It’s the start, of something new…

Ha ha, okay, so somehow I have High School Musical songs playing in my head! But it IS the start of something new! It is a new month! One month down, two to go until Austin is back home! Woo hoo!

I woke up on Monday feeling much better.  I still had a yucky head and sore throat, but I wasn’t quite as dizzy.  That’s a plus! So I got some chores done and then the kids and I went to our Play and Learn.  Our Play and Learn theme this week was yellow, so we talked about yellow fruits and veggies. We sang our song, read our story, and danced to our movement song.  Then it was time for our centers!

My kids started off by working with a banana.  Ha ha, sounds weird, right? Well it was actually pretty fun.  The kids were able to peel their banana (Makenna likes to peel her own banana, but I usually peel Max’s for him, so he was actually pretty excited!) and then use a plastic knife to practice cutting it up. They all teased me because I NEVER let my kids use a knife for ANYTHING! I guess I may have to invest in a plastic one and let them practice on playdough or something. : )

    

Pretty exciting! ; ) Max kept saying, “Can I eat it now? Can I eat it now?” Finally, I said, “Yes, Max, have at it!”

   

Our next rotation was to use glue to make a collage out of yellow items.  The glue wasn’t working very well, so this wasn’t our favorite rotation.  All Max wants to do is glue (and do it by himself), so he wasn’t very pleased with the glue that would only come out if I helped him squeeze it! They also had glitter that the kids could use on their projects, but I needed to help them with it—so once again, not their favorite (they do NOT like to be helped!):

As much as she squeezed, Makenna just could NOT get that darn glue out!

Shaking out some glitter:

 

Next the kids made some yellow gook.  This was by far Mommy’s LEAST favorite rotation! My kids played pretty well with it.  They didn’t really “get” what they were supposed to do.  They wanted to just keep adding more cornstarch/water/paint and didn’t understand, even with me telling them, that they were just supposed to play in the stuff! But, they still seemed to like it fairly well.

 

So why did I dislike it so much? Well, there was this little boy sitting on the end of the table—in between Makenna and Max.  His mom wasn’t over there, and he kept slinging cornstarch and paint all over the place! I asked him, several times, to stop, but I still ended up getting paint all over me and all over Makenna! I’m still grumpy from my cold—and that REALLY bugged me! I’m fine with kids making a mess, but I like more of an ORGANIZED mess.  I don’t like kids to just make a mess all over the carpet and their clothes (and other people’s clothes) just for the fun of it! I’m much too OCD for that sort of thing! So I was thankful when our teacher called his mom back over there and had him get cleaned up!

Next the kids got a yellow string and had to make different shapes with it.  Makenna made a M, an O, a P, a D, a triangle… all sorts of things! I was surprised with how long a piece of yarn kept her occupied! Our teacher had a great idea—pack a string in your purse and pull it out at restaurants to keep the kids occupied while they are waiting for their dinner to come! Great idea!

Next we had our yellow fruits and vegetables taste test.  Today they had corn, yellow peppers, pineapple, and mango.  As I figured, neither one of my kids liked the pepper.  But, surprise, Makenna DID like the mango! Max didn’t really like anything… except for his water I guess.  He was drinking water in each and every picture I took of him! : )

 

Except this picture.  It’s another “isgusting!” face!

 

Oh Max!

That afternoon, I knew I had to get out and cut the grass.  Honestly, our grass grows SO fast! It’s starting to bug me! And it was looking so shaggy and horrible, BUT I still wasn’t feeling very well.  But I knew that Monday afternoon was really my only time to get out there and do it.  Let me just say this—if you have a cold/sinus problems/allergies, do NOT mow your grass! I will just leave it at that!

On Tuesday we woke up a little late so we had to rush, rush, rush to make it to school. Then after I dropped Makenna off, I had to rush, rush, rush to finish my morning chores/dinner prep/school prep in order to have school with Max.  He and I didn’t accomplish everything I wished we would have, but this is what we did do:

We practiced writing his name:

 

Our unit for the next two weeks is “A House Just Right for Me.” We will be talking about people houses and animal houses.  So today we made a people house.

 

The finished product:

  

Our letter for this week is the letter “H.” Today we put “happy face” stickers on our H. Max really liked doing this.

  

Finally we finished up by talking about our number this month—the number 3.  I had Max do different actions 3 times.  He jumped 3 times, marched 3 times, touched his nose three times, etc.  I wish I had a better camera, because he was so cute! Here is a dark and blurry picture (but the best I have!) of Max spinning 3 times:

So cute! After we picked Makenna up, we ran a couple of fast errands.  While we were in the car, Makenna told us a few things she did at school today.  She said she made a house, put happy faces on her H, touched her nose 3 times, and ate house crackers.  Sounds fun! : )

(Pictures stolen from the Preschool Blog)

Eating her “house crackers”:

 

Practicing writing her name:

She drew a picture of things inside her house:

One thing they did at school was talk about fire safety.  I’ve never talked to my kids about that before, so I am glad they did!

Practicing “Stop-Drop-and Roll”:

Crawling “under the smoke”:

I really love seeing pictures of what Makenna does at school! : )

We are finally having nice weather again! After highs in the upper 40s and rain all last week, we are loving this sunny low-70s weather! So after nap time we met some friends to play at the park. The kids all had fun playing (although Max just wanted held most of the time).

Before I post my pictures—here is a pet peeve of mine. Do NOT come to a playground full of little kids and smoke!!! Even if you stand a little bit away, the smoke still carries! Plus, when you come back over and stand by my kids,  you are reeking of smoke. And do NOT dare to touch my kids with your nicotine hands! Honestly, I’m sorry, but smokers are rude.  If you smoke, you are endangering not only yourself, but every single person that comes around you.  It is rude and selfish and I HATE that you are doing it around my kids! Today at the park, there were TWO parents smoking, on either side of where the kids were.  That irritates me more than I could ever express!

Grr, but now on to the pictures. : )

  

Makenna, the big girl, can do the monkey bars almost completely by herself! I do stand right under her to catch her if she gets tired, but she can really do it! Yesterday she made it all the way across a really LONG monkey bars, with only LIMITED help from me!

 

Ha ha, Max pretends he can do monkey bars!

      

After the park, we rushed home to have dinner and then went to the gym.  Today was hip hop class.  This class was taught by a different teacher than on Thursday.  He taught us an actual dance (while the teacher Thursday just did different hip hop movements to different songs). He kept yelling, “Show me some flava! You dare to come to a hip hop class without flava?” : ) Ha ha, I’m sorry, but honestly, I do NOT have flava! I am honestly SO awkward when I try to dance and by the end, I couldn’t remember all of the movements. I stand far away from the mirrors because even I do not want to see the mess it is when I try to dance! BUT, it was a super fun class, a great workout, and time went by quickly!

On Wednesday we headed to the library for “Bats in the Library.” This was another book/movie/craft activity.  The librarian read the book Bats in the Library and then the kids watched a short movie about the same book.  Here is one hint for any future librarians—when you have an activity for 2 and 3 year olds, pick books that interest 2 and 3 year olds! The book was well written and had gorgeous illustrations.  But really, I don’t think any of the kids actually “got” the book.  Just because it is a picture book, doesn’t mean it’s a good book for toddlers/preschool age! This would have been more appropriate for maybe 6 or 7 year olds… Also, when you are reading aloud to about 30 kids under the age of 3, a shorter book would probably be a better bet! Actually, maybe Makenna at least would have enjoyed the book—but on a one-on-one basis where we could discuss it more. Anyway, there’s another rant from me! ; )

After the book and movie, we did a bat craft.  From start to finish, the whole library time was only half an hour.  That works for me (can you tell I’m still sick and grumpy? Ha ha)!

The kids flying their bats around (darn my camera! Austin, a new camera would be a GREAT birthday present, hint hint.  Or, I guess it will have to wait until the next financial aid—so that would be a great Christmas present!!!):

              

Part of the group that was there today (we didn’t know any of the other kids, but I still think it is a fun picture!):

After lunch and naps, we headed down to clean the basement a little bit.  I hate our yucky, spider weby basement, but I figured I should clean it out a little before it gets too cold.  From what I hear, in the winter in Michigan the kids will have to play in the basement a lot! Everyone brings their bikes and outside toys inside to the basement during the winter because you can’t go outside! We also brought up the Halloween decorations.  October kicks off my “decorated house” time.  We get to decorate for Halloween, then the Fall, then Thanksgiving, and finally Christmas.  It’s my favorite time!   

I took a few pictures of the decorations.  Kristen, Jillian, Jenn, Ashley, Carissa—do you remember how much fun we had doing our monthly craft nights? My house is decorated so cute now because of our Halloween crafts! Unpacking all of my Halloween stuff really made me miss you guys!!!

These were my painted pictures and Jillian’s banner:

 

Whose craft was this? Kristen’s?

These were blocks I made at a Super Saturday a couple of years ago. I forgot to take pictures of Carissa’s “Boo” blocks, but I have them out. : )

 

Jenn’s craft—the spooky Halloween wreath!  

 

Ashley, did you do a craft last October? I can’t remember what it was!

And then Jenn, do you remember Makenna and Natalie having their own craft day and making these? I think I hung them from my ceiling last year; this year they are window decorations!

Of course I have other decorations out, but I just wanted to have a little nostalgic moment there—remembering the “good ole’ days” of crafting with my Arizona girls! : )

After cleaning the basement, all of a sudden my cold/allergies/sinus problems came full focus.  All of a sudden, my chest hurt each and every time I breathed.  Okay, when I first moved to Idaho, one night we were outside playing night games.  Every time I breathed, I felt like I was being stabbed in the lungs.  It was the change in elevation plus the really, really, REALLY cold night air.  Well this is the same feeling I was having.  Plus, my body was aching all over.  If the kids even brushed up against me, I wanted to scream! All I could do was just lie on the couch! I fed the kids cereal for dinner and put Max to bed almost an hour early (he wanted held, but I just hurt too much to hold him! So I put him to bed early… bad Mom? Maybe, but I couldn’t help it!). Then Makenna and I just veged on the couch watching Toddlers and Tiaras until her bed time. By the way, Makenna REALLY likes that show! While we were watching, she went and put on a princess dress, crown, and high heel shoes and marched around on the hearth blowing me kisses. : )

I took this picture after she had changed into her PJs. She was SO engrossed in the pageant world, ha ha.

After Makenna went to bed, I went right to sleep. I was so, so tired and felt so yucky!

And that is the end of the first half of our week (I actually type each day’s entry every night, sort of like a journal.  So I posted a day late due to being WAY to sick to do Wednesday’s entry last night!)!