Mother's Day

We did some cute projects for Mother's Day. It was fun to talk with the kids about all the things they love about their Mommies.

We made these hand print bouquets.

Since this project was something I had to do with one child at a time I set up this activity to keep the other children occupied. I got the idea from The Imagination Tree. They have some great ideas for simple activities that will keep kids busy exploring and using their imagination.

I love these worksheets. You can find these online but I created this one myself. You never know what the children will come up with.

I found how important it is to find good books relating to whatever theme we are doing. When I read to the children before we work on a project they can really get into the project and understand what we are talking about.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. We spent time with my mom and my mom-in law.

We also celebrated my mom-in laws birthday which is next weekend.

Enjoying some cake.

Jonny and I were lucky enough to get a couple hours alone together. We went out for drinks and appetizers, something we need to do more often.

Happy Mother's Day!

Canceling the Pity Party

I will be the first to preach about life being what you make of it. My parents taught me that attitude is everything. Life is full of challenges, and I firmly believe that every tough situation that crosses your path is a test. What will you take from it? It's not about how many times (or how hard) you get knocked down it is about getting back up and what you do when you get back up. Having said that, for us as humans, it is natural to fall into whatever negative karma we may have around us. The reality is that if we lived a life without anything negative we would never be able to truly appreciate the positive but sometimes we can easily get lost in our self pity. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to things like this.

As I have said this before, this time of year can be tough for me with my husband working so much. A carry a lot of weight on my shoulders and as a mom, wife, and homemaker my job is never done. So, needless to say these days that I find myself mostly on my own keeping everything in order I often end up having quite the pity part for myself. I'm not going to lie it is not easy to be responsible for keeping your household operating, having a two year old stuck to your hip 24/7 and running a day care business, but I love my life! I just get a little overwhelmed sometimes when I feel isolated and I'm stuck in the house because of weather and the full moon is around the corner. The full moon has always affected my mood and sleep. So I am making it my mission to make it through this summer not just with a positive attitude but the promise to myself that I will do whatever it takes to truly enjoy this time. If life is starting to swallow me up I need to climb my way back out into the sun light! This past Monday after having had a long week and weekend, my list of chores hanging on my fridge were just not what my day was meant for, so I did what absolutely needed to be done and got Maggie and I out out of the house and into the sunlight...literally. I knew the next few days were going to be rainy so there was no way I was going to waste a beautiful one inside cleaning.

Maggie and I headed down to the waterfront to go for a walk and of course to visit Daddy on the boat. As we headed back to the car Maggie spotted her favorite castle.

This is actually the church Jonny and I were married in. Maggie loves to watch our wedding video and now recognizes the church when we drive by. She will say "Mommy look the castle...mommy and daddy got married". When I try to tell her that it is a church that we were married in she promptly corrects me "No mommy a castle".

Maggie and her castle

Here's to not sweating the small stuff and waking up to smell the roses every day!

There is no denying I am very blessed.



Cinco de Mayo

Last week we celebrated Cinco de Mayo. Lot's of fun was had by all!

We made Mexican Flags using red and green construction paper.

I was able to find Mexican music on the music channels through my cable provider. We took out our musical instruments and had a ball!

The weather this week was cold and dreary so we were able to get our bodies moving and grooving with a little dance fiesta.

This project was called "Mexican Jumping Beans". We dipped beans in paint (we used the colors of the Mexican Flag) then placed a piece of paper in a container. I used a plastic Tupperware container. A cardboard box with a cover would work fine too but I didn't have one big enough.

Then each child was able to shake the container to get their beans to jump around and...

Vuala!

We also made our own maracas. We used small plastic cups, beans and masking tape. Then we turned on our musica mexicana and had a blast.

It was hard to find age appropriate books at the library for Cinc de Mayo. This one above was actually a great story that the kids could understand and follow along.  The one below was a little too old for them so we just looked at the pictures and made up our own stories.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Rainy Day Activities

The weather has been very kind to us so far this year and with not a lot of rain we have been outside a lot. Of course those rainy days come around sooner or later so I always make sure I'm ready to keep everyone happy and occupied while stuck inside.

Here are some of our favorite indoor activities:

Tea parties are always a hit. It is a great opportunity to practice using manners as well as sharing and taking turns. I always sit at the table with them and get involved by modeling good behavior and manners.

The chalk board is a favorite too especially because they can erase and start all over again.

I love using the dry erase board with dry erase crayons. They are much cleaner than the markers but can still be easily erased which the kids love!

Stay tuned for more Rainy Day Activities!

Pond Life

The last week of April our theme was Pond Life.We had a great time learning about what animals live in a pond.

We created our own pond with some frogs and ducks for a fun sensory activity.

 I used green construction paper to create lily pads. The kids loved pretending to be frogs and hopping from one lily pad to the next!

We threw some pillows in for some extra fun.

We made turtles using paper plates and green construction paper. I find that when we are using glue it is much easier for the kids to spread the glue with paintbrushes, just make sure you rinse the paintbrushes really good with hot water to get all the glue out.

Finished product (he's just missing his arms and legs...lol)

We made these cute little frogs too.

                  Here are some books we read. One Duck Stuck was a great book to read because there are other pond animals in the story.

This one is a classic!