What I'm thankful for, 2011 edition

This year I have a great deal for which to be thankful. I am thankful for you, my readers, who stop by and make my day brighter with your comments and emails. Today and everyday I am thankful for my wonderful family and friends both near and far. I am thankful for my family and my health. I am blessed to have a husband who works like crazy to provide for his family, and my kitties who are purr-fect (at least to me). I am especially thankful for my amazing, smart, funny little boy who makes my life an adventure everyday! 

Leaf Garland

The last of the leaves are finally letting go of their branches, and we wanted to preserve them for just a bit longer. Logan and I went outside to collect some of the prettiest ones, and came in with a whole bucket full of them. I had him pick out his favorites, and I ran them through the laminator. I grabbed a hole punch and then had Logan lace some on a string to make an easy fall garland for our living room windows.

Pin It Tuesday- Thanksgiving

I love holidays. Love, love, love holidays. I look forward to them even more than I did as a child, because now I have a little guy that I adore and I get to share everything with all over again. This week is our American Thanksgiving, so today I'm going to share just a couple of the things that I have been admiring on Pinterest  that help to celebrate this holiday.  

I am a HUGE fan of sensory bins. Luckily, my little turkey is also. This simple bin of fresh cranberries and water is just ripe for exploring. You could discuss floating versus sinking, and my guy loves anything that he can splash around in. Plus, cranberries are on sale right now for around two-ish dollars, so why not pick up a bag and let the kiddos investigate? 

Source: Learning Vicariously

At Making Learning Fun, they have free printable templates. These particular ones are meant to be made into puppets to play with! Knowing my little, he would probably love these so much that he would insist on bringing them with him to bed! I've been saving toilet paper rolls for a while so we can make these! 

Souce: Making Learning Fun

Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving, if I don't mention some sort of food. These cute turkey cookies look easy enough to make with kids. Plus, they are a great way to use up the leftover bag of candy corn I have in my pantry.

Source: Share and Remember

My favorite part about Thanksgiving it is one time a year that makes people stop and really reflect on what they are thankful for in their lives. This gorgeous thankful tree is a wonderful way to visually display thankfulness. 

Source: Simply Vintagegirl

This last picture, I'm sharing because I'm a geek. I really get a kick out of it! 

Source: Cool Holiday Graphics

Have you found anything Pinterest-ing  lately? Want to join in on the fun? Head over to Mommy Head Adventures and link up your favorite pins!

L is for Leaves- Introduction

To introduce the letter L, I gathered items from around the house that start with the letter L. Then I  put it all into his sensory bin to explore. 

Included in this bin:

• A lion
• A lemon
• A lei
• Legos
• Leaves
• Lamb
• Alphabet Pasta
• Some different types of the letter L

Logan played in it for a little bit, and we talked about each of the items. Logan then decided to dress one of the cats with the Hawaiian lei.

Stuff my kids says #15

While shopping at the grocery store, Logan saw an older woman with black hair and a long black dress. He sat straight up in his seat, and was so excited he could barely contain himself. He said (very) loudly, "Mama! Who is that man? I finally found him! IT'S GARGAMEL!!!!!!"

And then I turned the color of a tomato. 

Fun with Beads and Light

Here's the dealio.... I've been recovering from last week's birthdays extravaganzas. My son was born on my husband's birthday, so it's a bit chaotic. We had a party, celebrated on the actual day, and then there was the whole putting together and finding places in our house for many, many toys. Some are still homeless, as you read this. We are very blessed that our families are close and able to share in the celebration. But this week is the first that things are starting to get back to normal around here..... and it's already Thursday. 

One of Logan's presents from my husband and I was a light box. I figured with the days turning dark around 4:30, that we would be spending more time inside. A light box is a perfect way to make use of the darkness and engage in some playful discovery. I'll be sharing all the lovely DIY details soon. Today, I am sharing a fun activity that we were able to do with the light box thanks to CraftProjectIdeas.com.

Last week, on a particularly cold and rainy day, after a morning full of lots of errands, I found a box waiting for me. When we opened the box up, it was loaded with goodies!

Logan instantly gravitated to the tiny tri-beads. I hadn't had a chance to think up an idea for them, and I knew he was too little to be able to successfully lace them, so I decided to bring out the light box and try them on there. Once I turned the lights on, and Logan dumped them onto the table. He was so excited that they were "glowing." 

This activity was completed under close supervision. Logan usually does not put anything in his mouth that is not food, but I sat with him and watched him explore. He did some color sorting.

He also created patterns, and asked me to complete them by saying, "What comes next, Mama?" 

And finally he added some of his toy figurines to play and pretend they were in a garden full of flowers. We've just started with the crafty goodness that was gifted to us, and we already are having so much fun! 

CraftProjectIdeas.com  is a website dedicated to giving you great ideas for kids crafts. They have a large variety of projects that would appeal to many different age groups, and are definitely worth checking out. To check them out you can go here. 

Fall Activity: Jump in a pile of leaves

There is nothing quite like playing in crispy, crunchy leaves. 

 They are fun to throw around, roll in, and squish with your hands. 

The only thing better is having a little cousin join you. 

All About Me

Hi! I know I'm always writing about activities that my son and I do together, but do you want to learn a bit more about me and my family? Be sure to check out my all new About Me page!

Making Potions

I may have mentioned a time or two, my little boy loves the Smurfs. As a matter of fact, it was the first movie he saw in the movie theater. He was Vanity Smurf for Halloween. He's also having a Smurf themed party this weekend to celebrate his third birthday. So, when I asked Logan if he wanted to pretend to be Papa Smurf and make some potions, he sprinted to the new set up. 

Before I explain, let's all pretend that I cleaned up behind him in this picture, please. The set up was fairly simple. I grabbed some of my Pyrex and added colored vinegar to each glass container.

Next, I supplied the little guy with some sort of container to add the baking soda. I thought an old dollar store salt shaker would be perfect. 

It did seem like a good idea, but it clearly was not fast enough for my little scientist.

The baking soda kept clogging up the salt shaker's holes, so I took the top off, and had him gently pour a little bit at a time into the containers. This yielded a much bigger and more fantastic result.

Next time I try this, I think I will add some plain colored water so that Logan can see that it doesn't always react the same way. As it was, this activity was a complete hit with my little smurf!

Wordless Wednesday- Vanity Smurf

Pin It Tuesday- PVC for Kids

PVC piping isn't just for plumbers anymore. To be completely honest, I probably wouldn't even know about PVC piping, except my husband is a plumber. So, I know that he has lots extra bits of it in next to his shed. If you don't have extra lying around, you can always head to your local hardware store, and try some of these out!

So, Logan is still too little to be interested in those teeny tiny Legos, but this Lego table is pretty cool. They have step by step instructions at their site. 

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Source:  Instructables

This DIY bowling set would be perfect for a rainy day, or a sudden snowy day (like we had recently).

Source: Lowes Creative Ideas

Do your kids love music? My little boy is always singing, dancing, and playing his instruments. I love this since it is perfect for bringing your little musician outside to practice their skills.

Source: I'm a teacher, get me outside here!

I know that those of us in the Northeast of the US are getting ready for winter, but this is definitely something that I am interested in recreating when the weather turns warmer.

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