Hard Workers

I found enough of these ladybug craft kits for the kids to put together yesterday.  That's the fun part about going through and clearing out supplies!

"Show me one finger, please!"  This is the one finger they used to dot some ink dots onto their ladybug wings.

We added eyes and a stick.  So sorry about the fuzzy photos!  I need a new camera, badly! 

The apple tree is going through a clean up process.  We are going  to remove all of it's branches in hopes of helping it produce better branches and apples.  We woke yesterday to find that one branch that had been sawed through half way decided to take a dive.  It is still attached to the tree, so it was fun for the kids to play under it.   I know, "Yay.. a.. branch.. to play with.." Seriously!  It was a tunnel! 

The best part was the kids got to take an up close look at some apples and how they 

are attached to the tree.

The branches were wet from a nice morning rain, the kids had a blast just ducking down to go under it.  They were trying NOT to get wet, and boy was it fun if someone bumped it. 

These kids know me so well.  When the apples fall, I pick them up at least once every day. 

 They beat me to it. 

It then became some sort of contest.  They placed the apples into the bucket.  These kids are hard workers!

Certain that he had gathered the most, he celebrated!

Wait.. this guy was also sure he gathered the most!

This one played "duck under the tree" for a long time. :)  It's the little things that keep us occupied. 

I'm ok with that!

♥♥♥Happy Thursday!♥♥♥

Preschool Prep

It's that time again, and I am reeling with happiness!   I feel very blessed that God continues to allow me to run Henle House.  What a joy it is to work from home.  There are so many aspects of my job that I love, but teaching preschool is my #1.  I spend many hours each year planning and writing out my curriculum.  The last week of August is usually reserved for fine tuning, re-looking it over, tweaking it here and there and writing out my supply lists.  My goal is to teach them without them realizing that they are learning.  Making it fun is key.  Especially since I teach a variety of age groups all in one.  Each lesson must be visually entertaining for a two year old, while feeding the minds of those ages 2-5. 

Here is what my curriculum looks like.  I need the organization.  It feels good.  Sorry about the bad photo, my camera decided to stop auto focusing.  I now need a new camera.  

This cabinet will be tackled today.  It's time to clean out the leftover supplies from the summer projects that we created.  I managed to clean out my bench in the garage that was full of supplies.  I feel ready to go!

It's time to move in the appropriate subject books to my group time basket.  I'm also looking at flashcards to make sure they are in good shape.  If not, now is the time for me to remake them. 

My "Good Job Jar" is fully stocked with MnM's.  This is a great incentive in group time!  

Finally, I have pulled out my seasonal books for September.  We start talking about Autumn the first week of September.  Children's books are a great resource for learning all about seasonal changes.  Books are powerful tools! 

 Are YOU ready for your kids to go back to school?  I think all of mine are ready.  We have a freshman, a 4th grader and a 2nd grader.  My how time flies. 

♥♥♥Happy Monday!♥♥♥

Let's Get Outta Here

We skipped art and walked down to the park yesterday.  It was such a beautiful sunny morning!  Look at my boys.  They are growing before my eyes.  It's time to go shopping with them both for pants, because they have both grown out of every pair they own. 

When we go to the park we like to take a wander through the woods. 

"Miss Nicole, it's Fall now!"  They know that I love Fall.  

They were concerned about the leaves dieing. (LOL!)  I reassured them that this is how God made trees, and that it's important that they drop their leaves.  Also, that it is NOT Fall yet, but still summer. :)

Everybody decided that it was their job to bring me leaves. 

Because God made them fall down.

We discovered that the city of Snohomish has added some pathways in our little wooded area!

Let's run on them!

To the giant rock!

We are now masters of the universe!  See that guy beating his chest?  

He was full of power at that very moment. :)

It was a great morning. :)

We are so grateful to have this park so close to Henle House. 

♥♥♥Happy Friday!♥♥♥

Flower Collage/ Favorite Magazine

I subscribe to Country Gardens Magazine and have a lot of them from the past year laying around.  I love the magazine, it chronicles beautiful gardens from all across the country, including SEVERAL from our beautiful Pacific Northwest.  In a cleaning rage, I decided it was time to clear out my giant stack.  They almost went right into the recycle bin, and then it dawned on me that we should cut out some flowers and create a collage. 

The kids who could maneuver the scissors did a good job!  I was busy cutting out flowers for everyone else to glue.  No matter how they are placed on the paper, a pile of flowers will always turn out beautiful.

 

I tried to provide them with a variety of colors and even found some other things that live in the gardens. 

 Just gluing papers together is a great activity for a two year old! 

Look at his garden!  I love that he chose a pumpkin and a butterfly.

Flowers make me so happy. :) 

Meanwhile, I have a NEW FAVORITE magazine to share with you! 

HGTV Magazine is simply amazing, and if I didn't know better I would say it was created just for me and all of my personal likes.  Not only does it have great artices on flea market flips in every issue, but also fun information about how to spruce up things in the home.  As an added bonus, every issue has a real estate article highlighting homes around the country, how much they sell for and what our money can buy us there.  

I LOVE THIS.  

Today is my handsome hubby's Birthday!  He is finally nearing 30.  (He's 29 today.)  

Will he ever catch up to my 35?

♥♥♥Happy Thursday!♥♥♥

Sunflower Art

We stepped outside yesterday to get a good look at the giant sunflowers.  Beautiful giants!  

Even though the kids walk this way every day when they enter and exit Henle House, it is always exciting to them if we step out to notice something in an organized activity.

"We...see..it...but the sun is too shiny.." 

We looked at the giant stalk that holds the big flower.  The leaves are much larger than we thought!  

Only God could create such beauty.

 Back inside we went to create our own sunflower garden.  The kids glued on some soil and grass, drew some brown circles for the flower centers, and drew the flower stalks and stems.

So far they were very proud of their drawing!

The next step was to glue on some pre-cut leaves and flower petals.

They worked diligently.

Look at all of those beautiful sunflowers! 

♥♥♥Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

Shark Pirahna

We felt like making sharks for art last week.  We got out some paper plates and blue paint.

We added some large angry eyes and some teeth!   We called them sharks, but I keep thinking that they remind me of pirahnas. 

"Raaar!!"

Cute! (For a fierce creature..) 

Preschool begins in two weeks.  I am ready!  I'm not so sure that all of our kids are ready to go back to school yet, though.  I'm going to use these last couple of slow weeks to catch up on painting the house trim and shutters.  

♥♥♥Happy Monday!♥♥♥