Robot Week!

Well it has been quite a while! Between adding Oliver to the mix and all the final touches and crafting I was doing for the wedding, blogging and keeping track of our daily activities in writing got put on the back burner. I have been trying to get back in the swing of things since we returned from Gatlinburg as best I could, so forgive me if I am still not on top of it! Last week, we talked about Robots and here are some of the fun things we did!

Tuesday

Art & Sensory: Spare Parts Robots (Creating our own robots out of shapes)

Fine Motor: Cutting out shapes with safety scissors

Language: Talking like a robot

Music & Movement: Robot Action Game

Math Skill: Robot Patterns

Science Investigation: Dancing Spaghetti Experiment

I love when the week starts on a Tuesday. A rainy Tuesday is so much easier to deal with than a rainy Monday for some reason. We started our day off right away after breakfast. The kiddos couldn’t wait to do their projects for the day. I also love when that happens. They were excited to talk about (and talk like) ROBOTS which is our theme for the week. I tried to think of something fun we could use as a theme that would keep them interested but also has a lot to work with in all areas.

Before we got down to business, we pretended to be robots. I ‘installed’ a listening button on each of them that we could press when we needed to use our listening ears. I have to remember to use this button when they are not focusing this week. And if it works, forever! Our project for the day was making a paper robot out of spare parts. I cut up a bunch of shapes in all different colors and gave each kid a white sheet of paper and a glue stick. We looked at a few pictures of robots before we began but I let them do their own thing and glue the shapes down into any form they wanted. This is the most fun for me to watch because I see their little brains working while they glue. After we were all done creating robots, we moved to the living room for some free play and dancing. Of course we included “Intergalactic” by The Beastie Boys to really showcase our robot dance skills. We worked up an appetite and moved on to snack.

After some more playing, napping, and lunching, we decided to try our experiment. Maybe our baking soda isn’t the freshest or our vinegar wasn’t the right measured amount, but our spaghetti did not want to dance. We will have to revisit this one another time. They enjoy the big fizz the reaction made though so at least there was that!

Wednesday

Art & Sensory: Making our own robots out of recycled items

Fine Motor: Pre-writing Practice---tracing lines

Language: All About Me Robot

Music & Movement: Robot Dance

Math Skill: Counting Robots

Science Investigation: Paper Clip + Water Experiment

Today we powered on our robot suits during breakfast and made sure to press our listening button a few times. Lily and I visited the library last night so after we were done eating and getting dressed, we read two of our new robot books. It melts my heart when they get excited to read. While the kids were playing, I tried to interview them for their “All About Me” robot worksheet. Some of their answers crack me up. It is a combination of other things I have asked them, what they hear going on around them, and most of the time, Lily throws in a word or two that she made up. We didn’t get a chance to use scissors yesterday, so we practiced some cutting today. The scissors I have are plastic with no blade and I would like to move on to slightly more usable pairs, but for now these will do. When that does happen, I will be on top of them like hawks because although Tristan holds his scissors correctly, he likes to snip at things that are not paper. And Lily might be left handed so her scissor use is all over the place.

After we tried cutting out shapes, we moved on to coloring our interviews in. Then we put Ollie in his bouncer seat and we played a new game I found on Pinterest. Each button has a different robot action. I pretended to be the engineer pressing each button and the kids had to do the action it said. They enjoyed it and got silly with it. It was a cute little exercise to get them moving. I cannot wait until it warms up and we can adventure outside and to the park.

Thursday

Art & Sensory: Robot Shapes-Reassembling a robot

Fine Motor: Using glue sticks

Language: Robot Emotions—Emotions we feel and why

Music & Movement: Robot Freeze Dance

Math Skill: Robot Memory Game

Science Investigation: Ivory Soap Experiment

 

Thursdays are rough. I try to mentally get out of thinking that it is Thursday and I try to stay goofy and lighthearted, but for some reason, Thursdays are the days they press every single one of my buttons and then have major meltdowns when there are consequences. I have been trying very hard to lay out some ground rules and goals before we start the day or a certain activity. I think a behavior chart might have to be assembled for all of our sanities.

We colored and glued our robots together first and then we practiced writing the letter A. I get so impressed with how well they have been tracing and even more impressed with how they write their letters on their own. We had some free play with our art supplies which is a good outlet for creativity. I like to hear the names they make up for their creations. We made it through the day with a couple of tears from all four of us, but hey, we made it!

Friday

Art & Sensory: Five Noisy Robots-Coloring

Fine Motor: Using Colored Pencils

Language: Acting out Five Noisy Robots

Music & Movement: Robot Simon Says

Math Skill: Counting backwards from 5 to 0

Science Investigation: Balancing Robots

 TGIF! We had our moments this morning, but we managed to power through. I decided to start with a fun project so we colored in some robots and then glued them to some cardstock. By taping a penny in between the cardstock and the paper, we made the robots balance upside down on our hands! We also tried it on our noses, our toes, our toys. It was so cute to see them giggle and do their “magic” balancing act. Since we had some extra energy, I brought down my speaker and we had a dance party all while Oliver bounced and danced and laughed in his doorway jumper.

We skipped our Robot Emotion Flashcards yesterday, so after our dance party I had the kids sit down with me and we looked over each emotion and made the faces with our faces. We also talked about times we were sad, happy, scared, etc. I love how some of their stories are real (I was scared when the lights were out in my room) and some are so embellished and all in their imagination (I was surprised when the monster jumped down the steps at me). I think using our words and saying how we are feeling is a pivotal tool at this age. I am trying so hard to express myself and my feelings to them using my words vs using actions or just yelling. It is very tough but it is a learning experience for all of us.

I had plans to make a flannel board for the 5 Noisy Robot rhyme but it never happened. Maybe this weekend I can have Lily help me and we can do it next week when we have down time.

As a sidenote, I could not get through this Robot Unit without cracking up due to an episode of the Goldbergs where the dad pronounced robot “Ro-bit”. 

This week, we are talking about the Food Pyramid and eating healthy so I will be (hopefully) updating soon about that! I also am in the middle of doing our lesson plans for Dr. Seuss week and I am pretty excited!

Easy DIY Christmas Keepsake Ornament

On Sunday, the day directly following Halloween, I saw my first Christmas commercial. And when I ventured out to the grocery store, the shopping center was just finishing hanging up their Christmas wreaths and lights. If that doesn’t send you into a panicked tailspin, I am not sure what will! I am trying my hardest to stay way ahead of the game this year because on top of the holiday season, we are getting married in January ten hours away in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Didn’t really think that one through, did we? Actually, it’s all falling into place and we’ll get there, figuratively and literally, hopefully. But I still need to stay ahead of the holiday craze for my own sake which is why my Christmas cards are done and partially addressed, thanks to the lovely Kate Hall and her photography skills/talents and Shutterfly. Hashtag LIFESAVERS.

Sidebar: I used two “Ten Free Cards” specials and one $20 credit and I got my 30 cards for the price of shipping, which totaled out to about $18. Not too shabby. Shutterfly is great with promotions that can range anywhere from a free magnet or calendar to a fun gift like a free pack of customized playing cards. Those are also great for stocking stuffers or teacher/grandparent gifts. I received 2 separate offers for ten free cards and then got the $20 credit from Kellogg’s rewards. Kelloggs also sends you great offers and free gifts from Shutterfly and product coupons with barely any effort on your part. This will motivate me to get my act together early each year so I can take advantage of all these offers!

As much as I want to avoid jumping into the holiday season, I am starting my DIY projects early this year. A simple and fairly cheap keepsake idea are handprint ornaments. Now, I have done the salt dough deal, and I can never get them to be thin or attractive enough. I gave those bricks out (to those who really love and won’t judge me) for Lily’s first Christmas. Her footprint was so tiny! Last year, Ash got us kits to make ornaments so I combined the basic idea of that with store bought ornaments I found in my Christmas Box of Wonders.

My mom gave me two packs of these glass disc ornament last year that she didn’t use. You can find these (and bulb shape ones) at A.C. Moore, where you can also almost always find a 50-55% off coupon or some sort of great deal. You can also usually find acrylic paint 3 for $1 there so stock up on some red, green, white, and whatever other holiday color your heart desires. I used some bright blue to make the snowmen really pop on a few of the ornaments. This is a simple project that kids can help out with for almost all the steps, and is a great way to throw in a little lesson about Christmas coming from the heart and home and not just the store. Plus they’ll be so excited to show off what they made on the tree.

Step 1: Remove the top of the ornament. These things are cheap and bend, so be careful with them when you take them off and even more careful when you put them back on. Keep some damp paper towels or wipes handy cuz this could get messy. 

Step 2: Squeeze some paint into the bottom of the ornament and PUT THE LID BACK ON. I will let you learn from my mistakes (and paint soaked hands). There is a slit in the top of the lid so be careful not to let any paint leak out of there. Or just be aware that it could happen. 

Step 3: Rotate the ornament around and around and around and watch the paint move like that gooey stuff inside a lava lamp. It’s actually pretty soothing. If you need to multitask, fill up a few and just rest them upside down or on their sides. Or give them to your big helper to twist and rotate. If the paint seems to have stopped moving, add a little more. With the bulbs, you can sometimes shake the paint around, but these discs did take some time to fill. If it seems there is an excess of paint inside, remove the lid and let the excess paint out onto a paper towel or into another ornament. 

Step 4: Clean off the top of the ornament. There is a little slit at the top, so some paint may have found its way out. A damp paper towel is all you need to wipe it off.

Step 5: Have your big helper spread out their hand and paint it white. Keep their fingers spread slightly and have them press their palm towards the bottom of the ornament and their fingers toward the top. It should look like five happy snowmen on a winter’s day!

Step 6: Once the white paint is dry, you (or your helper) can add eyes and buttons and a carrot nose. I added a top hat and some bows.

Step 7: Add a ribbon and shamelessly wrap these bad boys for Grandma and Grandpa and anyone else who may enjoy them. Make sure to save one for your tree as well!

You’ve got 50 49 days left to make these. So get on it. :) 

Space Unit Part 1

Last week I went ahead and prepared a fun unit of projects, crafts, songs, and even some simple science experiments all about space! I decided to try and get back on the ball of actually writing out lesson plans and prepping for projects for the fall. We have some workbooks I will be breaking out that help with tracing shapes and letters, and attempting writing on our own. Hopefully I can keep this up (and keep the blog updated as well)! Enjoy your sneak peek into our week!

Finished products!

Tuesday

We had a slight rocky start since we all haven’t been together since Friday. Once our sharing issues were under control, we were ready to roll. We did our usual routine and update our calendar. I had to dig through my month signs to find the one for September. It is unreal that this month is here! Tristan will become a big brother at some point this month and yet it seems like just yesterday Ash told us she was pregnant! Where did this year go?! Anyway, we updated our calendar and had some free play time while I got myself organized. Then we climbed up in our chairs and talked a little bit about outer space and what we thought was out there. They knew stars were in the sky and we named some planets. I read them “The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot” while they colored in pictures of astronauts. I snapped a quick picture of them to put in the astronauts helmet and we moved on to our next project---Rocket Ship Footprints! Later today, I will be cutting out the finished products and they will be gluing these onto one big picture of space. We headed outside to soak in some rays and play in the pool while the weather is still warm enough. As a refresher of what we did a little earlier on, I asked them while they were having their popsicle snack if they could name some of the planets we talked about. They managed to remember Earth and that it was blue, the red planet Mars, and…Anus. Wow. So we need to work on that a little bit more before we start sprouting facts to the public. At least that’s a start!

Wednesday

Today started off a little lazy. Lily didn’t wake up until after 8, and Tristan was actually very content sitting on my lap and snuggling, so I ate that up and resisted the urge to run around doing a hundred other things. We watched Miles From Tomorrowland, so that at least went with our space theme! After breakfast, we did our calendar and then had some free play time while I got our project and experiment for the day ready. We used watercolors to paint different illustrated space words for a mini book we are making. I let them have the water and paints to themselves and it worked for a little bit without a mess or a fuss. We switched gears to talk about experimenting. I found one called Fizzing Jupiter that looked like fun. I didn’t quite have all the right ingredients, but I thought it was worth a shot for entertainments sake, at least. You start by mixing water and baking soda until it becomes moldable, then you add drops of vinegar until the ‘planet’ fizzes. I started off with a cup of baking soda and ¼ cup of water. I had to add a little more water slowly until I was able to mold them. The recipe called for liquid paint, which I did not have, so we just kept it white. It also called for vinegar, and all I could find was extra stinky red wine vinegar. We still tried it! I molded the dough into three balls each, all while asking what they thought would happen when we added the vinegar. I prompted them with questions like “Do you think the planets will pop, fizz, or explode? Then I gave them a dropper to drop the vinegar on. They were very serious while doing it! I would like to try this again this week with a bigger dropper, slightly less stinky vinegar, and I might use food coloring to make the balls look like planets. I think they would get a bigger kick out of it if it was on a larger scale. I also might let them mold their planets themselves, depending on the mess level the food coloring leaves behind. Always room for improvements! We cleaned up and went outside for some fresh air, then came in to get ready for nap, and read our book Earth Space Moon Base.

Thursday

I have mentioned it before and I have tried to fight the powers that be, but Thursdays are so rough! Even with tons of activities planned and constant switching gears, we get lost in the whining and hitting and being mean chaos. I was sure this week we could get past it because we weren’t together on Monday, so today would feel like a Wednesday and I had enough projects and hands on activities for the whole week but nope. You win, Thursday. We did manage to make some pretty cool alien robot spaceships out of a paper plate and a plastic cup. They decorated them with markers and stickers and were very proud of their work. We were going to make some Alien Slime/Goop or retry our experiment from yesterday, but I just couldn’t take the whining and fighting over who was singing what song. We got bathing suits on a swam a little instead. We tried reading our space story for the day, Skippyjon Jones and the Spice, but that book was kind of long and they were kind of all of the place still, so I skimmed through and then we headed for some naps. Maybe after lunch we can attempt to do some experimenting or Alien Slime play. Or they just nap until everyone gets home.

Friday

Ah the most beloved day of the week has arrived. It started off slightly rocky, but we got into gear and started with a good breakfast and some giggles, and we were back on track. We got dressed and had some free play time while I got my stuff together. I am pretty impressed that we got most of the projects and sensory things I had planned done this week! I have a few more projects and ideas for our space unit that I think I am going to carry on into next week because it is another four day week. We used our big kid table today to do our projects. We used foam circle brushes to stamp white paint on a circle to look like the moon and all of its craters. After our moons were done, we practiced writing and tracing the letter A and tracing circles. I don’t expect them to be able to write right away but they are doing such a good job trying and get really excited to use a pencil! We climbed up into our chairs for our next task---making goop. I used a different recipe than the last time I made it, so it took a couple tries of adding more of this and that (cornstarch and water) to the mixture. I added a couple drops of green food coloring and we called it our alien slime. It kept us entertained for quite some time! And the cleanup is fairly easy. You can add water and make it more like a liquid, or add more cornstarch and solidify it a little more. I stored some in a plastic bag to use next week, and it is a fun but tricky task scraping it into a ball then quickly adding it to a bag before it liquefies again! We had some snack and then headed outside for some fresh air. We read our remaining two books before nap, Harry and Horsie and Light Up the Night. We need to venture to the library and trade in some of these space books for new ones!

Have a good LDW!

Books we read:

The Three Aliens and the Big Bad Robot by Margaret McNamara and Mark Fearing

Skippyjon Jones Lost in Spice by Judy Schachner

Earth Space Moon Base by Ben Joel Price

Light Up the Night by Jean Reidy

Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp

Resources:

Fizzing Jupiter Experiment: http://fun-a-day.com/fun-science-space-theme-fizzing-planets/

Goop Recipe: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Goop/

Pirate Week!

Monday

Whew it is a hot one out there. We ate breakfast, watched a little TV and had some free play time, then put on our bathing suits and went outside to water the flowers and play in our pool. We were in by 9:30 but it was worth getting outside before it got too hot for us. We got dressed into our clothes for the day and updated our calendar. I cannot believe it is July 20^th already! Where is this summer year going! We did a good job counting all the way to twenty and we even remembered that it was July. We had some snack and read our first pirate book of the day, Twenty-Six Pirates by David Horowitz. Each pirate starts with a different letter and there is a cute rhyme for each one. Of course “Pirate Lee has to pee” was their favorite. After we met all twenty six pirates, we assembled our own paper plate pirate, complete with a bandana and an eye patch. Then we got ready to do an experiment. We talked about how pirates sail on the ocean and the ocean is full of saltwater and then we talked about when we swim in pools or our bathtubs, we are using freshwater. We filled two clear Tupperware containers with water, then took turns adding salt to one. We (carefully) dropped an egg into our freshwater container and it sunk straight to the bottom. But we (carefully) dropped our egg into the saltwater container, it bobbed and floated! I was all ready to tell them about how once salt is added to the water, the water’s density becomes higher than the eggs causing the egg to float, but for the first time ever, they didn’t ask why. We did practice saying the word “buoyant” a few times though! Before settling down for a story and nap, we pretended we were pirates and ran around the house looking for land, treasure, and crocodiles.

Tuesday

Today was another pleasant and fun day! We barely had any issues or fights. It’s slightly bugging me out. But I am enjoying it while it lasts. We ate breakfast, had some free play, then got dressed and started our first project/experiment of the day---making salt dough. We’ve made this before so I knew they could handle it. I got out their Mickey table and let them be ‘free’ aka non-high chaired. They took turns measuring out and pouring in the ingredients and then stirring and then rolling the dough out to a flat pancake. We took one of our play-doh toys and cut circles out of the dough and put them on a cooling rack to dry out. We are in the process of making our own treasure to fill in our not made yet treasure chest! Once the dough dries (in about two days) we will paint it gold and use it as our gold debloons, just like Jake and the Neverland Pirates (and meeeeee). After our dough was all cut out, we had snack and read our book of the day, Class Three at Sea by Julia Jarman. Another silly book about pirates trying to overtake a ship, complete with seagulls pooping and booger-nosed pirates. We finished snack and our book and played a little more. Then we were on to our next project, coloring a treasure chest and filling it with gold. While they were coloring their chests and gluing on some gold coins, I asked each of them what they would keep in their own treasure chest and I got everything from race cars (Tristan) to dog food (Lily). Then I asked where they would hide their treasure and Lily replied with “in the sea” while Tristan made me cover my eyes while he said “over there”. We did some paintings of pirates and pirate ships to complete our craft time, had some free play and TV time, then read a story and took some naps.

Wednesday

The humid sticky weather finally broke last night so we were able to really enjoy the morning today. After we ate breakfast and got dressed, we lotioned up and traveled to a new park. We played there for a good chunk of time using our listening ears and having fun. They actually put themselves in a timeout during our walk around the path. They weren’t listening to my directions to FREEZE and wait for me, then they started swatting at each other, then they both started crying they didn’t want to leave because they were being bad. But we took some deep breaths in the car and headed home for ice pops. I was proud of them for recognizing they weren’t being nice, but I felt bad for the unneeded crying and tantrums. We came home and ate some popsicles, then headed inside to talk about treasure maps. I drew up a quick one of the living room and we colored it in. Tomorrow we will be using those maps to find our treasure!

Thursday

Oh what a beautiful morning! Oh what a beautiful day! If the weather could stay like this for Lily’s birthday party Saturday, I will be as happy as a clam. We ate breakfast, did our calendar, had some free play fort building, then we sunscreened up and headed outside to enjoy the day! I wanted to assess the yard and straighten it up a little bit for the party, so we brought out the bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and opened up the sandbox. We ended up slaying bubbles for a good half hour until the bubbles ran out. It was the perfect day for bubbles! We came inside for snack and a story. Today’s story was Pirates, Ho! By Sarah L. Thomson. We talked about how pirates treasure is often called “booty” and giggled over that for a bit. Then I gave them the maps they colored (and I laminated) yesterday. On the map, there were 3 X’s where the treasure could be found. In one tiny treasure chest (made from a recycled amazon box and some hot glue) there were two packs of fruit snacks. In a second tiny treasure chest, there were ABC puzzles for us to do, and in the third large (recycled box from our case of Not Your Father’s Rootbeer) chest, was tons of booty in the form of costume jewelry, crowns, and septors. I also brought down a large Amazon box that we turned into our pirate ship! They had fun pretending to sail and loot and wear their booty. We read Pirate Boy by Eve Bunting before we took our naps to conclude our Pirate Week. Tomorrow, we are having Field Trip Friday for Lily’s 3^rd birthday! Still not sure where we are going for the day, but I am sure we will have fun

Books Used:

Twenty-Six Pirates by Dave Horowitz

Class Three at Sea by Julia Jarman

Pirate Boy by Eve Bunting

Henry and the Crazed Chicken Pirates by Carolyn Crimi

Pirates, Ho! By Sarah L. Thomson

Ode to a Saturday Morning Shower

Ode to a Saturday Morning Shower

Oh Saturday Morning Shower

I love thee so very much

The absence of a monitor

No child cries and such

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Thursday Friday Sunday too

I usually nick my legs all up

And use soap instead of shampoo

Midweek, I do pine for you

The week almost complete

To air dry at my leisure

And put lotion on, so sweet

But Saturday showers are the greatest

While Jordan’s making eggs

My hair gets washed and conditioned

And I can shave both of my legs.

Ocean Unit Part 1

We started an Ocean Unit this week. Here are some of the books we read and some of the fun activities we did!

Books:

Curious George Chasing Waves by Alessandra Preziosi

My Octopus Arms by Keith Baker

Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle

Tuesday

Today went pretty swimmingly if I must say. (Slight pun intended for the ocean unit we started today)! We ate breakfast and got dressed BY OURSELVES which deserves a round of applause. Then we updated our calendar and talked about the month of June and the summer season. We had some free play time inside and then headed outside for some sandbox time. Some days that sandbox is not big enough for the two of them, so after three chances to get along better, we moved back indoors. We had some cups, took a few deep breaths, and got ready for snack. While the kiddos ate, I read My Octopus Arms by Keith Baker. We talked about all the things we do with our arms every day. It was very cute to watch them think about how they use their arms. We also counted our arms and compared them to the eight arms an octopus has. Then we started our TP Roll octopi by painting them purple. I am not sure why I always associate purple with octopi but both crafts I have pertaining to them are being done with purple supplies. We listened to some octopus and ocean related songs like Octopus Garden by the Beatles. After we cleaned up our trays and hands, we watched some Bubble Guppies and brainstormed what other animals live under the sea. I was shocked and proud of how many they came up with that I did not think of first and I only had to give a few hints out for the ones I was thinking of!

During nap time, I printed out a fun new game for us to try. I copy and pasted pictures of different sea creatures and under each one put an action that we all had to do. Most were things the creatures actually do, but I took some liberties, i.e. “Gallop like a seahorse!” I colored them and backed them with construction paper, and knowing how not so gentle a two year old playing a game can be, I used my Scotch Thermal Laminator to seal the deal, so to speak. I absolutely love this laminator. It was an impulse Target buy for myself and I am so glad I did. You use laminate pockets that you can buy refills of, and it is perfect for small stuff, like the projects I want to be able to hold on to for a while. After lunch and nap, we completed our octopi by gluing some googly eyes on them and then I asked if they wanted to play a game. I placed the cards faced down on the ottoman and they took turns flipping one over at a time after all three of us completed the action. It was so much fun that we played three times! My personal favorite on round 3 was “Lay like a star fish!” Hopefully this can be a game we can use for this unit, and I can add to it for other units as well as just for a fun extra game when we’re all a little bored!

Wednesday

Whew we had a non-stop morning! I wanted to make oceans in bottles as our science investigation yesterday, but I did not have enough vegetable oil for us. After we ate breakfast today, the kiddos helped me funnel our ingredients into their tiny water bottles. I sealed the cap with a layer of Elmer’s glue followed by a layer of glue gun glue. We let those dry while we got dressed and had some free play time and updated the calendar. Then we started on our second project of the day which was gluing suction cups (Cheerios) onto our octopus drawings! Lily kept breaking her Cheerios so she could eat them and Tristan’s strategy was to stare at me until I turned my head, then would pop one in his mouth real fast. They came out cute and we practiced our counting by first counting the arms, then our suction cups. Once we were finished eating our leftovers, we got our bathing suits on and headed outside. I had filled some water balloons for something new to do, and they could not wait to try. We had a water balloon toss briefly that turned into chucking the balloon at the opponent’s feet so it would explode. There were no tears or tantrums when the balloons were gone, which I was very thankful for, so we had a nice snack of popsicles, then headed inside to get changed and warm up. We played a quick round of our Animal Creature Action game, watched a little bit of TV, then read My Octopus Arms and got ready for nap. After nap and lunch, I painted their piggies for a little Father’s Day project I am working on.

Thursday

It has been a gray and rainy day around these parts and we’ve all been sluggish because of it. I am pretty sure the clock stopped a few times too. Lily even slept in until 8:30 which is pretty rare nowadays during the week. Usually she’s up once Tristan gets here. We ate breakfast in shifts, then got ready to do our calendar. It’s the perfect day for some free play and some TV time so I let them pick out what toys they wanted and what show they wanted to watch. Usually I use this time to run around and get things done, but today, I sat with them and finished a cup of coffee before 9AM, which is also a rare occurrence. I spread some poster paper on the floor and we drew an ocean scene on it until we started fighting over the crayons. We did manage to talk about what lived in the ocean vs what does not live in the ocean (like cows, monkeys, bears, etc). We cleaned up and at some snack and then while the kiddos played with some play dough, I put the finishing touches on our Father’s Day projects. We played a few rounds of our Ocean Creature Action game (not sure what to call that thing) before picking books out to read before nap. Hopefully tomorrow is nicer and it motivates me to get my butt moving!

Friday

Every week should be a four day week! This morning had its ups and downs. We ate breakfast and got dressed, then stripped down to our undies and smocks to paint in yet another new way…with water guns! I used powered tempera paint mixed with water to fill little water guns and they aimed at their targets—seahorses cut from paper plates. I used a trifold project board (from the Dollar Store) as a back drop and they had a blast! The purple was very vibrant, whereas the green was a little faint, but they both still had fun. I need to find more of this stuff to use for painting. We came inside and put our bathing suits on and then headed back out to play in the pool and water the flowers. After we had our popsicle snack, we came inside and read Mr. Seahorse and settled down for our naps. We might venture to the library after nap to pick up some books I put on hold for next week’s lessons. But we’ll see how motivated we are after nap! Today’s naptime agenda includes putting the final touches on our Father’s Day presents (you can read about them here) and maybe sneaking in a chapter or two of my book.

Enjoy the weekend! And Happy Father’s Day out there to all those dads, granddads, goddads, moms who play the role of dads...etc! 

Simple Father's Day Craft and Card!

As usual, I start pinning for holidays and events far in advance and then a week before it's 'due', I make a mad rush for the Dollar Store or a craft store to whip up something fun and creative. Not much has changed about me in my procrastination ways since college. Or elementary school. For Father's Day this year, I had a few ideas pinned that I wanted to try, mostly involving footprints. Cliche, I know, but I think about how fast they are growing now and soon they aren't going to want me painting their feet for cards and projects. And to be honest, their feet are starting to stink a little more each day!

During my recent trip to the Dollar Store, I managed to snag the last two DIY-decorating travel mugs on the shelf. It was fate. I decided to make Tristan's foot into a tractor and Lily's into a guitar. (I wanted to include some sort of pun on Jordan's and found a cartoon of a piano telling a guitar not to fret. This turned into "Don't fret...I love you Daddy!") I know, I am a nerd. Anyway, the travel mug came with a paper to decorate, so I simply traced that and used that as a guide for making a picture to put back in. Well, as usual, I wasn't running on all cylinders and managed to design BOTH papers upside down. I cut and trimmed and glued to a different piece of paper and BAM crisis averted. They came out pretty cute and I am excited for the kids to give them to Jordan and RJ. 

We also made simple cards that look like a shirt and tie. I did all the cutting and gluing and then the kiddos did all the decorating. The construction paper is also from the Dollar Store. Simple, easy, and adorable and affordable. The way we like it!! Happy Father's Day!