ABCs and Christ

I have been trying to encourage more learning in our home. Not only our ABCs but also more spiritual learning and conversations with our children. Spending time together and learning through play. I have felt such a spiritual growth the past few weeks in spending this time with the kids and bonding more with them. I was so happy with the way the kids jumped in on it. Aiden, Ember and Ty all want to learn and create and discover new things. They love to talk about things with us and they truly crave that time together. Sometimes its short and sometimes we create and learn for hours. I never force it and allow it to fall as it is. I can't wait to see where this continues to go.

The first week was Under the Sea and Mermaids... Ember and Aiden were so in love.

Easter love

One of my favorite things to do is have a cute lunch set up with a few activities for Ember and Aiden when she gets home from school. To be honest I was sad about the half day Kindergarten, as Ty had full day and I was nervous for a change. Now those hours when Ember is home from school before Ty gets home and her and I can visit and craft and catch up on the day are truly times and memories I treasure with her! I am no longer looking forward to full day school.

Combining tot-school crafts and fun with these two cuties. Ember is teaching Aiden the letter B here and working on fine motor skills. 

Each holiday we head to the Library and load up on every book we can find... We took these and had an outdoor picnic and school. 

Yay for SPRING BREAK!!! Lunch outside in our pajamas! 

I was a little saddened this year by my lack of Easter decorations.... So I took that into my own hands. Also the lovely tea party on the table set up by Aiden and Ember is magical! 

Happy Spring friends

The kids and I were looking for ways to stay busy this spring break. I was so happy to find a lovely list of ideas from The Peaceful Press and In Bloom.

Jayson works all day Mon-Wed. We only see the whites of his eyes at breakfast...and I'm usually asleep before he even walks back in the door. That leaves me and the three kiddos ALL day for the next few days.. I knew we needed some structure and as little screen time as possible to keep my sanity and peace in the home.


Our to-do list inspired by "In bloom" includes..

Spring nature hike
Spring material object (above)
Spring Acrostic
Memorize Spring poem
Diagram of a flower
Spring nature tea party
Edible dirt cups

Through the month of April we will also be...
Planning our garden
Making a few crafts for the garden
Learning about plants and seeds
Lots of outdoor play and hikes
Working on Earth day projects and activities

St. Patrick's Day

The kids were so excited for the leprechaun to come but "pinch day" however made Ember terrified to go to school. So we went a little green crazy and made sure she was well protected to go to school! 

She also had a little party with her friends here at our house! They made leprechauns and rainbows and ate plenty of sweets! 

We made a leprechaun trap and he brought the kids some fun colorful goodies the next morning but I somehow lost those pictures... 

 Hope you didn't get pinched!

Rainbow craft

Back in March when we were excited for the new season of spring and St. Patrick's Day around the corner we made these paper rainbows. I totally forgot to write in yellow but my girl was much smarter then I and added it in herself!

Now they live in our playroom. I love the way it is coming along with all the colors.

Jelly Fish Craft

Ty had play group today! SOOO FUN:) We try and do a craft and a little lesson. Then they run and play for an hour. Today we made jelly fish. I let them scribble all over the paper bags and put the glue down for them eyes. Then I cut the bag with decorative scissors. Simple, cute and fun!

egg carton paint trays

I am constantly trying to think of ways to use cardboard boxes, egg cartons, lids, bottles...basically anything we can recycle and use for something new is a score in my book. Not only do I feel cool but Ty thinks its totally awesome. We paint a lot in this house... more like make huge messes but its fun. I usually throw this paint together in ice trays.. (totally works as well) but these cartons have been sitting in my craft closet for over a week while I decide what to do with them. When the kids wanted to paint I pulled out the ice trays like I usually do and walked over to the closet to get our paint sheet and saw the cartons...pulled them out and they worked perfect.

• Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Food coloring
• Egg carton
• Paint brushes
• Spoons for mixing
• Heavy paper for painting on

This paint could not be more fun...and easy.

Pour a little milk into a bowl, add a couple drops of food coloring, and mix. So easy and a total score with the toddlers.

Its super thick and runny....a little sticky, well a lot sticky and takes forever to dry... but they love it.
Ty says "its pretty mom...sparkles"

I always lay out a huge old sheet under the kids chairs for their mess. It happens.. but I don't worry about it on the counter because it wipes right off.

After were done they both get straight in the bath and I leave clean up for later. They are so sticky and messy I am sure it would be all over the furniture if I waited to wash them up.

 happy painting.

fruitloop rainbow craft

Well March is here. Where the heck is the year going? I seriously feel like it should be January. Yikes... anyways.. I have been seeing this rainbow craft all over pinterest lately and have been wanting to make it with Ty for the past few days. Today was a pretty chill day so we went down to the lobby at our apartment and borrowed a few white cups (haha they can be used for things other than coffee right?!)  So then Ty and I sorted out all the fruitloops for about ten minutes. I drew on the colors so he could have a guide to where to put the fruitloops.

I sat next to him and put hot glue down two inches at a time. I put it on the lowest setting and blew on it as he was putting them on. It never burned him and he loved it.

add a few cotton balls and you have a cute rainbow and a happy toddler...

 While making this Ty said things like

"thank you mom for us making this"
"mom i can eat it as i make it.."
"mom this is so colorful"
"mom my favorite is red, green, blue, purple, orange and yellow"
"mom...ember no eat these just me...ok mom"
"mom lets make these ever day...mom. ok mom"




 Happy March :)

paper plate puzzles

The kids had a blast with these. Ty likes to actually use them as puzzles and Ember likes to match the colors up in piles.

Color away. After I let the kids color the plates I did the rest.

Cut them into any shapes you want. They are all pretty easy except the red. Red was a little too hard. I had to help Ty with it and it even took me a minute. ha

Really easy and fun way to kill an hour. :)