Red Light Green Light

Here is a fun way to get the kids excited about playing Red Light Green Light.  We created some quick signs to make it more fun for the caller. The kids were so anxious to have their turn JUST to be able to hold up the signs they made!  This ten minute project caused a good 45 minutes of active indoor play time. Score!

Meanwhile, I don't think this is a fair fight...   Don't worry- she is standing there because she knows he isn't allowed to actually "whopp" her.. but boy are those blow up boxing gloves fun!  Happy Wednesday! Our weather is foul today- dark, wet, and freezing.  ♥♥♥

Song for today comes from a GREAT children's CD by Ziggy Marley called Family Time.  The song is called Take Me To Jamaica. ♫♪  I don't usually enjoy children's CDs, but this one is a keeper.

Name Lacing

I found this cool kit on the Scholastic website.  I was thinking yesterday that these alphabet lacing letters are easy to make.  I would use a cereal box, cut out alphabet letters, and then just use a hole punch to make holes for lacing.  Easy. 

Writing our names can get very boring.  Yesterday we decided to use the lacing letters.

I love the colorful shoe laces!

This is great fine motor skill practice.  He was excited to show me each letter upon completion, and actually attempted to string them together.  Good!

Meanwhile, I love kindergarteners.  They are still happy to wear their creations!  Aiden came off of the bus yesterday wearing this fabulous crown.

Isn't it great? ♥

Smudge likes to jump on top of the speakers when the music is playing.  He is the house boss. ♥  Happy Tuesday! ♥♥♥

 Song for today is Bob Marley's Africa Unite.  It's a reggae kind of day today.  Dreaming of sunshine at Henle House.☼

Fish

Lately we have been talking about going fishing.  We see the lake on our way to and from the bus stop and occasionally point out fisherman on small boats.  I wish it were me out on the fishing boat first thing in the morning, but obviously I don't have time for that.  We are just happy to see them , and then the talk comes up,"Who made the fish, anyway?"  I ask them.   "God!" They answer.  "Yep, that's right." I respond.  We thought we would create our own fish.  I like to use the book above for crafts.

Our fish are not hanging fish, but we used this idea as a guideline.  I am so grateful for craft books.  Sometimes I don't want to even have to think.. (wow..) so grabbing a book off of the shelf for some inspiration is helpful.

I pre-cut some shapes.  Two of the kids who were going to complete this can actually use scissors, and I tend to forget that sometimes.  It's best if they cut out their own pieces!  I will remember that for next time.
We got out the trays to help us contain all of the pieces.

 I found some shiny things to glue on.  Sequence and confetti pieces, cut up tinfoil.

"A little dab will do."  I get all anxious when the kids have a glue bottle.  Some of them get excited to see the glue just pouring out and forget to follow the "dab" rule.  Aiden was excellent with his glue.

I helped out with glue for some others.

Stick..  stick...

Aren't they beautiful? Happy Monday- I am so happy to see the sunshine this morning. ☼

Song for today is "She's A Rainbow" by The Rolling Stones because my hubby has been teasing me. I have to sing and flash love and peace signs when this song is playing, and he acts like he hates it but really he wishes he were a wannabe hippy just like me. ♥♥

Mr. Yuk

I love Mr. Yuk stickers.  I purchased my Mr. Yuk stickers from Washington Poison Control Center via snail mail.  Every year, we bust them out and along with a great worksheet about poison, we learn what Mr. Yuk stickers mean.

We talked about how the bubbles looked a little bit like lemonade, and the dish soap looks like melted Popsicle, but should we EVER taste them?  NO.  Touch them? NO.  We must tell a grownup  and stay away.  Then we talked about how we know that if there is a Mr. Yuk sticker, it helps to remind us not to touch or taste.

The kids cut out the cleaning bottles and glued them back under the sink.  Although now it is always recommended to store those things out of reach.  It's an old worksheet.

Look what we found in the back garden yesterday!  Spring is on its way! 

The garden is waking up.  Oh the joy this brings me!  It's already time to weed and fertilize!  I am so anxious it's killing me.  I would rather my husband come home and surprise me with a load of cow manure than a dozen roses.  I am dead serious.

We were happy to get outside.  It was so nice of the rain to stop.  Happy Friday!♥♥♥

Song for today is I've Got The World On A String by Frank Sinatra. He's so suave. ♫♪

Where's Smudge?

Ok, another cat posting.  I can't help it.  Smudge is, well.. just awesome.  We played "Where's Smudge" all day yesterday.  (Aaaw, we miss Chloe.♥)

This one was particularly funny because I have child proof locks on the handles for this cabinet.  Now we REALLY have to make sure they are in place. Smudge knows what is tucked inside the door of this cabinet.

Cat treats AND catnip. 

We managed to get some work done, too.  We have been doing a lot of sorting and matching lately.

Shape sorting was successful.

I only left this cabinet open for a SECOND.  Wham-o, Smudge was in.  I like to call this storage in the wall our "shove and slam".  It is so full of blankets and towels we have to first shove, and then slam the doors shut to keep them all in.   I guess there is always room for Smudge.  He is so exploratory!   Happy Thursday! ♥♥♥

Song for today is It Will Rain by Bruno Mars.  I heard it on the radio and was SO excited because I truly believed Hanson had come out with a new album.  WRONG.  It's just Bruno Mars.  But I still like Hanson and have always been teased about it. LOL♫♪

Sorting & Counting

Now is a good time to review.  I saw this sorting idea on this great blog recently and thought I'd jump on the bandwagon right away.  I like how that mom uses a tray for her projects.  We have trays that we use for messy projects.  Anyway, we are reviewing our colors and this sorting idea was perfect.

I prepared the paper ahead of time and provided an old applesauce cup of squares in various colors.  They must glue the correct color into the columns.  Easy squeezy.

This opens my mind up to more sorting activities in our near future.  Starting today.  (See tomorrows post.)

Here is another simple project.  12 dots.

It can be hard for the kids to stop at 12.  They did a great job, though!  Meanwhile, the Department Of Early Learning is killing me with new rules and regulations.  I wouldn't be surprised if they come in here and force me to use some bland curriculum eventually.  I am now $130 in the hole thanks to new classes I have to take JUST to hear all of the new rules.  That is SIX of my Tuesday nights, and too much money.  I thought they wanted to encourage their providers, not stomp them down with regulation this and regulation that.  It's disheartening.  Don't get me wrong, I am a rule follower and understand why these things are in place.  But DEL, please stop making it so difficult for us in home child care providers to actually do our job, - I want to spend my day loving these children, not filling out forms.

Song for today is Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf. ♥♥ Groovy.

Caramel Popcorn

I had the day off yesterday.  It was far from relaxing, though..  Our vacuum has been broken for over a month.  Yes, I haven't vacuumed the bedrooms for that long, and they were so gross.  I have always had bad luck with vacuum cleaners.  I find one that i think is affordable, am thrilled with it until it just dies.  The last one only lasted a year.  Yesterday being Presidents Day, the next Henle House vacuum was on sale and I rushed to Fred Meyers to pick it up.  Needless to say, I felt relieved to vacuum the bedrooms.  Phew. (OCD relieved.)  On to the next task- 6 hours of laundry folding.  I am not kidding!  Stephanie and I watched Lord Of The Rings part 2 and 3, that is 6 hours worth of movie, and I washed and folded laundry all day.  She had a brilliant idea though, for mom to make caramel popcorn.  MMM, she was right.  It was a good day for it.  Here is the recipe I use, it is an ooey gooey delicious mess, requiring a wet washcloth nearby to use as a napkin.  A best friend of mine has a dad who would make us a giant bowl of caramel popcorn and we would eat it all.  We've been friends for 28 years now.  I think of her EVERY time I eat caramel popcorn.

               Caramel Popcorn

One big bowl of popped popcorn (plain)

1/2 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, melt butter, sugar and corn syrup.  Bring to rolling boil, stirring constantly.   Remove from burner.  Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla.  Stir, returning to burner for just a minute.  It says to cook until the thermometer reads 238 degrees.  I NEVER waste my time with this.  If it's hot, it's perfect.  Pour over popcorn and mix until all of the popcorn is evenly covered.  Cool for a few minutes before gorging yourself. 

I love this recipe because the caramel stays gooey rather than hardening.  It's even BETTER the next day!Happy Tuesday. ♥♥♥

Song for today is Man In Motion from the soundtrack St. Elmos Fire.  Great song- I feel like I am winning when it plays, and am laughing at this guys hair as well. LOL ♫

Smudge Meets Chippy

Ok ok, I'm a cat lady.  I'll probably fill our house with cats when our kids move out, too.  We have been having so much fun with our new kitty, Smudge.   God sure works in mysterious ways.  I was sure God was torturing me when my cats disappeared, and now I think it was a blessing in disguise.   Those cats, although MY faithful friends, would just run away from the boys.  Not Smudge!  He loves them!  It brings me such joy to see them being able to pet the cat, play with him, feed him, and he actually greets them in their beds in the morning. 

We love that Smudge demands attention.  We have all day to spoil him!

Yesterday, Smudge noticed someone.

His tail was waving back and force fiercely. Look at our Chippy, so sweet!♥  Chippy was more than happy to make his acquaintance.

He even stepped in for a closer look.   Forget the peanuts, who is this new cat?  Little did he know that Smudge wanted to "play".

The stare down continued for a while.  All of the while, I was telling Smudge that he has to love chippy.  No eat.

I am sure Chippy is looking at me for reassurance.  I feel like his mommy.  I sure wish I could snuggle him!  I know that people have kept squirrels inside as pets.  I won't go that far.

Hey!  Where did it go?

One whole hour later.. still waiting. ♥  Happy Monday!♥♥♥

Song for today is one that reminds me of my childhood.  Everything that was played during my childhood was played LOUD, and this one must be played loud.  "Lift Me Up" by Yes. ♫♪

What Brightens Your Day?

I woke up at 5:15 this morning.  I know it's because I knew I needed to be up half an hour earlier for a drop off, but my mind was wide awake the minute I awoke.  Sometimes I think that is Gods doing, waking me up and having a discussion with me.  I've been grumbly lately.  Not for any reason in particular.  I suppose I just feel so busy I don't even know what is happening in each whirlwind of a day.  Time for a God smack.  Did any of you ever go to childrens church or Sunday school as a child?  I didn't.  Well, maybe a couple of times I remember, but I grew up in Utah where the mormon church is dominant.  My mom has always been a Christ follower and was diligent about making us know about Jesus, with the occasional drive in search of a Christian church.  It's funny what really made me start to remember and apply this information in my own life.   It wasn't until I was 26 years old and my husband and I started to help with the AWANA program at church. (AWANA stands for Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed) It's a program that teaches kids about God and they work hard memorizing verses.  It was during this time that I began learning, too.  That, by the way, is so God.  God knows that I need instructions in the simplest form.  Suddenly the Bible started to actually make sense to me.  Here I am rambling and I suppose I will get to the point.. when I woke up the thought that was immediate to me is that God is my light.  The photo above is on the front of a card that my handsome hubby gave me a while back.  He knows how much I love sunshine! I thought about that card- it sits in my kitchen window, I must look at it 30 times each day.  That sunshine symbolizes God to me.  Who cares how busy I am- I am just going to sit back and let God do his stuff with my life.  Adam and I are finishing up our last year of AWANA.  We are moving on to helping out with the youth group.  We are so excited for this change and feel it is where we are being led.  I think because we both felt so strongly about it that it must be some of Gods "sunshine" for us.  That thought alone brightens my day!  What brightens yours? ♥♥♥  Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of it's own."

Song for today is Supermassive Black Hole by Muse. ♫♪

Heart Hats

I saw this great idea on Pinterest and had to try it.  I love Pinterest, more helpful ideas right at my fingertips! 

We used up the rest of our paper heart cut outs on the heart hats.  Glue and stick.  Glue and stick.  ♥   ♥♥  ♥

Somebody wanted me to take her photo. 

These could be worn as he wore it.. and I want you to know that he LOVED his hat!  I did not force him to wear it. ♥ 

It can also be worn like this..

Now it's a porthole..

Anyway, they loved the heart hats!  Easy squeezy- all made out of a simple paper plate. ♥  Happy Thursday!♥♥♥

Song for today is Safe And Sound by Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars. (Whom I love.)  I think I read somewhere that this song was written for The Hunger Games movie.  I still need to borrow Stephanies book and read it. ♫♪