Black & Pinterest

We are learning the color black! Yesterday we resorted to worksheet activities.  First we completed the one about the color black, and then we moved on the the one about the square shape.  Sometimes worksheets can be great for learning.  Other times they get boring and repetitive. They worked out well yesterday. 

Just using a black crayon can be fun!  By the time she was done, we learned that the crayon does in fact work on the table, too. ☺

Meanwhile, several of the mammoth sunflowers fell over during a heavy rain and wind storm.  This one was smiling, and the little guy above noticed.  He was thinking hard about how that smile got there.. so fun!  Now the kids have a chance to inspect the sunflower up close.  I don't think that they realize there are seeds yet.  We will harvest the head together soon and watch the birds enjoy them.

 Meanwhile, I saw this craft on Pinterest.  Check out the post here.

I rushed to the store and snagged a bunch of paint chips.  The idea is to create a Thanksgiving dinner game.  I will post more on this later, when the kids play the game.  You can click on the photo when the link pops up, and it will take you to the original idea so you can see it a little better.  The first person to put together their Thanksgiving dinner is the winner.  I love it!

Today we are going to the pumpkin patch.  Happy Thursday!♥♥♥

Happy Birthday Stephanie!

Happy Birthday to our beautiful Stephanie!  She turned 14 today- FOURTEEN!  Look how cute she was as a baby, she was 3 1/2 months old in the photo above.  My photo shop is freaking out and won't let me fix the photo.  Stephanie was a tiny little baby, 5 pounds and 9 ounces.  She was born two weeks late- I was enormous.  She was perfect! 

Here she was this morning- looking grown up.  I can hardly believe how tall she is.  

Adam was jealous and had to get in the photo.  He's a proud dad! 

I had to have a photo with her, too.  I remember gazing at her little sleeping face, dreaming of the day when we could actually talk to each other about anything.  Those days are here, now.  They are flying by way too fast.  I am so thankful that God gave me Stephanie, and so proud of the young lady she is becoming.  Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

Four

We are counting to four this week!

We are also looking at, tracing, and sounding out the letter Dd.  

We are continuing our discussion about fall, and the busy creatures around us now.  A couple of years ago, we created egg carton squirrels.  I kept mine because it was such a simple and fun idea.  It went into the secret guessing box yesterday.  The kids were given clues until they guessed that it must be a squirrel inside.

Isn't he cute?  I need to write this project back into the schedule.  This house was hopping with children when we made these.  They are mostly gone, now.  So squirrel art would be new for the ones who are here.  

We finished our Dd worksheet and got out some playdough! 

Today, however, we have managed to get NOTHING on the schedule completed.  (WOW!)  I have been stuck on the computer completing portable background checks for anyone in our household over the age of 13.  The joys of getting my ducks in a row to keep my job..  (sigh, as I feel I have wasted an entire morning..)  The kids are having a great time with their free play!   Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥

C Is For Cat

Cc is for cat.  We created some simple cats on Friday.  Easy squeezy- glue and stick!

  I love that we had a Picasso cat!

We had an angry cat that attacked the letter C... LOL!

Also a monster cat. :) Raaaarr!

We also had an hour of free play and the kids chose to get out the dress up stuff.  It was very gloomy outside and the rain was starting.  I'm so glad that I was able to get a giant bag of 75 tulip bulbs planted before then!  ♥♥♥Happy Monday!♥♥♥

Five Little Pumpkins

We do some sort of project every year to go along with our 'Five Little Pumpkins' book!  It was story exploring Thursday yesterday.  It's exciting for the kids to see a book that goes along with a fingerplay that they have been learning for some time now.  It is exciting to have a visual! 

This year, we created five little pumpkin puppets.  In years past, we have created different types of puppets, even painted some rocks to be the pumpkins.  

The kids drew faces on their pumpkins.  I LOVE child drawn faces.  The imperfection creates so much character.  This, to me, is perfect.

I stapled a piece of construction paper over to make an envelope for each child.  They stuck the Five Little Pumpkins words onto the front so that parents can help them remember the words at home. 

I brought the kids inside from outside time two at a time to create this project.  A little bit more attention to each child can help them feel special.  They each lined up their pumpkins on the gate.

Smile!

Five little pumpkins, sitting on a gate,

The first one said, "Oh my!  It's getting late!"

The second one said, "There are witches in the air.."

The third one said, "We don't care!"

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run!"

The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"

Then ooooooOooooOoooo went the wind, and OUT(Clap) went the lights,

and the five little pumpkins roooolled out of sight. 

♥

Happy Friday!  The rain is here today, it smells wonderful and we have a fire going in the wood stove.

♫Jack-O-Lantern♫

We learned a new song. :) Big smiles from me because I love it when the kids sing! 

To the tune of Frere Jacques  and the C chord on guitar:

"Jack-o-lantern, Jack-0-lantern

Burn so bright!  Burn so bright!

You are burning brightly, you are burning brightly,

Through the night, through the night."

C is the hardest guitar chord for me, so this song is easy because it only requires the C chord strummed over and over.  No switching. 

We created our own jack-o-lanterns.

They painted the plate orange, and glued on some facial features, a stem and a leaf.

These make me smile!

Happy Thursday!  It looks like the rain might return this morning. ♥♥♥

Day About Three

Yesterday was a day about the number three.  For art, we decided to do it one child at a time.  Sometimes it's good to get that one on one attention.  It also keeps the mess at bay.  I have decided to stop trying to be messy.  I am just not that person.  The way I do projects with the kids is effective, so I'm not going to attempt to mess it up.

I have never had stamp pads large enough for these foam stamps.  Spreading some paint with a paintbrush onto a paper plate works very well for stamping!

First, each child glued the number three onto the paper. 

Next, I asked each child to choose just one stamp, and to stamp three of it onto the paper.

It was nice to do this project one at a time.  The kids really focused on counting to three!  The art wall looks wonderful.

To continue our day of three, we played find three pumpkins.

Hmmm.. where could they be?

Here's one!

When we found all three, it was time to count them. It's more fun to count something when you can touch it.  

Cheeeeeese! Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥