Back in the Saddle

I hate running. Okay, that's what I kept telling myself. Truth is, after March For Babies, I was ready to hang up my running shoes and plop down on the couch. So that's what I did. 5 pounds gained and sanity lost, I realize I need to get moving again. That's the catch 22 for me. Do I enjoy the act of running? HECK NO! What I do enjoy is the solitude while running. I enjoy the brainless time I get from running. I love that I just did something that is VERY hard for me and kicked it's butt. I love that I'm alone for 30 minutes or whatever with no one needing me. No one asking me for this or that. No dishes that need washed or laundry that needs folded. I can just listen to my dorky music and not think about anything. I guess I didn't realize how much I need exercise until I stopped. And about had a mental breakdown. So my sweetheart of a husband decided he would commit to running a half marathon with me this fall. Garsh I love this man. It is going to be SUPER hard for both of us. So Day 1, I met up with some of the "Hot Mama's Group" that I love so much and ran 2 miles in 25 minutes with my sis. Isn't she cute?! I know I've got a long summer ahead of me of running, sweating, and chafing. But I also know I have got awesome family and friends to push me. What's that they say about "The longest journey...."? Well, maybe it won't be that long. Maybe just 13.1 miles.

Science Fun

Parker is in love with science right now.  Anything related to science- he's totally pumped.  The stars, moon, space, volcanoes, the human body, how anything and everything works....it's awesome, and I have to admit, I'm learning a lot too.

I'm taking full advantage of this current excitement and have been busy googling and pinning preschool science experiments.  So the other day we goofed around with baking soda and vinegar.  Since we were working on the color "C", mixed in different Colors. We also practiced writing our letters in the baking soda before we added the vinegar. When it was time to mix, we used bulb syringes, regular syringes, and medicine droppers to drop the vinegar into the baking soda. Hey, when your mom is a nurse, these are the toys you get to play with, okay?!

You can see the vacuum on standby in the background in case Parker decided to turn this into a baking soda snow storm. The look on their faces when we mixed them were priceless. They were both so shocked! We learned about the word "observation", and the kids made some great comments about what they were seeing and touching. Next, our local community college had a kids night at the observatory. Along with their cousing, Avah, they got to tour the observatory, do arts and crafts, and look through a very high tech telescope. Most of the concepts described in the observatory were over their heads, but they still had a good time. While in the observatory, Parker got to push the button that made the roof spin around. Can you see his little face through the crowd? It was crammed full of people in there. Surprisingly, Callie raised her hand to answer a couple questions! When the teacher asked the kids "What is the most famous star?" Callie raised her hand and answered, "Twinkle Star!?" Who can argue with that answer? Luckily, the clouds broke at the end, and the kids got to look at the sun through the special telescope. Yay for science!

We Believe...

Callie loves fairies. We decided to grow our own Fairy Garden and try to get some fairies to come to our house. We started out with an old wheelbarrow we had laying around, and spray painted it purple. Then we added our accessories. Thanks for a local nursery and the craft store, we found pretty much everything we needed. All we need is a fairy friend to come visit our lonely gnome.

Letter of the Week

We have been doing "letter of the week" activities over the last few weeks and I thought I would share what we've been doing for all my mom readers who might be interested. Parker and Callie both know their ABC's, but I'm trying to work with them on the sounds the letters make, as well as writing each letter clearly. They loooove playing "School" where they are the students and I'm the teacher. I decided to totally play that up and the think it's the funnest thing ever. Little do they know they are actually learning something. Muah Ha Ha!! At the beginning of the week, I will make a list of activities and what I'm doing on a certain day. This helps me stay on pace with our letter goals. Everyone that knows me knows I can get a little side-tracked and can have 30 projects going on at once. Not a good characteristic when you're trying to focus on 1 theme with a 3 and 4 year old. I try to make each teaching session super fun and under 30 minutes. I want the kids to think reading and writing are fun just like I do! So far- it's working! :) They ask me when can they do their homework?!! I know that question won't last forever!! We are currently working on the letter "C". At the beginning of the lesson, I always do the same thing. Have the kids practice writing the letter on the chalkboards, go over the sound, do 1 or 2 worksheets, then a super fun activity or maybe 2 depending on how enthusiastic the kids are. I got many printables from tonsoffunpreschoolactivities, rockabyebutterfly, and preschoolalphabet. Thank you Pintrest! For activites, we made Cupcakes, had an indoor Car wash with Parker's matchbox cars, decorated a big "C", played Candyland, used Alphie the Robot, made Clown faces, got library books about Cats, and just worked the letter "C" into our everyday activites. Look at all that hard work! Giving his trucks a "car wash" The the beauty of working with your kids over the summer...you can go at your own pace!

Parker's Report Card

I have to brag about Parker a little bit...he got his end of the year report card from preschool and I wanted to share the teacher's comments. "Parker has shown so much improvement! He is able to count to 20, say the ABC's, and spell and write his name. He is such a happy, sweet boy. We have loved having him in our class!" I'm so proud of him because his middle of the year report card read that although he had the highest "grades" possible for behavior, helping, participation, listening, and attitude, he was having difficulty in a few areas like counting, letters/letter sounds, and writing. Now, he is able to identify 26 upper and lower case letters and sounds, count to 20, spell first and last name, sorting, and patterns, and even addition! I'm so happy because he's been putting in a lot of extra work at home to improve. We went out and got a special toy and went out to dinner for Parker's awesome report card. I'm hoping this will show him how hard work pays off! I'm one proud mama! :)

Toothless Joe

We had our first visit from the Tooth Fairy last night! She left Callie a new Barbie and $2.50! :) The money had "fairy dust" all over it too! She must have been very impressed that Callie was such a big girl. Callie finally let Daddy pull that danglely tooth out. Her smile is now cuter than ever!

A New Stemp

Welcome to the family, Scout!