Firefighters to the Rescue!!!

No, not real firefighters this time!  I now use oven cleaner instead of the self-clean function, so hopefully we won't have any visits from our friendly, neighborhood heroes ever again.  Our kids were the firefighters in a super fun game Jeremy made up.

They had to start at the cones, grab the hose and use water to knock over the targets (various items from our recycling bin).

This then inspired a re-creation of the water fights that our hometown does for one of their festivals.  My brother is a volunteer firefighter, so the kids love to watch Uncle Joe's team compete in the water fights.  The real water fights involve an empty keg on a wire strung between two firetrucks.  Now while you might think it doesn't get any more redneck than some beer drinking firemen aiming their hoses at an empty keg at a small town festival...think again.  I give to you a halloween pumpkin, strung on some rope we had around the house between a basketball hoop and our street lamp.  Impressive, eh?  Maybe not so much, but Micah's strategy to beat Daddy was very impressive and resourceful!

A great way to spend a hot day!!!

Big Bubble!!!

If you don't already follow Play at Home Mom...do it!  Their stuff is amazing!  This idea was from them, and I had pinned it on Pinterest awhile back intending to do it "someday."  Today was the day, thanks to our "Pinterest Week" (we're making a recipe and a project that I've pinned every day this week and I'll post about it when the week is done...but this project was so much fun, it needed its own post.)

Introducing.....Big Bubble!

• 1 package of plastic sheeting
• Some duct tape
• A fan
• And a couple bricks to keep it from flying away

SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

Micah said "Whoa.  This was actually a good idea."  Like he was surprised.    Aren't all the ideas I do good ideas son??? 

This is Liliana SQUEALING with delight!  It was loud.  She was excited.
   

I love their poses lately.  Cracks me up! Really Micah?  That's your go-to move?

Liliana demonstrates how tall the bubble is.  It's big.

Micah suggested we act like the bubble is blowing away.  I went with it.

Don't worry.  We would never dream of leaving the pig out of the fun.  Well I would, but Liliana would admonish me immediately.

They're such hams...I just love it.  The sandwich isn't ham though..it's PB&J rolled up in a tortilla, in case you were dying to know.  You weren't?  Oh.  Okay then.

Yeah, she was just posing with the strawberry in her mouth.  As soon as the flash went off, she set it back down.  Goofball.

Like I said earlier...so. much. fun.  From now on, instead of just admiring all of Play at Home Mom's ideas, I'm going to actually do them.  

Our Summer Must-Dos

We are getting totally pumped for summer!  The kids keep making requests of things they want to do:  trips to the beach, sprinkler time, parades...they don't want to miss a thing!

So we decided to list all of our Summer Must-Dos!  But rather than just writing them out on paper, we put each one on a card and the kids illustrated it.

Micah had a really great time drawing all of the pictures and talking about the fun stuff we're going to do this summer!

Then we clipped them all together on a ring.  Easy for the kids to flip through and look at, and small enough to be tossed in my purse.  As we do the activities, we'll remove the card and put it with a picture of us having fun in a little summer scrapbook!

Here's what made our Summer Must-Do List (in no particular order):

• Pick Strawberries
• Mini Golf
• Drive-in Movie
• Sleep in a Tent Fort
• Go Out for Ice Cream
• Catch Fireflies
• Run a Lemonade Stand
• Play With Our Cousins
• Go Fishing
• Sleep Outside in a Tent
• Family Bike Ride
• Go to the Beach
• Make Homemade Ice Cream
• See a Parade
• Blow Giant Bubbles
• See Fireworks
• Go to a Waterpark
• Cook Dinner Over a Campfire
• Build an Awesome Sandcastle
• Play on a Slip and Slide
• Make Our Own Waterpark
• Go to the Zoo
• Go to a Baseball Game
• Shop at the Farmers Market
• Visit the Arboretum
• Have a Picnic in a Park
• Go Tubing!

Riding in Cars with Kids

 The kiddos and I headed back to see our family for Easter.  Daddy got left behind because, apparently when you're an (almost) pastor that means you work on Easter.  Who knew?!?!  ;-)

I was terrified about making the 14 hour roundtrip with the kids and no husband to help.  Two background things to know about me:

•  I grew up in a town of 400 people.  We're talking gravel roads and no traffic lights.
•  Jeremy and I have been together since before I could drive, so he's always driven us everywhere.

You can see then why a major trip on "big roads" by myself would feel daunting.

So I did what anyone does when they have a problem (or a random thought or just a really great lunch)...posted about it on facebook.  Turns out my friends are kind of geniuses...another who knew?!!?  :-P  Just kidding.  I knew.  That's why I asked them.

My friend Jealaine had an awesome idea of spreading out the car activities based on time or distance, so the kids don't do everything right away and then get bored.  Genius!  I made a map for the kids of our route, since they always like to follow along anyways.  Then I color coded towns along the way that were about an hour apart.  (I made myself a cheat sheet too so I could give them estimates if they asked how much longer until the green town).

I put together ziploc bags with different car-friendly activities in them and put color coded labels that corresponded with the map on each bag. So when we got an hour into our trip, they received the orange bags, which had alphabet match-up puzzles for Liliana and time match-up puzzles for Micah.  Make sense?

My mom had purchased these trays for the kids awhile back and they are AWESOME for long car trips.  Because we had the trays, we were able to do some things with smaller pieces.  Here's what I came up with for car activities (with many of these ideas coming from my awesome friends!)

• Simple match-up puzzles 
• Lacing cards
• Small figures (My Little Ponies for Nah-na and firemen figures for Micah)
• Finger Puppets
• Rush Hour Jr. 
• These picture Car Bingo sheets on clipboards
• Jumbo beads for stringing
• Pipecleaners
• Magnet activity sets
• Matchbox cars
• Coloring books and new boxes of crayons (Is there anything in the world better than a fresh box of crayons???)
• Dry erase boards/markers
• Look and Find books
• Homemade Wikki Stix

We also have a portable DVD player and I got some books on CD from the library (Magic Treehouse- <3 them!)  And any qualms I have about junk food go right out the window on car rides.  Somehow those little packages of Chips Ahoy go a lot farther for bribery than baggies of carrot sticks.  :-P

It went great!!!  The idea of spacing out the activities seriously helped!  And they loved having their own maps.  Zero whining.  Zero fits.  From the kids or from me...impressive, huh?  :-)

Ignore the mounds of stuff in the car.  We travel prepared!  :-P

So next time you're traveling with kids, give it a try! 

Letter Hop!

We've been working on teaching Liliana her letters.  So far, we've gone on an ABC Hunt, stamped letters, dug through rice to find them and went fishing for them.   She's been pointing out more and more letters to us every day, so something is connecting!  The gorgeous weather today brought out a new game:  Letter Hop!!!

I wrote down a few letters she knew and a few she didn't on our driveway with sidewalk chalk.  I say the letter, she finds it and hops on it. 

Perfect way for my active girl to learn!

After awhile, I had her announce the letter so she could practice saying their names.  It's one thing to recognize it when it's said, it's another to be able to say it yourself!

"Hmm....which one of these is B again?  I think you're going to have to show me Liliana!"

The letter hop was so much fun, it brought about the addition hop for Micah.  Wrote down numbers, gave him an addition problem, and he hopped on the answer. 

Liliana was determined to beat him to the answer, but she didn't have a clue where she was running!

He lost interest fairly quickly.  I think next time I'll have him shoot the answer with a water gun.  Boys rarely lose interest if there is shooting involved.  :-)

Fishing for the ABCs

Awhile back I picked up some bulletin board letters at a rummage sale.  We've used them for a TON of things (here's one)...but not bulletin boards.  :-)

Today, they became fish.  Got a magnet wand?  Tie it to a pole, add a paperclip to anything and you've got yourself a fishing game!

Liliana was so excited to climb up on the coffee table "boat" and get started.  The rule was that if she could name the letter, she got to keep the fish.  If not, the fish got tossed back into the pond.

This is what happens when you tell a 3 year old who skipped her nap that she needs to throw her fish back.

Yes.  I took a picture of her crying rather than immediately running to comfort her.  Best. Mom. Ever. 

Micah provided some good distraction by pretending to be a shark and got the game back on track.

And this photo has nothing to do with anything, other than my daughter being adorable!

I think she was asking us what letter it was but she couldn't stop laughing because Micah was shouting something about butts.

This game could be expanded by using numbers, colors, shapes, etc. for the fish.  For Micah, I was planning on saying a word and having him fish for the letter it started with, but they got distracted and moved on.  You could also have older kids fish for sight words or the answers to math problems.

Micah's Lego Star Wars Party

Micah's birthday is in August, and since we move every July, he never knows anyone to invite to a "friends" party.  This year, we decided to let him have a half birthday party instead!  I made the invites on the computer and had them printed as 5x7 photos.  They turned out great!

Thank goodness for Pinterest!  I don't know how moms planned parties before it! 

The guests got Jedi robes when they arrived, but most of the kids didn't want to wear them, which surprised me.  My two were all over dressing up...which only makes sense since Mom and Dad were dressed up too!

Yay for old choir robes!

The first game we played was "Jedi Training" (aka- Obstacle Course). 

Micah dashes for the rings, determined to be the fastest Jedi!

Then they had to find the Princess Leia that was trapped in a balloon and rescue her.  It didn't take them long to find her, but man did they have a hard time popping that balloon!

They each got a lightsaber and practiced battling asteroids (keeping balloons in the air with them).

Once that asteroid was taking care of, they went on an asteroid hunt (searching for hidden Hershey's kisses).

Jedi Master Jeremy explains the directions.

Freeing Han Solo from the frozen carbonate (in this case, ice) was next.  I gave the kids a variety of tools to use and a big hint that there was a sink in the next room.  Micah was the only one who got the hint though and while the other kids hammered away at the ice with a potato masher and poured a bunch of salt on top, he ran it under hot water and got done the fastest.

After that came everyone's favorite party game- pinata time!  They got to destroy the death star that Micah and I paper mached.

Finally, they played a few filler games while I quick helped get food set out.  They shot a Darth Vader cutout with nerf guns, played Padawan, Padawan, Jedi (Duck, Duck, Goose) and worked on their precision skills by dropping the kisses from earlier into a bucket.

Yes, that's a flashlight taped to his nerf gun.  So he can shoot in the dark!  His idea.

The menu consisted of:

• Palpatine Pizza
• Han Burgers
• Endor Trail Mix
• Wookie Cookies
• Lightsabers
• Bantha Milk
• Yoda Soda

 

Lightsabers = Pretzel rods dipped in candy melts with tinfoil wrapped around the bottom.

And lastly, cake and presents!

The girls will be so disappointed, he got all the candles out.  ;-)

Red frosting...whose idea was that?!?!

What a great day!  We will definitely be sticking with the half birthday party thing.  It was a fun way to brighten up wintertime, and Micah felt so very special to be able to celebrate with his friends!

Penguin Playtime

Micah's teacher is doing a penguin unit at school.  We decided to expand the fun by making our own penguin play area.

I froze some water as shown.  The bowl with rocks was so the ice would leave a "swimming hole" for the penguins.

When it was frozen, I poured some hot water into the bowl and then was able to lift it right out and fill the space with water.  The penguins are Toob ones.  A lot of times, Michaels or Hobby Lobby carry Toob products and then you can use a 40% off coupon.

Micah was saying "EEE!  I'm cold!!!" in a penguin voice...or what he thought a penguin voice should sound like.  It sounded remarkably similar to his army men and aliens voices.  :-P

The kids had sooooo much fun playing with the penguins!  Micah was telling us all of the facts he had learned at school, and they were creating all kinds of storylines (Micah's involved fighting penguins and Liliana's involved penguin babies- big surprise!)

Next time, I would prop the container at an angle in the freezer so the penguins would have a sledding hill.  If we actually had snow, adding a little snow for them to hide in would also be fun!

And if you need a penguin song for while you play:

(To the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot")
I'm a little penguin, black and white.
I waddle to the left, I waddle to the right.
I cannot fly, but I can swim.
So I waddle to the water and I jump right in.

(actions are self explanatory)

Listening Activity

I was looking for a listening activity online for a lesson I was teaching at church and had trouble finding anything decent so I made one myself.

The lesson was for 3-12 year olds, so there is a WIDE range of difficulty in the sounds.  Liliana (3) got some easily, Jeremy (30) missed a few...so I'd call this good for all ages.  Pause at the white screens if you need more time to think.



Learning to listen closely is a skill that doesn't come naturally for little ones...or some grown ups ;-) but is an important foundation for all other learning!  Have fun!

ABC Rice Hunt

1.  Take Rainbow Rice (or use your sandbox if you don't have a rice tub.)
2.  Hide in foam letters from a Dollar Tree puzzle.
3.  Send your child on a letter hunt, finding the letters and putting them back into the puzzle.

This easy and cheap activity is not only a great sensory experience, but it also develops letter recognition and spatial sense!  Liliana was saying things like, "Micah- I found a M for you!" and "Only 4 more letters left to find."  Puzzles are not her strongest activity because she doesn't have the attention span for them, so combining it with a sensory activity kept her focused.  She hid/found them all 3 times!!!  On a funny note- She found the letter b and told me "I found a 'CK-CK-CK' letter T for Anna!"  Hmmm...close sweetheart.

Pouring Practice

Not every project I do with the kids is a success and some are disasters!  I was going to post today about making gingerbread houses from scratch, but that project failed.  Miserably.  The gingerbread itself turned out fine, but the icing was way runny and I realized that I had tossed out all the candy laying around our house, so we were going to have to decorate with dried fruit.  We gave up.

But we did have fun doing the part we did!

So instead, we worked on our pouring skills today.  Liliana loves to help herself to milk and juice, but she could use a little practice with it.  Our kitchen has carpet in it and she once poured an entire gallon of orange juice on the floor and then sweetly said "Oops!  I missed." 

We had the kiddy pool in our house already from the rainbow rice, but you could easily do this in the bathtub.  I grabbed a bunch of stuff from our kitchen and recycling bin.

I put water in the pitcher, and she set right to work. 

She did GREAT!!!  So well that I was thinking to myself maybe we should let her pour her own drinks more often!

Then she did not so great.

A good half of that missed.  And then....well....I saw this coming, which is why she was in her swimsuit.

She ended up splashing around for awhile until she got cold, and then her barbies took a turn going for a swim.  I will definitely be doing this again with her though because it kept her thoroughly entertained, was really great practice, and actually wasn't too difficult to clean up. 

Success!