wear? What about a soccer player or a fireman? I put on some music and had them dance in the shoes.My daughter pretended to be the Mommy and walked Rowen all over for pretend errands.








E is for Elf.I made this elf with paper and toilet paper roll.Lex used him to pretend to make the shoes. I will be using him for my elf on a shelf.Tomorrow will be his first antic.

Cute little penguin appetizers

One of the traditions for Christmas is to have a progressive dinner in my husbands family.We get to see each others lights and we are each responsible for a different course of the meal.We had appetizers so I looked online and found this cute penguin appetizers with olives,carrots and cream cheese!
http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/19687/cream-cheese-penguins

To make them you need:

• 18 jumbo black olives, pitted
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 18 small black olives
• 1 carrot

 

Directions

1. Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive. Slice the carrot into eighteen 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet. Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak. If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak.
2. Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick.

 

After we were done we made some blue jello and spread marshmellows around to make it look like snow or ice. These little guys were a big hit!

 

What are your favorite traditions? 

Review week letters A-D

Circle time we just went over the letters and the days of the week.The ABC song was also sung.
 
They played with the foam letters
 
Then we looked for circles
 
Triangles
 
Squares
We had an alphabet race where I would call out a letter and have them say the sound and they would race to it.

Then I wrote down words and had them match it up with the letters
For music and movement we played freeze tag.
For colors I had the tot pick out different color crayons and color with them.He still gets a lot of his colors mixed up.
Last was practicing counting.I wrote 1-4 on a piece of paper and he matched the number with the same number of counters.He still needs a lot of assistance with this as well.It is mostly familiarizing him with letters and numbers at this age.But it is a great review for my Kindergartner!

Letter D-Dinos and more

Rug time-Introduce our letter D and what sound it makes.We are learning about our days of the week.O found this cute song set to the tune of the Adams Family to remember the days of the week.confessionsofahomeschooler.com

 

We stomped like dinosaurs all the way to our Dino den(bunk bed with a blanket over it) and read about dinosaurs.Then we had an egg hunt.There was 4 of them to introduce the number 4.There were little treats inside too!The kids even hid them for Mommy.

 

Next was Domino drop.You get a container or bowl and have them stand over it to see how many they can get into the bowl. Then I got spoons and other bowls and more game pieces and my daughter said "thanks for entertaining us Mom.This should keep us busy." I think kids are way more perceptive then we think.They poured and they mixed.

 

How to find balance during the Holidays

The holidays can be stressful and busy.But what if I told you that it will be busy but not stressful? If you haven't done already you need to make a holiday emergency plan.Write everything down,every event,party,people you need to give gifts to and what you want to get them.Check your lights and stock up on all the essentials now!Of course don"t forget a budget and to breathe.I have been away for a while and my happiness has been put on the back burner for quite some time now.First with a rough first trimester,then with us moving to a new house and trying to get our house sold.It has been a whirlwind.But I can't think of a better time to re-evaluate where we are in our blueprint.We can start over or simply adjust what we already have.If we can"t find the peace and balance we are looking for at any time in our life,then the holidays are going to swallow us whole and make us more frazzled then we already are.

So first take some time and make your plan for the holidays the more detailed the better.Especially if you are throwing a party.You want to give yourself plenty of time to prepare.I have started re-connecting with myself.I try to find quiet moments where I can think,meditate and just breathe.I feel with the move that I have a new start to make my house calm and clutter free.So after you have written your list I want you to do something kind to yourself.This time of year is a wonderful time to get caught up in the spirit of giving,service and gratitude.These don't come in fancy boxes or the perfect present.These come from the quiet whispering of our heart.Some of you may raise a few eyebrows but take this time to give back,to make those changes and to slow down!

If you are just joining me and haven't started on your own blueprint.The first step to writing our blueprints is getting all our negative thoughts on paper.Then writing positives for those negatives.Then we use that list to make our goals.Each week is a new goal.Break larger goals into smaller ones.Another important part of my program is to be kind and reward yourself.Take all the little moments of the day and be in the moment.Most important is to take deep breaths and do it on purpose.Schedule times to have these breaks and breathe until it becomes a habit and you find what works for you.It is meant to recharge you and help you find what is or is not working.You can do these steps over and over in any aspect of your life to achieve the balance you are looking for.I hope we all have a more meaningful and peaceful holiday.

Letter C- Cars

I decided to buy those baths paints to see if I would like them.They were a big hit plus its soap so if it spills you just wipe it up and your done!


Rowen's favorite thing in the whole world are his cars!We dumped all the cars in and the kids mixed, and drove the cars through it..You can even give them a bath when they are done.Just make sure you stay with them so there is no slipping and sliding because it is slippery.






We added sponges to make a little car wash.




Next was snack time.We traces the letter C and cut out this cute car craft I got from first-school.ws/t/ap2/car.html






I used the crackers from their snack for the wheels of the car.


We also talked about the number 3 and square.I read the story of the 3 little pigs.I found these cute printouts for them to act out their own story. http://www.activity-mom.com/2012/09/three-little-pigs.html
We talked about the buildings and how they were square.










My littlest connected the dot with Mom to make a square.I encouraged Lexi  to make something out of her square and here is what she came up with!

Day 2

We did more 3 little pigs and play-d'oh..We also looked around the room for squares and I made my letter C box.In it was a crocodile,car, and clothes pin and other items.



Also I downloaded this cute file folder game from 1plus1plus1equals1.net
I just put it in plastic sheets for now but on this site they have a ton of lap books and letter of the week activities!Maybe I will make one soon!