Free printables

I found a site I love today. It's someones blog and has lots of free educational printables. The blogger does a fantastic job with visual and hands-on activities for kindergardeners and first graders.



Today I printed a cute Mary and lambs "sh" activity. The kids can match the beginning and ending words as well as learn "sh" words. I printed one for at home and one for the first grade teacher. I don't know if she can use it but it was too cute to pass up. I also used my laminator in two projects today - very fun!



I also printed and laminated a reindeer noun/verb game. It looks like a fun game for school too.
I printed a cute snowman poem to hang in the playroom. I also found a dear Santa letter. I think it will be good for the kids to practice writing. I'm trying to find fun ways to incorporate educational and developmental activities for the kids. Hopefully I hit the mark with these printables. Do you have any free printable sites to share?

Holiday creations part one

In an effort to teach the kids the importance of giving, we started making holiday gifts. Our first round was coloring wooden ornaments and paper bookmarks. The kids worked very hard on their art work. Despite wanting to teach them about giving to others, I'm going to be selfish and keep their ornaments. No one else will love them as much as I will any way.

Thanksgiving 2011

We usually celebrate Thanksgiving with Nik. He is very involved in the kids lives and they call him Uncle Nik. The day he flew in from Denver, the kids woke up and bounded out the door before 7:30 am. I wish they were as enthusiastic about going to school.
We were lucky enough to have Nik here for a week. We went to downtown Disney, Epcot, and Gaylord Palms while he was here.



The evening we went to the Gaylord, a show with Shrek was playing. It was wonderful. Alex danced to the singing while Gabriel and Lane were mesmerized by the acrobatics.




We went to an ice cream shop with a playground. The kids had a lot of fun. Nik was a sport about helping them with the rings.






Alex worked hard on the rings and did a great job



The kids enjoyed cheetos too. I love this messy face!
Our friend Odessa had a conference at NASA the week of Thanksgiving. We were grateful to spend time with her too. The kids adore her.


Gabriel was thrilled to have Odessa at our house. The games on her phone were an added bonus!


We were able to go swimming at the local pool while they were here. It was great to see the boys swimming to all of us. Thank you Odessa and Nik for sharing your holiday with us.

Nail colors?

Alex decided to color toe nails with crayons a few days ago. Andrew relented and he ended up with black toe nails.



He soaked his feet and the color didn't come off for a while. Next time you want colorful toe nails, pull out the crayons! Who knew?

Park

We live .4 miles from the school according to mapquest. Lane and I walk to get the boys every afternoon together. She gets so excited to get them.
There is a park on the way to school. On the way home, the kids usually talk me into playing at the park. It's a nice time for them to run around before coming home to complete homework and make dinner.
I truly enjoy where we live. It's almost December and my children are able to play at the park in the afternoon. It's a such a wonderful convenience for us

A day in November

I saw a recipe for roasted green beans and mushrooms. I had planned on making it for dinner but I couldn't figure out what to make for my lunch today. I clicked on the recipe and tried it out.
It's so easy - put the mushrooms and green beans in a large plastic bag, add balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil. Close the bag and toss. Throw it in the oven at 450 for 20 minutes.




When it was down roasting, it went on a salad. Yummy!! I'll make this one again.

The kids are home from school all week. Today I was cleaning for our guests when I realized they were far too quiet. I checked on them and all was still safe and sane here. The boys were playing a game together while Lane had put on a tiara and was looking for treasure. She truly is our princess

Homemade body wash

Something that has bothered me about the "green" movement and wanting to be more health or environmentally conscious is that it's expensive. I look at the health care items ingredients and many of them don't seem healthier than any other product. I should be able to tell what I'm putting on my families skin and not pay an outrageous amount of money for it
Thus came homemade body wash. I saw the idea on pinterest, of course. I needed to make a sensitive version for my family.
Here is what I did:
I grated 2 cups of soap which was 2 bars. I used my food processor because I love using it but a cheese grater would be fine too



It had a cottage cheese look in the processor.




I added the soap to 1/2 gallon of distilled water. I boiled it until the soap melted.



I also added 2 Tsp of glycerin.



I ordered mine from Amazon but sites say that it's available at stores. I honestly didn't look for it there I paid $6.00 for it and used a fraction of the container
It made a LOT of body wash.



I spent just over $3 for a lot of body wash. I tested it on my arms and hands and I like it. If something changes in a couple days, I'll blog about it.