Cool!!

I love Lakeshore. It's my favorite place to go for ideas and toys and learning stuff. I keep the catalog by my bed for a long time when a new one comes out so I can look at things while I get sleepy. :) I've talked about it before, here for sure, and in some other posts where I was talking about new toys. In fact, Kanga and I were there just last night drooling and planning and figuring out what's priority for our next big shopping trip. So it was extra fun to come home and find this email in my box. Check it out- lots of good stuff!


Hello, Daycare Girl!

We can’t thank you enough for the wonderful things you’ve been posting about Lakeshore. There are few things as gratifying as unsolicited praise!

If you haven’t taken a look at LakeshoreLearning.com recently, we’d like you to know about our new Teacher’s Corner & Parent’s Corner! These FREE resources for teachers and parents are full of:

§ Fun activities

§ Engaging projects

§ Ready-to-print worksheets

§ Tips & advice from your peers

§ The chance to win a $100 gift card by submitting your ideas and projects

We have new FREE resources every month. To check it out, use this link:

www.lakeshorelearning.com/general_content/free_resources/freeResources.jsp

We want you and your readers to get involved! Feel free to post this information on your blog…we’d love to have your readers participate!

Sincerely,

Andrea Speck.

Lakeshore Learning Materials


So thanks Andrea! And if you're reading.... I got a magnetic Weather Watcher board on clearance at lakeshore.com awhile back- I love it, but it didn't come with magnets and I can't find any anywhere! Help! :) Is it discontinued?

Pajama Camping

It is hot. Really darn hot. And I don't know what kind of fierce insect has taken up residence around here, but even when I coat the kids with bug spray, they all get bitten to pieces and break into sweat the *instant* we set foot into the backyard. I heard it was supposed to be 108 today. We are staying IN.

So we decided it would be pajama day!

As the planning last night and this morning went on, it sort of morphed into a camping day which just happened to take place in our pajamas. That totally works for me. We put blankets and pillows all over the floor and they built a pretend campfire and we sat around and told stories for awhile. They wanted me to tell a scary one. Do I look crazy? Why would I frighten them? So I told them this one. They thought it was really dumb. Good. :) You act it out all dramatic and use scary voices and then when it's a pink jellybean... Duchess was all, really? Really Mom? that's IT?!

Then they decided we should make s'mores. I had none of the key ingredients, but I have been wanting to try a recipe I got for gluten free graham crackers, so we spent another big chunk of the morning baking a pan of homemade graham crackers. I am in equal parts amazed at my Betty Crocker-ness and disgusted at its necessity. They turned out pretty decently for a first attempt, although next time I think I need to roll them out thinner.


Cute New Boy (who I'm thinking of calling either Flik or Remy~ any thoughts on that?) was running a little late this morning because he got to spend the night with Grandma, and so he showed up in the midst of all this and she offered to go buy us marshmallows and hershey bars. WOO HOO! Thanks! :) Kanga and I have sampled the finished product and it is mighty tasty. We're waiting on everybody to wake up from their naps so we can serve the kiddos.

I was trying to think of what a good camping lunch would be, and I remembered those foil packet dinners we used to put in the fire when I was a girl scout. We always called them "girl scout specials" although I think they were actually boy scout specials first. I googled and hit the jackpot on a list of tons of them. I think we'll definitely have to try some of the others, especially the chocolate marshmallow banana one. We made the hobo pouches for lunch today and they were a pretty good success. I like that they can be tailored to each person- we made them one by one and they got to tell me which veggies they wanted in it. I had hamburger in each one, and then choices of peas, corn, carrots, mix veggies, mushroom, and onion. Ariel loved the meat and would have eaten double what I made her, and O'Malley picked out all his veggies and left the meat. Silly children.

Here's Sebastian's, ready to go into the oven:

And just for future reference, they took 45 minutes to bake, which I was not really expecting for some reason. By the time Simba's was done, he was totally gone. I don't think he got even one bite before he fell asleep in his chair!


After all that, it was after 2:00 before the last kid went to sleep, so I don't know if we'll have time for any camping art. I'm guessing we'll get through s'mores right before pickup, so you can take your kids home all full of sugar.

You're welcome. :)

But seriously, this has been a REALLY fun day so far. I just wish it was Friday, because a lot of times we do special things on Friday, and so it feels like it is. I think tomorrow we're going to call it Silly Hat Day and make sticker crowns and foam visors and dance around in our hats. We can't have Friday be a letdown!

Eating a camping lunch in our jammies is fun!!

Miss Roo

Continuing with our introductions, here is Roo.

This picture totally cracks me up. She looks so startled- what? Where did all this food come from? I was just eating... and then... it was everywhere... how did this happen? And you're taking pictures? And laughing? Come on now...

She belongs to Kanga. She took a little while to warm up to me, since mama's here with her all day long. Of course mama is better than me. :) That's how it always is, no matter how much time I spend with a kid, and that's how it ought to be. She did finally decide that it's okay for me to hold her though, which is a good thing since Kanga does get busy with other stuff from time to time.

Kanga, with Chip

She's in between Aurora and Bianca in age, so it's going to be really fun in another year or so when we have a gender shift in big kids again. Right now we have four big boys, since Simba definitely counts himself among the big ones. There's a lot of trucks and balls and hollering. Next year, we'll be all about the tea party, I'm thinking.

Don't you want to bite my cheeks?

Noses

We were playing outside the other day and I had Aurora sitting in the exersaucer since she's not quite walking yet. She likes hanging out with the big kids and looking at things, and they bring her things to do and talk to her pretty regularly.

O'Malley came over to say hi and she very carefully stuck her finger directly up his nose and laughed. I don't think she could have planned it any better. He freaked OUT.

"Aurora! NO! Boogers in mine nose! Uck! No touch!"

Then he comes to me to tattle: "MOMMY! Aurora touch mine boogers! So ucky! Need kleenex!"

These are the small things that make me laugh. :) My job is fun. We washed hands and noses and went on with the day.

Bianca's Tricks

I've been bad about updating lately- we've been busy around here! Bianca has been working hard on learning lots of new skills. Check her out!!



She can sit up really well and likes to play with blocks or look at books.



She still is not quite officially crawling, but still somehow manages to find her way all around the room.


Her hair is getting long enough to put cool clips and bows in, and her smile is as big as ever. :) She's lots of fun. It always amazes me how quickly they get mobile and active.

Vegetable Gardens Galore

The first day with a new big kid always makes me conscious of wanting to take pictures to document the Big First Day. Cute New Boy's first day here coincides with the beginning of the vegetable unit we're doing, so there's lots of good stuff to show. We're about a week behind on May curriculum (as usual), but I really just love doing what they're interested in, and if they want to play outside ALL morning and collect bugs and dig in rocks, I'm good with that. We're finally done with the rock unit I think, although I didn't get through all the material. I'm guessing they won't be asked any time soon to take a pop quiz on sedimentary or metamorphic rocks though, and we DID talk about igneous, and fossils, and limestone and granite, and arrowheads.....

So. On to vegetable gardens.

We played outside for about an hour and a half this morning. I'm growing lettuce and strawberries in pots and they've been helping me water them and watch them, so we did a bit of that, and then they ran around like banshees with Kanga while I got some art ready in the house. I went out periodically to see what they were doing and Cute New Boy (who of course needs a Disney name- who does he look like to you?) was SO excited that we were out there for so long. We're routined in terms of we do this, then that, in a predictable pattern, but I rarely watch the clock. Every time I went out he ran over and grinned at me and said, "WE'RE STILL OUTSIDE! STILL!" It made him very happy.


So then when we came in I read them The Surprise Garden by Zoe Hall and we talked about seeds and gardens, and then we made a mural of our own garden to hang on the wall.


The finished product-apple trees, watermelons, carrots, strawberries, sunflowers, peas, green beans, cauliflower, and some "big ones" and "long ones" that I couldn't get a clear ID on, but that pleased the artists immensely. :)

And then of course we had to have salad bar for lunch. Most of them did pretty well and ate at least one thing. I had hit the farmers' market earlier in the week so we had lots of colorful choices.

Everybody got to pick their own veggies and add meat and cheese. Good stuff.

Introducing Chip

Our youngest member of the bunch is Chip. He is Belle's little brother. I try to keep siblings in the same movie. :) So he's the little teacup, not the Rescue Ranger, for those of you keeping track at home.

It's nice to have siblings and stay in touch with families. I love how much they look alike. It's fun to remember Belle being so small, now that she's off at school and almost finished with kindergarten already.


Chip is a laidback, cheery, smily boy. Lots of fun to have around. Kanga always says she wants to tuck him in her purse at the end of the day and take him home with her.

He did cry one time. It was noteworthy and we took pictures of it, because even while crying he's just so cute.


And I realize in these pictures he's not really smiling. How silly of me. My very favorite picture of him is already up in the header though. So just peek up there.