Preschool Corner--Lots of Real Life Learning

First, we are a very Irish family, with a very Irish last name...and I didn't manage the FIRST St. Patty's Day craft. BUT, we did manage to go visit a friend, wear very irish-green garb, eat lots of green foods and spend time playing!

Second, not much schooling has happened around here...atleast not in the way I would like for it to happen. This week, and the rest of this month and April will be crazy! Between doctors, meetings, Ryan's crazy work, and errands....I'm not sure how much we'll manage but to help make our days more productive...I'm giving up my 7 am rule (which I swear by, my girls aren't allowed out of their rooms until 7) and moving to a 6 am wake up for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to clear away normal morning routines in lieu for school. How do you guys manage it all?

So here was our week!
Monday- Dance, Playdate, Groceries on a budget (which Kaelyn is now learning ALL about, I'm thinking about going garage sale-ing with friends and allowing Kaelyn to have two dollars to spend the entire day)

Tuesday-Toyota Maintenece at 8 am! And I can't praise those guys enough! They combined my appointments (which freed up our afternoon for outdoors play with friends), and had the maintence, car washed, and recall issues addressed in LESS THAN 2 hours! While there... we sorted all their toys, and then started to play.

Anna stacked blocks, watched me sort them and help name some colors. She also learned how to put the blocks through the hole. Kaelyn helped build and play with a magnet table.

Kaelyn and I played tea party, mommy and baby bear, and then she started using these TINY spoons to carry cereal from the plate to her mouth....fine motor skills!

Wednesday-St Patty's Day...the girls got to wear their home-made goodies, Anna went to daycare where she did FABULOUS, Kaelyn went to work with Daddy and helped count things, and sort things, and work on check lists, while I went to a meeting with the Commander. Afterwards, we had lunch and played outdoors with friends...and then had a great St patty's day dinner with Angie!

Thurday- FINALLY some schoolwork in the more traditional sense!

The girls asked to play playdough while I finished cleaning...they worked together to get the dough out, divy it up and seperate toys.

We read the fable "How the Turtle got it's Shell"...which is about a turtle who has a shell, but it's shell isn't cracked (I really think the title needs to be edited, because I found this to be confusing and I'm an adult!) and how the turtle wanted to migrate (we discussed this word) south with the birds. The birds told the turtle that he could come if he held onto a stick with his mouth and they would fly him down, but not to let go. The turtle became impatient and started to talk which made him fall and crack his shell. He was ashamed and wanted to run away from the sky and hid all winter under the pond water.

After discussing migration, we discussed the seasons. Kaelyn surprisingly knew which season I had "forgot"...which amazed me since I've never formally addressed seasons. I had her decorate the trees according to the season

And I had Anna color hers as well

Whlie the girls colored, I cut out the shapes for a turtle, two large half circles, two small circles, eight rectangles and two triangles. The girls each assembled their turtles!

(yes, that's Anna trying to sneak some glue in her mouth)

Then they decorated them accordingly. Kaelyn noticed her shell needed cracks,

 

and then she insisted that we recreate the story, so I pulled out some more paper, and hurriedly came up with this!

I used a hole punch and made the turtle bite the "stick" between the two blue birds.

The girls then went outside to play and Anna came inside to stack blocks (something she is getting REALLY good at, and has helped her recognize colors...but not say them. She's also very intentional in the placement of her blocks...she'll remove one, only to try another and make a more stable tower)

When Dad got home, Kaelyn insisted that she show him the deer poop as well as how good she could throw a frisby! Thankfully, our neighbor and his daughter played outside with the girls while I finished dinner...he also taught Kaelyn to throw the frisbee!

Wanna see what the other ladies are up too? Check out Preschool Corner (which now includes K5....which means I'll be able to stick around next semester when I plan on focusing on more preK-K work with an actual curriculm with Kaelyn.)

Pillow Case Dress DIY

So a friend from colorguard...yes I was a band geek, go ahead and joke all you want, but it was AWESOME, has a sweet darling baby girl that she would love to cloth in adorable pillowcase dresses without the "boutique" price. So, here goes my second DIY tutorial...I know you are all anxiously waiting the diaper bag tutorial...but alas, my local walmart and I had issues with finding people to cut fabric that I wanted for the bag until just recently! Hopefully, you'll get that post soon, and since it's a beach bag made over...it'll be seasonally appropriate!

So, before we begin this tutorial, I will go ahead and say, that I talk sweet nothings to my sewing machine, offer it lots of praise (and would probably bring it offerings of oil for it's lovely little innard parts) and hope that it decides to play nice. I am a firm believer that sewing machines have personalities...feelings...and can make your life MISERABLE if they so wish...so I treat mine nicely and hope that it likes me. The night before St. Patty's day...it liked me  A LOT! See that cute lil dress up there.

<~Slevage.

 I laid my fabric out and cut in such a manner that the slevage (that nice finished edge that won't fray) would be my bottom hem when covered by some sweet ribbon, and I folded my fabric so that my daughter's dress would only have one side seam.

 See how it's folded.

 Some would call it cheating...I call it being smart! Please note that this was cheap fabric ($2.77 for a yard which made a dress a skirt and has plenty should I decide to do something else with the scraps), so I didn't mind the waste.


I eyeballed all my measurements. Meaning that I laid my fabric out, thought about my sweet Anna and cut what I thought would be a little larger than her width (because the girls find my sewing measuring tape amuzing...I can never find it!).

Making your arm holes
 Then about four inches down from the top of the fabric (the non-slevage end) I cut tiny little dashes to serve as guides for making my armpit holes.

Then, using a circular guide...also known as Kaelyn and Anna's airplane flying book, I marked off a perfect curve for the armpits. You can also use a salad plate, or anything round...they do make special sewing tools for this, but why waste your money?

And Repeat on the other side!

Here is what your dress should look like. See how my finger is showing you that the fabric is indeed folded over!

Now you are almost done cutting, you just need to cut one or two long strips about 2 inches wide for your bias tape. What's that you ask? Well, I never used it before but it sure does make your dress look purty!
Making Bias Tape for finishing your arm holes
Take your two long strips about two inches wide and lay them out on your ironing board with a very hot iron.
Fold each strip in half (don't worry about cutting in straight lines, in the end, it'll all work out) and iron down.

 

Open up your fold, and use the center crease as a guide to fold the ugly ends of your fabric in. Iron those down.

Repeat on the other side...then fold in half with the ugly ends tucked in and iron down for good measure.

This is what your finished bias tape will look like.

 You will use this to finish the ugly arm pit holes...Open up the bias tape fold and place it over the armpit hole and sew a simple seam all the way down. I cut my bias tape AFTER sewing it to the armpit hole to make sure I have PLENTY of tape.

This is me attaching the bias tape to the unfolded armpit holes.

This is what the fabric looks like prior to adding bias tape after you open the fold! Now, this is how you add the bias tape for a better understanding.

See how you tuck the dress into the fold...then just sew it closed and viola you have finished edges!

If you want the inside of your dress to be pretty, do this! If you don't care...skip!

Now, this is the point that I make all my remained edges of fabric pretty by folding the unfinished edges in, ironing them down, and then folding them once again and ironing them down. Once they are ironed neatly, I sew a simple straight stitch all the way down.

To finsh your hem with ribbon

Once again, I don't cut my ribbon until after it's completely attached to my dress to insure that it's long enough! So, start on one end, cover the slevage edge and leave some ribbon hanging slightly over the edge....and you'll get this nice adorable ribbon hem without all the folding/ironing/sewing involved in making your own hem...

Do you see the pretty edge that will be the inside seam of my dress in my hand? Also look how I let a little of the ribbon lay over the fabric...just some extra that will be trimmed off in the end.

To close your dress

Make the two open sides meet with the pretty fabric folded ontop of each other. Sew, starting at the ribbon bottom up...this way your hem is always even!

To make the neckline and ribbon sleeves

Fold the top of the fabric over so that there is enough room to allow your ribbon to slide into the hole easily.

Iron it down and then sew with very little seam allowance (which means as closely to the end of the fabric as possible).

See how my finger can easily slide into the slot. Repeat on the other neckline. Then place a safety pin on the end of your ribbon and thread through both openings!

Cut to desired length! And now you have a lovely dress! I'll share my favorite skirt as soon as I catch my kids who decided to run around naked outside of towels...Please feel free to ask any questions

Meal Plan Monday-Envelope budget week 1

Well, I didn't make it to the store (yet), must be the weather but the girls (and I don't just mean my two, I mean our two ballet buddies and their younger sibilings) all suffered from a serious case of Meltdown Monday, that means that until nap is done...we WON'T be venturing out in public again for fear of bodily harm or loss of sanity...or both...Meltdown Monday is a SERIOUS ailment. But, when I do, I hope to show you all how I'm doing on my "envelope budget". I'm going to do weekly amounts for groceries...so this week it's  $100. Luckily, we have almost all our meals in our freezer/pantry and will hopefully roll some money over or throw it into savings! I'm also going to plan out lunches for once...because Ryan is taking his lunch and I've fallen into the "pregnancy trap" of being hungry and seeing a commercial  which makes me hungry for fastfood way tooo often!

So here is our Meal Plan Monday

Monday-            Ate Lunch out with our Ballet Buddies- $9.00
                         Lamb and Asparagus with a risotto for the adults/Pizza for the kiddos ( In the interest of being honest, this was written before I actually went to the grocery store and the girls ended up eating Ice Cream, Cheese Strings, Chicken strips, and a bannana because they did an EXCEPTIONAL job at the store despite it being REALLY late and I didn't feel like cooking. Ryan and I ate leftovers from his breakfast that he provided for his flight this morning).

Tuesday-       Eating breakfast out (we are going to be at the car dealership for maintenence and recall stuff ALL DAY)
                      Sandwiches/Lunchables for Lunch...hopefully at home, but may also be at the dealership
                      Ryan will have leftover lamb   sandwich?
                     Crockpot Meal for Dinner- Confetti Chicken over Rice (thank you MOPS)
(four frozen chicken breast, jar of salsa, can of black beans, can of corn, and 8 oz cream cheese....put the first four ingredients in the crockpot for four hours on high. 30 mins prior to serving plop on the cream cheese! Serve over rice!)

Wednesday-
                     Lunch at the Daycare, I have a meeting, Ryan has Leftovers
                     Dinner at a Friends for St Patty's Day, making some yummy chocolate cupcakes!
Thursday-    
                     Sandwiches For All
                     Lamb
Friday-     
                    Hot Dogs and sweet potato fries
                    Tilapia and Rice
Saturday-
                    Leftover Beans from the Freezer in Bean tacos/burritos
                    Breakfast for dinner (biscuits, sausage, gravey, pancakes, fruit, yogurt)
Sunday-       Shrimp Pasta/something (it was a great deal 1 lb for $4.95)
                    Date night for dinner (free...won a gift card!) Friends will babysit and feed youngun's

Just got back from the store and from the Grocery Budget I spent...$100.28
BUT- From that I have Bacon/OJ/Bread/Chicken breast/Salad/Cheese/Eggs/Cereal for next week...all of which are staples in our home, bought weekly/bi-weekly. I also spent $12 on a large thing of trashbags...which shouldn't count as groceries, but I'm letting it!
And here is what we have for next week's Grocery budget! $99.72


                  

Gratitude update

So, I recently did a post on our new house rules for gratitude...and how we were having issues with Kaelyn focusing on the negative and not paying attention to the positive (not all the time, but often enough that I can forsee a habit forming)....well, can I just say that two of our rules have already started to set in. And I am so excited...because I want her to find more in life and  gratitude is the way!

This morning, there was a recent attack of ungratefulness from the backseat (is it just me, or does this ALWAYS happen in the car?? this and fighting over something between siblings) and it all revolved around a desire to go swimming even though
1. she lost her swimsuit
2. the new one had to be returned because it was the wrong size
3. it wasn't swim day
4. did I mention she doesn't even HAVE a swimsuit??? or the fact that we were on our way to Dance lessons, ChicFila, Playdate with friends, and Shopping (which is actually something she REALLY enjoys)...while already having had breakfast with Dad at work (a BIG DEAL!).

So, shortly after the complaining has slowed down, and I had explained to her why her sister had a swimsuit and she didn't (hello, you didn't NEED one, I bought you one, it didn't fit and then you LOST your original one!) we started to talk about the positives....and can I say that she came up with some really GREAT things to be thankful for!

"Kaelyn, I know you want to swim, but today isn't swim day, it's dance day. I'm sorry, but you have to wait until Friday. Now, lets focus on the things we can be thankful for instead of the things we can't change...what are you thankful for"

"My friends, getting to go swimming later, getting to go places, pretty eggs (this goes back to our original ungratefulness episode), dance class"

"Now, because you are mad at me about not taking you swimming, what do I do that makes your thankful" (and possibly because I'm feeling VERY underappreciated by said child)

"You take me places, you love me and Anna and new baby, you let me look at pretty things (those silly Easter eggs), and you let me nap with you in the afternoons so I won' t be afraid (that one made me tear up)."

I think she's starting to get it...and I love how nothing she said had ANYTHING to do with me buying her stuff, or toys, it was all experiences.

We have a LONG way to go, but I think we've got a good start here!

I've also started to take the time to thank Kaelyn for the little things she has started doing...and I even tricked her today by using the "full name treatment" to give her her praise. I'm going to start listing out all the positive things she does on a board for her to see at the end of the day! Times when I'm really grateful for her help/obedience/willingness
-put on her jacket and shoes without being prompted at Chicfila
-helped clean up dance studios toys without being prompted
-helped her sister on numerous occasions
-helped Anna get in the tunnels at the playplace
-used her manners to ask for things

 I also know it's crazy to think that I'll stop my child from complaining, or that what she is doing is unusual, I know that it's not, and I know that some of it is to be expected which is why I'm not taking away her ability to complain. However I think, at least for our family and our lifestyle, it's vitally important that I equip my children with this lifeskill, one where they can vent about something they can't change and THEN find a way to fix it or get over it by focusing on all the good there is. My girls are constantly going to have things changed, people missing from major events (Daddy and Grandparents) due to our nomadic lifestyle, so I feel like the best thing I can give them is an optimistic outlook where they can pout for awhile about the bad but find a way to make it good or just focus on all the good things that they do have.

Preschool Corner-Bike Rides, Dollar Tree finds and life!

This weeks Preschool Corner is a bit lacking on the school work due to the fact that we've taken full advantage of our brief "spring-like" weather! Now we are enduring monsoon like Rain!

Monday-Dance and Playdate!

Tuesday-  MOPS, followed by nap and then we did a LOT of this! I think the girls and I ended up walking/biking/pushing two miles this week! Kaelyn is doing a GREAT job "starting" and "stopping" herself. We spent both afternoons lapping our block and talking about our address and the rules of the road. Anna spent the afternoons labeling things "Bird", "plane", "rock", "tree", "ruff ruff dog", "vroom". I think we all really enjoyed this relief from snow...but now it's raining!

Wednesday-                         

I was entertained by some really awesome renditions of Flash Dance... and some great Tapping from Anna!

We also went on another VERY long walk/ride!

Thursday- Mall Play Date where we made bunny ears, listened to stories and danced until the point that attitudes flaired, which has led to the new rules regarding Gratitude in our house. How do you guys teach gratitude? I'm thinking a lapbook or character building book is in order.

We did manage to tackle a few workboxes throughout the week. Kaelyn worked on some word search puzzles, "find the picture" puzzles, this sheet where she had to spell out her "sight words" using magnets.  She also did a few worksheets at her own prompting (she LOVES those workboxes and will pull them out when she is bored or wants to do some school work). She did a GREAT job on this worksheet about what doesn't belong (A row of  cowboy hat, tobogan, baseball cap and sunglasses), matching letters, writing letters as well as her name. We also wrote the letter D page.

Anna spent the morning playing in the leftover magnets...labeling colors and saying random letters "A" while holding up a Q or "o" and pointing at the "L". Anna also loves mimicing Kaelyn, so when Kaelyn is spelling things out or sounding them out Anna is doing it right along with her!

Friday- Swim Lessons/Sports lessons, Nap, then Errands

Which brings me to my latest Dollar Tree Finds! I could have seriously spent 20 bucks at that store...but I held back. I swear it was hard! The had some GREAT drawer organizers...but I put them back when I found these next two things that the girls spent the evening playing with (along with their $1 baby dolls with bottles where the fluid disappears)

LACING BEADS!

I have been searching for the Bear Lacing Beads (found them at Staples originally) that Kaelyn had, but I've only got about 7 left, and Anna loves to play with them! I honestly think those bear beads TAUGHT Kaelyn her colors and numbers! These Beads are LARGE and don't pose a choking hazard (IMO), unlike the little bears that I still choose to watch Anna with. 12 beads in a package plus two strings!The girls were tired of lacing them in this picture and started to use them to build things with!

Read Along Bible Story Books!

This is the book plus the CD. The girls spent the evening in the basement/toy room listening to Jonah and the Whale (although Kaelyn could have easily followed along in the book, but was busy playing and listening because she often commented on how Jonah should have listened to God). They really enjoyed it and it allowed me to feel like they were getting something out of their time while I hustled around picking up from the day. In addition to the story on audio and printed in the book, it also has 10 Bible songs, coloring pages that can be printed or colored while you listen to the bible songs, and if you use the CD in your computer, it's an interactive storybook (I wish the words that were being said were highlighted, but alas it only cost a $1). Can I just say that I think this is a STEAL! I've been SEARCHING for read along books (and will continue to search or eventually make my own) but I feel like I walked away with a lot for my $1. BTW My dollar tree had Jonah and The Whale, Noah's Ark and Samson and Delilah (sp?).

Anna is clearly teething as she listens/eats the computer playing the story!

Teaching Gratitude

My three year old has totally lost her ability for gratitude...I don't know if it's my own inconsistancy or my own lack of patience that has led her to these poor habits, but something must change. Here is what I've been hearing...frequently.

After a trip to the mall where they host this amazing playdate event (complete with crafts, music, snack all for the price of FREE), and I provided Kaelyn with a pretezel, a trip to EVERY fountain, extended her stay even though Anna was desperate for sleep, and let her look at the Easter Bunny display TWICE despite it being on the way out, I refused to let her "break into" the display to see where THE bunny sat...I evidently set off one of her "negativity" moods. I spent the next thirty minutes on the drive home listening to Kaelyn complain how I made her and Anna mad, didn't listen to them, didn't let her do this, didn't do that, ONLY let her look at the display twice...which isn't a lot, just so you know...and you now get the idea...except magnify it and extend it for THIRTY WHOLE MINUTES. Needless to say, by the time the garage door went up my patience disappeared...and I started to lecture...about how lucky she is to have food/toys/a mom who can take her to cool things/etc and how this complaining made her sound like an ungrateful brat. Yep, I said it, and No, I'm not proud of it...but 30 mins!

So, in an attempt to combat this behavior...which I REFUSE to let her develop...I'm starting a few rules...and if you have ANY suggestions please let me know them!

~ You can complain about an event/situation once...just once. Then we will find 3 positives together.

~ At bedtime and a meals we will all say one thing that we are thankful for (we tried it tonight and it spiralled into Kaelyn talking about how mad she was with mom, baby steps people).

~ We might end up making a list of things that she doesn't like and list the things we are thankful for to SHOW her.

~In addition, we are going to start saying THANK YOU for little things, the things you wouldn't normally expect thanks for.

How do you teach gratitude?

I WON---And I need YOUR help!

Yep! That's right, in case you don't remember, I participated in I'm an Organizing Junkie's 28 Day Challenge for Small spaces and ended up with a GORGEOUS and FUNctional Laundry! Even better news is that I won (third prize)! So first off, let me thank Organizing Junkie, List Plan it and OrganizeitMom!

Now, on to my prizes...
One of my prizes is a free year long membership to List Plan It! I'll let you know how that site is once I go exploring! (Thank you listplanit!)

My other prize is to go to this great little online store called OrganizeItMom and pick out $30.00 worth of items...which is a lot given the fact that her products are
 1. Reuseable
 2. Reasonable Prices/Affordable
 3. FUNctional on a daily (or near daily) basis
 4. Are going to save me time and effort

There are SOOO many things that I want from this site, but there is only one DEFINITE because it spoke to me...yep it spoke to that nerdy/organizational side of my brain and said "Brandie, you NEED me!". It also spoke to my thrifty side (I know, nuts that this side would even speak up since I won this great prize!) and said "I'm also only $4.50 which leaves you with a whopping $25.50 left to spend!". It's this FANTASTIC Grocery/Menu Magnetic list  that you can wipe off and reuse each time. Did I mention that it's brightly colored and has different color coding for different sections of the store! No more digging around in my purse, no more  Envelope grocery lists for this lady! I can also see myself handing it over to a grumpy 2 year old to draw on as we wait in line to check out!

So....to the why I need your help part.
What do I get with my remaining $25.50? What would you see yourself using? Did I overlook anything?
Here are some of my "maybes"

A Schoolwork Chart- My girls are a little young for this now, but I totally see it being beneficial in the future!
Routine Cards- These are some of the chores that I have Kaelyn do now, and see adding to Anna in the  near future.
Job Chart

There are other items I really love the idea of having, especially when the girls get older! So, what do you think I should get? Suggestions please! Go to OrganizeitMom and shop around for me!