Learning With My Boys

Fall Sensory Tot Tub

I put together some small fall items that I found at our local dollar store to create a fall themed Tot Sensory Tub. She liked sorting and using the toddler tweezer.

This tub kept her happy for a long time and we could practice sorting and counting all the objects. We sorted by color and by item, then we counted each pile. We had orange pumpkins, leaves, feathers, and fall jewels; yellow corn, leaves, feathers, and fall jewels; red leaves, feathers, and fall jewels; and brown acorns, leaves, and fall jewels.

Happy Fall!

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Family Thanksgiving Minute-to-Win-it

We visited some family for Thanksgiving. We played a few Minute-to-Win-it challenges together. Our family has a large age difference, so we tried to choose games that would be equally challenging for each of all.

Corn Cob Roll

Materials:

Directions:

Make straight lines with your masking tape that are at least 12 feet long and 1 foot apart.
In less than 1 minute…
Players should slowly roll the corn cob down the lane
If the corn cob rolls out of the lane, players have to roll it back to where it left the line and keep going
No sliding the corn cob with the spoon

Pumpkin Seed Suck It Up

Materials:

1 minute Timer
10 Pumpkin Seeds
Straws
Plates or Napkins

Directions:

Player needs 2 plates with 10 Pumpkin Seeds on one plate.
In less than 1 minute…
Use the straw to suck up the seeds, one at a time and place them on the second plate.
Try to get all of the seeds to the second plate in less than a minute.
You can adjust the difficulty of this challenge by adding or taking seeds.

Thankful Plate Stack

Materials:

1 minute Timer
6 Plastic Cups
3 Large Paper Plates

Directions:

In less than 1 minute…
have players stack the cups starting with 1, then a plate, 2 more cups, plate, 1 cup, plate, 2 cups!

Match Maker

Materials:

1 minute Timer
9 mini Pumpkins
9 Acorns
18 Plastic Cups
2 Empty Cups (across the room)

Directions:

Place a pumpkin under each cup and an acorn under each cup… and spread them out on the table.
Place an empty cup several feet away.
You have just 1 minute to…
uncover 1 pumpkin and acorn at a time and run it to the empty cups across the room
Sort the pumpkins and acorns into the appropriate cups.

Candy Corn Shake!

Materials:

Directions:

place candy corn into cups with 1 in a cup, 2 in the next cup, 3 in the next cup, 4, then 5
Cover the opening with card stock and glue – write a little number of how many candy corns are inside for your eyes only
In under a minute…
Players should shake the cups and order them in order 1-5 candy corns.

Shake Your Tail Feather

Materials:

1 minute Timer
an empty tissue box – the rectangle kind
pantyhose
1 bag of feathers
scissors and tape

Directions:

Tie the hose through the tissue box with the legs for the hose extending out of the backside
Fill the tissue box with feathers
In under a minute…
players should shake their tail feathers – emptying feathers out of the box

Inertia Yank

Materials:

Directions:

Place a cup with a piece of card stock on top of it. Then a cup on top of that with another piece of card stock on top. Place 1 more cup on top.
In under a minute…

Players should yank the card stock out from between the cups
If they are quick enough the cups should stack up without toppling over.

Pumpkin Bop

Materials:

Directions:

Players keep one hand in their pocket and try to keep two orange balloons up in the air for one minute.
You can adjust the difficulty of this challenge by adding or taking away a balloon.

Leaf Blower

Materials:

1 minute Timer
leaves, they can be real leaves that are dried out or fake leaves
straws (or turkey basters)

Instructions:

In less that 1 minute…
Player will use a new straw (or turkey baster) to blow/race the leaf to the other end of the table.

Turkey Trot

Materials:

Instructions:

Place one candy pumpkin on a spoon and stand at the beginning of the obstacle course.
In less than a minute…
Have players race holding onto their spoon with one hand (you can allow younger kids to use both hands).
If their candy drops off, they have to start back at the beginning.
To make this game more challenging for adults, you can create a bit of an obstacle course.

Acorn/ Pumpkin Toss

Materials:

Instructions:

Place the bucket on the floor 10 feet from where the player will be standing.
In under a minute…
The person with the acorns needs to throw all of the acorns into the bucket.

Turkeys of a Feather

Materials:

Directions:

The object of the game is to keep your feather in the air without touching the ground or any other surface by blowing on them.
players need to attempt to keep their feather in the air for a full minute by blowing it up.

Buckets of Acorns

Materials:

1 minute Timer
2 bowls
Jumbos kids tweezers or chopsticks
10 acorn

Instructions:

2 bowls side by side. All of the acorns in 1 of the bowls.
In under a minute…
Players will try and get all of the acorns into the empty bowl using only the tweezers.

Pumpkin Head

Materials:

Directions:

Give each player a mini pumpkin to balance on their head.
In under a minute…
The players must run from one end of the yard to the other without the pumpkin falling off their heads. If you want to make it more difficult, you can set up an obstacle course.
(our pumpkins were too small and light for this one… I suggest an actual tiny pumpkin)

2 Year Old Pocahontas Toddler Photos

We had been watching Disney Pocahontas this fall so she was excited to she herself as the “Pretty Princess”.

Pocahontas loves to explore the outdoors and nature. She’s an adventurous and curious girl who is looking for the right path to follow. She is wise enough to seek the advice of her elder grandmother tree, and stands up for what is right even if it goes against the norm.

Ever since she could walk, Storm also loves being outdoors. She loves to pick flowers and help me in the garden. We will always teach her to follow the ways of the Lord even though most people will disagree with it.

I found this Pocahontas dress at a local resale store after Halloween. I was so excited, it was just in time for her pictures. I just combed her hair straight after her bath and parted it on the side. She also has these turquoise earrings to wear. I placed my blue sheet for the background with Christmas lights behind it to look like a water fall. I just crumpled brown packing paper to place on either side of the waterfall and a brown sheet on the ground. We also used fabric leaves these photos.

Deuteronomy 31:8 “It is the LORD who goes before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed”.

Below she is Pocahontas 1 year apart in each photo…

You might enjoy Storm’s other Pocahontas photoshoots:

Or some of her other Princess Photoshoots:

Family Teen Halloween Festivities

The kids are growing up so we tried some more activities geared toward teens this year! We carved pumpkins, had chili and caramel dip, roasted hotdogs and smores, then we finished with a Candy vs. Chocolate bracket.

Campfire

We let the kids roast hot dogs and s’mores. Storm really loved meeting the “big kids” friends that came over for the evening.

Fall Foods

Roasted Hot Dogs
S’mores
Carmel Apples (red, green, yellow apples) with mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, and sprinkles
Hot Cocoa & Apple Cider
Chili with cheese, crackers and corn chips

Homemade Chili Recipe

Ingredients:

Chili Brick
2 lb. ground beef
3 cans of kidney beans
1 can tomato soup
1 Cup water

Directions:

Brown the beef and drain.
Mix all of the ingredients in a big pot and bring to boil.
Lower heat and simmer until chili brick is dissolved, at least an hour, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Carving

The kids carved their own pumpkins with our pumpkin carving tools. I helped Storm care a lightning bolt in her pumpkin while the baby watched.

Candy vs. Chocolate

This was one of the kids favorite activities this year! I purchased a bit of each kind of candy and the kids all tasted them one by one and filled out their brackets as they went. Then we looked at them all to find the winner “Kit Kat”.

Storm Trunk -or- Treat

We decided to participate in the kids school Trunk-or -Treat at the last minute. We decided to use a STORM theme because I still had the props that I had made for her STORM birthday party that we could use. She dressed in her rainboots, raincoat, lightning bolt earrings, and umbrella. I also put her hair in pigtails, parting it in a zig zag pattern to look like a lightning bolt. I wore my “Storm Chaser” tee shirt from her birthday party.

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Goodnight Moon Tot School

One of the favorite books for all of my toddlers over the years has been “Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown. The simple rhyming and repetition is calming for my little ones. We took the book line by line and did some activities for each line. I used some of these FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Abeka Curriculum

I was able to incorporate several of our Abeka nursery lessons into this unit as well. Following are some of the specific books with links that are used in this Goodnight Moon Tot School Unit:

Goodnight Moon Sensory Tub

I put in the black beans for the dark night sky background. I also added some other things that I found around the house. A stuffed star, three stuffed teddy bears, moon shaped cookie cutter, a little toy cow, a tiny tea set, I made a button clock, a red pompom for the red balloon, some star beads, a felt pair of mittens that I made, and two little kitten toys.

Color: Yellow

Shape: Crescent

Number: 2

Letter: M (moon)

Abeka Language Development card 1
Abeka Nursery Arts & Crafts pg. 1 & 55

“In the great green room”

She painted with green paint on a white paper.

“There was a telephone”

Abeka Language Development card 65
Abeka Learning Numbers with Button Bear pg. 101
Learn phone number FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.
She also played with our Fisher Price toy phone.

“And a red balloon”

S reviewed her colors by coloring the balloons on page 2 of this download. Then I cut it out and folded it into a book.
Colors of balloons on FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.
She also played with a red balloon all week.

“And a picture of—”

She painted a picture with Crayola paint on her Melissa and Doug easel.

“The cow jumping over the moon”

Cow and moon FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.
I got this printable from Homeschool Creations. I added a craft stick to them so she could make the cow jump over the moon.

“And there were three little bears sitting on chairs”

I cut out the bears and chairs for S to sort them by size. Then she wanted them to have a “bowl of mush” too.
Bears and chairs FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.

“And two little kittens”

I printed the 2 Little Kittens printable for her to color.
Kitten printable FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.

“And a pair of mittens”

Abeka Language Development pg. 144

“And a little toy house”

She played with a little toy doll house.

“And a young mouse”

Abeka Language Development card 51
Abeka Child Art for 2’s pg. 53
Abeka Summer Fun with Amber Lamb pg. 35
Mouse coloring sheet FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.

“And a comb and a brush”

She used the comb and the brush to comb her baby doll’s hair.

“and a bowl full of mush”

She used yellow Play Doh and a small bowl with spoon to make a “bowl of mush”.

“And a quiet old lady who was whispering “hush””

She rocked and hushed her baby dolls before she put them in her crib.

“Goodnight room”

I printed the Goodnight Room Coloring Page for S.

“Goodnight moon”

FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers. She painted with yellow paint on a white paper where I drew a crescent moon.

“Goodnight cow jumping over the moon”

Abeka Arts & Crafts with Button Bear pg. 25

“Goodnight light”

Abeka Language Development card 25
Abeka Child Art for 2’s pg. 25
She used the dot dauber paint for her lamp.

“And the red balloon”

FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers. She painted with red paint on a white paper where I drew a balloon outline.
She placed red pompom in a blue star silicone tray.

“Goodnight bears”

Abeka Language Development card 10

“Goodnight chairs”

She sat her teddy bears in her little chairs.

“Goodnight kittens”

Abeka Language Development card 15

Kittens and mittens FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.
I found this 3 Little Kittens for her to match mittens with the kittens.

“And goodnight mittens”

I made these mittens out of felt for her to match with left and right.

“Goodnight clocks”

Here is the Hickory, Dickory, Dock coloring page.
Mouse and clock coloring sheet FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.
She also played with her wooden Melissa and Doug Shape Clock.

“And goodnight socks”

“Goodnight little house”

Abeka Language Development card 34
Abeka Learning Numbers with Button Bear pg. 17
Abeka Nursery Arts & Crafts pg. 177
Color the house and moon FREE Goodnight Nursery Rhymes Over the Moon Preschool Toddler Printable from Teachers Pay Teachers.

“And goodnight mouse”

I made a Color House Mouse game out of felt. I had the mouse behind a house and she flips over each colored house until she can find the house mouse.

“Goodnight comb And goodnight brush”

She dipped her comb in some paint on a white paper to make a different kind of print.

“Goodnight nobody”

Abeka Language Development card 33
Abeka Summer Fun with Amber Lamb pg. 59
Abeka Learning Numbers with Button Bear pg. 29

“Goodnight mush”

She had oatmeal for breakfast.

“And goodnight to the old lady whispering “hush””

Abeka Language Development pg. 153

“Goodnight stars”

She put star stickers on black construction paper.

“Goodnight air”

I drew a moon and stars with a white crayon on white paper. Then she painted with watercolors over it to reveal the hidden pictures.

“Goodnight noises everywhere.”

Abeka Language Development card 52

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1//2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cookie Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray cookie sheet with nonstick spray
Cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the egg and mix well.
Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla.
Form dough into a large ball and place in a bowl to refrigerate for a hour.
Roll the cookie dough onto a floured surface about 1/4 inch thick.
Cut out the dough with cookie cutters and place them on the pan.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Cool and add the buttercream.

Buttercream Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 cup Crisco
4 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon milk (if thick)

Buttercream Directions:

Cream together the butter and Crisco with a mixer.
Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.
Add the vanilla, if it seems too thick you can add a bit of milk.
Color with yellow food coloring.

We made star and moon sugar cookies with yellow icing and sprinkles.

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Baby Cinderella Photoshoot

She’s 6 months old now. We chose Disney’s Cinderella with pumpkins for this October photo session.

She loves to be on her tummy, making it easier for me to get some cute pictures at this stage!

She wore this Blue Body Suit with a blue tutu. I also bought her this silver headband crown.

I placed a light white sheet for the background and then a fluffy baby pad for her to lay on. I love ivy and pumpkins. I wanted to incorporate the pumpkins, but I didn’t want to have bright orange in my magical fairyland; so I spray painted sliver onto some pumpkins and they turned out great! I found her these silver star magic wand , glass slipper, and silver castle.

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2 Year Old Cinderella Toddler Photo

Disney Cinderella is a good princess movie to start with because it has so many fun characters for littles. Storm likes watching the mice and cat in this one.

Cinderella is kind and gentle to all creatures, even to her family who treats her unfairly. She greets them all in the morning and does what they command her to do with a kind heart. She also loves all of the animals in her home and has made them her friends.

Storm is also very friendly. Whenever we are out at about; she will wave at people and try to talk with old men for some reason! She likes to hold our cats, and we are teaching her how to have gentle touches.

We found her dress at a consignment shop and I bought the gloves, headband, and necklace to go with it. She wore her white pearl earrings and I put her hair up in a bun with a bun shaper. I used white and light blue sheet as the background and floor. I put the homemade cardboard stone wall that we used in our X-Men Trunk-or-Treat as part of the background as well. Then I used our ivy planter for decorations. The clock in the background was given to me on Facebook. I sprayed the pumpkins silver and found some ivy to go with them. AND… she loves her star wand! Bippity Boppity Boo!

1 John 4:10 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Below she is Cinderella 1 year apart in each photo…

You might enjoy Storm’s other Cinderella photoshoots:

Or some of her other Princess Photoshoots:

Cousin Fall Forest Photos

We went to the backyard forest for these pictures. These three girls are cousins; we decided to take the pictures for as a Christmas gift for the grandparents.

We decided on fall colors for their clothing. She wore a brown striped sweater dress and tiny cowboy boots. The older girls wore red tops with their red converse.

I love fall in this part of the country. The leaves turn all of the colors and the temperature feels so nice after the long hot, humid summer.

Little Miss Storm wasn’t interested in cooperating with her smiles today., but we did get a couple of smiles from her.

Here are some more of our group photoshoots:

Snow White Disney Dinner

The Little One has been watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs lately, so I decided to have a German Snow White themed dinner for family movie night!

Appetizer: Bavarian Pretzels

Dough Ingredients:

3 tea Instant dry yeast
1 ½ Cup Warm Water (100-110 degrees)
2 TBS granulated sugar
4 Cup all-purpose flour
1 tea salt

Crust Ingredients:

1 Cup water
2 tea baking soda
Coarse Sea Salt
¼ Cup Butter

Instructions:

Combine yeast and warm water and sugar.
Add in flour and salt (knead or use mixer).
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel, and place in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven 425, grease baking sheet.
Divide dough into 8 equal parts. Roll each part into 24 inch rope to form the pretzel.
In a shallow bowl, combine the water and baking soda. Submerge each pretzel in water and place on the baking sheet.
Sprinkle with sea salt and let sit for 10 minutes.
Bake for 12 minutes then brush with melted butter.
Serve with cheese sauce.

Entrée: Gulaschsuppe (soup)

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lb beef, cubed into bite sized pieces
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
6 med thin skinned potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
32 oz beef broth
Water
3 bay leaves
1 T. paprika
6 oz. tomato paste

Instructions:

Cook onion, carrots, celery and garlic in olive oil until the onion is caramelized.
Scrape pot and add beef, browning well.
Scrape the pot again and add the wine and balsamic vinegar, let it simmer on low until the wine has almost entirely evaporated.
Add broth, bay leaves and paprika, and let simmer for about an hour to tenderize the beef.
Add potato cubes and enough water to cover plus about 1 inch above, and bring to boil.
When potatoes are tender, add tomato paste, lower to a simmer and let cook for about another 15 minutes.

Fruit: Apple Dumplings

(I got this idea from the Disney Princess Cookbook.)

Dough Ingredients:

1.5 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
6 TBSP of cold butter
1/2 cup of milk

Filling Dough Ingredients:

2 peeled apple (cut into quarters)
1 TBSP butter (cut into quarters)
3 TBSP of brown sugar
1/4 cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

Syrup Ingredients:

1 cup of hot water
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 TBSP melted butter

Instructions:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9inch square baking pan.
2. To make the dough, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Cut 3 tablespoons of butter into small pieces.
3. Use your hands to knead the butter and flour together.
4. Stir in the milk.
5. Flour a surface and knead the dough until it holds together and dust the top with flour. Roll out into a 12 inch square.
6. Cut the dough into four equal squares and place two quarters of apple in each square.
7. Place 1 quarter tablespoon butter one quarter in each square.
8. In a small bowl, mix together 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg. Spoon equal amounts of mixture in each square.
9. Gather three corners of dumpling together and pinch together. Put all four in the baking dish an inch apart.
10. Combine hot water, the remaining brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of butter, melted. Stir and pour over the dumplings in the pan.
11. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
12. Spoon more syrup over the top, and serve warm.

Vegi: Crispy Potato Bake

Ingredients:

6 russet potatoes, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
¼ cup real bacon bits

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375F.
Use a mandolin or sharp knife to make thin, equal slices of your potatoes and onions – about 1/8″ thick is ideal.
Grease a round casserole dish.
Use a spiral pattern , arrange the sliced potatoes in your baking dish.
Insert the sliced onions an equal distance apart amongst the sliced potatoes.
Place the butter in a microwave-safe dish and microwave for 330 seconds until completely melted. Stir in the olive oil and then pour the mixture over the casserole.
Sprinkle on your seasoning and bacon bits.
Cover with tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the tinfoil and continue baking for 15 minutes to crisp up the potatoes and bacon.

Dessert: Poison Apple Pie

(I got the idea for my Poison Apple Pie from A Magical Kingdom Called Home Blog.)

Ingredients:

4 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and diced
14oz can whole cranberries
Juice from one lemon
2 tsp pie spice
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Two pie crusts
Egg wash

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°. Line pie plate with one pie crust and set aside. Pour lemon juice over diced apples and stir to prevent browning.
In a medium saucepan, bring cranberries, one cup of apples, sugar, water, and pie spice to a boil over medium heat. Then lower heat and simmer 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and add remaining apples. Let filling cool while preparing the crust.
Lay second pie crust on working area. Using a picture reference and a knife, free hand the Poison Apple face to the pie crust. Paint the crust with egg wash.
Turn pie filling into pastry lines pie plate and then carefully place crust on top. Fold and pinch pie crusts together. Cover edges with aluminum foil or pie crust protector shield.
Bake for 30 minutes, remove crust shield and bake for additional 15 minutes.

Drink: Evil Queen’s Punch

Ingredients:

2 envelopes lemon-lime Kool-Aid
10 cups water
2 cups sugar
46 ounce can of pineapple juice
1 quart lime sherbet
2 liters lemon-lime soda

Instructions:

Combine the Kool-Aid, sugar, water, and pineapple juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, scoop lime sherbet into a punch bowl.
Pour the kool-aid and juice combo over the Sherbet. Follow this up with lemon-lime soda.
Serve immediately.