Christmas 2008

Eli really likes Santa.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.....

Santa earned his cookies this Christmas.

Bzzzzzzzing B

1. Gather your materials. You will need to either draw the letter B or print it out from the computer (like me). Okay, you will need some copier paper, construction paper, yellow paint, paint brush, paper plate, one googley eye, scissors, piper cleaner, and glue stick. And of course, one eager student. However, not mine, I'd like to keep her.

2. Have child paint aforementioned Letter B on white paper. Painting outside the lines is encouraged. I squirted the paint onto a paper plate (Halloween leftover from 2005) to have one less thing to clean up.

3. While Ava was painting the Letter B, I drew wings and rectangles on black construction paper and cut them out. I (really, I did) let Ava pick a color of construction paper to use as our background.

Note: You will have to wait for the paint on the B to dry. So, this may turn into a two part process.

4. Ava glued the letter B to the construction paper. She put glue on the tips of the wings, and I helped her slip the wings under the letter. Next, she started gluing the rectangles on the B for the stripes on our buzzing B. We gave the Bee a googley eye- hey, it needs to see where its buzzing. Finally, I took a brown piper cleaner, folded it in half and bent down the ends. Then, I slipped the antenna under the B with a little glue.

Ta da! Good job, Ava!

Baby Bumblebee

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, Won't my mommy be so proud of me,
(Cup hands together as if holding bee)
I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, Ouch! It stung me! (Shake hands as if just stung)
I'm squishing up the baby bumblebee, Won't my mommy be so proud of me, (Squish bee between palms of hands)
I'm squishing up a baby bumblebee, Ooh! It's yucky! (Open up hands to look at mess)
I'm wiping off the baby bumblebee, Won't my mommy be so proud of me, (Wipe hands off on shirt)
I'm wiping off the baby bumblebee, Now my mommy won't be mad at me! (Hold hands up to show they are clean)

Good times! I'm finally using my Masters degree!

Bugs are cool......

Mommy's little man

Eli is now officially a toddler. Two years. Two years I can hardly believe how fast time has gone. Blessed and grateful. My heart overflows with love for this little boy. My boy with the (almost) constant smile and a laugh. Now if he would only hold still for a picture......

A is for Apple

Letter of the Week......

So, in my efforts to educate my daughter, who, according to the other three year olds at the playground, should be familiar with the alphabet, we have started a letter of the week activity. Though, actually, I am not sure why I am calling it the "Letter of the Week", because, I am most definitely not disciplined enough to actually do one letter per week. Hmmmmmm, maybe letter of the month, quarter, .....

So, we started with the Letter A (of course). Ava actually does know this one. I am assuming it is because 1. Her name begins with an "A", and 2. It is the first letter of the alphabet, so we usually do get this far in our alphabet exercises. Good mommy.

There are lots of options for the Letter A . I went with the most popular (i.e. unimaginative) choice of an apple. I also chose apple because when you add a plop of peanut butter, it is one of Ava's favorite snacks.

1. Gather you materials. I cheated on the actual letter and designed one from the computer and printed it out. I followed suit with a picture of an apple that I copied over and over for a fun coloring page. See, imaginative, huh? You will need some construction paper, scissors, crayons or markers (or some other fun, washable writing utensil) and a glue stick. An actual apple for a snack is optional.

2. I gave Ava the print out of the letter A and let her go crazy coloring that with crayons. Once she was done (i.e. bored) with that, I (she is not yet an expert cutter) cut out the letter A from the print out.

3. While I was cutting out the letter, I gave her the coloring page of apples to once again, go crazy coloring. A word of advice, this is your child's activity- apples can be any color. Even if you do prefer red. I also let her choose a color (I simply suggested green, again do as I say, not as I do, let your child decide) of construction paper and had her draw on this, too.

4. After Ava was finished coloring, I cut the apples out. Again, Ava is a young toddler, if your child can be trusted with scissors (safety scissors are an oxymoron), simply provide guidance. I then gave Ava a glue stick and she glued the letter A that I cut out onto the construction paper. Then, I gave Ava the apples which she glued to the Letter A.

Ta da! Good job, Ava!