The Sun Stopped By

I didn't blog yesterday because I was busy with tax stuff.   When working from home, it can be easy to let my work run into my personal time.  I try not to let that happen.  If  an online training is offered, I will take it during my work day.  If I have to prepare tax stuff, it is during my work day.   This helps me to feel like I am actually "off work" in the evenings.  We are still working on the letter K, and what a cute idea I found for a hand print kitten. 

The kids added a head to the hand print.

They drew some eyes, a nose and some whiskers.

We gave the kitten some yarn to play with.  I love how these turned out!

Last week we created some necklaces.  We added a heart to them.  Because it's February, and we can.

The sun stopped by, but only for a short while.  It was just long enough for us to take a quick trip to the small park behind the church.  It has bark, so it's much easier for the kids to run and get their energy out.

This is the state of our back yard.  For weeks.

When the sun comes out, we must get out into it.  

I cannot contain the excitement I have when looking at the spring bulbs as they wake up.  We've got some tulips.

The Daylilies are usually the first to grow back.  The Daffodils in the front yard have these beat by about 5 inches.  The Clematis' are sprouting new greens!  Hurry, Spring!! 

♥♥♥Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥

Our Families

 For Story Exploring, we read this book.  'The Relatives Came' by Cynthia Rylant.  I love this book-- the illustrations are wonderful.  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  A road trip to visit family in the heat of summer.  

It mentions all of the stuff that happens when visiting relatives, hugging, strange sleepers in the house, food and activities.  We learned that the word "relatives" means family.   This is a great opportunity for the kids to draw their own family and think about who they visit with.

 They all turned out fantastic!  The book made me miss summer.

We are in the middle of a rain storm that is lasting over a week.  It's normal for our area.  The back yard is a mud nightmare.

I let go of control a bit and let the kids continue their scissor practice all day.  They had newspaper strips to practice cutting.

 They really enjoyed this activity!  It was just as exciting for them at the end of the day. :)

Something that I found funny- this morning the kids were pretending to watch T.V.   I heard someone say, "Hurry, the next show is on!"  They each took their places.  They were actually just sitting and staring at the blank screen.  Imagination is such a powerful thing.  

♥♥♥Happy Friday!♥♥♥

Scissor Practice & Name Writing

Some years I don't get the scissors out with the kids.  I have a fear of knives and being cut.  Scissors in the hands of multiple children all at once can give me a little bit of anxiety because I don't want them to cut themselves.  It is still an important tool that preschoolers should know how to use, and they should practice.  Thank you Pinterest for the idea of having the kids cut playdough worms! 

We spent a few minutes learning where our fingers should go when we are getting ready to use the scissors.

We practiced opening and closing the scissors.

This photo made me lough out loud.. the guy on the left seems to be thinking, "Alright, we get it.  Can we just please get on with it?"  Some of his photos are the best. :)

The idea was to have them hold the play dough up like that and cut it into pieces.

We used cherry scented dough the I found in a set of six scented tubs HERE at Discount School Supply.  

It was a successful activity!  They wanted to keep going.  They would roll out the dough and repeat.  Warning about this particular dough- it's pretty sticky once it gets warmed up by small hands.  We had to wash hands afterward.  The scents are very strong and pleasant, though.

We will definitely do this again.

Everyone was so engaged.

Meanwhile, the kids have been doing a great job recognizing and spelling their names.  We need to work on actually writing them out.  A great way to do this is to write the  names ahead of time using a highlighter.  This way the kids can write directly on the highlighter.  

The more times they traced their names, the easier it became to try to write the letters out by themselves.  I held back and did not help them, but was curious to see what they would come up with. 

Fuzzy shots (sorry!) of happy faces after completing their names all by themselves.  This is a great activity for three year olds! 

Sandy Hearts

 The heart shape is fresh on all of our minds now that February is here.  To practice counting to eleven, we used colored sand to brighten up eleven hearts. 

I used Elmer's glue to draw eleven hearts onto each child's paper.  We counted together as each one was squirted into existence.

We passed around the lids from each color of sand so the kids had a variety of colors on their hearts.

Once the outline of each heart was colored, I added decorations to the inside of each heart for them to continue the sand art.

We spent a solid half hour working on this!  I have an extra sand jar to collect all of the sand that has been mixed together.

Aren't these beautiful?

Seagull on the lake.  (I've become obsessed with bird watching.) 

♥♥♥Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

Eagles & A Duck

This eagle is hanging out in a tree by the lake right now.   I have really been enjoying my camera and the zoom capabilities it possesses.   An amazing thing happened at the bus stop this morning, and it happened so quickly that I couldn't fumble with the video on my phone to capture it.  As we walked up the path to the bus stop, there was a large commotion coming from the tree next to the road that runs alongside the path.  A duck fell from the tree, and if that wasn't shocking enough- a giant eagle swooped down right next to us and retrieved the duck.  The size of these eagles that live on the lake is enormous!  The kids were surprised!  I am still in awe.  "I thought you like ducks." A concerned boy asked me.  That's a hard lesson, of course I like ducks.  "God made eagles in an amazing way, and they hunt and eat meat just like we do."  We are so lucky to have seen that in person!! 

Happy February!

We are moving along with the preschool schedule.  We are now working with the letter Kk, the number 11, the colors pink and white, and the heart shape.  I'm thinking about allowing some scissor time this month, too. 

The kids mastered the Kk worksheet.

It was pouring outside.  We got the dress up out!

The dinosaur was sneaking up for a surprise attack.

It's fun to bring some of the outside tents inside occasionally.  The kids are still playing with them this morning.

Here's what happened the minute the kids left last night, the cats took over.

♥♥♥Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥

Happy Birthday Smudge/ Ode To Soundtracks

We don't really know the date of Smudge's birth, so we celebrate his day based on his age when he came to us.   All we knew was that he was three years old then, so now he must be SEVEN.  He spent his entire day sleeping in the playroom and only woke up for extra soft food and treats.  Happy Birthday to the most handsome, smartest, resourceful, moodiest, most wonderful helpful pet I have ever had.  I think he is adorable when he is mad.  He knows that I love him most.  I will never apologize for my cat blog posts.

Meanwhile, we all have a spring in our step this morning and some of the kids have recognized that the 'Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron' soundtrack is playing.  I have a confession to make- this is the only cartoon that has ever made me tear up.  I LOVE the soundtrack, too.  

Next up-- the only Disney song that can actually give me chills.  'The Circle Of Life' from The Lion King.  The volume gets turned up, louder... and then a bit louder... until no one can even hear each other.  They just get wrapped up in the large atmosphere and emotion of the beautiful song.  It is art.  I would love to know what some of YOUR favorites are. 

♥♥♥Happy Monday, Happy February!♥♥♥