Apple Harvest

Okay so this is a fun little Harvest/Fall activity you can do with the kids!

We read this book and in the back did a few of the activities! I love the Fall and so do the kids! It always brings back good memories, so we must keep creating good memories! :) 

You could probably find this book at the local library or do the activity without the book, just pick another apple/harvest/or fall book to read to the kids to teach them about fall! 

You will need: Apple, Marshmallows, peanut butter (or like)

 The first thing we did is cut the apple in the middle horizontally, not vertically, to show that there is a flower in the middle of every apple! Just a fun little fact that the kids got a kick out of! :)

 Then you slice the apple into and slide some peanut butter and put marshmallows lined along the slice then put peanut butter and face skin of apple out so it looks like a set of teeth. Then eat and enjoy! 

Fun little Fall activity! Yummy too! 

Summer Reading

Do your kids love to read books? I know mine do, and it is my desire to foster that in them as much as possible! During the year I try to take them to the Library at least once a month, sometimes it's more, but at least once during a month to pick out books and spend some time reading together! It is a enjoyable time for us all!

My hubby and I take turns reading to them which they love as much as we do. We also will have them sit on what we call "quiet time" or "silent reading time" and have them "read/look" at the books independently! This is a great time for them to develop their imagination, learn to sit quietly, and foster their love for learning and reading. We make this apart of their routine and it works great for all of us. If your children are not use to it, be consistent, make it exciting, and they will grow to love it too! 

Many of you may also love reading and desire to develop that in your children as well! The more you read the more you will learn and love to read... so will they! 

I am sure many of you have reading on your "bucket list" this summer! I loved the Bucket List idea from Tanya last week and we definitely have reading on our bucket list! Often your local Library has a reading program you can participate in. Ours is offering an incentive to children who read 10 books. If they read 10 books then they get to choose a "free" book to take home with them! So fun!

The Libraries often offer reading logs, as seen here in the sample below, music, read out loud's and other reading activities! So check out your local library for some ways to foster the joy of reading!

Hope you enjoy this summer with your children! Remember to just enjoy them!
Blessings

Summer Bucket List

If you've been on pinterest lately I'm sure you've seen all the summer bucket list. If not : it's a list of fun things to do in the summer with your kiddos. So the girls and I decided to put one together this weekend. I had a cute bucket I picked up after Easter this year that is perfect for this. I bought 36 clothespins at the dollar store. I made a list of some fun things I thought the girls would like to do and then left a couple of clothespins for them to choose a fun activity to do.

We wrote each activity on a clothespin and pinned them on the outside of our bucket. Once we do an activity we will put it inside the bucket. Hopefully we will be able to fill our bucket with all of our activities this summer and make some fun memories too!
Here's my list:
1. Make homemade ice cream        2. Water balloon fight           3. Go to a Reds game
4. Go berry picking                        5. Camp out                         6. Have an outside movie
7. Catch lighting bugs                     8. Have a picnic                    9. Giant bubbles
10. make smores                           11. Zoo                                12. go to the movies
13. Read 100 books                      14. Sprinkler park                15. Dollar Store Trip
16. Learn to ride bike                     17. Tea Party                       18. Go swimming
19. Scavenger Hunt                        20. Sno Cones                     21. Drive-in movies
22. Treasure Hunt                           23. Sleep in Izzie's room      24. School Clothes shopping
25. Library reading program            26. American Girl Store       27. Trip to Grammy's
28. Star Gazing                               29. Ice Cream trip                30. Cupcake Store
31. Learn 30 sight words                 32. Learn #'s to 20               33. Go fishing
34. Go to JoJo's house                     35. Pj walk                          36. trip to Jumpy's

We've already started on our list. My girls are so excited about this. Have fun making your own list and making memories this summer!!

Tie Dye

We had a long weekend with Memorial Day this weekend. And it was very hot out so we needed something that could be done fairly quickly. My Izzie is really into fashion already so this was a perfect way to let her create her own clothes!

I found tie-dye kits at Target on sale for $2 awhile ago. I bought each girl a white tank top from Walmart for about $2 each. We found some of their old white shirts that were dingy and a little stained and used those too. So each girl got to tie dye 2 shirts.

Izzie wanted to do the graduated color style on her tank top and Reese just wanted to do regular tie dye circles. My husband and I helped wrap their shirts and we let the girls color them. Note: we had the girls wear some of their dad's old shirts for this so their clothes would not be stained.

 After the girls applied the die we wrapped them in plastic bags and left them on our clothes line over night. Today I rinsed them with our hose until the water ran clear. Then let them dry on line for the afternoon. After they were dry I ran them through the washer(by themselves on cold) and dried them normally. They girls love their new shirts.                                                   

Paint Can Birdhouse

Paint Can Birdhouse

My mom loves birdhouses and has a bunch of traditional ones in her yard. She came for a visit this weekend so I decided the girls and I would make her a fun one. If you have any old paint cans like we do this is an almost free project to do. I cheated with this one...I found a can that was already painted black at our local hardware store.

I used painters tape and cut out circles for the dots. I just free handed the circles, so they aren't perfect.

Next I sprayed painted the can red. After the spray paint was dry I peeled the tape off leaving black dots. Next I had my hubby drill some holes in the lid. You need a large opening(for the birds) and a small one for their perch. After the holes were drilled I painted the lid black along with the dowel rod I used for the perch. I just used hot glue on the dowel rod and applied pressure until it set. I also added 2 large washers as eyes above the large opening.

You can also add wings with wire and screening but I didn't have enough time to do that part. My mom thought it was so cute. I choose to do a ladybug design because my girls love ladybugs but you could do almost anything. A bumblebee would be easy and cute too.

Enjoy! Have a great week everyone!!

Life size hug

 We are going to send these to the girls grandparents since we live far away from both sets. I found this paper at IKEA for $5. It works great because I can roll out the size I need for each girl. The first thing I did was have each girl lay down on the paper and I outlined their bodies.

 After they were traced on the paper, I let each girl color themselves. Izzie added her eyes, nose, mouth, hair, and she copied her dress onto the paper. Reese used the same color but she colored everything. I helped Reese with her hair and face.

 Izzie added her own message (I love you) to the page and for Reese I wrote "A hug from Reese." The girls loved doing this. They thought it was so fun being traced and coloring themselves. I think their grandparents will love them.

This could also be a great way to keep track of how much your child is growing. And it's an easy craft that can entertain them for awhile. Have fun and have a blessed week!!

Mother's Day is Coming!

Oh wow! Sorry all! Time has gotten away from me, and have not posted on this little blog as much as I would have liked. Oh Well... guess that's life :) However, here is a fun idea I did with the kids last week for Mother's Day fun! Hope you enjoy!

First we about the meaning of Mother's Day.  We read a few books about Mother's Day, and discussed  with them the many gifts God has given in Mother's. 

Next they practiced writing Mommy...

Then we made a "Frame" and they drew a Mommy and Me picture. After I gave them some stickers and crayons to decorate their picture frame. And lastly, I asked them what they were thankful for their mommy about and wrote their words around the frame. 

So fun to see their creativity!

 And individual style

It was a precious way to teach and prepare for Mother's Day! 

Hope you enjoy and come back and share with us anything you may have done!