Letterboxing - Love Doves

I seriously found something that is way too much fun, almost addicting...LETTERBOXING! If you don't know what letterboxing is, go to http://www.letterboxing.org to check it out!

Last night, I had mommy time and went to a friend's house to carve my first letterbox stamp! Here it is!

AKA: "Mission-Minded"

Here is "Mission-Minded" stamped:


Anyways, Turbo, Tank and I went on our first Letterboxing Adventure today! Here are some photos!

Scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

It was so much fun that I have already begun to plan out our next letterboxing! We are going to be doing some traveling this summer and you guessed it...we're letterboxing!

Tank learns to give kisses!

This digital greeting created with Smilebox

Spring Has Sprung!

In light of the snowstorm we just had (ugh) Turbo and I have begun our Spring Unit. I am super excited about this unit, as I have purchased Painted Lady Caterpillars for us to watch as they grow into beautiful butterflies. It is exciting to get up each morning with a magnifying glass to check out the changes that are happening so we can track them on our Butterfly Life Cycle.

Next, we worked on numbers. I found some really cute caterpillars and this is what we did:

Using clothespins, Turbo clipped on the number of clothespins according to each number on the caterpillar:



To work on the letter "C", I asked him to glue on pom-poms to the letter C and then also a caterpillar:


After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, we did a graph that he was to put the corresponding pom-pom onto the chart:


To finish off the morning, we made a SUPER LONG caterpillar using a lot of Pom-Poms. We counted up to 67 and then Turbo was done. Tank sure did have a lot of fun watching us!

Look What Water Can DO!

So today so did not turn out the way I planned it...WAIT! I didn't plan for today. This weekend got away from me and there just wasn't enough time to plan for the week. So, we just winged it!

Turbo is to get a weekly "commission" (aka: allowance). He has been saving up for a HotWheels car that changes color when it gets wet. Albeit that it is only 3 dollars, he had to save up for 3 weeks. That is a "FOREVER" time to a 4 year old. This morning, he had enough money to go buy it. We loaded everyone into the car and headed to go ol' Target.

Picture this: a 4 year old, who desperately needs to use the potty, scattered all the color changing hotwheels on the aisle floor trying to decide which HotWheel to get, while doing the potty dance. Entertainment at its best.

Naturally, he decided on the dinosaur one.

When he got home, he couldn't wait to play with it in the sink. It changed into all sorts of colors! It was pretty cool. So, in order for us to do some "school" for the day, we did an "INVESTIGATION". We made a chart. We divided it into three separate categories. We drew the car in each section and then labeled each section: NO WATER, COLD WATER, HOT WATER. Then he colored the car according to what it looked like when it got wet with the different temperature of water.

We have now entered into the Scientific Process...

DINO-MITE!

So to followup on our dinosaur unit, Turbo, his daddy and I went to the Museum to check out REAL dinosaur bones. We left Tank at home with Nana...I don't think he's into dinosaurs quite yet! :)

Check out the SmileBox below!

Digital scrapbooking design generated with Smilebox

Then, we did something we're not prone to do, we visited the Gift Shop! OI! But we found these fantastic dinosaurs! There are three dinosaurs that come apart, i.e. legs, arms, head, tail, body. You can either put them together: T-Rex, Triceratops or Diplodicus, or you can mix and match to morph them into different dinosaurs! Turbo cannot stop playing with them. We even got Tank a diplodicus stuffed animal to chew and slobber on, but evidently, Turbo thinks this is for him as well. He sleeps with it every night and even feeds and gives it water. (don't ask)

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Teaching preschoolers about St. Patrick's Day...of course...G-Rated, is fun and can be exciting!

First, we talked about shamrocks, rainbows, and pots of gold. Then I introduced them to leprechauns! I told them that leprechauns like to create mischief around the house and that they hide a pot of gold at the end of rainbows!

We did some coloring pages and learned the order of the rainbow colors. Then, to make it all sink in, we made rainbow cupcakes with fluffy white clouds on top!

Even Dear Hubby got in on the action!

When Life Gets In The Way...

I am wondering how you veteran homeschooling mamas do it! This week is going to be so hectic that I don't know if there is going to be any time for school! Monday was about the only time I can foresee actually having some sort of academia involved!

Since the morning time is the only time that we can do school, naps take precedent over school in the afternoon...mainly because of my sanity needs, we have short window of opportunity to get stuff done.

Now I understand that "school" happens all day and every day at different times and it will always look different. But I am treading water here!

Any words of encouragement out there? THANKS!

M is for...

MONKEY, MEASURE, MOOSE, MOON, MEATBALLS, MACARONI and...MOMMY!!!

This morning we worked on a lap book for the letter M. It was a great morning, because Turbo basically ran it. He decided on the letter "M". He cut out "M" words from a magazine. Then when we worked on our workbook pages, he choose the ones that "MEASURED" things. We used paperclips to measure things around the house. But to be honest, I'm pretty sure he just liked to link the paperclips together!

For lunch, he chose MEATBALLS and MACARONI!

(A dear friend introduced me to montaging pictures so as to take up less space. This was my first attempt. YIKES, huh!?)

Although circle time has not yet been implemented into our daily routine, I am really excited how things are going with his schooling at home.

Play with Limits???

Have you ever noticed that when 2- 3 to 4 year olds get together, it is nothin' but a recipe for a disaster? Add in the fact that these particular 3 to 4 year olds delight in the mess making, and you've got yourself a whirlwind of an adventure!

This week's playgroup was INTENTIONAL! Do you hear me people? INTENTIONAL!!! That means, we didn't lock the kids in the bedroom, LOL! we actually supervised them! HEE HEE!

For starters, after they tore the bed apart, and then cleaned up the mess, with LOTS of TEARS, I might add, we did the Letter A Lap Books. What fun! They did so well!

Then, we told them to play with Lincoln Logs and build a town for 5 minutes; they can't play with anything else for 5 minutes. They did it...it was hard...and their town was "in ruins" (literally), but they did it!

Next up, they played Chutes and Ladders. Boy, taking turns on the spinner proved to be quite the challenge! WHEW!

After that, they each had 4 pages to color. They had to sit and color each page! They couldn't get up until they were done. At first Turbo was not all about it! SweetPea took right to it! After peer pressure (gotta love that...okay not all the time)...he gave in and colored each picture...but only in one color! He wasn't going to give in on every level! (lil' booger)

Then they made homemade pizzas! I couldn't believe Turbo ate them! Totally a plus in my book! He's a Totino's man!

All the while, Tank laid on a blanket and cooed and played...ahhhhh me!

Play with Limits! It has it's moments...

Signs Of Spring Adventure

Thanks to a great suggestion of a friend, Turbo, Tank and I went on an Adventure this morning searching for signs of spring. With our camera at the ready, Turbo took pictures of what he thought are signs of spring. After nap, we will attempt a Nature Journal...so that is to be continued.

Before we left on our walk, we googled "signs of spring" and looked at the searched image results. We talked about what to look for on our walk and we were off! Below are some of the pictures that Turbo took and his words of what signs of spring are:
MUD

GOOSE POOP (LOL - I thought this was pretty silly - but actually very true - geese come back after their "winter break!"
KIDS PLAYING ON THE PLAYGROUND - Because mommas can't take it anymore!
LEAF AND FLOWER BUDS ON BRANCHES

GREEN GRASS GROWING THROUGH!

RUBBER RAIN BOOTS!

OF COURSE WE CAN'T FORGET: KIDDOS CLIMBING IN TREES!

Circle Time....Hmmmm

Yes, that is a silly question, since my circle time will consist of 2 people! But I think it should be part of the day! We can go over the days of the week, months, etc. But more importantly, a devotional...dare I say...memory verse? Maybe do some praise songs together. I don't know. Something I have been thinking of how to incorporate into our day. I read something about how to do circle time with preschool/toddlers...and yeah...well...good luck. But I think I can do it with Turbo! Maybe I can get Tank in on the action. Hey! At least we'll have an audience!

Can We Dig It? YES WE CAN!

Recently, Turbo has been way too into dinosaurs...like way too into dinosaurs! Which is great because there isn't "nothin'" you can't find out there relating to dinosaurs! I only wish that it was warmer and Tank was older, we would go and hike Dinosaur Ridge and look at the Stegosaurus - alas - another day. We rented a DVD from the library and I thought it was all about the Arctic Dinosaurs, which it was, but it wasn't in a kid-friendly format. It was a documentary, although very interesting. The most interesting part was that Turbo watched the entire DVD - 56:58 - CRAZY! Plus he talked about it all the next day! It went over how there are some dinosaur bones that was found in Alaska, etc. and the North Pole. It went over how the climates have changed, yada. But what really interested Turbo was the paleontologist part. He was intrigued by the tools of the trade and the fact they digging was so exciting to the scientists because they could unearth treasures! After our trip to the local craft store, we bought Plaster of Paris and mixed it up...good mixing lesson by the way...and began to bury our plastic dinosaurs in the plaster and then we let it set up. Boy was it a ton of fun unearthing them! The bath tub was definitely the place to be on this one. Using our own tools: a small hammer, and a small screwdriver, we dug up the dinosaurs and then used a large paint brush to clean them off while Turbo took a bath. CAUSE HE NEEDED IT! Check out the pictures and video below!












Then we decided to build dinosaurs out of the blocks that Nana and Papa gave us for Christmas/Valentines! These blocks are absolutely awesome! In Turbo's words: A-MAZING! And I have to agree! He made a T-Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Diplodicus, and a sea creature! Not to bad on the imagination part! He is totally into this book about dinosaurs being in your back yard. I'm pretty sure if I were to give him a shovel, he might very well dig up a dinosaur bone. I might just have to do that tomorrow!

Wax On, Wax Off!

There is nothing like a little hard work to get the job done teaching about the value of money. Although the lesson didn't work out like I had planned. You know...teaching him the value of coins, etc. I did get some clean windows of it!

3,2,1 Blast OFF!

This weekend, called for a REALLY BIG BOX DAY! Hubby had a great idea, which I think was more of a joy for him, to build something really cool out of a really big box.

The decision was to build an airplane. So after lengths, and lengths of duct tape, scissors and markers, an airplane was born!

But what is an airplane without a control panel? Why a Lite Bright will do the trick! Put a little stool and a pillow in the cockpit and you've got yourself a great little airplane!

?Can't We All Just Get Along?

So this week's playgroup was plagued by lessons of cooperation...err...getting along! Or lack thereof. Sickness has been going around, and now of course, the mommas are getting the bug. So after a few "its on", "its off", "its on, again", "its off again"...forget it..."its on!" we got the chillin's together.

Unfortunately, for both mommas, it was a rocky, hectic morning. Both Turbo and SweetPea were putting mom to the patience test. And we were failing. So we decided to do "calming" activities - DRAWING. Using an AquaDoodle, they drew imaginary dinosaurs, which by the way, Turbo is very interested in. When that got boring and they were finished with "sharing" the doodle pen...OI!...we went to the good ol' fashioned pencil and paper - no body painting this time around.




Turbo drew a diplodicus from a book on how to draw a dinosaur and then wrote the name. Not too bad! I think drawing books need to be on the next library order. He has been devouring this book and making hubby and I draw with him after dinner. It is really a fun family time together!



With it being nice outside, we bundled up and gathered colored water in our squirt bottles and set out on an adventure to see all the neat things we could color with colored water. Turbo thought a white car would be fun to try...BUT IT WASN'T MINE! AHHH! Good thing it came off easy! We even tried to see what color blue and green would make...I think they are still confused. We'll learn that another day.



Upon going inside, it was about that time for meltdown for both parties. SweetPea and Turbo had had enough of the cooperating and sharing. One was up when the other was down and vice versa. Time Outs were definitely the place to be this go around. Finally, both mommies decided to call it quits and were thankful that this was not the time where newcomers came. We might have scared them off for sure!