October activities 2014

For playgroup one week we hit this awesome pumpkin patch!  I really missed Jackson and wish he didn't have to go to school so much!

The girls loved it!

 except for being brewed by Hallie...

 My cousin is serving the Fort Worth mission, so since we moved here, I've been on the hunt for him.  the stars aligned and one night I had a Relief society meeting the same night as a district fireside. It was great to see him, so happy and full of light.  I love our big family.

 Hallie's hair was getting to be impossible to comb and even worse to keep looking combed, so we trimmed it up!  I like it so much better... not as many fights!  But I miss those cute curls!

 A really great park opened up right by our house.  It has all sort of unique play structures and activities.  We've been visiting frequently with the weather finally cooling off a bit.

 I've been teaching preschool this month.  Our first week we learned "F" and visited the firestation.  It was great for the girls to be on a field trip with friends.  The firefighters were so friendly and fantastic (also F words!)

 We got really lucky because that same night, we had a neighborhood get together and we got to see the same firefighters, who remembered us.  There was a bounce house, facepainting, snowcones and more.  It was great to meet some neighbors!

The best part of this night was Jackson saying, "Hey that looks just like Oscar Travino!" Right before they announced the major of NRH, OSCAR TRAVINO!  I was shocked he knew him AND recognized him!  Turns out he learned about him THAT DAY in school!  We introduced ourselves only to find out we moved into the home of one of his city managers he knew well.  It is a small world, even when you are not Mormon :)

My ward has weekly playdates at parks around.  This girl wants to be a big girl and swings and climbs all over.  She loves ladders, fences and other precarious situations.  Keeps me on my toes.

 Jackson got invited to his first party of the year.  It was so great to meet other moms of parents that live near me.  This is what I like about  going to a neighborhood school and knowing we will interact for years to come through our kids. 

 Jackson ran 32 laps (3 miles!) at his run-a-thon.  Every even lap he ran the whole way, every odd lap, he stopped to get a drink and walk for a section.  He was diligent and never gave up.  the atmosphere and support from parents and teachers were fantastic.  He is loving being a Gator!

 Our neighbor friend is also in 1st grade with Jackson.  They enjoy playing together when they can find the time.

Preschool Letter T

Sadly, this was my last week to teach preschool.  I really wish I could get a group together for next year, but so far, I haven't found any takers.

We started off the day with puzzles.

Then we read T books and made T trees.  We also made T-books (and the kids cut it out themselves!) and made "t"-shirts, where they tried to draw as many T's as they could on the T-shirt. 

The first day we ran with the theme Teddy bear.  We ranked the teddy's, hid them, counted them, named them, played Ten in the bed (rolling them one-by-one off the love sac) and then invited them for a "T" Party.  We had a small set of T cups for the bears and a larger set for the kids.  We poured pretend T and real T (gatorade) and ate Toast, Tomatoes and Teddy grahams (is that canibalism?)  I knew this would be Jackson's favorite part.  He loves acting things out and being the adult and getting everything set up for his bear was a treat.
We also talked about Telling the Truth both days.  I had a book to read each day and then we used sheep sticks and lions sticks to show if the line I said was the TTTtruth or Ly-ing (Lion).  The kids even came up with some on their own.  

(Have I mentioned that Hallie loves preschool and surprisingly likes to do everything the kids do?  She knows how to wait her turn on a mat, color, listen to a book, etc.)

The second day we went with a Tooth theme.  We read a book about the dentist and caring for our teeth.  Then each kid got a mask, rubber gloves, a dentist mirror, a pompom toothbrush and pipe cleaner floss.  They each got a very dirty set of teeth (the pompom balls were chunks of food and the teeth were written on by a dry erase marker) to clean off.  They worked so diligently cleaning and flossing.  One student used the mirror like a magnifying glass, another used it to 'floss', It was funny to see their creativity.
Our snack was Oreos (sans milk) and we saw how messy and dirty our teeth got.  Then we tried apples and milk and they got all cleaned up.

Our final activity was a train game.  I set up 4 boxes before class (Jackson helped me) and he had the genius idea to add steering wheels.  The kids got a ticket with a number on it and had to find the corresponding box.  Then I punched their tickets and we created a place to ride our trains to.  We visited the zoo, park, swimming pool, shopping mall, jungle and jungle tree (they got different tickets each ride).  Then I taught "I've been working on the railroad" song as we used out hands to hammer and 'fix' our train.

I ended with an experiment with eggs in vinegar, coke and OJ to show what different drinks can do to our teeth over time.  Then each kid got a toothbrush.  I purposely gave the other two boys a blue brush and Jackson a yellow brush, because Jackson is pretty good about "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!"  But it turns out that one of the boys' favorite color was yellow and he really wanted yellow.  If you know Jackson, you know that he always wants anything that someone else wants/ has.  So suddenly Jackson's favorite color is yellow and he is chanting 'you get what you get . . .'.   I tried to tell him that it would make the other boy so happy and even though it is hard, it is what Jesus would want him to do to sacrifice to make someone else happy.  Despite my best efforts, Jackson decided he wanted yellow.  I disappointedly said, "I guess you made your choice."  I left the room for something and I felt so frustrated.  I wanted to take the toothbrush and give it to the other kid and FORCE him to be nice.  It was so difficult for me to live with what I thought was the selfish choice.  When I returned to the room, both boys were all smiles and Jackson told me he decided to give up the yellow toothbrush and make Danny happy.  And happy they were . . . and even happier I was!

Jackson is the type of kid that the more you push, the more he pushes back.  If I back off, sometimes he makes the right choice.  But backing off and letting go of control are very hard for me to do.  I guess he was sent to me for a reason.

Preschool W week

Preschool this week started out with lego building time.  They really loved it and it was difficult to break them away to start the real stuff.  Jackson plays so much longer with things when there are others around to help encourage his creativity.

 I decided to let Hallie skip her nap (since she's been doing this almost daily anyway) and play with us at preschool.  She was in heaven.  She loved watching the kids and trying to do just what they did (sitting on their mat, eating a snack, etc)

We were learning about W . . . mostly around the theme of weather.  The kids drew a card that had a weather on it and had to dress ready for that kind of weather.

 We learned about water in the air and condensation.  Then we watched clouds get full of rain and 'rain' into the atmosphere.  (water/shaving cream then use a medicine dropper to add colored water until it leaks through and 'rains' into the water)

 We ate waffles, read weather books, and played with a parachute.  Then we had a 'snowball' fight with marshmallows and powdered sugar.  It was fun because when you got hit with a marshmallow, there was a powdered sugar mark to prove it!  In the 80 degree weather, this was a perfect snowball fight.  Jackson got the worst of it!

On our wet, windy weather day we practiced plucking worms with beaks.  

Then ate worms out of dirt (gummy worms & chocolate pudding) apparently, you shouldn't tell  3-year-olds that it really is mud . . .they believe you and won't eat it . . . or at least the ones who aren't use to that kind of teasing :)

this project was gluing different clouds in the sky, the streamers represent rain and then it is a wind sock which we let blow in a fan (since AZ has no wind currently). 

We also made umbrellas with painted paper plates, we experimented with what will blow in the wind (using the fan) and played with Arizona style 'snow' (diaper filling (pre-used :)) and water).  

Once again, I really love teaching this preschool!  It probably was a little too heavy on the crafts this week and not enough action, but now I know that even kids get craft saturated.  I only teach one more week until our little preschool is over :(  I am hoping to do this again for all of my kids. 

*Don't know if you can tell but we finally got a new DSLR camera!  It is SO nice!  The photos were taken with no help from the user (besides clicking the button) and they still turned out great!  So excited to take it places!

Preschool fun with M

After taking a 6 week break from teaching preschool (and Jackson getting to go to fun and exciting preschool days) I got to teach again.  I really enjoy teaching (hmmm, I guess that is why I chose teaching as my career . . .) This week we have lost a couple of kids and so it was very calm and fun.  The kids have come SOOO far since the first day of school.  They can actually sit, participate, sing and listen.  They know that playtime isn't for a while and they are ok with waiting.  Of course, they are still 3 and have their issues, but for the most part it was so exciting to see how far they've come! 

First, we guessed which letter we were learning with a mystery bag full of M words.  Then we made Mountains with macaroni and marshamllow peaks.

We read a Magnet book and made a hanging magnet dance using another magnet.  The kids then explored the house with magnets on popcycle sticks to see what was magnetic.  Then each kid had a bag of 6-10 items that they sorted into Magnetic and not magnetic items.  They loved trying each item.  I only wished the magnets were stronger!

We then ate a Muffin tin Meal with mac, M&Ms Marshmallows, mouse snack (string cheese), milk and a muffin.

Finally, I made marshmallow shooters from a pinterest idea.  

It was fun to go outside and shoot marshmallows everywhere.  If only the kids could get them to go farther!

 We worked on the #6 and completed a puzzle of 6 pieces that made a Mouse.  We also graphed M&Ms according to color and talked about most, least, etc.  We learned about good table Manners.  I made a set the table mat and the kids had to set the table and act with appropriate manners.  It was so cute to hear them talk about what was good manners and try so hard with little 3 year old hands to eat mac and milk without spilling.  

Then we played 'Mailman' (because Mail and Man start with M and postal worker does not).  I had a bunch of little envelopes that I put shapes, colors or numbers on.  The kids each got a mailman bag filled with envelopes.  They had to deliver the mail to the appropriate mail box.  Each 'box' had a different color, number and shape, so that kept the kids guessing a little.  Jackson THRIVED in this activity.  He delivered all of his and helped the other kids figure out where to put theirs as well.  I put harder envelopes in Jackson's bag since he can already 1-to-1 count with accuracy, some of his envelopes had 5 dots that he had to count before dropping it in the #5envelope.  The kids played this twice - even after I told them they could go play.  Jackson then got all the mailboxes together and played alone for a third round.  It is so rewarding so have a project that took quite a bit of prep go over so well!!

I can't wait to teach again!  I really enjoy this!