CR Week at Preschool

I actually taught CR week for preschool a whole two weeks ago, and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it...but it's better late than never!! 

Day 1

We started the morning by doing a matching game with pictures of CRowns.

Then, we did another chart similar to the S/SH/ST chart the week prior, but this time, we did C/CH/CR, and instead of handing each girl one picture of each sound, I had them each draw from a cup.  

This randomized who got what, when, and was much more effective in challenging them to think through which column the picture should go under. 

Upon completion of the chart, we talked about one of the words, crowns, and read a book about a princess, The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andres and Emma Walton Hamilton.  Cute book!! As we read we tried to spot her crown on every page. 

After this book we were all inspired to become princesses, so we made our own crowns.

The supplies: printed crown for tracing,
pink card stock paper for tracing/cutting out crowns,
containers filled with fun jewels,
and long piece of construction paper stapled to the end

  

As you can see, I ended up needing to add
an extra strip of paper to make it long
enough to fit on the girls' heads.

After snack and playtime (very important components of preschool!!) the girls played with paint bags.  I used large Ziplock bags and put some paint in there, but, don't... it worked okay, but would have worked much, much better if I had used the smaller Ziplocks and filled it up with more paint.

We practiced writing our letters and numbers
 (I think this is an M for mom, I'm gonna go with it!)
and then just made fun designs.

We did this activity earlier this week as well, Owen included:

Selah found that an empty tape roll
is perfect for making circles in the paint...
we also ended up using some plastic cookie cutters
we had around.

I used the smaller bag for Owen (worked MUCH better!!) and taped it to his tray...he basically just clawed at it the whole time trying to get it off, but hey, he was still having fun, I think.  Tip: Make sure baby's nails are clipped before this activity.  Because Owen's sure weren't, and he clawed right through and ended up getting painty hands anyway.  So much for my attempt for a mess-free activity! 

ANYWAY...back to preschool!! 

Day 2

We started this day with a fun CRayon activity.  I gave the girls a few hints as to what we were going to sort that started with CR and they were able to eventually come to the correct answer...was much more fun than just telling them!

I wrote the name of each color (in its color) on a paper plate:

Then, I laid them down in a circle and gave each girl a handful of crayons at a time from our big bag of mixed up crayons.  Then they walked around and found the matches! They LOVED this activity!! 

We also sorted the crayons onto a plate labeled "short"
and another plate labeled "long".  Just for fun!
Good to know we have way more unbroken, long crayons
than short, broken ones!! Selah must be a gentle colorer. 

After our fun sorting adventure, we quieted down with a book titled Clumsy Crab by Ruth Galloway.  

And then we made crabs...

We started by painting half a paper plate red...

then I helped the girls fold two strips of red paper accordion style
and glue eyes onto another two tiny slips of paper.

Finished products!! Aren't they cute!?  

After snack and playtime, we played with shaving cream, and I made sure to ask the girls to figure out which word on the can, "shaving" or "cream", started with CR.

We again practiced our letters and numbers, and then just played!!

To end the day, and week, we did another activity with Crayons, except this time the crayons were made from yarn. 

Daniel's sweet neighbor from his childhood made this blanket for us,
and it came in very handy this week!  It doesn't look like it from the picture
but one of those crayons is blue and the other is purple.

I would call out a color and the girls would jump on it, kinna like Twister I guess, and they had so much fun bouncing around! 

That's all!! If you have any questions about anything or want any materials, let me know!! 

Free Friday Fun

As I looked at our jam packed calendar the other day I realized that there was a tiny white square with absolutely no pen scribbles in it for the AM.  Odd.  For some reason our mornings are always so busy, busy, busy!! I was relieved to finally see that we had nothing scheduled; no doctor appointments to go to, no playdates/Bible studies to attend (which, I do actually love, but sometimes a day at home is just perfect), no errands to run...it was a free Friday (morning)!! YAY!! I wanted to plan something super fun for the kids and I decided to let them paint the kitchen! Well, just the floor...with paper covering it...

Selah is super excited to get to squeeze the paint,
and Owen is content to hold tight to that brush!

Very curious as to what sister is doing over there.

Let the messy creating begin!!

Owen's favorite part was squishing
the slimy, cold paint in his hands,
not so much getting anything on the paper.

And Selah's favorite part was
painting with her feet,
that's how that big blue blob came to be.

Owen's just as colorful as the paper!!

Finished product! 

Now for the clean up...I knew this could potentially be a bit tricky, but it really ended up being so easy and surprisingly super enjoyable (until I took Owen out of the sink and took away the spoon he was playing with in the bubbles...then he shed buckets and buckets of tears!!). 

I knew these big sinks would come in handy one day!
He really, REALLY, really, didn't want to leave this sweet spot!

And then, of course, Selah wanted a turn in the sink because Owen made it look way too fun to pass up...so she got to soak her feet while washing out the paint brushes...win/win!

Then, this had to happen...

Goodbye pretty artwork...
at least we still have
pictures to remember you by!

I didn't know what else to do with it.  So I crumpled it up... so, so sad.   Usually, I try to keep everything the kids make, but if I do throw it out I keep it for at least a couple weeks to display it somewhere, this piece didn't make it two hours!  I couldn't keep it on the floor without Owen getting into it and completely colored again, and I didn't have a big enough space up high to let it dry...so, what's done is done.  What would you all have done with it? 

We have since moved on...

to jumping off of chairs onto couch cushions!

I hope you guys had a fabulous Friday!!  Ours didn't start out stelar (Owen basically wanted to be held from the time he woke up at 6:15 till his first nap at 9... exhausting!), but after a couple hours of messy, creative fun, things were looking up!  

Sloppy Selahs

Tonight we ate Sloppy Selahs (AKA: Sloppy Joes) for dinner.  I have never had a sloppy joe from a can (which may be delicious, I haven't a clue!) because my mom just always made a super simple, super yummy, homemade(ish) sloppy joe that her mother used to make her...and maybe her mother made her??...I have no idea who originated this recipe but I'm sure glad it's been past on!! Here it is:

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger
1 can chicken gumbo soup
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp mustard
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Ground the hamburger and drain.  Add the rest and heat.  That easy!

Place on buns...with a slice of American cheese if you wanna get crazy (I personally like to leave it cheeseless) and serve with green beans or whatever veggie you prefer (and, for leftovers, I like to use it as a "dip" with tortilla chips).

**Tip: Up until like 4 years ago Campbell's used to make a regular chicken gumbo, but now all they have is a light version, which is a bit more watered down, so I drain a little bit of the liquid before adding it to the beef.

Owen at 11 Months

Some time in the near future (hopefully) I will write a Meet Selah/Meet Owen post...but tonight I will give you a little glimpse at my little guy, Owen, who happens to be 11 months today, along with a little somethin' about the Selah girl.  

It's weird to think Owen is only a month away from being one...and I know everyone says this, but time really does go by so quickly, even more so this second time!  I didn't even realize we hit the 11 month mark until 30 minutes ago while doing the dishes (alot of things don on me while doing the dishes!) which was totally opposite of how I was with Selah... I was very vigilant in recording every single little milestone with Selah, like when she breathed differently, made a goofy new sound, did something cute with her pinky finger on her right hand, and blinked half a second longer than usual (okay, maybe some of these are a bit exaggerated, but only a little, honestly, I was a little obsessed with my baby girl) but I just haven't been with Owen...his blinking and breathing patterns tend to go unnoticed.

I think there is something in our human nature (or maybe it's just me) where we loose our excitement about things we've already experienced, including giving birth and raising children.  Don't get me wrong, when Owen was born I was PLLLLENTY excited and when he learns something new, like how to walk, I'm still amazed and proud, but the extent of it, or how it looks and feels is just different, maybe not less, just different.  Part of me feels guilty and sad about this, like I want to make myself equally as enthusiastic about the new way he selects toys from the bin or the way he manages to twist his paci the correct way in his mouth, like I would have been with Selah; I want to force the same reaction to drop everything I'm doing, grab a camera and/or pen and paper to record every movement, but I just can't...that same zeal is just not there, it's close but just not the same, and sometimes it's just not realistic with what all else is going on around me.  It's just weird, and on my mind...but anyway, here are some fun pictures of the moments I HAVE captured today!  Enjoy! :)

You can usually find Owen with a long, stick-like object in hand...
like this paintbrush,

that he is now trying to eat, also very usual behavior.

Just trying to measure stuff mom...

like the distance from my mouth to my hand! 

And, just for fun, here's a couple funny Selah quotes from today (also something I wish I was better at capturing)...

At lunch Owen started spitting his applesauce out at me (which is usually my cue he's done!), and Selah chimes in, "Owen, no spitting your food, Owen, because, God cares about us." -- not sure how these two statements relate, but she sure thinks they do...

Daniel had to work later than usual so while he was eating dinner and we were playing in the living room Selah asks, "What are you doing Daddy?" 

pause: this always makes me laugh, these questions with obvious answers, I mean, Daniel was clearly sitting at the table with a plate of food in front of him and chowing down on leftover steak... so silly, but super cute, most the time! 

resume: 
Daniel responds, "Eating in peace."
I overhear her say, "Oh, peas, those are good for you!"
And she comes running to me to relay the information she's uncovered, "Mommy, Daddy's eating peas!!" She's clearly really proud of him for eating so healthy.

Then, Daniel corrects her, "No, IN peace, I'm eating in peace."
Selah, giving more proof that English is a tough, tough language, responds "Oh, you're eating in pees? or in poops?" -- I really wonder what she thought about daddy eating in pee?? 

We eventually, after laughing, explained that "peace" means quiet, calm...anything BUT the dinner Daniel was experiencing! 

Here's a not-so short video of our evening...I didn't feel like cutting it, soooo enjoy if you so desire.  Thanks for reading!

        Happy Eleven Months Owen!! 

We love you VERY, VERY much...

even if my lack of documentation shows otherwise!

  

Impromptu Splash Day

We got invited to go to a splash pad with some friends last minute this afternoon, and I wasn't sure if we should go because I am so not prepared for summer...as in I had no idea where swimsuits were (if we had swimsuits that fit!) or sunscreen or towels or swim diapers or whatever else you need for water activities like this, BUT I scrounged up what I could (including fresh mango chunks for snack... YUM!!) because I didn't want to miss this opportunity! I knew Selah would have a blast...wasn't sure if Owen would enjoy it or not but he loves the outdoors so I knew I had to give it a go.  Ended up being the perfect way to embrace summer and the undoubtedly hot days to come!! Here's what went down...

Doing what little brothers do best...Selah's such a good sport!
Although, she's pretty good at doing what big sisters do best too (just keep reading)
so she may deserve a tap on the head with a shovel every now and again :)

These fountains are so much better than baths, Mom!!

Splish Splash, Splish Splash!

Look at those tiny, wet baby footprints!!!
You can even make out the chub of those sweet feet!

He picked a perfect time to start full on walking!!
He padded all over those puddles! 

A fun little video...and if you make it to the end you will see what I mean by Selah fulfilling her big sister role... :)  

That grab/hug/pull/tackle full of love there at the end

 happens alllll the time.  Poor guy.  He rarely complains though *shrugs*...  

These are common phrases said throughout the day when I see this occurring:

"Selah, please don't hold your brother like that."

"Selah! No! Let go!"

"Selah, Seeeeelah, SELAH! Stop! He is not a doll!"

Oy vey!

I wonder if I did this to my little brother?? I need to find this out. 

After our fun in the sun we came home and ate dinner...

which was apparently bowl-licking good, 

even though it was just leftovers.

I have a feeling this is going to be a typical day during the next couple months!! Bring on the cool, refreshing water!!!!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star...

I really do wonder what you are!!

Space is very fascinating.   

In forth grade, we did this space exploration simulation unit that involved working in groups and watching brief episodes on the TV that gave us all specific jobs to accomplish some overall task dealing with the planets and what-not, that's as many details as I remember, but what I do remember is that I absolutely LOVED it!!! I generally hated science throughout school, but not during this unit!! I looked forward to it every day!  No other space lessons stick out in my mind throughout my school years...that couldn't have possibly been it?? I don't know...  

But, fast forward to last year when the third graders I was student teaching were doing a unit on space.  At this point in time I hadn't taken on the responsibilities of teaching science (thank God! for me and my students' sake!), so, as my cooperating teacher led all the lessons, I sat in amazement;  absorbing all that was being taught, as if learning it all for the first time.  Did you know that our sun is a star?!?!  I feel like everyone knows this but me...and I aced everything in school, my whole life...I feel, well, I don't know how I feel...but it seems like this is information I should know.  Thank goodness we have our whole lives to keep learning!  Anyway, every time science rolled around I was just awe-struck at our big, BIG universe!!    

Then, while preparing to teach the ST blend for Selah's preschool, and thinking maybe I would do something on stars, I stumbled across some books at the library on the subject.  I was reading through one of them with Selah and the very last line really stood out to me, and I've been pondering on it ever since.  I don't remember the exact quote, and the book has already been returned, but it was talking about the stars and how our sun is a star, and how there is a possibility that one of the stars that we see at night could possibly be a sun to another planet similar to ours and that someone out in the universe could be looking at our sun and seeing a tiny star... just let that sink in a bit... 

Isn't that incredible to think about?!?! 

Sure brings new meaning to that silly little song I sing daily!  We know so very little, or at least I do, about what all is out there in our universe.  It is mind-blowing to think that one of those itty-bitty stars, "up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky", could be a life-sustaining sun to another solar system.  

Well then my thoughts got really outta control crazy...

What about God?? How does He fit into it all? I believe Him to be the Lord of the universe and to be the Father of Jesus Christ who came to Earth to die on a cross to save humanity from sin, I do...but if there are other forms of life out there...did God create them and their planets as well?? Did He send Jesus to all of their broken worlds, if they are broken, as well??  Has Jesus been bouncing around, planet to planet, saving souls all over space...in the same way??

These thoughts cannot completely be out of the realm of possibility right?  And these questions cannot be completely ludicrous, right?! Maybe it isn't very likely, but surely there is a chance, maybe there is more of a chance than we would like to believe.  I mean, there are very popular movies out there about this very subject (eh-hem, Star Wars...Star-Trek), so I'm not the only one who has thought these thoughts. 

Thinking about the vastness of our world doesn't make me feel small and insignificant though, which seems like maybe it should.  It actually makes me feel very honored and grateful to be apart of it all...whatever “ALL” is.  I am very appreciative of the life I have been given.  It also makes me very curious.  And it makes life exciting…to know that there is so much that is unknown; that there is still so much left to discover and learn.  I like the anticipation of maybe being able to understand it all one day, when I get to Heaven, if that's how that works.  So weird to think about, and also so fun!! I'm sure there isn't an appropriate adjective to describe how incredible it will be!

What are yall's thoughts on space?? Does it just blow your mind like it does me??

                         

ST Week at Preschool

Selah and I joined a preschool co-op this March, which means, every 4 weeks I have two adorable little girls come over to my place and I get to stretch my teaching skills.  For those that may not know, I graduated last May with a teaching degree... I just haven't used it yet, well, used it to make money at least.  When this opportunity came up I had to jump at it, and I'm having a blast!! 

This past week it was my turn to teach and I covered the blend ST.  Here is a run down of what we did:

Day 1

To start the morning, I had the girls work on a star puzzle.

  

I added the extra lines on the yellow star to make it a little easier.

After the puzzle, we did a word sort.  I printed and cut out pictures of words that started with S, SH, and ST.  Each girl got one picture of each type (so 9 total pictures), then I would ask them to each find the picture they thought started with S.  Then, they each got a turn to stick it onto a pre-taped piece of paper in the correct column.  We did this for SH and ST words as well (but, obviously, by the last picture it was easy to determine which column it went into, but that was okay since S and SH were already covered, and ST was a new letter combo, worked pretty well).

Next, we talked about an animal that looks like a star...a starfish!! Who knew they were such neat creatures!! We read this awesome book, 

Star of the Sea: A Day in the Life of a Starfish by Janet Halfmann.

(We later glanced at the pictures in the book pictured on the right during our craft.)

After we read the book, we headed to the table for a starfish craft.

I pre-cut the starfish shape and had the girls glue them onto their blue pieces of paper.  Then I gave them a container of cheerios and let them go to town.  We talked about how the Cheerios were the starfish's sticky tube feet that helped them move around (mentioned in the story).  

Later, I handed them each a little booklet with fun starfish facts on them (again, covered in the story) and they glued them to the bottom of their papers.  We read the following facts together:

• Starfish can be many colors, sizes, and shapes.
• Starfish are also called "sea stars".
• Starfish have tiny tube feet to help them move.
• Starfish have two stomachs. (who knew??)
• Starfish eat mussels, clams, and oysters. (I had no clue!)
• Starfish can grow new rays if one is lost. (Aren't starfish the coolest!?!?!) 

Our last activity for the day was to put as many fun star-shaped stickers on a piece of paper, and then later we figured out how many stars were put on to practice counting.

We also found this contraption: 

Daniel found this somewhere for super cheap and thought Selah would like it, but we have never really used it...until now! We all went into the dark bathroom, turned this sucker on, and found ourselves surrounded by pretty, multi-colored stars spinning around us. The girls thought it was pretty incredible and kept trying to "catch" the stars! So fun!

We wrapped up our day by singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star... of course! :)

Day 2

This day was filled with a hodgepodge of ST related activities (stirring, starting/stopping, stretching, stripes...random!). 

We started by dancing around and getting our wiggles out with these streamers (I later helped guide them to the discovery that streamers starts with ST).

It was impossible to get a clear picture with all the dancing going on!!

 To make these streamers I just cut two strips of each color, wrapped them around a craft stick twice, and taped it on...easy peasy!

Next, we calmed ourselves down by reading A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon...

great book about remaining true to yourself...and a great segway into our art project, painting stripes!

Using a piece of plain white card stock paper, I put lines of masking tape about every inch doing down.  Then, I let the girls paint any way they wanted, but I told them they had to cover all the white with paint.  

  

Once the paint dried, I peeled off the tape and...

 behold! Our beautiful striped masterpieces! If I did this again, I would have cut/ripped the masking tape in half so that the colored stripes were larger than the white stripes...buuuut, ya live and learn, and I still think these turned out great!! 

Next, we ate trailmix for snack, and I had the girls help me stir (get it, STir) the ingredients together :)  

We all counted to 20 together during each person's turn to get a little more practice in, and, of course, to make sure everyone's stir-time was totally, completely, without-a-doubt, fair. They're three...

During playtime we all headed out back for a version of Red Light, Green Light. One child went to one end of the yard with me (and Owen), while the other two stayed behind (well, I should pause and make sure to mention that we STretched before participating in this game, gotta keep it safe!).  The child with me was the caller and she yelled out "STOP" or "START", and the other two followed her directions until they both made it to the other side.  Lots of giggling going on during this one!! 

Our last activity involved animals of the striped sort...back to those stripes!! I gave each girl a baggie of 8 cut out pictures of animals (5 striped, 3 not), and they picked out the ones with stripes and glued them onto a piece of construction paper. 

Finding striped animals
that young ones would know really well
proved to be more challenging than I thought...

We ended our busy day with a couple more dance moves with our streamers!

It was a STupendous (I just couldn't help myself!) week!! :D 

**All of these ideas were my own, except for the cute starfish idea with Cheerios...that I found here!