Ava’s Boxes

Well Ava has not let me forget she does not have boxes. My idea for her is basically the same as for the boys, but a lesser number of boxes and bigger boxes.

So today during the boys naptimes…. (Ava slept at preschool) we put her boxes together.

Box 1- Chopsticks, Pom Poms and Cups

Box 2- Melissa and Doug Magnetic Dolls

Box 3- Pegboard

For now, I want to keep Ava’s boxes very easy and things she can totally do without my help. This gives me a huge amount of time I can spend with the boys on one of their activities. They often need help with their activities.

Ava in action with Box 1

An added bonus to this organizational system is that Daddy has jumped in on the action! He has been picking a box a night to do with the boys. In the past he told me he has not known where I keep things and he doesn’t really know the difference between “learning supplies” and “free play toys” but with this system in place it makes it very easy for him to do something manageable with each child!

Daddy is keeping all 3 kids soon for 3 whole days and I am so glad I have this system in place now because I think I can prepare in a way that will make the 3 days as easy as possible for him…or at least I can try!

Sound the Alarm!!!

Fire Fighter Levi has been called to put out a fire at Community Helpers Day at his preschool.

He is ready to go!!!

Mommy couldn’t send her lil’ firefighter off with out the perfect lunch to give him all the strength he needed for the day!

And my lil’ fire man came home from school with these treasures!

Tweaking……

I am constantly tweaking my organization of our learning materials and or the best way to have them learn. Yesterday, I had the most fun play date with my friend Debe who has a son about Zachariah’s age…and she showed me her system. I couldn’t wait to get home and try it for myself. I LOVE IT!

I already had this craft supply rolling rack holding JUNK. So I threw out all the junk into a box….and created “Learning Boxes”

I have them labeled Z1 Z2….etc and L1…L2.

Each box has an activity in these areas….

1…Handwriting without Tears Activity (Sticks, Playdough, or Stamps, Workbook on the 4th day)

2 and 3 Confessions of a Homeschooler Letter of the week Activity. (This week is letter E)

http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2010/07/letter-of-week-curriculum.html

4. Fine Motor Activity (Stacking Blocks and Punching holes in these pictures)

5. Math (Pattern Blocks this week) \

Zachariah’s boxes for tomorrow…

Levi’s boxes for tomorrow….

Each day the boys will get new activities. But I will just alternate what is in each activity box.

Jessica over at Confessions also has a great version of these boxes! http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Workbox%20System

Ava has already ask me “Where are my boxes?” I have an idea in my brain for her……will share later:)

Time for Tea

I love tea parties! I love the art of tea. I love teaching my sweet baby girl…how to act like a lady even at the grand ole age of 2. So, Ava was the youngest guest today at the most precious tea party for one of the sweetest 5 year olds at church…Ashlyn. Thank you for wanting Ava to come to your party!

Looking to see who is coming up the walk….

Yummy Fruit Kabobs! So much fun.

Sipping my tea in a glass cup!

Mommy’s princess in training…

Such a clever idea for a birthday cake!

Yes, Mommy…I am TWO!

(note fork in mouth the wrong way!)

But I am precious!

The Box

We recently acquired a very large box. My boys lately have been very interested in fire trucks, firemen, and fire houses. I found a DVD recently about fire houses and shortly after letting the boys watch it…they started pretending they were firemen. So the idea occurred to me to let them turn this box into a fire house.

So first, mama cut two doors into the box. Our local fire station has 2 doors. One of the fire truck, and one for the ambulance. So they were very specific about the number of doors I was to cut.

Then, we moved our project outside and painted……

and painted……

and painted! They painted that box

for about 2 hours.

Then, they played…..

and played…….

and played some more…..

for about 6 hours….the first day…..3 hours the next day…..and they are still playing today with this crazy box! Who knew…you could have so much fun with a box!

The Cat and The Hat Day at the Zoo

We had such a fun fun day today:) When word got out that the Cat from Cat and The Hat was going to be at the Zoo….we knew we had to go!

Boys will be Boys and Pull the Cats Tale…Even the Cat and the Hat!!!

The kids were fortunate enough to be able to participate in a free screening of a new show The Cat In The Hat Knows a Lot About That! on PBS. It was advertised they would receive a goody bag for participating. The were each given a free hardback Dr. Seuss book. What am amazing “goody!” The ladies were even kind enough to make sure my 3 kids all got different books. They LOVED them…and they came in quite handy later when we were waiting for the monorail ride around the Zoo.

We bought a Zoo membership earlier this year when they were on sale for $69 I think.

If we had bought individual tickets today our trip would have been $100 including parking, monorail, and our carrousel rides. Today is our 4th or 5th visit since buying our membership.

One of the great things about a membership is being able to go to something new each time instead of feeling the rush to do it all at once.

Today we visited the bird sanctuary for the first time!

And of course….crawled in the Spider Web!