I was FEATURED!

I was featured on someone's blog today! Do you know how happy that makes me?! I linked one of my ideas to this blog www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com

and she FEATURED ME! I have never been featured before and it just makes me smile! You should go check it out: http://delicateconstruction.blogspot.com/2011/07/made-by-little-hands-features.html

I am so excited! Thanks Michelle!!

Happy Independence Day!

Summer Craft Camp-Ocean!

We started Craft Camp this week by playing in the sand. What better way to learn about the ocean and the beach then to FEEL like you are there.


The kids each got a few scoops of wet sand and they played with it for awhile.


Then we put all of our sand together and made a "sand castle."



After playing in the sand, we read "Commotion in the Ocean" by Giles Andreae. This book has a little blurp on 15 or so different ocean animals. The illustrations are darling and it is a rhyming book too.


We then played "Ocean Animals Matching" We used the game that I printed from this website: 1+1+1=1 (http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/Preschool_Pack_In_the_girly_sea2.pdf) She has lots of other cute stuff on there.


Now it is time to put together our "Beach I Spy Bag." (I had already sewn the bags together leaving a small hole in one side to put the "beach things.") Each kid got 10 items to put in their bag (most of the things were buttons I purchased from JoAnns Craft Store and then I got a basket of real seashells from the Dollar Tree and a Prehistoric Shark Toob I got at JoAnn's.)








Once all the "beach things" were in the bags we put about 2 1/2 cups of Hartz 100% Natural Corn Cob to hide the items. Then I sewed the hole closed and we attached the "what to look for" tag to the bag with some yarn.



We had Shark Fruit Snacks


We listened to "Fidgety Fish" by Ruth Galloway


We played several other games from this website: Homeschool Creations (http://homeschoolcreations.com/pondpreschoolpack.html)



We learned the song "Octopus" from the "10 Carrot Diamond" CD by Charlotte Diamond.



Last thing before going home, we read "The Three Little Fish and The Big Bad Shark" by Ken Geist


The smile on their faces tells me they had a great time. We will have the I Spy bags for years to come.

The end of T-ball Season

Benjamin is almost finished playing his first season of t-ball. He has loved it!


Here is his team. We only had 8 kids on our team so it was rough but his coach, Vanessa, did an awesome job and Benjamin loved playing T-ball. He says he can't wait to play when they "throw the ball to you so you can hit it."


Here he is getting ready to hit a homerun!


Benjamin said this was a picture of him getting ready to "vacumn up the ball" Apparently that is what his coaches called this stance.


They insisted on having a silly face shot.

Macey's Kid Karnival

We went to Macey's Kids Karnival last week and the kids had so much fun. They had free popcorn and cotton candy and the kids got to throw a ball at the target to try to dunk a Macey's employee in the dunk tank. They also had an inflatable slide that the boys went on several times. The last thing we did before coming home was face painting. I did not have my camera while we were there so the only pictures I have are of the kids faces (after we got home.)



The boys chose this cute little ladybug for Gracie and she just let the lady paint it on her face. She did not try to get out of the chair and she didn't even scream. I was way surprised and it turned out so cute!



Benjamin chose to have a robot. Alex chose a football, but before we got home he had it mostly rubbed off so...no picture.

We had such a great party for Alex's 4th Birthday. He invited 9 friends over to come play and they all came! We made each one a "hot rod racecar" and they were able to make personalized licence plates that we attached to the car before the relay race. We played "Pin the Wheel on the Racecar" and ate a yummy lunch of mini hotdogs and cheese balls. Cake and IceCream was also part of the festivities. Alex received lots of great gifts from all of his little friends.

Picture slideshow made with Smilebox

Catching Up!!

I have had a little time today to finally catch up on some blogging. There are 5 new posts below. Check them out.
**Summer Craft Camp-Pirates
**Work, Work and More Work
**T-ball Season
**Benjamin Graduates Preschool
**Zoo Safari Fieldtrip

Summer Craft Camp- Pirates!

For our very first Summer Craft Camp, the kids made treasure boxes. We read the story "How I became a Pirate!" by Melinda Long. They got to "walk the plank" and have a peg leg race. We also played Pirate Concentration and Roll-a-Pirate. We decorated the treasure boxes with pirate stickers and jewels. They turned out really good and the kids had a great time.

The kids got to paint their treasure box black. We wore aprons so that no paint got on the clothing!



Alex "walks the plank!" (Benjamin was too fast and I did not capture his pic.)



Benjamin and his new friend, Nash, in the peg leg race. Nash is on the same t-ball team.



Alex and his friend, Alex, in the peg leg race.




It was really hard for some of the kids.




The kids each got to decorate their box however they wanted.



Benjamin showing off his treasure box!

Work, Work and More Work!

This man works so hard. He works a 9 hour day (Mon-Thurs) at work and a 9-10 hour day (Fri-Sat) at J&J. Then he comes home and works till well past dark at home (Mon-Sat) He has scouts every Wed. night and Master Gardners every Thurs. night. I am gone to YW every Tues. night and he never complains! He has energy (or he pretends he does) to play with the kids and he (hardly) ever yells. I am so blessed to have him in my life and I am so glad he chose me. I am grateful for all he does to make it possible for me to stay home with our children. What a great daddy and husband!!

T-ball Season

Benjamin started playing T-ball right after soccer was over. He loves it! They practice for the first half hour and the coach teaches them things about baseball and then they "play" the last half hour. I say "play" because they really just let every one on both teams bat and hit the ball and they play different positions in the outfield while the other team bats. We only have 8 players on our team and all the other teams have had 13-15 players. I guess it's good it wasn't a real game or we would have to forfeit every single game. Benjamin is having a good time and I guess that is what counts!:) They also have a cool shirt and hat. Their team name is THUNDER!

Benjamin Graduates Preschool!!

Benjamin has been to his fair share of preschool and now he FINALLY gets to go to Kindergarten. This kid is so smart and is already reading. He loves learning and is so ready for kindergarten. He did his kindergarten testing and the teacher said he passed with flying colors! He will get to ride the school bus with some of his friends from preschool and he will go to school in the morning...which is better for him since he is an early bird. The bus stop is 2 houses down and then the bus driver will drop him off right in front of our house every day after school. I just hope he will be a good boy in school and listen to his teacher better than he listens to me.:) I wish I had some pictures of graduation but when you are the teacher it is hard to be the photographer also. Way to go Benjamin! We are so proud of you!!

Zoo Safari Fieldtrip

For preschool, we went on a fieldtrip to the Willow Park Zoo. We rode the bus to the transit center and then rode another bus to the zoo. We played at the park for awhile before eating lunch and then going on a "safari" through the zoo. The kids had a blast and I know mine were exhausted when we finally rode 2 more buses and then walked home. This was a fun fieldtrip and I plan on doing it again next year! I could not have done it without the parents that were able to go with us. Enjoy the many pictures that follow!



Here we are waiting for the bus. The kids are way excited, can you tell! For some of them this was the first time ever riding the bus.




Benjamin with some of the other kids from preschool. He was a big helper that day and was in charge of the biggest bag. Maybe it is because he knew what it contained...Treats!!



Alex on the bus with some of his friends. See the cheezer on his face...this kid loves adventure!



This little girl LOVES the swing!!



Alex with cousin, Nikell, on the swings. JeriDawn was very pregnant at the time but still had the energy to come with us on this adventure. (She has since given birth to a very beautiful baby girl--Congrats JeriDawn!)



Gracie's first time down the slide "all by herself" (thanks for helping her while I got a picture, Hilary!)



Benjamin with 2 of his best buddies from preschool. One will be going to the same school for kindergarten and one will not.



Benjamin just about kicked me after I pushed him on the swings. Look at the smile on his face! Little Stinker!!



We played at the park for a little while. We were waiting for our lunch to come (Taun brought pizza) The kids had a great time! Gracie loved being able to move freely about without having me bothering her.



Here we are, just getting started on our little Zoo Safari. Don't you love the safari hats the kids have. I bought them at the dollar store and then wrote the kids names on them with puffy paint. They were so thrilled to have them (even if they were too big and kept falling off!)



The peacock had just had its feathers fully extended. I barely missed getting a picture of it. Aren't they beautiful!



Benjamin is showing off his Safari Book. I made 14 of them so that each of my students and my niece could have their own book. They mark off the different animals in the book as they see them at the zoo.



Benjamin is getting ready to mark the next animal off in his book.



Here is a picture with 11 of the 13 students I taught last year (2010-2011) in preschool.



It looks like we have put some of the kids in a cage but really they are just feeding the ducks!



Some of the kids are feeding the fish/ducks.




Alex feeding the ducks!