April “Photo Dump” Post

Jensyn’s new raincoat & hat from Aunt Donna

This was an impromptu photo session with all three kiddos…a failed attempt at getting all three lined up & smiling, but at least they were happy!

We’re back to chilly weather again, but we enjoyed the warm days while they lasted.  We ate picnic lunches outside and had water fights with the hose!

Little Miss looked longingly out the back door as her brothers played on the swing set while Mama was cooking dinner.  She “yelled” happily to her brothers to get their attention.

 

The boys went bowling for the first time!  My sisters and their kids were on spring break, so we met for lunch at Steak & Shake and then headed to the bowling alley.  We’re so sad that Daddy had to miss this, as the boys were hilarious and super excited.

         

We took Grandma & Papa out for dinner for the anniversary.  Max was wiggly by the time we finished eating, and he took a few minutes to “hang out” in this little cubby under the server’s station.

This little stinker is showin’ off her fashionable new washcloth hat.

FINALLY, last week Friday, Jensyn got finally figured out that standing is fun!  She knew how, but she really never cared to do it.  Now, she’s standing.all.the.time.  There’s no sitting for this girl anymore!  She’s either crawling at super-speed or standing.

Since the boys had so much fun bowling, and since we had a free Saturday afternoon, we took the kids to our local bowling alley.  They weren’t quite so excited this time around, but it was still a good time. 

   

Max was in a feisty mood!  We had bumpers for the boys, but he was DETERMINED that it would be more fun to roll his ball down the gutter.  He tried and tried to sneak past us and roll his ball down the gutter on the neighboring lane.  When he finally realized we wouldn’t let him, he decided to just hang out under the ball return.  2 year olds – they keep life interesting! ;)

   

Jensyn clapped and cheered for our little bowlers.

 

Since it will NEVER happen again, I would like to point out that I beat my husband.  (He’s the top score; I’m the bottom one.)  Certainly 136 is not a great bowling score, but Keith is a much better bowler than I am…and he only had 104.  He kept slipping & sliding all over the floor.  We don’t know if it was his shoes, or what the deal was.  All I know is, I have to keep this to prove I beat him…once. ;)

And there ya have it – the month of April in random photos.

Next up, Easter pics…

GIVEAWAYS!

Did you see the new handwriting pages that I posted earlier today?

This 42 page set is on sale right now for $1.50.
The price goes up to $2.00 on Saturday, April 28th.

There are two opportunities to win your own copy. 

1) First of all, there’s a new “giveaway” feature at Teacher’s Notebook.  CLICK HERE to enter for a chance to win one of three copies of the handwriting pages.

2)  Leave a comment on my giveaway post on Little Monkey Printables’ Facebook page to enter to win one of five copies of the handwriting pages.

Winners will be selected on Friday, April 27th.

Handwriting Practice Pages

The Handwriting Practice Pages set contains 42 pages.
It is available for $2.

These 42 handwriting practice pages are designed for early learners.  With a large font size, children who are just beginning to learn pencil grasp will have success in tracing their letters.

With my own son, at age 4, I've found that he struggles with the small practice letters found on most handwriting pages.  These pages were designed with him in mind - and I'm confident that your four and five years old will benefit from the size of these practice letters, as well.

At the top of each page, you'll find an activity box.  My son has been working on the Funnix Reading program, and one of the things he enjoys is finding the letters in the boxes on the Funnix practice pages.  I added a similar box to these pages for a little practice in letter recognition.  Your child can use a pencil, crayon, marker, or bingo dauber to mark the uppercase and lowercase letters.

**Within the next few weeks, there will be more practice pages available with the same picture themes.  You'll find a pack with the following activities for each alphabet letter/ picture theme:

• Do-A-Dot pages (bingo dauber)

• Letter Sorting activities

• Playdough Mats

I may continue the series by adding math pages (size sorting, counting, simple addition, coins, etc) for each theme, as well.  We’ll see how the handwriting pages and alphabet activity packs sell, and then I’ll go from there.

THE LETTER THEMES CONTAINED IN THIS PACK INCLUDE:

A: astronaut, apple
B: barn, butterfly
C: cow, cowboy
D: dog, dinosaur
E: egg, elephant
F: flower, fire truck
G: grasshopper, giraffe
H: hammer
I: ice cream
J: jellyfish, Jesus
K: koala
L: lion
M: monster, monkey
N: nest
O: owl, octopus
P: pizza, penguin
Q: "quack" (says the duck), quail
R: rain, radish
S: snowflake, sun
T: turtle, train
U: umbrella
V: vegetables
W: world, worm
X: x-ray
Y: you (a picture of children)
Z: zebra

Graphics for this pack have been pulled from my collection. 
Included in this download, you will find a list of
all graphic sources used within these pages.

{FREE} Baby Birds Preschool Pack

Click on the picture of the pack to download this pack from Teacher’s Notebook.
You will need to set up a free account in order to download the file. If you enjoy Little Monkey Printable’s packs, could you please
take a moment to “favorite” my Teacher’s Notebook store? Thanks!

This is a small pack with 24 total pages. It contains one Bible verse printable and 18 activities.  You probably won’t use all of the pages with one child,  but you’ll pick and choose what is best suited for your 3 – 5 year old.

I included my “regular” handwriting page, but I’m also making some new handwriting pages to go along with the curriculum that I’ll be using with Alex in the fall.  Since I was making it anyway, I figured I’d throw it in with the pack and let you decide for yourself which handwriting page to use.

The Bible verse is probably too long for the average 3 – 5 year old to easily memorize.
I don’t expect my little ones to memorize it; we simply read it together and talk about it throughout the week.

Did you know there are lots of FREE packs available?
More than half of all preschool packs available from Little Monkey Printables are FREE! 
Teachers and homeschool moms give so much of their own time and money to educate children. 
My hope is that these free packs are a blessing to you and your little ones! 

Book Suggestions
While I am linking you to these books at Amazon,
I always recommend checking your local library first!

Graphics in this pack are used with written permission from SpringHillGraphics Etsy shop. 

A Montessori Link for you…

There are so many pictures from Easter weekend sitting on my camera…and a few weeks of tot school pictures, too.   It’s just been too crazy to take time to post everything, though.  We’ve been working on something that has kept my days VERY busy…potty training our two year old, Max.  (My world has shrunk to the hard-floored kitchen and our main bathroom.  He’s slowly, but surely making progress.)

I’m working on a freebie mini pack that should be available by Wednesday at the latest.  It’s a sweet little pack about birds and nests, and I look forward to using it with my boys this week.

The real point of this post, though, is to direct you to a really neat post by Deb from LivingMontesorriNow.   Deb wrote a post at PreK and K Sharing, and she shares ideas for Montesorri-inspired trays using my April Showers preschool pack.

I *really* admire Montessori methods.  My days with little ones are so busy that I just don’t take the time to read more or implement the methods more with my little ones.  This post, though, makes me want to go purchase some trays, sugar tongs, and glass gems!  (And I just might purchase those items…Max would ADORE working with these materials!)

For those who would find this appealing, be sure to check out Deb’s post by clicking on the photo above.  You can also visit Deb’s website at http://www.livingmontessorinow.com Thanks SO much, Deb, for sharing this!