goodbye day care, hello summer vacation

Seth, Eli and Kirsten after our picnic lunch of eagerly awaited PB and J. Yes, they beg for those!

The day care business is done for another school year today. My hope is to find new creative ways to make money from home for next fall (feel free to leave me a tip) but at this very moment I am just going to enjoy some summer sun with my boys. Here's to goodbyes...

Kaitlyn and Eli sharing a last snuggle.

back to schooling at home

During my four weeks of maternity leave there was not much structure in the house. Let's face it - we were in survival mode. Now that we are back in day care, structure and routine are a necessity. During the month of January we have spent our time focusing on occupations. Big word for small kids but they get it. It is amazing all the jobs they can come up with! Seth has decided that he will drive a Kubota (like his dad does at work) and be a Fire Fighter. I had to laugh. He'll be living on love just like his parents.

Here is what is ahead for home pre-schooling for February:

February 1 - 12th: Body Parts (God Made Me Special)
Songs such as Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; Games such as Body Part Bingo; Coloring sheets and tracing our bodies on large newsprint too! Keeping health and hygiene in mind this is a great time to relearn hand washing and keeping our germs to ourselves. (Cold and flu season is far from over!)

February 13 - 26th: How the Body Works (God Made Us to Love)
This is a great time to talk about what are different body parts are for. We will spend some extra time on tooth brushing too as it is Dental Health Month. With Valentine's Day we will make plenty of love notes for friends and family but also talk about how God created us to love others!

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Genesis 1: 1

Homemade Snow Dough

The kids working their Snow Dough.

Looking for a fun way to bring some snow inside this season? Here is a fun recipe for Homemade Snow Dough. The kids enjoyed making snowmen and snow monsters!

Seth's snowman - we used toothpicks for arms.

A Snow man closeup - we made two batches of dough. One with green sprinkles for Seth and one with red sprinkles for K.

A New Month to Learn and Grow

December has arrived. It's time for a new unit in our home preschool. Here's the details for those who are interested:

Dec. 1 to Dec. 11 - Snow and Winter
I realize that snow does not necessarily arrive at this time, but it certainly can. The reality is this unit is easy to have a lot of fun with and use it to decorate our home for the long winter. Some projects on the docket: Homemade Snow Dough (recipe coming soon), making Snow Flakes to cover the windows, Cupcakes with coconut on top for a baking project and of course more depending on the timing.

Dec. 14 to Dec. 30 - The Story of Christmas
We live in a home where we believe that Christ was born on Christmas and that HE is the Savior of the world. We make sure to teach the true meaning of Christmas in our home: It's not about what we get, it is about what we give to others. In fact, the goal of this unit is to come up with a gift we can each give personally to Jesus for His birthday.
If you have never read the account of the birth of Christ pick up a New Testament or Bible and check out Luke 2 for the truth!

Emotional: Patience and Waiting for Others

Social/Moral: Time with Family

Spiritual: Giving to Jesus and Others

Month's Verse: "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." James 1: 17

Some other seasonal items that happen in our home outside of day care include a Nativity Calendar. Each day we read a bit more of the story of Christ's birth and add a character to our scene. It is so fun to look forward to each night at supper time.

This year I also am trying a new tradition, or adding to an old one, depending on how you look at it. Each year before we open gifts on Christmas the first gift we open is the Bible. My husband wraps it in advance and it is the first gift to be passed out and then read. So this year, I had my mother help me and we have wrapped 24 Christmas books. That means each night before bed Seth will open a book (some new and some old) to read with mom or dad before being tucked in. I think it just adds to the merriment of Christmas! Then on Christmas day we will open the most important gift of all God's Word telling us of how He sent His one and only son so that we might have life!

Let me know if you have any fun family traditions that others can join in too...

Spiderific Cookies

One mean little spider!

To complete our baking/measuring unit we had to have a recipe that related to Halloween. These tasty little spiders were just the thing! The kids loved being able to do so much of it and of course the tasting part never hurts either.

Try them out for yourselves at Betty Crocker: Peanut Butter Spider Cookies

Seth loves helping in the kitchen but has a rag handy as he does not like to have sticky fingers. Funny how he can play in the dirt and pick up worms with no trouble though...

K has on the day's official shirt - Trick-or-Treat!

I think Seth was trying to bulk up his pumpkin for this shot. Not sure...but I do love the chocolate mouth. "No mom I haven't tried the Rolos." Whatever!

The idea is thanks to Crystal over at Shining Moments.

November Preschool Calendar

Seeing as how the end of the month will be quickly upon us, I wanted to update you on our home school preschool plans for the month of November.

November 2nd - 13th: Building/Construction
Ideas include building with small and large marshmallows and toothpicks, getting out the big tub of Legos and having it front and center when the kids arrive in the mornings, building with blocks, learning about construction equipment from books and kid-friendly videos, etc.

November 16th - 25th: Thanksgiving
Ideas include books about the Pilgrims, Turkey related games and crafts (see above), painting with "Turkey" feathers, etc. Baking some Thanksgiving related food such as corn and potatoes or having our own Thanksgiving lunch where we all make something for it together to share.

Emotions: Joy and Happiness

Social/Moral: What is a family? How do we treat family members?

Spiritual" Giving thanks to God in all circumstances.

Verse for the month: "Give THANKS to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 107: 1

Books: I no longer am taking the time to list books this year. The time involved seems unnecessary when you can all just go to your local library and search the topic at hand and receive numerous hits and ideas. There are some fabulous books out there and you should be enjoying them with your kids on a daily basis. We shoot for 30 min reading as a Day Care and then another 15-20 minutes with just Seth before bed EACH DAY!

Just for the record the monthly Bible verse is going great. We keep it right next to our calendar where we talk through the month and days of the week each day. The kids have memorized both the September and October verses without any trouble at all. Amazing how God is establishing His Word in their hearts at such a young age!

All-Natural Play Clay

As we are once again stuck inside it's time to start pulling ideas out for...hmm... shall I say the "cold winter" months?! Yuck! Since we are in our Baking/Measuring Unit until the end of October it seemed appropriate to get into the kitchen. Today we tried a recipe I found in my Family Fun magazine called All-Natural Play Clay. It took a few tries to get it just right but the kids had fun being able to make it on their own and then play with it too. Check out the link and have some indoor fun!

Note: For the measuring cup challenged: 3/8 cup is the same as 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. Hate to admit it, but I had to call my mom to figure that one out. Math genius I am NOT!

Come On Baby Light My Fire!

It is Fire Safety Week around the nation. Today we attended the local Touch A Truck where we were able to climb aboard fire trucks and see some fire fighters in action. Seth was in love!

My Jr. Fire Fighter "driving" a pumper truck.

Seth and Dad "driving to Minneapolis to put out a fire". Wow, that little guys imagination was in full swing today.

One of the fire demonstrations was an actual car fire. Pretty amazing to watch the window blow out as the heat kicked in!

As expected the fire fighters got the flames under control and saved the day. Heroes!

Since Fire Safety is a great topic for preschools we are doing an Emergency Unit the first two weeks of October for home preschool. Today's Touch A Truck was a great kick off event. We will do a practice fire drill, change the batteries in the fire alarms and make sure they work, talk about Stop, Drop, and Roll, etc. Here is a fun website to check out with your kids too: Sparky the Fire Dog.

Our spiritual theme for the month is God Protects Us backed up by 2 Thessalonians 3:3, "But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." We are still working through friendship for our social and moral category and when it comes to emotional development; using your words when frustrated. Talk about huge!

A family that plays together stays together!

A Soggy Day at the Orchard

Seth driving the Apple Train with gusto! He loved yelling, "All aboard" at the top of his lungs.

I love to get to our favorite orchard early so I can pick fresh raspberries. Once the day is picked it's hard to change it. Thus today I took the kids to Fischer's Croix Farm Orchard for the morning. The rain poured on our car the whole way there and I was starting to wonder if I might regret this trip. Then again, I was with two kids who were thrilled to play out in the rain so why not?

K and Seth taking in the calf and some chickens.

Much to my relief when we arrived the rain cleared up for awhile. The kids were able to see the animals and play around in the yard. We even got six pints of raspberries picked before the rain started to come again!

Seth filled his own container of raspberries and I was shocked to see how well he did all by himself.

We picked some apples in the rain and then headed to the shelter of the side of the building for our picnic lunch of apples, berries and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was actually very beautiful to watch the rain come down. It could have been more peaceful, but hey, I was with two preschoolers, what could I expect?!

Picking apples in the rain made us a bit less picky, but we are planning to use the Harolson for baking anyway so I guess it won't matter too much.

I grabbed a couple pumpkins from the pile as it stared to pour and got everything piled into the car in record time. I of course won the contest for the most soaked. Go figure. It was my rear sticking out of the car to get everyone buckled in and me running back and forth from the building to the car in the downpour with berries, apples, pumpkins and such.

J mom and her little man. He sat on my lap during our picnic to warm up. I have to remember every cuddle moment as they come less often these days. Must be part of growing up...

All in all it was fun and worth it. It tops spending a rainy day at home, just costs quite a bit more. I look forward to spending my rainy weekend baking with Seth. I'm dreaming of Apple Pie and Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins. Yum...

Keeping Kool with Kids

K enjoying her play dough.

This morning after dropping off Seth, K (my four year old day care girl) and I ran to Target for a quick errand and then came home to play. Wednesdays will be our "girl" day where it is just the two of us while Seth is in preschool. In hopes of making things fun right away we decided to make some play dough. K has little experince in the kitchen so this was a great teaching opportunity for me and I am sure that many more will follow. Try this fun play dough recipe with your kids!

Kool Play Dough

2 1/2 cups flour
2 pkgs. unsweetened Kool-aid mix
1/2 cup salt
1 Tbsp. Alum
2 cups boiling water
3 tsp. cooking oil

Mix well, knead until smooth and let cool. This stuff is great fun and the smell is wonderful. May not be suitable for your youngest as the smell might make you think taste...

Down on the Farm

My little man on the Gus Gang farm in NE in 2007. Isn't he adorable?! I can't believe he has grown up so much since then.

It's Back to School, well home school anyway. If you are new to my blog, I incorporate lessons with my family and day care children in hopes of making each day purposeful as well as educational. My goal is to make learning fun and encourage a lifelong love of learning. In fact, if they are learning and don't even know it the better! This year we have a four year old and a six year old on top of my three year old son so we are really trying to get focused. (Our six year will attend public school and the rest of the children will eventually as well, but learning at an early age is always better as it helps prepare them for a life of school. Just so you know it is not my intent to home school for the long haul. A choice each family must make for themselves.)

My curriculum outlines units that are two weeks long focused on areas of interest to kids in particular. Such as animals, dinosaurs, occupations, construction, bugs, seasons, etc. Again, the idea is to make learning fun. This year we are also working on our letters and numbers, in addition to last year's colors and shapes. I even am reading the ABC's with phonic sounds now to help the kids on their path to learning to read. Three days a week for 30 minutes is the goal of time set aside for "learning" at the table together, but the rest of the day we also have topic related crafts, activities, books to read and toys to play with too. Everything revolves around the topic. Also new this year we are also adding a monthly Bible verse to familiarize the kids with memorization and God's Word. Each month has a social/moral and emotional characteristic as well which will relate to our Bible verse and teaching of the month. Did I mention we have a calendar time in the morning too?! (Routine and schedule help us all!)

So what are we up to this month?

Farm Animals (Sept. 1st - Sept. 18)
Orchards/Apples/Fall (Sept. 21st - Oct. 2nd)

Emotional: Shyness and Trying New Things (new day care family, starting school and pre-school all relate well)

Social/Moral: What is a Friend? How do we treat Friends?

Spiritual: God Love Us, Love Each Other!

Month's Verse: "[Jesus said] 'Love each other as I have loved you.'" John 15:12

Our units include a story kit from the library, a farm set with a wide variety of farm animals, farm crafts (some of which I found simple googling ideas online), an array of books from the library for story time (30 min. each day before afternoon quiet time), and hopefully a group trip to an Apple Orchard with some small farm animals for petting. Of course we will have to do some baking with our apples too!

I will try to give you a heads up each month as to what we are doing. This is helpful to keep me on task and I hope some of you may find it helpful to use in your own homes as well. Even taking a 30 minute time to read to your children in a purposeful way will help you students on their path to higher education!

What On Earth Happened?

I finally took a few minutes to peruse my blog this morning - yuck! How have I let things get so bad. I hate to admit it (because maybe you somehow didn't notice) but I had photos with snow in them! Ouch - neglect, serious neglect!

I have had a million blog posts come and go in my head but just never get to the computer to actually get them posted. (Summer is a slow time for many of us but snow photos?!) Those few moments I get on the computer are few and far between thanks to my new life:

1. Full time day care for two girls ages four and six. They never stop moving or wanting to go do something. I thought older kids would take less energy - I was wrong!

2. School is about to start and we have had to get prepared for that. No, not buy crayons or anything just teach our little man how to use the potty himself. You know, pull down and up pants - not as easy as it sounds.

3. Jason has been working furiously to finish school and therefore not present around the house lately. He took his final this week so the end is in sight - praise the Lord!

4. I'm 22, almost 23 weeks pregnant. Seriously, this is a BIG factor. (You should see me!) I am exhausted! I was exhausted with my first pregnancy and then I was only working part time and had no child to care for 24 hours a day. Wow, what a difference a second round makes! Between the daily workouts, nightly kickboxing (the baby's), weekly hormone shots, monthly appointments and life in general it's a wonder I can still stand up most days!

5. Last but not least: priorities. My blog has apparently ended up at the bottom of the totem pole. Sad but true.

So what happens now? I wish I could say I would be back full swing as of right this minute but it may take some time yet. My hope is that once school starts I will find at least one day a week where I can have ten to twenty minutes to blog. Oh, we will see...

April is Out the Door

It seems crazy to me that May is arriving tomorrow. The school year is wrapping up for Jason and it seems I am spending all my computer time working on his senior project. The blog has taken a back seat. Now that spring is in full force and the great outdoors is calling my name I figure the blog will stay in the back seat. Here are some funny photos from April that just haven't made it to a post of their own yet.

Seth is living large with a "Walkman" to listen to books on tape. Yes, I said tape. It will be awhile before that one gets an iPod.

Days at the park are becoming common place. Seth loves the freedom to climb, run and dive into the sand. We got the whole family and day care kids there for a picnic lunch one day last week!

Grandpa made us hand cut wood blocks and delivered them in an original Apple computer bag - we're talking 80's here. I found Seth hiding in it the other day. Surprise!

The secrets out of the bag - Seth is too funny for words.

Jason and J mom enjoying the picnic at the park. We got a few cuddle minutes while the kids were running around us in circles. I love the outdoors and I love this man even more!

BIG Mess

Where did all the toys go?!

I am a neat freak, yes, I admit it. If you have read my blog for even a few weeks you know it too. The boys today decided to have some fun with mom. While I was busy feeding Claire at the table, Seth and Tate started to carry toys of all variety into the kitchen. I asked what they were doing and Seth told me that he was working on something. I obliged but reminded him as I saw more and more go by me that he and Tate would also be cleaning this "something" up. Undeterred, this is what I ended up with...

Seth piling some more on.

A stack of library books, puzzles and toys on the kitchen floor.

The pile was the same height as my countertop and covered the entire back entryway and kitchen area when they were done !

After lunch we had some serious clean up time. I told Seth maybe we should get rid of some toys. He hurried a little faster to get them back and said, "NO!"

The Best Part of the Story is Yet to Come

It's Good Friday. A day when we mourn the suffering of Jesus on the cross. I think sometimes believers in Jesus get stuck on Friday when the most important thing happens on Sunday. On Sunday Jesus raises from the dead! The grave cannot hold him! He is ALIVE! As believers in Christ struggling in a not so heavenly world, we must live as though Christ is ALIVE and living among us. That is the only hope in this broken world I can count on!

Seth gets very into his craft time - look at that focus!

Today we tried to incorporate some of the fun traditions of Easter into our day care day. We hid tons of eggs around the house to find and it was such a success we did it over and over and over and over and over again. Then we made some crafts with bunny stickers and such. (I am saving the dying of eggs for just Seth on Saturday am due to the mess factor.) During out time I kept trying to reinforce the idea of New Life. Christ died on the cross to save us from our sins and rose from the dead that we ALL may have new life in Him!

Tiny Man Tate adding some stickers to his masterpiece.

Have you not heard the gospel of Grace? Check out this video that says it all in a very modern way...



The Bible tells us that those who call upon the name of the Lord will have eternal life. (Romans 10:13, 10:9-10) That's the best part of the story and it still yet to come...

It's A Zoo in Here!

I plan my lessons for the sake of the kids and their interests but there are certainly some I enjoy much more than others. Take the Zoo for example. While I am pained for the treatment of animals who must live in enclosures, Zoo's do save and protect animals. Seeing an animal up close and in person is too amazing an opportunity to miss out on either. I enjoy watching them as much as Seth does. In fact sometimes I wish he would slow down so I could watch longer!

Life with three kids most days of the week is a Zoo in and of itself. Our inability to get out and about only makes it more so. The Zoo topic is one I get great mileage out of. We have a large bucket of Schleich animals that we have collected and we use them and our blocks, legos, whatever we can find to build ginormous zoos for all the animals. We also draw zoos on paper and use animal stickers to fill in the spaces. We also checked out a Fischer Price Zoo and zoo puzzles from the ECFE toy library. Seth and I will go to both the Como Zoo and the MN Zoo (thanks to a library pass) during this lesson series too. Of course it wouldn't be learning without reading a million different books too so I created a list of them for you.

Animal Strike at the Zoo: It’s True!, Karma Wilson
Annie and the Wild Animals, Jan Brett
Apes and Monkeys, Michael and Jane Pelusey
Charlie at the Zoo, Marcus Pfister
Elephants, Michael and Jane Pelusey
Giraffes and Zebras, Michael and Jane Pelusey
Good Night Gorilla, Peggy Rathmann
If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo, Mary Jean Hendrick
Last Night at the Zoo, Michael Garland
Mealtime for Zoo Animals, Caroline Arnold
Noisytime for Zoo Animals, Caroline Arnold
Out and About at the Zoo, Kathleen W. Deady
Playtime for Zoo Animals, Caroline Arnold
Pssst!, Adam Rex
Rhinoceroses and Hippopotamuses, Michael and Jane Pelusey
The Umbrella, Jan Brett
The Tiger Has a Tootheache: Helping Animals at the Zoo, Patricia Lauber
Twas the Day Before Zoo Day, Catherine Ipcizade
Welcome to the Zoo, Alison Jay
Wild About Books, Judy Sierra
Z is for Zookeeper: A Zoo Alphabet, Marie and Roland Smith
Zany Zoo, William Wise (poems)
Zoo Animals 123, Rebecca Fjelland Davis
Zoo Do’s and Don’ts, Todd Parr
Zoo-Looking, Mem Fox
Zookeeper Sue, Chris Demarest

Get out of your zoo and into a different one as soon as you can!

Let's Get this Party Started

Seth loves to lick cupcake batter!

Today we are in pre-celebration mode. Seth wanted to have some party time with his friend from our day care family so we are getting the party started a little early. Seth helped me make cupcakes yesterday which we will have after lunch today. I can't wait for that mess to happen. Today though we made party hats, or crowns rather for our craft time. It was fun to see how excited Seth got making his hat. He also decorated a sign that is now hanging on the door for party goers to enjoy. I can't beleive that he really turns three tomorrow...

Seth got a gift from our day care family which he was thrilled to receive - Cars stuff!

What a ham!

Snow Fort Revealed

Seth checking the stability of the snow fort entrance.

Seth peeking out of the window of the snow fort.

All winter we have intentionally piled snow in one spot of the backyard hoping that eventually we could make a huge snow cave. The day finally arrived!

The day care kids and I all returned from our first walk on the "W" in ages to find Jason coming out of the house and ready to build. Seth wasn't sure what was happening at first but once he got a chance to climb in and stick his head out he was sold. The cave is huge and all three of us could fit in it if we so chose to live like Eskimos!

Here are the boys smuggling the baby some snow balls.

The baby thought they felt good on her sore gums and new teeth.

Making Valetines

Seth and Tate getting into is with paints. We have a lot of special Valentine's!

With the help of a friend, the boys and I made Valentines today. We covered my end tables with towels and put both boys in old t-shirts from the rag pile. There was paint and glitter and crayons and chaos, but it was fun and their Valentines are beautiful and unique.

I cut a heart stamp out of a potato which was not only a money saver but much easier for the boys to hold and work with in the paint.

Tate was not sure at first but came around to enjoy painting.

You always feel the love when it comes from the hand of a child made especially for you!

Happy Valentines Day!

An All Encompassing Post

Here are the yummy - no not from scratch - cupcakes we made and decorated for Tate's birthday. Seth actually did most the work, I just ran the oven and put on the frosting. What a great little helper he is!

Seth hopes we celebrate more birthdays - he wants more cupcakes!

Who doesn't love cupcakes?! Tate was even able to shove this one in on his own!

This is one of those days where too much has happened and it all just needs to go in one "All Encompassing Post".

Part 1: It's Tuesday which means its a Day Care day and ultimately a busy day too. It's also January 20th which means it is Tate's 2nd Birthday! Seth and I made cupcakes yesterday so we could celebrate with Tate today. They were so yummy! We had them as a dessert after lunch. Tate ate his whole cupcake and then held out his bowl, "More!" I think that makes him an official two year old.

Happy 2nd Birthday Tate!

Part 2: Seth told me this morning that it today was going to be a good earning day. In our house that means we are going to earn stickers by peeing and pooping on the potty. I told him that sounded great and to let me know when he needed help to get to the bathroom. Not ten minutes later he pooped on the potty and let me put him in underwear. (He does not usually like underwear at all so this was exciting for me.) About an hour later I encouraged him to go and sit on the potty and just give it a try - he peed like a pro! Now we were at three stickers, putting him at two away from his next prize, Fillmore (die cast Cars toy). He had one accident just before lunch time so we changed and then after lunch he tells me he needs to run to the potty, "My poop is coming!" I was coming from upstairs having just put the Birthday Boy in bed so he was already wet, but the poop did come in the potty. Best part of all - he sat on the big potty and got to flush it! That means mom didn't have to scrape it out of the potty chair - Woot! I just put him down for nap so we will see what happens this afternoon but I would call it a successful morning of potty training! Fillmore is a riot to add to our collection too : )

My new favorite lunch - wow, it even looks good!

Part 3: I am sick of cold meat sandwiches for lunch! I have been eating a ton of them lately. They are cheap and easy and yada, yada, yada, but I am done - no more for awhile. That said I was at the grocery store yesterday looking for options. I came across a recipe for wraps that we wanted to give a try again but I actually found the Sundried Tomato Basil Wraps for them. It saved my lunch problem, at least for today. I filled my wrap with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, provolone cheese, sliced turkey and doused it in fat free Ranch dressing. It was wonderful. With a side of fresh fruit: strawberries, blueberries and kiwi it almost felt heavenly. If only lunch could taste this good everyday!