Our Life for Three Days Has Been...

Skiing!!!
Hudson and Meadow have taken ski lessons for the past three days... and they are amazing!
Hudson can go 1/2 way on the t-bar by himself and ski back down to line up and go again... the kiddo is faster (and braver) than me.


Meadow in just 3 lessons has greatly improved her balance and steering... she can go about a 1/4 of the way up the bunny hill... and then navigate her way to the bottom by herself... she can ski down from the top of the bunny hill on a tether.

 

Homeschool P.E.: Lily Pad Leaping

Alright so starting a new blog series a day late is probably a big faux pas in the blogsphere... but I look at it and see that my blog is not taking over my life and I am taking care of real life things that are important.

So on with the show!  Lily Pad Leaping!
Materials:

• Green Paper (Construction, cardstock...) about 5-7 sheets
• Scissors
• A long space like a hallway.

Prep work:

• Cut the green paper into lily pad shapes
• scatter them randomly in  your space. (close enough together so that your child can leap from one to another).

Let the fun begin!

Zoom!

Our backyard play ground is a bit shabby but it works and we will (probably) make improvements as we continue to clean up our property.

The kiddos hadn't really used this slide much, so I decided to bring out some Hotwheels for races.  They loved it.  
And what do you know once they started playing with the slide they actually used it for sliding...

Brilliant!

Noah's Ark Unit Study Day 3

If you have missed the other Noah's Ark Posts please click on the links below:
Noah's Ark Unit Study Day 1
Noah's Ark Unit Study Day 2

Now on to Day 3
Activity #1 (Art)

  Hudson drew animals on this ark print out that I got from DLTK.  He drew a really great lion and lots of snakes.

Activity #2 (Gross Motor)
We played a game called Mommy says.  (Similar to Simon says).  The object of the game was to practice obeying, just as Noah obeyed God when he was told to build the ark.

Day 4 coming up tomorrow!

Valentine's Party!

Oh yes we have quite a few parties around here. There is usually a great reason to celebrate something each month :)

Our Valentine's party was quite a success.

We started off talking about love and who loves us.  I was thrilled to hear "God loves us" right off the bat :)

Then we read Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton

Next it was off to the kitchen table for some open ended Valentine's Art.

I gave each munchkin a piece of scalloped (is that the right word?) red cardstock and turned them loose.
The materials for creating were:

• markers
• crayons
• glue
• heart cut outs
• stickers
• sequence
• red cellophane
• ribbon
• yarn 
• lace

Each one did such a great job!

James

Autumn

Hudson

Snack time!  I must admit that I am rather proud of these Valentine's cookies.

You can snag the cookie recipe over at The Palace.

What kind of a party would it be if we didn't dance?  So we danced.

We played a game that was a real hit with the kiddos. I filled this basket with chocolate hearts.

Then sent them out of the room so I could hide it.

They searched for quite a while. (even Meadow got in on the hunt :))

Finally they found it and devoured their yummy treat.

A super fun party with some terrific kiddos!

Obstacle Course

Exercise is tough to do indoors when you are 4. (Well and when you are 27 but for totally different reasons). Hudson longs for space to explore and move. So I made him a short obstacle course in the living room.

First he had to scurry across the love seat.

Then quickly walk across the couch.

Once off the furniture he jumped on the red mat (for as long as he wanted to as it wasn't really a race).

Next crawl through one fabric tube.

Then turn around and go through the other.

That was it.  I will probably make it a bit longer next time.  This was a good length for Hudson to get the gist of what to do though.

Through The Tunnel!

We are working hard at strengthening Meadow's leg muscles as well as her core muscles. One way to do this is to get her to crawl. (She chooses to be a bum scooter).
I set up the fabric tunnel we have and put an irresistible toy at the end of it. (Her brother's cardboard Lightning McQueen).

She totally took the bait:)

We did this quite a few times before Meadow figured out that she can just bum scoot around the tunnel and get the car.  Smart cookie that one :)

Tot School with Meadow

We didn't do much this last week but I wanted to share this HUGE milestone moment that Meadow had. Her strength is growing by leaps and bounds.

Just look here she is attempting the stairs at Grandma's house!

Rounding the corner.

That's right folks!  She made it all the way to the top!!!

Meadow got a Cozy Coop walking toy from Little Tikes for Christmas.

It's not her favorite toy but she tolerates it :)

I got adventurous and let Meadow play with some homemade (not by me) gingerbread play dough.

Not her favorite activity at first.

But once she discovered the squishy wonderfulness of it she was quite happy.

For more Tot School Fun Head on over to 1+1+1=1.

Tot School with Meadow

Some really cute and fun new experiences this week.

Meadow had her first taste of Christmas orange.

She loved it!

Hudson tried to play a game of roll the ball with Meadow...

She would scream and scoot around in circles every time he had the ball so the game was short lived.

Meadow can pull herself up on the furniture and is able to stand on her own for brief stints.

Which thrills her brother:)

Hudson finds it quite amusing to do things to his little sister. 

Like put apple stickers on her forehead.  This is how he shows his love to her.

Meadow has started having daily quiet time in her crib.  This is separate from nap time.  It is about 20 minutes to 1/2 and hour.  Usually while I shower and get ready. 

 She loves it.  Since her brother isn't allowed in the crib (or in her room) during this time Meadow has the opportunity to play and explore safely and peacefully. (Don't get me wrong my children do play well together but sometimes Hudson thinks he's a 3rd parent in our family and that can be quite frustrating for Meadow).

 

Checkout other folk's Tot School Fun over at 1+1+1+1

Tot School with Meadow

I just love the pictures of Meadow this week. I got some really cute shots.

Activity #1
Another Box

Not only a fun toy for Meadow to play with but an excellent way for me to keep her contained for a little while:)

Activity #2
Playing with yarn scraps

 

Why do you always gotta be takin' my picture mommy?

Activity #3

Playing with sparkly pom poms.

This was a great lesson in self control for Meadow.  She was not allowed to put these in her mouth.  She licked them a couple of times and brought them close to her face but did not actually shove them in her mouth.


Activity #4
Finger painting

Wouldn't you know it my batteries were dead for this activity. So let me paint a word picture for you.


*Pumpkin shaped white paper on Meadow's highchair tray.
* Orange paint.
*Baby in her diaper.
*Bath afterward.

Activity #5
Playing with pumpkin guts.

Her brother did not like the guts at all.


For more Tot School fun head on over to 1+1+1=1.