shades of color...

I can't seem to find the blog I originally got this idea from...but anyway I made this color shade matching activity for $1.00!!! This is a great activity to learn color shading and also for motor skills by pinching the clothes pins. All you need are some paint chips, clothes pins and glue.

You will need 2 of each color paint chip. {You can pick these up from your local hardware store for FREE...I got mine at Meijer!} I chose 6 colors and went with the rainbow theme. One of the paint chips will stay whole and the other one you will cut and glue to the tops of the clothes pins. {I got my pack of clothes pins from Target's dollar section.}

Wait for the glue to dry and then let your kiddos play...I mean learn! :)

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ apricot pork chops, corn, ramen noodles

Tuesday ~ chicken fajitas, chips & salsa, corn on cob

Wednesday ~ chicken caesar burgers, tots, sauteed zucchini

Thursday ~ hot dogs, pickles, chips, fruit

Friday ~ leftovers...

Visit Org Junkie for more recipes!

Nutella....YUM!

I was just talking about Nutella with some gals yesterday and today I stubbled across a coupon {which are few and far between!} for $1.00 off. This chocolate hazelnut spread has become a staple in our pantry. I first had the tasty treat on a crepe with strawberries and bananas. Let me just say...YUMMO! We mostly use it as a dip with animal crackers, almonds, marshmallows, and fruit. I put apples on Little Bit's plate the other day and she took one bite. As soon as I added a little Nutella she gobbled them all up! If you haven't tried Nutella yet...grab this coupon and run to the store...you don't want to miss out any longer! :)

Creative Corner...Scrap Club

I am a little behind on getting these pages together. August is almost over and this was our kit for JULY. We used the title "SUN"....so appropriate cause it was a SUNny and hot July! I used this layout for some birthday party pics and the theme was Sunshine...too perfect!!!

If you are interested in joining scrap club, check out more info here.

Letter Bb

"B" topics...bear, bee, bus, body

{Circle Time}

Calendar...Talk about the month and days of the week. I printed the month of August out using the calendar template in Publisher. Little Bit puts a sticker on the day we are discussing. I am trying to coordinate the stickers with the letter of the week. This week we used circle smiley face stickers.

Reading...I try to incorporate one book that has the days of the week, just to keep reinforcing them. This week we read...Kid Tea by Elizabeth Ficocelli.

My "b" Book by Jane Belk Moncure {We are enjoying this series...checking them out from out local library. It was a good lead in to finding things around the house that start with B!}

Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

Too Many Balloons by Catherine Matthias

Ladybug Girl at the Beach by David Soman

A Buzz is Part of a Bee by Carolyn Lunn

Songs/Rhymes...The Wheels on the Bus, Baby Bumblebee, Row Your Boat, Head & Shoulders

{Letter Craft}

B is for Bee...inspired by this blog

{Activities}

Coloring...Letter Bb, Potato Head (for body parts)

Spelling...We worked on spelling BUS this week. I wrote the word and drew a picture on our dry erase board. Each day I had Little Bit spell and sound out the word.

...I also had a tray set up with some magnetic letters and cards with words {BUS, BED, BUG, BAT}. Little Bit placed the corresponding letters over the letters on the cards. Then we would work on the sounds of each letter. {I just used blank index cards and wrote 3 letter B words on them with a black sharpie.}

Math...I printed this roll & color Brown Bear. I had Little Bit roll a large die and then count the dots to see which number she should color. She colored the animals the same color they are in the story.

...I bought some banners at the Dollar Tree that came in packages of like 14. I only wanted 1 to hang up in our learning space, so I cut up a few of the others to use for some activities. One being shape matching. We used these shape buttons to match with the cards I had made. {We got our shape buttons at Hobby Lobby, 1/2 lb bag for 4.99 and used 40% coup.}

Balancing...We put bean bags on our head and carefully walked across the room, trying to not let the bags fall off.

Binoculars...We decorated 2 toilet paper rolls with stickers....letter B's, butterflies, bird, and bee; then stapled them together to create binoculars. Little Bit then used these to look around the room and find things that started with B.

Build potato heads...Talked about different body parts as we put very creative potato heads together!

Balloons...Blew up some balloons and tried to balance them on our head. Then just had fun hitting them back and forth with each other.

{Snack Ideas}

blueberry banana smoothie, bananas, bears in a boat {celery w/peanut butter and gummy bears...saw this idea but didn't try it}

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ tilapia sticks, green beans, mac & cheese

Tuesday ~ french toast, scrambled eggs, sausage

Wednesday ~ parmesan chicken w/pasta, salad

Thursday ~ apricot pork chops, corn, mashed potatoes

Friday ~ taquitos, chips & salsa, refried beans

Visit Org Junkie for more recipes!

story sequencing...

I found this workbook at the Dollar Tree today and thought it looked great to incorporate into our weekly learning activities. There were 15 little stories of various topics. I tore them all out of the book and paired them up with a letter.

Here is what the sheets look like. One side has the story and 4 pictures. You cut them apart and have the child glue them in the correct order. The other side of the sheet has a picture to color and simple sentence to trace.

I am anxious to do one of these with Little Bit and see how she likes it!

Blueberry Peach Simple Cobbler

I made this today and as you can see from the picture, we got into it before I remembered to take a picture! It was yummo!

Ingredients:

2 cans peaches {I used 15.25 oz cans of diced peaches cause that's what I had}

3/4 cup blueberries

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 yellow cake mix

1 stick butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Dump both cans of peaches, juice and all, into greased dish. Pour in blueberries. Sprinkle fruit with cinnamon and nutmeg. Dump cake mix evenly over fruit mixture. Dice up the butter and place all over the cake mix.

Bake for 45 minutes in preheated oven. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

Letter Aa

{Circle Time}

Calendar...Talk about the month and days of the week. I printed the month of August out using the calendar template in Publisher. Little Bit puts a sticker on the day we are discussing. I am trying to coordinate the stickers with the letter of the week. We used stickers that said "I love animals".

Reading...I try to incorporate one book that has the days of the week.

A Busy Day by Charnan Simon

My "a" Book by Jane Belk Moncure

Animal Babies by Bobbie Hamsa

If I Were an Ant by Amy Moses

My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall

Songs/Rhymes...The Lady with the Alligator Purse, Arky Arky, Way up High in the Apple Tree

{Letter Craft}

A is for Alligator...inspired by this blog

{Activities}

Coloring...Alphabet coloring pages...Letter Aa, Noah's Ark

Spelling...We worked on spelling ANT this week. I wrote the word and drew a picture on our dry erase board. Each day I had Little Bit spell and sound out the word.

...I also had a tray set up with some magnetic letters and cards with words. Little Bit placed the corresponding letters over the letters on the cards. Then we would work on the sounds of each letter. {I just used blank index cards and wrote 3 letter A words on them with a black sharpie.}

Math...I printed these different sized apples and laminated them for a sequencing activity. Little Bit put them in order from big to little and little to big. We also made patterns of big, little, big, little...

...I printed this roll & color apple tree. I had Little Bit roll a large die and then count the dots to see which number she should color.

Animal Beads...I set out a container of animal beads {that I picked up at Hobby Lobby} with some pipe cleaners, for Little Bit to thread on.

...I set out these same beads with a divided tray that had 4 compartments for a sorting activity. I had her sort by animal and then by color.

Noah's Ark Lapbook...We created a lapbook using some pieces from here and a few of our own creations.

Imaginative play...act like different animals and make their sounds

...play animal doctor

{Snack Ideas}

apples, apricot fruit strips, animal crackers, ants on a log

MORE recipe organization!

I have seen these Paula Deen recipe cards and organizers at Michaels but hadn't paid too much attention to them. Well my mom was up visiting this weekend and she is a huge Paula Deen fan...so when I told her they had stuff at Michaels we quickly went to check it out! Guess what....it was on sale 40% off!

We both got a recipe card box and a couple packs of recipe cards. The box was only $1.80 and came with 8 divider cards labeled appetizers, desserts, drinks, main dishes, pasta & bread, soups & salads, vegetables & sides, and miscellaneous. The recipe cards were only .60 and came in packs of 18. I saw at least 3 different designs of the cards. They also had some coupon organizers, recipe binders, round tins, magnets and recipes.

I have a small basket that just has recipes thrown in it, some are already on cards while other are just scraps of paper or magazine clippings. My plan is to clean out this basket and organize the recipes in my new box!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ pasta, salad, bread

Tuesday ~ creamy mushroom & chicken soup, bread

Wednesday ~ pizza, salad

Thursday ~ pot pies, apples

Friday ~ almond coconut tilapia, corn, rice

Visit Org Junkie for more recipes!

coconut tree...

We just love the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Little Bit even goes around reciting lines from it! On several of the blogs I've scoped out, I ran across different versions of alphabet trees they had created for their walls. I loved the idea and decided we needed one in our {classroom} space! Here are the supplies I used...2 brown paper lunch sacks, green tissue paper {or cardstock}, Fun-Tak adhesive {from Walmart}, scissors, letters {from Dollar General}.

I cut the sides off of the sacks and used 3 of the sack front/backs for the tree trunk. I had Little Bit help me crumple them up some before I hung them on the wall using the Fun-Tak. Then I took 2 sheets of green tissue paper and cut them in half....giving me 4 leaves. I just cut triangle pieces out all around the edge of each piece to create the leaves. These are also attached with Fun-Tak. Then I cut 3 coconuts from the remaining brown paper and attached those to the tree.

Tada...a coconut tree!!! Each week I will have Little Bit attach the letter we are learning about.

blueberry banana smoothie...

I had some blueberries that needed to be used up, so I threw them in the freezer to be used for smoothies. This recipe is super simple and so great tasting! {I drank it so fast I forgot to take a pic...sorry.}

Ingredients:

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1 medium banana

1/2 cup orange juice

Directions:

Blend all ingredients until smooth!

{I use Tropicana 50...which has half the calories of regular Tropicana. I think for 1/2 cup it is only 25 calories....so this is a very low cal and super yummo drink!}

Intro to Alpha...

We are getting into the swing of things with our "school"! I have taken ideas from all over and hope to compile them here to share with you...if you are interested! This is what we started with last week. My goal is to get in 3 days a week but if we are able to do more then it will be a bonus!

{Circle Time}

Calendar...Talk about the month and days of the week. I printed the month of August out using the calendar template in Publisher. Little Bit puts a sticker on the day we are discussing. I am trying to coordinate the stickers with the letter of the week. We just used stars for the intro week.

Reading...I try to incorporate one book that has the days of the week.

Day by Day A Week Goes By by Carol Diggory Shields

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin

Click Clack Quackity Quack by Doreen Cronin

LMNO peas by Keith Baker

Dr. Seuss's ABC book

Thomas's ABC Book

Songs/Rhymes...This week we just sang the ABCs!

{Activities}

Coloring...I just had a few random coloring sheets that had ABCs on them.

Letter Bingo...I used this site to print a 3x3 bingo card. There are several themes to choose from and it will automatically fill in a card for you. Or you could print a blank card and fill it in yourself. I selected uppercase alphabet. Then we used large buttons as the markers.

Letter Match Up...I printed the Letter Match up featured on Confessions of a Homeschooler. I had Little Bit search through wooden magnetic letters {from the Dollar Tree} and place them on the corresponding letter on the sheet. When she matched the letter she would make its sound and say the item pictured that started with that letter.

Fishing for Letters...I put the magnetic letters in a basket and had Little Bit use the fishing pole from a Melissa & Doug puzzle to catch a letter!

Letter Puzzle...I copied this idea from The Activity Mom. Using the same Dollar Tree letter magnets I traced them on some colored cardstock and then let Little Bit find the matches.

{Snack}

alphabet pretzels {Meijer brand}, Scrabble Jr. Cheese Its, alphabet fruit snacks, Alphabits cereal

Italian Chicken & Cheese

This is a quick and easy recipe I threw together one night. It is yummo! I love finding new ways to cook chicken because I always have it on hand.

This is a recipe for 2....

Ingredients:

2 frozen chicken breasts

2 small cloves garlic

1/2 cup italian dressing

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken breasts in baking dish. Using garlic press, press 1 clove of garlic onto each chicken breast. Place tomatoes in dish around chicken. Pour dressing over chicken and tomatoes. Bake for 25 minutes or until no longer pink in the center. Sprinkle cheese on chicken and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese melted.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ italian chicken & cheese, fried zucchini, garlic bread

Tuesday ~ pulled pork, ribs, tater tots, pickles

Wednesday ~ pot pies, steamed zucchini, apples

Thursday ~ meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread

Friday ~ pasta, salad, bread

Visit Org Junkie for more recipes!

wall decor...

I have had these done for a while, just now getting around to posting them. When I started redoing Little Bit's room I wanted some new wall decor. I really liked this collage on Craftiness in not Optional but I didn't have the right sized pieces or the right wall space. So I just took used it as inspiration.

I found the G at Michaels craft store and painted it green to match the stripe in the wall border. I made the paper pieced art...taking inspiration from a recent Stampin Up mini catalog.

I made a poofy paper flower embellishment to add some pizazz to another framed art piece. I took a wooden embroidery hoop and stretched some some pink fabric through {going to be a valance to match...still need to make this!}. The owl is some decor elements vinyl from Stampin Up that I applied to the glass of an 8x10 frame. I painted the wooden frame the same green I used on the G.

{school} is in session...

Little Bit doesn't turn 3 until the end of September. Just a few weeks after the deadline to start preschool this fall. So I have decided to do some "school" stuff with her at home. She loves to do {projects} with me so it should be a good time! We are going to do a letter a week, review colors, shapes, numbers and work on basic spelling. My goal is to have at least 3 days a week of "school" time and 1 day for library. We can always do more than this but I don't want to over schedule us right away.

Needless to say I have been planning and organizing to get us kicked off to a good start. We did start this week and I will be posting some of what we have been doing a little later. Right now I just wanted to share our space with you. I am just using a small space in the basement where I had been storing stamp sets and other crafty stuff. After some reorganizing this is what we have....

Here is our little spot! There is this little nook at the bottom of the stairs where we have had this desk and it is the perfect little area for us. We use the bean bag chairs for circle time {where we read books, sing songs and learn about the days of the week}. We put up a chicka chicka boom boom tree on the wall! {look for a post with details on that}.

Here is a close up of the top doors on the desk. I have posted the letters, numbers 1-20 and shapes & colors. I also have a dry erase board to write words on we are practicing. Little Bits apron is hanging on the side of the desk. On the clipboard we have our calendar.

Here is what's inside the top doors of the desk...lots of room to organize crayons, adhesive, pipe cleaners, letters, stickers, beads and the like!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ chicken fajitas, chips & salsa, refried beans

Tuesday ~ orange-ginger tilapia, fried zucchini, mac & cheese

Wednesday ~ teriyaki beef steak, green beans, mashed potatoes

Thursday ~ chicken caesar burgers, tots, corn on cob

Friday ~ pot pies, steamed zucchini, apples slices

Visit Org Junkie for more recipes!

Meijer...

I have decided to take a break from posting Meijer deals...but I wanted to leave you with a place to find out about the deals. I really like this site Becentsable and how they have a page for grocery deals broken down by state and then by store. Blogs that choose to participate are listed under the store name with a link to the deals they have found for the week. I have been shopping around more....County Market, Aldi...so it's nice to have one collective place to go and look for deals at these various places!