1+1+1=1

Family Binder ~ Back on the Wagon

2012-01-25T06:24:00.000-05:00

I have been making my own organizational forms for years. I have even had my own family management binder for years. But, this past year I totally fell off of the wagon. I was a complete family binder dropout. Last week I got back on the streak and decided to just join ListPlanIt instead of reinventing the wheel, again.

There was a coupon code in the back of 31 Days to Clean so I jumped on it one evening and began printing away!

I think I am successfully back on track and oh does it ever feel good!

A few of the pages were things I have used before. But I have added a few new pages after inspiration I got from browsing through the forms at ListPlanIt. One of my favorite new sections is my “A Month of Blog Topics” sheet. You can see portions of it in the 2 bottom photos in the collage above. I am filling all predictable posts {Moments to Remember, Tot School, and my Totally Tots posts}, then using the rest to brainstorm and assign days for upcoming posts so I don’t forget! Another thing I did was add a few sections that are in sheet protectors, so I can use a Vis a Vis to write on them and just erase-to save printing. I also went back to using the 3 ring pouch to store these pens as well as my pencil {I always use pencil in my binder}.

Two sections I am still working on are our family medical section and our financial info section. In all I have the following sections so far: Calendar/To Do, Blogging/Online Management, Family Medical, Contacts/Financial Info, Bills, Shopping Lists/Misc.

I am thankful that I jumped in and purchased my membership to ListPlanIt. Even though some of the forms aren’t as prettied-up as I might make them, they are printed and being used-that is the important part! DO any of you use ListPlanIt? Have a blog post about your own Family Binder? Leave a link in the comments below, I’d love to see it!

Legos Kindergarten Printables

2012-01-23T07:55:00.000-05:00

I have been working on these for awhile now and finally found time to finish the Lego Kindergarten Printables up! I decided to use the Lego mini characters for most of it. I will be incorporating some of my other Lego finds for a “Lego Week” in the future!

I hope many of you will be able to enjoy the following activities with your kids!

Using a number line…

Greater than and less than, using the alligator mouth as a visual aid.

Identifying coins…

Odd and Even, or simply numbers 1-30. The directions say to use 2 colors of Dot Paint to make a pattern to emphasize odd and even numbers. You can also just use this as a counting 1-30 mat, be creative!

Basic Fractions, be sure to use real Legos for this {as a hands-on extension} if you can!!

Sorting…

Matching descriptive sentences…

Easy reader…

Rhyming Words…

Sight Words, fill in the blank, use tracer for younger kids, fill in the blank for older!

Labeling characters…

Write a sentence…

Lego ABC mat, use this however you want! I loved the concept and wanted to include it to allow you to be creative!

I hope many of you can use these new Free Kindergarten Printables

and I hope to have more soon!

Tot School

2012-01-22T14:20:00.001-05:00

~Ladybug is currently 33 months old~

It was a totally off week for us between a few days out of town for our staff retreat, and sickness all around. We started our Animal ABC Letter C, but only got a tiny way in so I will wait and share all of her letter C work next week!

I re-created our winter sensory bin and the kids loved it!

They even got out blankets to set around the room to be icebergs…

We added in play dough from our Busy Hands Box and combined items from the sensory bin with the play dough to explore and have fun!

She played with Blokus a lot, working hard on fitting pieces in just the right spaces!

On one particularly sniffly day for the kids, we curled up in our bean bags and watched The Blue Planet: Frozen Seas on Netflix. Since we are learning about The Arctic and Antarctica through our Calendar Connections, it was a perfect fit and all 3 kids enjoyed it. They also enjoyed piling blankets on top of Ladybug at the end!

Instead of taking a nap while we were away on our staff retreat, she chilled with the pad for awhile and relaxed. This shot was from Instagram, which I have just gotten into. I was using my iPad, which is a bit bulky, but then my mom gave me her expired iPhone {she got an upgraded one through her job} and now I can use it as an iPod!!! It has a camera, so hopefully I will become a more regular Instagram user!!

Here she was playing The ABC’s of God, which she loves. See more iPad apps we love here, iPad apps part 2 is here!!

We spent a few days at a retreat center with our church staff family. One of the favorite activities for the kids is definitely the warm indoor pool in the middle of chilly January! Ladybug was a little fish and loved it!

This was the result of an afternoon of swimming with no nap. She crashed in our arms at dinner! She NEVER falls asleep outside of her bed, this was a first! We enjoyed the snuggles! These are Instagram shots too!

I put little twisted buns in Ladybug’s hair one night after her bath and this was the curly result! She loved her curly hair so much!

More Tot School Links…

Tot School 2011/2012 Blog Roll
Behind the Scenes ~ Where Do I Begin with Tot School?
Tot School Webpage {including links of all participants}
Tot Trays {webpage}, Behind the Scenes ~ Tot Trays, Where are the Trays?
Totally Tots {my other team-written blog, all about tots!}
All of our Tot School Posts {sorted by ages here}
Visit our Tot School Tools Store
Tot School Zones {Linky with other moms sharing their Tot School zones}
Tot School FAQ
How do I Link up to Tot School? Please be sure to read this BEFORE you link up for the first time!!! If your blog is not linked back here to Tot School {within your post, not just on your sidebar}, and/or your post is not specifically a Tot School post, your link will be deleted to help Tot School surfing moms. If your link was deleted, please email if you don’t know why.

Please put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (41 mos)