Liz 2.0

Packing Progress #wordlesswednesday

2012-05-16T07:56:00.001-04:00

My mom came over yesterday and we spent a couple hours packing up all the kids books and the rest of the homeschool classroom. It feels good to have made more progress in the packing. We're on track to move this summer.

Day Out with Thomas 2012–Mystery on the Rails Tour

2012-05-02T15:39:00.001-04:00

If you have read this blog you should know that my son is a HUGE Thomas the Tank Engine fan. One of the highlights of the last few years has been our family outings to Day Out with Thomas.

Day Out with Thomas is a super fun event for the whole family. This event is a special opportunity for your little engineer to meet the No. 1 Engine, and have their picture taken. Your child can also meet Sir Topham Hatt, the controller of the railway on the Island of Sodor.

Not only do you get to meet Thomas the Tank Engine but he will also take you on a train ride. Day Out With Thomas events are held around the country at railway museums and parks. The big blue engine will pull coaches along the tracks, puffing steam out of his funnel and tooting his whistle.

The event is more than just a train ride, you can definitely spend a whole day immersed in the the world of Thomas & Friends. Play tables with all the Thomas products you can imagine. Coloring tables and tattoos, story time, and lots of other activities will entertain your whole family.

Let’s not forget the souvenir tent. Our son has been diligently saving his money up to purchase something at the event. We nearly own every wooden railway train there is so we look to find one of the new releases each year.

Because each location of Day Out with Thomas is different they also offer their own activities and interest. Over the last three years our family has been to three different locations to see Thomas. All the volunteers and organizers do such a great job of making each Day Out With Thomas the most fun day for any engineer.

At the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum we enjoyed putt-putt, a choo choo bounce house, petting zoo, a “Rocky” crane engine demonstrations and performances from Mr. Billy and an illusionist. There were tons of food vendors and places to sit.

For an additional charge you can take a second train ride at the museum which takes you through a tunnel built in 1858 and to the engine workshop as well as a real life turn table. To see a turn table in action was super exciting and quite amazing. at the end of the line the museum volunteers invite you into the workshop where they share about the man power, volunteers, and money it takes to keep their steamies on the rails.

One of my favorite parts of the whole day was getting to explore and ride in different types of train cars. We rode as a family in an art deco styled sleeper car where there were sleeper cabins and working potties. We also rode in a former dining car. It was neat to think about how families used to travel like that all the time and in some serious style!

I will never forget the first time my son saw the life sized tank engine, his smile was so big! Getting to see your kid meet his hero and playmate is pretty amazing. Even at 5.5 years old my son is so excited to attend Day Out With Thomas again this year. He has been counting down for weeks for this Saturday. We are headed up to Chattanooga, TN to see Thomas at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. We have been to this museum once before on a non event weekend and it was so much fun for the kiddo they have a great set up and a TURN TABLE. That was a major highlight to see an integral part of my son’s train table in real life.

I think you can tell how much we love this event as a family. If you have a train fan in your household I cannot recommend this event enough.

FIND A DAY OUT WITH THOMAS EVENT NEAR YOU! PURCHASE TICKETS TODAY!

Have you been to a Day Out With Thomas event? Tell me all about it!

Giggles and Grins #wordlesswednesday

2012-05-02T14:47:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we had a blast in Chattanooga at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum at the Day Out with Thomas event. This was a capture my dad took of our family laughing so hard at something funny my dad did on the train.

Atlanta Baby and Child Expo 2012 {Giveaway}

2012-04-17T17:34:00.000-04:00

I’m not sure if I shared on the blog yet but we’re expecting our third child this fall! We are super excited to expand our family. This news makes me even more excited to attend the Atlanta Baby and Child Expo again this year. The organizer of the event has offered me two tickets to the event and she’s given me two tickets to give away to one of my readers.

This event has so many great vendors, sharing tons of information. If you’re a mom of older kids, a soon to be first time mom, or a grandparent you will surely get some great info and resources for your babies and kids.

Here are the details:

WHAT: THE premier event for expecting and new parents in the Southeast. We bring in the ultimate in parenting and baby products and professionals. It’s an elite experience, intimate in setting and not overwhelming. It’s a party for YOU, the expectant, the new parent, the grandparent and the supporting cast of family and friends.

WHEN: May 12th, 11am-3pm (VIP ticket holders get early entry, starting at 10:30am)
WHERE: Fox Theatre Ballrooms, 660 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30308

TICKETS: www.atlantababyandchildexpo.com has all the details and tickets
This event features a Maternity Fashion Show, Red Carpet Photos of attendees as they enter, a Stroller Trial Track, Cravings Corner and so much more!

LIZ’S EXPO TIP: At the expo there are tons of opportunities to sign up with companies, for raffles or mailing lists. I like to bring a few printed address labels to speed up filling out those forms.

I know you want to go and want the opportunity to win tickets right? I’m running the give away through Rafflecopter again.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disney on Ice ‘Treasure Trove’ comes to Gwinnett Arena! {Giveaway}

2012-03-13T09:44:00.001-04:00

I love attending events at Gwinnett Arena, the place is literally in my back yard. I get even more excited when great family friendly events are hosted there. Guess what is coming to the arena in a couple weeks? DISNEY ON ICE! I have always wanted to see a Disney on Ice show, my friends all tell me they are entertaining and exciting family entertainment. Having fun as a family is my definition of a good time. It sounds like Disney Princess fans will get their fix seeing a bunch of princesses, but no worries there are over 50 Disney characters featured in the show, you’re sure to see a favorite.

Here is the show’s details:

Get tangled up in Disney’s 50th animated feature with Rapunzel and Flynn and enter the worlds of
your other favorite Disney princesses –Tiana, Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Mulan and of course, the one who started it all, Snow White. Ahoy, Mateys! Set sail with Peter Pan, the always sassy Tinker Bell and the cantankerous Captain Hook and his pirate pals on an adventure beyond Never Land! Trek the wilds of Africa with Simba, Nala, Pumbaa and Timon as they discover the true meaning of the ‘Circle of Life.’ Tick-Tock! Tick-Tock! Don’t be late to a very important date with Alice and the Mad Hatter as they march with the Queen of Hearts’ Army of Cards. Relive magical moments in this ultimate Disney animation celebration coming to Duluth!

Show Dates and Times:
• Wed., March 28 at 7:30 pm
• Thurs., March 29 at 7:30 pm
• Fri., March 30 at 10:30 am and 7:30 pm
• Sat., March 31 at 11 am, 3 pm and 7 pm
• Sun., April 1 at 11 am and 3 pm

Tickets for Disney On Ice presents Treasure Trove begin at $25 and are available at
www.ticketmaster.com. Purchase non-vip tickets for opening night, Wed., March 28 for only $15! To
learn more about Disney On Ice, go to www.disneyonice.com, or visit us on Facebook and YouTube.

Okay I’m super excited about this show, how about you??

Would you like a chance to win a family four pack of tickets to the Wednesday, March 28th 7:30pm show? Enter here using this Rafflecopter widget. (bare with me, this is my first time using this widget)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Happy Hearts Homeschool Party #WordFullWednesday

2012-02-22T10:22:00.000-05:00

So last week I hosted our homeschool group’s Happy Hearts Day party. We’re a small little group so it was fun making things extra special for the kiddos. Over all I think it was a great success. Our scheduling worked out that the party itself happened after Valentine’s Day so I was able to take advantage of after holiday clearance at Target and get all my goodies at 50% off. I can’t think of a party I’ve thrown where I haven’t gotten most of the goodies at Target on clearance. It is fun to check things out and see how I might repurpose different items into decorations, goodie baskets, or crafts.

The party pretty much happened around my son’s massive train table. I love how versatile that thing is well worth the effort dh, grandpa, grandma and myself put into it! I used a plastic table cloth to cover up the kiddo’s wall decals and to make the space a bit more festive.

One of my favorite projects was making the cinnamon candy bouquet as part of the centerpiece for the table. Using plastic skewers saved from a fruit bouquet, I stuck 3 candy hearts per stick and did about 12 of them to fill up my little vase. A great decorating but a treat too! Speaking of treats one of the moms and girls made homemade candy dots that were super yummy I couldn’t stop eating them!

I had purchased the hand towels last year and used to cover the box under the tissue paper flowers and as a centerpiece on the table. The Shower curtain (also purchased last year) worked great covering the Ikea Expedit 5x5 bookcase and made for a terrific back drop for taking a group picture with their craft. If you’re a Target clearance shopper too you’ll notice the heart garland I made using the felt ornaments from the Christmas clearance.

The craft was inspired by a classic craft all of us moms remembered making when we were in elementary school little heart people. I liked this craft as it challenged the kids to try a new technique of the paper folding, and it had some familiar parts using the glue stick and coloring with markers. Each kid seemed confident and excited with how their valentine’s day craft turned out. I had all the strips cut and hearts punched the crafting time consisted of the assembly and paper folding. I really recommend this craft for this age group 5-6. I especially love getting all the discounted craft supplies after the holidays I’ve really built up a good supply for our homeschool crafting projects.

We didn’t just eat candy and craft. I had a five minute teaching of a scripture and the kids and I discussed love and how we show our friends how we love them (by hugging). Through out the party the kids had little worksheets and activities that were education based and Valentine themed so they were exercising their minds as well as having great fellowship with one another. One of activities that we did which was not included in the Valentine’s Day Printable Pack was to graph their candies. I made a quick graph with the possible colors and they sorted their heart candy by color and wrote down how many of each color they had in their goodie basket. Although the party wasn’t super long it did require the kids to stay focused and tuned in which all three did a great job! I was super impressed and proud of each one of them.

I had the moms bring lunch for the kids which relieved some pressure on me but also guaranteed each kid had something they would eat and meet their specific needs. After lunch the kids each got to decorate 2 cupcakes. One to eat at the party and one to take home in their little containers (another target find).

After the party time the kids did get time to play in our play kitchen and play a couple games as a group. The sun had come out and dried up the back yard pretty well so they got to go outside and expend lots of energy running around playing in our backyard pirate ship.

Over all I think things went really well I know my kiddo got super blessed and I too had a “happy heart” to be able to host and put this little party together.

Happy Hearts Party Prep #wordfullwednesday

2012-02-15T14:39:00.001-05:00

Our little homeschool group is getting together this Friday to celebrate Valentine’s Day and exchange Valentines. I had a friend and my mom come over and help me do a preliminary clean up of the house and I ran over to Target to pick up a few clearanced Valentine themed items. I’m putting together little goodie baskets for the kids. I’m decorating the playroom and using the kiddo’s train table as our activity/dining table. I covered his wall decals with a plastic table cloth and the playroom is starting to look like a party!! I’m making cupcakes for the kiddos to decorate and thought the little containers would make a great take away so they can take a cupcake home.

Secret World of Arrietty

2012-02-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

Is anyone else excited about this movie? I know a few kiddos my son’s age and their parents who can’t wait to get out to see this movie.

We’ve checked out a bunch of the trailer videos on YouTube and my music loving kiddo is especially loving the Summertime Music video with Bridgit Mendler.

I’ve been given the opportunity to share with you some Arrietty themed activity sheets! Check them out here:

THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY opens in theaters everywhere on February 17th! Are you planning on seeing this movie?

Family Fun in #Atlanta #WordfullWednesday

2012-02-08T14:38:00.000-05:00

I told you last time I posted about the Laughing Pizza event down at the Georgia Aquarium. We had a great time as a family watching a great mini show from the people at Circus Camp, the Laughing Pizza movie, a live performance, and a meet & greet with Laughing Pizza. Oh yes and getting to watch those super fun beluga whales.

I especially loved how “small” the crowd was at this event. Although the room was full it was a much more intimate venue than say the Georgia Dome or another arena. It really made for a great time for our family. Many thanks to Michelle @ Macaroni Kid for providing the opportunity for our family to attend.

The kiddo got to walk the red carpet.

There were lots of great vendors and sponsors of the event. The major sponsors were B98.5 & Shumate, and of course the Georgia Aquarium.

We loved that Circus Camp had performers out in the lobby entertaining the kids while we waited for the doors to open. They also put on a great show for all of us before the movie started. I’ll tell you their show really made me want to runaway to Circus Camp too!

The OMG Booth had a great set up, letting all the guest get their pictures taken with word bubbles containing Laughing Pizza lyrics. So much fun!

Photo Credit: OMGbooth.com

Don’t forget to “like” Laughing Pizza on facebook to score a free download!

After the live performance we got in line to have the kiddo’s CD signed. That was lots of fun and very exciting.

Photo Credit: Laughing Pizza.com

Since our little girl has started walking she thinks she can go anywhere. I kept her contained most of the time but once the event was over we watched the beluga whales for a while and both kids just loved how playful the whales were. They’d swim right up to the window and then quickly turn away, make a big circle and come back again. One even pooped right in front of us! All the kids squealed at that.

We opted not to go from the premiere to the aquarium since we had already pushed little girl past her nap time by a couple hours. We love the aquarium and definitely want to go back real soon.

The Ballroom at the Georgia Aquarium is such an amazing venue and this event for families was a great fit. And if you get the opportunity to attend family event like this it is well worth the money!!

Laughing Pizza at the Georgia Aquarium

2012-01-27T08:45:00.001-05:00

Is there anything more Atlanta than our favorite musical family at our favorite family destination?

That’s right Laughing Pizza is hosting a film premiere event at the Georgia Aquarium!!! My five year old and almost one year old love to dance and Laughing Pizza’s songs come on in between their favorite pbs kids shows, it is adorable to watch them jump up and down and shake to the music.

A little bit about the band:

Laughing Pizza is a real family band who write and perform all original pop-music for families. This mom, dad, and daughter trio travel across the nation performing at theatres, museums, music festivals, nightclubs, schools, and other venues. Lisa and Billy (the mom and dad) are both classically trained musicians and former music teachers with a history of success in the grown-up music business. Emily, their 15-year-old daughter, plays multiple instruments including flute, drums, guitar, piano, and bass – and co-writes all of the Laughing Pizza songs with her parents – all while attending school online and crafting the new Laughing Pizza clothing line!

A little bit about the event:

Atlanta's family-favorite musical group, Laughing Pizza, invites families to the grand Oceans Ballroom at Georgia Aquarium for a one-time, VIP family film premiere Saturday, Feb. 4 at 11:00 a.m. The award-winning band and world’s largest aquarium are teaming up for the world premiere of Laughing Pizza: The Concert Movie as well as a live performance by Laughing Pizza after the screening.

Beginning at 11:00 a.m., guests will get the “red carpet treatment” with photographs, spectacular views into the world’s largest aquatic habitat, Ocean Voyager, as well as views into the charismatic beluga whale habitat from within the grand Oceans Ballroom. There will also be entertainment by Atlanta's own Circus Camp and more. The VIP screening of Laughing Pizza: The Concert Movie, will begin at 12:00 p.m. (The film has already won 5 out of 5 Doves from the Dove Foundation, and was endorsed by the Parents Television Council.) After the screening, Laughing Pizza will perform a few of their hits, and guests will have the opportunity to meet Billy, Lisa and Emily, up close and in person!
Laughing Pizza is a real family band that writes and performs all original pop-music for families. Their music videos can be seen every day in more than 18 million homes on PBS stations and TV On-Demand channels around the country. This mom, dad and daughter trio (from right here in Smyrna!) travel across the nation performing at theatres, museums, music festivals, nightclubs, schools, and other venues – including the White House (with Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers). Their live performances are energetic, interactive, dance-filled shows that get kids and parents up and moving, and they have a loyal following all across the country.

When:

February 4 at 11:00am

Where:

Georgia Aquarium in the Grand Oceans Ballroom

How to get tickets:

VIP Red Carpet Premiere tickets include admission to the film, live performance by Laughing Pizza, meet and greet with the band, and red carpet festivities. VIP Red Carpet Premiere tickets are $15 (Children under 1 years old are free).

For an even more spectacular experience, guests can upgrade their tickets to the VIP Red Carpet Premiere Plus ticket, which includes admission to the premiere and its events, as well as admission to the Aquarium and the 3:30 p.m. showing of AT&T Dolphin Tales. VIP Red Carpet Premiere Plus tickets are $34.95 for adults and $28.95 for children. Children ages 1-3 years old need only a film pass, as they are admitted to the Aquarium for free. Premiere Plus Combo tickets are ONLY available until Feb. 2nd ($10 per ticket savings).

Online ticket purchases for the show event itself are through Feb. 3rd online, then tickets must be purchased at the door only.
For more information and to purchase tickets, CLICK HERE. The event is sponsored by Shumate and B-98.5FM. A portion of all proceeds will go to The Georgia Aquarium’s SEA Program.

The VIP Red Carpet Premiere Plus ticket is a fantastic deal you get the whole aquarium experience after a super family show.

Happy Hearts–Valentine Inspiration

2012-01-18T11:19:00.000-05:00

I am super excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day in our homeschool this year. I have such great memories of celebrating this holiday in my elementary days.

We’d pick out the just right pack of valentines from the store (the cheap ones without licensed characters LOL) write our name on the back and put them into those cheap little envelopes with a conversation heart stuck in there with the note. We’d have our class list and we’d work down the list writing each classmates name onto the envelope, making sure each kid got a treat.

I remember at some point becoming really aware of what each thing said and making sure the valentines and conversation hearts that were for my boy classmates didn’t say “love” or “kisses” HAHAHA.

Another memorable part of celebrating Valentine’s Day in elementary school was making our mailboxes. Wrapping a shoe box in construction paper and writing my name or cutting it out and gluing it onto the box along with lots of hearts and stickers. That was such a fun craft project that made the holiday extra special.

The kiddo and I are hosting a valentine party at our house for 2 of his homeschool buddies and their moms. I’ve been having too much fun searching the web for inspiration. I’ve compiled a big pin board over on pinterest all about Valentine’s Day, Love, and Happy Hearts.

I’m also hosting a Valentine Swap with friends and family. The kiddo and I will be sending out one Valentine for everyone who commits to sending us one. It is similar to the Christmas Ornament exchange I’ve done in the past. If you’re interest in swapping valentines with us leave me a comment below and I’ll invite you to the event.

I’m excited that we will be crafting together and making handmade valentines for all of our friends and learning more about love, friendship, and caring for those special people in our lives.

Are you doing anything to prepare for this special day? If you’re looking for a quick Valentine for coworkers, family, or your class check out my Free Printable Valentines.

Printable Valentines Day Cards {Freebie}

2012-01-12T15:14:00.000-05:00

Next month as you all know there is a little holiday all about LOVE. I’m excited to celebrate this year just thinking of those I love and making hand crafted valentines. My son and I will be hosting a little Valentine’s Day Party at our home for a couple of my homeschooling moms and their kids. I’m getting lots of inspiration from this site.

I love that it is so easy these days to find fantastic inspiration for crafts and diy projects on Pinterest. I found this great hand colored and hand designed hearts. I loved the look of them and wanted to design a few myself, using the computer as my medium of choice!

The hearts come fully colored and all you need to do is print on white cardstock. Once you cut out the hearts you can give them as is, or you can do what I did. I chose coordinating solid colored paper (Staples brand Brights paper) and glued the cut hearts. Then cut around the heart leaving a little colored edge. If you fold your background paper in half and glue towards the folded edge you could have a card that opens. You could just leave these as flat cards too. Speaking of Pinterest, I also got all my color combinations from searching the site. There is just so much inspiration over there!

{THE FREEBIE IS RIGHT HERE}

Click image to go to download page

You can download your own copy of the Free Printable Valentine Cards HERE.

If you’re a Pinterest junkie like me and you want to pin this post please do!

Pin It

I’d love to see how you use these printable heart valentines to share the love this holiday. Leave me a comment and a link!

I’m playing along with Project Pinterest with this post, come link up with us.

Winter Tree Craft

2012-01-11T13:59:00.000-05:00

One of our homeschool goals for January was to make 6 crafts. Here is one that we accomplished today. The kiddo really liked tracing his hand during the Autumn Tree Craft and asked to do it again. This time we made a winter themed scene. We discussed what we think of winter, and what trees look like in winter. Thus our traced hand tree has no leaves, the ground is white with snow and we have a snow man. The kiddo’s cutting is getting better.

We used glue stick to make dots on the blue construction paper then sprinkled glitter on them to make falling snowflakes. This was fun! Our first time using glitter and the kiddo exclaimed “It is so glittery…I guess that’s why they call it glitter!” HAHA We did pretty darn good with the glitter too didn’t get to out of hand and all over the place.

I’m really excited to have done a winter themed craft that is a companion to our Autumn Tree Craft from September. I can’t wait to complete a spring tree and a summer tree. I envision framing each one for the playroom. Here are our two completed hand print trees hanging next to each other.

Happy Crafting!

"Time" for school #wordfullwednesday

2012-01-04T09:46:00.001-05:00

Happy new year! We've started back to school this week and one of the topics we're working on is telling time and reading a clock.
This topic had been a challenge for my five year old, and myself in teaching it. We've been working on time on and off for a few weeks.

Through this lesson, I've continued to learn more about how to approach challenging topics with him. He often wants to give up when he doesnt get it right away. Since it was his interest that prompted learning about time at this age, I did not allow us to put it on the back burner. I continued to encourage him to take his time and think back to the basics, which one is the hour hand, which is the minute hand, etc.

A challenging part of learning to read the correct hour was that the hour hand didnt stay pointed at the hour. When the hour hand would get close to a new number we discussed how to identify which was the right number. Since we've previously learned counting by 5's, he uses that skill to count out the minutes, which has been pretty successful.

On Monday I set up a quiz using flash cards, he was to fill in the blanks woth the correct hour and minutes. He was reluctant at first as he didn't want to get some thing wrong. Again encouragement and patience was my approach, and not letting him give up. Once he made up his mind to attempt the problems he used the strategies we worked to correctly read the clocks. Once he "got it" he was ready to do another round. He was proud of himself, and I was proud too, especially seeing him work through the mental blocks that often stop him from trying.

I am reinforcing this lesson by asking him to tell me the time throughout the day. We will soon learn to memorize the minutes associated with the numbers on the clock without counting by 5's. Also we will be learning the different ways to say the time, like "quarter after two".

I'm still enjoying homeschooling this little guy, seeing things click in his mind and seeing him grow and overcome challenges is quite amazing.

2011 Holiday Gift Guide {Guys & Gals}

2011-12-01T16:03:00.000-05:00

I thought I’d share some of our must give gifts this year.

Check out all the lists: Guys & Gals / Boys & Girls / Babies / The Whole Family / The Grands

For the Guys

Mini Microscope for iPhone

Like we need another reason to ~~need~~ want an iPhone! How cool is this mini microscope attachment! I’m thinking the gadget loving guy would love this for his iPhone 4. This is available from the Discovery Store shop.

Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2012

We have the 2010 version of this game for our Wii and the gun that goes with it. All the men in our family love testing out their hunting skills. Definitely a fun

A Round of Golf

Or as my hubby said “permission” to play golf. HAHA I guess I’ll need to make a coupon for that one. I’m sure any of the guys on your shopping list would love a gift certificate plus the time off to enjoy it! Around our neck of the woods we have a bunch of courses to choose from.

For the Gals

ARTISTRY® essentials hydrating botanical spa collection

What woman doesn’t like to be pampered? A quite house, a hot bath, and a good book? Sounds about perfect. My beauty and pampering expert, Katie, highly recommends this set of body wash, body scrub, and body butter. (she also sells it!) Pair this set with a guaranteed night off (and maybe a bottle of wine) and your gal will be thrilled.

Search Item #110743

Scentsy Candle Warmer

I have one sister who is studying to be a minister and will be living with roomies for a while and another who is living in a small apartment. The scentsy wickless candle system is just perfect for them! No flame to worry about while living in a dorm. These alternative candles just plug in and melt the wax releasing the aroma into the room. There are tons of different scents and warmer designs that will fit any personality or design style.
My Independent Scentsy Consultant: Kimberly Rose

Nick and Nora PJ’s

If you’re gal is anything like me she’ll love these super comfy flannel jammies. Each year I treat myself or the hubby does to a new set. They are my winter wardrobe around the house. Even after a bunch of washings they’re still my favorite. I also love the fun and funky patterns that come out each year. You can get a set at Target. They also sell children’s sized pj’s if you like the family to match.

2011 Holiday Gift Guide {Boys & Girls}

2011-11-27T13:08:00.000-05:00

Here is a list of great items my family loves or would love to have this holiday season. I’m sure you already know the hottest items on everyone’s lists I’ll try to introduce you to some unique and different gift ideas for everyone on your shopping list.

Check out all the lists: Guys & Gals / Boys & Girls / Babies / The Whole Family / The Grands

Here are a few gift ideas for the boys and girls in your lives. I’ve separated the lists but as we all know girls and boys love to play and any of these gifts could be given to either

For Boys

Z-Curve Bow by Zing Toys

is one of our favorite outdoor toys in our family. We purchased this a few months back and have enjoyed setting up targets around the back yard and running our own “Top Shot” challenges.

It takes a bit of coordination to get the arrow hooked onto the bow but my five year old seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly.

Age: 6 - 15 years
Shoots over 125 feet / left or right handed / arrows made of soft, safe foam

We also own the Zing Shot which is super fun and very easy for young hands to operate.

Chuggington Wooden Railway Series by Learning Curve

We are huge train fans in our house. We especially, Thomas the Tank Engine. Since we nearly own every piece of the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway series. Our five year old was excited to see they now make Chuggington (a disney junior television show) play sets that are compatible with his other wooden trains. The engines in this series are of the same great quality as the Thomas trains we’re used to. I personally love the vibrant colors. Age: 3+

Trackmaster Cranky and Flynn Save the Day Playset

You know my kiddo is a huge Thomas & Friends fan and he’s started his Trackmaster collection. Cranky (the crane) has been one of his favorite characters and his wooden Cranky gets lots of play. This Cranky Crane is 29” tall and is remote controlled operated, and what boy doesn’t love a remote! My kiddo loves that Cranky can lift up a whole engine.
In case there is a fire, Cranky can drop a special crate and Flynn the fire engine comes to the rescue
Includes cargo, cargo car, docks, loading destination and a complete loop of track
Age: 3+

For Girls

Cabbage Patch Kids Vintage Dolls

I am a sucker for vintage toys! I love finding toys from my childhood and introducing them to my kids. This year one of the hot toys are the vintage inspired Cabbage Patch Kids! They have that familiar yarn hair and fabric bodies. Even the packaging is classic CPK. I can’t wait to introduce this childhood favorite to my daughter in a couple years. I still have a few of mine tucked away in the garage. It looks like they have 4 different dolls available. Age: 3+

Trunki (Ruby) by Melissa and Doug

We are super big fans of our Trunki (Sunny). Our kiddo loves to pack up all his toys to take to Grandmas or on vacation. The hidden compartments are just right for storing those little treasures. Our five year old loves riding around the house on it.

Age: 3+

Berry Sweet Kitchen

I’m a big fan of play kitchens and another throw back character from my childhood Strawberry Shortcake is back! How cute is this kitchen!
;The stovetop creates magical sounds as you cook – the frying pan sizzles, a cooking pot boils, and the tea kettle whistles to let you know the tea is ready! Includes kitchen playset, frying pan, cook pot, tea kettle, plates, cups and three cooking utensils.
Ages 3+

Dare to…be thankful

2011-11-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

I’m joining in on the Dare to DIY blog party hosted by NewlyWoodwards

For the next few weeks she has picked themes for the diy challenges.

This week’s theme is:

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 14

Dare to… be thankful!

Take some time making your own DIY Thanksgiving project. It could be a fun Thanksgiving advent calendar, a banner or something completely unique. Post about what you made, how you made it and photos in its new home.
(Last year's)

I took my inspiration from the uber talented Becky Higgins, in 2010 she made a grateful poster that was set out for all her family to write on.

Photo Credit: Becky Higgins.com

Now that my oldest is able to write his letters I wanted to start this tradition this year. I used a chipped frame that we had lying around the house and a piece of poster board trimmed down to size. I used my old school Sizzix Die Cutting machine to punch out the letters for Thankful, out of some brown cardstock I had in my craft supplies. The hardest part was getting the letters lined up and glued on looking straight. Each of us picked a color to write our blessings on the board. It has been fun to see what makes my 5 year old thankful. Like, eating 3 candy, arbys, outside, look mom is on there too!. He also is very excited to have such a large writing area and as you can see likes to write super big!

The poster sits low on the wall so that my son can easily reach and write. I sit the pens on top and that is working pretty well. It sits right outside our bedrooms and is visible from our living room. I like having it in a high traffic area so we are reminded to be thankful and to document those blessings.

My goal is to make one of these each year on Nov 1st and keep it going until Christmas or the new year. It will be fun to look back and see what we were thankful for at different points in our lives.

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When you Take the North “Poll”

2011-11-10T19:35:00.000-05:00

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

Bring on the Taffy and Corn on the Cob #wordlesswednesday

2011-11-02T19:48:00.001-04:00

Today was a big day for my sister she got her braces off! The kiddo and I made her this card and gave her a pack of gum. Her orthodontist is so cool he gives out free headshots to all his patients getting their braces off. (I love that!)

Have you ever worn braces?

I can READ! #wordFULLwednesday #homeschool

2011-10-26T14:33:00.001-04:00

The kiddo completed his Kindergarten reading program.! We’re super proud of him and more importantly he is proud of himself!

The reading program we used was the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Kindergarten we have an older version that is cd based, the newer versions have DVDs.

I highly recommend this learn to read program! It was super effective for our son. He could recognize his letter since he was 20 months. We supplemented learning the sounds of each letter with the LeapFrog: Letter Factory DVD –this DVD makes learning the sounds so easy. Using the CD’s with the Hooked On Phonics program and that DVD he really learned the sounds inside and out, which is critical to moving forward. We had started using the program a little bit last year but did not set aside time every day to do it. we kind of stalled out on page 23 and the kiddo’s interest wasn’t there so we cooled off for a bit.

During the summer my teacher friend came by to help me think through lesson planning and talk about what the kiddo should know as a kindergartener. She shared with me some really great techniques to help encourage him in his reading as well as build his confidence in his practicing.

One of the challenges was that he would get jumbled on a word and start guessing. The solution was to take a piece of cardstock and cut a hole in it, this allowed him to see one word at a time instead of a whole page of words that might be intimidating or overwhelming.

The second solution helped to keep him motivated to get through a review page where there might have been 20+ words. She suggested skittles but I had gummy bears on hand so at the end of each line we’d put a gummy bear and as he completed it without error he’d get a treat. If he missed a word we moved on and then came back to that line so he could try again. We’re still using that technique.

When we sat down and started our school year in September we were sure to set aside time each day to work with the program. So in approximately 1.5 months he’s gone from simple words like pad, pat and pan to reading whole stories!

The techniques that my friend shared were instrumental in getting us past page 23! Seriously I almost cried that day. It was a victory for both of us!!

The reading journey chart (shown in the top picture) really motivated him to keep going. He had never been one to like sticker rewards (like with potty training) but during this program that clicked and he was super excited to earn a sticker for each accomplishment.

HOP now makes the K, 1st & 2nd Grade learn to read series on DVD they’re a bit different because you do your learning through the TV. I really prefer the CD approach over the DVD it fits into our learning style better, and it helps us achieve our goal of less TV time. The only downside to the CD versions is that mine came with software that is not compatible with my windows 7 machine. I haven’t taken the time to write the HOP people to see if there are any updates, the kiddo’s learning was not hindered because he didn’t have the software.

Well that’s my wordless—er wordFULL Wednesday post. Are you homeschooling? Do you have any interest in teaching your kids to read?

Family Fun at Burt’s Pumpkin Farm

2011-10-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

Last week we had my husband’s parents in town for a whole week which was such a treat! We stuck to our normal routine for most of the week--chiropractor, homeschool, errands, etc. Plus it got super cold last week and I don’t like taking my babies out when it is damp and icky. So we stayed inside most of the week.

Friday Ken took off from work and took us all (including my mom) up to the North Georgia mountains to Burt’s Pumpkin Farm and to an apple orchard. He had heard about the pumpkin farm from coworkers and I had just recently read the review from couponsaregreat.net, so I knew it was just the right place to go.

The morning started out a bit rocky, we got out later than we had wanted, and got some breakfast on the way. We got to Burt’s around 11:30am which was a decent time on a Friday the main parking lot was still half empty and we got a spot right up front. Since there wasn’t too many people at this point the pumpkin farm was very stroller friendly (YAY).

There were so many pumpkins!! In all sizes and colors! This was the kiddo’s first time at a pumpkin farm or patch. I had only been to one once before in a church’s parking lot. The kiddo and I were both super impressed with ALL the pumpkins!! Rows and rows of big and small and white and orange pumpkins!

Of course I took a gratuitous amount of photos of the kiddos sitting in the middle of a bunch of pumpkins! Even though it was still super chilly it was pretty nice in the sunshine.

They had a cute little hay stack for taking photos, which we did. Thanks mom for taking these! I was pretty distracted by the cold weather I forgot to take a photo of the kiddos with Ken’s parents. OOPS!

We decided to go on the hayride, I remembered from the coupons are great post that you sat right on the hay, so we verified that there were no seats in the wagons. This was a disappointment, having brought 3 grandparents with us on this trip 2 of them couldn’t ride the hayride because they would not have been able to get up and down, from basically the floor. However I thought the hayride was the best part of the whole place. It cost us $5 a person to ride, and I felt it was well worth the cost. The ride was about 20 minutes with lots of scenery and a pretty comfy ride. Baby girl really loved eating the hay HA! At the end of the ride you go past the parking lot and we noticed it was completely full (about an hour since we’d arrived).

After the ride we grabbed a wheel barrel and went to go pick out our pumpkins. We purchased one for each person in our family. I had fun chatting with the kiddo about what attributes he was looking for in a pumpkin: bumpy/smooth, short/tall, orange/yellow, etc. He did a great job finding a pumpkin with in budget (under $10) and that he liked aesthetically.

We loaded up our pumpkins and checked out. I’ll tell you about our adventures at the apple orchard in another post.

Have you ever been to a pumpkin farm? Do you have a favorite pumpkin patch/farm in your area? Share your links in the comment’s I’d love to see what fun you and your family are having this autumn.

Pumpkin People #wordlesswednesday #homeschool

2011-10-19T17:10:00.001-04:00

This week in school we've been blessed to have my husband's mother as a guest teacher. She is retired teacher, turned banker.

When we picked her up on saturday we all chatted about the grades she taught over the years. She shared that she taught 3 & 4 year olds and 3rd, 4th, 5th grades and science and math for 6th graders. The kiddo then asked "but grandma, do you know how to handle 5 year olds?" Lol

Today we all did a fun jack-o-lantern craft. We stuck them up on the board and the kiddo drew bodies for our pumpkin people.

Trick or Treat Bags #wordlesswednesday

2011-10-12T13:12:00.000-04:00

My wordless (word full) post this week is on our recycled t-shirt trick or treat bags! We’re selling these bags for $3 each plus shipping. They are the perfect addition to any trick-or-treater’s costume! Message me if you’re interested. To see more pictures check out my Trick or Treat Bags facebook album.

Writing Letters #wordlesswednesday

2011-10-05T19:31:00.001-04:00

We had a geat day of school today. The kiddo learned a bunch of new reading words in the hooked on phonics workbook. We've been practicing his writing on lined paper and how each letter works with the lines. Today we worked on writing whole words in sentences by writing letters to his aunts who live out of state. He did geat sounding words out, including cincinnati! One of his sight words is "of" can you guess how he sounded out the word love? Hehe it made me giggle.

Autumn Tree Craft #wordlesswednesday

2011-09-28T14:49:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we learned and discussed how and why the leaves change color. We reinforced that lesson today with a fun fall themed craft.
First we traced his hand and part of his arm to make our paper tree. He practiced his cutting skills, he has definitely improved but still needs practice. (It doesn't help I can't seem to tell if he is left handed or right handed.)
We then explored the whole yard in search of the prettiest leaves. We glued the leaves to our tree and voila!
Now I want to save this for his school album. Any suggestions on how to preserve road project? I was thinking laminating?