The Home Teacher

Our Santa Day Adventures

2013-12-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

Last week we celebrated Saint Nicholas Day (December 6th). I thought I would share some of the ups and downs of our holiday adventure. Because believe me- while we did have fun during the day we had a lot of "blessings in disguises" (aka trials of patience).

I was super excited to celebrate Santa day with my Boo! I spent the day before combing through Pinterest and drooling all over the cute Santa crafts and treats. I picked some of my favorites, mingled in some learning stuff that I needed to work on with my daughter, and I proceeded to plan away! I jotted down a quick agenda of everything we were going to do.

Our first activity was to learn about Sinter Klaas (tying in some world geography and customs) and to leave out shoes on the night of December 5th for Santa to fill with treats or coins. However that night we made the mistake of turning on The Sound of Music (Carrie Underwood edition) and we couldn't pull away (was it the anticipation/fear of someone messing up on live TV? Perhaps….) When the show was over my daughter was so exhausted that she told me she didn't want to leave out her shoes- she just wanted to go to bed. But dang it I was so determined to include this activity in our day of learning that I found her shoes and set them by her door. No big deal- I just told her the next day that Rudy (our reindeer version of Elf on the Shelf) set them out. But Boo also was certain that Rudy was the one that put coins in her shoes instead of Santa.

Earlier that morning I blindly grabbed some coins from my dresser to put in her shoes. I thought I grabbed 2 quarters. Instead I accidentally took a gold dollar coin and didn't realize it until after Boo looked in her shoes. Which probably sounds like no big deal EXCEPT we were going to have the gold dollars be a special thing that just the tooth fairy did. Yes I tried to sneak away the dollar and change it for a quarter. But my gal was well aware of my plan and insisted she keep her golden coin. Haha I ended up making up some story that Rudy must have somehow gotten one of the tooth fairy's coins(reindeer do lose teeth too, right?) and wanted to give it to her. The things we do to keep the magic alive for our kids!!

Since my daughter had no school Friday, we enjoyed a late breakfast of Santa pancakes: these were super easy and perfect for the occasion. As a special treat I also let her watch a movie while we ate- Santa Claus is Coming to Town seemed like a good fit... but my daughter didn't like it at all. She refuses to watch any movies with bad guys but will pretend to be a ferocious carnivore on a daily basis. Go figure.

I saw some cute ideas of playing Santa's workshop either by making homemade gifts or wrapping presents but I somehow thought I would be clever and have my six year old help me try to fix our vacuum. While wearing Santa hats of course. After 2 hours of intense mechanical labor (aka pulling out gobs of hair and searching on our hands and knees for a dime sized vacuum wheel that mysteriously disappeared) we both decided to take a snack break. At this point I am thinking that our Santa Day has been disappointing (other than our cute pancakes). I messed up with the Sinter Klaas coins, watched a horrifying Santa Claus cartoon, and lost a vacuum wheel. Still, i was determined to follow my itinerary for the day. So we headed to the kitchen to make a Santa snack.

What could be more Santa-ish than a snack of homemade milk and cookies? Even if the cookies got burned, right? I am sure Santa has consumed plenty of overcooked cookies.

I made the executive decision to take a Santa break and go upstairs and play dinosaurs. We had fun and there was no mention of the old man in a red suit for a good hour.

Later in the day we did do some fun Santa stuff. We played a sight word game with words my daughter is working on in school, a super fun game called "Don't Eat Santa", and a money dice activity where my daughter "shopped" for Santa's suit. I would recommend all three of these activities!

For dinner I decided I wanted to make a Santa hat pizza. I saw the idea on Pinterest from Family Fresh Meals and it seemed easy enough. And surprisingly- it was pretty simple! We bought homemade pizza crust and cut up string cheese instead of using fresh mozzarella- other than that we followed the recipe. And although the green pepper had gone moldy so we couldn't use it- I would still call our dinner a success!

With our dinner we made Santa Punch. I modified the recipe a bit by adding strawberry kool-aid instead of lime, and Sprite instead of ginger ale. It was tasty! We watched Miracle on 34th Street- black and white version- and was totally expecting my daughter to get bored but she actually really enjoyed it.

After dinner I wanted my daughter to write an official Santa letter. One that I could keep in the scrapbook I will make for her one day. She has written quick little notes of what she wants for Christmas, but I thought this would be a great time to teach her proper letter writing skills. However Boo decided she was going to write to Mrs Claus instead and ask how her life was. I absolutely love this letter and how thoughtful my girl was to check up on Santa's wife.

We read a few Santa books before bed. There are so many- but here are some of our favorites:
Guess Who's Coming to Santa's for Dinner? By Tomie de Paola
How Santa Really Works by Alan Snow
Presents for Santa by Harriet Ziefert
Priscilla and the Great Santa Search by Nathaniel Hobbie
Dora's Starry Christmas by Christine Ricci

Despite the ups and downs of holiday planning- I really enjoy the magic of the season. We had a fun Santa day and now I am off to plan a more spiritual day learning about the Nativity and the true meaning of Christmas.

Happy Teaching!

8 Family Friendly Black Friday Activities

2013-11-28T09:52:00.002-08:00

Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with my family and I thought I would quickly post some of our non-shopping ideas for Black Friday tomorrow. I know most people love the bargains and the mad rush of running from store to store... but our little family plans on staying in our nice quiet home and will try to avoid the stores for the next few days :). So for the past few days I have been brainstorming some different activities we could do that would not only officially kick off the Christmas season but also have fun with the "black" theme.

This is what I have come up with so far:

Black Jack Friday: Instead of rolling the dice with what good deals you might be lucky enough to grab, have a game day with the family instead. Pull out all the card games/ board games, pop some popcorn, and just enjoy being together!
Black Board Friday: Take advantage of this day off from school to play school together. Have little lessons on the value of a dollar, advertising, etc for older kids- or for the little kids have a day celebrating the color black. And of course you don't have to focus on Black Friday for your learning day- you can also use this time to reinforce/review/enhance skills your child is learning at school.
Black Bag Donations: Grab a black sack (or cardboard boxes) and clean out your house with toys and clothes in good condition your children have outgrown that could be donated to those in need. I love the idea of totally switching gears and turning the shopping madness into a day of giving to others.
Black Bites: Create a menu of black foods to nibble on throughout Friday. Black licorice, black velvet cake, black berries, olives, and black rice just to name a few!
Play Store: Have your kiddos set up some merchandise (aka run through the house and grab toys, books, etc), find or make some play money, grab a toy shopping cart or basket and a cash register and you are ready to go! For an extra twist have your kids make their own ads- this would be a great writing and art activity.
North Pole Breakfast: This idea has been floating around the internet for awhile. Have a special breakfast with the family to kick off the holiday season. This is the time we bring back our Elf on the Shelf (although ours is a reindeer).
Decorate for Christmas! For those that decorate for Thanksgiving, Black Friday is the perfect day to set up the tree and enjoy Christmas decorations after the famous day of gratitude.
Black Friday Math: Toddler Approved came up with this WONDERFUL math activity you can do with your kids using your stack of Black Friday ads. Check out her site for more information!

If you do decide to go shopping on Black Friday- be safe! And if you plan on staying home I hope this list helps you to plan a fun family day.

Happy Teaching!

20 Super Fun Holiday Events for Northern Utah

2013-11-25T09:47:00.004-08:00

Christmas is on its way! While this is the most wonderful time of the year, it can also be very stressful. I have spent many hours scouring the web not only for good bargains on gifts but also for some fun local holiday events. As I am typing this post I have 10 tabs open with different holiday calendars. I was hoping someone else would make a great condensed list for me but alas I feel this is my Christmas responsibility to make this for you all!(Although this list from Enjoy Utah was VERY informative) And if you don't happen to live in Northern Utah- don't worry, maybe this list will guide you in finding activities in your community.
I am including a few Salt Lake County events that I thought some of you might enjoy!

Layton City Christmas Lights starting November 25. Enjoy a free hay ride through the lights Wednesday December 11 from 6pm to 8pm.
Temple Square Not only can you go see the lights, but there are several events such as Savior of the World, Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert, and the Christmas Devotional. Consider yourself blessed if you are able to get tickets to any of those events! November 29- December 31.
North Pole Express at Heber Valley A pricey train ride but might be worth the trip if you have a train lover in your family! November 29-December 24
Ogden Christmas Village Enjoy a holiday parade/opening ceremonies November 30 at 5:30 pm. If you can't make it Saturday- don't worry, this event is up until January 1. And visit Santa at the village Monday-Saturday nights!
Weber County Winter Holiday Festival November 30 from 11am to 8pm. Enjoy holiday displays, a live nativity, music, treats, and more!
Zoo Lights Visit Hogle Zoo at night for a spectacular light display! November 30- December 31
Live Nativity I have never been to one before- I think this is a great way to bring in the Christmas spirit! The one I linked is December 4 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm but you can find them in most any community.
Festival of Trees December 4-7 from 10:00am to 10:00pm.
Holiday Open House at the Ogden Nature Center December 7, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Free admission as well as local crafts/bake sale and activities for the kids. There is also a fun educational program called Snow, Snow, Snow at the Ogden Nature Center where you can learn how animals adapt, travel, and hide in the snow on December 18 from 3:45pm to 4:15pm.
French Toast with Santa on Monday December 9 from 5pm to 7pm at all Utah Kneaders. Proceeds go to Primary Children's Hospital. (If you don't mind spending more money Layton has a Breakfast with Santa on December 14.)
Candlelight Christmas at This is The Place State Park December 9-23 Monday-Saturday evenings.
Dickens Christmas Festival December 11- December 14.
An Old Fashioned Family Holiday in South Ogden Chili dinner, tree lighting with the Mayor, and pics with Santa. December 14 from 6:00pm-8:00pm.
Here Comes Santa Claus Christmas concert performed by the Utah Symphony. December 17th at 7:00 pm.
Santa on a Firetruck: A few cities have the privilege of watching Santa drive down the street on a firetruck. We happen to live in one of those lucky cities!
Holiday TV Shows Planning on staying at home most of the holiday season? This is the list for you!
Nutcracker This is put on by several ballet companies. While I plan on one day taking my daughter to the Ballet West production, we will settle for the Julie Moffitt Ballet School. We went last year and loved it.
Community Plays: White Christmas, Christmas Carol, Littlest Angel at Centerville Theater, Twas the Night Before Christmas at the Ziegfeld Theater in Ogden, Forgotten Carols shown all over Utah and surrounding states, Babes in Toyland put on by the Utah Children's Theater, and the 12 Days of Christmas at the Empress Theater in Magna just to name a few.
Carriage Ride in Salt Lake or a Horse Drawn Sleigh Ride in Cache County.
Peery's Egyptian Theater So many fun events- like Brenn Hill's Cowboy Christmas.
If you are a member of the Treehouse Museum in Ogden, then you can attend the Santa's Cookies and Milk party on December 7th or 9th.
Centerville City has their Festival of Lights at Founders Park Monday December 2 with a special visit from St Nick himself!
Bountiful has a Holiday Light Parade on Saturday December 7 starting at 6:00pm.
Breakfast with Santa at the Clearfield Aquatic Center- fun activities for kids including an open plunge in their pools!
Kaysville City has their Holiday Lighting and Electric Parade Monday December 2 at 6:00pm.
Come see Santa light up the night at Farmington Station December 29 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Or have breakfast with Santa December 7 from 9:00am to 11:00am at the Harmons located at the Station.

Have fun planning your holiday activities this year.

As always- Happy Teaching!

Fall Bucket/Tree List

2013-10-05T12:10:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post to show you our fall bucket list this year. I thought it would be fun to have our list on the wall so I could see all our activities. I like the idea of randomly pulling out a popsicle stick but I am too much of a planner to leave our day up to chance. :)

And when we complete an activity- my daughter can take the leaf off the tree and place it in a bucket! Just imagine all the teacher-ish questions I can ask her.."We just took three leaves down. How many leaves are left?" or "Are the number of leaves that are still on the tree greater or less than the number of leaves in the bucket?" and then there are all the science applications of why real leaves change color and fall... oh the educational opportunities excite my soul!

We can see our bucket list leaves falling just like the real leaves outside! And when fall is over-we can reuse the tree for our winter/spring//summer bucket lists. I just love this!!

Our tree is in our craft/school room

Happy Teaching!

In Defense of being a Pinterest Mom

2013-09-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

I recently read an article online downgrading those people who are over achievers as parents or those crazy moms who feel the need to stress themselves out planning the perfect birthday parties and going over the top with EVERY single minor holiday celebration.

I will be honest. I am that mom. I am the mom who stays up late creating lesson plans so my daughter will be the top of her class. I am the mom who has a 7 page outline of my daughter's birthday party activities. I am the mom who spends hours looking on Pinterest for ideas to celebrate National Ice Cream Day.

But I am also the mom who will never know what it's like to be pregnant. I am the mom who aches to see my daughter be a big sister. I am the mom who would find joy running around like a crazy woman after a ton of kids.

5 years ago my husband and I started the adoption process for our second child. That's a long time to be waiting. There are days that I am overwhelmed with emptiness. There are days that I struggle to pray to my Heavenly Father asking him to bless us with another child because it is so painful. I think only those who have experienced infertility can understand the extent and depth of heartache that is associated with this trial.

So do I sit at home and cry my eyes out every day? I easily could! But I have a choice. There are two things I have found to help me through this. First, gratitude. I have been incredibly blessed with the most amazing husband and daughter. My Boo is the PERFECT child for me. She fills my heart with happiness and joy. I will never understand how I got so blessed to have her in my life. Second, I find a lot of fulfillment in dedicating my every waking moment to being the best mom I can be. So yes- while I happily plan details of every birthday and minor holiday- keep in mind that as a mom of only one child I have limited celebrations. If I don't take advantage of these special opportunities with my daughter now, I don't have the option of doing them later with a second or third child.

I know not every Pinterest enthusiast struggles with infertility. But this is my story. I do not apologize for being the holiday zealot.
I guess you could say in a way Pinterest is my therapy. :)

Our Lego Day PLUS free Lego book template

2013-08-28T10:04:00.002-07:00

A couple months ago my daughter and some fun playing and learning with Legos. I thought I would share with you some of our engaging educational activities!

1. Add with legos. Count the circles on top of two 2x2 lego bricks. The answer will fit on top of a flat 2x4 brick! Good hands on addition fun PLUS its easy for kids to visualize that there are multiple ways of getting one sum by just using different sizes of bricks.

2.Alphabatize lego blocks. I put little alphabet stickers on 26 legos and had my daughter make an ABC stick placing the blocks in alphabetical order.

3. Create with legos. We just had fun building dinosaur caves. This was strictly a play activity :).

4. Measure with legos! Make a "ruler" out of lego blocks and run around the house measuring in legos instead of inches.

5. And our last- and my personal favorite- activity was making our own Lego book. I scoured the web for a cute lego template and couldn't find any. So I made my own :). And I have to say that I kinda like it!

Download the template for our printable book and have fun creating a lego book!

I hope this helps you have fun learning with legos! Happy Teaching!

1st Day of Kindergarten

2013-08-26T09:48:00.001-07:00

It seems like yesterday that I was sitting at my computer in tears over Boo's first day of preschool. And now here I am, writing about the first day of KINDERGARTEN. My mind is blurry from crying so much and I just can't concentrate on anything but how much I miss my little firecracker!

We started the school fun last night with a surprise visit from the Back to School Fairy. She brought a little diary so Boo could write all about her time in Kindergarten. I can't wait to see what she writes!
It was my daughters idea to practice the right way and the wrong way to get up in the morning. I love to see her nervous energy used towards practicing routines :). After a special blessing from Daddy that she would be safe and enjoy this school year we headed to bed. I read a bunch of school themed books- including the classic The Night Before Kindergarten.

After a restless night of sleep (at least for me!) I woke up Boo and she was excited. I know when she is excited first thing in the morning because she wakes up just chattering away. This morning she was talking about how she woke up really early saying it had to at least have been 10:30 in the morning. And how she woke up when it was half light and half dark and laid in bed waiting for a dream to come, but one never did. She just cracks me up sometimes!

We had a special morning breakfast, some pictures on the front porch, had a few extra minutes to play with stuffed animals, and then we were off to school! The traffic may have been crazy, finding her teacher outside amidst a gazillion kids a bit of a challenge, but by far the hardest part of the day was saying goodbye. Yes, I was that mom that was sobbing all the way home. I go pick up my little dear in 20 minutes and I just can't wait to hear about her day!

Happy Teaching!

10 Ways to Share Charlottes Web With Your Preschooler

2013-06-02T23:45:00.003-07:00

My daughter LOVES animals and we are all about books at our house! So I wanted to find some great read alouds for her that would suit her interests. A couple of years ago we tried reading Dr Dolittle to my Boo... we got about 6 chapters in but we just couldn't finish. About a month ago I felt like we were ready to try the chapter book thing again. I found an old copy of Charlottes Web and I knew it would be a perfect fit for my daughter. Before we started reading I did a little bit of prep work. I scoured the internet looking for ways to share this book with a preschooler. I found lots of websites with vocabulary worksheets, upper elementary reading comprehension activities,... lots of things that I knew wouldn't specifically work for my daughter. I thought that since Charlottes Web was on so many of those must-read lists for preschool age children that I would find more activities to go along with it! But nothing that seemed to meet my needs.
So I came up with my own plan.
It's nothing fancy, but it worked. My daughter was captivated from start to finish. Maybe some of these ideas will inspire you as you read this classic with your young child.

1- Find a stuffed pig (or spider). We found this beauty at a local book store for $2.99. Having a little Wilbur to snuggle with while reading gave my daughter something tactile to hold while soaking in this classic piece of literature.

feeding Wilbur became a nightly job

2- Act it out! This is a great story with so many different scenes to reenact with your child... don't wait until the end of the book to do it either- you can start acting a section or chapter at a time. After reading the first chapter, I told my daughter that daddy was outside on his way to kill a baby pig. At first she looked at me like I was from another planet, but then she caught on and was outside screaming at daddy to save the pig. Daddy then gave her a shoebox with the stuffed pig inside.... quoting lines from the story. It was a wonderful retelling activity. We had a great time acting out other scenes- like Lurvy chasing Wilbur to put him back into his pigpen.

3. During the first chapter you are introduced to the vocaublary word "runt". After explaining it to my daughter, we went to the store and bought a box of Runts candy and talked about why they are called that (because they are super small fruit). During some of the chapters I would pull out the box of Runts and everytime I would read the word "Wilbur" (or another word) she would get to eat one candy. She had to hear me say the word though... it kept her listening!

4. Make stick puppets. I did a quick google search for barnyard animals and easily able to find pictures of the characters. During some of the chapters I would pull out the stick puppets. They came in handy during the barnyard scenes when there was a lot of character conversation.

5. Take advantage of Youtube! We were able to see little videos of baby pigs, spiders spinning webs and making egg sacs, baby spiders hatching... kind of gross but it strengthened our mental images of the story.

6. Crafts! There are so many different preschool craft ideas that would go perfectly with this book. (think pigs, spiders,...any farm craft!) My daughter prefers acting over making, so we didn't make any crafts... we are sticking with her interests!

7. In one of the chapters the author tells us Wilbur's schedule for the day. After reading about his schedule, my daughter and I sat down and wrote our schedule. From the pic you can probably tell where I got input from her. :)

8. Make snacks! There are plenty of farm-related treats out there that you can snack on while reading. Due to time constraints we opted out of doing this...but it would be a fun, yummy activity!

9. Go to the play or watch the movie. We were fortunate enough to go see a live performance of Charlottes Web by a local childrens theatre company. It was SPECTACULAR. On the way home we talked about our favorite parts of the play, and any differences we noticed between the play and the book.

10. Play it. Pull out your old Little People barn and let your child recreate the magic of Wilbur and Charlotte. This was an activity my daughter requested again and again. And you don't have to stick to the script- have fun with the characters and try and predict how they would act in different scenarios.

I absolutely love this children's classic. Take the time to read it to your little ones!
Happy Teaching!

Our Disneyland Adventure (with printables)

2013-04-07T23:33:00.002-07:00

Our little family recently had the opportunity to take a family trip to Disneyland. It was the first time my daughter had the chance to go, so I wanted to make it memorable! Here are a few of the things that we did to get the most out of our Disney experience.

1. Mickey Clock Sacks:

To make our car trip more exciting (because we all know how exciting it is to be sitting in the car for 12 hours) I decided to make special clock sacks. Each of the sacks had a different treat, activity, or dollar store toy. We got to open the sacks at the time shown on each of the bags. And I couldn't just use a round clock face. Of course it had to be Disney-ish! So I came up with this cute little clock face:

This worked well educationally since we are working on telling time with my daughter. I was able to find cheap disney toys at the Dollar Tree, and I used a bunch of Halloween candy that we still had.

2. Tinkerbell's Surprise
Tinkerbell left a little gift for my daughter when we got to the hotel. I heard from an unknown source that this fairy found all the little toy surprises from the Dollar Tree and the dollar bin at Michaels. She's a smart shopper! Having these surprises from Tinkerbell meant less money in the park buying souvenirs.

3. Disneyland Vacation Journal

I wanted my daughter to document everything about our trip... I want her to remember as much as possible! I came up with some pages for a special Disneyland Vacation Journal. This journal has space for a daily run down of events, weather report, ride recommendations, a happy face/frown face evaluation of each ride, and SO MUCH MORE. I printed these pages on card stock because I wanted the pages to be sturdy enough for me to glue ticket stubs, maps, and pictures.

The finished product is a precious scrapbook of our entire vacation! I thought I would share our printables- just click on the image then save it to your desktop! I didn't include the cover because there was Mickey Mouse clipart and I didn't want to break any copyright laws.

This is a great map to use for the license plate game!

4. Homemade Autograph Book
I know Disneyland sells darling autograph books... but I wanted to make a special one just for my little girl! We were able to find a ginormous Mickey Mouse pen for a dollar at Michaels and had the characters use that to sign the book.

5. Mickey Mouse Trip Check lists

Its all about the small details. Instead of using boxes for our check lists, I used blank little mickey mouse ears. And yes I had 5 different lists! We had a Shopping List for supplies prior to our trip, a Road Trip list of things we needed to pack with easy access for our long journey, a Vacation Packing list that included the basic necessities for any California trip, a Disneyland Park Packing list, and a general "To Do" list. One of the smartest things we did was to pack a Disneyland backpack with all the park necessities prior to leaving on our vacation. We didn't have to worry about getting anything ready for the park while we were at the hotel because it was already done!

If you want a copy, just click and save the following lists to your desktop:

Other great tips:

bring a lanyard with a pocket to hold your fast passes
don't bend down and pick up your 5 year old the wrong way and mess up your back so you walk around like an 80 year old for the entire duration of your visit
bring lots of snacks! we munched on a lot of peanut butter sandwiches, fruit snacks, granola bars, and beef jerky
don't forget to bring pennies and quarters for the souvenir penny pressing machines
plan on purchasing souvenirs the last day of your vacation- it gives your child a longer time to think about what they really want and will save you money
buy glow sticks and rain ponchos (a must have for Splash Mountain) from the Dollar Tree- a lot cheaper than purchasing them in the park

Happy Teaching!

Ned

2013-03-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

I hate cancer.

The morning of October 28th we were eating breakfast at the kitchen table when my husband received a text that changed our lives. We found out that my father in law, Ned, was in the hospital. He had been acting confused and was having a difficult time speaking. My heart sunk. In the back of my mind I was hoping and praying that it was a minor stroke... it couldn't be anything too bad, after all he only 59 years old and so healthy.

My favorite picture of Ned with my daughter

We rushed to the hospital. When I saw Ned's wife Shirley I knew it was bad. My heart sunk even further. She encouraged us to go back into the small ER room and try to hold a conversation with him. I remember seeing his face- misshapen from brain swelling. He knew us- he answered our questions. I tried to be happy and positive but he was different and that was so hard for me to come to grips with. A few hours after we arrived, Ned was moved to a hospital room. It was in that room that we got the official diagnosis "stage 4 brain and lung cancer". We later learned that it was metastatic melanoma. I remember watching Ned's face as we heard the news. The sadness was overwhelming in his expression. I watched as my stoic unemotional husband put his head in his hands and cry. Words of encouragement were whispered in between tears. Ned was given a blessing at the hospital... the only thing I remember hearing is that this was not his time to go... that he was needed here. The Lord had different plans for Ned.

The days and weeks that followed were a blur... I couldn't believe that such a healthy, vivacious person could have cancer. I watched as cancer and the various treatments took things away from Ned- his hair, his appetite, his energy. I researched online about metastatic melanoma and sobbed. I had come to the realization of the potential prognosis we were facing. But I was so, SO hopeful. We all were... cancer just couldn't take our Ned away from us.

The evening of December 30th we had a family meeting. Ned and Shirley told us that he had 6 months but they were praying for a miracle. This was the first time we as a family discussed the inevitable death. It was so uncomfortable and hard. Nobody wanted this outcome.

The night we heard the prognosis

We plowed along in our cancer journey. There were good days and bad days. Days when Ned would seem more like his old self. Aaron decided he wanted to do something really special for his dad and came up with the idea to fold 1,000 paper cranes. It is said that if you do this you are granted a wish. Of course his wish was for his dad to beat this cancer.

Spending time with Ned

My husband was going to be speaking at a Linux conference in California and my daughter and I had planned to go along and play at Disneyland. I used my trip planning as therapy to help me cope with the heartache of everything that was going on with Ned. 5 days before we were supposed to leave for our trip the reality of this ugly cancer entered our unprepared hearts.

Ned had collapsed by his car the morning of February 12. Aaron told me to get to the hospital as soon as I could. I quietly cried the whole way there. I met up with Aaron at the hospital entrance and we quickly went to ER. I remember seeing Logan, Aaron's youngest brother. I could tell by his eyes that the news was bad. We were told that it was time to say our goodbyes. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to someone I loved so much. Even though we knew this was the outcome of this cancer I still felt completely blindsided. Aaron was on the phone with his mom just sobbing. I heard him try to tell her to come to the hospital because his dad wasn't going to make it. I hugged him and realized that I was going to have to be strong for him. In the middle of all this my cute little daughter was asking me when Grandpa Ned was going to wake up and tell her "hi honey". Just when you think your heart can't hurt anymore you find out you were so wrong... It seemed so unfair to me that my little girl would grow up and not remember this wonderful man that loved her so much.

A small miracle happened that night however... his heart stabilized. It looked like he was going to be with us for another couple months. I was so relieved but so emotionally exhausted. After debating on whether or not we should go on our trip, we decided it would be best for us to go. We needed some rejuvenation.

Playing Valentine games in the hospital waiting room with Grandma Shirley

When we got back Aaron was immediately there for his dad. He was able to work from his house twice a week. He sat next to him on the couch and watched countless episodes of family feud. I brought my Boo over as much as our schedule permitted... I wanted to be there with him. But at the same time it was still so hard for me to see him like that. One day that we came to sit with him I brought my camera and asked him to share some advice for his family. I told him that this would be the first of many videos I was planning on doing. It ended up being the only one. I had no idea at the time that he had just 12 more days with us.

March 2 was a beautiful day for us... the one great thing that comes out of these hard trials is the overwhelming generosity and the outpouring of love from others. A very special organization, Anything for a Friend, held a large fundraiser/dinner that celebrated Ned's life. In fact I was in charge of putting together a slideshow of Ned. Every time I sat down at the computer to work on it I burst into tears. I saw so many pictures of him healthy and happy and it broke my heart because I missed that Ned so deeply. I saw in pictures how cancer had changed his appearance so quickly. I spent so many emotional nights working on that movie and I am so thankful that I had that opportunity. I felt like I was being productive and helpful and it allowed me to do something for Ned to show him how much he means to me. It was so humbling to see so many people come out to show their love and support. My daughter told an old friend of ours that she was going to try really hard to make friends so one day she would have as many as Grandpa Ned.

Ned at his Anything For a Friend event

5 days later, March 7, we got another text that we needed to go see Ned. He was losing his speech and motor skills. When we got there I saw him sitting in a recliner in his bedroom. He was so frail. It was so painful to watch him change as the cancer spread. Near the end of his life things we take for granted- walking across a room, talking, eating.. had become so hard for him. After that we went up to his house every day. Aaron spent most nights up there too, since Ned needed a lot of help at night. We watched Silverado- an old western- a lot. Aaron worked hard on folding cranes. He knew we didn't have much time.

Sunday, March 10 we had a family gathering at Ned's house. All of Ned's six kids were there as well as his brother, some aunts and cousins. Aaron was able to finish the cranes and hung them up next to Ned, who acknowledged them by pointing at the finished product.

1,000 paper cranes

I remember at one moment he woke up, looked at me, and reached out his hand. I didn't know what or who he wanted but I jumped up and came and held his hand. I was there holding his hand when his brother Rick came over. I couldn't hold back the tears as I heard this tough man tell his younger brother "Hey buddy. Mom and Dad are waiting for you and welcoming you with open arms. You fulfilled your mission here."

It was a very emotional and spiritual experience as we sat around Ned's recliner and listened as some shared their love of Ned and their testimonies of eternal families. This was another moment where I listened to Aaron sob. It was a beautiful, raw emotion hearing him speak about his dad being his best friend and how much he was going to miss him. He also said that he knew his dad was going to be busy on the other side and that he knew this church was true. My daughter rushed up to whoever was crying the loudest and gave them a hug. She told us all that she wished she brought Stuffy, her stuffed dragon, because Stuffy always makes her feel better when she is crying.

Aaron was able to give his dad a blessing that night. It was touching to watch and absolutely beautiful to hear. He cried bestowing the blessings of comfort, peace, and no pain. He blessed that Ned would be alert to the end, that the departure would not be scary, and that he had nothing to worry about on the other side, or about those of us he was leaving behind. In his blessing Aaron also expressed to his dad the love we have for him and how much he was going to be missed.

Monday, March 11, Ned passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. It seems so weird that I am writing those words... like it couldn't of really happened. I just can't believe it. I don't want to believe it.

We knew what the outcome of this cancer battle would be and we tried to prepare ourselves. But you are never prepared for a loss like this. After the viewing and funeral were over- and we were back at home- I realized the void that was now part of our lives. I try to fill the void with tears. Amidst all this sadness I have come to be so grateful for the wonderful memories I have of this great man. He took advantage of every opportunity- he never wasted a moment to work on a project or help out a friend. He magnified and excelled in his callings at church, especially with the scouts. He loved my daughter immensely and that meant so much to me. I am also grateful that with everything that cancer took, that it never took his mind- he was mentally there with us until the end. It also didn't take his determination.

I know that there are still rough moments ahead of us. There will be difficult times when the ache seems unbearable. I am hoping for the time when I can go to a scout meeting and not feel like crying, or watch a grandpa play with his grandkids and not burst into tears. Until then I am reminded of the words that became a theme for Ned's fundraiser:

Together We Can Do Hard Things

Our family right after Ned's diagnosis

We CAN learn to cope with such a deep loss. We CAN use this experience to strengthen our testimonies and try that much harder to make those choices that will reunite us as an eternal family. Together, as a family, we can do this hard thing.

DIY Days of the Week Clothing Organizers

2013-03-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

First, I have to admit something:

I am obsessed with the dollar store. To the point where I may need some intervention. My biggest weakness is for all the cheap organizational stuff. I find myself buying plastic bins with no idea what I will use it for... and they just collect in a happy, one-day-I-will-use-them heap in my basement. And it certainly doesn't help that one is VERY close to my house, either. :)

I also have wanted to create something that will help my daughter get ready faster in the morning (my gal is just not a morning person). I have seen adorable hanger cards but they just weren't what I was looking for (lacking durability). When I was meandering down the craft aisle at the local Dollar Tree and saw these foam door hangers at 3 for $1 I knew I had an easy, budget friendly solution! (side note: I really enjoy meandering down the aisles at the dollar store)

Here is my final product! Using 7 foam hangers and a sharpie! I know the dollar store has different shapes- the heart ones fit nicely on our hangers, so that would be my recommendation for anyone interested in making these. I also color coordinated the hearts on top by using red for the weekend, pink for school days, and yellow for weekdays with no school.

We pick the outfits once a week. If my daughter changes her mind about her outfit for the day she has every right to pick something else! This just gives her something to fall back on, for those late mornings. Which we have a lot of around here... :)

A closet door knob is a great place to store these organizational gems once the outfit has been worn.

We are not perfect at using this system. There are weeks that slip by where we haven't used our clothing organizers. But when we do use them its been a wonderful way to shave off some time deciding what to wear in those chaotic mornings. :)

Happy Teaching!

Rainbow Unicorn Halloween Birthday Party

2013-03-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

My daughter is obsessed with rainbows. And unicorns. And her birthday is on Halloween. I wanted to incorporate all of that into one party theme.... and this is what I came up with.

A Rainbow Unicorn Halloween Party!

First- the decorations:

Rainbow streamers, paint card samples, and pom poms everywhere.

Even the pumpkins on the front porch were decked out in colored ribbon to fit the theme.

Treats:
Rainbow slush. So good!

We made rainbow cookies by adding food coloring to different sections of the dough, sectioning them into little beach balls, rolling those balls into a snake, and then spiraling the snake into a circle.

A picture of our treat table

One useful idea: Use Ikea plates/cups/utensils instead of purchasing paper products. They are better for the environment, pretty stinking cheap, and you can use them again and again! Plus they are in the rainbow colors- perfect for our theme!

Rainbow M&M treat jar/ balloon weight

Cupcake stand decorated with rainbow ribbon. Even the cupcake wrappers are rainbow colors!

Of course the birthday girl got a special cupcake complete with a mini unicorn.

Activities:
We started out decorating trick or treat bags with rainbow stickers and markers. Once they finished that, they could work on making a rainbow fruit loop necklace.

While the kids worked, the adults mingled. I am still shocked at all the people we fit into our house!

Once the kids were done with their bags, Aaron read them the story "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Its a tradition to incorporate storytime into Boo's birthday parties. I pick out the book- and Daddy reads it!

We all came dressed in rainbow colors- except Boo who was wearing a rainbow shirt.

In the basement, we had unicorn races. I made my own stick horses using socks and a broomstick and added a foam cone to make it a unicorn.

We also played with a colorful parachute and rainbow balls. The kids had a riot with this activity!

Our culmintating activity was rainbow trick or treating. We have 6 doors upstairs that I decorated with tissue paper. Luckily I had some awesome volunteers who stood behind each door and passed out candy that was the same color as the door.

The actual day of Boo's birthday (Halloween) I used rainbow streamers to create a path around our entire house leading to a special treasure: a giant diamond paperweight. Fake, of course :) A special treasure for my most valuable treasure!

Happy Teaching! And Happy Party Planning! :)

Letter E Candy

2013-02-10T23:12:00.001-08:00

Boo and I recently had a Silent E day! I introduced her to this crazy letter and we started our learning adventure with a hunt for CVC and CVCV words. This was also the perfect time to introduce the sight word "like".

I found these ADORABLE printables from Tales of a Teacherista. We printed them on card stock but instead of using the cutout letter e to turn those short vowels into long vowels- I decided we should make our own e.

I scrambled around our kitchen looking for something to use when I saw our Peach Rings (we have way too much candy on hand at our house). They worked PERFECTLY.

To make the lowercase letter e, you simply break the circle apart and bring the top loose end inside to make the loop. Super easy!

Boo had a riot making her own sugar "e"s, and the best part was that after she read a list of words with her candy e she got to eat it! An educational tool and a treat! This also helped her with writing the lowercase letter e.

Happy Teaching!

Heart Rock Collections

2013-01-26T12:43:00.004-08:00

Save those Valentine Heart boxes.... they make super cute rock collection boxes. Because we LOVE rocks!!!

Boo loved examining my rock collection, especially since I let her keep a few. By the way that entire crate on the left is full of rocks.

Now she is looking over her own collection. These Valentine boxes are the perfect size for those small specimens!

So for all you that love rocks like we do, then this is the project for you! :)
Happy Teaching!

Mommy & Me Book: Handprint ABCs

2013-01-22T23:27:00.000-08:00

I am in LOVE with handprint art. It captures those sweet little hands in a way that simply melts my heart! Since I have become a Pinterest addict, I have pinned a ton of really cute handprint activities and about 9 months ago I thought I should start doing some of them. Yes people- the book that you are about to see took me 9 months to finish. Why? Well let's just say it got lost in the never ending pile of things to do. :)

This is a simple run down: Boo chose the letter she wanted to work on and the object that she wanted to make that started with that letter. Sometimes we looked through my handprint art pinterest board, or websites like Red Ted Art (love her creative ideas!!!!). Other times my daughter came up with original ideas- like y is for yellow jackets. I bought a whole bunch of blank books from Bare Books awhile ago. They are very well made and sturdy, just like a real book. While having a prebound book had its problems (like having to leave the book open while the paint was drying) I am very happy with the final product.

Enjoy! Happy Teaching!!

Mommy & Me Book: "I Can Do Many Things"

2013-01-14T21:26:00.000-08:00

I have been HORRIBLE about blogging. Just busy being a mom :). I thought I would share a quick and easy Mommy & Me homemade book that we did a while ago. It showcases some simple things that my daughter can do to keep up her sweet little confident self. It would be fun to take pics of your kiddo doing different activities, like "I can play soccer", or "I can swim", etc... I just thought it would be fun to make it more an activity/learning scrapbook this time- next we will try it with photos! I want my Boo to know how amazing I think she is!

Happy Teaching!

Little People Nativity Scavenger Hunt

2012-12-04T09:52:00.001-08:00

I bought this darling Little People Nativity on sale last October (as in over a year ago) and completely forgot about it. So of course when I pulled it out this year I knew I had to do something special with it. This is what I came up with:
Little People Nativity Scavenger Hunt

We started our FHE by recalling prior knowledge about why we celebrate Christmas. My daughter's response was along the lines of "so we don't get bored". Yes, we needed a nativity lesson!!! After talking about why we celebrate Christmas, I told her we were going to go on a scavenger hunt to find different things that will tell us more about the story of Jesus' birth. I had her captivated. Mission accomplished.

Each object had a corresponding scripture, song, or poem on a strip of paper. On the back of the paper I wrote where to go to find the next object. (if you want to see what I wrote click here- nothing fancy, but it worked well)

We used the piano bench as our "base"- each time we found a piece to the Nativity we ran it there so we could act out that part in the story.

The objects were hidden in the order they appear in the story of the birth of Christ or where I thought they would appear. I loved the idea of starting at the beginning and acting out the story with the Little People.

don't forget to have your kiddos have Mary, Joseph, and the donkey walking to Bethlehem before finding the next clue!

the Little People nativity is perfect for this- if you press on the stable it plays Away in a Manger- then you can just sing along!

so our nativity didn't come with a shepherd, hence the cowboy playing the part. do i get points for creativity?

it just so happened that we ended our story with an animal my daughter has always wanted. it was perfect!

My daughter is absolutely, without a doubt IN LOVE with the Nativity story. Sure, a big part of that is because animals were involved.

She calls Bethlehem her "world" and had to take it to bed with her. I knew it was a victory when she later told me she wanted to play with her nativity instead of going to the dinosaur park ( a place that she loves very much).

I hope this helps you make the story of the nativity come alive for your kids! And of course, if you don't have a Little People nativity, you could use one that you already have.... or print the pics on this post.
Happy Teaching and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Advent Ideas

2012-12-03T22:36:00.000-08:00

I love love LOVE Christmas. Everything about it- the touching story of our Savior's birth, the bright lights shining in the night sky, the smell of freshly cut pine trees, Bing Crosby and Johnny Mathis singing good old fashioned Christmas songs.... I just love it all! So of course I love acknowledging each and every day as we count down to Christmas!
I thought I would share the advent ideas that we are doing this year. I know it's already the 4th of December, but maybe they will give you ideas for next year- or of course you can always start late :)

Christmas Keepsake mini books/ornaments. I found this gem while I was teaching school and have thoroughly loved it- I would recommend this to anyone who loves books, learning about Christmas, and ornaments. After we read the book for the day, we hang it on a little tree next to our fireplace.

Christmas Countdown Blocks
Made these awhile ago with my friends and I love it!

Advent House
I bought this at Target several years ago. I believe it was our first advent calendar. The last two years I filled it with treats and a small activity for us to do together. I even put in money when we worked on coin recognition. This year we went strictly for the treat.

Service Tree
Found this at SugarDoodle and love the idea of getting service into this season. It's too easy to get caught up in the greed of wanting things- a step back always leads to a greater appreciation for what we do have and a more compassionate and empathetic heart for others.

Last, but certainly not least, the ever talented Shirley at Silly Bean's Idea Space (we lovingly call her grandma) made this BEAUTIFUL advent box for my daughter. I am absolutely in love with everything about it- the fun Christmas paper, the pink sparkly vinyl, and the thoughtful little gifts inside that my daughter just TREASURES. Grandma Shirley, if you are reading this.... we love and appreciate all that you do for our little family. You are SO talented and we are just plain lucky to have you in our lives.

Hope you all have a great holiday season! Happy Teaching!

General Conference Cups

2012-10-04T22:30:00.001-07:00

This weekend is General Conference for my church and we are so excited! And how are we going to keep our little daughter entertained during four 2 hour sessions of spiritual speakers? Well, honestly we won't get her to sit still for THAT long- but I thought this idea would help!

The basic idea is that every time a speaker says a word (or discusses a topic), you get a treat from the cup. I plan on filling my cups with small treats such as skittles, tootsie rolls, and other dollar store candy. I doubt that I will start with all ten cups- so we will most likely use different ones for each session. I LOVED the idea of using clear plastic cups because (a) they are CHEAP and (b) I have the advantage of taping the categories inside the cup which protects the paper and gives it a semi-professional look.The topics are things that I felt my family and I needed to hear: love, scriptures/book of mormon, family, temples, Jesus Christ, prayer, prophets, faith, and gratitude. And my daughter wanted to learn more about being kind and obeying. Yay for that topic!!! You could also add in other topics as well- such as sacrament, Holy Ghost, fasting, humility, tithing, or modesty.

This cup idea can easily be applied to other areas- you could choose a few different vocabulary words and every time you hear that word in conversation you get a treat. Or use it while watching an educational movie with key words written on the cups. Or use them during FHE while reading the lesson or talks from the Ensign.

Happy Teaching!

Hairstyle Spinner

2012-10-02T09:14:00.001-07:00

My daughter LOVES to put her hair in a ponytail (I have no idea where she gets that from.... it's not like my hair is in a ponytail every single day!!) I try to do new hairstyles with her but she always insists on the same thing. So I thought I would make choosing a hairstyle more of a game. I used this old spinner I had and wrote different styles on each of the colors. I wrote ponytail, bow, braid, leave it down, and mystery (that is Mommy's choice)- but you could add your favorite styles instead. Every morning my Boo spins it and whatever it lands on is the style for the day. So far it has worked pretty well and she won't let me do her hair without using the spinner first!

You can tell I have been busy crafting- I have white paint on my nails! Lovely, right?

Happy Teaching!

DIY Telephone Number Bracelets

2012-09-18T09:19:00.001-07:00

I saw this idea on Pinterest and fell in love! While my daughter has her phone number memorized, I wanted her to correlate the memorized numbers with the written digits. We have a ton of pony beads- and while I would have much rather used beads with pre-stamped numbers, I grabbed what I had and Boo and I started creating!

Materials needed:
beads (we used plastic beads- if you have number beads then this project will turn out much cuter!)
string or pipe cleaner
sharpie (in case you don't have number beads)

Super easy telephone number bracelets (blurred out the number- sorry, I don't want prank phone calls :)

On each bead, write one digit of your phone number. Then let your kids put their phone number in order on the string (or pipe cleaner). And voila! You are done! Of course you could do several extension activities- such as add the area code, see how many 2 or 3 digit numbers they can create using the digits in their phone number, using a separate phone allow kids to practice dialing their number, and of course listen to this fun song: (This is actually how my daughter initially memorized her phone number!)

Here are some additional resources to help your little ones learn their phone numbers:
squidoo: free worksheets for kids to learn to write their telephone number
KidPhone: helpful app to teach your kids their phone number
bright hub education: fabulous list of ways to help preschoolers learn their phone number

Teaching your little ones their phone number is SO important for safety reasons- hopefully some of these resources will help you accomplish this task!! These bracelets would be great to take anywhere your kids might get lost- amusement park, fair, zoo, airport, beach, etc!

Happy Teaching!

Fall Bucket List

2012-09-16T21:43:00.001-07:00

It's time for fall! YAY! I love everything about this time of year and wanted to make sure we accomplished everything fun fall related- so we created a Spooky Pail List! I am excited to share our ideas!!

Yellow and Orange popsicle sticks in a festive Halloween pail

Just like our summer bucket list, I color coded our activities. I decided to keep it simple- completing our summer list got to be a bit of a chore- and while we didn't complete it we still managed to do about 100 activities! It was WAY too intense. This is what I came up with- and yes, I only used fall colored popsicle sticks which I purchased at the Dollar Tree (that store is my one true weakness).

Yellow Popsicle Sticks (food and treat ideas)
fall cookies
pumpkin pie milkshake- we had this last year and it was SO good- even my husband who hates pumpkiny food liked it!
bake pies
caramel apples

other Yellow ideas that we MIGHT do:
homemade chili
homemade bread bowls
caramel apple cider
plus 50 more fall treat ideas- they look SO good!

Orange Popsicle sticks (activities)
nature walk/ hike
corn maze
pumpkin patch
hay ride
football game
apple orchard
city's annual pumpkin walk
play in a leaf pile- and take pictures
"boo" our neighbors (so if you happen to be my neighbor and you are reading this- kindly disregard what I just wrote)
leaf art
decorate a pumpkin
scary movie
13 Days of Halloween countdown
Mummy on the Move

other Orange ideas that we might do:
spider ring hair
sprouting pumpkin seeds inside a pumpkin

We are going to be adding Brown Popsicle sticks to our container in November- these will be our Thanksgiving related activities.
Here are some ideas:
thankful rolls
thanksgiving countdown activity for kids- looks super cute!
little turkey cookies
yarn ball thankful turkey

Hope you all have a wonderful fall! Happy Teaching!

First Day of Preschool

2012-09-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

I must preface this by saying I am writing this post in TEARS. I never thought I would be so emotional! Mostly because I was always planning on teaching my daughter preschool at home... but I knew in my heart that wasn't the path for us to take. So here I am now- typing this post while my nervous daughter is far away (aka down the street) with a room full of strangers. Oh dear- this post is turning out to be more like my therapy than a list of our first day of preschool activities!!

Last night our family did a few special things to get ready for the big day. We read the Night Before Preschool- a book about a boy that is SO nervous to go to preschool. We can relate to that!

My daughter drew a magnet for our fridge to use to hang her artwork.

We also watched some back to school movies on youtube.

My daughter wasn't a fan of this one, but it totally got me choked up.

After a restless night, I tried waking up my daughter who had climbed into my bed sometime during the night. She is NOT a morning person so it was a bit of a struggle. I believe her first words this morning were "I do not want to go to school." And of course I wanted to tell her that I didn't want her to go either, but I played the part of the semi-strong mom.

I made her a special breakfast on our I am Special plate. Daddy, who usually goes to work before we are out of bed, stayed home this morning so he could have breakfast with us and walk with us to school. He also gave my daughter a special fathers blessing to help calm her nerves. Of course she was petrified of that, too. :)

We spent a couple minutes taking some pictures and then we were off to school. We are fortunate enough to attend an amazing school that is only five houses away. My daughter looked for potato bugs as we made the short walk.

Boo walked in to class, I believe she gave her sweet teacher one of her "I am scared to death" looks, we hung up her backpack, and she sat down and worked on a puzzle.

Daddy signing daughter into the roll book while Boo waves to the only other student she knows- a cute little girl from her primary class.

And my husband told me it was time to go. I think the hardest thing about leaving was knowing that I wouldn't be there to comfort her if she was hurt or scared. I wouldn't be there to help her is she had a question, or give her a hug if her heart was sad. She is my baby- my husband and I waited 7 years to adopt her, and letting her go is heartbreaking. Even though its only 2.5 hours twice a week.

UPDATE:
I was so excited to pick up my daughter after school. I was SO, SO thrilled to hear about how much she loved school. Boo can't wait to go back! Her favorite part of school was circle time because they got to hear a story. There is also a boy from her soccer team in her class. It just makes my heart smile to know she loves it!
Boo came home from school to see that her stuffed animals threw her a little surprise party. They were happy to see her, too!

We spent the rest of the day going out to lunch with a friend, going to a Halloween store and looking at some of the scary displays (per my daughters request), a playdate with our cute little neighbor, a soccer game, and some tasty homemade pizza rolls and corn on the cob on our I am Special plate. What a day. So many emotions- just incredibly grateful that Boo had a fabulous day- it validates our decision to send her to preschool.
Happy Teaching!

Tithing Box Printable

2012-09-02T21:40:00.001-07:00

First of all, I am the BIGGEST BLOGGING slacker! Oh my heavens!!!!
Second, my husband and I substituted in my daughter's church class today. Our lesson was on tithing, and can you believe it- I couldn't find an easy printable box online anywhere. And we had like 3 hours until church. (I am spreading my slacking skills onto lesson preparation as well. :) ) I created this simple box that I thought I would share with you all! (Just right click and save image- then enjoy!)

One word of advice- don't mess with gluing the tabs together- save yourself time and mental sanity by just scotch taping the sides together. I promise it is so much easier!

Only problem- there is no easy way to get the tithing money out, you'll just have to shake the box until it comes out. It's not a perfect solution, but its an easy one!
Happy Teaching!

Etiquette Factory Review

2012-08-12T22:18:00.002-07:00

I have a strong belief that teaching manners to our kids is SO important. Teaching our kids to have manners is to teach them to know how to socially behave in different situations and show respect to others and themselves. We use manners when we patiently wait before interrupting a conversation, calmly accept the word "no", and kindly share our toys with others. Those three examples just happen to be three of my daughter's biggest etiquette hurdles. You can imagine my delight when I was
asked to review an amazing curriculum centered on teaching manners to kids.

What is Etiquette Factory?
This is a great tool to help you teach your kids manners! Etiquette Factory is a 12 week course to teach your child a variety of social skills... everything from telephone manners to table etiquette. Each etiquette skill is focused over the space of one week. The etiquette skills are broken down into three phases according to your child's age. It would easily fit into any school setting- from preschool to high school (because those big kids may need to learn manners, too).

There is a fantastic movie component to this curriculum. Miss Manners, the most well behaved southern lady I have ever seen, teaches the kids by clearly defining each manner, telling stories, singing songs, and reviewing important skills. I love the DVD- it makes it SO easy to teach my daughter her manners in a way she can easily relate to and it's super easy for me!

While the DVD is fabulous, take time to read the teacher manual! There are some great additional activities, discussion questions, and treat ideas to help your kiddos understand their etiquette! This manual provides you with a detailed schedule for teaching your child her manners. There are lessons for 5 days a week. Each lesson takes approximately 15 minutes- but can easily be adjusted to take longer or shorter if needed. I would stress the importance of not rushing the program to ensure that your kiddo really understands and solidifies their knowledge of each etiquette skill.

We started the Etiquette Factory program as soon as we received it! My daughter LOVES it. We will role play each of the etiquette skills with her stuffed animals, listen to the accompanying CD in the car (another great tool to teach your kids manners), or snuggle up to daddy and watch the DVD.

We love this program (and the lovely Miss Manners) so much that we did this fun culminating activity! I printed a pic of my daughters face and turned her into Miss Manners! I then asked her to tell me different rules of etiquette and wrote her responses on the flowers on her hat.
I highly recommend this program to any parent or teacher- there is nothing like this program available and it is SO well done!

Happy Teaching!