Build A Bear

Alex turned 5 last December, and he had his first ever friend birthday party in late January.  One of his friends was sweet enough to give him a Build A Bear gift card…what a generous gift!

We *finally* took Alex to Build A Bear on Memorial Day…you know, four months after he received the card…because we’re so on top of things around here.   (Ha!) We are not big fans of the mall, although I do think Build A Bear is TONS of fun and worth braving the mall!  Our original plan had been to take the kids to Indiana Beach amusement park for the day, but it was chilly and wet…so much for that plan!

Alex picked the “Bearemy” bear because it has eyebrows.  He also wanted one that was priced low enough that he could also buy clothes for his bear.

   

He’s done a Build A Bear twice before – once for himself (a puppy he calls “Spreckles”) and once as a donation at Christmas time.  This is the first time that he wasn’t terrified of the noisy ‘air bath’.  He really enjoyed it this time, and he took it very seriously!

 

We looked over many options, but he decided that it would be fun to get a Spiderman costume so that he and his Bear (named “Bear”) could have matching costumes.

 

Alex tried typing it all himself, but ended up needing a little help from Mom.  He also paid all by himself, which was pretty fun.  He was a little nervous about paying on his own, but he did a great job!

  

After Alex made his SpiderBear, we took the kids to play in the mall’s free playplace for a while.   They really love playing in there!

Bear and Spreckles (the Build A Bear Puppy) have gone pretty much everywhere with Alex this week.  It’s quite cute to see him hanging out with his Build A Bear friends!

The cardboard ‘house’ that comes with a Build A Bear animal has been a huge hit with Alex.  He, Keith, and I colored that house to perfection, and it’s one of Alex’s prized possessions at the moment.

Thank you, Lillie, for giving Alex not only a new bear & a fun experience at Build A Bear…but giving him a whole bunch of fun at home, too!

Thursday Buddies

It’s the end of the school year for our local public schools, and this is the last week that we are watching our sweet little friend, Grace.  Her mom is a teacher, so while we may have a playdate or two over the summer, today is our last Thursday together.  I know three little kids who are going to miss their regular playtimes with their friend!

The kids requested that I take pictures of them playing together, so we quickly snapped a few pictures outside.  (Jensyn insisted on wearing her Dora jammies & holding her favorite “piwwow”…and Max refused to sit with everyone else in the grass, even though he really wanted me to take the pictures.)

The picture below is my favorite.  These two have been playmates since they were just a little over 2 years old.  My, how they’ve changed in the past few years!

Jensyn Writes

Maybe it’s because she’s my first girl.  Maybe it’s because this is just part of her personality.

I’m not really sure.

What I do know is that this little girl LOVES to write!  She spends a good chunk of each day with a notepad or some sort of paper.  She adores colored ink pens, although black will do if nothing else is available.

Jensyn will walk around with a little spiral notepad, walk up to each person in the room, and say, “Name?”  You’ll tell her your name, she’ll make a little scribble, and then she’ll move on to the next person.  “Name?”

Once in a while, this is followed with, “Your order?”.  I’ll tell her, “I’d like a hotdog and some yogurt, please.”  She gets a big grin, makes a little scribble on her paper, and runs off.

It is SO cute!

While the picture above doesn’t show it very well, Jensyn has an almost perfect grip when holding a writing utensil.  She’s never been taught; it just came naturally to her.

Here are a few more examples of her “work”…

 

Buy A Teacher Resource Bundle & Help Moore, OK

Teachers Notebook is offering a $20 bundle that’s FULL of Teacher Resources.  *ALL* proceeds will go directly to local relief efforts to help the victims of the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma.

I’ve donated my Solar System and Apples PreK packs, but there are TONS and TONS of other items included by all sorts of Teachers Notebook sellers.  Take a look!   For $20, you’re getting well over $1000 of teaching resources!  Yes, you read that correctly – $1000!!!  I doubt there’s a better deal out there…and this is a deal that definitely makes a difference.

Click above on “See This Special Bundle” to view all the goodies you’ll receive by making a $20 donation to relief efforts!

I wanted to add that I am *so very impressed* with Teachers Notebook owners Steve & Debbie Esemplare.  Their actions are so kind and generous, and I received a personal message from Steve today almost instantly after sending them a thank you regarding their generosity, caring, and thoughtfulness.  I thought that deserved a little public recognition.  There’s a reason that I choose Teachers Notebook as my main store, and that is the attention to detail and personal communication directly from the site owners.  They are AMAZING!

Max’s “C” School

Max is 3 years, 8 months old.  We are using Little Hands To Heaven preschool program that’s adjustable for ages 2 – 5 by Heart of Dakota.  I’m trying to post enough to give you an accurate idea of what is covered in Little Hands To Heaven, yet leave it vague enough that you can’t use this post as a replacement for the teacher’s manual.  It’s full of fun ideas and activities to fill 20 – 30 minutes per day with active, creative learning that is centered on Christ. 

Unit 3 is about the letter C, the number 3, and the story of Abraham.  We took a while to finish this unit simply because the weather was BEAUTIFUL, and we chose to play outside instead of doing school.  That’s the fun of being 3 – who cares if you’re doing school or just having fun outside? :)

Little Hands To Heaven is such a sweet preschool program.  It’s gentle as can be, yet there is so much to be learned in a hands-on way.  I’ve come to really LOVE and appreciate the way the Bible stories are told in “The New Bible In Pictures For Little Eyes”.

This book is unique in the way the stories are told, and it fits the Little Hands curriculum very well.  The stories have a different writing style than any other children’s Bible we own.  I like the question at the end of each story, as they are simple enough for a 3 yr old, yet they help you to know that your child has a good grasp of what you’ve just read.d

Making a cottonball C
(I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but we are hanging these on the stairway leading to our playroom.  I think it will look really fun when the whole alphabet is up!)

Counting 3 suitcases, tracing a 3
(Why suitcases?  It’s because God told Abraham to pack…and this is how WE pack!)

Learning to spell his name (even though he knew pretty well already…)

using stuffed animals to re-enact the story of Abraham and his three visitors from heaven, and counting 3 plates, 3 napkins, 3 cups, 3 fruit snacks for each guest

circling the C and c letters in the little poem, tracing the line from the uppercase C to the lowercase c.

drawing a tent in each box (his ‘tents’ were rather comical, and he knew it…my little goofy boy!) and counting to 5.  This is too easy for him, but I don’t know that he’s ready for the next option – which is drawing 2 items in each box & counting by 2s, so we’re just enjoying the ‘easiness’ for a while.

This page is from my free Counting 1 – 5 pack.  Max was really proud of himself for making such nice 3s.  I think my number-loving boy is really going to enjoy these pages!

Oh boy…I know the lamb had something to do with one of our Bible stories, but at the moment, I am drawing a blank!  (And I am too tired at the moment to get up and check the manual!)  The lamb kept Max company while he worked in his Rod & Staff preschool workbooks and his Never Bored Kid book.

There’s more, but with such a hands-on curriculum, I can’t really share it all or none of you would buy it – you’d just copy from here! Max is so thrilled to have his own special school time, and Little Hands is really a perfect fit at his age!  (Alex loves to follow along most of the time, too…it would make a good program for a 5 yr old if you added in a few additional things like Rod & Staff A - J

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