SOMEWHAT ORGANIZED, SLIGHTLY CRAFTY TOT TEACHER...and Mommy

5x7 Folded Card

2011-09-23T16:20:00.001-05:00

Sunny And Bright Birthday Card

Tell them you love them with Shutterfly Valentines cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Letter J and a little Lent and St. Patrick too!

2011-03-17T16:05:00.001-05:00

For Preschool Playdate last week we learned about the Letter J. We also talked a little bit about Lent and St. Patrick as well!

We started by learning about the letter J. We put "Jewels" on the letter J outline and I wrote- Jesus is more precious than a Jewel.

We talked about Lent (the day before had been Ash Wednesday) we created something visual as a reminder of lent- a Crown of thorns.

Everyone got a tub of playdough (whatever color they chose) and rolled it out.

After rolling out the playdough we formed it into a circle- like a crown.

Then we put toothpicks into the playdough crowns to make it looks like thorns.

This the a look at the final "crown of thorns".

For snack today we had Jello! Yummy!! :) And Juice too!

We worked on writing Capital and lowercase letter J in some little workbooks I found at the Dollar Tree-cheap and easy... plus they have stickers too!

We talked about St. Patrick and the shamrock- we talked about the 3 leaves symbolizing the Father , Son , and the Holy Spirit... we also practiced making the sign of the cross.

Then we made these really cute beaded shamrock finger rosaries... found this on my favorite Catholic website- Catholic Icing!! Thank you Lacy-- love your stuff! :)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all! :)

Very belated Preschool Playdate- President's Day and Letter H

2011-03-17T15:44:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the things we did at one of our February Preschool Playdates---

President's Day and the Letter H!

Circled Capital H and Lowercase H in Red and Blue crayon.

We used the letter H to make Hats for President Lincoln - I think Scarlett's looks a little like a leprechaun!

Because they all like to use my dry erase board I wrote lots of letters on the board and they had to circle only the H's... then they all wanted to practice writing the letter H as well :)

Sang Hickory Dickory Dock and if your Happy and you know it and Head shoulders Knees and Toes with our rhythm sticks- they have so much fun with these!! :)

This picture of the boys cracks me up... we were talking about the presidents- Abraham Lincoln and George Washington... we used some information from Enchanted Learning for this.

Had a snack- ate pretzels- made letter H and also tried to stack the pretzels to make a Log cabin for President Lincoln as well!

Then we studied different coins to see what presidents were on them! We sorted coins and looked for really shiny coins.

Lots of sorting going on!

Then we found dirty coins and cleaned them with some salt and vinegar in water.

Finally we used the clean coins and made president coin bracelets with pennies and nickels and clear tape.

Happy President's Day!

Letter B and SNOWMEN!

2011-01-18T15:55:00.001-06:00

Preschool Playdate this past week was FUN! :) We learned about the letter B and lots of fun cold-weather SNOWMAN activities-- perfect because it had just snowed here in Dallas a couple days before! (Generally if there is EVER snow on the ground... even a little bit... you will see lots of yards with snowman... some teeny tiny, dirt covered ones this time... but none the less!

After we talked about the letter B and glued Buttons on our B's...

We split up and did little one-on-one activities. Lily worked on this snowman's buttons... she had to tell me the color and shape of different buttons. I had her sister help her with this as well while I worked with others.

We had several snowman activities... all from Confessions of a Homeschooler or Totally Tots. They were all sorting types of activities. This one is sorting the capital letter S and lowercase S. There were also putting large and small snowmen in order... and putting the correct color scarf on snowmen as well.

Then we sang their favorite song- I'm a little snowman. I have found various versions of this from various places but the one that I like the best is: I'm a little snomwan (to the tune of I'm a little teapot)

I'm a little snowman short and fat,

here is my broom, here is my hat (hold broom, and touch head for hat)

when it's cold and icy I will stay (burrr... shiver)

but when it's hot (wipe forehead and say whew!!)

I melt away away... and they melt to the floor (see next pic- cute!)

Then, we ate some snowmen! (Marshmallows- big and little ones...) along with some pretzels and hot chocolate- yummy! I also read the story, Frosty the Snowman ,while they snacked.

Next, we painted "Circle" snowmen- I cut up some sponges into circles. They dipped the circle sponges into white paint and made snowmen on the blue paper... also used Q-tips to make little snowflakes all around the snowman.

Here are our little snowmen we made (on a snowy day a couple days ago with Daddy)...

I kidnapped the smaller one for our next activity...

DISSECTING A SNOWMAN!!

We dug into the snowman with spoons... (poor snowman)

We sampled the snowman... I tried to stop them but...

We poured hot water on the snowman to see what would happen...

We used various tools with warm water and squirted the snowman...

We used food coloring in water and colored the snow to make it pretty.

More hot water to really make this snowman melt..."ahhh...I'm melting!!... melting!!"

They REALLY enjoyed this... I would highly recommend this activity! :)

We did a snowman listening activity and a tracing snowballs activity as well... then we got on Starfall.com and did a cute snowman activity online. The kids loved dressing up a snowman that sang a song to them at the end.

Even if you don't get any snow, kids LOVE snowmen and this is the perfect time of year to do it! :)

Baby Genius DVDS and CDS - What a COOL DEAL! :)

2011-01-05T14:07:00.000-06:00

If you are in need of a baby shower gift or maybe something special for the little one in your life, you’ll definitely want to check out this groupon- http://www.groupon.com/r/uu8298287
It’s valid for Five Baby Genius DVDs AND Five Bonus CDs for ONLY $25 shipped ($49.75 value)! This seems like a fantastic deal for all that you get.
Fine print: Expires Jul 7, 2011.
Just click on this link and it will take you to the direct site so you can order for yourself or a friend or both! :) Happy Shopping!

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu8298287

Merry Christmas to you all- Wishes of Peace & Joy to you and your family!

2010-12-24T13:44:00.001-06:00

For me this year has been very bittersweet. I feel blessed in so many ways and also sad about things that have happened that I had no control over. I know I must continue to put my faith in God and know that he has a plan for each and every one of us. A new year is coming when all things will begin anew... hopefully this coming year will bring all my friends and family peace and comfort! :)

From My Family to YOURS! Wishing you a Merry Christmas.

We pray for you all to have a joyful and peaceful end of 2010 and a

very HAPPY NEW YEAR in 2011!!

With lots of LOVE,

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus! (Party at our church)

2010-12-22T08:00:00.002-06:00

I have been meaning to post this for awhile! :) At the beginning of December I helped put together our 3rd Baby Jesus Birthday party at my church. Moms in our group helped make cupcakes, bring drinks and snacks. We also decorated with blues and white colors. Everyone was asked to bring the baby Jesus from their creche for Father to bless!

Getting ready for the party- Baby Jesus birthday party hats!

Little gift bags and craft activities to take home.

We had a craft activity- got it from Oriental trading online- love that place!! They had nativity pictures with stickers to place on the nativity scene... big stickers easy for little hands!

Everyone brought their baby Jesus from their own home creche... we had our fancy (adult creche) baby Jesus and then the girls brought their Little People baby Jesus as well!

Then the kids sat down and each child got a cupcake with a candle. We lit the birthday candles and sang Happy Birthday to baby Jesus!

Blowing out the birthday candle at Baby Jesus party!

After we sang to baby jesus we at cupcakes and had drinks and watched a short (10 minute) cartoon on the Nativity story. Love this little educational video I got! :)

Once the video was over some kids finished up their craft project, and others got ahold of the balloons and ran around with their friends! FUN! :)

Lily is ready to go with her special Baby Jesus gift bag and balloon too!

What a special morning!

BALLET!

2010-12-21T15:22:00.000-06:00

I never thought I'd just melt while I watched my little one take her first ballet lessons...I was always sort of a "tomboy" when I was younger. But I am absolutely loving all the fun girlie things that we get to do now that I have 2 (and soon to be 3!!) little girls.

First, she has Ballet for 30 minutes... and then Tap... that is pretty darn cute too! :) Daddy got to see her last week and was pretty impressed too... how can you not love a little one in a tutu???

Then there is little sister... she is just DYING to get up there and dance too like her big sis!!She tries to take off her shoes the entire time we are there. And for the past 2 weeks she wants to wear a tutu at home, on our daily excursions, during naptime, and at bedtime.... I have to sneak the tutu away to wash it every few days! :) She will be out there soon enough!

Preschool Playdate- Letter J- Christmas Activities!

2010-12-21T11:04:00.001-06:00

For our last preschool playdate before the new year, we did lots of fun Christmas Activities and focused on the Letter J.

First, we read a story about Baby Jesus- it is called Stable in Bethlehem -a Christmas counting book.

We used small blocks that I got from Dollar Tree for the kids to used to count while reading the story.

My two year old LOVED pushing the button on the plastic candles and lighting all the lights! I thought that was a great fine motor skill-- she was so serious about it!

Then she used my old cardboard advent calendar and had to pull out each box... in each box was large gold jingle bell! She was so suprised at what was in the tiny boxes- she loved it! :) The other kiddos wanted to do it as well! :)

For playdate we sorted different Christmas tree patterns from the awesome 1+1+1=1 blog/website.

Then they had to put the Nativity scene in size order. I got most of these cute printable ideas from 1+1+1=1. She has the cutest things for tots and preschoolers! Love this blog/website!!

We talked about the letter J and used a candy cane (upside down) to make the letter J for baby Jesus!

We also put stickers on the letter J and talked about Jesus' birthday! :)

Both of these activities are also from 1+1+1=1.

Then we made Christmas tree cones. We took ice cream cones and colored icing green.

They spread the green icing on the cones and sat them upside down.

Afterwards they put sprinkles all over the icing to make the trees look decorated. It worked best to ROLL the trees in the sprinkles. They turned out cute- and YUMMY too!

We read the story of the Little Drummer boy and each child played drums on different canisters and bowls that we had. We have one drum and so each kiddo got to be the "drummer boy" for part of the song.

Then we worked on colors and shapes with a cute christmas tree coloring activity.

We also worked on our letters and writing skills. Tracing on these cute forms - I laminated them and we used dry erase markers.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2011!

Our trip to Build A Bear

2010-12-17T14:25:00.000-06:00

My husband's Aunt Mary sent our girls such a sweet gift this year ( I think I was almost as excited as them!) She sent them gift certificates to Build A Bear. We took the girls a few nights ago (on a week night- weekends at the Mall are CRAZY in December!)

Scarlett chose a Bear and Lily chose a Cat. Here they are helping press the foot pedal to STUFF their animals!

Lily was so excited to help stuff her kitty!

They had to choose a heart to put into their animal- they had to give it a BIG kiss to fill it with love! :)

After the stuffing was done they had to give their animals an AIR Bath... they are brushing and "cleaning" their new pets! They just LOVED this :)

Then they picked out outfits... Scarlett chose a princess dress and Lily chose this ballerina dress... they both also insisted on panties!! They have PANTIES for these animals! LOL (thought that was so funny!)

All dressed and ready to go on their way! We went over to a special computer and had to name their new animals- Lily named hers "Bo Peep" (where did this come from?? I have not idea! lol) and Scarlett named her bear "sunshine". She informed me today that she was not going to play with sunshine today because bears "hibernate" in the cold.... I was pretty impressed with this! lol

Off we go with our new pets! Love these boxes... they were so excited! Thank you Aunt Mary! Wish you could have been here to enjoy all the excitement! We love you!!

Interview with my (almost) 4 year old!

2010-11-27T09:25:00.000-06:00

What is your name: Scarlett

When is your birthday: December 17th ("seven teeth") lol!

How old are you: 3 years old

Who is your Mama: You!!

What does your Mama do: She cooks and she loves me very ("berry") much!
Who is your Daddy: Rick

What does your Daddy do: he helps me turn the tv on when its broke and he reads books to me

What is your favorite color: Red

What is your favorite song: Do Re Mi (Doe a deer) - Sound a Music

What do you want to do when your grow up: ummm.. a doctor... no I mean a vet! (veterinarian)

Where do you want to live when you grow up: I want to live in THIS house!
What is your favorite food: carrots, yogurt

What is your least favorite food: broccoli

What is your favorite animal: giraffe

What do Mommy and Daddy do after you go to bed: You guys go out here and cuddle.

What does Daddy say: He says "cocka doodle do" because he is silly.

What does Mama say: I love you.

What is your favorite movie: Little Mermaid

What is your favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Strawberry

Where do you like to eat: A Yogurt Place

Who is your favorite person: Daddy and Mommy

Who is your best friend: Noah V and Lily too

What is your favorite book? Ariel books and Rudolph the Red nose reindeer

What is your favorite thing to do: paint

Happy Thanksgiving... and some Turkey "licious" snacks!

2010-11-25T15:36:00.000-06:00

Scarlett and I decided to make some cookie and candy turkeys... we have seen many variations of these all around the blogosphere and here is our rendition! Enjoy!

Scarlett and I used shortbread chocolate striped cookies - one for the "wings" on the back and one for the "body" at the bottom. We used chocolate icing as the "glue" to glue the cookies together and then we glued a Rollo on the front and a candy corn as the beak on top. Pretty cute!

The second turkey we just completely made up together... Scarlett actually helped me figure out how to do the head of the turkey! She is so creative sometimes!! I was about to give up and she stuck the head on top of a toothpick- perfect!

They are pretty self explanitory- from the pictures... a Reese's pieces cup for the body. 3 toothpicks with gumdrops for feathers and a 1/2 toothpick with candy corn for the head!

I have so many things to be thankful for but mostly for my husband who works hard for us everyday so we can have the things we need and I can be at home with my sweet girls. I am also thankful for two beautiful, funny, intelligent little ladies, Scarlett and Lily... and our soon to be 3rd baby girl... thankful that this pregnancy is going well and that baby #3 looks to be healthy just like our first two. Praise God!

I am also very thankful for all of my family and my husband's family- they are SOOO awesome! And I am thankful for the friends we have made through the years... my oldest friends and my newest friends... they are all special to me in different ways. I feel very blessed for all I have.

Happy Thanksgiving- Enjoy the holiday season!

Camping in Oklahoma

2010-11-18T08:55:00.000-06:00

Scarlett has been begging us to go camping... how does she even know about this kind of stuff at 3.5 years old??????
Anyway, we kept thinking we would pitch a tent in our backyard... but I kept putting it off weekend after weekend because we had a million other things going on. Daddy has been so busy with work (especially 1 particular crazy-horrible job) and so most of September and almost all of October we hardly even saw him- the girls didn't spend much time at all with him. So... I decided we should take a mini-weekend vacation and off we went this past weekend to Davis, Oklahoma (a little less than 2 hours north of DFW) and we "camped" out in a cabin in Turner Falls.

It was so beautiful! The leaves are just now changing-kind of late this year, huh?- and the drive up 35 was really peaceful with the hills, the beautiful trees, and lots of rock formations. It was really cool! Also there are mountains- can you believe it? They aren't very big or anything... but they are called the Arbuckle Mountains and we saw them driving up as well as climbed some of the little ones while we were at Turner Falls.

Last minute we got some camping buddies to go along with us- some of our neighbors who just happen to be Scarlett and Lily's best little buddies- so that worked out great too!

We all had a really nice weekend... we saw the beautiful water fall- Bridal Falls at the Park....

....went on short hikes through the woods.

Climbed a few very large hills (my calves are killing me!) and sat around a campfire and cooked S'mores... My favorite part--yummy!!

If you live in the DFW area or of course in Oklahoma- it is such a convenient drive for families with little ones! :) We had such a great time!!

Lots of "sugar and spice" making everything nice at our house!!

2010-11-16T14:51:00.000-06:00

On Friday, we found out that our 3rd baby is going to be a .................GIRL! :)

Scarlett and Lily were very excited- we shared the little video the sonographer took with them (they were bored after about 1 minute- they aren't very exciting! LOL) They looked at the pictures too- very sweet.

I have definitely decided if and when we try for another little addition to the family we are probably NOT going to find out the gender. We've done it 3 times and it's just not as exciting any more... I think it would be so neat to just find out at the birth... what a neat surprise! I'm pretty sure the hubby agrees with me at this point too! :)

Little baby girl 3 was in the funniest position- she was curled up tight in a ball and her feet were over her head! Already the little acrobat! :)
Here's her funny photo below:

The sonogram looked great- everything checked out and she looked very healthy... lots of prayers for a continued health pregnancy, healthy baby, and quick/safe delivery! :)

We are REALLY excited! Looking forward to April 2011 for our newest version of the family!

Halloween Madness at our house! :)

2010-11-01T15:17:00.001-05:00

Our Annual Family Halloween Party!

Once everyone shows up an oohs and ahhs over all the fantastic costumes we eat dinner!

* I make some homemade chili and Mac N Cheese for the kiddos... everyone else brings the fixins' and the drinks!

Then we hit the pinata! Almost every child--- ages 1 and up want to take a hit at the pumpkin pinata- fun fun!

Lily takes a hit at the pinata!

Then Scarlett gets a chance to take a WHACK!

We go smallest child to biggest child--Our 6 year old friend broke it open this year! YAY! CANDY!

(everyone makes a run for the candy!)

Next comes the "line up"! We used to do this on our couch every year... too many kids to do it on the couch anymore! Now we lined up on our fence in the backyard- Say CHEESE!

(I am still missing about 3 or 4 kiddos in this lineup.. .sheesh!)

After the line up we get our glow sticks and go trick or treating on our cul-de-sac...

the perfect amount of houses for little 2, 3 and 4 year olds!!

Lily (aka Cinderella) says "Trick or Treat!"

My favorite of the night--- Chim chimeney, chim chimeney, chim chim cher eee!!

Love my BURT AND MARY POPPINS! Too Sweet! :) xxoxo

I hope you and your kiddos had a fun and spooky Halloween too!!

xoxoxo

Oh the things you can do to a pumpkin!! Kid friendly & Fun!!

2010-10-28T09:52:00.000-05:00

Did you know...
you could use WASHABLE Markers on your pumpkins... let the kids go wild- they can color all over the pumpkins----THEN you take a baby wipe and it ALL comes off! So let them decorate the pumpkins early... then a few nights before halloween it can all be erased so you can make jack-o-lanterns! They love this idea!!

Here's one more fun idea...

Nail golf tees into your pumpkin... oh my gosh... kids love this! I have to admit I had fun doing a couple too!
Check out Lily with her "handy man goggles" on! hee hee!

Ghosts and Goblins Everywhere... Witches flying through the air...

2010-10-28T09:43:00.000-05:00

It's Halloween!! Or... almost! :)

I had preschool playdate at my house this week and we did some fun Ghost activities.
We read a GREAT book- called Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara- very cute story about a little girl who moves into a house full of ghosts... but she has a surprise for them!

First we made marshmallow ghosts- yummy! We used black construction paper and each child traced an outline of a ghost with glue. Then they placed the marshmallows on the glue. After they finished their outlines they decided to add eyes and a mouth! Turned out very cute!

The other ghost activity we did was creating "ghost" suckers... Scarlett and I do these every year because they are just so easy and fun!

Lily wanted to help with this one for sure! However she didn't understand why we put a paper towel over the sucker... what is the point when suckers are for eating?!? LOL

Have a ghostly day!!

What we are reading in the month of October

2010-10-10T13:32:00.000-05:00

These are our favorite Halloween books:

1. Where is Baby's Pumpkin? by Karen Katz- this is her lift the flap book series and geared toward little ones-6 months-2 or 3 years old. My daughters both love lifting the flaps but the little one really got a kick out of it when she was around 12 months old!!

2. Curious George Goes to a Costume Party by Margret and H.A. Rey- Very sweet story about George trying on various costumes- with a cute but "spooky" surprise. Both my 2 and almost 4 year old love it!

3. The Halloween Play by Felicia Bond- Cute story about a mouse and his special part in the school Halloween play- especially a favorite of my almost 4 year old!

4. Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara- I hadn't ever heard of this until this year when I purchased it at Barnes and Nobel. It is a cute story about a little girl witch and what she does about the ghosts in her new house. My older daughter- almost 4 years really loves it.... I don't think the 2 year old gets it as much. :)

5. Say Boo! by Lynda Graham-Barber- Great story with a play on words. Definitely builds on rhyming skills while being a particularly silly story that all little kids would love!!

5. The BIGGEST Pumpkin Ever by: Steven Kroll. I have loved this story ever since I was a little girl. Such a cute story about 2 mice working hard to grow a very large pumpkin. Both girls love this cute little mouse story!

6. Wee Witches' Halloween by Jerry Smath- Cute little rhyming story of brand new witches on their first Halloween. Both girls giggle over this book- very cute!

**I can never have enough HOLIDAY books!! They are just TOO fun! Don't you agree?? :)

Wordless Wednesday- Tea for Two

2010-10-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

Just another one of those days when I am so thankful that these two little girls have each other. :)

Saturday morning at the Zoo

2010-10-02T15:23:00.000-05:00

Scarlett has been begging me to go to the zoo and even though we are members we haven't been in quite a long time! The Giants of Savanna is a whole new area they added to our zoo and it is so beautiful!
They always had elephants and a giraffe or two but now there are quite a few of each and you can actually feed the giraffes and certain times of day! Too cool!

looking at the warthogs

Didn't think we'd get the lions to come down by us... we were wrong.... here comes the female!

She came right up to the window... were we THAT interesting??

NOPE... there was a gigantic block of ice right by the window so she could cool off... ahhh...

And boy did she LOVE on this piece of ice... it was quite a show!!

And she LOVED on it some more... and pushed it around... and licked on it...

I think the male lion got jealous because he came walking down and pounced on her... and then they began to play.... typical guy... LOL!

Then we peaked at the giraffes...

they didn't want to come down close today so we couldn't feed them- darn!

have you ever seen giraffes run? They look like uncoordinated, gangly 11 year old boys running- too funny- but very cute!

These were the coolest little yellow birds- called Uganda Weaver Birds... They used leaves and blades of grass and made ball shaped nests. They would fly upside down and build their nests upside down- it was really cool to watch these busy little guys!

Then we went on the Monorail or "zoo train" as the girls called it. We saw lots of animals and went under a waterfall- pretty!

We went over to the children's zoo area and played on the playground toys- this is a dinosaur egg- Scarlett was pretending to be a baby dinosaur!

Then we got to pet some sweet little goats. They were trying nibble on Lily's skirt and Scarlett's hat! That got quite a few giggles...

Scarlett found a little black goat laying alone in the corner and went to visit him as well.

Pigs!

A very cool looking spider monkey that was showing off!

Finally, we went into the Reptile building and saw an Albino crocodile- sooo cool!- Plus lots of snakes, turtles, and lizards.

We had such a fun morning hanging out at the zoo. I love this picture... Scarlett is being a "cowgirl' and using her lasso and yelling "yeee haww" - As you can, see Lily is yelling " ye haw" too! So cute!

Love my two cowgirls... even though I was one exhausted momma... they just make me so happy all the time with the cute little things they do... and I told them so on the way home...

First day of Gymnastics

2010-09-29T15:02:00.000-05:00

Lily gets to go to gymnastics just like her big sister now on Tuesday mornings when Scarlett is doing Preschool Playdate with our neighbors. Lily was soooo excited to see coach Stacy and actually go INTO the same room that Scarlett always does!
It was too cute to watch her do all the little exercises. In fact, when we walked in she ran straight over to Coach Stacy and sat down right next to her and started stretching her little legs (she always watches Scarlett do this and mimics her in the parent watching room so she knows just what to do!!)
Here are a couple pics I snapped on my Iphone... I forgot to bring my real camera to capture her first day... sigh... but these are better than nothin'!

At the end she got stamps on her hands since she did such a great job! Yay Lily! This was so great because she showed them to everyone all day long (even after there was only a smudge or two left over! lol)

Guess What?!! Baby #3 is on the way!! YAY!

2010-09-22T19:00:00.000-05:00

And I am VERY VERY EXCITED!!! (Can't you tell?!) I have two little girls who are pretty ecstatic too... and of course the hubby is pretty stoked . ;-)

Birthday Party for Two Princesses

2010-09-22T14:21:00.000-05:00

Last week I manage to tackle putting together a PRINCESS party for both of my girls. We decided to do a joint birthday party this year because even though their birthdays are in two different months they both LOVE princesses and they both would want a princess party anyway! Plus it will save me from being overwhelmed with trying to throw Scarlett's party in December amidst the holiday chaos! :)

Thank goodness it wasn't raining because we had about 27 kiddos come to the party as well as their parents- and we did lots of activities outside.

I set up a table outside for a craft activity when the kiddos arrived.. Scarlett wanted to make hers before everyone got there. She is decorating her royal princess crown.

Boys and Girls got to chose a hat or crown and then decorate them outside with stickers and glitter.

I was able to convince my sisters of a FABULOUS gift for the girls birthday:

Dressing up as Scarlett and Lily's FAVORITE princesses!

My sisters were very kind to do this for them! :) Thank you girls!

On the left is the beautiful Cinderella and on the right is the fabulous Ariel (little mermaid)!

Scarlett and Lily were in LOVE!! Scarlett later told me this was her favorite part of the whole party!

Awww.....

My husband drove the ~~tractor~~ princess carriage and gave all the royalty rides around the backyard.

What FUN!

Then it was princess PINATA time!! Whoo hoo! Everyone got a few turns to break open the pinata and they were LOVING it I tell ya! :) It was so cute to watch some of the littler ones hitting the pinata. Then- out came the candy! Yum! Yum!

CANDY!

Princess Cinderella read a story called Polite as a Princess to all the lords and ladies...

and then...

Time to sing Happy Birthday to my two princesses (here they are blowing out the candles!)

I made strawberry cupcakes and regular white cupcakes with sprinkles as well.

More tractor rides with Daddy!

Ariel helped with the game "pass Cinderella's glass slipper". We played UNDER the SEA music and when it stopped whomever had the glass slipper got a little bean bag fish from Ariel for a prize! (Note: They were sitting on a parachute... afterwards we played parachute with all the kids- that is always a favorite!)

When our ROYAL guests were leaving Scarlett and Lily handed them a thank you bag with little gifts fitting of their age. There were glow in the dark swords, bubbles, bouncy balls, princess crayons, rings, necklaces, princess chapstick, etc. in the designated bags.

Gosh I love my two princesses! :) I hope they had as much fun as it seemed they did- lots of smiles, giggles, and excitement all day long. Hugs and Kisses to my Scarlett and Lily! xoxoxo

My Dante is gone...

2010-09-08T11:41:00.001-05:00

Dante, our silver/gray miniature schnauzer passed away last night. He was not very old at all and this all came on very suddenly. He was only about to turn 6 years old. My buddy Dante has never even been sick before, this all came on so quickly and we just weren't expecting it. About 2 weeks ago, he just stopped eating one day and after 24 hours of him throwing up, we took him to our vet. They did blood tests and checked him out. The vet said she believed he may have pancreatitis, which supposedly is very common in schnauzers and yorkshire terriers. We have 2 schnauzers and our parents have 2 as well- I had never heard of this!! Anyway, they sent us home with medication and we were supposed to try and get him to eat. Dante literally did not eat for 2 full weeks- he was in the vet office for a few nights and got IVs which was great but he wouldn't eat for them either, and then they sent him home hoping he would eat soon. He seemed a little perkier this past weekend and would even bark out the fence in the back and wander around in the backyard with Chaucer, our other schnauzer. We even got him to nibble on a little chicken at one point, but not much. I don't think my husband and I realized that it was as serious as it was. We were planning to take him back to the vet but after yesterday it was too late. Last night, I noticed little Lily was sitting in Dante's kennel petting him (and he NEVER sits still for long if Lily wants to pet him). She was so excited that he was being still.... I went over and got her out and he was just not moving. It was so scary... and sad... he was glassy eyed and breathing very shallow. My husband took him to an emergency pet clinic and after a couple hours of trying to get him stabilized, he was not going to make it. I never thought I would be so upset... I wished I could have been there too. I wish I could have held him and told him I loved him one more time. I just can't believe he is gone. Dante was the best little guy ever! He was so smart and listened to commands amazingly well- he could roll over, sit, shake, speak... he was so very smart. He had the most soulful eyes... and my husband and I just loved his big fuzzy ears and his natural tail that was never clipped.... Today, Scarlett asked about him and her daddy told her what happened. She told me she felt sad and hoped she would see him in heaven someday. She thought it was funny that Dante might have wings and she said he probably loves flying around chasing squirrels- I thought that was pretty funny and cute! I printed a picture out of him and her together and she has been carrying it around all day. But she seems to be okay with whole situation... I am glad that she is because I still am not feeling okay at all. :( Hopefully, just getting it out there in this quick blog will make it better... but with it being such a rainy, gloomy day- I am feeling just like the weather, very gloomy.

Thursday Preschool Playdate Letter W , Oceans & Fish!

2010-07-24T09:42:00.000-05:00

We learned about the letter W this week--- water, walrus, whale....

And all about Oceans and Fish!

As you can see we had Scarlett's pet goldfish in the middle of the table- we talked about taking care of fish as a pet and they all got to feed the goldfish a tiny bit of food.

We worked on our counting. They each had two paper goldfish bowls and used goldfish crackers. I wrote a number on the dry erase board and they had to recognize the number and put that amount of "fish" in the goldfish bowl. Some needed more help than others but they all did a really great job and seemed to enjoy it!

We played one of my favorite SENSORY games. Blindfolded they put their hands in a grab bag and feel around for something. They had to describe it without looking and then finally got to take off the blindfold- they always get sooo excited!

They pulled out lots of different ocean life- starfish, sea shells, sand dollars, etc.

Then we got on our "pretend" scuba gear and swam out to the backyard. Then they hunted for sea shells in the OCEAN (aka. plastic pool).

We sang a cute song about 5 little fish- each of them got to hold a paper fish and sing along.

We read 2 really cute books from the library called:

The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen (they just laughed at this!!)

and Rainbow Fish discovers the deep sea by Marcus Pfister

Pre-K Curriculum for my 3.5 yr old

2010-07-18T08:55:00.000-05:00

I thought I would use this to jot down what we will be doing in our homeschool Preschool this year!
Of course we will still be doing our Thursday Preschool Playdates with the other Mommies (which Scarlett just LOVES) but Tuesday and Wednesdays we will also be doing preschool activities!! There may be a few changes/additions once I attend the Catholic Homeschooling Convention in Grapevine this Friday. I am really excited to attend this homeschooling convention and this year with my HUSBAND!! I was impressed last year and just want to make sure he and I are on the same track with our kids. Looks like some great speakers this year and I have more of a plan for looking at their books too!

Here is my tentative Pre-K Curriculum list for this 2010-2011 year:
(I put links for many things if you are interested in checking them out!!)

Progressive Phonics
A Child's Garden of Verses
Reading aloud classics- starting with The Jungle Book (july '10)
Later in the year- Teaching to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Bible Stories & Children's story books of the Saints
(planning to use Faith & Life for grade school)

Kumon Books- Pre-K & K

Kinderbach Music
"Handle on the Arts" Fine Arts Program
Maestro Classics "Stories in Music"

Little Pim Spanish DVD and Music CD for Pre-K
(note: after I bought this I found it at the library!!)

Gross Motor- lots of running and playing outside of course! :) We will also be signing up at our City Rec Center for Gymnastics and probably ballet/tap again as well! I can't wait till Lily is old enough to join her sister... only about 6 more months ( it is just too cute!!)

*Lily will be playing along with her sister in Pre-K this year (she is almost 2 years.) Anything she is interested in doing with Scarlett I will just try to simplify for her of course!! :)

My Goal: After this year I would like to start a Kindergarten curriculum with Scarlett... she will be 4 1/2 next August and would be waiting another year to start school if we were attending somewhere. However from what I have seen so far and watching her very close this year, I am assuming she will be MORE than ready to start at the end of next summer!

I am looking forward to learning with my little girls this year- it has been a lot of fun so far and my feelings have only gotten stronger about educating at home for the moment. There have been LOTS of HUGE things this year society wise AND close to home that make me believe I need to do this for my girls so much! I know it is a HUGE commitment for me but I will do anything and everything possible to bring up girls who will know, love, and serve God and everyone they meet! :)

April Showers Bring May Flowers... and a BABY BOY TOO!

2010-07-11T15:09:00.001-05:00

In April, I threw a baby shower for my little sister-- she just had her baby in May (Jacob Michael) and I still haven't posted until today- aghhh!!
I threw her baby shower on a Saturday afternoon toward the end of April. I really wanted an outdoor baby shower in the backyard, BUT the weather in Dallas decided to follow my theme and it "SHOWERED" all morning!! Therefore,we had the baby shower in my house- it turned out really nice even if it was a bit crowded!! I just want to thank my sister in law for helping me with everything- she was so wonderful and fun to work with and also my BEST friend (who is also my Fairy Blog Mother) for her help taking the pictures. Thank you!!

Invitation for the event:

April Showers bring May Flowers and a little baby boy,

Let's shower Claire with lots of love for this bundle of joy!

Gorgeous chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with Umbrella Toppers and little "raindrop" flowers. I worked with Charynn to create my own unique cupcake toppers - I found her from Two Sugar Babies on Etsy - check her out! She can do the most amazing stuff with fondant- Thank you Charynn!

I also worked with Tabitha from Proud Grits on Etsy- she was so sweet and we actually talked about lots of ideas for my baby shower- she really knows her stuff! I ended up having her make me some cute umbrella confetti and she threw in some little paper flower confetti as well- it was absolutely adorable on the tables!

Sign in table for Claire's Shower- we used her baby book to sign in and had a M&M counting game at the sign in table too! Claire dressed perfectly to match her yellow and blue baby shower colors- she is so cute!

One of the guests counting the M&M's in the baby bottle!

Another game we played was measure the Momma! Each person had to take a piece of string and cut it at whatever they thought the circumference of Claire's baby belly might be. It was pretty funny- some cut very small lengths of string and others cute humongous pieces!! LOL

The winners received a cute little candle and notepad for a prize.

My other little sister, Claire, and my mom helping open a gift. If you look behind them on the fireplace you will see a "bunting" type banner that says Baby Shower in cute lettering- with little baby boy onesies hanging on the rope with clips.

Here is an up close of some of the umbrellas we put around the house. We cut raindrops and hung them with clear string to the yellow and blue umbrellas.

More cute umbrellas, balloons, and raindrops!

We served some light snacks since the party was around 3 in the afternoon. We had fruit and veggies to nibble on as well as some quiche and some mini pizza rollups. Yummy!

At the end of the shower, we gave small umbrellas as thank you gifts to the guests...we used raindrop paper and wrote "from our shower to yours" on the paper attached to the umbrella- since it was raining those umbrellas really got used!! LOL

Claire's shower was really a success! She literally got a room FULL of gifts. It completely filled my living room area- it was amazing! Definitely thankful for all our family and friends that were able to attend!

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SOME OTHER THANK YOUS! Check out all these great sites!

When I was planning this party, I went to some experts to get advice on what kinds of things would be neat to do for the baby shower. I talked with Brittany from One Charming Party because she has the most awesome, beautiful ideas!! I wasn't expecting this but she actually hooked me up with a free inspiration board from her friend Becca from Birthday Girl Blog and oh my gosh it was the coolest April Showers Inspiration Board!! I love these two girls ideas- they are absolutely fabulous and can come up with some really unique ideas if you need something for birthdays, showers, weddings, etc. Check them both out and give them lots of love from me!! Here is the PRECIOUS inspiration board that Becca sent me- so many cute ideas- for anyone that might be interested in doing a "rainshowers theme!".

Another sweet lady that sent me some awesome ideas was Shelley from How Does She? Have ya'll ever seen this blog? It is so cool- those girls are amazing and their blog is so much fun to read! Check it out!!

My final shout out is to Amy from STEM parties- she also sent me loads of adorable ideas and places to check out online!!

All of these ladies are busy, busy, busy and yet they each took time to write me back and I will be forever appreciative of that! I hope good things are coming to each and every one of the ladies that helped me with this shower. HUGS TO YOU ALL!!

Yummy Dough- A Review! :)

2010-05-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

We were so excited to try out Yummy Dough given to us to try from PlaSmart.

My 3 year old really LOVED doing this. She loves playdoh to begin with and she LOVES cooking with her Mommy so.... two of her favorite things to do, rolled into one was just PERFECT!

First we put the contents of the package in the bowl.

Next we measured and added water.

Mix it up with a spoon and the color starts to show! Scarlett's fave color is red so that is what we did first!

Then she had to knead it with her hands (that was FUN for her!) to get it to a dough consistency.

And... start PLAYING!

The playing part was pretty fun- for Scarlett AND Mommy! :)

After we played we put our little pieces of art into the oven to bake...

AND...

Yummy! It tasted pretty darn good!! :)

Thanks to Plasmart for letting us review their Yummy Dough- I would definitely get this again-

it is simple to use, child friendly, easy clean up, and yummy too! Great product!

You can buy Yummy Dough at FatBrainToys.Com and also on Amazon too!

Disclaimer: I received a complementary box of Yummy Dough for the sole purpose of reviewing this product. This free product in no way affected my review. The review and the products were provided free of charge and I received no monetary compensation for this post.

May is the Month for Mary!

2010-05-22T09:33:00.000-05:00

I am sooo behind on blogging, but I had to share a very special day that we celebrated on May 5th. I have always loved May Crownings for Mary and so this year I decided to do a Mini-May Crowning with my Pray and Play Church group. We had our pastor from our church, Father Michael, come to my house and bless my new Mary statue and also give a blessing to all the mothers that were there as well. All the children put carnations in vases around the statue of Mary and then afterwards we said the rosary as usual. Then we all shared a yummy lunch that the moms made and picnicked out in the backyard. It was a really lovely event!

Crown we made from pipe cleaner and pink baby's breath.

Crowning our Mary statue.

Father Michael getting ready to bless our Mary statue and then all the mommies!

A special blessing for two expectant moms.

Father Michael taking pictures with all the children.

Picnic time!

More picnicking!

HAPPY Mini MAY CROWNING! :)

It has been quite awhile, huh?

2010-05-22T09:20:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged in such a long time... I feel like the past couple months have been overwhelming because I started a little side business called Creative Nutrition (which I LOVE) and then just all the regular Mommy things that take up my entire day! Creative Nutrition was created by my friend Emily and myself. We do free Wellness presentations for families to help them get more fruits and vegetables into their diets. We are supposed to eat 9-13 servings of fruits and veggies every day!! I know most people (including myself) are not anywhere close to that and since I was already taking Juice Plus+ and we have both been teachers previously this seemed like such a natural thing for us to want to do. So I have been busy, busy, busy with wellness presentations in different people's homes- they are so fun- we make fun, healthy snacks, sample yummy smoothies and talk about relevant information that will help Moms get the very best nutritional information for their families!
So.... that's what I've been up to. Unfortunately that means other things have gone by the wayside... I haven't been as regimented about preschool with Scarlett- Tuesday mornings haven't been as productive in that department. But thankfully we have been doing Thursday Preschool Playdate every week since February with friends so she gets one solid day which has been great!! I am now ready to get back into serious preschool time on Tuesdays as well though- and I need to start posting again too!
I miss all my bloggy mommy friends and all the great ideas that are out there!

Talk to you all soon- have a happy weekend!

A Joyful & Blessed Easter to you and your family!

2010-04-03T13:56:00.000-05:00

When I was little on Saturday night (after the long, long Easter Vigil mass) I would roll myself up in my blankets at bedtime and fall asleep pretending I was a caterpillar.... When I woke on Easter morning I pretended that I was a beautiful butterfly!!

I always love the imagery - a New Beginning!!!

....and I have always had a pretty enormous and dramatic imagination! :) LOL

I hope you all have a joyous Easter Sunday! Here is to a new beginning, no matter the reason, right? :)

Hope the Easter Bunny hides lots of treats for you too!!

(Scarlett loves bunnies... and Lily is obsessive about kitty cats right now so I thought this was hilarious!! )

Thanks to the Graphics Fairy for her beautiful pictures!

Luv,

Bookworm's Bookbag- Fun learning for little ones!

2010-03-26T15:23:00.000-05:00

The Itty-Bitty Bookworm just started a fabulous monthly e-newsletter that will feature lots of fun themes and ideas from great BOOKS for you and your little ones to learn and do together!

I am proud to say that a couple of my ideas were published in the first edition

that is now ready for you to purchase....

Just click here to check it out- you can see samples of the great ideas that are in each issue. And you can also sign up to get the issues sent to you. Let me know what you think!

Have a great weekend!

Three Cups-Teaching Children the Value of Money (Book Review)

2010-03-26T15:08:00.002-05:00

I was asked to review the book, Three Cups,retold by Mark St. Germain. The lovely book is fabulously illustrated by April Willy. This book is based on a true story of Tony Townsley (self published by Tony Townsley and Scott Wily) and how Tony was inspired to give back to his community. So, in his own small way, he and his wife did just this with their children. They created an allowance system to teach their children how to manage money but also they taught them the TRUE meaning of money - it is NOT important how MUCH money you have, rather what YOU DO with the money you have!

This book is very intriguing and though it is written with the intent to help children understand how to manage money, this book was so very valuable for me (and adult, a mother, and a teacher) to read as well! I feel that anyone could gain knowledge about handling money from reading this book, but it is very helpful for parents who want to teach their children to be responsible about their savings and spending. When receiving an allowance the children then split the money up in to 3 Cups, which were Savings, Spending, and Charity. I think this is such a positive way to reinforce great values and help children appreciate the value of money. I feel that this book is a real "treasure" for families and will be a great asset for my little ones!

Three Cups is available to order on the Three Cups Website as well as Amazon.

Disclaimer: I received a complementary copy of, "Three Cups" for the sole purpose of reviewing the book and offering two copies for a giveaway. This free book in no way affected my review. The review and the products were provided free of charge and I received no monetary compensation for this post.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution- looks interesting!

2010-03-23T14:41:00.001-05:00

ARE YOUR KIDS...

getting 9-13 Servings of Fruits and Veggies every day?

Jamie Oliver is talking about all the JUNK FOOD our nation eats- especially what our precious kids are puttting in their bodies!
I am definitely to blame on this one...although I try I definitely fall
back on "easy and unhealthy" quite a bit!

ON a side note: I have recently decided to become a distributor for Juice Plus- it is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING in what it has done for me and my two girls this fall/winter (about 5 months...) anyway I have been receiving lots of great information via email and saw this show. I heard one of my friends talking about it the other day and it looks like it could be a pretty interesting show- here is what I saw- wanted to share it with you all:
Back to the show:

I don't know if you all have seen the preview clips on television for this
new show airing for the first time March 26th, but click on the below link
to see what the "Food Revolution" is all about. Jamie Oliver is apparently on
the same mission that the Juice Plus community is because it is all about
awareness, education and parental responsibility.

Check it out...

http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution/about-the-show

If you are interested in information about what Juice Plus is and what it can do to help you with a healthy, happy family- let me know! :)

We said "I Do" In 2002!

2010-03-23T14:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful, talented, husband. I love you more every day-- and it is so easy to love you because all I have to do is look at our two little daughters- with God's help we have 2 miracles!!

Here is a look back at our special day 8 years ago:

St. Monica Catholic Church...8 bridesmaids, 4 hostesses, 8 groomsmen, 4 ushers... LOTS of family!

Blessings from Family and Friends during Mass.

My very big, but very sweet, Family

My Husband's gorgeous family

OUR BEAUTIFUL wedding party

Husband and Wife

Going to the reception in our 1967 Black Mustang Convertible (my husband is so sad that we gave this away)

You have made me that happiest that I have EVER been. I feel that where I am at this moment in my life is exactly where I should be- I'm not longing for anything- I don't feel a need to do or be anything more than I am. Thank you for supporting me and all the crazy things I think about and do. Thank you for being the best daddy to your two beautiful little girls. Thank you for sharing your life with me and working so hard every day so that we can live a comfortable, happy life. You ARE MY EVERYTHING!!

IMADTLYF

xoxoxox,

Your Wife

Tot School Week 15- BEARS!

2010-03-21T22:09:00.003-05:00

This week we learned about bears on Tuesday and Thursday Preschool Playdate... I had SUCH a busy week and sadly didn't plan as much as I usually do. Generally I have so many fun things for the kids to do that I don't even get through all of it, but this week, not... so... much!
Anyway, here are some things we did:

While we were waiting for everyone to come to Preschool Playdate we made playdoh bears!

We even had some brown Playdoh... not purposely though-

Scarlett has mixed quite a few playdoh colors together!!

We made paper bag Teddy bears! Found a picutre online to use... then colored and pasted to paper bags.

Then we sang Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around... they had fun acting out the motions with their puppets!

Then we listened to and acted out Going on a Bear Hunt!

We made peanut butter, rice cake BEARS- with bananas, raisins and a small rice cake for the nose.

(We decided they actually looked more like pigs... or well!! ) They were yummy!

( I have seen this idea a few places... but I can't find where exactly! sorry...)

Before eating their snacks, they followed some BEAR TRACKS...(see the brown tracks on the ground?)

AT the end of the bear tracks was a Teddy Bear Picnic waiting for them... they sat with their bears and ate their snacks that they made and some teddy grahams too!

Eating their snacks!

We read a few bear books- such as Brown, Bear, Brown, Bear (one of Lily's favorites) and also The 3 Bears and Goldilocks (a version of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.)

Then we talked about hibernation. The kids were really interested in what bears do in the winter... we pretended to eat, and eat, and eat. Then we crawled into our "cave" and fell asleep.

(I covered the table with a blanket- so creative, huh? But they seemed to like it!! LOL)

Happy Hibernating!

Look below for more GREAT IDEAS:

SNOW ON THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING?!!! In TEXAS??

2010-03-21T09:42:00.001-05:00

This is what I saw out my window this morning... It was rainy and windy yesterday... then last night the snow flurries started. This is CRAZY I tell ya!! (Plus, I am ready for springtime weather!)

Happy Spring???

New Friend Friday (yes... a day late)

2010-03-13T15:19:00.000-06:00

I just found this new way to meet some fabulous bloggers!

click the Link above to read the rules.... I am supposed to blog about the new "friend" I found that was right above my link- her blog is called Life as Lori and it is SUCH a cute blog! This is a Mommy who is very crafty- and I LOVE it!
Check out her blog if you get a chance!!

Have a great weekend,

Tot School Week 13 &14 (LETTER G)

2010-03-12T15:50:00.000-06:00

First some thoughts: I combined the past two weeks of Preschool activities into one blog... I may start doing this because it makes me less stressed about getting everything posted so quickly and I have been trying to be more mindful of when I am blogging lately ( in case you don't know blogging can take up a LOT of your time if you let it!!) I feel that I have fallen victim to this for the past few months and I am trying to make sure I am using my time wisely. It is so much fun to read everyone's blogs and see all the great ideas that are out there... however if I am on the computer looking at blogs how often do I get to put those great ideas into effect?- Lately that answer would be not-so-much. My Evernote (which I absolutely love by the way... ) is chock FULL of AWESOME ideas. But I waste too much time looking for ideas and reading all the blogs out there to get to do many of these things- soooo I am reassessing my blog and looking for ways to STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!- more often. LOL!
The past 2 weeks were dedicated to the Letter G! We were so excited because it just so happened that my girl's grandma- G.G. came to visit- what a perfect week for that, huh? Do you know what G.G. stands for? Take a guess- and let me know what you think! :)

Here are some of the fun things we did!

G is for Green Grass (using easter grass)

Mixing Blue Marker and Yellow Marker on a coffee filter...

found this at Under the Table and Dreaming- so cute!

Add a spray bottle and soak the coffee filter... so the blue and yellow make- GREEN!

Rainbows from pipe cleaners (or the fancy name- chenille sticks- LOL!)

(I have seen this on quite a few blogs but here is one...The Schafer Family)

Pipe Cleaner Rainbows and Rainbow Pom-pom art celebrating St. Patrick's day coming up!

This one I made up myself... because I had the tools already! Match the colored pom-pom to the correct color in the rainbow! The girls seemed to like this- and they turned out pretty cute!

Click here for the other St. Patrick Day activities

that we did at Preschool Playdate!!

Snack Time- GRAPE Kool-Aid and Graham Crackers

We read Goldilocks and the 3 Bears... here are some activities we did.

Match the bowls, chairs, beds with the correct bear.

(Yes my daughter is wearing her Jasmine costume that she wore for Halloween- but HAD to wear it today)

Goldilocks Pattern Activity

Goldilocks Puzzle- the 3 Bears house

Goldlocks Counting activity-

Later, I laminated this and she LOVED doing this over and over with a dry erase marker!

And OUR FAVORITE Letter G activity this week--- Playing with GG!! In this photo, Scarlett is actually playing Games with GG. Lot's of G's! YAY!

Don't forget to tell me your guess for -

"What do the initials G.G. stand for in Scarlet's grandma's nickname?

Look here for More GREAT Preschool and TOT ideas:

St. Patrick's Day activities!

2010-03-12T15:30:00.001-06:00

I put a few of the activities we did for Thursday Preschool Playdate on my Tot School blog... but here are the other things we did at Preschool Playdate for St. Patrick's day (which is next Wednesday the 17th!)

Both girls were ecstatic that little leprechauns came to our house and left a trail of little green shamrocks for them to follow...

and follow...

and follow some more...

until they found the POT OF GOLD!!

Those silly leprechauns sure know what little girls like!! (Princess stickers, a tootsie roll pop, and chocolate chip cookies! YUMMY)

Then for GOOD LUCK we decided to make some Blarney stones.

Paint a little watered down glue on some stones...

Then shake on some magic blarney stone GLITTER (green or gold)

TA-DA! BLARNEY STONES- May the Luck of the Irish be with you!!

Finally, we read about St. Patrick. There are 2 books I would like to recommend:

1. Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola

AND

2. St. Patrick by Ann Trompert

After reading about St. Patrick- we colored pictures of Saint Patrick and the shamrock.

We talked about the 3 leaves on the Shamrock and how it represents the Trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We practiced the Sign of the Cross...

I have to brag a little bit and say the Scarlett can recited, Hail Mary, Angel of God, Now I Lay Me, and the Meal Prayer all by herself... I am so proud of her... and when she isn't being totally finicky at church she sings the Alleluia and some of the other parts of the Mass as well... I love to hear her sweet little voice, and I am definitely one to believe that God hears the prayers of a little child so much louder than my own (sometimes selfish) prayers... I really like to pray with Scarlett just for this very reason!

Have a Blessed Saint Patrick's day!!

Happy Friday Follow- Week 9!

2010-03-12T09:19:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone has wonderful weekend!! :)
I am planning another giveaway in the next week- so stay tuned!!

Click above to join Friday Follow!! :)

Wordless Wednesday- My favorite reminder of SPRING in our backyard.

2010-03-10T08:48:00.000-06:00

Bring on Spring!

For more Wordless Wednesday look here:

5 Minutes for Mom

Extraordinary Mothers

Go Graham Go!

Run DMT

Look what Mom found...and Dad too!

Jolly Mom

J. Leigh Designz

Seven Clown Circus

Healthy Moms

Dallas Hair Salons- Want a FAB haircut in the North Texas area?

2010-03-05T22:52:00.001-06:00

Splurge Salon is where premier designers and world class color experts heighten your confidence and enhance your style. Splurge is "North Texas chic" with a French connection, combining creativity and talent with salon innovation to give you the advantage of looking your very best!

I have been needing a haircut for quite some time.... look at my before pics below...

These pictures are kind of embarrassing because I should have cut my hair a long, long, time ago!! I wanted to chop it in November, but decided to wait until after a wedding that we went to in December.

So when Business 2 Blogger sent me this great opportunity,

I was sooo excited to blog about it- and I haven't found a salon or hairstylist that I really, really like or trust.

When I walked in to Splurge Salon, I knew I was in the right place- the salon itself is really pleasing to the eye. It makes you feel like you are some place special! Then I met my hair "designer" Amanda- and she was absolutely awesome! She listened to my ideas, and when I asked her for her own thoughts we were able to come up with something that I was really excited about. Here's my new 'do !!

Did I mention that I love it?!! This picture isn't great...doesn't do the cut & style justice,

but it feels and looks fabulous! :)

Thank you Amanda, you have taken a HUGE weight off my shoulders (LITERALLY!) LOL

I will be back to see you soon!

Splurge Salon offers lots of great services such as : Men and Women's Hair Style Consulting, Wedding and Prom Hair consulting and Make up Consulting, Hair Coloring services, and Hair Revitalization.

* One of the things I really love at Splurge is their Client Loyalty Program. If you refer customers, they will give you a discount on your next appointment. Isn't that great? Check it out here! *

*Also, for being a First time Customer you receive a 20% off coupon- Check that out here! *

So... if you are needing a great hair cut, color, and style, check out SPLURGE!

Make sure to let them know that Jo from Somewhat Organized,Slightly Crafty Blog sent you! :)

**Business 2 Blogger kindly matched me up with Splurge Salon, and I was compensated for this blog post. For more information please read my "Disclosure" at the top of this blog. Thank you!**

Happy Friday Follow- Week 8! :)

2010-03-05T08:17:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone has a great weekend- HAPPY FRIDAY FOLLOW!

To join in the fun Click HERE!

Wordless Wednesday- My "Cat" in the Hat

2010-03-03T13:52:00.000-06:00

A Dr. Seuss Party at Lakeshore Learning Store

For More Wordless Wednesday :

5 Minutes for Mom

Extraordinary Mothers

Go Graham Go!

Run DMT

Look What Mom Found...and Dad too!

Raising a Well- Mannered Child (ideas from Love and Logic Conference)

2010-02-28T09:03:00.000-06:00

When I saw that Go Graham Go! was having a Raising a Well-Mannered Child series on her blog I was excited since I just attended a Love and Logic conference geared towards younger children (up to age 6) just yesterday!

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My 3 year old daughter has been really pushing the limits lately- I am embarrassed to say this actually-in fact I wasn't going to even blog about it because I thought I'd just handle it as quickly as possible and "make it go away". I have always thought of myself as a pretty competent mommy... I am the oldest of a family of 8 kids and whether I wanted to be or not I was kind of like a second mommy at times (or at least I felt that way.)

I am also a teacher (taught 5-8 grades before having two sweet little girls) and I love all things children. Sooo... I guess I thought I could just handle everything and my child would be the gleaming example of perfection at every playdate and event (okay, I exaggerated on that part... but you get my drift!)

So I decided it might be wise for me to check out some different parenting ideas and I attended Love and Logic yesterday.

I learned some GREAT things (some of these were DUH moments for me... I knew them... I simply wasn't DOING them!)

1. Adults set limits in loving ways without anger, lecture, threats or repeated warnings.

Okay, I can already tell you I suck at this! LOL I talk, talk, talk, my daughter to death... and I always warn quite a few times (is this because I am busy? or maybe a bit lazy on follow through at times? YES!)
2.When children act up or misbehave, adults must hand the problem back in a loving way.
I am the queen of getting too angry, upset, or just emotional and making a bigger deal than necessary (your kids pick up on these "emotional cues" from you! I need to prove empathy with (FEW words) and help to solve the problem or let them make a mistake so that they will have that learning opportunity!

ONE MORE AWESOME THING TO KNOW:

1. Remember Dory from Finding Nemo? ---"Just keep swimming... just keep swimming..."
Or for us with feet... Just keep Walking!
Why? For kids under 5 years old (if you feel a tantrum coming on... or you know things will get heated)-- CHANGE LOCATION! -keep on moving--- don't stop and try to console a crabby kid at the grocery store who wants a pack of skittles... Just. Keep. Moving.
(try this out- it really, really works- changing location will calm your child down and keep it from becoming a very big scene- as soon as the child knows you are NOT going to give them the attention they want... things will start improving and you will have time to decide what to do next.)

**I am so thankful I was able to go to a Love and Logic Conference- the two speakers were Jim Fay and his son Dr. Charles Fay and they really did an excellent job. Check them out if you get a chance!

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** One Last Note:

If you have had people say things such as this to you about your child... " My, she is such a busy little thing" or "Wow, does he ever stop moving"... or "Gee, she just goes a mile a minute..." (I have been told all of these about my 3 year old) then you should check this book out called Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Krucinka (bought this on Amazon)

- I am still reading it and plan to share with you any little gems of knowledge once I am finished- so far it has been very interesting!

Good luck to all of you on your parenting quest!! :)

xoxo,

2 little LENT lessons... (Lent Link-Up and Sunday Snippets)

2010-02-26T14:35:00.001-06:00

Hiding the ALLELUIA until Easter...

Found this adorable idea from Lacy at Catholic Icing (one of my new fave blogs!)

I just took what I found from around the house... brown paper bags, purple tissue paper, markers, glue, wide yellow ribbon and letters I printed off the computer that Lacy found on Martha Stewart- sooo pretty!

The Lamb of God (found this on Ten kids and a dog and Karen Edmisten)

I found a picture of a lamb online (because I am TERRIBLE at freehand) - printed it out and had my kids glue a cotton ball on (one for each day of Lent). We talked about Jesus dying for us so that someday we would be with him in heaven. They seemed to have fun putting on the lamb's "wool"!!

For some AWESOME Catholic Lenten activities check out:

and

SUNDAY SNIPPETS-- A CATHOLIC CARNIVAL

Tot School Week 12- R & Thurs. Preschool Playdate!

2010-02-26T14:04:00.001-06:00

Thursday Preschool Playdate and the LETTER R

R is for RICE and RED (TRACE the letter R in glue stick and then cover with rice!)

Shake the excess rice off of the red letter R and (ta-da!) a RED, RICE LETTER R!

**Then, we read The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter and talked about rabbits- I don't have many pictures but you can see in some pictures the bunny ears each kid received as well as a little wind-up bunny (they Raced those later on in a RABBIT RELAY RACE!)

Next was the cute 'Roll A Rainbow" game from a favorite blogger- Erica (Confessions of a Homeschooler).

Painting Rice Cakes- "RAINBOW RICE CAKES!" (such a cute idea from: Mom Tried it)

(I used condensed sweetened milk mixed with food coloring- and they painted it on the rice cake- yummy!)

Then we got our letter R exeRcise!!

We played Ring toss...

we Rolled...

we Raced and had Relays...

(notice we also had a Red drink... cranberry juice to be exact!) :)

Earlier in the week Scarlett and I worked on a few other things as well...

I made this nifty recycled color game... this cardboard piece is from a quilt that I bought for Scarlett's bed at Target. It had these slits in it (where they had a ribbon to tie around the whole quilt). I almost threw it away but the slits were perfect for putting poker chips through it! So I whipped this up- very quickly! On the underside (you can see colored tape above the slits) I taped baggies to catch the colored poker chips and to see if she matched them correctly!- FUN! (and I recycled- that felt good too! ha ha!)

My tiny tot LOVED to play this with her big sis!

We also did a really cute color match cross game that I printed and laminated

from Christian Preschool Printables.

We had a RRRReally fun week! :)

For more great ideas check out:

AND

Happy Friday Follow- Week 7!

2010-02-26T08:20:00.003-06:00

HAPPY FRIDAY FOLLOW! :)
I hope to "meet" LOTS of fun new bloggers and their fabulous blogs today!

Click HERE to join Friday follow!

xoxox,

3 AWESOME OLYMPIC Chicas and a SWEET discount for some beautiful BLING!!

2010-02-25T15:25:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday, I was hooked up on Business 2 Blogger, with John, an amazing artist who owns Strappedbelts.com. Strapped Belts is a glass jewelry business based out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming and its focus is on contemporary, handmade, wearable art such as glass belt buckles, cuff-link sets, necklaces, earrings, and other cool accessories. Crafty, huh?!
Recently, John, from Strapped Belts, had a really cool experience recently with 3 Olympic US skiers that were training in Jackson Hole. Strapped got in contact with the three athletes, Hailey Duke, Megan McJames, and Sarah Schleper (who is in her 4th Olympics) and brought them into the studio to get "blinged out" in tons of awesome Strapped accessories for the Olmpics- How cool is that?!!! The girls seemed to really enjoy the accessories and the photo shoot that they did with Strapped in Jackson Hole at the Snow King Resort.

HERE ARE THE US OLYMPIC SKIERS WEARING THEIR CUTE STRAPPED ACCESSORIES:

Olympians (L to R)-Sara Schleper, Megan McJames, and Hailey Duke

Pictures by: Kelli Baxendale

Here is Olympic skier, Megan McJames, wearing Strapped Belts BLING!

Check out Megan on the US Ski Team site!

Hailey Duke is wearing a super cute STRAPPED "blingy" rings and "Jackson Hole Tram" Buckle- Love it!

Check out Hailey on the US Ski Team site!

Four-time Olympian, Sara Schleper wearing STRAPPED earrings- love that color- it compliments her eyes!

Check out Sara on the US Ski Team site!

(All these beautiful pictures by Kelli Baxendale)

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As a Texan- I have to say... this is just too cool!!

And I have to say... I am drooling over this one too!

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**Keep an eye on these amazing athletes Wednesday night and Friday night for their 2010 Olympic run!!**

And go check out Strappedbelts.com!

In fact, John has graciously offered Somewhat Organized... readers

25% off their order at Strapped Belts!

Isn't that awesome? So go check out this fabulously crafty, fashion-forward site and get your BLING on!

Coupon Code is: OLYMPICS - just type it in to get 25% off or your order of super cool accessories!

Don't forget to comment and let me know what your think and what you loved, ok?

**Business 2 Blogger kindly matched me up with Strapped Belts and I was compensated for this blog post. For more information please read my "Disclosure" at the top of this blog. Thank you!**

HAPPY OLYMPICS- Now go pick out some bling! :)

Wordless Wednesday- Sweet Daddy & Daughter moment (aka-makes my heart melt)

2010-02-24T09:21:00.001-06:00

For More WW Check these out:

5 Minutes for Mom

Extraordinary Mothers

Go Graham Go!

Run DMT

Look What Mom found...and Dad too!

Interviewing a VERY IMPORTANT person :)

2010-02-22T16:42:00.001-06:00

I saw this cute interview on the Rogers' Family Blog . I thought this was such a funny idea! It will be neat to see how her answers change in a few months... also when Lily can talk a little more (she is talking quite a bit!) it will be fun to do it with her as well :)

Here is Scarlett's first interview, Age 3 (or 38 months):

What is your name:Scarlett

When is your birthday: December

How old are you: This many (holds 3 fingers up) Three!

Who is your Mom:You

What does your Mom do: Get me food (sheesh!!)

Who is your Daddy: Daddy

What does your Daddy do: He does funny things!

What is your favorite color: Red

What is your favorite song: Do Re Mi (and then she sang it to me!) lol

What do you want to do when your grow up: Be a Circus clown and a Rock star too (oh my goodness!)

Where do you want to live when you grow up: In Dallas, Texas

What is your favorite food: Peanut Butter and Jellyfish (this is PJ&J in laymen's terms- lol!)

What is your least favorite food: no spicy things

What is your favorite animal: giraffe

What do Mama and Daddy do after you go to bed: go on a date (hee hee!)

What does Daddy say: I love you, Scarlett!

What does Mama say: I love you too, Scarlett and then she said--What does Lily say? Hello, Scarlett!

Who does our family love the most: Lily baby

Where do we go to church: at Sunday

Why do we go to church: Because we say our prayers and sing songs there.

What is your favorite movie: Cinderella

What is your favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Red icecream---( huh?!? )

Where do you like to eat: Chuck-E- Cheese

Who is your favorite person: Mommy (aww- and I didn't even prompt her I swear! lol )

Who is your best friend: Lily (awww!)

What is your favorite book? Cinderella books

Who is your sister:Lily

Where did your sister come from: From Mommy's tummy!

What is your favorite thing to do: go run and play and have Lily chase me all around!

Then she wanted to ask me lots of questions too- but most of them she answered for me- LOL!

Have a great Monday! :)

Tot School Week 11- Letter R

2010-02-21T22:06:00.001-06:00

This week we started with the Letter R (we do 2 weeks of focusing on a letter because we only do REALLY planned activities on Tuesday and Thursday). I think Scarlett (who just turned 3) needs lots of unscheduled, unpredictable PLAY time because that is what a child should be doing at this age- lots of PLAYING! :)

We also talked about the Olympics this week and the color RED! :)

Working on copying the capital Letter R

Making RAINBOWS (Letter R and color RED) with coffee filters, droppers, and food coloring!

SOOO PRETTY! :) She had LOTS of fun doing this- I think she would have done it ALL day!

THURSDAY PRESCHOOL PLAYDATE: They made people with shapes, rectangles, circles, triangles, squares, etc. VERY COOL!

They did lots of fun little indoor "Olympic Activities" and then made the cutest #1 Ribbons with sticky foam paper - Scarlett LOVED this and wore the ribbon all day!

More Letter R tracing practice and R is for RAINBOWS!

Letter R word search on dlk-teach.com-- she colored the letter R's that she found!

I have to admit this week looks very scarce... we did LOTS of random unscheduled activities and not so many pictures were taken. Not to mention my girls were a little under the weather with colds and some sinus allergy stuff. So... I know it looks like we were slackers! LOL
I have more letter R for this coming week and lots of cool ideas for my Thursday Preschool Playdate- so stay tuned!

xoxox,

Points for Pampers.com !

2010-02-21T20:30:00.000-06:00

My BFF and Fairy BlogMother, Juliet, sent me this- thought you all might like this as well (if you have kids in diapers, that is!) LOL

This was in the coupon section of the newspaper:

30 free Gifts to Grow points in honor of the Olympics:

GTGTEAMUSA2010

Enjoy!

And the Winner of my first Giveaway is.....

2010-02-21T16:45:00.000-06:00

NUMBER 23:
Jerri said...
I really like the Serene Green Crystalline Vase and the Apple Green Crystalline Glazed Sake Set. Thanks for the giveaway!

February 19, 2010 10:05 AM

CONGRATULATIONS TO JERRI FROM SIMPLY SWEET HOME!

**You have 36 hours to please send me an email with your home address so we can mail you the beautiful ceramic fruit bowl-YAY!

BEAUTIFUL POTTERY Giveaway ends TONIGHT! :) (Only 31 Entries!)

2010-02-20T09:15:00.001-06:00

There are only 31 people in the running for this giveaway!! That means there is a VERY good chance YOU could win! :)

Plus there are 8 ways that you can sign up to win this Giveaway- Dont' forget...it ends tonight!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THIS FABULOUS, BEAUTIFUL, CRAFTY GIVEAWAY! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a beautiful, relaxing weekend! :)

Friday Following!

2010-02-19T08:38:00.004-06:00

Happy Friday Following!! :)

AND...Don't forget to stop by and sign up for my first GIVEAWAY- Since (thanks to Friday Follower) I have over 100 FOLLOWERS- YAY!

Click HERE to see the FAB giveaway from one of my closest friends, who is an artist on ETSY!

Giveaway ENDS TOMORROW- Make sure to stop by! :)

2010-02-19T08:31:00.001-06:00

Only ONE MORE day until my giveaway is done! If you are interested- Make sure you come by for a CHANCE TO WIN! :)

HERE IS THE BEAUTIFUL PIECE FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

Large Apple Green

Crystalline Glazed Fruit Bowl

This bowl would make an awesome display bowl in any kitchen. It measures 11 1/2" X 4 1/4.

Underside of bowl is glazed satin black.

CLICK TO JOIN THE GIVEAWAY! :)

I am choosing the winner tomorrow night(Saturday night!)

Good Luck!

Wordless Wednesday- I can see clearly now...

2010-02-17T08:18:00.002-06:00

PS- Sign up for my FABULOUS Giveaway- ENDING SATURDAY!

Check out More Wordless Wednesdays:
5 Minutes for Mom
Jolly Mom
HQ
Look What Mom Found

Celebrating Chinese New Year -The Year of the TIGER!

2010-02-15T21:12:00.002-06:00

We celebrated the Chinese New Year at a nearby restaurant, the May Dragon, on Saturday night with Scarlett and Lily's aunt, uncle, and cousin Miss C!

All 3 of the girls had precious little Chinese outfits that their "PaPa" bought them on a trip to China a year ago.

Scarlett was so excited about her outfit! She was excited about seeing the lion dancers too- she told her Aunt the other night that we were all going to CHINA tomorrow-- we had to clarify that with her later- ha ha!

Lily, not so much...

But she was better after an apple juice bottle! :)

Cousins ~~scaling the~~ admiring the tapestries at the May Dragon.

Lily and Miss C ~~picking on~~ admiring each other's outfits!

With the boom-boom of drums in comes the Dragon (Lion Dancers)!!

They were sooo amazing! Miss C and Scarlett where ~~freaking out~~ a little bit worried and didn't really want to get too close. You could put red envelopes with money in the dragons mouth- however much money you put in would give you ten-fold the GOOD LUCK! We need that!! :)

Lily, on the other hand, was totally enraptured...

If I had let her... she would have followed them around the entire restaurant! OFF SHE GOES!!!

Happy Chinese New Year, the Year of the Tiger!

AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT MY VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY -CHECK IT OUT!!

I have 100 + FOLLOWERS!! So here is...MY VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY !

2010-02-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

One of my very dear friends is an AMAZING artist! I am always in awe of people that can create great art. I just do not have that artistic bone in my body when it comes to drawing, painting, sculpting, etc. I love to do those things- they are fun and I love crafty things... but... I was just not blessed with this talent.
However, my awesome friend, aka "Ceramic goddess" is wonderful at painting, ceramics, and lots of artsy things. She has an Etsy site at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ceramicgoddess. Her pottery is absolutely gorgeous!
She has offered a beautiful ceramic piece for me to giveaway and I am sooo excited! I have a gorgeous vase that she made back when she was getting her masters degree and I love it- it sits proudly in our dining room. Isn't it soooo much nicer to have beautiful art that is handcrafted individually by an artist versus manufactured in bulk for a store?

HERE IS THE BEAUTIFUL PIECE FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

Large Apple Green

Crystalline Glazed Fruit Bowl

This bowl would make an awesome display bowl in any kitchen. It measures 11 1/2" X 4 1/4.

Underside of bowl is glazed satin black.

Crystalline glazing ceramics is a very involved process. The flower like appearance of the glaze is actually zinc crystals that grow in the glaze during a slow controlled cooling after the peak temperature is reached. The glaze is very fluid and tends to run of the pot so a catcher is also thrown and fired under the piece to catch the run off glaze. The catcher is then separated and the bottom is ground down if there are any sharp edges or uneven glaze pools. Since the process is so involved there is a lot that can go wrong, so each successful piece is precious and completely unique.

Crystalline glazes are non toxic but due to the crazing (crackling) character of the glaze only use with dry foods (fruits, nuts, cookies, etc) is recommended. Dishwasher safe.

ONE WINNER GETS THIS BEAUTIFUL PIECE!

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory ENTRY
1. View Ceramic Goddess' shop and let me know which piece you think is the most FABULOUS!
DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IF IT IS NOT VISIBLE ON YOUR PROFILE!

After you complete your MANDATORY entry you will be eligible for additional entries. You MUST leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to count. Here they are:

2. Follow Somewhat Organized, Slightly Crafty Tot Teacher...and Mommy publicly!

3. Add my Blog button to your blog page and make sure to leave the name of your blog where I can find it in your comments.

4. Purchase something from either of Ceramic Goddess ETSY sites. (This counts for 5 entries!)

So there are 8 possible ways to enter!
Open to US Only.
Giveaway ends February 20th at 11:59pm. Winner will be drawn by random.org and announced on this blog as well as emailed.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.
Good Luck!

Tot School Week 10- VALENTINES!

2010-02-12T14:40:00.001-06:00

This week we continued with the letter V- for VALENTINES!

Matching the "LOVE BUGS".
( I got these cute printables (below) from the TOT Pack on 1+1+1=1)

Finding hidden Valentine's all over the house!

And matching them on the Valentine sheet.

Tracing her name... she can actually write this by herself when prompted step by step, but her tracing skills need lots of work!

VALENTINE "button snake"- Great idea from Counting Coconuts! First, Scarlett used the felt hearts and made the pattern- red, pink, red, pink...

Then she had to put button through the felt hearts (on a cute valentine ribbon, I might add...) Scarlett called it "dressing the snake in clothes" LOL!

She gets very serious about this- I love it!!

Check out our stART page... to see the book we read....

Tying into the book we made GG and Poppi a "Mosaic-like "Valentine Sun-catcher... I have seen this on LOTS of blogs... but we just sort of through this together- Contact paper and construction paper with a heart cut out of it.... Then we tore up some tissue paper and she placed it all over the sticky contact paper heart. Later I put a piece of that cute ribbon (like the one from above) on the top of the heart so it could hang like a sun-catcher.

They turned out cute and it was mailed off to Orlando! Scarlett loves to mail things and to get mail too!! :)

We had our Pray and Play group over on Wednesday- so we made some blueberry muffins and some banana nut muffins as well. Scarlett helped cook and decorate them with some very cute heart picks.

a VERY snowy Thursday in DALLAS-- so we did LOTS of playing!!

And while we were snuggling to stay warm inside there was quite a bit of....

TICKLING!!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY-- WITH MUCH LOVE, FROM MY FAMILY!

XOXOXO,

For more great ideas check out:

stArt: Saint Valentine

2010-02-12T14:26:00.001-06:00

This week, we read Saint Valentine written and illustrated by Robert Sabuda. I have heard a few stories here and there about Saint Valentine but I really, really love this story especially!

I liked the mosaic style pictures because they were different than most picture books and it led perfectly into our mosaic-looking Valentine suncatchers!

Scarlett decided to send her suncatcher to her GG and Poppi in Orlando, Florida- which is great since it is pretty sunny there most of the time!

First, we ripped up lots of little pieces of pink and purple tissue paper.

Then I cut a heart out of the center of construction paper (Scarlett is doing great with scissors but she really has just started with this.)

Then we placed some contact paper in the hole of the heart so it was sticky- Scarlett put little pieces of pink and purple tissue paper all over the sticky surface- she kept lifting it up to see if the sun could "get through"!

Finally we taped a pretty valentine ribbon the top of the heart so her GG could hang it up.

Turned out really cute! :)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

For more great stART activities check out:

YAY! FRIDAY FOLLOW AGAIN! :)

2010-02-12T08:30:00.000-06:00

I am so excited to meet new bloggers today for Friday!! Just a few more new bloggy friends and I am to 100- Yippee!
I have a GREAT giveaway that I'm going to do (one of my closest friends has an Etsy site) once I hit 100 + members!!
Keep you eyes out for a giveaway- it's going to be AWESOME
Happy Friday Follow!
xoxoxo

My Husband, the Sculptor

2010-02-11T21:39:00.001-06:00

He never gets time to do any of his fabulous artwork anymore... except on the rare occasion that it snows!! LOL
Isn't this cool though? My husband is soooo artistic! (Wish I had that in me!!)

Out working on his "masterpiece"

Close up of his art!

HAPPY SNOW DAY! This kind of snow in Dallas is very, very rare! It has been quite an adventure today- and pretty exciting for the girls (and Daddy too- can you tell?!)

xoxox,

SNOW much FUN!!

2010-02-11T09:22:00.001-06:00

Playing in the TEXAS SNOW!! :)

Sooo excited to go outside!

BEAUTIFUL, MAGICAL Backyard! :)

FIRST THINGS, FIRST!! :)

(My little Snow Angel)

SNOWMAN!! (With golf balls for eyes!!)

LOL!

HAPPY THURSDAY!

xoxox,

Beautiful Blogger Award--- awwww... shucks!! :)

2010-02-09T16:20:00.001-06:00

I just received this sweet award from Confessions of a Fitness Instructor. and let me tell you- Suzi is one healthy, fit, and beautiful blogger! :) I really appreciate you thinking of me, Suzi!! :) Thank you.

So...here are the rules to receive the Beautiful Blogger award:

Thank & link to the person that gave you the award --- Check! Thanks again Suzi!
Pass this award onto 15 bloggers you’ve discovered & think are fantastic.
Contact said Blogs & let them know they've won (wouldn’t it be awful if you didn’t do this? Gosh!)
State 7 things about yourself.

Okay- 7 things about myself...
1. I am the oldest of 8 children and so yes... I am bossy!! And NO- it doesn't mean I'm going to have 8 kids- so stop asking! LOL
2. I love to plan things: parties, lesson plans, vacations- that's my thing!
3. I feel like a Texan since I've been here so long... but I'm actually a Hoosier at heart :)
4. I would LOVE to write a bestseller Children's book... I just haven't had enough quiet/alone time to do it with little ones at my heels all day.
5. I LOVE to act, sing, and I adore musical theatre... and until kids I was in a few shows around town- I am trying to get back into it but haven't found enough time yet.
6. I love holidays- I love to decorate my house for the holidays (and sometimes it can be quite cheesy!)
7. I would really LOVE to move away from the city- out of the "rat race", cleaner air, less rush, ... sounds good to me!

And now for the 15 bloggers:
Mari-Ann at Counting Coconuts
Elise from Inspiration Surrounds...Creativity Abounds
Dee from Two of a kind, working on a full house
Mama to 3 Blessings
Cassie from Southen Domestic Goddess
The Ramblings and Adventures of a SAHM
Toni at Design Dazzle
Wonder Mom @ The Fantastic Five
Mass Hole Mommy
Crafts N' Things for Children
Deborah at Little Fingers that Play
Michelle at Flying Giggles and Lollipops
Stacy at Bubbles, Balloons and Blessings
Kimberly@ Terra del sole
Lacy @ Catholic Icing

**I 'm just going to be honest- a few of these are NOT blogs that I just found-but they are blogs(or bloggers)that I adore!! So...I'm not the best a following all the rules...oops!

Monday Blog Hop from Trendy Treehouse! :)

2010-02-08T08:15:00.002-06:00

How it works....

Come to TRENDY TREEHOUSE every Monday and link up your blog, website, Etsy Store
Grab the Marketing Monday Button and Share on your Blog ~ Share with everyone that this is a FREE way to advertise their sites
Grab the Blog Hop Code and share on your blog as well

Link Up Your.....
Blogs, Websites, Photography Sites, Etsy Stores, Giveaways & More!

I'm trying it out for the first time this week- HAPPY MONDAY!!

Tot School Week 9- Letter V and More!

2010-02-06T14:59:00.004-06:00

V is for VALENTINE:

We made handprint valentine's from some easy molding clay that I bought at Hobby Lobby.

I have never made salt dough ornments myself- I remember doing them as a child. The recipe I found didn't turn out too well though... Scarlett put all the ingredients together...

and stirred... did I mention she loves to do this??

And rolled (look at her concentration! ha ha!

And put all the cute little heart cutters in the dough-she had fun trying fit as many as she could in the dough.

Then we put them in the oven-- when they came out they were cracked... and not pretty at all- so we ended up throwing them away and not getting to paint them (luckily because we have had LOTS going on, Scarlett forgot about painting them.) But I wanted to paint them too! Hopefully I can find a better recipe next time. :(

Next, Scarlett worked on counting snowflakes and putting the clip on the correct number of snowflakes that she counted. She was having a hard time pinching the clips- look at this face!!

Some of the cards had LOTS of snowflakes (they were laminated) and so we were able to use a dry erase marker and she marked the snowflakes off as she counted them- this helped her keep track much easier!

Worked on cutting - I have her cut copies from our Kumon cutting book so that I can keep reusing the book for my other little munchkins!

On Thursday we had THURSDAY PRESCHOOL PLAYDATE with a few friends- it was our second one!! We talked about lots of words that start with V and the Creation Story-- They had soooo much fun- Check out my blog about it! :)

Finally, we made little Groundhog Day crowns... got the idea from a blog but can't remember where?! Lily and Scarlett really LOVED wearing them though- Scarlett wore hers to library story time- LOL!

Happy Belated Groundhogs day, Early Valentine's day and every day in between!!! ;)

Check out more here:

or

Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers