Friday, September 30, 2011

Friday Photo Bliss-- Fire Safety Day

Whew-- I haven't posted one of these in a long time, but I am so over the blogger guilt for not posting, when really I am writing this blog as a creative outlet and a way to share our life with family and friends we are far from.  No blog boss is going to come along and chastise me for not posting.

Nevertheless, I am trying to get back into sharing these, because Noah really is too gorgeous not to share. ;)  After the photos I've shared recently though it is beginning to look to you all like Noah is a silly, clumsy little boy who is constantly sticking things in his ears, when really he is pretty coordinated and a pretty good little dancer to boot.

Buddy, next week's photo will show what a suave, cool dude you are-- Mommie promises!







Saturday, September 17, 2011

Fall Decorations- Halloween Bats and Silhouettes

Confession time:  I am one of those people. You know-- the type that gets their fall decorations and holiday goodies out way too soon.  I listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, and as soon as August ended, I opened up my Pinterest board full of fall digital freebies and got to work in our living room.


It has been a mission of mine to actually use the wonderful tutorials and freebies that I spend hours looking over and downloading from that very addictive site, and I have loved all of the inspiration that Pinterest has given me, as well as being a great way to find money saving ideas for decorating my home for the holidays.  One of the first things I have done is decorate a pair of display shelves in the living room where I regularly rotate out seasonal decor. 

I created the Frankenstein's Monster and Witch silhouettes using these printable and free spooky templates from BHG.  I simply downloaded and printed the outlines, and used them as stencils on two Halloween-ey scrapbook papers that I picked up in the Dollar Spot at Target on clearance last year after the holiday.  Using inexpensive frames I already had on hand (in fact one of these is usually up there with another image in it) I was able to further increase my savings and decrease the amount of seasonal decor. I have to store. 

I am also adorning my living room with a flock (is that the right word?) of spooky black bats using this template from Country Living.  These easy to make bats are created by borrowing a few pieces of my son's construction paper (or scrapbook paper) and folding, tracing and cutting.  I then used some painter's tape to fasten the creepy things to the walls. 

I admit, this is a bit early to begin decorating for Halloween, even for our holiday- happy family like ours, but due to a lot of schedule shuffling and a crazy work schedule for the Hubs, we are going to be in and out of town so much this autumn that I need to enjoy it while I can.  And I am also adding more to the decorations that won't have to come down once November hits. 

Back to crafting!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A is for Apple

This week marks the first full week of my pre-homeschooling Noah.  I have struggled with what to even call it, because obviously he is too young for traditional school, but he is to the point of loving more structured play and games. 

We began last week with calendar, stories and games.  I am keeping it simple and only working with Noah for as long as he is interested in the activities I have planned.  I have been pleasantly surprised with how much he seems to look forward to these times, and with how he is always excited whenever I say, "Noah, should we go downstairs and play some games?" 

"Okay!"  (For some reason this is how he always answers when we ask him if he wants to do something.  We're working on a more polite version, but this is so cute I'm not trying too hard.)

We are beginning with the classic preschool first theme of Apples, and doing apple crafts, counting apples and most of all-- eating apples.  There have been several activities that just haven't happened, either because of Noah's 2 year old attention span, or because he happens to be teething and just wants a, "Cu-ddle," which is the main thing he needs at his age. 

Typically we do an extremely simple calendar, where he puts the number on the calendar, we sing the days of the week, a few other songs and read a few stories.  Then we play a few games which transitions into working in the rest of the room. 

One of Noah's favorite activities is looking in his nature bowl.  We put things that he has collected on recent walks in the bowl along with some magnifying glasses and a couple paint brush.  You wouldn't believe how dirty those stones seem to be and how much cleaning they need.  :)  I will be occasionally adding water to this to add another sensory element and let him brush the rocks, twigs etc. and notice the changes in color and feel. 

One word of caution-- be sure that the acorns, rocks etc. have no bugs or other things growing on them or you could have quite a mess.  Sadly in a few short weeks we will not have to worry as much as temperatures drop and the world outside begins to hibernate.  A nature table or bowl is a great way to avoid having anything hatch in your little one's room and confine the collecting to a reasonable amount.  As a child I was always known for gathering a bit too many rocks and things from the outdoors.  I soon had to keep my collection under the deck of my parent's home, where many of my former treasures remain to this day.





For out thematic elements we are using some of the thematic elements from Totally Tots as well as their simple verse and printables for this theme.  Obviously, Noah is too young for verse memorization on a meaningful level, but I believe in introducing the Word of God at an early age and hiding it in his heart for as long as he can remember. 

For the simple thematic art project pictured below I simply gave Noah a paper plate with an uppercase A printed on the back.  Then I gave him glue, paper to rip, and as many other red art supplies as I could get my hands on and let him glue and create.  Admittedly, I did guide him with the pipe cleaner stem and leaf, but I work really hard to let him enjoy the process of creation without putting my idea of what he should create. 

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

State Fair

Sadly, I am so backed up with work and home that I have been negelcting you, my few readers, lately.  I have been so busy with doing the photo editing I have to do, that I haven't had much time for the posting the photos of things I simply have wanted to be doing.

I am going to endeavor to catch up over the next few days, but I feel in saying that that I am committing one of the blogging deadly sins.  It seems like every time I read a blog that hasn't been updated recently the last post is filled with exhortations of how they pledge to keep up better with posting and how they have so much to write about in the next months.

In this case I will let my photos do the speaking for me on our trip to the State Fair in all of its Minnesota- wonderfulness.








"What are the piggie doing Noah?"

"Nurse!"


Yup, he still knows him some nursing when he sees it, and is still interested in breasts of any kind.  I have only made it through the John Deere and Miracle of Birth Center photos so far, so there may be more coming, but even for that alone I am so thankful that we got to visit the Fair with Grandpa Jerry.







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