Need a Last Minute Costume???

I did!

I made these from old T-shirts of mine and Nate's! I put Nate's white shirt on Caden and cut two arm holes. Then I just cut jagged lines up and down. Paint his face white... Tada! He's a ghost!

For Drake I used an old black T-shirt. I cut up the front all the way to the collar without cutting the collar. Then I laid it out flat and cut it into a large triangle shape. Black pants, red shirt, and a little face make up...Tada, Dracula!

I also wanted to share this little activity I put together for our church party. I took a cardboard box and used dollar store napkins with ModPodge to cover the box. I filled the box with black beans oops...I mean spider eggs! They could hatch any minute so you had better search for your treat fast! There is a Mommy and Daddy spider standing guard:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

Box Fun!

We bought a new bed and the boys are having so much fun with the box!! I'm sure we will think of things to do with it for days!

Lazy Mom Morning

We had a rough night of teething and Drake screaming, "Stop Crying!" The boys haven't watched a movie or any videos for almost a week so I am declaring it Movie Morning!! I am just not up to it this morning:(

The Boys don't seem to mind:)

What's Out Wednesday!

Computer Area

Caden spent some time on my computer this week playing this pumpkin game on starfall.com

Floor Toys

Giant Solar System puzzle (Caden is loving the Solar System right now!), Stacking Cubes, Pound a Peg, and their two wagons full of cars:)

Science and Discovery Area

We've had our Pumpkin out all week! Before we carved it we guessed what was in side (food was the popular opinion). The boys had several days to explore the color, texture, size, weight, and rollability:) They loved it!! Monday night we cut it open during FHE and then we carved a face together in the morning. Now they have been exploring it further, tracing the out lines of the face, putting things in it, and banging on it like a drum:) Oh, and there's a sink or float bottle:)

Table Toys

Connector Toys, Pretend Sandwhich (Drake's Fave), Stringing Felt, Shape puzzle in a Bag, Puzzles, and Spelling Activity

Stacking Cubes

I bought these 1 inch cubes online for a project that I haven't gotten to yet so for now they are stacking cubes! The boys are loving building tall towers and sometimes lots of little towers:)

Caden Reading

Caden can read the "Mat" book now but we are going to stick with it a little longer. I think until he reads it without sounding it out. So to keep it interesting I got him this little dollar note book from Target. He puts a sticker in every time he reads it all the way through! So far it he has 3 stickers and he is very excited to put them in:)
Here is a video of him reading the last page.

Chalk Board

I love this chalk board and so do the boys! I'm going to bullet point the things I love because it's easier:)

• It's very independent Art! The chalk is very easily wiped off with the eraser.
• I can leave it out because chalk is so easy to clean off of any other surfaces
• The boys can work on it together
• Short pieces of chalk encourage the tripod grasp
• Writing on the wall encourages proper hand positioning
• Chalk is very forgivable. If you make a "mistake" you just erase and start over
• It gives a child that "I'm Writing on the Wall!" feeling without the mess:)

The boys have been writing on it all through out the day! We've even played some games with it. I wrote out all of the letters out on board and then I would whisper clues in Caden's ear like, "This letter sounds like Sssssss" or "The first letter of the word duck" and then he would erase just that letter. He loved it so we did it with numbers too. I would hold up my fingers and he would count them and then erase that number:)

Here's a cute little doodle that Caden drew. He said it was Daddy:)

I made this chalk board using a 4 foot by 2 foot 1/4 inch thick piece of wood. I painted it with chalk board paint and screwed it on to the wall:) That's it:)

Reading Bob Books!

Let me start this post by saying"I LOVE Costco!" I wanted the BOB Books because a lot of other blog moms have said they use them and then I researched and decided that I wanted them for Caden. You can imagine how thrilled I was when I found out that Bob Books made special Collections just for Costco! Unfortunately they were out of the first collection so I got the Pre-reading collection and Collection 2 and 3. These Collections are not only cheaper then the original sets but there are two sets in each Collection! I paid 9.99 for each collection and then went to Barnes and Noble to get the first set and it was 16.99!!!!!! And look at the size?? It's tiny!

I hope Costco gets the Collections back some day. I would buy them just to get the bigger size! Anyway enough of my ranting! Caden is loving the first book in the set. He can read all of the words himself. I love hearing him sound it out but we are going to stay on this first book until he gets the flow of reading a book. Does that make since? He sometimes skips pages or words or reads the words in a random order? He is so proud of himself and he has already read it to several family members! I decided to add some pages to his spelling activity to match the characters in the book. I'm hoping this will help him get familiar with the characters because they are used through out the books!

More Color Wheel Car Fun!

I got my Camera back!!!

Remember This? Me and Caden decided to do it again but this time he kept on adding more cars.

This is how it turned out when he was done. We still don't have a pink car:)

While me and Caden were playing Drake and Daddy were doing this:) It was funny because every time Nate would put blocks in Drake would say "Thank You". Too Cute!

No What's Out Wednesday!

I left my camera at my sisters house:(

Halloween Counting!

Erasers make great counters! I got a pack of twelve of these Halloween ones at the dollar store! The are very nice and the perfect size for the counting mats! I am going to collect some for Christmas, Thanksgiving and so on so that we can shake up our counting practice. Caden loved these and we had so much fun talking about them!

Rainbow Art

This was a very impromptu project. Caden had asked if he could cut and glue, again! I had some thin strips leftover from trimming construction paper to fit in page protectors so I gave him those to cut in to pieces. When that was done we used the glue together to make one arch at a time and talked about rainbow order. I think it was very helpful to make one arch at a time and use one color at a time. It made it very clear and hard to make a mistake. Caden was so excited to make this and it made me realize that he may be a crafter:) When he was done with the rainbow I asked if he wanted clouds? He had fun pulling the cotton balls apart and it was a great fine motor activity!

What's Out Wednesday!

I did a playroom makeover this week!!! It's so fun and much needed! Here is a picture of the whole play room.

Floor Toys

We stayed the same this week because they are really loving it.

Sensory Tub

I got this idea from Chasing Cheerios. It's just black beans and fall inspired things! The boys really liked it today!

Table Toys

sorting colored beads, paper clip bottle, Cars block puzzle, puzzles, pop together vehicles, magnet building set

Part of our playroom makeover was two new tables. the computer was taking up our only child sized table so I got this black one at Ikea for 7.99! Can you believe it:) They pull a chair over when they want to play.

We will also be adding a new area...

Science and Discovery Area!

I'm very excited about this area. For now it has this toy on top because I want the boys to get used to the idea that this table is for standing at and that we don't take anything off of the table. Soon we will do our first science activity and then leave it out on the table. Oh and this red table is from Ikea too, 7.99!!!

Our other new addition is this chalk board! I made it myself and I had it in storage so decided to get it out. I will post later on how I did it and some fun activities we have been doing with it. The boys have been loving the freedom of being able to color whenever they want and I love that it is strengthening those hand muscles:) I need to go get some colorful chalk:)

Thank You!

100 Followers!!!! I just wanted to say thank you to all of you and for leaving such sweet uplifting comments! You guys are great:)

My Rotation and Organization System!

Several of you have asked how I handle rotating toys and organizing them while not in use:) I don't think my system is perfect but it works for us!

First up is the sensory tub. I made draw string bags for each of the sensory items(colored rice, black beans, pinto beans, river stones) and I store them in the green milk create that the sensory tub sits on.

I don't have a name for this but I guess you would call it my teacher shelf. On the top I have my books, folders, work books, construction paper, church lesson manuals, and church song book.

Below that is the art and crafts supply shelf, it has our coloring basket, glue and scissor basket, dry erase basket, play doh(Baskin' Robins tub), water colors basket(orange), journals, and my song box.

Below that is the activities that I do NOT put out on the shelves. These things could be easily damaged or need a lot mommy assistance. I get these out when I have 30 minutes of alone time with Caden or Drake. It looks messy but everything is in a Ziploc bag of some sort. It's hard to see below that but there is another shelf and it holds all of the jars(old peanut butter and mayo jars) of counters, lacing items, and fine motor activities like fill and spill bottles.

Last but not least is the toys that DO go out on the shelves. This is the closet in the boys room and I bought this shelf at Costco for 30 dollars. The shelves are adjustable.

The top shelf has puzzles and games. The second has activities that I put out in the table toy area and some of the floor toys.

The third shelf has all of the play-doh gadgets, extra baby toys, and the trains. The fourth shelf is two green creates full of busy toys. And at the very bottom is all of the floor toys(blocks, cars, animals,)

In case you are curious, this is what the other side of the closet looks like:)

Now that you see how I store and organize things let me share a few tips on rotation:

• Involve you child- "You haven't played with these trucks in a long time would you like to put them away and pick something new?"
• Be clear as to where things belong so that they can easily put it away themselves
• Rotate often rather then cluttering the shelves with too many toys.

When I see that something has gone untouched or is to easy for the boys I will often just put it away and they don't even care, however I like to involve them because it is their home too. I want them to feel like they contribute and that their opinion is important. I think that they respect their belongings more this way. I rotate very randomly except for Tuesday nights. On those nights I make an attentive effort to go around the play room and rotate out puzzles, books and anything else I may notice needs a change up.

Last tip is very important in my book. I always demonstrate an activity before I put it out on the table toy shelf. I demonstrate how it is done and how to put it away. "I'm going to play with the connect four game. I'm all done now, I'm going to put the pieces back in the bowl and put the tray on the shelf. If anyone else wants to play with this it's on the shelf." I do this every time for two reasons. One, I want to teach them how to use the activity before they use it so that I don't have to keep correcting them. The second is that I want them to know how and where to put it away.

SO that's it! I think I covered everything but if there are anymore question let me know:)

Counting Mats

We have been using our counting mats about once or twice a week. I love that all I have to do is put out a new counter and he is excited all over again. I was thinking of getting some seasonal counters like spiders, pumpkins or holiday erasers?? I'm going to have to search the dollar store:)

Zip Lock Bag Paint

I got this idea from Let's Explore and the boys loved it!! I made it really quickly so that they could play with it while I was making lunch and I was amazed at how into it they were!

They loved it so much that I moved it to the sensory Tub lid so that they could use it whenever they wanted and they have! Drake keeps scribbling with his finger and saying "D"! It's the first and so far only letter he knows:) Caden has also been writing letters with it and some of them are legible:)

Q & A

Leslie said...

Thanks for the great ideas! I have a friend who just had her 3rd child and is trying to figure out how to have alone time with each of them. Do you accomplish that, and if so how?
Thanks again!

I do strive to have a little alone time with the boys each day. Most days I accomplish it but if I don't it's no biggie. I play with all three boys in the morning time. Sometimes all of us together sometimes I skip from one to one as they start up a new activity, and sometimes I just sit back and watch, all ways there to jump in if need be. At 9:30 I feed Jack and he takes his nap. Once he is in bed(10:00) I let Caden have his 30 minute computer turn(educational games). While Caden is on the computer I focus my time on Drake (reading books, coloring, snuggling, doing an activity, or just following him to wherever he wants me to be:) At about 5 till Drake goes potty, I brush his teeth and he goes down for his nap(10:30). I then tell Caden he has one minute left on the computer and then it's his time with Mommy. He loves this time so he usually quits right then and I ask him what he would like to do and we do it. Sometimes I have something planned or something in mind but usually we wing it. Jacks gets so much time with me while nursing that I don't worry to much about getting a specific 30 minutes with him, besides it seems like his favorite thing is to watch the boys do their activities. So that's how I do it:) We also try and get alone time with Daddy, it's a work in progress.

Glue!

Everyday me and Caden have 30 minutes of time that is just me and him! It's one of my favorite times of the day. I usually don't plan what we will do in those thirty minutes because I like to follow his interest and his interests change frequently! Lately it has been glue. Caden is not very artistic but he does like the mechanics of art... does that make since? Here is one project we did recently. I wrote out Caden's name while he cut thin strips of paper into tiny pieces. He traced his name with the glue and then put all of the bits of paper on the glue. He enjoyed all of it until it was time to put the papers on the glue. He just wasn't that interested in that part but he loved the steps leading up to that point.

Thank You!

This is the book I remember!!! I'm so excited to get it for the boys! Thank you to the anonymous tipster that left a comment! Thank You!
This book is a real Favorite of mine from when I was a little girl:) Tear:)

Help

I read a book when I was a little girl and can't find it anywhere. the problem is I don't remember the title or author:( I was hoping if I described it to you bloggy friends maybe one of you will know it:) So here it goes.

There's a little girl witch that flys around on Halloween and steals all of the other children's bags of candy. She starts felling guilty at some point and secretly gives them all back.

Ring any bells? That's all I can remember but I remember loving it:)

What's Out Wednesday!

Computer Area

Caden has been choosing Jump Start Preschool for the most part this week. This is the original version not the new 3D world stuff (they all came together in a package at Costco but I don't want to introduce them till he is bored with the first game).

Outside Time

The weather has been nice so we have been venturing outside. The boys have a great time hauling rocks and pine cones around in their wagons! Caden couldn't get up this hill because he had so many rocks!!

Sensory Tub

Back to basics. We have a play date in the morning and I didn't want to put out anything to busy. Floor Toys

Tonka Cars, Hotwheels, Farm Clickeroos??, Small Wooden Blocks, and Big Vehicles. Like I said before we have a play date in the morning and he is a car loving boy so I pretty much put out all cars:)

I also put out the car rug and the folding slide. They love driving cars down the slide:)

Table Toys

Memory Game (New Cards, still a favorite), Sensory Bag Puzzle, "Sewing" or as I call it, Random Lacing Things, Puzzles, Spelling.

I almost put away the Random lacing things because there was very little interest but then Caden surprised me by lacing every last thing and saying, "I'm sewing like you, Mommy!" Needless to say I couldn't put them away just yet:)

Baby Area:)

I thought I would show Jack's little area. I always have a blanket down for him so that they older boys have a visual reminder to be careful. I have a green hanging toy organizer (like the link but much bigger with six cubbies) above that store his toys, stuffed animals, and at the very top some of my mommy stuff (Pump). Against the wall are two storage baskets that I got from Ikea. I love them because they are soft. I have used wicker baskets and plastic bins for the boys before but when they started to crawl they would whap themselves in the face when they would try to get a toy, not fun:(

Would anyone be interested in joining my What's Out Wednesday? Just Curious:)