Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Glow Stick Magic
One of my kids favorite things to do is show off their dance moves. Neither DH or I are big dancers, but we try to encourage the kids to dance freely :). I sometimes wonder when we lose that freedom and become so inhibited.
The only thing that they love more than a good dance party night is a good dance party night with glow sticks. You can often buy a tube of 15 bracelets at the dollar spot at T*rget. It only take one per kid, and you have a hit, which stretches that dollar! Cheap, fun, family entertainment. It doesn't get much better. Oh, unless you add in a few long exposure photos...
The only thing that they love more than a good dance party night is a good dance party night with glow sticks. You can often buy a tube of 15 bracelets at the dollar spot at T*rget. It only take one per kid, and you have a hit, which stretches that dollar! Cheap, fun, family entertainment. It doesn't get much better. Oh, unless you add in a few long exposure photos...
Our Classroom Today--November 17
In Minnesota, you have to enjoy the nice weather while it is here. We can be trapped inside for months with weather that is just too cold to do much outside. Especially for little ones. So we are extra appreciative of the beautiful November we have been having. And of the fact that our Tuesday group has been able to enjoy the great outdoors for a little bit longer than we anticipated! We returned to a nature center we have previously enjoyed this week, and enjoyed it immensely again.
Today we walked all the way around the lake. There are several places where the path is a boardwalk which gets you right into the middle of the cattails. Because of this, the cattails were within reach (especially with the assistance of the hook stick Kiddo found). I guess I have never really explored cattails. I love to photograph them. But I guess I never actually touched them before. They bloom in your hand. The seeds literally puff off as you touch them, and it keeps going and going. There are thousands of seeds packed on there. A little tip, though. When you are holding a cattail for a child to touch, make sure you are up wind. Though being covered in cattail seeds does lend itself to a lesson in seed distribution.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Muffin Tin Monday--Thankful
The theme of this week's Muffin Tin Monday was "thankful." So I asked Kiddo what foods he was thankful for. His list was long. The kid likes to eat. So we restricted it a little. For example, melon isn't really in season here right now. You can get it, but they are not the best always, are often expensive, and may have had to travel a lot to get here. So we skipped it, even though it is a favorite food in our house--Kiddo and Kutey could and would eat half a melon in one sitting.
Instead we came up with this:
It could also have be the letter P muffin tin, as we could make everything start with the letter P.
Here is Kutey's:
Top row: Pizza goldfish, Pomegranate applesauce, Plain bagel (with whipped cream cheese and jam)
Bottom row: Peanuts and Pretzels, Plain yogurt, Pepperoni.
There were many other food they were thankful for, this was just my selection of what we had on hand that fit in a tin well.
Here's Kiddo's:
Instead we came up with this:
It could also have be the letter P muffin tin, as we could make everything start with the letter P.
Here is Kutey's:
Top row: Pizza goldfish, Pomegranate applesauce, Plain bagel (with whipped cream cheese and jam)
Bottom row: Peanuts and Pretzels, Plain yogurt, Pepperoni.
There were many other food they were thankful for, this was just my selection of what we had on hand that fit in a tin well.
Here's Kiddo's:
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Our Classroom Today--November 10
After visiting several area nature centers, today's outing took us to another zoo!
The Minnesota Zoo is great. We have been members since Kiddo was a toddler. One of the major benefits of being a member is that we never feel bad about only visiting for a couple of hours at a time. We try to go early and leave just before the kids get too worn out for it to be any fun anymore. We can go back any time we want to. Since we went with our Tuesday group, however, we stayed much, MUCH longer than normal. We got there at 10 and we weren't headed toward the door until 3:30 or later. I have never before heard the announcement that the zoo is closing, but we did this time!
One of the best parts about the Tuesday group is that there is never a rush to make sure we are getting enough in. Even though we were there for over 5 hours, we didn't see everything. The kids soaked it in. They ran as a pack and looked at the animals. They ask awesome questions. They remember a ton. And they share what they know with each other. So much fun.
One of the newest things at our zoo is the Grizzly Coast exhibit. It is so well designed! They have 3 grizzly bears, all of which were found alone as cubs and would not have survived in the wild. The great thing is that their exhibit allows them to come right up to the people. The kids were touching the bears paws--with a large piece of glass between them, of course. It just gives you a much better sense of just how big they are when you can get that close to them.
On this trip, in particular, we were blessed with a plethora of awesome volunteers. They answered our questions so nicely! When they didn't know what the huge horn on the hornbill was for, they went and found out, then came back into the trail and found us to tell us! (It is just for display. The one pictured is a male, hence the huge horn). They also pointed out the Victoria Crested Pigeons on their nest. We were amazed to see the baby already had the crest. We probably would have missed it if the volunteer hadn't pointed it out. We also learned how they transport our giraffes (they are only here in the summer because we don't have good winter housing for them. They have to be moved twice a year in a 19 foot tall horse-like trailer with hydraulic sides that can be lowered temporarily if they have a low passage they can't go around. Who knew?!), that the sea otters are the most expensive animals to feed (because they eat restaurant grade seafood), and that the bears are not actually fed raw meat, but are instead fed fruits and vegetables along with a hefty serving of dog food. We learned there are 3 amur leopards at the zoo, 2 females and one male. The females are sisters. At least one of the leopards is on loan from somewhere in Europe for an unknown period of time. Oh, and of the 3 bears, only one knows how to fish, but he only gets to eat about a third of what he catches because one of the other bears takes away the fish if he can. All of this we learned from the volunteers (the bear stuff was a staff person, I think). What a wealth of knowledge, and kindness. Thanks zoo volunteers!
The Minnesota Zoo is great. We have been members since Kiddo was a toddler. One of the major benefits of being a member is that we never feel bad about only visiting for a couple of hours at a time. We try to go early and leave just before the kids get too worn out for it to be any fun anymore. We can go back any time we want to. Since we went with our Tuesday group, however, we stayed much, MUCH longer than normal. We got there at 10 and we weren't headed toward the door until 3:30 or later. I have never before heard the announcement that the zoo is closing, but we did this time!
One of the best parts about the Tuesday group is that there is never a rush to make sure we are getting enough in. Even though we were there for over 5 hours, we didn't see everything. The kids soaked it in. They ran as a pack and looked at the animals. They ask awesome questions. They remember a ton. And they share what they know with each other. So much fun.
One of the newest things at our zoo is the Grizzly Coast exhibit. It is so well designed! They have 3 grizzly bears, all of which were found alone as cubs and would not have survived in the wild. The great thing is that their exhibit allows them to come right up to the people. The kids were touching the bears paws--with a large piece of glass between them, of course. It just gives you a much better sense of just how big they are when you can get that close to them.
On this trip, in particular, we were blessed with a plethora of awesome volunteers. They answered our questions so nicely! When they didn't know what the huge horn on the hornbill was for, they went and found out, then came back into the trail and found us to tell us! (It is just for display. The one pictured is a male, hence the huge horn). They also pointed out the Victoria Crested Pigeons on their nest. We were amazed to see the baby already had the crest. We probably would have missed it if the volunteer hadn't pointed it out. We also learned how they transport our giraffes (they are only here in the summer because we don't have good winter housing for them. They have to be moved twice a year in a 19 foot tall horse-like trailer with hydraulic sides that can be lowered temporarily if they have a low passage they can't go around. Who knew?!), that the sea otters are the most expensive animals to feed (because they eat restaurant grade seafood), and that the bears are not actually fed raw meat, but are instead fed fruits and vegetables along with a hefty serving of dog food. We learned there are 3 amur leopards at the zoo, 2 females and one male. The females are sisters. At least one of the leopards is on loan from somewhere in Europe for an unknown period of time. Oh, and of the 3 bears, only one knows how to fish, but he only gets to eat about a third of what he catches because one of the other bears takes away the fish if he can. All of this we learned from the volunteers (the bear stuff was a staff person, I think). What a wealth of knowledge, and kindness. Thanks zoo volunteers!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Did you know...
Free Rice now has subjects other than vocabulary? I love the vocab, but I am super excited about all the other areas! Geography? Math? Chemistry? Art? WOW! So many good things, and feeding the hungry to boot! Check it out!
Tidbits
Today is one of those days that I dread. We had Lego league in the morning, a quick stop at home for lunch (and I mean QUICK!) then off to art class. Kiddo is always exhausted at the end of these days--which always makes me wonder about the kids who are in school longer than the time he is in these two activities.
At any rate, while Kiddo is in art class, Kutey and I "run errands." She loves this. She loves that she gets to go shopping with me and have my attention for an hour and a half. I'd love to spend the time doing something more with her, but that would require advanced planning, which I haven't been too on top of lately. So we run errands and chat. Today I had nothing I needed to do, so I asked her what she wanted to do. "We could go to the thrift shop!" That was her response. That is my kind of kid. So off to the thrift shop we went.
I didn't need anything. That never stops me. We spent the entire time at the thrift shop. And got some great things!
I bought 3 cds--2 Magic Tree House audio books (the kind you can get free in W*ndy's Kids meals), the two we missed the last time around. I also got an Usb*rne "Stories of Princes and Princesses," which I hope Kutey will enjoy. Each was 80 cents. I picked up a few books, 60 to 80 cents each. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but fun none the less. And they occupied Kutey in the cart the whole time. I got Kiddo a new Vikings sweatshirt for $3 (he likes to wear his sweatshirt on game days, but I sometimes don't get it washed in time for the next game). I also got a bag full of PRANG colored pencils in hopes of using them for our field bags. I bought a box of them a couple of months ago with the same purpose in mind, but Kiddo has taken them hostage. And I bought Kutey two fleece baby blankets to use as curtains on her bed, a project I will hopefully post about later. Not bad for not needing anything!
Kiddo had a great art class, learning about perspective, the horizon line, and the vanishing point. I am so grateful for an excellent art teacher for Kiddo. She is great at what she does, and Kiddo loves it.
We came home to two packages in the mailbox. One is a cd I ordered on the advice of a friend, I'll tell you more once I listen to it. The other is a book. I'll tell you more about that, too. So this evening I playing with my new toys--sorting colored pencils, listening to cds, and washing blankets to hang as curtains. All while the kids play quietly and watch some Electric Company--they are so tired!
At any rate, while Kiddo is in art class, Kutey and I "run errands." She loves this. She loves that she gets to go shopping with me and have my attention for an hour and a half. I'd love to spend the time doing something more with her, but that would require advanced planning, which I haven't been too on top of lately. So we run errands and chat. Today I had nothing I needed to do, so I asked her what she wanted to do. "We could go to the thrift shop!" That was her response. That is my kind of kid. So off to the thrift shop we went.
I didn't need anything. That never stops me. We spent the entire time at the thrift shop. And got some great things!
I bought 3 cds--2 Magic Tree House audio books (the kind you can get free in W*ndy's Kids meals), the two we missed the last time around. I also got an Usb*rne "Stories of Princes and Princesses," which I hope Kutey will enjoy. Each was 80 cents. I picked up a few books, 60 to 80 cents each. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but fun none the less. And they occupied Kutey in the cart the whole time. I got Kiddo a new Vikings sweatshirt for $3 (he likes to wear his sweatshirt on game days, but I sometimes don't get it washed in time for the next game). I also got a bag full of PRANG colored pencils in hopes of using them for our field bags. I bought a box of them a couple of months ago with the same purpose in mind, but Kiddo has taken them hostage. And I bought Kutey two fleece baby blankets to use as curtains on her bed, a project I will hopefully post about later. Not bad for not needing anything!
Kiddo had a great art class, learning about perspective, the horizon line, and the vanishing point. I am so grateful for an excellent art teacher for Kiddo. She is great at what she does, and Kiddo loves it.
We came home to two packages in the mailbox. One is a cd I ordered on the advice of a friend, I'll tell you more once I listen to it. The other is a book. I'll tell you more about that, too. So this evening I playing with my new toys--sorting colored pencils, listening to cds, and washing blankets to hang as curtains. All while the kids play quietly and watch some Electric Company--they are so tired!
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