Five Ducks, Again

Honestly, I was disappointed to see this in the curriculum again.  My goal for next year-- no repeats unless it's something we love.  Ok, in all fairness, the kids DO love singing the five ducks song.  Maybe I can't stand the sight of it.   SO, we created five duck puppets again.  The kids cut out their duck heads all by themselves. 

They have come a long way with the scissors. 

Easy, a great simple song to sing and count down.

Now, go away, five ducks!!  I'm going to find something new for next time!!  If my brain hadn't "drawn a blank", I could've found something else for us to do.  I guess it was just one of those blank days.  

Goodbye ducks.

A very Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there!  God designed women to love unconditionally, and our job as mothers is the most important one.  I thank God for my babies every day.  Enjoy your weekend!

♥♥♥Happy Friday!♥♥♥

There Is Always Something

There is always something happening here!  Even if there isn't anything particularly exciting or noteworthy for me to share with you on this blog, in the kids' eyes, there is always something to look forward to.  Yesterday, they really loved playing with the balance boards in the morning.  They were having a balancing contest.

To make it interesting, they added bean bags to the tops of their heads.  It was the beginning of a day where we worked on something special for Moms, so I can't show you that here. 

I decided to document some of the "somethings" that we do on a normal day.

The ducks have really stayed here this Spring more often than the last couple of years.  We see them ALL day!  

It has become routine for us to stop and say hello.  I learned about the better food options for them.  Oats, grapes cut in half, cracked corn, bird seed.  They would not eat any of it.  They looked at me like they were being betrayed by their momma, and where was their bread?  I see them nuzzling bugs out of the grass, so I know they eat enough of what they should, so we still give them bread for snack.

Yesterday, the focus was on this baby snail we found.  The kids checked on it's very slow movement for several hours.  There is always something to notice and watch.

We have some regular crows, too.  They wait for the ducks to leave.  Crows are smart, and as long as they don't squawk  outside of our bedroom window early in the morning, they can stay.

A favorite toy to play with is just a sheet and four clothespins.  They made a house.

Kids are so easy to entertain! 

My wheels are turning about preschool this Fall.  I'm perusing all of the curriculum books that I have in search of different worksheets and ideas for the kids.  Pinterest is a helpful tool, too! 

♥♥♥Happy Thursday!♥♥♥

14, 15, 16, 17, 18..

I am counting in my sleep, with an emphasis on 14, 15, 16 and 17.  We created 18 birds yesterday!  We spent the whole day counting, re-counting.  Many of us are getting tripped up on 14 and 15.  

We glued the number 18 onto our papers.

When we use thumb prints for art, I spread the paint thinly onto a paper plate.  This helps the kids to create thumbprints that are less blobby.  

Boy did it take a while, and 18 is a large number.  We all counted together to 18 with each child as they created 18 thumb prints.

We re-counted to 18 as each child drew legs onto each thumbprint.

We counted AGAIN, one beak for each bird.  

We counted again for each eye.  Repetition can really help us get over the confusion about the order of the numbers.

Out into the rain we went!  

♫Now playing at Henle House "Just The Same" by Barnaby Bright.♫ 

♥♥♥Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

You Don't Have To Wear Your Jacket

Sometimes the simplest things are cause for celebration.  Now that Spring is here, the afternoon sun is warming us up enough that the kids can decide whether or not to wear their jacket.  They feel victorious when they get to bolt outside without the constraints of a jacket.  It takes time for them to put on their jacket.  Their outside play time is precious to them!  Every second counts.  How freeing it is to just put on shoes and bolt outside!  

The kids' sunflower seeds have sprouted already.  We will keep them inside for a few days and then find a suitable home for them outside.

Can you believe we are almost at the end of the alphabet?  I just realized that in the Fall, FIVE of my enrolled children will all be in school.  That will leave me with three preschoolers.  I'm hoping to add at least one more preschooler.  We will see what God allows.  I've already ordered a new preschool curriculum book so that I can try to avoid second year preschool repeat projects.  This will keep me on my toes!

The gardens are really blessing us with blooms!

It's fun to wander and take a look at which bloom is swelling every morning.

Zuko followed me, yesterday.

Meanwhile, I am using my rototiller shovel to turn the soil in the veggie garden.  I wish I had a small rototiller. I meant to have my seeds planted last weekend but for some reason had ZERO energy.  I even had to turn back and walk home during my walk.  (Unusual.)  Hopefully this weekend I can work on it.

♥♥♥Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥

Up

We finished up with the letter U on Friday!  We created a simple house that was floating away as the house in the movie "Up". 

The kids glued the house on, drew some strings for the balloons, and finger printed the balloons onto the strings.  My camera died after this photo, so I didn't get any photos of the process.

You get the idea, right?

Cute.

It's a rare occurrence for Aiden to come out and play with the kids. 

He led them in a game of "find the item". 

The kids all piled into the shed, covered their eyes and counted.  Aiden hid the items.  They were all released to enjoy the hunt!  It's a simple game, but these kids could play it all day!

Chippy is really bossy lately.  I'm not getting her peanut pile poured fast enough!  She is knocking on the cat door again because I'm not paying attention.  She is so sweet, I'm glad she comes to see us.  Well, she probably just wants food, but I like to think that she thinks I am her momma and she loves me. Wishful thinking, right?

Now playing "Elastic Heart" by Sia.  I love this whole album, but cannot seem to like any of her other albums.  By the way, may the fourth be with you.  

♥♥♥Happy Monday!♥♥♥

The Gardens Are God's Art

As you've gathered by now, gardening as a hobby of mine.  I also love to read and take long walks through Snohomish.  I would say that gardening is my number one favorite thing to do in my free time.  It amazes me every time how beautiful each flower is.  God is truly an artist, and I am so grateful to be able to watch some of it here in our yard.  I love to weed them, and there is usually a cat following me through the gardens, too.   I like to incorporate gardening into preschool.  I don't always give up my own garden space for the preschool, some things need to remain mine.  (Like my personal bubble space-- I am not a hugger.)  This year the preschoolers will be gardening in containers and small growth projects.  We began yesterday with a couple of simple ones.

This book came from Scholastic and included a small solarium to sprout some sunflowers. 

The kids felt the pellet.  They couldn't understand how it would turn into soil when we add water.

They added water and went off to make their nap time mats while we waited for the soil to expand.

Smudge came to see what was going on.  

"Hi Smudge."

We noted the changes.

We each planted a seed.

Onto the sunny window sill it went!  We are checking it every day and will transplant them if they successfully sprout.

We noticed a blooming poppy through the window!  Hooray!!

Project number two was what I like to call "grass heads".  I hot glued these faces on ahead of time.

We took a good look at some grass seeds.  They are so small!

To the veggie garden we all went, to borrow some dirt.

We were watching for some green bean sprouts, too.

I also planted Scarlet Runner Beans, I can't wait to watch those bloom!

The kids covered their dirt with grass seeds and returned to the garden to add more dirt.

"Will they grow while we are sleeping?" 

They always think the plants will grow right away. :)

The kids found each found his or her own name stick and added it to their grass head.

They were happy to be able to see some of the seeds through the side of the cups.  I will update you when the sprouts appear!

"Nicole, these flowers are almost as tall as I am!"  Oh man- I am going to miss my little gardener.  She'll be leaving us next month.  She is always usually right there with me when I'm getting into the garden, and she can point out vegetables and sprouts.   I can't believe how tall the Columbine is, either!  I sprinkled some seed in that spot last year, I think, and it is a monster now!

♥♥♥Happy Friday!♥♥♥