Mosaic

While digging through my leftover craft stuff drawer in the garage I found some foam mosaic squares.  I remember last summer, this house was bustling with ten children each day, so the amount of mosaic squares I put away would not have been enough for everyone to use for a project.  Into the drawer they went.  Now, I usually have three to five children during preschool time.  While digging, I found LOADS of extra craft projects that we will now be able to use!  Score!

The kids chose a shape from a big bag of sticky cardboard shapes.  They just need the backing peeled off, and then they can use the shape as a sticky surface. I love them because it's nice to give the glue a break. Less mess to scrub off of the table!

The kids were encouraged to put as many of the squares onto the shape as possible.  We then got out some construction paper and taped the shapes onto it.  The car was given a road to drive on.

The butterfly flew around the flower and over the grass.

The fish was under water.  This morning was quiet until about 8:15!  I enjoyed a leisurely bus stop trip with my 8 year old son, and a friend showed up and blessed me with coffee!  God is SO good.  Happy Friday!♥♥♥

Song for today is Ooh La La by The Wiseguys.  Now playing at Henle House!  Grab a towel and swing it around while you get your groove on, it's Friday! Noone will know!  The kids are headbanging, how adorable.♥ ♫

Button Sorting

All you need is an egg carton, some markers or crayons, and some small objects of color, shape etc.  We used buttons!  I took some markers and colored the bottom of each egg cup.  We put some buttons in the top row of the carton, and the kids spent considerable amount of time just sorting the buttons into the correct colored cup.  They think they are having FUN, while I have actually placed them in front of this task to diffuse a melt down. Sneaky, but it always works!

 I wanted to post the photos of the rest of the cars from the pinewood derby last night for you to see.  This category above is the preschool age group.

Here we have the kindergarten through 2nd grade group.

Here are the third grade through sixth grade group.

Here are the teen and adult cars.  I know that we had a lot of late check in cars, so not all of them were pictured.  Aren't these fun?

I particularly liked this one, it was called the redneck RV. 

Our pastors wife came up with this idea, a replica of the race track.  So creative!  Happy Thursday!♥♥♥
I don't have a song of the day for today.  I suppose I am in mourning because I downloaded an album this morning,  it was Some Nights by Fun.  I was annoyed and mad that as I started listening to it it was great, and then out of nowhere, the F word.  Song after song, ruined by profanity and now I can't even listen to it.  I guess that is one way I know that my heart has changed.  I don't think I could even enjoy it without a house full of kids.  That's proof of a change in me.  Change can be good!  I know there is a verse somewhere, something about how can we speak such filth and then turn around and glorify God out of the same mouth?  Darn. It could've been a great album. 
But I'm cutting that cord.

Pinewood Derby

It's that time of year again, the AWANA Pinewood Derby is tonight.  Aiden made a mouse car.

Ethan made a sword!

Adam made a car designed for speed.

I made a crayon.  I hadn't made a car in about four years, so I thought I had better jump back on the bandwagon. 

There is all of the extra weight, maybe it'll pass up another car.  Maybe not, but it looks cool.   I hot glued over the hole and spray painted it orange again. 

 Yesterday we created May day hats to wear!

I have a container full of these floral cut outs that had been used in the past to decorate our tree on the wall in the playroom.  They are just perfect for a May Day hat.

Glue.. stick.. glue... stick...

Ta-da! Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

Song for today is now playing at Henle House.  Start Somewhere by Toby Mac. ♫ We all have to start somewhere.
 

Alligators And Food

♫5 little monkeys swinging in the tree, teasing Mr. Alligator, you can't catch me..you can't catch me!  ♫ And alooooooong came Mr. Alligator (Hand motion an alligator) and SNATCHED that monkey right outta that tree!  ♫  4 little monkeys... (repeat.)  The kids love this song!  I found a project in my supplies from last summer that I ordered from Oriental Trading last summer.  We sang the song in group time and then created our necklaces.

This fell right into place with our patterning that we have been doing.  They looked at the paper instructions and tried to follow the pattern. It took some thought.

Even if the pattern wasn't created, they enjoyed getting to the point where they could add the alligator bead.

My attempt to capture four smiling children didn't go as planned.  This was take 5.

Meanwhile, I have vamped up my daycare menu to include more of a variety of new foods for the kids to try.  It is now loaded with more fresh fruits and veggies, less processed foods and more homemade meals.  Every lunch that I make still has to fall into completion within half an hour to keep us on schedule.  I am sad that I am not allowed to use foods that I have canned myself, but that is understandable.  We CAN, however eat the food that are grown in the gardens.  We have strawberries and snap peas that the kids love to eat.

We talk a lot about how the healthy foods we eat help our muscles grow.

The kids flex for me almost daily.  So funny!

Over the weekend I finally went out and bought a Wisteria.  Here it is, in all of it's glory!  (Bad fuzzy photo, sorry.)

I can't wait to watch it grow over the years.  It is a Cooke Purple variety and is planted in a spot that provides ample climbing space.  My back yard flower garden feels complete.  Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥

Song for today is Safety Dance by Men Without Hats.  It's just that kind of day. The kids are dancing around the May Pole for May Day which just happens to be today.♫

Patterning

A great way to remember shapes and colors is to set up a patterning activity.

I worked individually with each child for this project.  It looks a bit overwhelming for a three year old.  We just set the shapes down in the spots where they belonged.  I love that moment when they recognize what we are doing!  They all managed to take over without my help at some point.

The next step was to go ahead and glue the pieces into place.

This project only took a few minutes of preparation.  To save time, I folded the paper into eighths and cut out one shape.  This resulted in 8 of each shape, ready to go.  Grab another color and repeat, cutting out another shape.

He was very proud!  So was I!  He couldn't wait to show his mom.♥  Happy Monday! ♥♥♥

Song for today is The Chain by Fleetwood Mac.  Downloaded the album over the weekend. ♫

Quiet House

The house will be quiet today- no kids! That is always a strange feeling.  Luckily I have a giant grocery list for the daycare menu that needs to be picked up.  Praise the Lord the rain is turned off for now- I may get a neighborhood walk in as well!  Happy Friday. ♥♥♥ 

Song for today is Sinkin' Soon by Norah Jones.  I downloaded the album yesterday- I love every quirky twist and turn!  Best of all- it was only $5.  ♫

Smudge Vs. Chippy

It was inevitable.  Smudge outsmarted me and went outside while we were feeding our Chippy.   I let it play out.

Oooh- Chippy kept running to the apple tree.  Smudge kept his distance while letting Chippy know who is boss.

Chippy.. "Freeze!"  Click on the photo to see him in frozen mode.

Smudge took "cover".  Duh, Chippy can still see you. ♥

"Well then maybe I'll just make it clear that I OWN this porch."

Wait a minute...

What the... 

Chippy showed Smudge who is BOSS. Nothing gets between a squirrel and his snack.  Happy Thursday!♥♥♥

Song for today is now playing at Henle House.  Peace Train by Cat Stevens. ♫  Sorry about the pastel colors- just listen!