Bus day- Lou day

Lou had his leader day on Bb bus day.  He helped me make up these bus snacks. Most of the kids threw them away and asked for something else.  

They are a cream cheese spread spread on a graham cracker with mini triscuits and ritz crackers as wheels. We made them right before class, but the graham cracker and cheddar cheese cream cheese was a weird combination.  Lesson learned.  

I got to swap spots with one of his teachers, so I got to be there for his day.

Lou brought in his trading cards to show at sharing time.

Lou had a fun day.  Despite his major shyness, he loves leader day.  

Apple day -my favorite

Since I had apple day last year, I was scrambling for a new really good apple book.  I wanted another one to talk about apples and what yummy foods can be made from them.  Last year we read, 10 Apples up on Top and Apple Pie Tree but this was a nice book as well.  It's Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace.

When the kids arrived, I had a bowl of peeled sliced apples for them to dice up and add to our crockpot.  I had it all hot with several apples already cooking away.  We added the diced apples, added some cinnamon.  About 2 or 3 times during the morning, I had the leader of the day and his mom help stir and mash the apples.  We made the most delicious applesauce.  I had another parent volunteer come in about 15 minutes before dismissal and spoon some of the applesauce into these little jars to send home. One of our families saved all of the baby food jars for me.  

We also made apple pie that day which was the snack we ate during snacktime.  The kids added diced apples to a spread out cressant roll and added some cinnamon sugar. Each child's pie was baked in  a little tin foil boat.   It's wasn't what I'd call applepie, but the kids seemed to enjoy it.

Before the story I reviewed the letter of the week, Aa.  We talked about the sounds Aa make and the sign for the letter A.   I used these letter cards that are available here:  alphabet resources.  They have a plethora of great alphabet activities.

After the story, I needed to incorporate some math.  These paper apples are some of those teacher die cut sets.  The white parts are just white paper circles with seeds drawn on. I passed out the red parts and we counted the seed parts together in the middle of our circle  and the kids brought up the red apple part that matched. 

I loved this numbered apple sheet from:  Mrs. Albanese's Kindergarten Class.  I used the red numbered apples from the first activity.  I pulled an apple, called out the number and the kids searched for it.  They used their dot markers and stamped that number.  Here's Lou working on his at home. 

The boy works for Sonic drinks.

She also had a blank apple sheet that had a lot of possibilities.  For older kids, the answers to problems could be on the apples.  The problems could be worked out together and then they could stamp. 

We are working on an alphabet book.  I picked up a sticker dictionary book this summer at Aldis.  The stickers from the book are getting placed on that letter's page. I'm laminating each page as we go and adding it to our book.

Here's a little game I didn't get time for.  I was going to lay out apples and have the friends find matching A and a apples.  I thought I'd use it as a way to line up.   Find your match, line up.

Our leader brought this covered Oreo for snack.  There is a little piece of pretzle for the stem and a tiny piece of green laffy taffy for the leaf.

Here's what the paperwork that we use looks like.  I don't have to get anything ready for this, it's always ready for me.  On the tree part, there is a number on the trunk that told them how many apples to draw on the tree.

Here are two things we sent home with them.  The Ant page is a devotional we are sending home for each letter.  We're also using them at our home and enjoying them.  The link for that isn't working right now, I'll figure it out.  The other sheet is a letter booklet.  You can find one for each letter at Musing of Me.  She has them (and many other great printables) here.

As an arrival activity, I pulled out this pie activity from last year.  We are pretending it's apple pie today.  Here's a link to a printable version of the pies.  I'm new to google docs, let me know if it's not working.

I pulled this from Lou's pile of work. It's for matching lowercase and uppercase letters.   I found it on  Teachers Pay Teachers. Here's the direct link to this free project.

I set out this apple matching sheet.  I loved it more than any of the kids.  It's from 2teaching mommies.  Who knew there were so many varieties of apples.

Apple day is one of my favorites.  Here's last years day:

little pumpkin

I wanted to make some little yarn pumpkins but didn't know how.  I spent a few minutes on pinterest and a few minutes on raverly.com and came up with several possible crochet patterns.   Pretty sure I can't be Amish at this point.  I love the internet.  The pattern I started with is from Roots and Wings. 

I needed to add an additional row to the bottom of the pumpkin adding two more decreases (which is actually the top ring of the bottom piece) to make it stand a little taller. 

The kids also requested I add a leaf, which I sort of worked up with a chain and some double and triple crochets. 

The kids think they are very sneaky hiding candy inside the pumpkins.  Luckily all the candy left in the house from Easter is stuff no one really likes or it would be gone. 

food mill love

 I have several Halloween orders to work on right now, but I wanted to share how much I love my new-to-me food mill.  I cooked up some tomato juice this weekend after pulling up all of my tomato plants.  I'm not even sure this garage sale find is called a food mill, but it did the same job.  It was easier and cleaner and I'm not worried that someone will eat a spring.  Someone will be eating the spring from the broken food mill.  To the best of my knowledge it's in a jar of applesauce.   This was a quarter well spent!

On a side note:  I pulled all the tomato plants, I was neglecting them. There were bunches of red, bunches of green.  I picked every single one.  The red ones are the sweetest sweetest tomatoes ever.  Could the cold night temperatures have done it?   It taste like I added sugar to the tomato juice.  I'm attempting to dry some this week.  They should make for some great sun dried oven dried tomatoes.

Big day

 

My Grandma celebrated her 80th birthday last weekend.  It took me the whole week to go through and edit the bunches and bunches of photos I took.  I was assigned the job of photographer and I took it seriously. People were probably rolling their eyes about it, but I knew I needed to take a bunch so that I could get enough keepers.  It kept me out of the kitchen.  Except when they needed someone to taste desserts.  I was in the kitchen then. 

Here's my Grandma and one of my Aunts. I'm sure they are busily going over last minute details.  Or wondering how many pictures I will take or if there will be enough dessert left after my kids were done begging in the kitchen.

 Exhibit 1:  Bee's cheeks are full of brownies but she's picked out some cake she wants as well. 

 

My youngest sister helped keep Bee and Lou entertained.  

Here she is, my youngest sister. Isn't she cute?  She's a senior in high school this year- which makes me feel young... or old... as hubby reminds me, she used to be a baby when we first started dating. 

Lou and daddy:

I know my grandma is wishing I had not posted as many pictures of her here, but here's one of the 150 shots I have of her mingling with her guest.  150 is just the keepers.  

 Here's the kitchen staff hard at work.  The party had a picnic bbq theme.  The food was SO good.  I have changed my mind about coleslaw and lima beans. Not together of course, I would not change my mind about that.

My Aunt and uncle are on the left front sort of.  My grandma then is in the striped jacket.  My dad is in the back left next to my stepmom.  My youngest sister is in the middle in pink. Bee and Lou of course there in front.  Hubby is in orange and I'm next to him. My oldest younger sister and her boyfriend are on the end at the right.  Hubby says I should mention that I am wearing flats and the sister next to me must be in tall heels. I can't really remember though.

socks math at preschool

I had a 'fun with math theme' at preschool to plan for. I really prefer a more specific topic!  I have some domino activities that I'd like to get in, but I don't think we're ready for them.  We enjoy the story A Pair of Socks at our house and I've used it with little people several times.  I've used this book even with my second graders one year, but it's really a preschool book.  It about a little sock looking for his match.  

 I had all the preschool friends wear a pair of silly (or colored) socks to school this day.  I had several extra pairs from my own kiddos in case some came unprepared.  During circle time, we talked about everyone's different socks and I had each friend complete the sentence, "____'s socks...."  If we were farther along in the year, I might have them broken up their sentences for them for another activity.   I also could have turned it into a class book, but everything lately seems like it could be a class book, so I'm being selective.

Then we all threw the extra socks into a basket and shook them up.  It turns out that my own kids have an unusual amount of decorative socks.  I may have a problem.  We spread the on the floor and one or two kids at a time searched for matches.  I had the kids hang them up on our drying rack, but it proved difficult.  The kids had a hard time opening and holding open the clothespins to fit on the drying rack bars.  We counted the socks repeatedly as more kids added socks.  Counting by two could also have been done with older friends.

Here are a few pages I've used to extend this book to older kiddos in the past.  I didn't need any of these pages this time around.  One page lets the kids decorate socks to make pairs, one has then find and circle pairs and the other has them count how many sock would be in different numbers of pairs.  They are just pages that I've drawn. 

Thankfully from now through the end of the year, our topics are more specific.  Apples, Bees, Bears, etc.  It much easier that way.

bathroom shutters

I had the shutters already, so when I kept seeing shutters as memo boards on pinterest, I just needed a spot for them.   I put them in the bathroom, which is a weird place for a memo board.  

 They used to be Bee's headboard, but her room is now a similar green color and she has hanging princess sheer curtain things hanging around her bed.   To the bathroom shutters, we added little notes that Bee writes, some pictures from Lou and some bible verses.  

Our shutters had a bar running down the middle.  I had to pull them off so that the shutters would lay flat against the wall.

Here are a few that have been all over pinterest. Here's one from Martha Stewart.com .

Here's another cute one that doesn't seem to link back to it's origional source.

happy yard sales find

I had some interesting yard sale finds.  An old rusty rake head, awesome, exactly what I was looking for, $1.  The next size baseball cleats for Lou, exactly what we needed, $1.  A white wooden something holder, exactly not something I was looking for, but totally wanted, $1. 

The man I bought the rake head from said he had to ask what I could possibly do with it.  I told him all about using it as a belt or necklace holder.  I needed something for belts. 

They've been all over pinterest, like this and this.   I hung it behind my bedroom door with this earring holder.  It's larger than the old one I had, but made the same way.

I added some teacup hooks at the bottom, but only had three on hand.  I'll have to add some more some time.

Old garden rakes can go on my list of all the reasons that I love pinterest.