A little birthday fun!

** First I need to announce the winners of my last weeks contest...thank you to Michele & Heidi for entering!  Realized after I posted that I actually made 2 extra sets...so each of you won!!!  Congratulations**  I will send you an e-mail!

Back to the topic at hand.  Jocelyn had her birthday last week and she really wanted to go to Chuck-e-Cheese.  Sean and I just rolled ours eyes...and hoped she would change her mind.  She was pretty adamant about it.  We held our breathe thinking that this would be a night were we just hope for the best and glad we got it over type of event.  I was not looking forward to the craziness of a place like this.  All of the kids running around...screaming.  Nasty pizza.  Paying a million dollars and in return the kids get a piece of candy and pencil for a prize. 

Well I was kind of wrong...on all levels.

I found a coupon.  Thank goodness for coupons.  It was good for a large pizza, 4 pops, and 40 tokens for less than $30.00.  I could handle that.  Not the million dollars I was expecting!

The pizza...it was pretty decent.  

The tokens...turned from 40 to 60 (because it was Jocelyn's birthday...and I had another coupon)...then turned to 80 because their cash register wasn't working right when I ordered.

The atmosphere was pretty calm...not a lot of kids running around besides ours.  I guess when it is the first day of school in town people don't go out...on a Tuesday night?:) 

The games...were the typical games that you see in these type of venues.  Some gave out tickets in you spinned a certain number etc.  Some were just to ride on.  All in all the kids had a really good night....and I think Sean and I did too!

Video of the girls receiving their flowers:

First day of school: 2012-2013

I am sooooo excited to start school back up with my little munchkins!  Lots to accomplish this year!  Can't wait to see how it all unfolds!

Proverbs 22:6   

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:6

  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

 

 

Check out more first day of school pictures!

Part 2: Week 6: Getting Ready for School to begin for my preschooler and tot!

This past week my friend Latrice hosted a Busy Bag Swap party at her house.  I was unable to attend because it was on the same night as Jocelyn's birthday...but I was still able to participate!!  Seven of us made busy bags for ages 18 months-3 years old and 3 year-5 year olds.  I am not sure what age group each bag was supposed to go to....so I am combining them all into the same post.

These busy bags are all super easy to make at home!  If you didn't read my yesterday's post to see how I am going to use these...click: HERE

 At the end of the post you will have the opportunity to win the 2 busy bags that I created!!!

Oh...and I don't know who made what...I only know three of the ladies...Christina, Kendra, and Latrice...so unfortunately I can't give credit where credit is due...but thanks for the bags ladies!!

Pool Noodles!  Cut them up and the kids can string them through the cord.  My boys will LOVE this!

 Sensory bags!  These are filled with all sorts of different items.  The kids can try to guess what is in them or just use them like stress reliever balls!

Puzzles!  Someone glued a picture from a magazine and pasted it on craft sticks!  Great idea!

 Little felt shapes can be laced through the ribbon!

 I made something similar before our busy bag party...still lots of fun for the kids!

 Lacing foam animals!  Easton will LOVE this!

 Touch cards!  I actually photographed only 1/2 of these.  These cards each have matches to them.  The kids can play all sorts of games like putting the other set of cards in a bag and trying to match it to the cards they can't see.  You can also talk about different textures of the cards!

 Felt faces!  They can make all sorts of faces!

Clothes Pin Number Match!  There is also a back to this card.  The kids match the number on the clothes pin with the number of dots on the card! 

 Play-do fun!  There are different pictures and the kids can add to the pictures using play-do!

 Sticker match game!  Each card has a pattern and the kids use the extra stickers to recreate the patterns!

 Straw in a hole!  The kids will stick a straw in a hole.  Doesn't sound too exciting??  Give a little one this...they LOVE it!

 These next two are mine and you have a chance to win one of each!!!

Fishing!  Each fish has a magnet inside...the kids can pretend to go fishing!

 Pipe Cleaner Creations!  There are 8 different shapes...the kids use the pipe cleaners to form the shapes on the cards!

So how do you win the last two?

All you need to do is write a comment about which one is your favorite busy bag activity (from yesterday's post or todays)...that is it!

If you can't figure out how to comment on this post....no big deal...e-mail me at julie@smcgee.net or send me a message on facebook if we are friends!  I can add a comment in for you!

Winners will be selected Saturday evening August 18th at 9:00PM CST. 

Don't forget to include your name!!!!  One winner will be selected!

Week 6: Getting ready for preschool and tot school!

I have been pretty busy over the summer getting ready for the new school year to begin!  Only a few more day left!  I am soooooo excited to get rolling again!

This week I am going to share with you a few things that my preschooler and tot (3 1/2 and 21 months...right now) will be doing while I am working with my 5 & 7 year old.  I will be working on school type things...writing, reading, counting etc with my 3 1/2 year old, but he will be required to work on little activities when he is not doing school things.

I wrote out all of the activities on popsicle sticks.  I think I am nearing 50 activities.  I figure they will play with at least 4 different activities (maybe more) each morning.  14 more activities are coming my way today!! Yay!!

They will be required to sit on this mat....quietly...playing....for around an hour.  Yes that is possible.

 Some activities are store/garage sale/consignment bought...I store most of them in the closet. 
Things include wedgets, legos, blocks, lacing cards, race cars, magnet people, puzzles, games, snap beads, and matching M&M characters....and many, many more!

Some are ones that I made up with things I had around the house.  There are a lot of different bloggers out there that have made similar activities.  

Drop pins...simple...but the boys love it!

They will count out little puff balls and put that number in the given tray...may use beads also.  This is primarily for Easton.  But Weston might enjoy just putting things in the slots.

The girls even liked this one...cut two holes in the top of a yogurt container and they stuff puff balls inside.

Glued sticky velcro on to pipe cleaners and lids...the boys can make all sorts of things now!

Tomorrow I will be showing you 16 different busy bags!!  I pick them up today!! I made 2...and made some extras for you!  So I will be having a contest going on to win my busy bags!  I might break the posts up a bit...so the contest will happen either on Thursday or Friday!!

Stay tuned!!  I hear they are really exciting!

Happy 7th Birthday Jocelyn!

I can't believe we have a 7 year old!  When I compare the numbers 6 and 7....7 seems so much older!  Not sure why though! 

I can always count on Jocelyn to lend a hand when needed.  She is always a little fireball of energy....coming up with new games and activities on the spot.  She gets excited easily about upcoming events and takes things in stride when they don't turn out the way she had imagined. She is my Jocelyn.

Happy Birthday Jocelyn Rene!  We love you so much!!

Week 5: Preparing for School to Begin!

Over the past few weeks I have been sharing with you how I am preparing for the start of the new school year!  We will be starting in 2 weeks....and I AM SO EXCITED!!! 

Last year we did school in our toy room upstairs, but all of the toys drove me bonkers!  This year we will be doing school mostly in our basement.  We will still do a lot of things around the kitchen table and in the kitchen...but most of our school things have been moved downstairs.  I like this new arrangement because I can now easily access things after the kids go to bed...the old set-up had me having to walk through the girls' room and walk-in closet to get to the toy room.  Here is a little tour around the area!! 

Here is one side of the school room!  I was thinking about moving the futon up to the toy room, but it will be a nice comfy spot for us to read and for me to sit!!

This is where I am storing most of our current curriculum.  Each of the girls have a shelf with their books.  We use the dry erase board a lot and it is at a good height for the kiddos!

A closer look!

Cans, scrapbook paper and glue...and whoola!

A little canvas art...by me!

The totes are filled with all sorts of fun toys for the boys during their quiet mat time!

A look inside the closet.  Lots of fun activities waiting to be played with!

I order wipes in bulk from Amazon and they give me a new wet wipes container with each purchase...they have come in quiet handy for school storage...there are even more fun things behind these pictured!

Easton's desk!

This was another thing I found on Pinterest...painted a yard stick yellow and attached some clips (that were painted to match the other wall)...I will hang the kids artwork on this fun little thing!

For now it just holds old pics of the girls!

 

 

This is outside of the school room.  A little corner with a computer for the kids, keyboard and laptop.  We also have to bar stools and a desk for the girls to do their work at!

   What fun things are you doing to get ready for the new school year?

Stay tuned for next week....lots and lots of ideas for the little ones....some from me...and some from 7 other moms!!