Craft Camp - Planes, Trains & Automobiles!

When the kids came today they got to free play on the car mat. I had a bucket with all sorts of planes, trains, and automobiles. (I forgot to get a picture.) They loved it so after they were done painting their cars, they played on the mat again!

Time to paint! Each kid got to choose 2 vehicles to paint. They could paint it however they wanted and they turned out so colorful! Make sure you put your apron on so that you don't get paint on your shirt.

Some were quicker than others and some were more meticulous than others.

When everyone was finished painting, we read "Alphabeep" by Debora Pearson. http://www.amazon.com/Alphabeep-A-Zipping-Zooming-ABC/dp/0823417220

This is "A Zipping Zooming ABC" book. I love this book and so do the kids. On the inside covers, there is a whole bunch of common street signs. (See photo below)

It was so fun to discuss what each sigh means. Some of the kids knew what the signs meant especially the more common ones. It was fun to hear them say "I have seen that sign before!"

Then we played "Flying High" from here: http://www.2teachingmommies.com/2012/02/transportation-expanded.html I used the airplanes from here: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C895%2C986&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1341354999257

For snack we each got 4 "wheels" a.k.a. Ritz crackers.

After snack, we went outside to play "Red Light, Green Light"

On the first round all the kids were airplanes.

Then we were trains.

On the next couple rounds, they each got to choose a different vehicle. Some were buses, some were trucks and some were boats.

Red Light, Green Light!

Then we played the Parking Lot game from here: http://happybrownhouse.com/parking-lot-game/ This was a really fun game and the kids loved it!

This is what the tables looked like when we were all finished painting.

Looks like fun! Right?

Package Pals!

In May, I saw this blog post (http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/package-pal-goodie-round-up-april-2012/) on C.R.A.F.T. Having never done anything like this before, I decided to join in on the fun. Luckily Jamie, the host of C.R.A.F.T., was giving us the month of June to put the package together. My pal assigned to me was Suzanne. She is a fun-loving gal who LOVES owls.

I had quite the time trying to find the perfect thing to send her. It took me until the last day of June to figure it out and make it. I googled "cute owl crafts" and when I saw this bag, I knew it was the perfect thing. There was no pattern on the site so I printed the picture and went to work.

I have never made a bag before and I am not really a great seamstress, but I think it turned out pretty cute. I love the wings on this and they were super easy to make. One of the best things about this is that I used fabric and supplies that I already had. I went through a stage when I bought fabric with no idea what I was going to do with it. I just bought it because it was cute and (maybe) on sale! I really hope that Suzanne likes the bag and that she can use it for something. I filled it up with all things OWL. A notebook and some stickers. I also put in a few items that she can make some jewelry with. (I neglected to get a picture of all the other cool stuff. OOPS!) I really hope she likes the bag.

ABC's of Summer-letter D!

Gracie, Samuel and I started today off by going to the Doctor. It was Samuel's 4 month check. He is totally healthy and weighed in at 16.5 lbs. What a chunk! Gracie got a Dora sticker from the Dr. and that made her super happy! I could say that she was DELIGHTED!

I figured that since we were already almost there and I just had 2 kiddos with me, we may as well make a trip to DI. I am always on the lookout for clothing for Benjamin and Gracie and we were in luck today! I bought 3 pairs of shorts for Benjamin and 2 for Gracie. I also found 3 shirts and a pair of PJ's for Gracie.

After DI, Gracie and I went and picked up the boys and we all headed up to First Dam to feed the Ducks. The kids had so much fun throwing bread (and fries) into the water and watching the ducks dive for it.

There was also a ton of seagulls there. The seagulls kept stealing the food that the kids were throwing in for the ducks, so it became a challenge to see who could throw the food and have a duck eat it.

Before I knew it (I was feeding Samuel in the shade of the trees), all three kids had their shoes off and they were all in the water. We had to change all three of them before we left because they were drenched. Good thing I bought some clothes at DI!

After we feeding the ducks for awhile, we went to the grocery store to buy some danishes and drinks to take to daddy's work. The kids were so excited to see daddy and they always love to take treats to "daddy's work friends."

The kids were not too sure about the danishes so they got a donut instead. They all tried one later and loved them!

On the way home from daddy's office, we stopped at The Dollar Store. Each kid got one dollar to spend on whatever they chose. They were so excited! You would have thought I had given them a million dollars each!

Benjamin chose some silly string. He loved spraying it all over in the backyard and was not even disappointed when it was all gone in 3 seconds!

Alex chose to buy a squirt gun. He loves it! Benjamin and Gracie are not as excited about it as he is!

Gracie chose a Diego jump rope. She still carries it around with her. If only she knew how to use it!

We had so much fun today but I think we will take a break for a few days because the mommy is tired and just needs a few days to sit at home and do nothing! HA! HA!

Craft Camp - Cats and Dogs!

Today's craft camp was lots of fun and lots of work for me. I had a lot of preparation for this one but I think the kids had a lot of fun. I found the idea and patterns here: http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/cute-critter-clutch-673117/ There is a bunch of animals to choose from (frog, lamb, pig, dog, cat, bunny, turtle, and a panda.)

We started the day by gluing all the felt pieces to the bag with Elmers glue and a q-tip. This is a great way for kids to use glue and not make a mess. (I did end up hot gluing some of the pieces on because there was not quite enough time in the 2 hours for the Elmer's glue to dry.)

While we waited for the glue to dry we played with the magnet pages that I found here: http://muckmonsters.blogspot.com/2012/01/letter-p-p-is-for-puppymagnet-page.html The kids love doing this with all the colorful rocks and jewels.

After the glue dried a little we sewed around the edges with a plastic canvas needle and yarn. I had to pre-poke holes in the felt for the kids so that they could sew it.

After we sewed the edges and finished the bags, we had story time and snack time. For the books this week, I chose If you give a cat a cupcake and If you give a dog a donut both by Laura Numeroff.

I LOVE these books! There are several of them and they are so cute. They are great for cause and effect. The kids love them too and they think they are so funny.

For snack we enjoyed some dog bone shaped graham crackers. The kids really loved this!

We played some other games that I found here: http://www.homeschoolcreations.com/PrintablePacks.html

The kids favorite ones were "How many Frisbees can the dog catch?" and "Doggie, Doggie, Where's your Bone?"

I love how they all turned out so different.

My almost 7 year old son did not want a cat so I told him we could try to turn his into a lion. I think it turned out pretty good.

My 2.5 year old daughter is in love with the color pink, so we made her a cute little pink puppy. She carries this everywhere putting all sorts of fun things inside. She even sleeps with it sometimes!

He is so proud of his creation!