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Slime, slime, and more slime….

February 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Slim in bags

Kids love to make this slime.  It's so simple. All you need is a little glue and a little liquid starch.  Oh, and a little coloring. I've used white Elmer's Glue as well as the clear.  It does make a slight difference in your end product, but they are both great.  I usually use the white glue because it's super cheap at the beginning of the school year so we have tons of it. You'll need to mix equal parts of the glue and starch and mix it all around with some coloring.   I've done this several different ways before. When I had a classroom full of kids, I used the snack size ziplock bags with a tablespoon of each.  Then the kids could squish the glue and starch around until it started to come together.  Less mess. Only having one child, I thought I would let her use her hands.  This worked as well, but of course it was messy.  So you choose your crazies for the day.     Next time we are going to shake it in a small container and … [Read more...]

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Welcome in Fall With Some Favorite Books

September 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Fall Books

Labor Day is often considered the unofficial last weekend of summer. Oftentimes, American families can be found all across the country enjoying one last trip to the lake or one last barbeque. As one season comes to an end another one begins. I find myself buried in books planning for the upcoming months on this long weekend.  I'm taking advantage of this day off.  My husband is off for Labor Day, therefore, I'm collecting our books for the coming weeks while my child plays Lincoln Logs with her Dad in the den. So I thought I would share my favorite top ten books for fall on... 1.  Our favoritest favorite is Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. It is about a duck, a squirrel, and a cat. They each have assigned jobs, such as adding just enough salt to the soup.  Everything is peaceful in the old white cabin, until the duck decides he would like to trade jobs. The others are not open to this and so it causes conflict in the old white cabin. And no election year would be … [Read more...]

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Easy Ways to Teach Pre-Reading Skills

June 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
MacaroniLetterQ

I made a deal with Missy that when she turned three we would start our own school.  She calls it "class." So we've been doing "class" most everyday.  She decides if we do or not.  Sometimes she chooses to "do something at the big table."  Those something's are usually letter oriented.  She loves to play with magnetic words and I also have some letter tiles that seem to hold her attention for awhile. I must admit we did a lot of this before she was actually three.  We just didn't give it a formal name.  More for Mommies sake than for hers.  It's hard to accept your child is ready for this so soon. One of her all time favorites is to make a letter from either dried beans or colored macaroni.  I draw a large letter of her choosing on construction paper and then I outline it with glue.  Then she puts the beans or macaroni on the glue in the shape of the chosen letter.  She even gets to pick if it should be an upper or lower case letter.  We talk while she's doing this … [Read more...]

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Things I Never Thought I’d Say

March 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Being a mother has changed what comes out of my mouth. Every time we go in a public bathroom, "Don't touch anything." And thirty seconds later, "Didn't I say not to touch everything?" And at least once a day, "No more jumping on the couch." My child loves to pretend to be various animals.  While she is her animal of choice, she wants to be called that particular animal. Me: "Okay, Honeybun.  Get in the car. Her: "Not a Honeybun.  I'm Miss Lizard."  (In the most pouty and hurt tone.) Me: " Okay, Little Lizard.  Get in the car." Her: "Not Little Lizard, Miss Lizard." By now she's thoroughly offended as her feet are planted firmly.  How could she have such an insensitive mother?  Okay let me try again to get it right.  Exactly right. Me: "Miss Lizard would you please take your seat in the car?" And Miss Lizard ever so slowly moves towards the car.  Her movements are hardly noticeable.  Oh, pleeeeease. I can feel my sanity slowly slipping … [Read more...]

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What You Should Know Before Train Riding

March 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment

To put this into context... We rode Amtrak's Southwest Chief.  We rode round trip.  It was supposed to be a 9 1/2 hour trip.  I was traveling with a three year old by myself.  At night...all night.  Both times.  It was our first time on Amtrak. I wish I had of taken pictures on the train.  It was so dark though.  And there were just too many sleeping people to disturb with a flash.  So no pics, people.  The sleeping people of the train thank me. You better get there early. The train waits for no one.  It's okay for them to be late, but not you.  So it seems.  Seriously, I don't think it was five minutes and we were off.  I didn't even make it to my seat either time before we were moving.  You don't have to show your ticket before getting on the train.  They gave us a little slip of paper that told us our seat number.  This is later displayed above your seat with your destination added to it.  Their goal is to get you on board as quickly as possible so that … [Read more...]

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Mommy’s Helper Cleans Too Much

February 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Melissa and Doug Victorian Dollhouse

Every child has their naughty moments.  Some more than others.  My mother has always reminded me, "You'll pay for your raising." Which is true so far.  And I'm okay with that since I was a pretty good kid.  What I fear is paying for my husband's raising.  So far we have a little mini me.  And hopefully, when she's a teenager we still have a mini me. It's funny how a child can accomplish great things in mere seconds when left unattended.  Sometimes, these "great things" are not always appreciated by the parents.  Take the latest masterpiece on the wall.  I have only experienced a small tick mark.  I must admit I was rather proud.  She was copying her Dad while we were doing a remodeling project.  She held a pencil and a tape measure and made a small tick mark.  I thought that was very coordinated for a not quite two year old.  I'm sure it helped that it was where a cabinet would soon cover.  I'm sure that if it had been more than a tick mark in pencil, it might … [Read more...]

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