Recycle White Elephant Sale

Or something to that effect... This is another idea Ike's fantastic teacher had this year. They had a week focused on recycle, reduce and reuse. As a way to introduce the idea and personally apply the principle, each student was given the assignment to choose one small, inexpensive toythat is old and boring to them. Then they were to bring them to school inside a paper lunch bag. The teacher then assigned a price and displayed the toys. Each child had a chance to choose one of the toys and "pay" for it using their money manipulatives. This gave the students an opportunity to practice money skills, subtraction, and addition, as well as realizing their old toys may be reused and are still good toys!

I love this activity! I just wanted to remember it too:)

My Mystery Object

Ike came home from school with this project. I loved it and want to remember to do it for preschool. F.O.R.E.V.E.R. It was THAT good:) Ike's class was working on visualization and descriptive writing. Abstract thought is obviously something still developing, but I think there is lots of value in this assignment even at the preschool age.
1. Each child must pick one object from home to place in their paper lunch sack.
2. Each student must brainstorm some descriptive words to help the group visualize it. SOme questions you may anser to help you thinkof clues are: What colors does it have? How does it feel?
3. Descriptive clues are then organized into 3 or 4 clues.
4. These kiddos then practiced reading their clues, but preschoolers could either practice reading or memorizing.

Ike took a small blue flashlight he received for Christmas. Here is what he wrote:

1. My mystery object is blue.
2. It helps you see in emergencies.
3. My brother and I play with it.
4. We have to be careful not to get it in anyone's eyes.

Because we live in Oklahoma, the emergency clue gave it away. I highly doubt kids in Arizona would have equated emergency and flashlight! It was however, great writing practice, cooperation, and abstract thought:)

On Baby Turnng One

Not fair! That is the best description I have! My BABY just turned one! How did that happen so fast? I'm still not sure I'm used to have 3 children or having a GIRL! I haven't quite adjusted yet and it's been a year?!
   It seems we are constantly reminded to enjoy every second with our children/while they're young/while we're in school/while we're young... etc. etc. etc. because it goes so quickly. I think I'm acutely aware of how quickly it goes and acutely aware of how much I need to enjoy it and so then I'm constantly wondering if I'm enjoying it enough and savoring these moments ENOUGH? I hope I do. I do so love each of these crazy moments.
    And so maybe 'not fair' isn't quite accurate. All I know is that tonight after the hyper-pink lemonade cupcakes were put away, teeth were brushed, Reesie was measured on the height chart, and the official 1 year old picture in the wooden rocking chair that-will-someday-be-an-heirloom was taken, we took a minute to watch Reesie Roo's video of eating her cake, and then I couldn't help digging through iphoto for Zachary's video eating cake, and you guessed it, Isaac's too. The thought occurred to me... is this my life? How could my life have gone so quickly already? How did Reese turn one, Isaac just lost his second tooth and started piano lessons, and Zachary became the smartest human being alive? How did all that happen while I blinked?
       And now I just feel grateful. Grateful for so many amazing little moments. Grateful I can share them all with Ben and these three little amazing people. Oh the love I feel for them feels like it will make my heart explode. That's a pretty good feeling.

On Being Nice...

I have been writing this post in my head for quite some time now... I have seen and been the victim of... and dare I say, even been the perpetrator of unkindness (though, I promise I'm turning over a new leaf:). Let me illustrate a few situations...
     1. A certain family (anonymous, of course) went to church a few weeks ago with their children. One of their little kiddos has a history of respiratory issues and was just getting over a cough. He had been at the doctor just on Friday, so the situation was under control. During the course of the first meeting, he got a tickle in his throat and had a tough time stopping the coughing, even with some little sips of water. After the meeting, some "well meaning" older woman (stranger) came up to us (ehhem, "them") and interrupted a conversation we were already engaged in to tell us the following, "Excuse me, this little boy has whooping cough. I know. I am a nurse. You need to take him to the urgent care immediately. If his chest starts heaving up and down, he will be in terrible trouble. And by the way, this is extremely, extremely contagious." To which I replied, "Thank you. Thank you Sooo much."

     2. Another "certain mommy" took her kids to the store to get mucinex, as she felt like she was dying from a cold and her husband was out of town:) It was over 70 degrees outside and her little 10 month old had just kicked off her socks in the car, to which this incredible mommy thought, well, too bad, I'm not putting the socks back on. I'll just run into the store with the kiddos for 3 minutes and get back home before I die from this horrible sickness:) So, in the store along comes "helpful person #2" into her life... Another well meaning older woman who immediately states, "Ohh, what a beautiful little girl! Ohh, where are your socks, poor little girl. Ohh, how sad, she doesn't have any socks on her toes." (THIS scenario has played out on so many occasions I cannot count them anymore, but that doesn't make it sting any less:)

     3. Ok, the other situations really aren't my personal situations, so I will publish them in broader terms... Mothers we know are ridiculed, as in the cases above, but also the source of the ridicule. I have seen mother against mother trying to figure out WHOSE KID spread that nasty stomach bug, WHO TOOK THEIR KID to the playgroup sick, WHO LET THEIR KID eat CHEETOS/didn't do their daughter's hair/you get the idea...

AND So.... It has occurred to me we need to BE NICE! That's it. I'm going to BE NICE from now on. I don't think I intentionally try to hurt others around me or demean other mothers, but I'm pretty sure none of the women in the above situations really intentionally meant to hurt the other mothers either. Truly though, why can't we just cut each other some SLACK :) Why can't we just assume that we each are trying our VERY BEST. Sometimes, we do a good job, and other times, we don't. For whatever reason, things just don't always work ideally... maybe we didn't realize how sick our child was, or maybe we didn't have the means to make ideal happen, OR maybe we tried our very best and our children still have their own WILLS and their own WAYS... Whatever the case may be, I want to remind myself to cut myself and everyone around me some slack. Assume the best. We're all trying our hardest. We're not trying to infect each other kids with the latest outbreak, or kill our own kids by not wearing socks, or make our kiddos eat only junk or a million other things... We're just trying our best, and truly, our best will be good enough, in spite of ourselves and everyone around us:)

8 years

8 Years. I know I have written about this before, but here we are again. This week marks the due date of our first baby 8 years ago. Truly I cannot believe it has been 8 years. In so many ways, I still feel every little feeling from that day and the months, and years, that followed. Sometimes I feel like my sadness should've passed by now. It hasn't. Sure, I have the blessing of time, perspective, and family, but I will always be sad that sweet baby is not here. I think I will always be sad that I don't know this baby right now, and I don't know why. I guess someday I will. And for that, I am grateful.
Tragically, this year our experience and those feelings have been brought back to the surface as we have witnessed another sweet, sweet family very close to us experience a miscarriage. I remember the disappointment, the devastation, the questions, loneliness, wondering, IF, WHEN, What did we do (or not do)? WHY (why us, why now, why, why why)... I remember all of these things and a thousand and one other thoughts and feelings we had, but you know what I have realized recently? That is MY (and Ben's) experience. It does not compare to others. AND that's ok. I have always felt that at least if we had to go through this and be so devastated, AT LEAST we would be able to relate to others and *help??* others dealing with similar situations. Now I know that our experience is all our own. It is not the same. We all experience so differently. How unfair of me to assume that my ability to relate would equate with easing the burden of someone else's experience. I realize now that the best I can do is sympathize. It just is sad and disappointing and can be utterly devastating. AND as much as I want to, I can't make it better. I can't even make it hurt less. Oh, how I wish I could. I wish that all the pain and sadness we went through would mean others wouldn't have to. Alas, such is life.
Enough with my new found realization. On to more...
Because of these recent experiences, Ben and I have also had the chance to contemplate WHAT we learned, HOW we grew, and (could it be?) how we were BLESSED through tragedy... I feel like I need to document so that I will always remember and always keep my perspective.
*We feel like we grew so much as a couple. Before I miscarried, Ben and I plugged along in our own little worlds of work and school living and loving without *many* cares in the world. We were so in love. We were worried about how we would provide for and protect and properly nurture and care for this new little baby, but overall we were just head over heels in love with life and each other. Once I got so so so sick, for the first time in our married lives, I had to rely upon Ben. It was not cute, in fact, I was so sick the last couple of weeks of pregnancy (they didn't know why at the time, but later found out because of the partial molar pregnancy, my pregnancy hormones were 500 times that of a normal pregnant woman) that I had no ability to work, or really take care of my home or myself at all. I learned for the first time (as I think you only can through experience) just how dedicated and unconditionally loving and caring and worried Ben was. He helped me in every way. He prayed for me, and over me. He took care of everything and was an unwavering beacon to me as we trudged through the darkest days of our lives. I'm not sure there was any other way we could've grown so close. All of a sudden, we were devastated, but we were driven.
*We were given a sudden dose of reality, appreciation for the goodness of life, and the fragility too. As young 20 somethings, we were so idealistic. Everything was fine in life and somehow "worked out." After witnessing the fragile mortality of my life and that of our unborn child, I think we both learned not to take anything for granted. I didn't immediately miscarry. My water broke after throwing up so violently one night. So, when we went to the emergency room, I was still pregnant. Our baby was still alive. As we watched in the ultrasound room, our baby's heart was still beating. Our baby was moving around. AND we knew there was no medical way that things could end well. Our baby was not developed enough to survive, due to the partial molar part of the pregnancy. Basically, the mole had taken vital nutrients from our baby and prevented baby from developing appropriately. This was at 18 weeks. Nothing has ever broken my heart as that did. Even 8 years later, I can remember distinctly the blanket of horrifying sadness knowing what was coming to our sweet, innocent baby. Oh, that is a day I never want to relive. But, you know what? Ben and I learned how incredibly precious life is: everyday, everyone. What a blessing a healthy baby is!
*We learned exactly what we wanted. All of a sudden everything was incredibly clear. Before we lost our baby, I knew I wanted to be a mother. I always wanted to be a mother. I just had a huge idea of what I could do and wanted to do. I wanted to do everything, and Ben wanted me to too. This is very personal and very specific to Ben and I, but the minute I started thinking outside of my grief, I knew all I really wanted, ever, was to be a mother; to raise a family and be by my husband's side forever. All of my professional, educational accomplishments fell to the side at that moment. They truly meant very little compared to the opportunity of being a mother. We knew at that very moment beyond a shadow of a doubt that our singular goal was to have a family and raise them up to the Lord, to do His will. Everything else suddenly became a means to that end.
*We learned personal sadness, embarrassment, shame. It seemed like no one got it right. People were sad for us for a few days (outside of our close family) and that was that. Life for them went on, as it does. For us though, we were the ones the sad thing happened to. Then we became the sad couple that couldn't have babies. Some judged us for being married without kids for so long, others tried their best to explain explain explain. Explain my medical history to everyone and anyone. Explain our devastation and try to make it better. There were so many kind words, some mistaken kindness, and some insensitive things said. There were many, many tears some in public, most in private. Ben learned how to deal with that too... especially on Mothers' day and after baby blessings. And so we learned to deal with feeling bad, being patient with ourselves, our sadness, and others' insensitivity or misunderstanding.
*We learned about patience and timing. I learned that sometimes it just doesn't happen. Even when we were living our best and trying our hardest, it just was not Heavenly Fathers' will for us at that time. We have had to apply this life lesson to so many things that have come since then, but I first learned it, or truly experienced it, here. Tragically miscarrying our first baby and then not being able to get pregnant for 3 years, was difficult. I spent the entire 3 years pleading for the opportunity to be a mother. I worried the whole time that perhaps I never would get that chance. I wondered if I had done something wrong. Was I being punished? Were we not good enough? It sure seemed that way. I looked at everyone else as having the perfect life. In the end, I truly do believe there were life lessons we needed to learn this way, there were places we needed to go, things we needed to do that could not have happened any other way. It was certainly not our plan, but I do not regret this difficult path either, but I won't lie, I'm still sad...

 I apologize for this gush. My heart was just so full. I know that my Father in Heaven loves me and our first sweet little baby (and all of us). I know without a doubt that He loves us incredibly, unfailingly, and beyond anything we can imagine. One reason I know that, is because He allowed us the opportunity to struggle. He knew the anguish of our hearts and yet He knew exactly what we needed to gain from that experience. Only a truly loving parent could do that. He knows our hearts all the of the time. He was with us in our darkest times in that hospital room, and every time someone thought unkind things about us and every time I came trudging home so enveloped in sadness after church or wherever we were. He put people and blessings and learning experiences in our lives to lead us to where we are today, to be the parents, the couple, the eternal family we are today. We certainly are not perfect, but I want to say we really are grateful. Grateful for our blessings and grateful for all of our trials. I know someday we will understand. We will know why and it will all be ok.

New Beginnings: Women of Value the Treasure Within

*Please see my dear friend and YW President's blog for more info and all the entire program complete with all details here

Just thought I'd link up to share this amazing night! I feel very fortunate to work with the teenage girls in our church and their amazing leaders. Every January, we hold a night where we recognize the new girls who will be turning 12 this year and introduce them to the Young Women program. We chose this year to focus on the 8 values of the program and women from the scriptures who exemplified those values. I can tell you this, I learned more and gained a stronger testimony of these amazing women from the scriptures than ever before. I feel truly blessed to know their stories and to have had a hand in introducing our young women to them. We had one of our girls who had completed that specific value introduce the woman from the scriptures (in the program we wrote) and then bear testimony of the significance of that particular value. It was awesome! I really loved this program:)

All the posters of the Women of Value were framed and placed in the front with their name plates in a smaller frame, corresponding fresh flowers for each value and the temple in the middle

Hannah (Faith), Emma Smith (Divine Nature), Rebekah (Individual Worth)

Mothers of the Stripling Warriors (Knowledge), AMAZING Salt Lake Temple Pic, Women of the Wilderness in 1 Nephi (Choice and Accoutability)

Ruth (good works), Esther (integrity), Mary (virtue)

Dessert! Cheesecake bar with toppings that corresponded with the value colors: Faith (white Chocolate), DN (blueberry sauce), IW (strawberry sauce), Knowledge (Kiwi sauce), C&A(Peach sauce), GW (Pineapple sauce), Integrity (Blackberry sauce), Virtue (butterscotch)

Winter Study in Phoenix

I know, it's an oxymoron:) How do you truly study winter in Phoenix:) You gotta get a little more creative, that's all! A couple of weeks ago, that was my assigned theme and it was so fun! We made snowglobes out of baby food jars (oops, no pics) with little snowmen erasers hot glued to the inside lid and lots of glitter in the jelly/water:) SO CUTE and even more than that, a HUGE hit with the 4 and 5 year old crowd (and Z)!
We also played in lots of fake snow (styrofoam, weird fake snow stuff from walmart and cotton balls) in the texture table with fake snowflakes thrown in and clothespins to try and manipulate with them.
I made snowshoes out of cardboard to go with the "snow cabin" and let the kids pretend to be inuits or something. They did a great job imagining this week. I think the imagination part is my favorite anyway:) They decorated their snow cabin and "bundled up" in all our winter gear while they pranced around in fake snowshoes and pretended to be hunting seals:) Too cute! I guess our snow gear comes in handy every once in awhile, right?!
We also did a science project the kids loved. I found the premise of the idea online, but can't remember where my flip flops are, let alone that website:) Anyway, the kids were able to choose 3 locations to put their ice cube (in identical containers). They chose 1. bookshelf, 2. oven, 3. outside the front door. Then they had to make a hypothesis on how it would look in 20 minutes. Third, we checked our results. We talked about WHY they chose their hypotheses and their reasoning and then reconciled with what really happened. Their little brains did some hard work and they were so happy with the results! Who knew ice and tupperware could be so amazing!?

All in all, it was a great week. I so love teaching preschool. I love doing journaling time with them and listening to their logic. I love watching them play and cohort and reconfigure and work together. Lucky, lucky me!

Oh Christmas Tree

Just wanted to post this before I forget it... This year I remembered I was assigned the theme "trees and plants" two weeks before Christmas. Soo, of course I had to do Christmas Trees! I wasn't quite sure what to do with Dramatic Play, so I made this giant Christmas tree out of felt, complete with felt ornaments and also had Santa hats, gloves, scarves, etc. for the kiddos. It was a huge hit!! So huge, I left it up for the whole season. My kids would periodically go rearrange their tree, take off all the ornaments and start over. They have never been much for bothering our Christmas tree, but I (and they) were more than happy they had their own distraction. It was super cute and cost less than $4 at walmart in felt:)

Mothers Day

Mothers Day always brings up such emotion in me. This year is no exception. When looking inward, I still remember the days before I was a "mother" when I so desperately wanted to be a mother. One Mother's Day in particular, I remember coming home from church and just crying and crying. How unfair it feels sometimes when our life isn't working out just the way we thought it should. Thank goodness Heavenly Father gave me this experience, this deep desire (even though at the time it just felt awful and lonely and even a little hopeless). When I was a young(er) single girl, I knew I wanted a family, but never had that same yearning. I mostly thought of it as far in the future when I had accomplished a gillion other things. After my miscarriage and subsequent struggles to bring a baby here, that desire deepened and deepened within me until I wanted that little baby here more than almost anything. Thank Heaven!
      After having Ike and now Zachary, I know that there truly is no better calling, commitment, job or joy we can have than being a mother. I know the Lord instituted motherhood and family. I know no task or responsibility will ever be as important as being a mother. I love it, even when I question my ability or the responsibility I've been given, I know THIS is where Heavenly Father wants me right now.
      Secondly, I have had a chance today (thanks Ben) to ponder the other women in my life and their examples of motherhood. I look at a dear friend and family member of mine that Heavenly Father called home this year. Let me back up. Last night I was feeling a little down. About lots of things. I was thinking how inadequate I am, how underappreciated I felt and how guilty I felt for feeling underappreciated. All unfounded, I was pretty much just really tired. As I prayed last night, I asked to please be helped in putting my life back into focus. I didn't want to feel that way and I usually don't, but in those quiet, strange moments, it is an awful feeling. Anyway, last night I had a dream about this wonderful mother who we lost this year. I awoke this morning thinking of her, her suffering, and how I could help her family. She was such a selfless mother, even in the end when she was so full of pain and suffering, she never let her son know. She waited until the very end for him to even know she was going to the hospital for treatments while he was at school. She never used her fast moving, life threatening illness as an excuse, she lived for her family and showed ultimate love and sacrifice for them. I love her and am glad to have known her shining example.
      I also thought of another family member who just had a new baby. She is young and beautiful and starting a darling little family with her husband. They found out at 20 weeks gestation that their baby had a chromosomal defect that would cause her a very short lived little life once outside the womb. They have shown such faith and courage. She writes of the joy she has felt knowing this little girl inside of her and knowing that our Father in Heaven has a plan for them. They have welcomed this little girl with triumph and such joy as I've never seen. This little angel baby is still going strong and I know that this miracle is possible because of their unwavering faith. I love them and am so grateful to have such a wonderful example of faith, love, and courage.
     My third mother this year is not a mother as you might think. She is a young, beautiful, single woman I have known for a decade. She shows my kids so much love and support. She is a wonderful example to them and all the children in her life of loyalty, service and love. She shows care and concern for them and for all of us in a way no one else does:) I think all women are mothers in one way or another and this woman excels at it.
     You can see why I sometimes feel inadequate when I know such amazing women all around me, but right now all I feel is true love for each of them and honor in knowing them personally. I love our Father in Heaven. How inspired He is to give us each other to help us and inspire us. Please know today I am thinking of each of you. Thank you for being mothers and helping me to be a little better too.

9/11/01 The Day I Grew Up

I want to say I have no "personal attachment" to September 11th. BUT, as an American, don't we ALL have a personal attachment to that day. Lets face it... we ALL know where we were when we heard the news and we ALL spent that night praying, worrying and wondering how our lives would change. I happened to be 19 and in college. As your typical 19 year old, I was in college studying idealistic theories and abstract thoughts. The world was at my feet. I could do and be anything I put my mind to, those were ideals that formed my generation, right?  September 11th changed that for me. Osama bin Laden changed my world, just as he did yours. I guess it never really occurred to me until today.
       September 12th I looked at the world differently. Grief, death, tragedy, loss, change, and war became a part of my life and everyone around me. I started caring and studying outside of myself and the abstract figures and theories of far away as perhaps never before. I'm not sure any singular day, any event has shaped my world as much as that. I'm not saying from that time on, I never had a juvenile thought or action, but as of September 11, 2001, I knew and appreciated so much more than ever before.  And, I knew how blessed I was (and am) to be an American and exactly what that meant. God Bless America.
      

Thank You Dr. Seuss!

You have to admit, the post holiday, end of February "blehs" did set in for a little bit... I know I'm skipping ahead, but we have just loved doing Dr. Seuss theme at preschool a few weeks ago, so I thought I would anyway! It truly gave me a new spark to start off March:) First of all, there is SO MUCH to do surrounding Dr. Seuss books. I could've gone on for weeks and weeks! I just chose a few more "common" books, and then Ike and I did even more on the other days without preschool kids (I told you, we LOVED it)! I actually found lots of great ideas on www.seussville.com, and a variety of momma bloggers like myself (ok, way better than me...) and then of course, gave things my own little twist:) Apparently, I was really terrible at taking pictures b/c we were soo busy having fun, but at least you get the idea... Anyway here are some highlights from Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Foot Book...

1. The Foot Book... We did a study of our own feet. We charted our foot size compared to our friends. We measured them, made a book about them, traced them for the book, added embellishments (on the book, not our real feet), described them, looked at other animals' feetsies, danced with paint (outside), squished and sqaushed and had a grand ol' time! So fun:)

2. Green Eggs and Ham... Just happened to coincide with right before St Patrick's Day, so we made green eggs and ham of course, for snack and graphed whether we liked it or not. Among other things, we also did some rhyming games with little cards the kids colored and cut out and then we played the game! This was a fun fun day. It was neat to teach the kids about rhyming and help them come up with their own rhyming schemes.

Oobleck... what else?

3. Cat in the Hat... We had such a fun time with this one! We played a game (after reading the book) where we went around the room and each child did a "homemade trick" (balancing while holding their tongue, etc.) and then the rest of us tried it. We also charted how many blocks we could balance in one hand as another trick. We made cat in the hat hats. They turned out so cute! Usually I don't do activities that are just cute, and I guess this one took a lot of concentration for cutting, patterning (red, white, etc.) but, when it comes down to it, it was just plain cute too! We had so much fun journaling this day too... the prompt I came up with was, "If the Cat in the Hat came to my house, I would..." The responses were hysterical:)

4. One Fish Two Fish- Again, we were able to spin this into a lot of rhyming and language gaming. I love taking a wonderfully written, fun, and engaging children's book and turning it into learning without them even knowing! THAT was today (and the past two weeks)! One game in particular we played with this one was to clap every time we heard a rhyme as we read the book. We also made our own stuffed red and blue fish... Made out of tissue paper, plastic page protectors and staples. My kiddos LOVE any chance to use the stapler (and it is a great way to build fine motor muscles, if carefully supervised!) So, we stapled away, and this is what we came up with! We also got to eat lots of yummy fish treats this day... swedish fish, fish sandwiches (just ike and zach), goldfish crackers, ocean water, and fish eggs (grapes).

See... I told you Dr. Seuss at preschool was going to be fun...

Best Playdough Ever, really... Ever!

Ok, I realize this is not a great photo, but BELIEVE ME... I have tried and tried playdough recipes... This one has the consistency of the store bought playdough (minus the smell...) I made this one red with red glitter (and raspberry koolaid for good smell) for Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day.

2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. salt
1 pk Unsweetened koolaid, any flavor
4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 c. water
2 T. corn oil
Mix all the ingredients together in a large saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until the mixture thickens an dthe bottom is just starting to crust up, about 15 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and hard at this point.
Turn the dough out onto a large cookie sheet and let it cool. When cool, knead until smooth. Store in a covered container.
Let the fun begin!

This free scrapbook design personalized with Smilebox

Christmastime!

I realize I'm *a little* behind in posting about preschool... Preschool is taking away some valuable blogging minutes;) But, I wouldn't have it any other way! It really has been a great experience for Isaac and I this year. One of my favorite things about teaching private preschool in my home is my ability to study and teach the things that are important to me and the kids. I LOVE being able to incorporate the gospel into school and being able to structure my curriculum to what they are interested in. I love that my kiddo has no distinction between religion and life. Does that make sense? To him, for now (fingers are crossed), they are one and the same. I love that.
     Anyway, Christmastime was no exception. Santa plays a small role in our family's Christmas celebration. I LOVE the spirit of giving, love, charity, hope, etc. that Santa brings, but I pride myself in not bringing in a huge amount of commercialization. We rarely talk about "what Santa will bring," though we do sing of Rudolph, Up on the Housetop, etc. I LOVE tradition:)
    This year at preschool, we started the very first week of December by talking about Samuel the Lamanite. He was a prophet who preached to the people the coming of the baby Jesus 5 years before his birth. We focused on the significance of the Star (Samuel and other prophets prophesied this would be the sign of Jesus' birth). It was so fun to give kids a whole new dimension of thinking about stars at Christmastime!
     We also studied Christmas tradition in other countries. We celebrated St Nick's day (Germany) and talked about the meaning of the Christmas tree, the origin of gingerbread houses, giving, celebrating, etc. We set up Santa's toy shop and painted our own ceramic banks, wrapped "gifts" (blocks) and loaded them into the "sleigh" to deliver for the children (among other things...) We also had some fun with texture table these weeks playing with ice, "snow," and cinnamon spiced playdough. What a fun week!
      Week 3 of Christmas, we talked more particularly about the actual events of the Savior's birth. We reenacted the story countless times (dramatic play!), played go fish with nativity cards, looked for the missing piece to the nativity set, made our own nativity scenes out of fun foam (as a shape activity). We had a great time celebrating Jesus' birth with our own birthday party. We each made a "gift" for Him by decorating a gift and writing on it what we were going to do this year that he would like (show kindness to my brother, remember to say my prayers, pick up my toys without being asked:) The kids thought of their gifts all by themselves! It was neat to really literally tie it all together by reading our gifts aloud while we ate birthday cupcakes under our crepe paper decorations!
       The first week of January we wrapped up our discussion of Christmastime by celebrating 3 Kings Day (Jan 6th) and talking about the Wisemen, their faith, how the stars led them to the Baby Jesus, and the Latin American traditions associated with this day. We had a celebration for 3 Kings Day and studied this culture as well. I think the kids really enjoyed learning how other children around the world celebrate Christmas:) We made some really awesome crowns this week out of painted paper plates, played phonics games with globos (balls- a common celebration toy during 3 K day) and ate traditional panetone. Fun! 

Gift Exchange- the kids had $2 to thoughtfully find a gift for their friend

Santa's workshop- painting banks

Mary, Baby Jesus, and the Myrrh Wiseman (Ike INSISTED)

      Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of time to take pictures during all of this month... It was a wonderful experience that kept me grounded to the real reasons for the Christmas season. We had some fun times and learned a few new things along the way too!

Healthy Me, Healthy You!

Along with the fall comes back to school and sharing. Lots and lots of sharing. Ok, most sharing is a good thing. It shows complex reasoning, higher thinking, creativity, etc. Unfortunately, it also means we all get sick:) Lucky for us, we haven't been too hard hit so far. I wanted to nip that idea of sharing germs in the bud by doing a week of Healthy Me, Healthy You. I think we may have a follow up week on nutrition after halloween because it was a HUGE hit! We had a GREAT dramatic play area this week with doctors and poor little cabbage patch patients (they ended up covered in bandages and oxygen tubes, gauze, etc. We were able to make doctor nametags, stethescopes, lots of germ demonstrations and experiments among other things. I think it made a real, lasting impression too! Ike keeps singing "5 Little Germs!" instead of 5 Little Ducks now:)

Ok, I know you're dying for the words...
5 Little Germs were busy at play
on a child's hand one day
They were playing side by side
Then the child washed and one germ died! (Each time you sing this line, the child takes a bar of soap and pretends to wash really well). ** I have great germ clipart that goes with this for feltboard

One demonstration was putting blue soap/paint mixture on one of the kids' hands and letting him touch several different objects in our classroom, thus showing how we spread our germs if we don't wash.

We also made doctor bags and painted at the art center with different doctor supplies like gauze, cotton balls, q tips, sponges, etc.

The other day, we paired up and I squirted blue paint/soap on one partner's hand. The other partner had to take a baby wipe and try to wipe it all off their partner's hand. This demonstrated how well we have to scrub tops, bottoms and in between. It was a great week!

writing prescriptions

Wouldn't you trust them to take out your appendix?

Artwork called "Tissue Tina"

Colors of the Rainbow

Well, did I mention how busy I have felt lately? Thus 1 month has transpired in the blink of an eye! Week 3 of Preschool was spent learning and experimenting with color. We learned many ways to mix colors and get different results. Our favorite books this week were: Little Blue and Little Yellow (followed by mixing yellow and blue jello globs in a baggie- a very neat experience)! and Harold and the Purple Crayon. Our imaginations were running wild! The color pyramid we made this week with our handprints was such a concrete demonstration for the kids on color. I LOVED it!

rainbow jello- I made all the colors the night before and the kids added them in order by the scoopful the next day



Yumm!

Rainbow cheerio necklaces

Little Blue and Little Yellow in a baggie

All About Me and My family

In case you didn't know, I have taken on the great challenge (and reward) of starting my own home preschool for Ike and 5 of his little friends (and Z of course)! We started at the beginning of Sept and are going T/Th mornings from 9-11:30. Ike is so proud and happy to be going to preschool and (I think) to have his mommy doing it:) I will address the comment that seriously so blessed put this week... I'm not turning "all polygafrump"- a funny post if you haven't seen it- although, I am a little more pressed for time. It doesn't seem that 5 hours a week could add up to that much extra work, but if you know me at all, you know I'm a perfectionist by nature, and an overachiever, type A as well... put it together and you have late nights sitting on the carpet laminating, cutting, and preparing in every way possible! The result is what I'll put here... fun preschool days and sleepless preparing nights:) And, I love every minute of it!
     So, week one and two were All About Me and My Family (the kids' not me- though that would be funny to do a week theme on ME- I can see it now:) I digress... some of my favorite things from this week were:


Journals- we have started Journals we will write an entry in every school day. I just use composition notebooks but I am LOVING the thought provoking entries and answers already! For example:
"Today I read a book about a pet boa constrictor. If I could have any pet, it would be... a small dog that doesn't jump!"- Ike


We did measurements: height/weight and a writing sample of their names as well.

We also played lots and lots of getting to know you games these two weeks b/c the kids for the most part, did not know each other... Some of our favorites: Who's missing? The kids closed their eyes (no peeking- yeah right) and I tapped one person on the head. That person got to go into the other room. When the kids opened their eyes, they had to figure out who was missing- Very good at helping them be aware of each other!
Pass the Ball- we passed a beach ball back and forth, but before you could pass it, you had to say the person's name who you were passing it to- the kids LOVED it, but it was challenging at first:)
Commonalities- "stand up if you have blonde hair" "hand on head if red shoes" etc... pretty fun to find commonalities among the kiddos.

Guess Who? Parents answered a short questionnaire about their child's likes/dislikes, families, etc. And then I described that person while holding their baby picture for the whole class to guess who was who. Again, a big hit!

Class Memory- I made memory cards with the kids' pictures I had taken and we played memory with pictures of the kids in our class- We are still playing this one 2 weeks later! The kids love it!



We are also "cooking" everyday. This is one of my favorite things and a way to incorporate science each day, as well as give the kids a Healthier snack than oreos or you know...

Anyway, this week, we made trail mix out of a variety of things... cheerios, popcorn, raisins, etc. Oh, and the secret ingredient: yogurt colored craisins.

Also, we made mini bagel faces with strawberry cream cheese, licorice mouths, and raisin eyes- pretty cute and a big hit.

For the first day/week of school, I had the kiddos bring their favorite book from home. This was a great way to learn a little about them and to find out what they might be interested in. It also gave them a little familiarity at school. We took turns reading these at storytime the first week.

I could go on, but this is a pretty good idea of the first two weeks:)

Reflection Paintings- I covered cereal box cardboard squares with aluminum foil (so they could see their reflections) and let them paint them with a cornsyrup/food coloring paint I made. There were 4 colors and they made AWESOME paintings. Again, this is hanging on our fridge.



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Paper Boys and Girls with custom shirts and pants/skirts made with different scrapbooking paper and textured paper... complete with little mary janes, belts, hair yarn, etc. super cute- I added a magnet to the back of Ikes- I think he has the fashion sense of my dad in high school... plaid pants, striped shirt:)

 





Class Quilt- Took a picture of each child and had them glue that pic to a 6x6 piece of cardstock. They then decorated their "quilt block" and I fastened them all together. This hangs in our classroom everyday... A visual that they indeed belong here, together:)







All in all, it was a really fun week!

Signs...

I have a friend who collects pics of ridiculous signs and I think it's a pretty good idea. Some people... you know what I mean?? Anyway, I'll post more as I find them. I'm constantly making Ben take pictures of them for me. In fact, I actually took a few pics in high school... Signs like "No Stopping or Standing" right in front of a crosswalk. This one is pretty special (inside the train, so we couldn't not touch it...)

This reminds me of a story about bizarre collections... Last summer my parents were visiting Jackson, WY and while my dad was at a urinal, a man came up next to him and took a picture. To which my dad replied something like, "Hey buddy, what do you think you're doing?" To which the old, presumably bored man replied, "Oh, everywhere I go I take pictures of urinals. I collect pictures of urinals from all over the world." 

What?!?! Who would've thought... I can't wait to see which of his kids inherits that gem!

Another collection... at my friend's garage sale, a man came up to us and asked, "You don't have any 35 mm cameras do you? I collect them." 

Oh! What an amazing collection you must have since all of us have at least 3 which have died over the course of our lives! Thats like collecting old remote controls:)

As you can see, I don't have much use for *most* collections, but I do respect the right of every individual (outside of my own household) to collect whatever they see fit... Just please don't will it to me:)

SWAGGER WAGON

too funny... almost makes me wanna drive a minivan. almost:) I'm not "3 deep" yet, as one of our friends put it!

Robin Hood

I know! It's been a LONG TIME since I've been to a movie that not everyone has seen yet! Here it is... Last weekend Ben and I went on a date (thanks Mike and Chalece)! and Ben won out in choosing the movie... I don't love violence, scariness, or stupid flicks... I LOVE Love stories, happy endings, etc. Ben deems these movies "not necessary for the big screen." Thus, the battle goes on... The sad part is, I'm actually with him most of the time... Why spend $9.50 when I could wait a few months and see the same flick with my BFFs for $1 (one dolla)! Anyway, THIS movie, Robin Hood, was totally worth it (granted, we used gift cards, but even if we hadn't, it would've been worth it, I probably would've just insisted on eating at home beforehand!
    So, if you care anything about my movie opinion, there it is. This movie was violent and intense enough for Ben, yet had a really great love story too. I think I also just like the medieval setting as well (and yeah, Russell Crowe and Kate Blanchett were pretty awesome- and this bad guy from LOST).  So, if you're sitting around having this same debate with your husband, let him think he "won!" You won't be too sorry!
    Oh, and you can see the trailer HERE:)