Small successes XLIX

1.  Knocked off most of the rest of my "pre-baby list": haircuts, kids picture taken, waxed legs, toenails painted...  You know, the important stuff!  I've also begun packing a bag to take to the birth center.  Considering the fact that I was madly throwing things into my duffel bag about an hour-and-a-half before Kolbe was born, I figure this is good.  I also got our diapers and NB gender neutral clothes out, washed and ready.

2.  Did I mention the kids' pictures?  I think they turned out really sweet if I do say so myself, and I got a heckuva deal as I took them separately two separate weeks at Portrait Innovations.  Yay for good timing with their "promotional periods".   

       

3.  I have reached (and passed) the magical "full-term" milestone in this pregnancy.  I hope (for baby's sake) and guess (from previous experience) that it will still be another week or two...but really it could be anytime now.  Wow!  Where has the time gone?!  Prayers for a safe, healthy delivery for me and babe would be greatly appreciated. 

Join in the Small Successes fun each Thursday over at CatholicMom.

Summer sun

We celebrated the first week of Summer around here last week!  Gemma did this awesome craft.  Seriously, I think this is one of my favorites so far in the "craft" department (or "crap" department, as my husband calls it).  But then, I am a sucker for hand-print crafts so that could be part of it.  But really, isn't it just adorable?

Some of our "summer" books from the library were:

• Summer Days and Nights
• Summer Wonders
• Summertime in the Big Woods
• The Very Lonely Firefly
• It's Summer
• Mama, is it Summer Yet?
• Come On, Rain! (this is a really great picture book, check it out if you haven't!)
• And some poetry from Flit, Flutter, Fly!

Now to suck it up and get the kiddie pool out.  Normally I love this as much as the kids, but I just haven't had the energy or desire this summer.  

Bible School

Gemma recently attended Bible School for a week (9-noon every day) at our parish.  I was very unsure how she would do, as she's never been away from me like that (aside from time with grandparents).  She did great though and seemed to enjoy herself a lot!!  She cried most days at the beginning, but that didn't seem to bother her (she was very matter of fact when she told me about it) and her teachers said as soon as I was gone she was distracted and having fun!  I think the week was very good for her, and I'm so proud of my big girl!!

PONYTAIL!!

You may have noticed in some recent pics on the blog, my dear Gemma-girl -- who hasn't let me do a thing with her hair besides wash and comb it for the past 2 years -- has finally decided ponytails are a good idea after all.  It took some nights of really nasty tangles after playing outside for most of the day to convince her that part of the reason mommy wears a ponytail some days is to keep my hair from getting so tangly when out in the wind.  And lo and behold, mama was right, and we're going on three weeks of daily ponies now!  I took her to Target and let her pick out some special hair things, and a friend of ours gave her some more, so she has plenty of exciting choices each morning...and I think she just looks so sweet!  She also seems more comfortable, as she is not constantly holding her hair out of her face when she plays outside (among other times)!  Still working on braids and piggy-tails and such, but the pony is a start for sure!

The magnet

After enduring massive amounts of ridiculously annoying fighting ... daily ... over whose turn it was to blow out the candle after prayers, I have found a solution.  The magnet.  I have a "G" and a "K" magnet, and whichever magnet is on the side of the fridge denotes whose turn it is, and I switch them out each day/time we light the candle.  This has cut down on every last shred of fighting, believe it or not.  I guess it's hard to argue with a magnet.  At any rate, I am pleased that our prayer-time now ends a bit more peacefully than before. 

Father's Day

A few recent pics of the people I love most...

Drinking "shakey-nooks"...their morning tradition.

Reading "Bears on Wheels"...this was Aaron's book as a child.

For gifts this Father's day, I wanted to find something the kids could make for their daddy and grandpas.  I stumbled upon this idea on Catholic Icing, and modified it for Father's Day.  Gemma and I worked on this together a couple days while Kolbe napped, so he actually didn't help, but his smiling face certainly looks sweet in the little frames.

Sunflower update II

The sunflowers have continued to grow...taller than Gemma!!  We're hoping to get some seeds from them to plant next spring!!

Superglue

Did you know that a drop or two of superglue on a wound (especially one in an odd spot, such as a cut on the tip of your thumb that you got while chopping green peppers) does wonders?  I was having nightmares about how on earth I was going to keep a band-aid on a spot like that long enough for the cut to heal, when I wash my hands forty-gazillion times a day and am constantly using my thumbs.  A couple of drops of super glue (my hubby helped with this, I'm not allowed to touch super glue at our house anymore after an incident involving fingers, a doll stroller, acetone and the newly redone bathroom sinks...) and the wound was sealed up and healed in less than a week.  No more fuss, and the superglue really protected it from further injury and dirt and such much better than a band-aid.  I would suggest waiting for the wound to stop bleeding/dry out a little bit (3-4 hours) before applying glue.  But seriously, next time you have the misfortune of cutting yourself in the kitchen (or elsewhere), give this one a try!!

"Daddy" books

Now that our Letters of the Week are all played out, I thought it would still be nice to have some sort of "loose" weekly theme around which to plan our preschool/projects and the books we check out from the library (in addition to the ones the kids pick out on their own).  I have a ton of saved lists on the library's website, every time I run across something we like/I think will be useful in the future, I make a list for it (or add it to an existing one) that way I can easily access things without a bunch of digging (theoretically) when I need them.  Seriously, I nerd-out about this feature on the library's website wayyyyyyyy too much...so much so that the thought has actually crossed my mind that if the library website were to ever go berserk and I lose my lists I might just cry.  A lot.  But I digress.  This week, we got some really great "Daddy" books for Father's day, so I thought I'd share their titles here:

• When the Moon is High
• My Father's Hands
• It's You Daddy
• Me and My Dad!
• My Daddy
• The Daddy Book
• My Daddy and Me

Preschool 2012-2013

I've been thinking a lot about preschool for Gemma (who will be 5 in January) next school year.  I'm still planning on keeping her home, but I've learned to "never say never" when it comes to preschool.  I don't know, it just doesn't feel right for us now, but I'm not going to completely write it off for future children.  We'll just see what the years bring.  But for now, while we're home, I am excited about the opportunity to continue learning together.  This awesome post from Kansas Mom has been a great resource that I know I'll reference throughout the year, and my good friend Michelle always has a wealth of information and resources she is willing to share.  But without further ado, my "plans" include but certainly are not limited to:

READING:  Gemma is definitely showing signs of reading readiness.  I don't want to force the issue, but if she's willing and eager to work on it, I intend to start working our way through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons at some point in the near future.

I am looking forward to some more "substantial" read-alouds as well, I think we'll start with:

• Mary Poppins and subsequent titles in the series. -or-
• Little House on the Prairie series, which I snagged in its entirety from Scholastic at some point while teaching.

We'll continue to read our Poetry at lunchtime most days.  I think I may need to break down and purchase The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry.  We've checked it out (and enjoyed its variety of poems and great colorful illustrations) numerous times.  I continue to stumble upon more and more great poetry books.

We'll continue keeping those book-baskets full with weekly trips to the library, and are currently enjoying the Summer Reading Program at our library.

MISC. PRESCHOOL SKILLS:

I hope to work through various Kumon Workbooks including:

• My book of Pasting: Jigsaw Puzzles
• My First Book of Mazes

I also have a growing handful of random workbooks, coloring books and flashcards that I've picked up here and there (Target, Joann's Michael's, etc.) that I intend to pull out for both kids over the course of the summer and school year.  ABC's, numbers, shapes, etc., the usual suspects.

I like so much of what I've learned from Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Preschool Years, so Gemma and Kolbe will both continue with those activities.

We have acquired some really great learning toys that I'm always glad to see the children use, such as:

• Pattern blocks
• various puzzles from easy to difficult
• dominoes
• Stringing beads
• Lacing cards
• Counting bears
• AquaDoodle

I always have my eye on the activities our library has to offer.  It will be nice when Kolbe is 3 and he and Gemma are in the same age-group for their various offerings, I think we will participate in much more when that time comes.

HANDWRITING:  I've heard nothing but rave reviews about Handwriting Without Tears (teacher guide here) so I think I will take the plunge and make the purchase and we'll give this a try come Fall(ish).

My friend Michelle also shared this site with me, that has some great free printable pre-writing worksheets (among other things).

MUSIC APPRECIATION:  I have a nice, eclectic set of classical CD's (not to mention the library has just about everything) and I've recently started pulling these out regularly for listening during our afternoon/quiet time.  We started with Bach, and I think we will continue through Baroque, Classical, Romantic, etc. with a new composer each month.

The library also has some great composer and instrument children's books we've been checking out to go along with our monthly composer.

ART, ART APPRECIATION and CRAFTS:

• I hope to continue taking Gemma (and Kolbe possibly when he turns three) to Art Class monthly at our local art museum.  It is a very neat program.
• We will also continue to do various seasonal/religious art and craft projects.  Some great resources I've found to work with:
• CRAFTS
• Crafts for Kids who are Learning about Weather
• Catholic ABC's preschool curriculum from Catholic Icing
• Discovering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters
• The Little Hands Art Book
• Sing! Play! Create!
• ART APPRECIATION
• A Child's book of Prayer in Art
• Museum ABC (and other books in this series)
• A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet
• Come Look with Me series 
• S is for Smithsonian

SCIENCE: 

• We enjoy immensely the small amount of nature our neighborhood has to offer, with lots of trees, a "lake", an open field and all the various wildlife that goes with all that (ducks, geese, snakes, frogs, fish, birds, worms, butterflies, etc.).  My husband is very "outdoorsy", and does a great job exposing the kids to all kinds of critters and nature, et al.
• Trips to the zoo are always a favorite.
• We may try some experiments and activities from: 
• Bubbles, Rainbows and Worms: Science Experiments for Preschool Children
• Science Play (which happens to be illustrated by a friend of mine!)
• Play and Find Out about Nature

RELIGION and FAITH FORMATION:

• I am very excited that Gemma and I will be participating in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program at a nearby parish starting in the Fall.
• We will continue celebrating the Church year and liturgical seasons in our home with various activities from numerous sources, including:
• The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions
• Catholic Cuisine
• Catholic Icing
• The Year and Our Children
• Advent, Christmas and Epiphany in the Domestic Church
• Lent and Easter in the Domestic Church 

• We'll continue praying a Decade of the Rosary each time we go somewhere in the car (soon to be van) with our Holy Heroes Rosary CD's.  I'd also like to check out some of the other offerings from Holy Heroes, they appear to have so much great stuff.
• We enjoy some of the weekly Gospel activities (namely the coloring sheet and info sheet to go along with it) from CatholicMom.
• I am always pleased with anything we read from one of the numerous St. Joseph Picture Books we own.  We use these often during our Morning Prayers.
• Our liturgical-themed centerpieces have been a really nice addition to the kitchen table.  Besides giving my non-decorative brain some concrete ideas with which to work, they are a great "focus point" for morning prayers.  I try to incorporate our candle and other items with the current liturgical color, a statue or crucifix, and a prayer card with the Saint of the Day/monthly theme, etc.
• Several times a month we go to the assisted-living close to our house to visit our dear friend Bertie who we met through the new "visiting ministry" at our parish.  This has been a great opportunity for the kids (and me) to learn and practice the Corporal Works of Mercy.
• Along with the above idea, we have a sponsor-child through CFCA with whom we communicate by letter and pray for daily as a family.

MATH:

I recently checked out Math Play! from the library, and thumbing through it gave me some really great ideas for Math activities for both kids.  Easy stuff, using common items around the home.  Things like:

• taping numbers inside a muffin tin and having child sort various items
• counting and sorting socks
• sorting measuring cups or spoons smallest to largest, experimenting with how much water each will hold
• use play-dough or clay rolled out into "snakes" to form numbers or shapes
• and many, many more...I "jotted" down ideas in a Word.doc as I was going through the book, and now have a nice list of probably 20-30 fast and easy to execute Math activities to do around the house

I'm excited about making some of these activities available with very little work on my part.  If you're looking for Math ideas for kids ages 2-6, this books is well worth checking out.  Along with that, I also plan to take a look at:

• Number Sense and Nonsense
• Play and Find Out about Math
  

Small successes XLVII

1. After getting the kids set up with their new beds and moving Gemma's queen bed to the basement spare room, I decided it was time that room got a bit of an overhaul.  We have a ton of storage in this house (most of which is taken up with tub after tub of children's clothing...) but the spare room (which is also my sewing room and the room where I keep our "school" things) had starting ending up the "catch all" room and it was driving me nuts.  Now the storage area is more organized and the spare/sewing/school room actually looks like a spare/sewing/school room, and not a mess.  This was a bit of nesting that brought me a very huge and nerdy amount of joy.  

2.  Got my hair cut (trimmed).  I will shamelessly admit, this was one of my big priorities on the "to do" list before baby arrives.  

3.  I've gotten a lot of planning/ideas organized for our "preschool at home" this coming summer/school year.  I'm finishing up on a blogpost about it that I hope to share soon, but it feels good to have so many resources explored/available and I've come up with what seems to be a realistic system for implementing all these ideas. 

4.  As I mentioned as a goal in my last Small Successes, I finished reading Walking With God A Journey Through the Bible.  It was very good.  If you're looking for a great, easy-to-read (and understand) overview of Salvation History from Old Testament Genesis through the Acts of the Apostles, I would highly recommend this book. I enjoyed it so much, and would love to participate in the Great Adventure Bible Study at my (or another) parish at some point.

5.  Currently enjoying lots of good books with the kids as part of the Summer Reading Program at our library.

6.  Reactivated my Facebook account.  I'm not a huge fan of Facebook, it's kind of a love/hate thing I guess anymore.  But after a several month hiatus, I decided an online FB presence was a good enough thing in my life, so I'm back.  Ahhhh, always striving for balance.

Head on over to CatholicMom to join in Small Successes each Thursday.

Happy birthday, daddy!

My dear hubby celebrated his 33rd towards the end of last month.  I'm glad we got at least a few good pictures.  Most of them Gemma was smacking Kolbe in the face to keep him from preemptively blowing out the candles by himself.  OH children.

"Z" week

Here we are at the end of the alphabet!  Our "Z" week overlapped with the first week of the Summer Reading Program at the library, so we enjoyed these fun "Z" books:

• Z Goes Home
• Zoo-Looking
• Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I'm Off to the Moon!
• Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo
• Charlie at the Zoo
• Z is for Zookeeper 
• Zella, Zack and Zodiac
• Zinnia's Flower Garden
• There's a Zoo in Room 22

Gemma made this Zebra craft from DLTK.  She had me cut eye-holes in it and put elastic around it so she could wear it as a mask, which she thought was very cool.

And that concludes our ABC's.  :-)

Gemma's sunflowers

Back during "S" week, Gemma planted some sunflower seeds.  With the early, long spring they did great this year and bloomed well before Summer!