Here We Go Again!

Well, it's that time of year again! Addison and I went for Meet the Teacher Night on August 19, and she started the 3rd grade on August 24th. She is still attending the Math and Engineering school. She loves her new teacher (although she really misses her teacher from last year). She loves being in school - I think she has a certain (hereditary??) obsession with school supplies. Since this school works a year ahead of other public schools, we had a long talk about how much faster the 3rd grade moves than the 2nd grade. I'm not worried...she's firecracker smart. She's constantly blowing the curve, and she loves learning new things, but I felt a responsibility to at least make the speech, you know?

Addie before Meet the Teacher Night

Also new to her this year is the bus. Mind you, we live maybe a mile from the school...if that. And if they had sidewalks, she could, theoretically, walk - if I wasn't such a paranoid parent who refuses to let her children out of her sight by themselves. I rather enjoy our short trips to and from school because we always act silly and I inevitably embarrass all the kids with my somewhat rusty 80's dance moves, so I was a little reluctant to give up our little trips! But Addison really wanted to ride the bus like a "big girl," so I chose to let her ride.

This picture perfectly captures her personality!

This has actually turned into a blessing for both of us. Addison loves being able to gain a little "big girl" independence and walk in the front door and say, "I'm Ho-ome!" And I love being able to let the other kids sleep while Addie and I spend quiet time together eating our breakfast and doing her hair. Our mornings are not as rushed, and I'm not as stressed. So what first began as a guilty feeling of lost time with Addie, turned out to be a blessing of more one-on-one time together. I still secretly wish I could homeschool her, but I am content that God has a plan for us all and for now His Plan has her in public school.

First Day of School!!!

Trey will pick back up on his lessons on Sept. 14. For those who don't know, he began the 4th grade back in April. We took a couple of months off over the summer so we could focus on remodeling our house. We're almost done with the house, and we can't wait to get back into the swing of homeschooling again.

Our first Homeschool Association meeting was held on September 3rd. It looks like there will be a LOT more field trips, learning opportunities, elective classes, choir opportunities, etc., and LOTS of new members! So we can't wait! Trey will be a member of 4H this year, as well as Choir. We're looking into Orchestra, as well; although we're not sure if we can afford it yet. We will also be attending Park Day and Bowling Day-each once a month. Who says homeschooled kids aren't socialized?? I swear, Trey and Lindsay's social calendars are more full than Addie's. Crazy, right?


The only thing I really worry about with Trey is his dress. He would stay in his pajamas all day if I'd let him! And some days he has! I'm thinking of enforcing a dress code this year! How funny would that be?

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful school year!!!

Girl's Day Out!!

Last Friday, the girls and I had the day to ourselves. The guys went to the cabin to help out with some more of the building phase. So the girls and I decided that we would get out of the house for a while and have some fun!

First on our To-Do List was Chuck E. Cheese. They had a really great time. The highlight, though, was when they impressed everyone with their cool dance moves (that they obviously didn't learn from me). Addison took off as soon as the tokens hit her hand, and I didn't see her again until it was time to eat the pizza. Lindsay didn't want to get down from the clock ride.

Then came the shopping!! I was looking for an outfit for Easter, and the girls had fun sifting through all the beautiful jewelry we came across. They got bracelets, and hair bows, and all the typical "girly" stuff that any mini-fashionista would be proud to own! The funniest moment, though, occurred while we were in one of the "Mommy Stores." From the minute we walked in the door, Lindsay was obsessed with the manequins. There was a group of them posed in front of the doors showing off the newest spring fashions. Lindsay politely walked up to them and said, "So...what's up girlfriend? Hi ladies!" I got a little laugh out of that and moved on.

I found some really cute things and headed for the register. It was crowded - I was 4th in line, with a couple of women behind me, but I didn't mind because I was just excited about this rare opportunity for me to get something new. :) Of course, I was really hoping Lindsay wouldn't notice the half naked manequin beside us wearing nothing but a thong. I swear this is a respectable store...I don't know what they were thinking putting that manequin up like that!! But both of my smart little observant children noticed right away!! Addison just snickered under her breath and was obviously embarrassed. Lindsay, on the other hand, was very interested. I know my face had to be red, but I tried to ignore it in hopes that maybe the shiny new necklace I was now dangling at her would catch her attention.

No such luck...she immediately walked around the back of the manequin with a look that could only be described as a cross between utter disgust and absolute hysteria. Then came the pointing, snickering, and the eventual proclamation that...

"Mommy! That lady has a wedgie!!!"

Ok, my face has to be at least 4 shades of purple at this point! Addison was trying her best not to laugh. But it eventually got the best of her and that just multiplied Lindsay's quest to make sure that everyone in the store was aware of the "lady's" unfortunate situation, while she continued to try to help the "lady" dislodge the offending material from her rear-end.

As a mother, I often find myself blushing over some of the observations of my children in public places. Thank goodness it was an all-women's store. I'm sure everyone in line was a mother who had probably experienced some degree of public humiliation at the hands of their beloved children. They all got a good laugh out of it anyway!!

By the time we made it out of the store, I needed a little time to let the blood drain from my face. Sooo................................

We decided to top off our day with a trip to Coldstone Creamery...FOR DINNER!! This is something I have never done before as a mother, but I couldn't resist! We were having such a good time, and it reminded me of some of the times that my sister, Lisa and I would spend with our Aunt Jeannie. We used to spend summers with her at her beach house outside of Galveston, TX. When we were little, she'd fix us waffles with ice cream on top for breakfast as a special treat. It was memorable to say the least! Aunt Jeannie died in a car accident in 2000, and never met my girls. So I was so happy to be able to share a little part of her with them.

Her ice cream kept falling off the cone, so I got her a bowl.

But she was determined to get it IN the cone!

Obviously, they liked the ice cream! I can only hope that they enjoyed our Girl's Day Out as much!!

Tot School - March 30 - April 3, 2009

Wow! We had one of the best weeks ever! The weather was beautiful almost every day last week!! So beautiful, in fact, that I couldn't bear to keep the kids inside all day. So nearly every day last week, we went outside for most of the day. Most of Lindsay's tot school was done inside in the mornings, while it was still a little too chilly outside.

Theme: WEATHER!!

We just kept it simple this week. Rather than simply teaching her about the weather, I wanted Lindsay to really experience our theme up close and personal! This theme is one of my favorites because I LOVE sunshine!! Without it, I would surely go insane.

Prior to last week, I had made a bunch of weather cards using an April Lesson Plan I bought online. On Monday, she and Addison helped me make a box to display them. Each day, Lindsay got up from the breakfast table and ran over to the front door to peak out the side-lights to see what the weather would be. I would ask her to choose the correct weather card from the box to show me what the weather was. Then we would place a matching weather card on our calendar.

We talked about the rain...

And she made a raindrop (that I had outlined for her) out of blue thumbprints and "swirlies"...

We talked about clouds...She did a worksheet (on desk above) which had to do with counting clouds and being able to circle the correct number that corresponded to the number of clouds in a given row.

This is something I felt particularly proud of...I handed her a coloring page with a cloud on it, and asked her what color she thought clouds were. My 3 year old little Einstein told me that clouds could be pink, purple, blue, orange and white...rainbow clouds. I laughed and said, "oh how cute," and dismissed it. Later on that evening, while (still) playing in the yard, she pointed to the sky and said, "Look Mommy! Rainbow Clouds!" It was a beautiful sunset and all the clouds were, in fact, "rainbow" colored!

I taught her a song about clouds in which she got to use her cloud stick. It included an appropriate amount of wiggling and giggling! :)

We did some color sorting...nothing to do with "weather" persay, but she REALLY likes to sort M&M's!!

We talked about the wind, and made a beautiful windsock!

On it, she colored herself and Mommy playing in the flowers.

She decided to hang it in the big Elm tree in the front yard. I thought it looked very pretty there!

And we spent a LOT of time discussing the aerodynamics of a Dora the Explorer tricycle! (LOL...just kidding!!)

For more Tot Reports from other moms, visit Carisa's blog at 1+1+1=1. Y'all have a great week!!

New Preschool Curriculum for Lindsay!

One thing I’m excited about is that I bought an ebook from Mary Robinson at www.preschoolplanner.com. I know – I cheated!! The truth is, I just don’t know how mothers of 2 or more children find enough time in their days to sit down and think of creative and fun things for their preschoolers to do while they are also homeschooling the other children, not to mention all the household obligations!! I also still have another child in public school, and I find myself having to work around that schedule too.

I used to be a Pre-K teacher in Little Rock years ago, and since I’m a visual person who needs to be extremely organized in order to function, I found myself spending hours (that I didn’t have) just PLANNING on what Lindsay and I would be working on for Tot School. I already knew what she should be learning and at what approximate age, but I was really struggling with ideas of how to teach those skills in a fresh/creative way. (It's been about 10 years since I had my Preschool Teacher hat on). I know a lot of this has to do with my recent blog reading. While they are EXTREMELY helpful and I wouldn’t trade them for the world, sometimes it can be a little humbling!! I started to compare myself to other, more creative moms and, although I know I shouldn’t do that, I began to experience some frustration with myself.

So this ebook has definitely been worth it for me. It was relatively inexpensive, and it includes everything you need to teach a preschooler for a year…even snack and circle time instructions. It does NOT, however, include the actual worksheets, etc. that some of the ideas suggest. You would need to gather those on your own. But now I can just spend a few extra minutes on Saturday afternoon (when I’m working on Trey’s Lesson Plans), and gather all the worksheets (if any) needed for Lindsay. The Planner gives a daily list of instructions for Circle Time activities, Arts and Crafts, etc., as well as a Materials List of items you should gather to complete the different activities...down to the snacks! Of course, I already have a snack planned for the kids on our 5 Week Menu Planner, but I'm thinking of working those into the plan. I'll have to see how that goes, though!

Now, if you know me at all, you know that I always TWEAK things to suit my own needs. Many of the ideas listed for our Tot Reports will be my original ideas. Some will be adapted from Mary’s Preschool Planner. In any case, out of respect her, I will not go into major detail in future posts about her ideas – I know everyone will understand! I will tell you that if you buy the ebook, you will also receive emails from her periodically with new ideas to add to your collection. And since Lindsay won’t start Kindergarten until she is almost 6 (IF she starts public school – we still haven’t decided), I am 100% happy with my investment because I’ll be able to use these ideas for quite a while!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, but please be mindful that I will not share details on her ideas…I just don’t think its right. The ebook is worth the fairly listed purchase price. Please visit Mary’s website above, or her blog: Preschool Planner 101.

Tot School - March 23-27, 2009

If you read my post, New Preschool Curriculum for Lindsay, you already know that I bought a new Preschool Curriculum for Lindsay. I bought it from Mary Robinson at http://www.preschoolplanner.com/. So far I really like it. Some of the ideas listed below are my own, some are Mary’s. As I previously posted, I do not feel comfortable sharing the details of her ideas – even if I’ve tweaked them a little. So if you have questions, please refer to Mary’s website or her blog at Preschool Planner 101. I like it because it focuses on weekly themes, which works for us. And since I bought the ebook, I receive periodic emails from her with even more ideas. I just recently found her blog, and noted there were a lot of free items, so you might want to check that out first.

My teenage step-daughter, Tracy was on Spring Break this week and she came down on Tuedsay to spend the week with us. So we didn’t get a whole lot done because we like to spend as much time with her as we can because we just don't get to see her as much as we'd like. She's a busy, busy teenager living with her mom about 200 miles away. :( So, I'm sure you'll understand why Tot School was a little sparse this week. But here’s a little bit of what we did earlier in the week and this weekend.

Theme: Teddy Bears

We didn’t focus on a particular letter, shape, or color this past week. Lindsay has already mastered all of her shapes and colors, and I wanted to focus more on the alphabet as a whole as opposed to one specific letter this week.

Book Focus: Goldilocks and the Three Bears

We did a Teddy Bear Show and Tell. Lindsay brought several of her favorite bears to “Floor Time.” We charted them and afterwards arranged the bears on the floor according to size. As an afterthought, I also tried to show her how to arrange them in alphabetical order by their names. I didn't think ahead or I would have charted them in alphabetical order to help her visually, but there's always next time I guess! I knew that skill was going to be difficult for her – she’s 3 and doesn’t have the entire alphabet down yet. She still skips the letter N and still can recognize a few of them when I present them out of order.
We also did a Teddy Bear Parade…we walked all over the house and let the bears wave to the parade-goers (the non-teddy-bear-stuffed-animals, dolls). She wanted to throw candy, but mommy had to veto that one!

We took to the internet and researched different types of bears and where they live in the world. I found this website very helpful. http://kids.poisson.org.uk/bears/types.htm. It listed the 8 different types of bears, photos of them in their environments, and a map of where they live. We talked about what different bears eat, and noted how some bears like cold weather and other bears like hot weather. I asked her to tell me what kind of weather each one of her stuffed bears liked. I was glad to see that she had a very diverse group of bears!

Addison helped Lindsay with a Puppet Show of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Goldilocks is a brunette in our house…lol. I was blown away with the thought and imagination that they put into this puppet show. They’re selling tickets for the “afternoon matinee” later on today. I wonder if they’ll give me a discount!

Pay no attention to the little grimey fingerprints on the TV behind them!

I ALWAYS forget those during clean-up!!

Music: We learned a new song called Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear by Jack Hartmann (this is in Mary's Ebook - I know this isn't a top secret song, because I used to do this with my preschoolers years ago, so I'm sharing it). I think it can be adapted to fit almost any theme. :)

Lyrics:
Teddy bear, teddy bear - turn around,
Teddy bear, teddy bear - touch the ground
Teddy bear, teddy bear - shake your hips,
Teddy bear, teddy bear - blow a kiss

Teddy bear, teddy bear - jump up high,
Teddy bear, teddy bear - see me smile
Teddy bear, teddy bear - give a hug,
Teddy bear, teddy bear - lots of love

Oh la, la, la, la, la love my teddy bear

This has nothing to do with Tot School, but I also took the kids outside yesterday morning (it was freezing) to get some pictures of them all together! Here are a couple of my favorites!

Tracy and Lindsay at a little park in Downtown Texarkana, AR.

All four of my kiddos!!

Lindsay, Tracy, Trey and Addison

For more Tot Reports from other moms, visit Carisa's blog at 1+1+1=1!

Tot School - Spring Break!!

Last week, Tot School was fairly non-existent due to our Spring Break. Since Addison still attends public school, we follow her schedule to make it easier on everyone. Trey and Lindsay enjoy being off when Addison is off, and honestly...so do I. So you'll notice there's no theme, letter of the week, etc.

She did have some free dress-up time, which she normally doesn't have access to unless it's for dramatic play during Tot-School time. (I started having to keep the dress up materials put up when she started trying to go overboard with the glam...she spilled a good amount of red fingernail polish in my bedroom floor - did I mention I have white carpet? She's sooo sneaky!!) So she decided she wanted to be a Barbie Superhero...note the Barbie doll in the hand-fashioned "holster" on her back. Yes, those are panties on her head...I swear I don't know where she comes up with this stuff!!

While we were on Spring Break, Gary had to go to the Best Buy in Shreveport, LA to manage their store while their managers were all out of town at some event. SO...he was gone from Tuesday until Saturday. The kids were really missing their daddy, so we drove down to visit on Thursday morning. It's only an hour and a half from our house, so it was a very do-able trip. The kids had a great time spending the night with Dad in his hotel, and Gary was glad that he got to have some company.

Since he was working the closing shift, we got to spend the morning with him and most of the afternoon. Then he went to work and we went to play!! We went to the Boardwalk down on the river, where there are lots and lots of shops. The city has completely revitalized the downtown area and it is so kid-friendly down there during the daytime hours! The streets have been permanently blocked off, and the only transportation is a trolley system that runs the length of the boardwalk. There is a carosel, lots of restaurants, and tons of shops! Think of walking around your favorite downtown area - with a scenic view of the river, and NO TRAFFIC!! It was awesome!

I took the kids to the Build-a-Bear Workshop, where they each got new outfits for their existing bears. Lindsay also had a bear already, but Addie had picked it out for her on a previous trip, so it was Lindsay's first experience at Build-a-Bear and I just couldn't tell her no when she asked for the pink monkey with hearts on it's hands, feet, and tummy.

We had a bit of trouble with temper tantrums in the workshop, so I decided that a learning opportunity existed there and we did a mini-lesson on feelings when we got home. Here she is showing her happy face, and her angry face (too funny!!) It was all I could do not to laugh at that one!!

So that was our week off from Tot School...if you're interested in what other (non-slacker) moms did for Tot School this week, visit Carisa's blog: 1+1+1=1.

Tot School - February 16 - 20

Last week for Tot School, I chose to focus Lindsay's activities around the book, If You Give a Moose a Muffin. She really loves this book, so I thought it would be fun to use it as our theme for the week.

Letter: M

Shape: Square

Color: Red

The majority of our week was spent reading (and re-reading) the book. With Lindsay, if you read it once, you have to read it over and over again. This is fine with me because it helps her with word recognition.

We had a "book club meeting" with Trey and lots of stuffed animals. Lindsay and I made muffins and hot chocolate. We even used our real tea cups and saucers. I made a Moose teaching aid using the template on this site. They also have all kinds of other crafts and activities on that site using this theme. Another site I found helpful was Danielle's Place. We played the Muffin Match Math Game, Follow the Tracks Mystery Game.

Our new weekly book club meeting!

We also researched different facts about the moose and it's habitat and talked about how the moose is the largest member of the deer family. We don't have any moose in this area, but we do have lots of deer around our neighborhood. We took a drive up the road to see if we could spot any...they were hiding that day, though.

We had a really great week using this theme...I'm sure we'll use more literature based themes in the future. We enjoyed the book club so much that we have added it to our weekly schedule. I bring refreshments, Trey gets to practice his reading skills by reading the book to us out loud, and Lindsay gets to bring guests and set up the "tea party" - esque atmosphere. We all have a great time and learn a little in the process.

Trey and Lindsay having a book club picnic outside.

For more Tot School Reports from other moms, visit Carisa at 1+1+1=1.

Tot School - February 9 - 13, 2009

Letter: V

Shape: Heart

Color: Pink

Pre-Science: We used a stethescope to listen to our hearts before and after exercising to show/discuss why our hearts beat faster when we're exercising. We talked about why it's important to exercise in order to keep our hearts healthy.

Large Motor: A Hearty Workout
This was a game that I found online at http://www.prekfun.com/%22%3Ehttp://www.prekfun.com/ (I think!) But when I went back, I found that they only keep listed the current themes and they disable the links for the older themes. So, unfortunately, I am unable to link back to the actual page where this activity can be found...so I've listed the words below.

(Tune: Do You Know the Muffin Man?")

Oh Valentine! Come dance with me!
Dance with me!
Dance with me!
Oh Valentine! Come dance with me!
We'll dance until we stop!! (Freeze)

Each time, substitute other actions like hop, skip, jump, twirl, etc. Afterwards, we placed our hands over our hearts to feel how it beats faster.

Arts/Crafts: We made lots of Valentines and Valentine decorations.

That's Addie peaking in from the outside...she's so silly!!

Pre-Math / Dramatic Play: Sorting - Playing Post Office - After we made our Valentines, Lindsay played like she was the mail carrier and "delivered" each valentine to it's appropriate "mailbox". She sorted each one into each family member's mailbox, then we counted how many each family member had.

Language: Draw/Dictate Pictures - I asked Lindsay to draw a picture about how we show people that we love them. She dictated the pictures as she drew them. One little funny here...her idea of how to show Trey that she loves him: "I let him clean my room for me."

More Pre/Math: We played Conversation Heart Tic-Tac-Toe...only without the conversation hearts because she kept eating them all.


Even More Pre-Math: we cut out lots and lots of heart shapes out of cardstock and placed them on a white bedsheet. Then on the count of three, we flipped the bedsheet up in the air and watched all the hearts float up and finally land on the floor. The one to collect the most hearts won. We discussed how we knew who had more hearts.

This was a really fun game that she continued to play all day long...when Trey and I got tired of playing, she enlisted the dog!

Fine Motor: We play with Play-Doh quite a bit. This week, she decided that she wanted to make Valentine "cookies" with her play-doh. This of course led us to making the real cookies (like we needed them with all the chocolate in the house, but what could I do??) This is her play-doh version of her "Daddy Sweetheart!"

As you can see, we had a very exciting (and busy) week in Tot School! For more Tot Reports from other mom's of toddlers, visit Carissa's Tot School blog at 1+1+1=1!

Tot School - February 2 - 6, 2009

No pictures this week...I know...I'm a total slacker! We were actually painting (all week) and my house was a complete MESS!! Being a former scrapbooker, I am severely bothered by photos where the backgrounds show my messy house. So I didn't take them. There...the truth has come out....why do I not feel "set free?" Could it be all the dust bunnies holding me prisoner? Ha!

Theme: Opposites

Letter: Y

Shape: Diamond

Color: Yellow

Pre-Math: Opposite Matching Game. For this activity, I printed out clip art pictures of different actions and their opposites onto some of my old scrapbooking cardstock and cut them out into squares. I laid out the pieces face up. I used sit/stand, tall/short, rain/shine, run/wallk, fat/thin (not my favorite one), big/little, etc. Then we matched them up! We had a lot of fun with this game. After she got the hang of the matching, we turned the cards face down and played a memory game with them.

Pre-Science: Sink/Float Sensory Table. We don't have a sensory table (so-to-speak), so I filled the kitchen sink with water and collected different items that would sink and float. We experimented with these items and guessed which items would sink or float. Then we talked about why our guesses were right or wrong. Lindsay had sooooo much fun with this! I wish I had gotten pictures of it!!

Large Motor Focus: Simon Says with Opposites. This one took a little time to master. She caught on quickly to the idea of doing the opposite action from what I suggested, but didn't catch the idea of only doing it when I said "Simon Says." Go figure.

More Large Motor Focus: Leap Frog. (Crouch/Leap). LOTS of fun!!

Arts and Crafts: Accordion Weiner Dog: I drew a picture (if you could call it that) of a weiner dog onto a piece of brown construction paper and helped Lindsay cut it out. Then we cut it in half. We then cut another long strip of brown construction paper and taped it to either side of the dog and folded it up to demonstrate a "long" weiner dog, and a "short" weiner dog. I wrote the word "short" in really skinny letters on the dog's front half. Then when it was unfolded, I wrote the word "long" in a way that took up the entire length of the dog's belly.

*This project was not my idea...I actually remembered doing this craft when I taught Pre-K years ago, but I've seen it done different ways on several websites recently as well, although I couldn't begin to recall which ones. So if you or someone you know should take credit for this cute idea, please, by all means do so in the comment section. :)

Sadly, our weiner dog didn't last long. Lindsay dragged this poor animal all over the house until he fell apart. He was taken to the weiner dog infirmary (a baby doll cradle in her play closet) and given several Dora and Sponge Bob band-aids. We're hoping for a full recovery. ;-)

Books: Slide and Seek by Chuck Murphy; Opposites by Sandra Boynton.

For more Tot Reports from other moms, click on the Tot School button above!!

Tot School - January 26 - 30

This week was a slow week for Tot School...well kind of. It was actually pretty busy for Lindsay, but I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was being a slacker...I admit it. I didn't charge the batteries in the camera, my dog ate my SD card, my husband monopolized the computer. I've got a ton of excuses, but none of them are really true. I just didn't get to the picture taking this week. :( I feel so horrible!

Theme: Food Groups / Cooking

Letter: O

Color: Orange

Shape: Circle

Since Trey was already doing Lessons on the Food Groups, I thought this would be an excellent Tot School opportunity. She learned about healthy snacks as opposed to junk food, and I showed her the different food groups. We also did a little of the following:

Fine Motor Skills: Cutting with a (child-oriented) knife: Lindsay learned how to use a kid-friendly plastic knife to help Mom cut up celery, carrots, and hard-boiled eggs. She also helped me make Mickey Mouse Pancakes one special morning. :)

Learning Center: Dramatic Play - Kitchen / Apron / Chef Hat Dress Up: Lindsay had a great time playing chef in her Kitchen Closet (our hall closet that we cleaned out for her). She and Addie got matching embroidered aprons for Christmas from their B. The chef hat was a gift to Addie from Santa Clause. But I've seen them at Bed Bath & Beyond for around $8. :)

Gross Motor: Jumping Jacks / Wii-Fit (we love this game during the winter!!)

Pre-Math: Making a "pizza" with a circle. I cut out a large circle out of cardstock and then cut out several smaller circles for the pepperoni. We then cut the pizza into 4 equal slices for each of her pizza party attendees (her baby dolls). She actually caught on faster than I thought she would. I thought the fractions would confuse her, but she was able to duplicate it perfectly.

Getting ready for some pancakes!!!!

Playing Chef Lindsay! I call this "Heaven's Kitchen"!!! Isn't that the cutest little apron??? It has her name embroidered on the front in hot pink. Thanks B!!!

Just a look at the large hall closet I cleaned out for her to play in. She loves it!

I wasn't sure what category this activity fell into. But Lindsay and Addie received these little Magnetic Creations as Christmas gifts this past year, and boy am I glad! Lindsay will sit for hours playing with these!! They come with different scenes and little magnetic figures you can rearrange. She loves to use her imagination to make different scenes.

Here's what the Magnetic Creations look like when opened up. The backgrounds are interchangeable, allowing her to choose which scene she wants to create. Lindsay likes to use all four at once and pretend it's a large "neighborhood" of folks talking back and forth to each other and going over to each other's "place" to visit and have slumber parties. :) What a sweet little imagination!

For more ideas from other Tot School moms, go to 1+1+1=1. Carissa also has a new website called Totally Tots, which is one of my favorite sites now! Go check it out!!! Have a great week everybody!!