B Is For..

B is for bumblebee and baking.

 We created bumblebees out of our letter B's.  First, I drew lines on the b's.  The kids then colored in every other stripe.

We glued on stingers, added eyes, and drew on wings.

Hooray! Bb is for bumblebees!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  I have been telling the kids that fall officially begins this year on the 22nd, and on that day the weather was foggy and wonderful, right on cue.  I found this pumpkin pie mix in the cabinet and thought I should do some baking damage.  It's important to remember that this variety of pumpkin pie mix includes spices.  I like to bake with it on purpose, and still add the spices into the recipe.  Pumpkin can be a bit bland. I used one can, and completed two recipes.

Thank you internet, I printed off a quick pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Click on the photo  so you can get a better look at the ingredients if you need to make these.  Just plop all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix- bake for 10 minutes on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees.  These are great! I doubled the recipe because there was enough pumpkin leftover and I couldn't imagine throwing it away.

Yum yum yum!!

Next up- pumkin bars.  I got out my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and tried this for the first time.

Easy squeezy, and it was topped with cream cheese frosting.  We took it to church and then LEFT IT THERE.... No pumpkin bar breakfast for me this morning. ;)

I just lounged and ate and smelled the burning candles.  Isn't that what fall is for?  Soon I will need to go clean out the gardens.  There will be much work to be done.

Here's what Smudge did all weekend.  What a spoiled baby.  He has been in the bad habit of bringing in live mice for us lately... Um.. thank you, I think.

Meanwhile, I always spring for the October issue of Martha Stewart Magazine.   Don't those apples look sweet with a branch sticking out of them?  Happy Monday!♥♥♥ Happy Fall!♥♥♥

Do Nothing Day

Look at the beautiful fog!  Hands down, this is my favorite time of year.  I LOVE THIS.  God is an artist.  I love the morning routine of stepping outside to go get the morning paper right around 6:15.  Smudge usually comes along.  We take a moment to look at the flower garden, look at the sky and smell the air.  Fog is so beautiful.  It has been lingering until almost noon around here for several days now.

  I feel so lucky to be graced with such beauty! 

The air feels as though things have slowed down.  It makes me want to burn spicy candles and bake something yummy, snuggle up in a blanket on the couch and do NOTHING. 

We completed group time yesterday and then decided we needed to pop some popcorn and relax a bit.  It was time for some good old Tom & Jerry!  Sometimes kids need to just do nothing.  As busy parents, we are taking our kids along with us most of the time and it can be tiring for them just as much as it is for us.  So the fog- the successful preschool week- the low key calm that was taking over just led to cartoons.  

I stand by that decision 100%.

Fuzzy photo.  See that blanket?  My mother made that when I was little.  It's great- she gave it to me when I was 17 and moving out.  I use it for everything! There is nothing fuzzy about it, so dirt and sand just falls right off of it.  The kids know that when they see this blanket on the living room floor, popcorn is in their near future!  The kids have to be sitting on the blanket if they want to get any.  It makes clean up a snap- I just grab the corners and haul the blanket outside and flip the popcorn over the fence, where the birds eat it up. 

What do you do on your 'Do Nothing' days?

Happy Friday!♥♥♥

 'Let The Meter Run' by Charlie Mars.♫ Sweet little song.

Big

"Which pumpkin in big?" The kids answered correctly.  We continued to compare sizes with other ordinary objects like books, spoons, anything we could find.  

 We read 'The Biggest Pumpkin Ever!' by Elizabeth Bennett. 

Our worksheet about the concept of 'big' was very simple.  We had lots of time so we decided to play a round of "Find The Big Pumpkin".  The kids waited in the playroom....

I hid the pumpkin...

The kids were released in a loud and fast moving jumble of voices and stomping.. where could the pumpkin be?

Hmmm.. not seeing it yet...

Look..look...look...

"We found it!"

Congratulatory applause.. so cute..

We played again.

And again.. I love this game because it is simple and the kids really enjoy it.   It ate up the rest of our work time.  It is absolutely gorgeous outside this morning. The lake is covered with thick fog and I love the way the air feels and smells.  Fall is here! I am overjoyed!  Happy Thursday.♥♥♥

"Sleeping Sun" by Nightwish.  A favorite of mine, for sure.♫

Thanking God

We are thanking God for so many things!  Adam and I had been on the hunt for more mill ends to stock up to burn this winter and have received our first delivery.  I love mill ends for firewood.  They stack beautifully!  I am so grateful to God that we have the promise of a warm home when the weather turns.  In group time, we have been counting the consecutive days of sunshine each week.  I think our area is actually nearing SIXTY days of sunshine! Can you believe that?  We thank God for the sunshine each morning when we look out the window to see what weather we should post up on the calendar.  

We are thanking God for the new youth room at church.  We've been working on it for a couple of months now and it is finally complete!  I think it's still hard to grasp that Adam is actually living his dream of being a youth pastor.  Things have changed since this photo was snapped.  It's a great space, perfect for bible study and hanging out.  We are so grateful! 

I thank God for my job, even on the bad days.  Let's face it- I am not a machine.  By Friday I'm a little spent.  We have been working on the number 2.  We did our usual worksheets, but it was rather nondescript, so we traced our hands and counted them.  

Dot..dot...dot...

"Hey, where did my two hands go?"  LOL  Happy Wednesday!  I am also thankful that the AWANA program will be in full swing tonight at Machias Community Church at 6:30.  Age 3 through 6th grade.  Invite your neighbors, friends, family, anyone you know. ♥♥♥

Positive Reinforcement

Kids need to hear that they are doing a great job!  It's a good habit to be in if you are randomly pointing out great behavior or good effort on a project or action.  Manners are pointed out at Henle House quite often.  When I see that a child is working diligently on the project for the day I add a sticker to their paper.  Smiles follow.  A simple sticker can encourage and brighten the moment.  

Another helpful tool for me is the "Good Job Jar".  Right now it is full of plain MnMs.  It is in my group time basket but I don't hesitate to use it throughout the day, too.  Here are some easy ways that a child can earn an mnm from the good job jar:

*Manners (Please and thank yous, excuse me's)

*Being helpful to others

*Showing empathy

*Working hard on a task

*Pointing out the letter, color, shape or number of the week

*Sitting nicely in group time

*Singing and or participation

*Just being awesome

 Meanwhile, we are working on the letter Bb this week.  I get very excited to see the kids getting excited about it!  Alphabet nerds- UNITE! (I'm talking about myself.)  I truly love teaching these kids.♥

A dot painting project was provided for the little ones.  They are still being introduced to the letter and having a little sensory experience as well.  They both enjoy taking part in art, even if they just wrinkle the paper up and throw it on the floor. Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥

"Where Will We Go" by Iamdynamite. ♫ 

Leaves That Pop

We did it again- using black construction paper to make a painted piece of white construction paper "POP".  The art wall was looking beautiful, I snapped a photo because lately the art has been going home quickly. 

 To begin, just privide some paint and a white piece of construction paper.  Paint the white away!

It can take a while depending on the ages of the painters.  This project screams out to let the paint colors be mixed a little.  Red, yellow and orange are perfect for fall!  Adam keeps reminding me that it is still summer.  I realize this, but there are so many beautiful fall projects and activities to do that we start them in the beginning of September.  Autumnal Equinox is officially this Saturday!

Ahead of time, I traced some leaf stencils onto the paper and cut the leaf shapes out.  

It was kind of fun holding the leaf stencil up to different backgrounds.  Bricks sure make pretty leaves!

I liked the table runner leaves, too.

When the "white was painted away", we added glue to the stencil.  

He was excited to see what happened!  Leaves 'popped' out.  I love this project because no matter what the season, we can always create something that pertains to what we are learning and it will 'pop' as well.  

Meanwhile, I was doing the usual milk, juice and bread shopping for Henle House when I happened upon and Elmo DVD called "Elmo Says Boo!".  Our kids all really enjoyed that movie on VHS for years.  We no longer have a VCR, so into the cart that DVD went without my even batting an eye.  It's 30 minutes long,  full of silly jokes and great songs that are fun for Halloween.  I thought I'd share my favorite song from the DVD with you as the song for today. Happy Monday!  We have a new little guy arriving this morning!  Please pray that he will feel comfortable and that we will help him feel at home!♥♥♥

"Frazzle" from the DVD 'Elmo Says Boo!'.♫

Story Exploring Thursday

 Every other Thursday we do "story exploring".  We start with a book in group time.  We then go back through the book while I ask the kids specific questions about the story.  It's great for conversation  and allows the kids to take part in the story rather than being what I like to call "read at".  They feel involved and take away more information from the story than they normally would have.  We read 'Good Morning, Chick' by Mirra Ginsburg.

I have a beautiful curriculum book specifically for story exploring.  There are two pages of  ideas and activities in the book for each story that I can incorporate into the lesson.  I add sticky notes with my own ideas, too.  I keep all of the books for this curriculum in a box away from the kids.  It makes the book new and exciting for them when I pull it out. 

We decided to create our own little chick on a farm.  

They built a barn.  They also noted that it is red.  (Big smile!)

I wrote on the art what book coincides with this art and what name each child chose for their chick.  

Meanwhile, Smudge is a weirdo head and must've depleted the mouse population in Snohomish because he has been lazy and snuggly for a couple of weeks.  He chose our bathroom paper towels as a bed yesterday.  Happy Friday! ♥♥♥

Fineshrine by Purity Ring.♫  Funky video but a smooth sound with an edge.