Saturday, June 29, 2013

Moving

Moving has begun and as much as I'd like to prove that I am Supermom, I realize unfortunately I am not. So Humble Hearts  Academy will be back in session Aug 1st. This gives us time to pack, move, and unpack.

I hope you will check back then because we have lots of fun things planned.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Letter B Playground Hunt

Today was our last day for the letter B. We took 15 items that start with B to a nearby park. I labeled them with their names and placed them on the playground equipment.
 
The plan was for me to say the name of an item and then let The Princess go find it. That is NOT how it went. She just went around picking up whatever item interested her and then taking that item down the slide. So I just said the words as she was holding the item focusing on the BAH sound. It worked out fine and I know she had fun. She also did the B sound, so I am going to say it was a success:
 
 
 
My pictures on the other hand were not a success. It was EXTREMELY sunny, so I was just pointing the camera without looking since I couldn't see anyway. I'm lucky these few turned out okay.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Promise Monsters

If there is one thing that my children learn, I pray it is to be kind.
 
I'm so excited to have recently found Promise Monsters.
 
They are stuffed monsters that come with a secret mission...an act of kindness. When your child completes the act of kindness, they enter a code on the website and get a reward. I think it is a great idea and can't wait to order one.  I love that we won't know what our mission will be.

These are my favorite monsters:

The Pink Smarshmallow
 
Spike:

 

 
Speaking of surprises in the mail, a couple Christmases ago Gizmo bought the family gifts from The Something Store. Basically you pay $10.00 and they send you something. Anything. It is a total surprise.

Gizmo ordered 3 somethings and let me tell you that I could not contain my excitement. We opened the boxes on Christmas morning.

We got:
 
A small pillow.
 
A hair removal kit.
 
A scarf.
 
What a let down. I don't know what I was hoping for, but it wasn't any of those items. Gizmo was pretty mad that he spent all of his allowance money on junk.
 
...BUT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! The gifts were terrible, but the anticipation was worth the money.

Anyway, when we get our monster I will post an update with our mission.
 
I CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Buddha?

I am still packing boxes for the move. As you can imagine, it is a little chaotic around here with 3 kids and a dog who is extremely BOSSY. Many of our "school" materials are packed, so I am working with what is left.

Here are our activities today:

1. Sorting.

I bought a huge bag of foam stickers for $1.00 at a yard sale. I stuck 5 flower stickers in different colors on her tray. She then had to sort the remaining stickers according to color. The trays I have are from Montessori Services. They are ESSENTIAL for a Montessori program because the child is able to take the activity off the shelf and return it without help. This establishes independence and a sense of order.


 

2. Card Matching.

This activity is going to be put away for Son because it is way too easy for The Princess anymore. I made match cards with wooden animals from AC Moore. There used to be more cards, but Gizmo has taken a liking to them. As you can see in the picture, Gizmo is a little ticked that she is playing with HIS cards. The Princess used to have a hard time with this, but like I said, she has it mastered now, especially since I only have 4 pair left ( I think there used to be 8 pair total).

 
3. Buddha Board.
 
We love this toy. Actually, its not a toy. I think its for adults, but any age can use it.  The Buddha Board is fun because you "paint" with water on the board. Your work stays on the board for about 5 minutes and then you can start over. I help The Princess to paint her letters onto it. This is great for pre-writing and for fine motor skills.
 
P.S. It comes with a brush, but ANY paint brush works.
 
 
Speaking of Buddha...People are always commenting on how chubby Son is. His own daddy called him Buddha. Here are my favorite comments from strangers:

"Oh HE a big one". (No typo...that is what a lady said).

"I wasn't gonna say anything, but that boy is a beast". A beast. A man called my son a beast. I know he meant it kindly...I think.

"Oooohhh. I LOVE fat babies!" Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. He's not fat. He is all muscle. Duh.

Look at this angel. 4 months. 17.6 pounds of happy, healthy baby. Same size diapers as his almost 2 year old sister:




Saturday, June 22, 2013

4 Activities to Do with Items That are Already In Your Home

1. Pushing coins into a wipes container.
 
I use poker chips that I got at a yard sale, but you could use plastic milk jug lids if you want. This is more challenging for a younger child, but The Princess still likes this activity. 


2. Color sorting.
 
I had some ugly colored card stock, so I used it to make envelopes. Tell me these envelopes are not the exact color of 1980s Tupperware!!!! 
 
  
I then cut shapes out of the card stock...4 shapes for each color. 
 
The Princess just takes the shapes and places them into the matching colored envelopes.
 
 
 
 
Here's a child size set of the Tupperware that I am talking about. I found it on Ebay. I had this exact set when I was little!!! I am tempted to bid.
 
 


3. Matching lids.

I found different containers in my kitchen and placed them in a line. Then I placed the lids in front of them. She then matched them up with the proper container. I only did 5 and it was easy for her, but she was in no mood to do any more than that today, so I will try again another time.




4. Scooping.

I find anything that can be scooped. Beans, rice, pom poms, oatmeal, chocolate chips...The Princess still puts a lot of things in her mouth so I have to be careful.  I use measuring cups, but spoons or scoops from things like Kool-Aid work too. In this case The Princess was scooping Goji berries. I had every intention of putting them in smoothies, but they taste disgusting to me. She LOVES doing this.


Friday, June 21, 2013

5 Things I am NOT Going to Miss When We Move

Disclosure: The things listed here are not THAT bad. They are just comical....annoyingly comical at worst, so I figured I would share.

So the 5 things I won't miss are:

1. The nearby Walmart. I am not a fan of ANY Walmart, but ours is the worst. I am not kidding when I tell you that EVERY time I go there, some scoundral in the parking lot tries to scam me.

Here are a few examples:
  • A guy tried to tell me he was doing a promotion for Sephora and "today only" I could get $175.00 worth of makeup for just $50.00. Hmmm...a man selling Sephora in the WALMART parking lot, without a Sephora outfit, and without his products in a Sephora bag???? Ohhhhkaaaay.

  •  A lady wanted to use my cell phone because her car broke down and also asked for a few dollars so she could get a cigarette. I did not give her any money or let her use my phone because she seemed suspicious. Good thing I didn't because... I saw her a few weeks later in the SAME place at the SAME Walmart and she again asked to use my phone because her car broke down and then she asked if I had any money for gas. Gas money...and your car is broken????

2. German Shepards. Gizmo HATES the dogs across the street and their owner walks them EVERY hour of the day (a small exaggeration, but not by much).

This is how my day goes sometimes:

One of my babies will cry. I put said baby to sleep. German Shepard passes. Gizmo loses his freaking mind. Baby wakes up. Baby cries. Repeat.

3. Our Home Owners Association.
 
  • We have a yard sale. I spend 30 min putting up signs only to have a guy in a golf cart on my trail taking the signs down. So oh yes, we can have a yard sale, but we can't put up signs telling anyone WHERE IT IS.

  • Flags. We can only put up a flag 4 days per year. The lady up the street can keep a plastic duck in her yard and dress it for every season, but a flag? It better be a national holiday!

4. The local A&W. I have spent more time since we have lived here as a pregnant person than a non- pregnant person. My craving of choice while pregnant is a root beer float. The following things have happened over the course of 2 years:

  • Out of ice cream

  • Out of root beer. Out of root beer at a place known for root beer????

  • Out of the frosty cold mugs (and you know how much better it is when its in the mug).

  • Out of ice.

  • They gave us diet root beer when we wanted regular.

  • They had box fans running to cool the place...in Florida...in July.

  • Once they took about 14 minutes (who's counting) to come to the drive thru window.

  • Bathrooms broken.

  • Dirty.

Note: They have had a "Manager Wanted" sign up for about a year now....wonder why?
 
5. White carpets. Three kids and a dog DO NOT mesh well with any color carpet, let alone white!!!

Incidentally, if you would like to know how to remove Koolaid or anything red from your carpet... wet a white towel, lay it over the stain and then iron the towel. It will soak it right up. It might take a while, but it will work. I am an expert in this area.

P.S. Our new house has NO carpeting at all. Thank you Lord!!


Act of kindness- Letter B


As a part of "B" week, we went to the dollar store and filled a bag with balls, bubbles, balloons and books (really fun activity and sticker books). I wrote a note in the books and we made small cards for the other items that we attached with ribbon.

The Princess helped by putting bunny stickers (also a b word) on each one!




We put the gifts in a bag and went to the pediatric unit of the local hospital.

Here is The Princess making the delivery:




She had a hard time giving up those balloons!

I took a cute picture of her outside after we finished:



This was especially fun for us because just a few months ago, The Princess was a patient in that hospital. She had pneumonia and it was hard to see her so sick.

Here she is in the hospital:


 
She even got flowers!


We had a great time today and we hope the kids like the gifts!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Hey I'm with the Band

A few months ago I bought: Melissa & Doug Band in a Box

We LOVE it, especially at 8am when Sister is still asleep.

Here's pic of the babies playing music:


 
These instruments are practice for our family's Guitar Hero band.
 
Here's the run down:
 
1. The Boss plays lead guitar. He is a natural.
 
2. Sister plays drums and sings. She surprised me with her singing...she's so good!



 
 
3. Gizmo is the Manager. Do not ask me why because he is always getting distracted by groupies.

 

 
4. The Princess is our dancer. The girl has moves (and a keen sense of style).



 
5. Son is the roadie, but is trying out for bass guitar as soon as he can sit unassisted.. He is a star!
 
 
 
 
6. Me. Sadly, I got kicked out of the band due to lack of talent. I am hoping they take me back as the set designer.

Anyway, I read this article  about rhythm instruments and it said:

Rhythm instruments...

  • Help young children build spatial awareness

  • Expand their movement repertoire and vocabulary

  • Build their understanding of concepts such as up and down, over and under, high and low, soft and loud, short and long, in and out and stop and go.

So that is why we rock! Plus, its just fun to be loud
 

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Going for the Gold

The Princess: 6 mo. old

 
 

When I bought this shirt I was thinking Olympics.

Swimming.

2028 to be exact.

The Princess will be 16 years old (almost 17) , she will swim the 50 Free, break the World Record and become and American hero...simple enough.

What I didn't realize was that Going for the Gold would become her way of life. I should have known, really. When she was born the nurse layed her on my chest and without missing a beat, she pushed her head up like a little prarie dog popping out of the ground. She scanned the room like she had been waiting 9 months just to get a look...at EVERYTHING.

From that moment on, everywhere we went, we always got comments about her alertness and how she" mean-mugged" people, staring them down like (and this is according  a store clerk) "an Apache Helicopter Pilot!

She used to cry EVERY night for 2-3 hours and HATED the car seat with a passion. At the time I attributed some of it to colic, but now I realize she was flippin mad! She wanted to run, explore, climb things and just do everything at the speed of light... but at the time she just couldn't.

Fast forward till today and The Princess is at full speed. All day. All night. All the time. She never misses an opportunity to run fast and climb high.

Sometimes when  I'm at her play group , people comment on how exhausted I must be. After all, they are sitting around drinking coffee and talking while their little one quietly plays nearby. Meanwhile, I am frantically trying to keep up with The Princess, always staying 5 steps ahead, ready to save her from her latest death defying act....

So while it is true that chasing my little girl is exhausting...I wouldn't have it any other way. She keeps me on my toes and inspires me to be a better parent. I have to think outside the box for ways to keep her occupied and engaged.

So I just would like to thank God for blessing me with such an incredibly active child. I pray that I can keep up with her and that she will have 5 gigantic angels protecting her at all times.

As for the Olympics?

What was I thinking? No way can she wait till 2028.

2024 sounds much better.

The Princess: June 2013 (21 Months)










Edible Playdoh

Today we made some homemade playdough. It takes less than 5 minutes to make.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons oil
A few drops of food coloring

Mix in a bowl. DONE!

We made our playdough blue for B week.

It tastes EXTREMELY salty, so it definitely discourages toddlers from eating it.

I put her play table in the kitchen and covered it with aluminum foil because I thought it would be easier to clean up.

I am packing for our move and found a few items that needed to be used:

A bit of Special K
A jar of Christmas sprinkles with just a few left
A little bit of oatmeal.
About 1/2 cup of dry beans.
A couple of straws that I cut in half.

So I put those things in bowls on the table with some plastic measuring spoons, a spatula, and a plastic fork from the Lean Mean Grillin Machine!

She had so much fun, especially scooping the oatmeal and beans.











Pipe Cleaner Activity

One easy way to practice fine motor skills is with pipe cleaners. I just cut holes in a coffee can lid and let The Princess push the pipe cleaners through the holes.

 
She really has to concentrate to get them through the holes. I made them just big enough to fit.  You could make the holes big or small depending on your child's age.
 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

5 Things I'm Going to Miss When We Move

1. The Princess's Play Group. It has been great going there almost every Monday and giving her an opportunity to interact with other kids.


2. Story time at the local library. This is where The Princess learned to shake her sillies out.





3. Sister's Art Class. Here are a few of her masterpieces:





4. My local Publix. Every time we go in there everyone is so nice to the babies and wait untill you hear this:

The day before Thanksgiving I had a full cart with over $200.00 worth of stuff. I went to pay and realized my ATM card was missing. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it, so I told them I could not purchase the items. I was walking to my car and the manager came outside with my cart and told me to take the items and that I could come in and pay when I had the chance. I was so overwhelmed by his kindness and he probably thought I was nuts the way I was crying. (Note: I found the card 5 min later IN MY CAR).

5. The local parks: