Categories
Holiday Our Family Weekend Wrap-Up

Weekend Round-Up

This weekend was pretty great. With it being Mother’s Day weekend, it was pretty relaxing for me and my hubby might have gotten me some cute gifts. 😉

So Friday was a lazy day, for sure. It was rainy and SO COLD and the babies and I just stayed in all day. We got out their instruments and we sang songs while playing. We also cuddled in our warm, comfy clothes and watched movies, read books, and colored. It was a wonderfully unproductive day.

Friday night I braved the cold and went with my sister and her best friend to dinner, shopping, and out for a couple drinks. While I was out I got a couple cute Snapchat’s from Chris and Sylas.

Saturday I definitely slept in, as did all of my kids… they’re pretty great, am I right? When we woke up, Sylas and Josie helped me make pancakes. Later, Chris took Sylas and Liam shopping for a couple grocery items and I took Josie and Peyton to buy birthday gifts for Sylas. Then we went to Tractor Supply Co. to pick out a Mother’s Day gift for my mama. There was an animal called a Brahman at Tractor Supply and Sylas was brave enough to pet him! This Brahman has a medical issue that requires expensive treatment so his owners were there collecting money for him. Sylas fell in love with the store and decided to add five more things to his already extra long birthday list.

We had fried chicken, green beans, and potato salad for dinner on Saturday, which is always an event in our house. Chris and I listen to music and sing (if that’s what you want to call it) while we cook, and it turns out to be so much fun every time. Plus, fried chicken night is EVERYONES favorite here so that’s always exciting. Chris makes the best fried chicken, I make the best green beans, and we are working together to master my mother-in-law’s AMAZING potato salad. She never measures so it’s a guessing game for us… we’ve gotten close but never gotten it perfectly.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and it was also my due date for Sylas 4 years ago, so it’s extra special to me! I don’t know why I always get emotional on his due date day, but I do. Probably because he was my first baby and I remember so vividly the way I felt when the due date came around and still no baby… he didn’t come until 13 days later. Stubborn boy lol

Chris surprised me with the best gifts… I was so surprised he nailed every gift perfectly. We had donuts for breakfast and I drank coffee out of my new mug.

We got all the kids around and went to visit my mama. Sylas and Josie made her a cute little craft. They wanted to cut out flowers and tape them to paper so I let them go to town on Saturday. LOL. I drew the flowers out for them so my mom would have some idea of what they were and then the rest was up to them. When they were finished I did write a little message on them.

We also got my mom a gift for her garden.

We came home for a nap (the babies, not parents, unfortunately) and then went to my in-laws’ house for pizza night. We got Chris’ mom flowers because she is too tricky to shop for. I had delicious wine (of course) and will be posting about it on Wednesday so make sure you come and check it out.

Mommy drank wine on the deck while everyone played. 😉
Josie played on the rocks.
Liam walked up and down the ramp with Nana.
Peyton and Chris played catch.

 

It was such a good weekend! How was your weekend?!

Categories
Friday Favorites

Friday Pinterest Favorites

It’s Fri-yay!! Good thing because it’s been A LONG week and I’m exhausted. I wish my husband was home from work already so we could cuddle (AKA, I fall asleep on him). JK because I still have to go shopping for Mother’s Day for my mama. I didn’t realize it was so soon (I know, that’s sad). Oops. Well, while I sit here and drink my third cup of coffee this morning, I’m going to share some of my favorite Pinterest posts of the week with you.

 

Cozy Coupe Town from whatmomslove.com – This is one of many sidewalk chalk play ideas posted on What Moms Love. You have to check them out because they’re pretty awesome! I love this one specifically because I know my kids will have hours of fun with it. There’s a road for them to drive their little car on, a place to stop for snacks, a parking lot, and so much more. Plus, we could add whatever we wanted to our little town to make it more unique and fitting to our life.

Fire! craft from Fumbling Through Parenthood – Sooo cute. I like this one so much. We are going camping this summer and it’ll be my babies’ first time camping so I want to get them excited about it ahead of time. I think this will definitely help get them excited because they love bonfires and we can talk about roasting marshmallows and making s’mores. Ohhhhh, now that I mention s’mores, I may just look for a s’mores craft to go along with this one. I know my babies will also love gathering sticks and bringing them in the house. Mama nevvvveeeerrr lets them do that. 😉

PJ Masks Party Decor – Sylas will be 4 years old on the 26th. Seriously, where has the time gone? We are having his birthday party at a park so I don’t think we will need too many decorations, but I do still want to make it cute and fun. I really like this idea. It’s inspired me to do streamers on three trees that are next to each other – red, blue, and green streamers – with balloons on top. Then, on the middle tree or even draped between trees I’ll hang a banner (I’ll probably make it myself) that says “Happy Birthday Sylas!”. Then I’ll just print out some PJ Masks characters and tape them all over the place in the party area. I think he’ll love it and I’m going to keep trying to come up with some cute ideas for it.

From Julie O’Neill Photography – On the topic of Sylas’ 4th birthday … this is ADORABLE. I’m definitely going to try and recreate this and it seems simple enough, right?! I highly doubt my photo will turn out as beautiful as Julie O’Neill’s but I’m going to try my best. I’ll share it with you guys when it happens. 😉

 

Alright, I hear my tiniest little monster thrashing around in his crib so that’s it for today! What are some of your favorite pins right now?! I’d love to check them out!

Categories
Toddler and Preschool Age Fun Toddler and Preschool Age Learning

Name Recognition with Caterpillar Letter Matching

We work on letters and name recognition SO MUCH. When I was working full time and my kids were with a babysitter, I felt like they were falling behind and not learning quite so much anymore. That feeling had a lot to do with me quitting my job to stay home with them. We couldn’t afford a daycare, so the littles just went with whatever friend or family member was available that day. They were taken care of, don’t get me wrong, but they were not learning anything and that was a huge issue for me. (Let me just add that my friend Nikki did watch them sometimes and she worked on learning stuff with them, but she didn’t have them often enough to really enforce it).

So, since I’ve been off work, we’ve worked on letters quite a bit. Sylas is starting preschool in the fall and I want him to know how to write his name before he starts and I want him to be able to recognize letters.

That leads us to this – Name Recognition with Caterpillar Letter Matching.

I found two objects with different size circles to use to draw the circles, one only slightly bigger than the other. I used the smaller circle shaped object to trace on construction paper and then I cut out different colored paper for each letter of their names. The first time I cut out the construction paper, my circles were too big and wouldn’t fit on the piece of paper so I had to find a smaller circle and re-cut. I used a canned good from the play kitchen and it was a perfect size.

The bigger circle is for the caterpillars head, which I traced onto a full piece of paper. I didn’t need to cut construction paper for the head because there was nothing to match. Josie did insist, however, that I make a circle for her to put on the head. I didn’t, but I would if she was adamant. LOL.

So, once the construction paper is cut out and the caterpillars head is drawn on the page, I used the same toy canned good (the smaller of your two circles) to trace five more circles onto the full page, trying my best to make it look like a caterpillar. Finally, I wrote one letter of their name in each circle and did the same on the construction paper circles, and then I added a face to each caterpillar.

I made one for both older toddlers.

It was extremely easy to make and both Sylas and Josie loved it. I wondered how Josie would like it because it’s hit or miss with her, but she LOVED it. She didn’t even need help to match the letters in her name and she did it over and over again. We talked about the letters as she worked. She would say, “what letter this one mom?” in her teacher’s voice and then I would tell her what letter it is and vice versa.

When dinner was ready I told the kids we had to be done and Sylas asked if we could save it to do it again later so I put it in a gallon size Ziploc bag (I but these from the dollar tree because they are so handy. I store everything in them haha).

This activity could be used for numbers, shapes, other letters, etc. There really is no limit to what you can match up here.

What are some of your favorite name recognition activities? I’d love to hear about them!

Categories
Big kid fun Family Activities Our Family Printables Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

Summer Bucket List Free Printable

Hey everyone!! Summer is so close I can feel it. I want my family to have the BEST summer ever. I say that every year and then lose momentum halfway through the season. I’m trying to avoid doing that this year so I created a Summer Bucket List. Creating it inspired me to create a printable (five, really) for everyone to create their own summer bucket list. My kids and husband have their own idea of what would make this summer perfect so I made a couple different versions for them to write their list out on. I bet my husband is going to write, “a whole day of doing nothing”. 😉

Summer Bucket List Blank

Summer Bucket List Clipart

Summer Bucket List Kids

Summer Bucket List Blank Sunset

Summer Bucket List Sunset

I created one version for the littles with fewer lines and more space in between each line. This is for the littles who are just learning to write and still write pretty large or the littles who may not have as many ideas as older kids and adults. I created two different versions for older kids/teenagers and adults. Then, I created a printable of my own bucket list and if you love all of my bucket list activities, you can download that one instead.

For the toddlers, I plan on asking them to “write” their own list and then going back and asking them what each line says. When they tell me, I’ll write it in for them, next to their own writing.

There are actually a bunch of other activities I want to do that wouldn’t fit on the list, so I may print myself another blank one and make a second page.

I’m so excited to share these with you! What are you going to put on your Summer Bucket List?

Categories
Toddler and Preschool Age Fun Toddler and Preschool Age Learning

Cutting Practice

Do any of you have a toddler or preschooler who loves to cut things up? I do! Sylas loves using scissors to cut any piece of paper he finds lying around. Usually, he’s pretty good about asking before he starts cutting but sometimes he just thinks the paper is fair game. It’s gotten him into some trouble a couple times. He hasn’t mastered control of the scissors yet and his cutting is usually all over the place. With him starting preschool in the fall I want him to be a little better with them. That leads us to the DIY Preschool Cutting Box.

So. Much. Fun.

 

For one of the cutting activities, I cut strips of different colored paper and then drew some lines and designs on them (see the picture for design ideas). It was literally that simple. The little one will simply use scissors to cut on the lines you’ve drawn. I did a ton of them because I knew Sylas would want to keep going forever.

Another option for cutting that I put in the box is empty toilet paper rolls, cut down to different sizes with “hair” (see picture) and faces on them. I ALWAYS save the cardboard tubes because they can be used in so many different ways. Chris was complaining that I had too many piling up so I grabbed those and tried to come up with something fun. It was DEFINITELY fun. Toddler AND preschooler approved.

I also drew shapes and letters on paper for him to cut out, as well. A little shape and letter practice built into cutting practice. I’ll take it.

I never knew how tricky it would be to teach a leftie to use scissors… I have to cut everything with my left hand when I’m showing him how. LOL

Sylas spent a long time working on everything in the box. It’s the perfect quiet time option for kids who no longer nap, or just when mama may need a little quiet time.

 

Categories
Meal Plan

Meal Plan 5/7 – 5/21

Every two weeks I spend my Saturday morning drinking coffee and making a meal plan for the next two weeks. My meal plans start on Monday, but I do all my grocery shopping on Sunday.

I use a meal plan printable that I created myself. It is perfect for the way I meal plan and is so easy to read and use. Feel free to download it for free!

Anyhow, here is our meal plan.

Mon: Skilled Pork Chops with Fried Potatoes
Tues: Leftovers/anything – we do this on some baseball nights when we won’t be getting home until late. We keep little things in the freezer and pantry for the kids to have for dinner when we don’t actually have time to cook, or they can eat leftovers from the day before.
Wed: Baked Ziti with Ricotta and garlic bread
Thurs: Bean burritos with tortilla chips
Fri: Fried chicken, potato salad, and green beans
Sat: Ribs, corn on the cob, and macaroni salad
Sun: Pizza
Mon: Brinner (Breakfast for dinner).
Tues: Crockpot chicken tacos
Wed: Chicken taco stuffed potatoes
Thurs: Crockpot Philly cheese steak
Fri: Pesto and mozzarella grilled cheese with tomato soup
Sat: Beer bratwursts and corn on the cob
Sun: Pizza

We love to cook on the grill when it’s nice out so both Saturdays will be food cooked on the grill. Corn on the cob is also something we have ALL THE TIME in the summer, and the recipe I linked to is one I’ve literally been using for YEARS. It’s sooooo good. Try it out!

I’m on a hunt for a yummy tomato soup recipe that is easy and doesn’t require a million ingredients. If you know of any, please let me know!! I’ll be forever grateful. 🙂

What is on your meal plan for the week?

Categories
Toddler and Preschool Age Fun Toddler and Preschool Age Learning

Alphabet Bingo

My kids have been way into their Bingo games lately and it seemed like the only version we didn’t have is an Alphabet version. Well, I changed that this morning! I made one by hand. I probably could have easily created one to print out but it was just easier to freehand it. I wasn’t sure how well my kids would enjoy this but they LOVED it. Sylas especially. It was perfect for matching the letters and also working on recognizing them. We used cheerios at our bingo markers. A bunch of them were eaten by Josie but that’s okay.

   

So to make this game, I cut squares out of orange paper. You can use any color you want, of course. Then I used a pencil to draw lines, creating 16 boxes. Four vertical lines and four horizontal. When I was content with my lines (they’re still not perfect but that’s okay), I drew over them with a black marker. In the boxes, I wrote letters. I made two boards and I made sure to get all 26 letters somewhere on the two of them, then I filled in the extra boxes with letters that weren’t on that board yet.

Then I cut out 26 small pieces of paper and wrote one letter on each piece of paper. I put these pieces into a small bowl and began pulling slips of paper from the bowl. I read the letter aloud and asked if either of the kids had that letter. Sylas was able to recognize quite a few letters without having to match my piece of paper to the letters on his board, and Josie was able to identify ‘A’ and ‘J’ without matching. For the letters they didn’t know, I sat my piece of paper with the letter on it in between their boards and let them match it up.

This is seriously my new favorite way to learn letters. I really feel like it’s going to help them learn, and they have a lot of fun playing. I didn’t want to reward them with candy or anything like that so I just excitedly announced the winner and that was enough for them. Then I let them eat their cheerios.

Tell me about some learning games you’ve created for your littles!

Categories
Craft Holiday Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

Mother’s Day Crafts

Every year I ask my mom, “what do you want for Mother’s Day?” and every year she says, “oh nothing. Maybe just a hanging basket of flowers.” And every single year I get frustrated because that is what she gets from EVERYONE! Does she really need 7 hanging baskets with flowers? No, absolutely not. But… she loves them and she is stubborn so I follow suit and get her yet another hanging basket.

I am also stubborn, though, and I refuse for that to be the only thing we show up with on Mother’s Day. This year, I kept it simple. My babies love to create artwork and give it as gifts so that’s what we did!! The babies are happy that they got to paint, I’m happy that we will be taking something more than just a hanging basket, and my mom will be happy that she got homemade crafts from her grandbabies.

To get started, I just gave the babies some blank paper and paint and let them go to town creating whatever they wanted. Once their paint dried, I turned those random paintings into something more.

These are the crafts we made for my mom this year. Sylas painted the vase with the flowers. To make this, he did free paint for the vase and when it was dry, I sketched a vase shape onto the back of it, making sure to get the coolest pattern and the least amount of blank spots from his painting and cut it out.

Next, I cut a sponge into the shape of a flower and JoJo and Sylas took turns dipping the sponge into the paint before placing the sponge on the paper. When they were finished, I added the green stems and the yellow in the center of the flowers and glued the vase on. I LOVE the way it turned out.

 

The Mother’s Day Handprint Flowers were even easier. I simply used paint for the babies handprints (Liam was not participating very well so his doesn’t look much like a handprint) and yellow hearts for the center of the flower, and Sylas helped me add the green stems and leaves.

The Mother’s Day Heart Card was Josie’s free paint craft. Once hers was done, I cut it into a heart and glued it to a piece of construction paper. On the inside, all of the babies “signed” their name.

Who says you have to go all out to make a mama (or a grandma) happy on Mother’s Day?!

Categories
Friday Favorites

Friday Pinterest Favorites

I am absolutely in love with this idea and every bit of it is inexpensive. Looking at the picture, I wasn’t sure what she used to make the lily pads and I worried about that part but reading her post answered all of my questions. The supplies are already on my shopping list for this weekend. I’m excited and I know Peyton, Sylas, and JoJo will be, too.

This shirt is so perfect. It’s cute, true, and right up my alley. Adding it to my Mother’s Day wish list. 😉

 

How cool is this? So easy, very little prep, and hardly any cleanup. No clean up at all if your kids take care of it all. 😉 We are working on letters like crazy lately so I’m always looking for new ideas. I plan on doing this on our sliding back door while I prepare and cook dinner tonight. I think it would also work for practicing name recognition and numbers, too.

I’m all about cute outfits, I just can’t put them together myself. I’m not even kidding. I used to be fashionable – before babies. Now I’m so far out of the loop that I don’t even know what’s in style or what looks good together. I either have to take Nevaeh shopping with me or I have to have Pinterest open while I shop. I am good at using Pinterest to guide me in the right direction at TJ Max. 😉 What do you all think of this outfit?

That’s it for today!! Share some of your favorite pins with me in the comments!

Categories
Craft Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

Handprint Frog

I’m a sucker for handprint artwork. I love looking back on the tiny little handprints made into some cute design. My kids have been interested in frogs lately, so we made handprint frogs!

They painted their own hand green. I let them do this part themselves because let’s face it, kids love to paint themselves so why not let them when there is a fair chance?

I helped them press their hand onto the paper so that we could get the whole hand print the first time. Sylas insisted that he do that part himself, too, so I mostly let him. I just pushed the tips of his fingers down to make sure we got the whole thing.

Once we got the handprints, I let the kids free paint while I added the little details that they are still too little to do themselves.

I added green circles with paint for where the eyes are, a green oval for where the mouth area is, and a smiley face. Then I cut out circles with white paper for the eyes. The circles for each frog were different sizes since the frogs were all different sizes. I wanted to make sure the eyes weren’t way too big or way too small for them. Then I used a sharpie to make the black part of the eye. You could also use googly eyes but I don’t have any on hand (surprising, but it happens) so I used paper.

Once the paint dried, Sylas and Josie (with my help) cut the tongue, curled it, glued it on with a glue stick, and added the eyes. We curled them by wrapping them around a pencil. I curled the tongue for Liam’s frog.

Aren’t they the cutest? I made the oval on Liam’s a little too wide so I might have to re-do his later, but I still love it!

Have your littles made any cute crafts lately? Tell me about them in the comments and leave a link if you’ve blogged about it! I’d love to see them.