Knuckle Pumpkins

I LOVE Fall!  It is my absolute favorite time of the year~Love it all pumpkins, cooler weather, football, holidays~Love it!  I want to do Fall activities All.  Day.  Long!

Today we made a Knuckle Pumpkin~I found the idea from The Happy Fairy.  It's a fun and easy way to make pumpkins.

So simple, all you do is make a fist and paint your knuckles (not your thumb) and then press it on the paper~You have to rock your hand back and fourth to get all your knuckles.  We made a kid pumpkin patch.  I wasn't sure how to finish it up~you could make the ground look like dirt or just leave the pumpkins~I just couldn't commit to anything.

 Samantha and Aiden had fun with this activity.  They were able to paint their own knuckles and all I had to do was help them put it on the paper.

Who Lives in Your House

When I taught preschool this was one of my favorite activities to do with the kids.  It is a great way to see how they see their families.  I was so curious to see how my kids saw our family.

I cut a house out of construction paper~you could even draw a house on a piece of paper.  There should just be something that looks like a house so that it is concrete for them.  Then I asked both of them to draw our family~The people that live in our house.

Here is Aiden's House~He said a Hippo lives in his house.  I didn't dare ask who the Hippo was in fear of his answer :)

Samantha's house is hilarious!  I think that it perfectly depicts our family.  We are always together~We are always right next to each other~I feel like we are all on top of each other and it looks like she feels the same way.

Try this with your kids~It's fun to see how they see things! 

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

This is my family's favorite cookie recipe!  It's a twist to the classic chocolate chip cookie~by adding the pudding it makes the cookies a little sweeter and softer.  Try it~you won't be disappointed 

Go here to see the recipe

Play

Today I challenge you (and me) to just play with your child~Just be there with them~no phones, computers, TV, no distractions~Just be there and play.

I'm sure you both will have the best time ever.

Happy 4th Of July!

Have a safe and happy day!

Large Utility Tote

31 Uses for the Large Utility Tote

*Go Green~Use it for your Grocery Shopping

*Pool Side~Put all your towels, suits, snacks and sunscreen.  Everything you need for the day

*Emergency Kit for your Car~Fill it with shoes, blankets, snacks, flashlights etc

*Potluck~Carrying food

*Clean Laundry Bin for Kids~Easy for them to carry with the handles

*Board Game Storage

*Bridesmaids Gifts~Get a pattern that matches your wedding and personalize them

*Baby Shower Gifts~Fill it with diapers, clothes, wipes, toys

*Stuff Animal Storage

*Beach

*Errands~Put everything it in and put it in the passenger seat next to you so you have everything at your finger tips

*Photography~Holds all your equipment

*Sport Equipment~You can even personalize it in your team colors!

*Home Parties~If you sell Pampered Chefs, Scentsy,  Craft Shows or any other home business...It will hold all of your products and supplies and the handles make it easy to hold

*Entry way Catch-All

*Car Trunk Organizer

*Organize Books and Toys for the Car

*Book Bin

*Holiday Gifts

*Garage~Great to hold balls, toys, blankets, helmets all those random items that just lay around  your garage

*Closet Organizer~Blankets Towels

*Sleepovers~Fits clothes, blankets, sleeping bags, favorite stuff animal

*On the Boat~Fits life vest, towels and a cooler for drinks and snacks

*CraftRoom~Scrapbooking, Fabrics, anything you can think of

*Purse Organizer~Keep all your purses in one spot.  This way they are not falling off of the shelves in your closet

*Quick Clean Up~Walk through your house and put all in the clutter in the bag.  5 minutes clean :)

*Carrying Christmas presents to their destination~Put all the gifts in the bag...This way you don't have to worry about them falling and getting all torn.

*Pet Carrier for road trips

*Pet Supply Organizer

*Graduation gift~Fill it with fun things for their dorm

*Yard Sales

How much more do you love your Large Utility Tote now!  If you are interested in getting one click  here

What's in the Bag?

I don't know about your children but mine love bags!  Every time they find any empty bag they grab it and fill it up with stuff~It doesn't matter what it is they just put it in the bag until it's too heavy for them to carry or the bag rips and everything falls out (they think that's funny...I don't always agree :)

I had a bag and they wanted to know what was in it~I told them to guess.  Well with a 4 year old and a 2 1/2 year old the guesses where a bit outrageous for the bag (a dog?  Daddy? A car?)  I tried giving them some clues...It's rectangle, has paper inside it, you use it to blow your nose.  Then Samantha wanted to feel inside.  So I had her reach in without looking.  She described it "hard" "not heavy"  Aiden was a little scared to reach in.  I pulled it out and showed them that it was a tissue box.  They wanted to find more things to put in the bag.  They played this together for a little while

This is a great activity to develop vocabulary (hard/soft, big/little, rough/smooth) and asking/answering questions.  Plus it takes no prep work or messy clean up :)

Sorry I've been MIA latety~School's our for summer and I just can't seem to get us back on some sort of schedule.  But we've been doing some fun stuff here and there and I will be posting about it soon

Have a great weekend!

Bubble Wrap

We were going through the garage last weekend and came across some bubble wrap. Who in the world can resist bubble wrap?! Not me or my kids that's for sure. So I let them go at it. It kept them busy for so long! Plus it's great for their fine motor development!

Not a great picture~Sorry

Pizza Bagels

Samantha loves bagels~She could eat them all day.  The other night she asked for a bagel but it was close to dinner time and I wasn't too excited about making dinner~Then I remembered Pizza Bagels!

I put marinara sauce in a bowl with spoons, put green peppers and cheese on a plate and the let them make their own pizzas.  They were both really excited about doing it.  I enjoyed it because they were able to do it on their own!  It was a pretty clean dinner until someone spilled the pizza sauce :(

Overall I think Pizza Bagels got a thumbs up!  Samantha told me that she just likes plain bagels and Aiden ate both of his pieces and one of Samantha's

Painting with Strawberry Baskets

It's that time of year~Strawberries are in season!  My kids LOVE strawberries...well all fruit actually.  They love going to the fruit stands and Farmer Market to look at everything.  The best part of going there is that the berries come in the cute green baskets.  I really don't like throwing them away...they just look fun!  So I decided to let the kids paint with them.  

It's really easy...Paint in a tray, dip the baskets and paint!  I like how the final product looks.  Plus it's a good way to learn squares and color mixing :)

Celery

Samantha has been asking for celery and peanut butter as a snack lately.  I finally remembered to buy some celery at Trader Joes.  She was very happy but I realized that she just likes to eat the peanut butter off of it.  I must teach her that a spoonful of peanut butter is just as delicious and less wasteful.

I got the Trader Joes brand of celery hearts~some of the celery had leaves on it still so I decided to stick them in water and food coloring to show them how to change the color of the leaves.

I let them pick the colors...Aiden picked orange and Samantha picked red.  The leaves changed colors within a few hours.  That instant gratification was nice :)

The veins of the celery also changed colors so I was able to show her how the celery gets its water and nutrients.  

It's a quick and fun little science activity. 

Summer of Fun

If you know me in real life then you know I make lists.  I love making lists...it might be an obsession.  It helps make me to be organized...but more then making list I love to cross things off my list.  Weird I know.

The kids are out of school for the summer so I want to keep them busy by doing fun things.  Well, what better way to organize all the fun stuff this summer then to make a list!  I'm calling it Summer of Fun 2013   Not very creative or original but the content is more important than the title so I let it go. 

I encourage you to sit down and talk to your family about what they want to do this summer and make a fun list.  That way when you have those days when you can't think of something to do...look at your list and take a pick. 

Happy Summer!

Name Matching

I didn't think about it when we were naming our girls but both of them have long first and last names (don't worry their middle are very short).  Samantha is having a hard time remember her name when she tries to write it...So I thought of fun way to give her more practice with her name.

I took  8 popsicle sticks and wrote a letter on each one then I took another popsicle stick and wrote her name on it lengthwise.  Then Samantha matched each stick to the letter in her name.  I had her go in order from first to last that way she would learn how to spell it.  She liked this game and after a while she asked me to hide the sticks so that she could find them and match them again.  I also made one for Aiden but he just turned them into airplanes :)

This Happened At Our House Last Night

Spaghetti Squash Casserole...and everyone ate it (and liked it).  I found it on Pinterest.  You can get the recipe here.  

Fun with Shaving Cream

I love having the kids play with shaving cream.  Not only is it a great sensory activity but it is really easy to clean up! 

I like to use these plastic trays that I found here.  They keep everything contained and are really easy to clean off.  

The first activity was hiding numbers and shapes.  I put them on the tray covered them up with the shaving cream (I use the cheap stuff that you find at the dollar store).   The kids were excited to search through and try to find out what was underneath.  

I am trying to do more sensory activities with them especially because Aiden doesn't like to get his hands dirty~Everything else on him can be dirty, just not his hands.

Another great use for shaving cream is color mixing.  All I did was fill a paper plate with shaving cream and then added a few drops of liquid water color.  Before I did anything else I asked Samantha what she thought would happen if we mixed the colors~She knew that it would make another color but she wasn't sure what color.  

She used a paint brush to mix it up

Then Samantha wanted paper~She pressed it on top of the shaving cream.  Here is what it looked like when it dried

Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies

My kids love to help me in the kitchen, especially Aiden.  Every time he hears the mixer or blender turn on he runs into the kitchen and hops on the stool.  At first I have to admit I found it a little bothersome to have them help me (sad I know).  Let's be honest...Kids+cooking=huge messes!  But then I stopped and realized how much he actually enjoyed it and how much he can learn by helping me.  First of all, if they really like it then I should foster that love and encourage them to help me~They are wanting to help me so for that I should be grateful.

There is so much that you can learn when cooking and baking~numbers, vocabulary, measurements and science (talking about how heat changes the food and cooks it so that we can eat it).

I use to have them stand on a stool so they could reach the counter but it was hard for them to mix and actually reach in the bowl so I decided to do it on the floor.  This way there is less spilling and they can actually get in there and help.

I try to plan at least two things a week for them to help me with...more kid friendly recipes but they are still in there at least once a day helping.

First we always wash our hands and then I go over the recipe with them.  I talk about what ingredients it needs and we get out the measuring cups and spoons.

This week we made Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips.  They were a big hit!  I finally had to put them in the freezer so that we (I) would stop eating them :)

Here's the recipe:

1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter*

*I would suggest using a brand that you dont have to stir~I used trader joes creamy peanut butter (you have to stir the oil that separates)  they tend to come up flatter.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!  

Thank you to everyone who gave it all

Candyland-A New Twist on a Classic

When I was little I loved playing Candyland! I really loved picking the Frosty Princess card! Now Samantha loves playing candyland~this makes me happy to be able to play it again! At first it was great because it helped her learn her colors but now she knows her colors so I wanted to make it more challenging. I wrote letters and sight words on the cards. I left some cards blank because my younger two are still learning their colors.
I had seen this on online awhile ago and I finally got around to doing it. When she draws a card that has a letter on it. She says the letter, letter sound and a word that starts with the letter. When she draws a sight word we tell her word and she repeats it. She keeps asking to play so she must like it! Aiden can still play with us. He knows his colors and letters so he is working on the letter sounds. Who knew Candyland could be such a great learning tool 😊

Paint With Water

I'm not sure where you live but out here it's already hot! I mean 100+ hot!
The kids have been wanting to go outside all day so finally around 4:30 it felt a little cooler (90 or so) and out we went.  They love playing with water so I tried having them paint with water instead of just spraying each other with the hose.  I gave them a bowl of water and some paint brushes and let them go!  They have fun making designs on the ground and Samantha even wrote letters.  It was a fun activity that kept us all cool~and yes we end up spraying each other with the hose.