We start school ridiculously early in Indiana. Our first day was August 12th so we have completed a week and a half at this point. So far, so good!
Saturday, August 22, 2015
1st Day of School
Here they are - all ready for 4th grade and Kindergarten:
We start school ridiculously early in Indiana. Our first day was August 12th so we have completed a week and a half at this point. So far, so good!
We start school ridiculously early in Indiana. Our first day was August 12th so we have completed a week and a half at this point. So far, so good!
Adding Machine and Recorder
I think that in earlier posts I promised pictures/videos of Samuel using his adding machine and playing the recorder. Here are both things:
Books on CD
I don't know what you get to listen to on your car rides, but for the past few years, my kids have been stuck on the same music CDs that we listen to over and over (and over and over...) Then they get sick of a particular song and want to skip it, then they start arguing over which one of them gets to pick the music, etc... It is very frustrating.
Enter books on CD - we listened to them anytime we drove anywhere this summer and, with the exception of the person narrating the book, the car was silent. The kids really really liked listening to books this way. Lots of times when we would get home from somewhere and be pulling into the garage and a chapter wouldn't be finished yet, they would beg to keep listening just a little bit more. The only arguing I had to listen to was whose turn it was to swap the finished CD for the next one. As a bonus, we borrowed all of these from the library, so they didn't cost us a penny!
Here are some of the titles we listened to this summer:
The One and Only Ivan was a book I hadn't heard of before, but it is based off the true story of a gorilla who lived in a shopping mall and the people who freed him and took him to live at the zoo. This was really good, much more serious than Wayside School, but the kids liked it almost as much. We were really rooting for Ivan and little Ruby while we listened and were quite pleased with how the story ended.
The one we finished the most recently was My Father's Dragon, which is about a little boy rescuing a dragon from an island and the adventures they have along the way. Also a big hit. In fact, everything we listened to this summer was a hit. I will definitely be checking some more books on CD out of the library soon.
Enter books on CD - we listened to them anytime we drove anywhere this summer and, with the exception of the person narrating the book, the car was silent. The kids really really liked listening to books this way. Lots of times when we would get home from somewhere and be pulling into the garage and a chapter wouldn't be finished yet, they would beg to keep listening just a little bit more. The only arguing I had to listen to was whose turn it was to swap the finished CD for the next one. As a bonus, we borrowed all of these from the library, so they didn't cost us a penny!
Here are some of the titles we listened to this summer:
We listened to the entire collection of the Wayside School books - Wayside School, Wayside School is Falling Down, and Sideways Stories from Wayside School. This collection was the #1 favorite of both kids. The whole collection was something like 9 hours long, so it got us through quite a bit of driving time this summer. Each chapter is about a different kid in a class at school that was built 30 stories high with 1 room on each floor. Very silly and fun.
The One and Only Ivan was a book I hadn't heard of before, but it is based off the true story of a gorilla who lived in a shopping mall and the people who freed him and took him to live at the zoo. This was really good, much more serious than Wayside School, but the kids liked it almost as much. We were really rooting for Ivan and little Ruby while we listened and were quite pleased with how the story ended.
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books were a favorite of mine when I was little, and I found they stand the test of time because the kids really enjoyed hearing about how Mrs. Piggle Wiggle cured kids of things like never wanting to go to bed, being the pickiest eater ever, talking back, etc...
The one we finished the most recently was My Father's Dragon, which is about a little boy rescuing a dragon from an island and the adventures they have along the way. Also a big hit. In fact, everything we listened to this summer was a hit. I will definitely be checking some more books on CD out of the library soon.
Summer Bucket List
Summer has drawn to a close around here (1st day of school pictures will be coming soon!) so I am putting away things like bathing suits, squirt guns, and this item below - our summer bucket list.
A few years ago when I still went to MOPS meetings, this was an idea that was introduced at one of the meetings. Write down lots of ideas of things to do over the summer. Each idea goes onto 1 clothespin. Then you put all of the clothespins together in a bucket. As your kids are whining and saying "we're so bored! what can we do?" over the summer, pick a clothespin out and do that activity. Then clip it to the top of the bucket when you are done. At the end of the summer, you have a nice way to remember all of the fun things you have done. We've done this for a few summers now and it really seems to help with making sure we get everything done that we want to do.
At the beginning of the summer, I sit down with the kids and we brainstorm things to go on the clothespins. If there was something we did last summer that we want to repeat, we just use that clothespin again. Each year we seem to add clothespins to our bucket as we think of new things to do. Here are the things we did this summer:
A few years ago when I still went to MOPS meetings, this was an idea that was introduced at one of the meetings. Write down lots of ideas of things to do over the summer. Each idea goes onto 1 clothespin. Then you put all of the clothespins together in a bucket. As your kids are whining and saying "we're so bored! what can we do?" over the summer, pick a clothespin out and do that activity. Then clip it to the top of the bucket when you are done. At the end of the summer, you have a nice way to remember all of the fun things you have done. We've done this for a few summers now and it really seems to help with making sure we get everything done that we want to do.
At the beginning of the summer, I sit down with the kids and we brainstorm things to go on the clothespins. If there was something we did last summer that we want to repeat, we just use that clothespin again. Each year we seem to add clothespins to our bucket as we think of new things to do. Here are the things we did this summer:
- play with playdough
- get $5 to spend at the Dollar Store
- go to the bank and deposit the $ from the allowance "save" jar that we have been saving all year
- make oobleck
- play in the sprinkler
- go to a movie
- kid interviews
- have a picnic
- 3D printing at the library
- build an indoor fort
- make a craft at Michael's
- play a board game
- water gun fight
- pick wildflowers
- go to the beach
- go to South Bend
- have Dairy Queen for dinner
- visit a splash pad
- make our own popsicles
- paint a picture
- go to garage sales
- make homemade pizza
- playdate with a friend
- sun art paper
- jigsaw puzzles
- water bottle craft
- visit the Little Free Library near our house
- read a book under a tree
- visit a new playground
- lollipop factory
- nature walk
- write a letter to cousins
- wash the car/bikes
- make s'mores
- Chuck E. Cheese
- concoctions
- water balloons
- have a lemonade stand
- mop the kitchen floor
- visit Fox Island
- Yes Day
I realize some of those sound more fun than others. (Honestly, though, the kids love to mop the kitchen floor. Probably because it involves getting water everywhere.) I try to have a variety of activities - some inside, some outside, some free, some that cost $, etc... We have other clothespins we never got to this summer (like "sleep in a tent in the backyard". Yeah, I'm okay with not getting to that one) so we will save those for next year. I really like having this bucket list. It helps us plan out our summer days so that everyone gets to do the things they want, and we all have fun.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Cake Pops
At a garage sale a few weeks ago, Becca found a cake pop maker for a whopping dollar.
They also had a little stand for the cake pops to dry on for another $1, so we splurged and bought both things. Then we took them home and tried them out.
I had never made cake pops before, but they were pretty simple to make. The machine came with a little recipe book, and we picked a chocolate recipe to start. We mixed up the dough, spooned it into the machine and then waited 6 minutes for them to cook. When they were done, we took them out and put the next batch in (that was probably the most tedious part of the process - you can only cook about 10 balls at a time, so you have to do it like 5 times to cook all the batter).
Once they were cool, we dipped them into melted chocolate chips and added sprinkles. We didn't have the special sticks cake pops are normally on, so we just used popsicle sticks from our craft supplies and they worked just fine. The finished cake pops were yummy! Here's Becca eating just as many sprinkles as she is putting on the cake pops:
They also had a little stand for the cake pops to dry on for another $1, so we splurged and bought both things. Then we took them home and tried them out.
I had never made cake pops before, but they were pretty simple to make. The machine came with a little recipe book, and we picked a chocolate recipe to start. We mixed up the dough, spooned it into the machine and then waited 6 minutes for them to cook. When they were done, we took them out and put the next batch in (that was probably the most tedious part of the process - you can only cook about 10 balls at a time, so you have to do it like 5 times to cook all the batter).
Once they were cool, we dipped them into melted chocolate chips and added sprinkles. We didn't have the special sticks cake pops are normally on, so we just used popsicle sticks from our craft supplies and they worked just fine. The finished cake pops were yummy! Here's Becca eating just as many sprinkles as she is putting on the cake pops:
(At this same garage sale, Samuel bought an adding machine for $1, which he is loving playing with. I will try to get some pictures of him using it and post those next). We love finding garage sales where they sell things for $1!
Concoctions Class
One of the classes we are doing this summer is Concoctions Class (I think the official title might be "Icky, Sticky, Messy Fun" or something like that, but we always call that kind of play at home Concoctions, so we just call the class that too). It is offered through our Parks and Rec Dept, which always has really great programs for kids. So far in the class we have made:
And we still have one more session of the class to go! This class has been awesome. Both Samuel and Becca love to mix things up, and they have no problem with getting messy, so they are having a blast making all of these things. After the final class, we are supposed to get recipes for all of these fun things, so if anyone is interested in making any of them, let me know.
Here are some pictures from the first few weeks. (And, yes, we almost always have to come home and change clothes after class because they get very messy! Thankful this is held in the Community Center and not my kitchen!)
- Moon sand (like Kinetic sand)
- Silly Putty
- Temporary tattoos
- Oobleck
- Slime
- Fake Blood
- Playdough
- Flubber
- Ninja balloons
- Slimy frosting
And we still have one more session of the class to go! This class has been awesome. Both Samuel and Becca love to mix things up, and they have no problem with getting messy, so they are having a blast making all of these things. After the final class, we are supposed to get recipes for all of these fun things, so if anyone is interested in making any of them, let me know.
Here are some pictures from the first few weeks. (And, yes, we almost always have to come home and change clothes after class because they get very messy! Thankful this is held in the Community Center and not my kitchen!)
Lollipop Factory
The Spangler Candy Company is located about an hour from Fort Wayne. One day last week we took a trip there to see how they make their candy (they are best known for making dum-dum lollipops, but they also make candy canes).
We rode in a trolley inside the factory and got to see the different steps in making lollipops. It was neat to see all of the lollipops zooming along the conveyor belts to their different stations in the factory. The kids liked learning that the company makes some unusual lollipops, such as pizza or bacon flavored. They also thought it was really funny to wear hair nets during the tour. At the end of the tour, we got the check out the gift shop where there were tons of free samples of candy canes and lollipops.
Spangler makes regular candy canes and flavored ones. One of the flavors is Smarties candy flavor. The kids thought this joke the tour guide told was really funny: "As you visit the gift shop, buy some of our dum-dum lollipops and some of our Smarties candy canes, and then maybe you will turn out normal." We didn't buy any smarties candy canes, but the kids did talk me into buying a GIANT bag of the lollipops, so if you are our guest anytime soon, be prepared to be offered a lollipop since we now have a million.
The pictures below show them posing with a giant version of the dum-dums mascot, and then with the trolley. We also had some time to kill between when we arrived and when the next tour would leave, so the last picture is from a park we found where we ate lunch.
We rode in a trolley inside the factory and got to see the different steps in making lollipops. It was neat to see all of the lollipops zooming along the conveyor belts to their different stations in the factory. The kids liked learning that the company makes some unusual lollipops, such as pizza or bacon flavored. They also thought it was really funny to wear hair nets during the tour. At the end of the tour, we got the check out the gift shop where there were tons of free samples of candy canes and lollipops.
Spangler makes regular candy canes and flavored ones. One of the flavors is Smarties candy flavor. The kids thought this joke the tour guide told was really funny: "As you visit the gift shop, buy some of our dum-dum lollipops and some of our Smarties candy canes, and then maybe you will turn out normal." We didn't buy any smarties candy canes, but the kids did talk me into buying a GIANT bag of the lollipops, so if you are our guest anytime soon, be prepared to be offered a lollipop since we now have a million.
The pictures below show them posing with a giant version of the dum-dums mascot, and then with the trolley. We also had some time to kill between when we arrived and when the next tour would leave, so the last picture is from a park we found where we ate lunch.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Passport to Imagination
Each summer the craft store Michael's offers crafting classes for kids in their Passport to Imagination program. This is the first summer we have tried out the classes and I was really impressed. There are certain crafts scheduled over the course of 5 weeks during the summer. We chose to go to one to where they were making a fishing game.
Samuel and Becca got to make the fishing game, and then they were given 4 colors of Model Magic to make whatever they wanted out of, and then they got to make something with perler beads. So they got to do 3 crafts all together, for a total of about an hour and a half. We happened to be the only people on the day we went, so the instructor worked one-on-one with them on everything. The entire morning cost $5 per child, so it was very reasonable. If you have a Michael's near you and are looking for a fun way to spend a morning, I'd highly recommend checking out their Passport to Imagination classes.
Samuel and Becca got to make the fishing game, and then they were given 4 colors of Model Magic to make whatever they wanted out of, and then they got to make something with perler beads. So they got to do 3 crafts all together, for a total of about an hour and a half. We happened to be the only people on the day we went, so the instructor worked one-on-one with them on everything. The entire morning cost $5 per child, so it was very reasonable. If you have a Michael's near you and are looking for a fun way to spend a morning, I'd highly recommend checking out their Passport to Imagination classes.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Water Fun
One of Samuel and Becca's favorite things to do is play in the sprinkler. When they tire of that, they like to empty out the toy bins that we normally use to hold outside toys, and fill them with water from the hose. Then they sit in there (how, I don't know, since the water is freezing!) They will play in there until their lips are blue and I have to drag them inside.
Walking Tour of Fort Wayne
In our district, each class gets to go on 1 field trip each year. This year the 3rd grade field trip was a walking tour of Fort Wayne. The kids learn about the history of town during the school year, then at the end, they get to go see the sites in person. This year I went as a chaperone with Samuel's class. Here are some pictures from the day.
The entire class by the statue of Mad Anthony Wayne, who Fort Wayne is named after.
The entire class by the statue of Mad Anthony Wayne, who Fort Wayne is named after.
Samuel and his friend Brady at the Historic Old Fort:
At the history museum:
The class making silly faces at one of the pieces of artwork around town:
I didn't get any pictures of it, but one of the things that Samuel enjoyed most that day was lunch because it was at a Fort Wayne landmark called Coney Island, famous for the hot dogs it serves.
After walking around town all morning, we spent the afternoon at The Embassy Theater, a restored old theater in town. The kids had a chance to act out a play on the stage, complete with costumes and props, and then we were given a tour of theater, which was really interesting. Personally, one of the things I found most interesting was a fact our 70-year-old tour guide shared: when he was a kid, he would go to the movies on Saturdays to see a newsreel, 1 hour of cartoons, and 2 westerns. He would be at the theater for about 5 hours, and all of this cost 17 cents! That's a far cry from the $7.50 it costs for 1 ticket for a matinee in 2015.
Running Club
Our school offers a Running Club for 3rd-5th graders in the fall and spring. Kids meet twice a week for 5 weeks and work on increasing their endurance and running form. Each week run for a little bit longer and track their time in a journal. At the end of the 5 weeks, there is a 1-mile race that the running clubs from all 6 of the elementary schools in the district compete in.
Samuel didn't want to do Running Club in the fall, but I told him he didn't really have a choice in the spring, I was going to sign him up whether he wanted to or not (because, left to his own devices, he would choose to play the ipad all day long, and as a mean mom, I felt it necessary to force him to participate in an extracurricular activity.)
He surprised me by really enjoying it. I don't have any pictures from the practices, but here are a few from the 1 mile race:
He didn't get a medal or anything, but he got a free t-shirt and water bottle, and I think he may like those just as much.
Samuel didn't want to do Running Club in the fall, but I told him he didn't really have a choice in the spring, I was going to sign him up whether he wanted to or not (because, left to his own devices, he would choose to play the ipad all day long, and as a mean mom, I felt it necessary to force him to participate in an extracurricular activity.)
He surprised me by really enjoying it. I don't have any pictures from the practices, but here are a few from the 1 mile race:
He didn't get a medal or anything, but he got a free t-shirt and water bottle, and I think he may like those just as much.
Spring Program
Becca had a Spring Program at her school in April. Here are some pictures/videos of her class singing their songs:
And here is Becca with her teacher, Miss Bethany:
And here is Becca with her teacher, Miss Bethany:
Cake Decorating Contest
I am going to be adding a bunch of things to our blog over the next few days. Now that we have been out of school for a few weeks, I have finally had a chance to catch my breath. There just never seems to be any time to update the blog during the school year, so I will do a whole bunch of posts at once about what we have been up to the last few months.
He won 1st place for 3rd grade!
Monday, February 2, 2015
Funny Girl
Becca is at the age where a lot of the things that come out of her mouth are very funny, some on purpose and some not. Here are some things she has said recently that have made us laugh:
To Samuel: "Sammy, you really should have a girlfriend by now. You're 9."
At dinner, telling us about her little friend at school whose name is Boston: "And I know what Boston's last name is too - Redsox!"
In the car: "Mom! I love this song. Can you hold my water bottle so I can dance?"
At lunch: "I wish I was a grownup already. Then I could just go to Dairy Queen all day."
Walking out of school last week:
Becca: "Katy Perry is going to sing at the superbowl."
Me: "Do you know who Katy Perry is?"
Becca: "Yeah, she's our neighbor!"
(um, not last time I checked.)
At dinner: "I know how cows get us this milk. Through their gutters!"
Our funny girl.
To Samuel: "Sammy, you really should have a girlfriend by now. You're 9."
At dinner, telling us about her little friend at school whose name is Boston: "And I know what Boston's last name is too - Redsox!"
In the car: "Mom! I love this song. Can you hold my water bottle so I can dance?"
At lunch: "I wish I was a grownup already. Then I could just go to Dairy Queen all day."
Walking out of school last week:
Becca: "Katy Perry is going to sing at the superbowl."
Me: "Do you know who Katy Perry is?"
Becca: "Yeah, she's our neighbor!"
(um, not last time I checked.)
At dinner: "I know how cows get us this milk. Through their gutters!"
Our funny girl.
(in the picture above, she is showing off the body paint markers
she got for Christmas from some friends.)
she got for Christmas from some friends.)
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Jingle Bell Jukebox
Back in December, the 3rd graders at our school put on a holiday musical called Jingle Bell Jukebox. It was set in the 1950s and the kids all sang and danced to songs from that time period. Samuel's class did a dance to Yakety Yak, where some of the kids had to be the kids and some had to be the parents. He was one of the kids who was supposed to be cleaning up his room and making that dust fly with that broom. etc...:
His favorite part of the show, though, was his other song, where he got to dress up like the one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater. The class sang and danced to that song, and had some dialogue about how the Purple People Eater was not real. Samuel's role was to then appear at the end of the song, walk on stage and say "hey guys! wait for me", as the kids were running away saying "he is real!". Here is how he looked:
His favorite part of the show, though, was his other song, where he got to dress up like the one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater. The class sang and danced to that song, and had some dialogue about how the Purple People Eater was not real. Samuel's role was to then appear at the end of the song, walk on stage and say "hey guys! wait for me", as the kids were running away saying "he is real!". Here is how he looked:
He was supposed to walk down the center aisle of the auditorium and give high-fives to people sitting in the aisle (he instructed us to sit on an aisle seat for this very purpose). When he came to our row, he actually stopped and gave Becca a hug, which was so sweet. Becca really enjoyed watching the show. In the past, she has always been fine during the singing numbers, but really restless and wiggly during the talking parts of any show we have seen. This time around, she was really into it, and at the end of each number she would clap enthusiastically for the kids. She was a treat to watch. She can't wait for it to be her turn for a show next year when she is in Kindergarten.
side note: As of today, she REALLY cannot wait for it to be her turn to be in 3rd grade because today Samuel brought home a recorder from music class. She wants that recorder very badly. Not sure how we will all feel about the recorder after we have to listen to him practice on it for the rest of the year, but tonight she wanted it to be her turn very very much. Watch for an exciting blog post about Hot Cross Buns on a recorder coming soon :)
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Catching Up
I have not posted anything on our blog in months, 5 to be exact. It's hard during the school year to find the time to post, plus since we moved to a new house in September, most of our free time on weekends has been spent unpacking and doing house-related projects. I am going to post a bunch of things today that have happened since last summer.
1. Lake Michigan: we drove up and met Meg, Timothy, Erin and their families there. My kids had never been to Lake Michigan before and had an absolute blast!
2. Swim Team: Samuel was on a swim team this summer for the first time. He spent 1/2 hour each day working on different strokes, and then had a few meets throughout the summer. His favorite stroke was the butterfly.
(I'm not quite sure why Becca decided she had to throw a toy directly into his path in the above video. Just doing her job as a younger sibling, I suppose).
3 Science Central: we visited our local science museum one day over the summer. There is a giant slide there that runs down 3 stories in the center of the building. Every time we have been there in the past, Samuel has been too short to go on the slide. This time he was excited he was tall enough! There is a video below of him going down the slide, and one of Becca having fun with the Echo Tube.
4. Both of the kids had birthdays in October. Samuel had a Star Wars party for his 9th birthday, and Becca had a baking party for her 5th birthday. Samuel's party was slightly insane with 9 little boys running around bopping each other with light sabers made from pool noodles. Becca's party was quite a bit calmer since she only got to have 5 guests (and zero light sabers).
5. Halloween: Continuing our Star Wars theme, Samuel was Darth Vader and Becca was Princess Leia:
That catches us up through October. I will work on another post in a bit with Christmas things, and Samuel's musical at school.
1. Lake Michigan: we drove up and met Meg, Timothy, Erin and their families there. My kids had never been to Lake Michigan before and had an absolute blast!
2. Swim Team: Samuel was on a swim team this summer for the first time. He spent 1/2 hour each day working on different strokes, and then had a few meets throughout the summer. His favorite stroke was the butterfly.
3 Science Central: we visited our local science museum one day over the summer. There is a giant slide there that runs down 3 stories in the center of the building. Every time we have been there in the past, Samuel has been too short to go on the slide. This time he was excited he was tall enough! There is a video below of him going down the slide, and one of Becca having fun with the Echo Tube.
4. Both of the kids had birthdays in October. Samuel had a Star Wars party for his 9th birthday, and Becca had a baking party for her 5th birthday. Samuel's party was slightly insane with 9 little boys running around bopping each other with light sabers made from pool noodles. Becca's party was quite a bit calmer since she only got to have 5 guests (and zero light sabers).
5. Halloween: Continuing our Star Wars theme, Samuel was Darth Vader and Becca was Princess Leia:
That catches us up through October. I will work on another post in a bit with Christmas things, and Samuel's musical at school.
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