A sweet treat!

I love to change things up each month and keep things fresh! One way we do that is by decorating for each holiday, its something Kaitlyn loves to do and looks forward to. She loves holidays and parties as much as her mama does. I made this cute centerpiece to serve two purposes...to be super cute for Valentines day and to help reinforce positive behavior at the dinner table...how do you ask????
We have struggled with getting our oldest (3 1/2) to use good manners consistently at the table since her brother arrived on the scene some of her manners have regressed....which I don't need! Especially when I already have an infant to clean up after. So I found a way to kill two birds with one stone :) Each day Kaitlyn has a chance to earn 3 candy hearts ( one for each objective) each time she eats, she has to show good manners, eat all her food, stay seated and clear her dishes and her brothers when we are all done. If she follows all of those expectations then she receives all four....and since the jar is filled to the rim with fun super cute candy it is a constant reminder for her to make good choices.

To make your own candy jar just get a large glass vase and set a glass cup inside ( this will keep the amount of candy needed to a minimum and give you a place to put fresh flowers, decorations etc in the center of the vase. Then fill the large vase with your favorite holiday candy ( candy hearts, jelly beans, sweet tarts, peeps.....get as creative as you would like!) and Viola! you have a great motivating centerpiece that is sure to please!

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Circles and snowmen!

What to do on those chilly winter days....

We had some fun with our shapes! We worked on writing by practicing our circles...and boy has it been a challenge teaching my little lefty to write...The teacher in me keeps saying stay calm she will get it soon enough....the mommy in me is becoming quite frustrated. We worked on tracing and writing circles in our skills workbook and on her chalkboard, then we went on a circle hunt around the house. She gathered 5 toys from around the house that had a circular shape.....she had a lot of fun gathering her items. This is one of her favorite activities to do. You can play this game with letters and shapes and eventually words as they move on to elementary school.

Kaitlyn used an old aluminum foil roll ( it is best because its diameter isn't too wide) she dipped it into the white paint and then added circles all over her paper ( this was the falling snow :)
To make her snowman I traced three circles onto white paper and cut them out, Kaitlyn put them in order from biggest to smallest and then glued them onto her paper.
She tore strips of white paper into small pieces to cover her snowman. She glued them down with her glue stick. At the end she colored a nose and we added google eyes and a ribbon for a scarf, and black tissue paper for the hat. It was an O' so cute little snowman :)

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Ski Lodge Birthday Party

Here in North Florida we don't get to relish in all things winter. We get chilly temperatures (this year has been quite mild though), the occasionally frost, and our share of gloomy winter days, but snow...never. So in true Caroline style, my Goddaughter wanted to go against the norm for her fourth birthday. Her parents have blessed her with the opportunity to travel all around and see many sights. One of her favorite things to do is to hit the slopes. And that is just what we did on a sunny and cool Florida Saturday morning!









Before her pint sized guests hit the Bunny Slope, they decorated tasty trees.



They were served Sno-Cones (remember we are in Florida). Here is the birthday girl with her super creative mommy.


Guests also made their own ski trail mix and hung out by the bonfire (with their Sno-Cones!). What a great way to celebrate this mountain of a milestone for sweet and sassy Caroline! Happy Birthday Little C!

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Loving Imperfection

What I LOVE about this Valentine's burlap door hanger...

1. That is was made for less than $5 (essentially free when you have your dear friend Jen pick up the burlap for you!).
2. That it took less than an hour to make (including dry time). This means that it is a nap time project, and those are my favorite!
3. You can using a sewing machine or a glue gun. So everyone can play!
4. That it is stuffed with plastic grocery bags so you are giving the planet a Valentine too!
5. And most importantly, nothing about it is perfect. The heart isn't a perfect cut. I butchered the burlap so badly (trying to cut the heart) that the back is made of our two panels glued together. The white paint used to resemble stitches are imperfect. I couldn't find my candy cane ribbon from Christmas so I cut two pieces of leftover cloth. I could go on and on, but you get the point. I embraced imperfection several years ago, and it is quite nice. I used to be pretty crazy about things being perfect as a child (just ask my mom), but as soon as I started teaching that all went out the window. Hang around kids for a good portion of your day and you will realize that they don't care about things being perfect. They just want to learn, create, and have fun!


Also working on making some Valentine's for Mack's buddies. Going to fill the cellophane bags with animal crackers.



He's wild about applesauce, can you tell? He even uses it as hair product.

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You've Got Mail

Since I'm the only girl in the house I think I deserve to do it up for the girliest holiday of all, St. Valentine's Day! Mack and I were home yesterday due to yet another ear infection (surgery is scheduled, thank the good Lord!) and we (I) decided it was time to turn things over to Cupid in our house. Thankfully we are within walking distance to a Target, so we picked up a few things for our mantle.

The goal was to spend $5 or less and we accomplished it. I picked up a package of scrapbook paper and a few mini mailboxes from the dollar section of Target. When we returned home, I rounded up some candlesticks, scissors, tape, and tissue paper.



We used the assembly of paper chains as a counting lesson (Can you tell I'm a teacher? However this student is only 16 months old), and also learned to string together hearts. Easy project for those late afternoon hours !





Hugs and kisses!

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