Books of the Month: Classics

This month, J’s been into some oldies but goodies for sure!  I love a good book that passed down from generation to generation…just like these book have been.

Three Little Kittens

This book is very sentimental to me.  You see, this was a book I loved as a little girl.  I remember curling up with my Grandmother as she read it to me.  When she passed away several years ago I kept this book for the memories.  Now, I get to share the same book with my son.

Three Little Kittens tells the story of 3 Kittens who lose their mittens (and they begin to cry). It has an easy flow to it and is a fun story for little ones.  J has actually liked this book for a while now. 

 

The Little Engine That Could

Yet another book that I remember reading as a child.  It was a favorite book, and one I never forgot.  When I saw it at a used bookstore recently, I knew I had to have it.  $5 later, the book was mine!  This book has been read a thousand times this past month around here.  J loves it and he talks about the poor clown and the engine that could. 

 

Do you have any books from your childhood that you enjoy reading with your children?

 

Come on over to Facebook and Twitter to see what else I’m up to!

Kids in the Kitchen: Ma’s Marvelous Sheet Cake

My grandmother, Ma (as we called her), was a fantastic cook.  However, I’ve noticed that almost all of her recipes call for at least one whole stick of butter…if not two, or three, or four!  Gotta love good southern cooking!  For health reasons, I don’t make her recipes on a daily basis.  But, there’s nothing better than bringing out a good one for a special occasion.

Her sheet cake was by far her favorite cake to take to friend’s houses and any sort of get together.  Nothing reminds me more of her than this cake.  So, when we got an invitation to a BBQ, I knew exactly what to make. 

Homemade Toys @ The Weekly Kid’s Co-op.

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I am obsessed with Homemade Toys.  I must admit that it’s been a while since I made something fun for J.  Pregnancy takes all the creativity right out of me!  So, I was thrilled when I saw some great homemade toys linked up last week.  Now, I have some great inspiration to help me out of my funk!

Play in the Rain

It’s raining.  Your kids are running a muck or watching endless amounts of TV.  Everyone’s a bit bored and getting a case of cabin fever.  Oh, if only the rain would go away!

Break up the boredom! Go outside anyway and have some fun! 

Homemade Finger Paint

So, it rained and rained the other day.  I wasn’t really prepared to spend the entire day inside, so I had to come up with some fun activities for J and I so we didn’t go stir crazy.

I decided that making our own finger paints was the way to go.

A Walk in My Shoes

I am thrilled to be a part of the In {Her} Shoes series over at Crayon Freckles!  Head over there today to see what it’s like in my shoes.  I feel like a wrote a lot, but sometimes I have a lot to say!  Hope you read it and enjoy learning some more about me!



Since I’m sharing so much today, I thought I’d share a bit more here.  My bloggy friend, Krissy from B. Inspired  Mama, shared a lot about herself a few weeks ago, and I’m totally going to copy her idea!  She nominated me for the “One Lovely Blog Award”, where I have to share 7 things about me.  A few months back, another one of my friends, Jen from Plain Vanilla Mom, nominated me for the Liebster Award.  I was right smack in the middle of our cross country move, so I didn’t do a post about it.  So today, I’m combining the two! 

Baby Play at The Weekly Kids Co-Op

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I thought that I would feature some of my favorite baby play posts from last week’s linky party since I announced my pregnancy yesterday.  After all, I’m going to need some of these great ideas in a few months!

An Apology and An Announcement

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you might have noticed that I’m not posting as much as I used to.  When I started the blog, I made an effort to blog every day.  Now, I’m only posting 2-3 times a  week….oops. 

I do have a good excuse though…I’ll let J explain why.

Yep. that’s right…I’m preggo, and I’m super excited about it!!!

Not only does pregnancy take all of my energy, it also seems to zap the creativity right out of me.  I’ve been trying hard to find new, fun activities to do with J, but I’m struggling.  Therefore, I’m not blogging as much as I’d like to.  It doesn’t help that I usually blog during J’s nap, which has turned into my naptime too!  I forgot how exhausting the first trimester is!  Good thing is that I’m almost done with that stage and am already starting to get my energy back.

I’m so excited about sharing my pregnancy journey with you and then sharing lots and lots of baby play ideas with the new little one!

Picks, Jewels, and Play Dough

One of the best things about homemade play dough is that it lasts forever!  I recently brought out my blue glitter play dough that I used a few weeks ago.  I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, so I just grabbed a few fun things for J to stick into the dough.  I wanted to use bendy straws, but I somehow misplaced them.  While digging through my cabinets I found toothpicks and I thought they would be a good substitute.
So, I laid out the dough, toothpicks, jewels (that we use for almost everything), neon cups, and a spoon.  I put it all on a cookie sheet to contain everything.

If You Give A 2 Year Old A Camera

During the move, we found an old camera that we don’t use anymore.  I immediately handed it over to J.  Something in me knew that he would love to have a camera of his own to take pictures.  Well, I had no idea it would be one of his all-time favorite toys…and that he’d practice some great skills too!

Kid’s Co-op Features

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Thanks to everyone who linked up last week.  Man there were a ton of great posts (like always)!  Here are the three really jumped out at me. 

Foil River

I first saw this foil river over at Little Panda’s Playschool and fell in love with it.  I pinned it forever  ago but am just now getting to doing it with J.

I started out by making ice boats to float down the river. 

• I first taped down the small end of bendy straws in my muffin tin.
• I filled each hole with colored water
• Threw them in the freezer to freeze
• I then cut triangles out of colored paper
• Then I  punched two holes to in each triangle
• I strung the straw through the holes to make a sail.

Mommy Self Care

Today I sat and knit….instead of cleaning the house, instead of marking things off my to do list, instead of playing with my child.  I actually told him “Mommy is choosing to sit and knit, I will play with you in 10 minutes”.  You know what?  I didn’t feel a smidge of guilt.

In the Kitchen with The Kid’s Co-op!

Whew!  It’s been a busy week around here with all the 4th of July Festivities!  I did get the chance to check out the Co-op from last week.   It did not disappoint!  Make sure to check it out to see all the fun!

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4th of July Sensory Box

Yesterday I made my first trip to the local Dollar Tree since our move here.  It’s huge, and I’m in heaven!  I picked up lots of great 4th of July stuff and made a fun sensory box for J.  Everything but the beans and marbles were just $1 at the dollar store! 

25 Sensory Tray Ideas

I’ve been doing sensory boxes with J since he was 14 months old.  I usually do a new box a week and he’s now 25 months old, so I have done a LOT of sensory boxes.  I have whittled them down and have picked a “few” of my favorites. 

Don’t know why sensory boxes are such a great learning tool? Check out my Sensory Trays: Why, How, and Where? post.

Ok, let’s get to it…shall we?