Preschool at Home: Week 2

peek-a-boo

I didn't do as much planning for week number two, but I felt like it went better overall than week one. Perhaps that's because Riley and I were already in the groove from the previous week. I think she wanted to paint and do the other crafty things because she had enjoyed those projects last week.

This week, our theme was "under the sea," I guess. Our letter was F (for fish), our shape was circle (because fish blow bubbles and bubbles are round), our color was blue, our Bible verse was Colossians 1:16 (For by him all things were created...), and our sign was fish (I kind of forgot about the sign until later in the week so we might not have it completely down). We did crafts, read books, and did other activities that helped us learn all those things.

My favorite part of this whole preschool adventure is the crafts. This week we did a handprint octopus (pictured below), a shaving cream starfish (right), an Eric Carle inspired fish picture (pictured below), and more. Riley seemed to get into the activities more this week than last week - surprising since we weren't always using pink supplies. My favorite craft ended up being one I hadn't actually seen on Pinterest or a preschool site. I couldn't believe I actually came up with an idea on my own! If you've seen it somewhere, please don't burst my bubble and tell me (just kidding, of course). I'm quite confident that we aren't the first ones to do it, but call me immature for being happy that I thought it up all by myself (I think Riley's independent streak is rubbing off on me). 

Without further ado, here it is!

And in case you'd like to try it, here's how it can be done. 

Supplies:


-one (ore more) adorable toddler
-paint (I used two shades of blue and a splash of green for a little variation)
-paint brushes or sponge
-paper plate
-piece of white card stock
-green and yellow tissue paper
-great white northern beans (or whatever you have on hand)
-fish template (I used this one and printed it at 20%)
-school glue
-one googly eye

Before you begin: 


Before you sit down to start this activity, print out the fish from the site above and cut it out. Don't worry that it's black on one side. Your preschooler be working on the other side and won't even notice when she's done. If you have a young toddler, you'll also want to cut the green tissue paper into strips and the yellow tissue paper into squares (about 7).

Step-by-step:

1. Prepare the paint for your toddler and have her paint the paper plate. We used a paint brush, but I think a sponge would have created a really cool effect! I tried to get the same look by having Riley "stipple" rather than use long strokes. Allow the plate to completely dry. 
2. Cut your tissue paper into strips and twist them together at one end.  Glue the tissue paper bunch to the bottom of the plate. We just glued it at the bottom so it would be flow-y and look like a plant on the bottom of the fishbowl or sea floor. 
3. Spread glue little by little across the bottom of the plate and sprinkle the beans on top of the glue. Press down gently so they stick well. (This was Riley's favorite part! Be prepared to sweet up lots of beans from the floor.). 
4. Coat the card stock fish with a thin layer of glue. Have your little one place the yellow tissue paper all over the fish. Don't worry if it overlaps the fish. You can go back and trip it later. Once the glue dries, add the googly eye.
5. Glue your fish onto the paper plate and let everything dry thoroughly. 
6. Have your child show off her work! 

 

And just in case you're wondering what Caroline's preschool activities include, she's working on smiling, watching mobiles, and being cute these days. 

Saturday Show & Tell at Cheerios & Lattes

Show and Share Saturday at I Can Teach My Child
Joshua's Photo Link Up
Terrific Tuesdays with Adventures of a DIY Mom
Wednesday Wowzers at Oopsey Daisy

The Perfect Day

Today was a perfect day! For central Florida, the weather was phenomenal - highs in the mid seventies with clear blue skies. I had my 6 week followup appointment (post Caroline), so David planned to take today off to help me with the girls and spend a little bit of time together. We went to the doctor, ate a nice lunch at a barbeque restaurant, and headed to a park by a lake. 

I brought my camera in hopes of snapping a picture of Caroline with the doctor who delivered her, but she stayed with David during my appointment because she was awake. Even though I didn't get that shot, I'm so glad I had my camera with me because I got some adorable photos of Riley at the park. 

We might have made a bad decision letting her play in the fountain, but she had such a wonderful time. She thought it was a pool or splash park, I guess, because she kept asking us to get in. We had to stop her from going in head first several times... this child has no fear. I'm glad we decided to give her swimming lessons last summer.

Even though they didn't turn out all that great, I got the first pictures of me with both of my babies. I meant to ask our photographers to get a couple when we had Caroline's newborn/family shoot done, but I totally forgot. I have lots of David with the two girls because I'm always the one behind the camera. 

The whole day I found myself thinking how thankful I am for my wonderful little family. God has certainly blessed us beyond measure; may I always be mindful of that and give him the honor and glory for what he has done in our lives.

  

  

Preschool at Home: Week 1

showing her work to Daddy

This is week one of doing a slightly structured preschool routine with Riley. Since this blog is all about keeping a record of our lives, I want to post an update each week of what we're working on and how it's going. When Caroline is at this stage of life, I'm not going to remember exactly what worked and what didn't unless I write it down.

Each week I've decided to incorporate several things into our "preschool curriculum." Our goals for each theme will stay the same: learn a letter, a shape, a color, a Bible verse, and an ASL sign. We'll also work on counting. To reach our goals, Riley and I will be doing activities, crafts, songs, and lots and lots of repetition. We might even throw in a special snack or two. In the dining room by Riley's high chair and the table where we do lots of our activities, I'll be putting our weekly verse, letter, and shape on the wall for easy access and a constant reminder to review.

Our theme this week was hearts and pink (think Valentine's Day in April). I know it sounds like a tacky theme for the middle of April, but I wanted to start with something I knew my little scholar would enjoy. Our Riley is 100% girly girl so it was right up her alley. As we scribbled on heart coloring pages and did activities involving pink markers, yarn, and paint, Riley and I worked on memorizing a portion of John 13:35, "Love one another." and we sang a song about giving our hearts to Jesus. She can now recognize the letter H and wants me to "draw" it with sidewalk chalk on the driveway anytime we're outside.

Our favorite activities of the week were the footprint butterfly (I've been dying to try it since I saw it on Pinterest) and cherry blossom tree. Riley loved having me paint her little feet and pushing them down on the paper. Butterflies could very well be another of our themes on down the road, but I justified it by using pink paint. Riley's favorite part of the cherry blossom activity was blowing through the straw once we put the glob of paint on our paper. I've been dying to try both of these activities since I saw them on Pinterest. The ideas for both came from this website.

And for my mommy confession of the day: I totally threw the blue bow in to take pictures. Riley's hair was a total mess prior to these shots.

I'll leave you with this picture of our cute little sidekick. It will never cease to amaze me how quickly a baby can wrap herself around my heart and into our lives.

  

Riley Grace: 2 Year Update (slightly late)

Riley's birthday was March 23rd. I have such a hard time believing that our sweet girl has turned two; it's amazing how quickly time has passed. We celebrated her birthday several times: we had an early "party" when David's parents were here earlier in the year, we went to the park and Chick-fil-A on her "real" birthday, and we had a "real" party at the Hill the weekend after her birthday. 

Here's an update on our big girl. For the sake of time, I'm going to do this baby book style.

Height: about 34 inches

Weight: 26 lbs

Favorite toys: Riley loves all the toys she received for her birthday, especially the cupcakes from Kirby and the tea set from the Shius. She plays with them every day and loves to spread them all over the living room. Riley even attempts to give Caroline "bites." 

Favorite things to say: "Who is it?" "How it works?" "One more song?" "I do it myself!" "Caroline's crying!" "Happy, Mommy?" "Pee pee in special undies? No way, José!" "Go to church!""Cereal, please!"

It's amazing how much Riley is talking these days. From the moment she wakes up and greets us with her jovial "Hiya!" to the moment she goes to bed, she's chatting (I know, I know... she comes by it honesty). It's a blessing to have such a joyful little girl. She's so bouncy and happy it's hard not to smile at her all the time. 

Favorite friends: She loves Landon and Elijah, but I think her best friends are the girls at church from the ages of 10 to 13. They pay such good attention to her and treat her so sweetly she wants to be with them whenever we're at church. She talks about "Lanie" and "Annie" all the time and wants to see them throughout the week. 

During our annual youth rally, Riley made her first friend (all the others have just been there all along). Emily was the speaker's daughter and she just loved running around and laughing with her (not much conversing goes on at 2 years old).

Favorite things to do: Riley asks to go to the park all the time. She loves being pushed on the swing and sliding down the slides on her tummy. She also thinks it's great to blow bubbles and draw with sidewalk chalk in our front yard. 

Things she's learned: Riley can count to 10 (usually) and count 4 or 5 objects (candy, toys, etc.). She can kind of sing the ABCs but it's obvious that she doesn't know that each letter is separate. Some of them come out all blended together (L M N = elemen). She recognizes the letters C, D, E, R, P, L, M, and N and can tell you the names they are "for" (i.e., P is for Papa, E is for Eebee). She knows several shapes, too. Riley can sing 4 or 5 songs just about all the way through; her current favorite is "Deep and Wide." Riley can fill in the blanks on John 3:16.

Favorite foods: Her current favorites are pizza, cake, yogurt, cereal, and chicken. 

Favorite books: Riley LOVES books of all kinds. She sat down on the couch with her little New Testament the other day and said, "I reading my favorite book!" She likes to read Curious George, Babar, and Eric Carle books. Her last favorites were nursery rhymes and she can fill in the words we leave out on at least 10 or 15. 

Favorite games: She loves to play a matching game that my parents have at their house. 

Favorite outfit: Absolutely anything pink. 

Other favorites: She loves talking on the phone or skyping with her family in Alabama. 

Riley has had a few instances of "testing the waters" lately, but thankfully she responds well with our attempts to train and help her become an obedient and respectful little girl. We have truly been blessed with a super sweet, totally adorable 2 year old and we can't wait to see what this next year holds. 

Not So Wordless Wednesday

We've all seen those wordless Wednesday posts, right? Anyone that knows me in real life will tell you that would probably be impossible for me. I'm quite the chatty Kathy (trying to work on that some). Just wanted  to share a few photos of my girls (I love being able to say that!!).

Oh, and Happy 1 Month to our sweet Caroline. Will be posting an update with the official 1 month photos later in the week!

Can't you tell she's excited to be 4 weeks old?

stylin' in her zebra dress and
slightly too big shoes

sisters 

A Fresh Start

David & me

Riley Grace, 2 years

from newborn photo shoot @ 11 days

Here it is: a fresh start at blogging. If you'd like to see the backstory, check out my old blog.

I think the first order of business would be to introduce you to our little family. I'm Lauren and my husband is David. High school sweethearts of sorts and best friends, we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in December and we've enjoyed married life immensely. David is the youth/assistant pastor at the Bible Baptist Church in DeLand, FL (which is where I grew up) and I'm a stay at home wife and mommy to our two little girls, Riley (3.23.10) and Caroline (3.11.12).

We lead a very busy but fun life. We love the fact that there's always something going on with church (from evangelism or fellowship, work days to youth rallies). Whether it's holding signs downtown on Friday afternoons or passing out tracts at the Daytona 500, there's always something going on. Having two little ones keeps us busy at home, too.

The intention of this blog is to keep a record of our lives for the future. I have blogged off and on throughout the years and absolutely love going back and reading the posts and seeing what was happening in our lives. I thought about picking up the story on my last blog but decided I wanted to start with a clean slate. We hope you enjoy the ride.