Crayons Glue and Scissors...Oh My!

Blog Problems!!

2009-10-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

So here is the deal....even though I have been blogging for about a year I still feel like an amateur at this whole blogging world. I must tell you that I LOVE to take pictures and I love to post pictures! Here is my problem, I have filled my quota for pictures on my blogs and as far as I can see the only way to solve this problem is by deleting posts or paying money for more "space." I am sad because we do not have the money for me to be putting into my blogs, so for now I will no longer be posting anything new. I am looking into different things, I may start a new blog but not with blogger. I will continue to read all the blogs I love and if I do get a new blog started I will post the address on this blog! If anyone has any advice for me that would be wonderful and thank you in advance for the advice!! Also thank you to those of you who are interested and do pop by to see my blogs!! Until I figure things out..... bye for now!

Colleen

Sidewalk Chalk!

2009-09-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

The artists are at the top of the picture!! Sidewalk chalk is just so much fun and made our driveway look much better!!

Each of the children did a 'pose' and we traced their shadows!
Once their shadows were traced, they got to add a face and decorate themselves!!
Jesse got right into his picture!!

Who need toys when you have a BOX!

2009-09-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

Brought out paint and let the children decorate away! This box has been everything from a house to a boat even a secret cave!! Seriously I am selling all the toys and just getting boxes!!:0)

Sunshine Pancakes!

2009-09-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

These turned out so cute and yummy too!! Pancakes, blueberry eyes, strawberries cut in half, and chocolate chips for the mouth! I'll give you one guess what the children ate first!!:0)

Playing with ICE!!

2009-09-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

Along with regular sized ice cubes, I froze water in yogurt and baby food containers. In the large tub I put the ice, containers of ice, some scoops and let the children at it!!
It was so much fun on such a hot hot day!!
They played with it for a very long time and amazingly the ice took a long time to melt too!
The kids had a blast transferring the ice into different containers, tasting the ice, scooping it, watching it melt and overall just keeping cool!!

Banana Pops!

2009-09-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Peel bananas, cut them in half and put a popsicle stick into each one. Then cover a cookie sheet with wax paper.
Dip bananas into yogurt or melted chocolate. Then decorate with whatever your tummy feels like!! We used fun sprinkles!!
Put into freezer for a few hours.
Then enjoy!!!!
Yummy!!!

Z is for Zebra and Zipper!

2009-07-21T01:12:00.000-07:00

Black and White felt. Zebra head printed off the Internet. Zippers from the dollar store! I must admit that this was a bit more of an "adult help" craft. I glued blue paper onto cardboard to make it a bit more sturdy then cut out the letter Z in white felt. The children glued on the zebra's black felt stripes and the zebra's head. To finish it, my wonderful husband sewed on the zippers! I thought the real zippers would be fun for the children to play with after!
So that is the finish of our alphabet! I will start back at the letter A in September with more new fun crafts! I already have a few ideas that I am excited about!!:0)

Y is for Yo-yo and Yellow

2009-07-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

I cut out a letter Y and had the children glue it onto paper. Next the children painted their Y's using yarn and yellow paint! My oldest daughter Emma never seems to like the crafts I offer and always wants to do it her own way. I would like to think that she is being creative, so I do let her create her own art but sometimes it can get a wee bit frustrating!!!!! Anyway her picture is the bottom right one and she drew the letter Y on yellow paper along with some circles. Next she added pieces of yarn to make her yo-yo's!!
I put clothes pins on the yarn to try and make this a little less messy on the hands and easier for the little ones to pick up the yarn.

X is for Xylophone!

2009-07-17T00:52:00.000-07:00

I got this craft idea from No Time For Flashcards.

It is an orange X glued onto green construction paper. The rest is made out of foam stickers.

Emma wanted to fill her X and coloured some of it with crayon.

The kids also added music note stickers too!

The little black thing on the xylophone is supposed to be a mallet!!

Then they had to make some music!!

W is for Watermelon!

2009-07-15T00:35:00.000-07:00

Me oh My, I am FINALLY back to my blog!! We have been back from our vacation for over a month and I am just now getting myself back together! I think I have been on Maui time!! I feel like I have so many projects to post about, one day I will get caught up. For now I will continue getting caught up on the alphabet that we finished in the middle of June!!

For this craft, I cut a W out of blue construction paper and had the children colour it with blue crayons talking about water while we did this. Next the children glued on red and green felt pieces to look like watermelon then added seeds with a black marker. The watermelons on the bottom right w have different seeds. My daughter hole punched black paper for her seeds.

Of course we had to have watermelon for snack too!!!!

Yummy!!

Bye Bye Blog....

2009-05-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

...I am off to BEAUTIFUL Maui with husband to enjoy the sunshine!!!! YIPPIEEEE!!!
We are going to do a little swimming.....

a little snorkeling......

a little relaxing....

and A LOT of this.......

No computers, no phones, and no TV! It should be a wonderful vacation!! When we return, I will be reading and catching up with all my bloggy friends!!!:0)

V is for Volcano

2009-05-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

We made a mini volcano first for a science project. Baking soda, red food colouring and vinegar! The smaller bottle worked much better and looked more like a volcano erupting!!
Here are the children's volcano's. I got this idea from Sandy at Just For Fun!

U is for Umbrella!

2009-05-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Jesse busy colouring his U before gluing on the rain drops!
Perfect for a rainy day activity!!

T is for Toothbrush and Teeth!

2009-05-12T15:41:00.001-07:00

For the letter T I cut out 'toothbrush' shapes in pink and had the children glue them onto red paper to form the letter T. For the bristles I cut out white rectangles and made little cuts on one side of the rectangle then the girls glued that to their toothbrushes. Next they glued on teeth. I thought about making the teeth yellow so when they were brushing them it would 'clean' them but for this time the teeth were white!!:0)

Using old tooth brushes the girls painted using white paint! I also thought about using real toothpaste but I did not know how it would dry - has anyone else tried using real toothpaste for an art project?

Here they are brushing their 'teeth'!! Lots of fun!

Jesse had a great time too, he also wanted to brush his hand!!

Here are their finished T's!!

Free Chocolate!!

2009-05-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yes you read it right - it says FREE chocolate!!!!!! Go to this website to find out more:

Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act Blog

You.are.welcome! :0)

My Favorite Mom's Day Poems!

2009-05-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

When I get an e-mail that I really love, I save it. So here are some poems that I have saved over the years that I am sure any Mom can in some way relate to, laugh at, or come up with a memory. Since I have gotten these poems through e-mail, I am not sure who wrote them so I cannot give credit where credit is due, I apologise for that. Enjoy!

Before I was a Mom
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom,
I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words of lullabies.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations

Before I was a Mom
I had never been puked on
Pooped on
Spit on
Chewed on
Peed on
Or pinched by tiny fingers

Before I was a Mom I had complete control of:
My thoughts
My body
And my mind.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay
I had never known the warmth
The joy
The love
The heartache
The wonder
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

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MOM - JOB DESCRIPTION

POSITION: Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Momma, Ma

JOB DESCRIPTION: Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES: The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT &PROMOTION: Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE : None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION: Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS: While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

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Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby ......... Somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "Normal," is history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct ... Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.

Somebody said! being a mother is boring ...... Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good." Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices ..... Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's kitchen window.

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother. Somebody never helped a fourth grader with her math.

Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the first. Somebody doesn't have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books ....... Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery .... Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten.or on a plane headed for military "boot camp."

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back ...... somebody never organized four giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married ... Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home .... Somebody never had grandchildren.Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her ....... Somebody isn't a mother.

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THE COST OF CHILDREN

I have seen repeatedly the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, But this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice, really nice!! The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle-income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition! But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into$8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich." It is just the opposite. What do your get for your $160,140?

Naming rights. First, middle, and last!

Glimpses of God every day.

Giggles under the covers every night.

More love than your heart can hold.

Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

A hand to hold usually covered with jam.

A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.

Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to keep: reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney movies, and wishing on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day. Ø

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off the bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, and first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal.

You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God.

You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

ENJOY YOUR KIDS AND GRAND KIDS! The best things in life are family and friends!

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This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here." Who walk around the house all night with their babies when they keep crying and won't stop. This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse. For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T. This is for the mothers who gave birth to Babies they'll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes. This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on metal bleachers at football or soccer game Friday night instead of watching from cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it. This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet like a tired 2-year old who wants ice cream before dinner. This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn't. For all the mothers who read "Goodnight Moon" twice a night for a year. And then read it again. "Just one more time." This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead. This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot. This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home. This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away. This is for mothers, whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them. For all the mothers who bite their lips sometimes until they bleed -- when their 14 year olds dye their hair green. What makes a good Mother anyway? Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time? The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby? The need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

For all the mothers of the victims of all these school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shooting. For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely. This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their children's graves. This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning to let go. For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers. Single mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money, mothers without. This is for you all. So hang in there.

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A Mom Joke

A father came home and found his 3 children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.
He hurried up the stairs, stepping over toys and strewn clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel.
She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"
She again smiled and answered, "You know, every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world did I do today?"
"Yes," was his incredulous reply?She answered, "Well, ........today I didn't do it.

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When I'm an old lady!!

When I'm an old lady, I'll live with each kid,And bring so much happiness...just as they did.I want to pay back all the joy they've provided.Returning each deed! Oh, they'll be so excited!When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)I'll write on the wall with reds, whites and blues,And I'll bounce on the furniture...wearing my shoes.I'll drink from the carton and then leave it out.I'll stuff all the toilets and oh, how they'll shout!When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)When they're on the phone and just out of reach I'll get into things like sugar and bleach.Oh, they'll snap their fingers and then shake their head,When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)When they cook dinner and call me to eat,I'll not eat my green beans or salad or meat,I'll gag on my okra, spill milk on the table,And when they get angry...I'll run...if I'm able!When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)I'll sit close to the TV, through the channels I'll click I'll cross both eyes just to see if they stick.I'll take off my socks and throw one away And play in the mud 'til the end of the day!When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)And later in bed, I'll lay back and sigh I'll thank God in prayer and then close my eyes.My kids will look down with a smile slowly creeping And say with a groan, "She's so sweet when she's sleeping!"God Bless All Moms and Grandmas Everywhere!

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Being A Mom

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family." We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. Do you think I should have a baby?" It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations." But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die. I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moments hesitation. I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right. I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom. However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs. I want her to know that a caesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic. I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving. I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts. My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a Silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings. Please share this with a Mom that you know or all of your girlfriends who may someday be Moms. May you always have in Your arms the one who is in your heart.

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Mommys Day Cards

2009-05-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

I look after two little girls aged 2 and almost 2 and I could not decide what Mother's Day card to do for their Mom's, so we did three!! The first one I found when I googled Mom's Day and I just added my own touch. The girls coloured the bears, I cut them out and glued them on the front of the card so they 'wiggled'. The poem says:

A wiggle and a jiggle,

I love you so much

I just have to giggle!

Here is the inside of the card. As a Mom, I always love getting hand prints of my children so I traced their hands, cut them out and glued them in along with some pictures!

Here is the second card that we did and I got this idea from Michelle at Her Cup Overfloweth.
Childrens feet in paint, let dry, cut out and clue to front of card.

On the inside write this poem: Thank you for walking the path before me and showing me how to L-O-V-E! (I also added pictures!!)

Here is the third card that we did and I got this idea from Trish at Preschool Playbook
I printed the I 'heart' Mom off the internet and let the girls paint it. When it was dry, I cut it out and glued it onto the paper. The finishing touches were a picture and this poem:

I miss you when were not together
I'm growing up so fast
See how big I've gotten
Since you saw me last?
As I grow, I'll change a lot,
The years will fly right by
You'll wonder how I grew so quick
when and where and why?
So save this card in a safe place,
And take it out each year
The memories will come back of me
When I was small and dear.

Puppet Show

2009-05-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

This is what Emma made in her grade one class and I thought I would blog about it because all the kids loved playing with it. The castle on her lap stands up just by folding both sides, the dragon also stands up and all the rest of the 'people' were coloured, cut out and glued to popsicle sticks. Great for the imagination, and some pretty funny stories were told!!

S is for Snake

2009-05-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

We painted the letter S using String!! As you can see in the next picture it takes a lot of concentration - check out the tongue!!!:0)

After the paint dried, we cut out the letter S and glued it onto paper. Added some google eyes and a snaky tongue!

R is for Red Rainbow Rabbit

2009-04-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

For the letter R, I drew and cut out a capital R on red paper. Next the children glued on the other colours of the rainbow that I had already pre-cut. (This part took a little coaching on my, they all did it together and I would tell them what the next colour of the rainbow was.) The strips of colour were too long so I cut the extra off to make it look like an R again. The ear, google eyes and pom pom tails were then glued on. The children drew their own noses and mouths and ta-da we have a rabbit!!!:0) The children liked the finished product but I found this art project was not very open-ended or in other words did not let the children use their imagination too much. I found I was doing a lot of the cutting and guiding with colours - oh well, onto the next letter....

Fishing!!!

2009-04-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

Materials needed: tubes from wrapping paper, ribbon, magnets, hole punch, coloured paper and felts. For the poles all I did was hole punch one end and tie some ribbon on. At the other end I covered a small magnet in paper and drew a worm on the paper then I hole punched that to the ribbon. I cut out fish shapes and let the children decorate them with felts. (In the past we have used glitter the make the fish sparkle but this time it was just felts.) I drew a 'lake' on a big piece of paper put the fish on top and voila - time to go fishing!!

They get so excited when they catch one!!!

Fun with Flour

2009-04-27T22:37:00.000-07:00

It still amazes me how much the kiddo's love playing with flour. I had an old bag the was less than half full and I put it on some cookie sheets and let the kids go at it!! They played for a long long time!!! (Note to self - do this activity again!!!!!heehee)
This is one activity I only do outside as it can get pretty messy!! The kids were bringing over all sorts of toys to try out in the flour but today the big hit was the paint brushes. I bought some paint brushes at the dollar store and normally I give them a bucket of water and a paint brush and they love 'painting' all the outside toys and furniture!! Today it was a huge hit in the flour!!

As you can see by my son's face, clothes and hands the flour was lots of fun!!!:0)

Q is for Queen

2009-04-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

The children decorated the crowns first with a variety of stickers. (I tried to find stickers that were sparkly or looked like jewels) I then drew a Q on purple paper and the children added their crown, google eyes, and drew a face if they wanted. My oldest drew a necklace for her queen!

Sensory Table

2009-04-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

I was not sure what to call this post, basically I have two plastic bins that I normally have water in and therefore I call it the "water table." For this post I wanted to show some other fun things that I have put in the bins for the children to play with. Also just as a warning - I own a Shop Vac!! Otherwise I think this table would be an outdoor only toy with some of the things I have put in it!!!:0)
Back in October we made coloured rice, let it dry then added a few cups to let the children scoop the rice with!!

I had an old opened package of pasta that I found in the back of my cupboard when I finally got around to spring cleaning and thought I don't want to feed it to my family so why not let the children play with it?!!! I added a few trucks to make a bumpy road then the children added their own cups and fry pans!

Yep that is what I did, I brought sand inside!! I have not done this very often as we do have a sandbox outside but it was for my daughters 'Little Mermaid' themed birthday. There is sand, shells and shovels. It can get very messy and I find it dusty too! (This sand was bought in a bag from Toys R Us). Of course the children had a great time but I think I will leave sand for outside play!!!:0)

This is what I call Puff Wheat Cereal! You can buy it in huge bags in the cereal isle! The 'puffs' are soft and squishy and the children loved to play with it!!!!! It does get everywhere but was very easy to vacuum up!

On those winter days when it was just too cold to go outside, I brought the snow inside!!! It was lots of fun and you can make it a science experiment too showing them the melted snow the next day!! One year I did this I had mittens for the kids to put on while they played but I found the mittens were a bit of a pain. I think children are not as sensitive to the cold as adults are and they had fun playing in it with their bare hands. I also had shovels and spoons for them to use!

Jesse made a few snow castles!!

This one I just did at Easter time. I put water with bubbles and a whole bunch of plastic Easter eggs!!

What do you put in your 'sensory' table? Or do you have any suggestions of other things I can put in for the children? If you have any other ideas for me I would love to hear them, just leave me a comment!!!:0)

Super Blog Award

2009-04-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you Sandy at Just for Fun!! (Check out Sandy's blog - it is AMAZING and she always has such great ideas!!) You made my day!! I don't feel like my wee ity bity blog deserves an award, especially compared to all the creativity I have seen on other blogs!! I really am humbled!!
I am not going to follow directions as I should. I think ALL the blogs I read are SUPER so if you want to pass this award onto your blog - feel free!!

P is for Pig!

2009-04-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there were three little pigs.....
I drew a P on pink paper and let the children paint with brown paint using sponges. When the paint was dry they added google eyes, ears, piggy noses and pipe cleaner curly tails! As I post this I was thinking I should have let the children finger paint and get messy like pigs do - oh well maybe another time!!

O is for Octopus

2009-04-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

Materials needed for these guys are blue, yellow, red, white and black construction paper, glue and different colours of bingo dabbers. For the legs I cut strips of blue and folded them accordian style. Let the kids decorate and glue!

N is for Night!

2009-04-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

A black paper N, some star stickers, cut out a yellow moon, some felts! Simple and fun!

M is for Mountains

2009-04-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Cut out letter M in green, glued it to blue paper. Gave the children some felts to colour with. Glued on triangle 'snow'!!

A Lovely Easter!

2009-04-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

My three adorable bunnies - Abigail, Emma, and Jesse!
After the egg hunt we had bunny pancakes for breakfast! Banana ears, strawberry noses, blueberry eyes, I was going to do a blueberry mouth but it was Easter so we did chocolate chips for the mouth!! Added a little whip cream and of course a chocolate egg! Breakfast for champions!!heehee

Then the children decided to make their own creations!! Jesse said his was a shark!

Abby changed her bunny around! - notice the chocolate is the first thing gone:0)

Emma made a funny face!!

Later we made more marshmellow bunnies!!

and cupcakes for dessert!! Yummy!!

L is for Leaves

2009-04-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

I drew the letter L on a piece of paper and had the children pick out leaves and glue them on. We did the letter L back in the fall so we had a wonderful choice of colourful leaves. We collected leaves for several days from around our neighbourhood, the children loved it! I am amazed at how the leaves have stayed on the paper and not crumpled into little pieces!

K is for Kitten

2009-04-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

The girls wanted brown kittens so we used brown paper and they coloured with crayons. Then we cut out shapes for the nose, mouth, ears and wiskers and again used google eyes!

Letter J

2009-04-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

J was a tough one for me, I could not decide what to have the children make for the letter J. Finally I decided on printing off pictures of J words, then had the children colour, cut and paste them. The pictures are of jelly beans, jelly fish, jaguar, and jack-in-the-box!

Yummy Bunnies and Easter Crafts!

2009-04-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

I will apologize now for some of the sideways pictures!! I take all my pictures the same way and I have no idea why when I load them, a few get turned the wrong way!!!!ARG!! If anyone knows what I am doing wrong or how I can turn them after they have been loaded, I would love to be able to correct it!!
Now onto my yummy bunnies!! Here is what I used: 2 big marsh mellows for the head and body, 11 small marsh mellows for the ears, hands, feet and one for the tail, mini m&m's for the eyes, a chocolate chip for the nose, licorice for the whiskers, and I had some red icing on hand so I used that for the mouth. The ears and tail I put on toothpicks and everything else I put on using icing.
Here is another picture showing one bunny's tail!

Another bunny eating a carrot!;0)

The 'carrots' in the picture are just cheese's in small sandwich bags tied together with green ribbon!!

The little chicks in the next picture turned out so cute (you just have to turn your head sideways - grrrrrrr!!) I cut out an egg shape for the body, orange for the beak and feet, google eyes, a feather and the wings are the child's hands attached with brads.

I believe I got this idea from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman. Paint the children's feet white to make bunny ears. The face is a decorated paper plate!

This idea was from No Time for Flashcards. The eggs are made out of a cereal box. I cut out an egg shape and had the children paint them. Let it dry, glue the chicks in with a feather and the crack in the egg is attached using a brad again!

These were tiny baskets that I printed off the Internet, the children coloured. I cut and glued.

Here is what they look like from the back!! Fuzzy little tails!!:0)

My three as well as the two little girls I look after all love to marble paint!!! Here are the bunnies they made and I loved how they turned out!! I cut bunnies out of yellow paper, put them in a shoe box with some marbles and pink and purple paint!!

They also made some Easter eggs with the marbles!!

Another sideways picture, this is a cute little card. The idea is from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman! The children coloured the egg on the front then you lift it up.......

.......to the Easter Bunny!!!!

I is for Ice cream

2009-04-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

This sweet idea I also got from the blog No Time for Flashcards! Materials needed are tan and pink construction paper, cotton balls, hole punch circles, glue. Cut out the I shape and draw lines on it to look like a cone. Glue on pink 'ice cream' cotton balls and decorations. My daughter did not want cotton balls so she used tiny hearts to decorate her ice cream!

H is for Hearts

2009-04-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

I cut out the letter H and many different sized hearts and let the children glue them on!

Easter Art

2009-04-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

I drew some large eggs on paper and put them on our art easels. I put out some 'spring' colours and ta da these are the beautiful eggs the children made!! I love simple art ideas!!:0)

This is an egg cut out of paper, let the children decorate, hole punch the top and put a ribbon through.

Another egg drawn on paper and I put out bingo dabbers!! For older children you could put out all sorts of materials for them to decorate with!

Here are our cute hand bunnies! I have seen these on several blogs but got this idea from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman. The carrots were made by a sponge that I have.

More sweet hand bunnies. To make these you just need to paint your child's hand, pointer finger and ring finger! The noses are the children's thumb prints. When the paint drys, add face.

G is for Green

2009-04-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Simply painting the letter G with green paint on green paper!!

My First Blog Award

2009-04-07T09:13:00.001-07:00

Wow! Exciting for me!!! My blog is so new and I have recieved an award from rhymesandmore! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Here are the rules:
1) Add the logo of the award to your blog
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs!

I would like to nominate these 7 very creative ladies and their wonderful blogs:

Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

No Time For Flash Cards

F is for Feathers

2009-04-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

For F I cut a red f out of construction paper and glued it to pink construction paper. Gave the children felts and feathers!! My oldest daughter added her own 'F' art - frog, flower and from!

E is for Elephant

2009-04-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

Materials for elephants was pink construction paper, google eyes and grey chalk!

D is for Dog

2009-04-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

For the dogs I drew the letter D on white paper, gave the children black crayons, cut out a black ear and a pink tongue and gave them google eyes to put on!

C is for Caterpillar

2009-04-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

Our cute little caterpillars were made with green ovals decorated with bingo dabbers. Yellow pipe cleaners and google eyes. The mouth was cut out of red construction paper.

B is for Bumble Bee

2009-03-31T18:04:00.001-07:00

I got this idea from the blog No Time For Flashcards! The only thing we did differently was my children wanted to add a stinger!! Materials used were yellow and black construction paper, glue, scissors and black pipe cleaners. I let the children glue the black 'stripes' where they thought it might look on a bee!

Starting the alphabet!

2009-03-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

We have been doing the alphabet since September and I have seen this done on many different blogs. I have also gotten some great ideas from some very creative ladies! Thanks for sharing your ideas! :0) I want to keep track of what we have done so far then next time I can change it up! We started at the letter A and have been working through the alphabet. I will keep posting letters until I get the blog caught up to where we are!

Today is brought to you by the letter A!

Stamping with apples of course!! One child liked pushing the apple around the page while the other actually used the apple as a stamp! If I do stamping with apples again I am going to try and put a popsicle stick in the apple for the children to hold onto. I noticed the apples got too slippery for the little ones to hold onto so maybe a popsicle stick will make it easier!

Jungle Safari!

2009-03-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

Items needed: flashlights and lots of stuffed animals!!

While the kids were getting ready for bed I took a bunch of their stuffed animals and put them all around our livingroom, diningroom and kitchen. I closed the bathroom door while they were brushing their teeth and turned out all the lights!! Then I handed them each a flashlight and told them we were going searching for animals!! Such a simple concept and the kids loved it and asked to do it again the next night!! (I haven't quite decided if they love the game or if they just like the fact that it stalls bedtime!!!hmmmm)

Water Painting!

2009-03-18T23:04:00.001-07:00

I forgot how much the children love to water paint. I found some books with paints and let them go crazy! Jesse must have worked on one picture for half an hour filling the whole page! Then he did three more pictures after that!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

The children decorated a box and put it in the window last night. During the night the 'leprechans' came and filled it with goodies then hid it in the house. This morning the children had to follow the green clues to find their treasure or the leprechans would come back and take it!! Here is their decorated box:

The kids talked about the leprechans all day!! I think it was a big hit!

Apparently the leprechans thought the stove would be a good hiding place! Not for my three munchkins though! They found it!!:0)

We made a few crafts today too! The clouds are supposed to be covered with cotton balls but Abby was not interested in doing that!

Decorated some shamrocks with tissue paper!

Made rainbows with pots of gold!

Here are the finished shamrocks. Sorry about the sideways pictures.

The pots of gold pictures! They turned out really good and I thought Emma's idea of having the leprechan sliding down the rainbow was great!!

Lunch time fun!! Lots of green!

Happy with their green lunches!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Hope you all had a green day!!;0)

Gold Coins

2009-03-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

This idea I got from No Time For Flash Cards (you can find on the right side of my blog under favorites) I bought some chocolate gold coins at the dollar store, they were a little bigger than I hoped but they still worked. I traced ten circles and numbered them. I then took the gold coins and hid them in the playroom.

We went from youngest to oldest and with the little ones I made it very obvious where the coins were but for my older two I gave them a bit more of a challenge!! Once they find a coin they came back over and put it on the numbers until all ten were found!

I was so surprised how popular this little game was, we must have played for a good forty-five minutes and all the children were helping each other find the coins.

My three children who are 2, 4 and 6 loved it and I also look after an 18 month old and a 2 year old and they both thought this game was great too!! I love the fact that it works for a variety of ages!

When it was Emma's turn, I made it harder to find the coins but I also tried to incorporate a little math into the game. When she would find a coin and bring it back I would ask how many more she needed to find? Math and fun in the same sentence - I didn't think it was possible!!heehee

Painting Shamrocks!

2009-03-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

My first official craft is so simple, yet fun! Let's hope by starting with a St. Patrick's Day craft the luck of the Irish will follow me thoughout this blog!!;0) All I did was draw a shamrock on green paper and put out green paint!

My daughters found a sponge in with the paintbrushes and made little 'shamrocks' all around. (The last picture shows the sponges and an explanation.)

These are the sponges the girls used. My Mom gave them to me when my Grandma was in the hospital, she thought they would make a fun print for painting and she was right! We have used them for many painting projects. They are called disposable oral swabs and you can buy them in a package. I think the real purpose is to moisten patients mouths who are not allowed to drink water, however from a Moms point of view they make a great flower print!!:0)

My First Post!

2009-03-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

So here I go I thought I would put up my first post to get it started. I have a family blog called Busy Bee with Three where I post pictures of our family adventures! I have in the past and still do a lot of crafts with my children and other children and wanted to post those pictures separately!! The first bunch of posts will probably be things we have done in the past that I want to remember and eventually I will catch up to the present and add things that we are doing through out the week. I want to keep track of ideas that worked as well as things that were either a flop or not age appropriate!! I love to share ideas and 'borrow' ideas from other people because there are so many of you creative people out there! I will as much as possible give credit where credit is due when I 'borrow' an idea but I apologize in advance if I forget to add it in! Most of my ideas are from things I have done in the past or from my list of favorite blogs on the side!! If anyone does read this blog, I hope you enjoy and get some fun information for your children from it!! Feel free to leave me comments I would love to hear about your ideas!!