Rainbows!

The topic for this week is RAINBOWS!  In addition to the normal school stuff of bible time, reading, writing, spelling, math, time, money, and science, I am adding a topic of the week to our lessons.  I am blogging about it, because I will still have two more boys to teach in a few years, so it will be nice to look back and have ready made lesson plans!  I hope you are able to find a few ideas for you to do with your kids!

Day One:  We read the story about Noah.  Jocelyn has heard this story countless number of times…Katelyn is still learning it.  This story led into our topic of the week.

Rainbows aren’t just something that happens after it rains…it is a promise from God.  Read my post about rainbows for more information: http://gigglesandgumballs.blogspot.com/2010/09/rainbows.html

We discussed how rainbows are formed and the different color patterns in the rainbow.  We talked about how there is NOT a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow—or leprechauns dancing around rainbows.  

We worked on our memory verse for this week: 

Psalm 119:11:  Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. 

The girls then colored pictures of what the ark was thought to look like and a rainbow.

There are many websites out there with FREE coloring pages.  This is where I found mine: http://www.coloring.ws/noah.htm

Day Two:  We continued talking about rainbows by discussing:

Ezekiel 1:28: Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

As a craft the girls made rainbow collages.

 As a science activity I filled a glass bowl up with water and held it up to the sun.  We made a small rainbow on the floor.  Kind of hard to see, but the kids thought it was cool.

 We then made a rainbow cake.  I forgot about it in the oven as I was talking on the phone with a friend and didn’t hear the timer go off…oops…but it still turned out ok.  We decorated it the best we could with what we had.

 

 I layered it wrong, so it didn’t turn out with the exact same pattern as a real rainbow, but you get the idea.

You can visit a previous blog post to see other rainbow cakes that I have made:   http://gigglesandgumballs.blogspot.com/2010/09/cakes.html

Day Three:
We went over to a friends house to make crayons!  I will have a separate post on how this went early next week...so stay tuned.  Here are a few samples our final product though!  We also saw a rainbow outside!  Ok...it was from the water coming out of the car wash as we waited forever....turns out the car in the car wash was stalled and it took her about 10 minutes to come out and tell me...lovely...but we saw a rainbow!

This post has been linked up to Homeschool Creations blog.  Click the link below to see more blogs with many preschool activities!

Lincoln Children's Museum

We met some friends, on a freezing cold day, at the Lincoln Children's Museum.  I like the museum, but am not a big fan of the parking situation and that sometimes it is extremely busy.  If they actually had a parking lot, we would go all of the time and now that they have field trip free Tuesdays, it seems to be a lot less congested since there isn't a million unattended kids running around.  Easton is old enough this year to actually enjoy it, so I broke down and bought a membership that is good for both Lincoln & Omaha's museums.  We had a really good time and can't wait to go back.  Here are some pictures from our visit.

Weston is 8 weeks!

Time flies when you are having fun...right?  Well it has been a little adjustment to having four little kids running around here, but it hasn't been so crazy.  What is one more added to the mix!  Some friends and family who haven't met Weston yet, keep asking me how he is doing and what type of baby is he.  He is doing just fine.  I know I am biased, but I think he is just about the sweetest thing ever.  I love it when he is full of smiles and giggles.  He coos quiet a bit when we talk to him.  He still loves being held, but is getting better at just hanging out and looking at things.  He loves his daddy.  I am thinking Sean and I would be tied at a smile contest if we had one.  He is getting used to his big brother taking his binky away and tucking baby dolls in with him when he is sleeping.  He is hopefully getting used to Katelyn talking about an inch away from his face.  He loves his sissy Jocelyn...as she seems to be a really good baby whisperer.  She is a good second mommy.   At 8 weeks he weighs 12 lbs 4 oz.  Remember he was 11 lbs when he was born, but he lost a little right away and went down to the mid- 9's.  So all in all, we are enjoying our newest addition to our family...he fits right in and tags along really well with everything that we have going on!  Here is a quick video from last week of Weston with the girls and then Easton is the second video (plug your ears...you will hear Easton's high pitch scream in that one):

God Bless the USA!

As I was thinking about themes that I would like to cover with my girls for school I realized that they did not know the pledge of allegiance.  Duh!  Something I should have taught them a long time ago, since I said it every day in public school until we got to high school.  So this week we focused on learning the pledge of allegiance and did a few activities related to the United State flag and the bald eagle.

I was surprised at how easily they learned the pledge.  We worked on it for a few minutes one morning and then I found a handy dandy little website that had these flash cards that would maybe help them, but by the time we got our new printer hooked up and got new paper…the girls had already learned most of it.  Here is a picture of the flashcards.  They are kind of neat.  I found them at this website:

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/Pledge.PDF

The following 2 videos are of the girls reciting the pledge.

We also talked about the United States flag and what the stars and stripes represented.  We made a jello cake and decorated it to look like a flag….ok…we couldn’t fit 13 stripes on the cake, but you get the idea.  Yum!

 They also each made a flag....so we would have something to say the pledge to.

And finally we talked about the bald eagle…our national symbol.  We had a good discussion about the bald eagle and where it lives, what it eats, it’s nest etc.  We watched a few videos on You Tube…they really are amazing birds.  I also had to correct my 5 year because she thought that they eat people (our lovely obnoxious neighbor girl told her that).  I guess since they are carnivores and we are meat, they could maybe technically eat a person, but what child wants to run around dodging birds fearing for their life?  Anyways, I can’t wait to move onto teaching the girls about each state and other things about the United States…that will have to wait as I am not sure Katelyn is quiet ready.  Maybe sometime during the next school year.  Here is a little picture I printed out for the girls to color of a bald eagle.  I found it at this website: 

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/printouts/Eaglecoloring.shtml

This posting has been linked up to the Preschool corner at the following website.  Click on the icon below to see some more cool preschool ideas!

Patience...

Do you ever have a song stuck in your head?  Or ramble a quote or a Bible verse over and over again in your head?    I am constantly reminding myself to be patient with our little blessings.  I am constantly asking the Lord to give me strength to get through the day.  I am constantly reminding myself that nothing is impossible with God.  Here are a few quotes/Bible verses that help me get through the day.  Without Christ…nothing is possible.

“Lord, grant me patience to deal with my blessings.”

“I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”  Luke 10:27

and last 

“Nothing is impossible with God.”  Luke 1:37

So true.

And that verse just happens to be my girls’ memory verse for this week. (realized they said "without" instead of "with"....oops.) and yes they are still in their pajamas...our normal school attire.

Let it snow!

It snowed quiet a bit last week...however I was THAT mom who didn't take their kids out in the snow. because it is a lot of work getting them all dressed and I didn't want to freeze.  Yes, I regretted it the next day as the weather turned quiet frigid. So my husband called me from work yesterday and said if I wanted to take the kids out...it was the day.  I think he said it was 40 degrees.  Sure felt nice, but by the time I napped the 2 middle kids and got Weston down for a nap the snow was melting and our yard was pretty muddy...but we had a good time.  Easton loved sledding with me and the girls loved going together on the sled.  We have a pretty good sledding hill in our backyard as long as you can stop and not hit a tree or go into the creek.  The girls then went to the neighbors house and built a snowman...and as the sun started to set, they froze and whined about it.  Thank goodness for hot chocolate to warm them up!

During my day of feeling bad about not taking the kids out...we made paper snowmen instead...close enough..isn't it??

This posting was linked up with At Home with the Boys...boys in motion series.  Click my friend Erin's link below...she has a great blog!

What seems like 90% of my day...

This picture represents 90% of my day..putting things back in their shelves or drawers....well probably not that high, but it sure is close and as I write this he is behind me emptying out ANOTHER drawer.  Maybe one of these days we will get around to child proofing the house .

 But you gotta love him...he is a sweetie pie the other 10% of the time.

Minute to Win It!

We don't watch a ton of TV with the kids, but over the holiday week we caught a really fun game show called "Minute to Win It".  We all loved it and in between commercial breaks I gave the girls challenges to complete in a minute.  They were pretty easy challenges (in comparison to the show's challenges).  Some examples were find the letter "M" somewhere in the family room or find something with polka dots on it...or who can find me a diaper in one minute.  Since they had so much fun with those little exercises, I decided to implement it with school activities.  I laid out their plastic letters and formed words with our letter flashcards.  I set the timer for a minute and the girls took turns trying to find the letters that matched up with the flash cards.  To make it extra challenging the flashcards were lowercase and the letters were uppercase.  Surprisingly enough---Katelyn one this challenge.  To continue the game, I had the girls pick out blocks and they had a minute to make a sturdy tower with blocks.  We have since then, played "A Minute to Win" It several times...it is so much fun!  Oh and to make it even more fun they had a minute to race and pick up the letters and blocks-- clean-up in a quick manner!

 

This link has been linked to the preschool corner...check out her blog for some other great home school creations!

Winners of my Uppercase Living Photo Contest!

Thank you to everyone who submitted their Uppercase Living photos and to those of you who voted!  The winner of the photo contest is #8 submitted by Catherine Case....I am sure this looks cute in her daughter Carson's room!  She wins a $20 gift certificate from me and FREE shipping!  Congratulations! (Check your e-mail Catherine--You've got mail!)  

 

The 2nd winner for voting was selected by www.random.org and the number that came up was #3-- Peggy Vranish-- You also got mail!

The 3rd winner for spreading the word on the contest...is...no one!

and the 4th winner for ordering by Wednesday is....drum roll please...no one!

Not sure when another special will come around, but don't forget, buy two, get one FREE ends on January 31st!  This is a great promotion!! 

Want to earn lots and lots of free product from Uppercase Living? Contact me and we can set up a date to host a party!

Birds next craft!

I am always looking for fun crafts to do with the kids.  My aunt gave me the supplies to make mini-birds nests.  The key ingredients are chocolate almond bark, chow mein noodles, and jelly beans.  The girls made little birds to stick in the nests.  Surprisingly enough chocolate mixed with chow mein noodles = a really, really good snack.

 Melt on your hands, not in your mouth!

 

This blog was linked up to my friend Erin's blog posting: boys in motion.  Her link is below:

VOTE NOW! Uppercase Living Photo Contest!

Buy Two, Get One FREE Starts January 4....Beginning January 4 at noon MT until January 31, at 11:59 p.m. (midnight) CST, you can purchase any two items and get any additional item of equal or lesser value absolutely FREE.

The entire catalog is at:  http://jmcgee.uppercaseliving.net

To celebrate the New Year and this GREAT promotion I am having an Uppercase Living photo contest!  There are many ways that you can enter to win a prize.  

1.  

The winner of the photo contest will receive $20.00 off their entire order and FREE shipping!  Order needs to be placed by January 31^st through me.

Want more ways to win??

2.        

      Vote!  Every person that votes for their favorite entry will be entered to win a Welcome expression in the color black and 10% off an order placed by January 31^st through me.

Voting is easy…just click on at the end of my blog post with the pictures where it says “comments”.  Tell me what # you are voting for in the comments section, along with your name and e-mail address (if I don’t know who you are).  Then under the “post a comment” box, select “anonymous” where it says “comment as”.  If you can not figure out how to vote, please, please, please e-mail me.  It can be quiet tricky.  I will be happy to enter your vote for you!

3.    Another way to win??

Spread the word!  Share my blog post link on your Facebook page, through twitter, on your own blog, or through an e-mail.  Just comment on my blog that you did…please submit a separate entry for what mode you shared my link.  I will separate the voters from the people that share my link.

For those that shared my link, you will be entered to win a black Family expression.

4.         

      And YES there is even another way to win!!!

Order!  If you place an order between now and midnight on Wednesday, January 12^th I will enter you in a contest to get your shipping reimbursed and 10% off your entire order.  I will mail you a check for the amount!!

So in summary….send me your pictures of your Uppercase Living….Vote….Spread the Word, and Order!!  Come back on January 10th to vote away!

Prize for voting and spreading the word!!

Entry #1

 Entry #2

Entry #3

Entry #4

Entry #5

Entry #6

Entry #7

Entry #8