'A' Lessons

We started family "lessons" for lack of a better word. I have always tried to incorporate learning into the fun stuff we do everyday, but this makes it more purposeful. I decided to break it down by letters. I also am concentrating on one number (in order) and one other such as a color, shape or concept. The first lesson was 'A', 1, and blue.

We made apple smiles for snacks with apple slices, mini marshmallows and peanut butter.

We went on a field trip to the airport. We played a game we called Alligator Food. I drew squares on the driveway (like hopscotch) and numbered them. The first child (called the food) would roll the dice and move that many squares. Then the 2nd (the alligator) would roll the dice and move that number. If the "alligator" caught the "food", the "alligator" won and the game was over. We'd start again with the 2nd child going 1st. If the "food" made it to the end without being caught they won. The boys played quite a few rounds of this game! The boys made ants out of egg cartons. First they painted them, then glued on eyes and stuck in pipe cleaners for the legs

and antennas. Then, because they're boys, they had ant fights!

To work on the color blue we went color shopping. They each took a turn (Little boy needed some help) pushing the cart from room to room collecting blue things to put in their cart. We made it a race to see who could find more blue things within a time limit.

We made a blue scrap picture where they tore blue pieces of paper and then glued them down. We also read the book 10 Apples Up on Top and made a picture to go with it. They each drew a picture of themselves on the bottom of the page. Then I used a small circle punch to make 10 "apples" for each of them to stack on top of their heads.

We made airplanes with a clothes pin, 2 regular Popsicle sticks and 1 small stick. They painted them and then raced around the living room.

We turned a letter 'A' into alligators by drawing on eyes and gluing on teeth. We also did coloring and activity pages from different workbooks I had.

Lastly, we made apple muffins to share with Daddy.

It was really great for all of us. Big Boy worked on writing his letters and numbers a lot and Little Boy can now pick out the letter 'A' from a group of letters. And I had lots of fun making memories with my kiddos!

Some of these activities I came up with on my own, others I found on the Internet. A couple of sites I found that are full of great ideas are: http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/mommy-school and http://www.preschoolexpress.com/

"Cakes"

I have really enjoyed making diaper cakes. They are fun to personalize and they look cool while still giving them something they can use.

I also made these Graduation caps out of towels. I put the cards in the top hand towel to help keep the shape and then attached a tassel to one corner.

A gender neutral cake I made. These diaper I rolled individually and put the tiny clear hair bands around. Then added the ribbon (hot gluing the ends together) and then the extra "fun" stuff.

And this one is my favorite. I made this for my best friend when she finally had a boy! A diaper tricycle/motorcycle! The wheels are diapers rolled around toilet paper tubes. There are 2 bibs - one for the seat and one for the front. A bottle for the headlight. 2 recieving blankets - 1 helped hold the wheels together and the other for the handlbars with tiny socks on the ends!

Team UmiZoomi

The boys were crazy about this show. It's one I actually enjoy too. The trio has "mighty math powers" and they teach a lot about numbers, shapes and patterns. We made UmiZoomi cookies that turned out really cute. Millie and Geo are just normal round cookies. For Bot you have to shape the dough a litttle to get the right look. Then we used yellow and brown frosting, twizzlers pull and peel, m&ms, and green, blue, and pink sugar. After you eat them you'll have to do a "Crazy Shake"!

Baseball Party

Little Boy's favorite toy when he was a baby was an orange plastic baseball bat. We sent out baseball shaped invitations that said "Hot dogs, cake, games and fun. Our little slugger's turning one." We had 1st birthday sports tableware and ballpark food: hot dogs, chips and pop. I used the same ball pan from Big Boy's 1st birthday and made a baseball smash cake. He tried to pick up the whole cake to eat it! I made a baseball field cake for the rest of us. I crushed up vanilla wafers for the infield and used Bliss white chocolates for the bases. The rest of the family wore baseball shirts and we decorated with baseball cutouts and a 1st birthday banner. Nothing too big, but definitely memorable.

Phineas and Ferb Party

Big Boy wanted a Phineas and Ferb party for his 3rd birthday. Our family all loves the show (sometimes Mom and Dad more than Big Boy!) We got really lucky and a WalMart close to us had P&F party supplies. We got tableware, a tablecloth and a balloon pack. For the goody bags I bought plain turquoise gift bags and glued and orange beak to the front and tail to the back so they looked like Perry the Platypus. We ordered the banner from Birthday Express. It highly exceeded my expectations. It's super sturdy and big! We wanted it to be something we could hang up in the playroom after the party so we made the text generic. I didn't plan any activities, at this age they just enjoy playing with toys we already have. The cake I made to Big Boy's specifications. He wanted a roller coaster going around P&F's backyard. There is a tree in their backyard they always sit under so I really wanted to include that. It's made from rice cereal treats. There is a dowel down the center that's holding it up, but we didn't put it on until right before the party because the tree was pretty heave. The roller coaster track is just round cakes cut in half and stood up. Then I filled in a little with extra cake between each semi-circle. The roller coaster car is a vanilla wafer cookie with m&m wheels. I couldn't have been happier with Big Boy's reaction! He loved it and was really proud that it was his cake. I tried to tie in more P&F to the food so I made Platypus Chow (puppy chow), P&F lemonade (they made a lemonade stand in an episode) and Eat that Gelatin Monster (jigglers, also from an episode). Some of the family that came are also big fans of P&F and they understood all the references and remembered the episodes. Though I think even those who've never seen it had a good time.

Taggie Blankets

I made each boy a taggie blanket when they were babies. I made it super simple. I found a piece of fleece I liked (bears and sports for Big Boy, dogs and balls for Little Boy). A simple pattern, one color fabric for the back and about 8-10 different coordinating ribbons. I put the 2 fabrics right sides together and folded each piece of ribbon in half and then pinned them in between the fabric. I just moved the ribbons around until the space looked right. Sewed around 3 edges, then part of the 4th. Turned it inside-out and sewed it closed. The boys still have them in their beds at night!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

At 2 Big Boy loves anything with an engine! His very favorites are Cars and Thomas. For his cake I used a train shaped pan and then decorate it like Edward, the #2 train from Thomas. I used a plastic google eye and crushed oreos for the coal. We had Thomas party hats and Cars tableware. For the other cakes (we had a lot of guests) I made a sky blue one with a plane on it and a green one with crushed vanilla wafers as a road for a car. We sent out plane ticket invitations. Big Boy's Birthday Airlines: passenger name was the invitee, for the flight number we used Big Boy's initials plus his birthdate (MMDDYY), Destination was the party address and check-in was our phone and email address to RSVP. We had all his favorite food: animal crackers, goldfish, m&ms, peanut butter and nutella sandwiches, individual mac and cheese in Cars cupcake holders. We kept the decorations pretty simple. A Cars birthday banner, 12 pictures of the birthday boy (one from each month of the last year) and Daddy made a few different paper airplanes we hung from the ceiling. For our goody bags we made "Motion Sickness Bags" with our Big Boy's birthday airlines logo on it. The bigger kids thought those were so funny! I was 8 months pregnant at this party so most of the creative aspects were done on the computer (invitations, goody bags). Sleeping was still taking priority over most everything else!

Round 1st birthday

For Big Boy's first birthday I did a "round" theme. Mostly balls, but also balloons and bubbles. This was really my first party planning adventure. I think it went great, but I didn't take any pictures! We had 2 parties, one with friends and another with family. We had round food: jello pinwheels (one of my mom's favorite kid's snack), crackers, meat and cheese (cut into circles), fruit (cut with a melon baller) and lots of cake! I used a round cake pan I bought at Michael's to make the smash cake. For one party I made a #1 pool ball (solid yellow) and for the other I made a beach ball. We had lots of balls for the kids to play with including a ball pit I made in a cheap plastic kiddie pool. We also had a pin the tail on the pig (he was a very round pig). The birthday boy had lots of fun and so did everyone else.

Jello Pinwheels: 2 small or 1 large box jello, 1 c warm water, 3 c mini or 24 large marshmallows. Oil a 9x13" pan. Stir warm water into jello in a large microwave safe bowl and microwave on high 2 min. Stir until dissolved. Add marshmallows and microwave on high another 1 1/2 mins. Stir until marshmallows are melted. Pour into pan and refrigerate 45 mins. Loosen edges with a spatula and roll length-wise. Slice into pinwheels and serve.

I try

My mother was a crafty woman. She once made a Jericho city that kids could stand in while others marched around until the walls fell down, out of a cardboard box! She ran a mid-week children's bible study, wrote *almost* every one of my Dad's children sermon's for 20 years, raised 6 children, taught special education, scrapbooked and did it all very cheaply. My mom passed away at 55 years old, when I was 22. Her grandkids (9 at that time, 11 now) were her everything. She never got to meet my kids but I try to give them a glimpse of what it would have been like if she was still here. I try to help them learn everyday and I try to make it fun. I try to be crafty and I am cheap (that I definitely got from her)! I love holidays and birthdays and parties. Any excuse to get together with loved ones and make it fun for everyone. I have borrowed many ideas from others on the internet who are much more *crafty* than me. I wanted to share what I've done so maybe others can borrow ideas and share with your kids. Spend time with them, teach them, love on them, pass on what others have taught you. Like I try to do with things my mom taught me. I try.