I Love Trucks (A FREE Valentine’s Pack for Boys)

Alex caught me looking online at Valentine's Day graphics.  He (very sweetly) told me that there was NO WAY he wanted to do any of that cutesy stuff.  We searched through graphics together until he spotted this set.  "Yes, Mommy!  THAT'S the one!"  So...while it was a bit of stretch...this pack was designed just for my little guy.  Perhaps you have a little guy who would prefer trucks and helicopters filled with hearts, too?  ;)

FREE PACK!

 Click on the picture above to link to this pack at my Teacher’s Notebook store.  It’s also available on Teachers Pay Teachers, and it should be available soon on Itsy Bitsy Printables.

This 19 page printable activity mini-pack contains 1 title page, 2 instruction pages, and 14 activities to work on with your  3 - 5 year old child:

• Circle What's Different
• Circle The Biggest
• Count & Match cards
• Finish The Pattern
• Find The Missing Number
• Three Part Cards
• Scissors Skills
• Word Builders
• Dot Page (bingo marker)
• Sort: Facing Left, Facing Right
• Ordinal Numbers
• Shadow Matching
• Prewriting
• Find The Letter (H, h)

Don’t forget – for the month of February, all of my profits from sales at Teacher’s Notebook will go directly to benefit Adopting Judah!  Pick a new preschool pack to enjoy & help bring a little boy home!

  

African Safari preschool pack (FUNDRAISER)

Our friends, Jack & Angie, are parents of three – soon to be four – wonderful children!  Their first two children, Emma and Jackson, were born into their family.  Laila was added to their family through adoption. They are now in the process of adopting a four year old boy, Judah, from Ethiopia.

They are a family with an amazing faith in the Lord, and I sometimes stand back in awe at the way God works through their family.   You can read this family’s story on their adoption blog at Adopting Judah.

When Angie shared their new adoption story with friends at our monthly Bunco night, I knew God wanted me to use this blog to help their family.  I asked Angie, and since Judah is in Africa, she suggested a safari tot pack.

This pack is available at Teacher’s Notebook for $2.00.  Every penny earned from this pack will be donated directly to Jack & Angie’s adoption fund.  Click on the picture below if you’d like to purchase this pack.  THANK YOU!

The picture above shows a sampling of the pages available in this pack.  There are over 25 activities and worksheets for 3 – 6 year olds.  Below, you’ll find links to hands-on activities, crafts, snacks, books, and videos to accompany this printable pack.

PINTEREST FINDS (Seriously one of the most fun websites around, isn’t it?!)

Click on any picture below to go to my Safari Pinterest Board

AMAZON FINDS…books, crafts, magazines (check your library first!)

                                  

Can We Do A Project?

Three kiddos hit me up with that question this morning.  After Christmas, I’d gone shopping with my sister-in-law and niece, and I’d picked up some clearanced Christmas crafts at Michael’s to use next December.  I ran to the closet, pulled out a snowman project that said, “Ages 4 and up”, and we got started.

I’m pretty sure that most 4 year olds could not do this alone.  I stared at the head for several minutes before figuring out how to fold and glue it! :)  The 4 year olds glued their own, but I folded them into the correct shape. 

Max had no clue, but he was trying…and taking all the sticky pieces and putting them all over the counter and wall.  I did much of his project for him.  Max did the face by himself, although I have no idea where the carrot nose ended up.  His end result is rather Picasso-ish! ;)

Alex understood, but he got a little carried away with the glue.  I made the hat for him, as it’s just a bit too tricky for a 4 year old.

Grace needed a little help with the hat, too, but otherwise did hers independently.

Here are our end results…bobble-head snowmen to decorate our counter for a few days! :)

Alex’s Birthday Party

We celebrated Alex’s 4th birthday yesterday with our extended family.  Alex was SO excited for this party.  Everything had to be decorated according to his specifications, everything had to be “just so”, and could hardly wait for his special day to arrive!

Everyone was asked to wear a party hat.  With over 20 guests, he ran out before all the guests arrived, but we still had lots of party hat fun…

Alex wanted a Car 1 birthday party theme, and he was in luck…Bailey’s had all the Cars 1 party supplies on clearance for 50 cents per package!  Convenient, huh? :)

CVS still had the Cars 1 helium balloons available, so we were able to pick up on of those for our excited little boy.  (Poor Max didn’t understand why he wasn’t getting a birthday balloon.)

We also printed, laminated, and hung several two-sided cars ~ Lightning, Mater, Sally, and Finn McMissile.  (There was no convincing the boy that Finn McMissile was from the second movie, ha!)

Grandma S & my siblings helped by bringing side dishes, and I made pulled pork using the EASIEST recipe ever…cook a pork roast with root beer in the crock pot, drain, shred, add a bottle of barbecue sauce.  A few bites tasted a bit root-beer-y, but overall, I thought it was a good, quick recipe to feed a crowd.

Grandma P & Jessica made a Lightning McQueen cake.  They are so creative!

This is the first year Alex has blown out his candles all by himself.

Max barely ate any lunch except for fruit, but he sure gobbled up the frosting and ice cream!  I’m not sure he ever took a bite of his cake, but he ate a LOAD of black fondant!  Then, when he thought no one was looking, Max helped himself to some extra ice cream straight from the scoop!

Jensyn slept through lunchtime, but she enjoyed a whole bunch of food from Aunt Deb and Grandpa S.  It’s unbelievable to me how much this little 16 lb pipsqueak can pack away!

She got passed around a lot, which was fine as long as Mommy was out of sight.  Josh definitely enjoyed her today!  The rest of the pictures with Jensyn are on somebody else’s camera, as I wasn’t allowed in whatever room the baby was in…;)

Alex got spoiled with a Chuggington roundhouse and ChugWash.  He also receive a LeapPad case and three new games, a ride-on bouncy ball, a Chuggington DVD, a puppy game, Lightning McQueen underwear, and two new pairs of pants.

The underwear makes me laugh.  When Keith’s cousin Danny e-mailed me to ask for gift suggestions for Alex, I asked Alex what he wanted from Danny & Ali for his birthday.  Alex said, “Lightning McQueen underwear!”  He was insistent, so that’s what they got him…and then Alex seemed like he didn’t care at all upon opening it.  As soon as his guests left, though, guess what Alex was wearing?  His new underwear!  (I know, buddy, you’re going to be really ticked at me for writing this when you’re 14 years old and reading through this blog.  Sorry!)

The new Chuggington sets saw a lot of playtime from the little kids and some of the uncles.  When Alex woke up this morning, that’s the first thing he did…run to the living room to see his new Chuggington sets.  This is definitely a big hit!  (As soon as he finished breakfast, though, he grabbed the Leap Pad to try out each of his new games!)

               

So, that’s it…the 4th birthday is finally complete!  Happy 4, Alexander.  We are so blessed to have you in our family!

Oh, and just for the record, Alex says (quite insistently) that he’d like a SEVEN cake for his 5th birthday.  We love you, buddy, but sometimes you have some strange ideas!  I’m curious to see what theme you’ll REALLY choose! ;)

Valentine’s Day PreK Pack from Over The Big Moon

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to create a tot pack, and I miss that “me time” to sit at the computer and create!

I was soooooo, soooo, soooo hoping that Pam would do a Valentine pack!  I didn’t make this one, but I’m going to steer you in this direction if you’re looking for a cute, traditional Valentine’s pack for your little ones.  I love her work!  Click on the picture below to link to Pam’s site and download this pack.  Thanks, Pam…I look forward to using this!

I am working on two different packs right now, although it’s s-l-o-w going!

One is a very non-traditional Valentine’s pack.  Alex helped me pick the graphics, and it’s full of cars, trucks, helicopters…and hearts.  (He refused to consider all things cute-sy.)  This one will be a free pack.

The other one is an African Safari theme.  It will be a fundraiser pack for our friends, as they are adopting a little boy from Ethiopia.  (For the month of February, all income from all of my tot packs at Teacher’s Notebook will go to benefit Jack & Angie’s adoption.  I can’t wait for their little Judah to come home!)  This pack is about halfway finished, and I’m hoping to finish it up by the end of next week.

Between computer issues and a preschooler who is no longer napping, I just don’t have time or ability to create as often as I’d like right now.  *I MISS IT*!  That’s my “Me Time”!  I have a line-up of tot packs to work on…if I could just find the time to do it.  Hopefully, we’ll get everything – naps, quiet times, and computers – figured out soon so I can get to creating on a regular basis again!   :)

The Little Things

Sometimes, we think we have to do amazing things to have fun with our kids.  We plan huge projects, expensive outings, etc.  Those days are fun, but I’ll bet our kids are just as likely to remember the little things we do for fun.

My boys LOVE when I do a sink full of dishes.  I put in lots of soap, scoop all the bubbles off the top, and plop it on their heads.  They giggle, run to the mirror, give themselves bubble beards, and smear bubbles all over each other.  When Daddy had some time off at Christmas, he got in on the fun with the boys. 

 

When it snows, the boys love when I bring in a few bowls full of the fresh, white stuff and set them at the table (or counter) with a bunch of toy tools, measuring cups, spoons, etc.  This time, I gave them bowls of snow and their Color Shifters Hot Wheels cars.  This kept them busy for over an hour!

(The lightning is horrible, but you get the idea…)

      

What are YOUR favorite ways to make your kiddos happy and keep them busy without spending a penny?

Max Sings

To know Max is to love him.  This kid is so fun! 

He’s an emotional kid, so you do have to put up with some drama…and ear-piercing screaming…and crying so hard that you can’t understand a word he’s saying…and more ear-piercing screaming…

Aside from that, though, Max is a bundle of energy and fun and JOY for life!  He often reminds me a lot of a (well-reigned) Fudge from the book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. 

With Max, you never know what you’re gonna get next.  He might jump off the top of the slide.  He might leap of the couch as you’re walking by, launching himself onto your back.  He may unexpectedly throw a frisbee in your face when you’re calmly reading a book.  He may break into song at any time.

Oh, that last one…he has recently discovered that he LOVES to sing.  Max sings every day.  His song collection is growing, but the ones I can name off-hand are:

• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• The Farmer In The Dell
• The Alphabet Song
• Bingo (There Was a Farmer…)
• Row, Row, Row Your Boat
• Jesus Loves Me
• Thank You, Lord, For This Food (our lunchtime prayer song)

He probably knows more, but these are the ones I hear over and over, again and again, all day long.  He sings with joy and enthusiasm, and he loves for us to sing along with him!

He tends to “shut down” when I pull out the camera for a video, but I caught a few songs on video that I wanted to add to the blog so we can remember his cuteness at two years old.

Twinkle, Twinkle…

The Farmer In The Dell (the second time, he sings it alone…)

P.S.  The photos are unintentionally labelled January2010…they should say 2012…I’m not sure how that happened! :)