Lessons

As a mom I naturally worry about my child's academic development.  Facebook doesn't help, mom's are constantly posting their child's achievements, and I do it too.  I decided to make a list of the things my kid is great at, yeah he can't write his name or draw a face but there are countless other things that make me proud.  This is not a brag post but a reminder to stop and enjoy what your child is and can do, not what other kids can do :)

Say his ABCs and count to 23
Successfully crack an egg without getting shells in the bowl
Check tire pressure with the pressure gauge
Use the pedals on his tricycle
Explain the exhaust system (simply) on an 18 wheeler truck
He can spell his name
Make patterns on a peg board
Put on/take off his own shirt
Share
He knows how to love his family and friends no matter what

Of course the list could go on but these are big ones for me...what are your little ones doing to make you proud?

Love,
PlusPeace

Grab Bags - Preschool

It has been a stressful few weeks but we've gotten through it!  Bear did excellent for his surgery last Thursday and recovered almost immediately.  The nursing staff and Doctors at Mercy are AMAZING! We topped off the week with a great trip to Story Land in NH which was really fun because it was a surprise for Bear.  He was so giddy when he figured out where we were going :)

Iv'e bit off more than I can chew lately so, unfortunately, SillyKids Box is going to be QUARTERLY but will include more activities.  I just can't commit to a monthly thing when I am working a full time job and trying to start up a small business.

I poo-pooed Kiwi Crate for a while because I figured there was no way it could be worth the cost but recently received a deal from them and we got our first box.  I have to say, I love it.  What I ended up doing was splitting up the three activities in Kiwi Crate and the activities from last month's SillyKids Box and making grab bags for the winter (the boring times in Maine).  Take a look below:

Gallon Sized Baggies

Puke Bucket from the Hospital (shh) Don't worry, unused.

I am really excited to use all the activities and can't wait to add more!  I also got the "Creative Room" cleaned up this weekend (AKA my office/Bear's mini classroom/guest room).  And Bear spent some time giving play-doh hair cuts and painting pretty pictures for the walls.

That about wraps it up for now! Also, check out the August SillyKids Box post for some pictures of how te finished Robot City looks - updating it now!

Love,

PlusPeace

August SillyKids Box is HERE!

Well, I finally got everything to work out!  I don't have the pictures up yet but will post them by the end of the week and the folding tutorials later today (I will just update this same post so bookmark it).

DOWNLOAD IT HERE!

Edit 9.16.13: Here is how your Robot City will look after all the towers and building have been folded.  Don't worry about them being perfect, I cut these out (not Bear) because I ended up putting this activity into a grab bag and didn't want to have to deal with scissors so Bear's role will be decorating his robot and putting the towers back on.

Love,

PlusPeace

The Simple Things

Lots of things going on lately from vacation to busy work days to potty training relapse.  I will, however, find a way to post the August SillyKids Box BEFORE September.  I had upload problems for about a week and when I finally got that to work my USB drive stopped working so I can't access my design files. Lame.

We took a wonderful 3 day vacation off Port Clyde, Maine at the beginning of the month to Hupper's Island.  This was the point we decided we need to find a way to work from home so we can spend every summer on an island.  If yo haven't visited a small island, I highly recommend it!

Since then we've traveled to Rhode Island for a wedding, spent a few days camping in Freedom, New Hampshire and are now looking forward to a nice quiet weekend at home.

Yesterday while driving home there was quite a bit of traffic on the highway but no obvious cause, then as I approached the worst part of it I saw a car pulled over and chuckled.  There was a mom with her son, about Bear's age, pulled off on the side for an emergency potty break.  I know this all too well!

On other news, Bear and I met with the Orthopedic surgeon last week about his trigger thumb and his surgery is scheduled for mid September to release the tendon.  It's minor procedure that takes about 15 minutes but he'll have to be put under so, naturally, I'm really nervous.  It will go fine though!

How are things with everyone out there?

Love,
PlusPeace

Weather Willy Felt Board DIY

When I was little my mom made us a Weather Willy.  He was fantastic and made for a great project.  I made one for Bear last winter but he is just now starting to understand the concept and how to use this great learning tool.  I have a few adjustments to make to ours before it's the way I'd like but I want to share with you the general idea as well as the templates and how to.

Weather Willy is a daily activity for you and your child, it's short, sweet and simple and the name pretty much explains it.  Will is a kid, every morning he looks out his window and then decides what to wear based on the weather outside.  On a sunny day, he'll be rockin' his shorts and t-shirt and on cold rainy days he'll grab his umbrella and raincoat.

What is fantastic about this is you can tailor it to your area very easily - have fun with it.  If you live in an area with tornadoes, heck, make a tornado! If you have ice storms, make some nice icey shapes.  In a warmer climate?  Make lots of sunshine and different types of clouds!

I got all of my supplies at AC Moore but any large craft store will do (Michaels, Walmart, Jo-Ann Fabrics, etc).

You will need:

Picture Frame – ($10-20) I chose an 11 x 17” frame with a nice thick wood frame.

Felt – ($0.25 each) You will need to plan out your colors.  The attached templates work well for the Northeast so below is the list of colors I chose and how many. I bought 8.5 x 11 sheets so I’m going by that.

Background/Grass – 2 Light Blue, 1 Light Green

Willie –  Peach,  Light Brown

Willie’s Clothes –  Orange, Red, Yellow, Camo, Black, Lime, Dark Brown, White

Weather – White, Light Gray, Yellow, Light Blue

Tree – Dark Green, Dark Brown

Tacky Glue

Fabric Markers or Sharpies

Scissors (sharp ones preferred)

Pen

Printouts - Download them HERE

Note: Weather Willie can easily be made Weather Winnie – just make some dresses and longer hair!

For the Board:

Remove the cardboard from inside the frame – this is going to be your base.  Remove the glass (we don’t have another use for the glass in this project).  Glue down the two light blue felt sheets, lining the top edge of the felt to the top edge of the cardboard.

For the grass, cut one 11 x 5" strip and then attack with the scissors (make it look like grass) be careful not to cut the blades too small or gluing it down will be a pain.  Glue down your grass layer.

Place the cardboard back into your frame to the felt faces out like a picture and that’s that.

Willie or Winnie – Use the template to cut out your character.  My template is for Willy, Hair as well as the “undies” pattern.  For Willie, I used light brown for his hair and made his undies white but get creative.  Glue the hair and undies right to him so he doesn’t get cold.  Use markers to add features (eyes, nose, mouth, “pee hole” on the undies, etc). 

Now for the clothes!  I used the Willie template as my outline for all the outfits so they fit him.  Make sure all the clothes are a tiny tiny bit larger than Willie so he is covered. Here is a list of clothes & accessories I made…

Overall Shorts, Tee Shirt, Sneakers, Ball & Sunglasses

Raincoat, Rain Hat, Frog Boots & Umbrella

Camo Pants, Long Sleeve Shirt & Baseball Cap

Winter Jacket, Snow Pants, Boots & Beanie

Here are the different types of weather I made some pieces work with multiple forecasts..

Snow – Gray Clouds, Snowballs, Snow Lumps, Snowflakes, Snowman

Sunny – A Big Sunshine, Some Flowers

Cloudy – Gray Clouds (if you want to throw in some earth science make different types)

Rainy – Rain Drops, Puddles, Gray Clouds

Stormy – All Rainy Parts + Lightning Bolts

I also made some critters and scenery…

Robin & Blue Bird

Fox (included in template)

Bunny

Evergreen Tree

Some other fun things you can do…

Make the backside of your board night time with constellations and planets

Make seasons using what you already have as well as some leaves

Bear and I plan to start a weekend home schooling starting at the end of August.  The school where he goes to daycare isn’t going to offer their 3 preschool until November and I’d really love to spend some learning time with him.  I am going to revamp our Weather Willy and include this in our “classes”.

Love,

PlusPeace

Sillybets

They're sellin' like hotcakes over on Brickyard Buffalo!

Also, I've decided to permanently reduce the size of the complete sets from $212.00 to $156 (HALF PRICE!)

Blog Troubles

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick note that I have been having technical difficulties getting two blog posts up.  The links between my download site and blogger are not being friends right now.  We will be vacationing through Tuesday and then I'm back in business.

Keep an eye out for the tutorial and download links for how to make your very own Weather Willy or Weather Winnie as well as this months SillyKids Box with the theme "Super Kid".

In the mean time, head on over to Brickyard Buffalo to score yourself a Monster Sillybet for 30% off - just $8.40 each!

Love,
PlusPeace