We just keep swimming!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Letter K week (1/23 - 1/27)

We had another pretty good week! I wish I had the energy to bounce around to places like I might normally, but I'm almost 37 weeks pregnant at this point and have officially reached maximum capacity. I'm not bouncing anywhere. 

Anyway, Here's some of the things we did for letter K Week- 

First, here's a couple of shots of the misc. work/art board- It filled up quickly. 



Our out of control fridge door (sideways, sorry) and more stuff. A drawing of Uncle Keith and Aunt Keri, conveniently letter K names, some Kipper and Hello Kitty coloring, etc.  Kayla is very proud of everything she does:

One of the worksheets- I love how she writes her name!





Letter picture board. Don't ask why there are two of the same Koala papers.



We looked through a magazine and cut out all the K's we found, and then glue them onto a paper- 




I made up a game for her to play that she wound up loving. I called it Kangaroo K Hunt. I made a little pocket for her to wear and pretend she was a Kangaroo, and just wrote a bunch of letters on some papers. She had to hop around the room like a  Kangaroo and search for all the K's. If I had a laminater, I'd maybe find a cute baby Kangaroo graphic and write the letters on baby Kangaroos, so that she could pretend she was a mommy Kangaroo putting the babies in her pocket. 

As it was, and being that I did this entirely last minute, this worked just as well. She wanted to play over and over for a long time. 









I also did another Kangaroo jumping variation where I laid them on the floor, and she had to jump to the other side of the room only using the K's. 



Some more misc stuff:






Drawing lines to K words-





Kite-


For character traits we talked a lot about Kindness and I think that was the most successful of everything we did this week. She really got the idea and likes to tell us now when we do or say something that is Kind. 

I started by talking about what Kindness meant to her, and we drew some pictures. She first said that Kindness was giving hugs- so I drew a picture for her. Don't laugh. And then She said that it was also Sharing her toys with Emma, her cousin.  So I had her draw that. 



And she loves this- her Kindness tree. Every time she does something kind we add a flower. I didn't take an updated picture, but there are more flowers than this now. She had a very Kind week. :)




She also decided to pick some of her toys to give to her little sister who is due within the next few weeks. I was so proud! She took several of her stuffed animals and some of the baby toys and put them on one of the shelves in her sister's room. So sweet!!
Kiwi:
We talked about what a Kiwi looked and felt like. She noticed how scratchy and rough the outside was, and that it was brown, but when we cut it open it was green and very juicy! 


(The blue seeds were a fluke- her Blue marker had the black cap on it for some reason!) 



I think that's all for the pictures I have this week!








Friday, January 27, 2012

Homemade Tub Paint Success!!

Before I do my Letter of the Week update, I wanted to just post about this little GEM of an idea that wound up actually working out! Don't you love it when these simple little ideas go so fantastically?

Well, like most good ideas of late, I got this idea from Pinterest, or as I like to call it, The World's Best Website Ever. Kayla and the tub toy situation has been an issue for a while now. Her toys seem to get grossed up so fast that I wound up throwing most of them away. She has a few dolls left, and then some easy-to-bleach cups and stuff... but it's all pretty boring. She actually doesn't even play with most of it any more. So I've been having some issues with finding something she will actually enjoy in the tub.

I've bought more crayons and tub-art things that I can't even give you a general idea of what I've spent. Art is one of her favorite things, so these crayons would be perfect if they all weren't so horrible. Most of the time they don't leave visible marks on our (unsightly) yellow tub (seriously, who thought that mustard yellow was a good color for a tub?) and when they do actually color they wind up turning into a mushy, not-crayon-y mess after only one or two baths.

So, without further ado, the awesome solution that kept Kayla entertained: homemade tub paints.


The best part- SUPER cheap to make. 

I invested a little more than I will in the future because I bought the brushes and the little plastic cups specifically for this. If you have cups and brushes laying around, then you don't even need to worry about that much. 

What you need:
1.) Shaving Cream- I got sensitive skin kind just because it will be in the water with her.
2.) Food coloring- A.C. Moore sells some in the baking section and always has a coupon. A pack of 4 concentrated gel food colors cost me $1.50
3.) Container for the paints- small cups or muffin tins.  I spent $1 on the pack of 3 from the Dollar Tree
4.) Brushes- Another Dollar Tree pack of 3 for a buck!

That's it. 

Put the shaving cream in the cups:

Add a few drops of food coloring:


Have a happy kiddo:






She loved it!!And now she keeps asking to take a bath! 

Finally- a bath time activity that makes the both of us happy!!




Sunday, January 22, 2012

Kayla's CDs for Preschool Stuff

Music with Kayla is a hit or a miss. She has a small CD collection that I try to have on randomly throughout the day, but she's very strange with music and songs. Sometimes she wants to do nothing but sing and dance all day, other times she seems to loathe having music on.  Anywho-

In an attempt to help plan my preschool stuff for her, I decided to just keep a list of her CDs with their playlists here. So, here it goes. 

 1. Six Little DucksListen
2. Eensy Weensy SpiderListen
3. Hey Diddle DiddleListen
4. Hickory Dickory DockListen
5. Jack And JillListen
6. ColorsListen
7. Shapes In The WorldListen
8. Over In The MeadowListen
9. The Muffin ManListen
10. Twinkle Twinkle Little StarListen
11. The Wheels On The BusListen
12. A Is For AlligatorListen
13. Billy BoyListen
14. Down In The ValleyListen
15. ClementineListen
16. Little Wheel A Tunin'Listen
17. My FeelingsListen
18. Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog GoneListen
19. The ABC SongListen
20. The Rattlin BogListen
21. Traveling Is A DreamListen
22. Yankee DoodleListen
23. Ten Little BumblebeesListen
24. Buffalo GalListen
25. Follow My DirectionsListen
26. The Farmer In The Dell
27. London Bridge
28. This Is The Way
29. Row, Row, Row Your Boat
30. The Old Gray Mare
31. Old Brass Wagon
32. My Home's In Montana
33. A Tisket A Tasket
34. Big Rock Candy Mountains
35. Five Miles From Home
36. Erie Canal Song
37. I've Been Working On The Railroad
38. She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain
39. The Upward Trail
40. Polly Wolly Doodle
41. Monkey See And Monkey Do
42. Kookaburra
43. Down By The Station
44. Humpty Dumpty
45. A-Hunting We Will Go
46. I Love The Mountains
47. Sing Your Way Home
48. The More We Sing Together
49. Turkey In The Straw
50. Two Is Safer Than One 



 1. If You’re Happy and You Know ItListen
2. Teddy Bear’s PicnicListen
3. The Itsy Bitsy Spider MedleyListen
4. Ants Go MarchingListen
5. Apples and BananasListen
6. Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?Listen
7. Muffin ManListen
8. The Other DayListen
9. Down By the StationListen
10. Looby LooListen
11. Who Took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?Listen
12. My Bonnie Lies Over the OceanListen
13. Miss Polly had a DollyListen
14. I’m a Little AcornListen
15. Alice the CamelListen
16. The Alphabet SongListen
17. I’ve Been Working on the RailroadListen
18. Polly Wolly DoodleListen
19. B-I-N-G-OListen
20. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little StarListen
21. Ten in a BedListen
1. BINGO
2. I'm a Little Teapot
3. Skidamarink
4. Five Little Ducks
5. Row Row Row Your Boat
6. Baa Baa Black Sheep
7. Mulberry Bush
8. Skip to My Lou
9. Kookaburra
10. Itsy-Bitsy SPider
11. Jack and Jill
12. Peanut Butter and Jelly
13. Mary had a Little Lamb
14. Muffin man
15. Old macdonald
16. Pease Porridge Hot
17. Pop! Goes the Weasel
18. Rain, Rain Go Away
19. Oats and Beans and Barley
20. Wheels on the Bus
21. Yankee Doodle Dandy
22. Sing a Song of Sixpence
23. Alphabet Song
24. A Ticket A Tasket
25. Five Green and Speckled Frogs
26. Hey Diddle Diddle
27. Apples and Bananas
28. One, Two Buckle my Shoe
29. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
30. Little Bunny Foo Foo
31. Hickory Dickory Dock
32. Shoo Fly
33. London Bridge
34. Take Me Out To the Ball Game
35. Down By the Station
36. Humpty Dumpty
37. Little Red Caboose
38. Lobby Loo
39. This Old Man
40. Are You Sleeping? 


1. ThemeYo Gabba Gabba!0:55$0.89Buy Track
listen  2. Party In My TummyYo Gabba Gabba!2:14$0.89Buy Track
listen  3. It's Okay, Try AgainThe Shins1:56$0.89Buy Track
listen  4. I Like To DanceYo Gabba Gabba!2:18$0.89Buy Track
listen  5. Robo DancingMoney Mark1:28$0.89Buy Track
listen  6. Get The Sillies OutYo Gabba Gabba!1:44$0.89Buy Track
listen  7. Biz's Beat Of The Day #1Biz Markie0:37$0.89Buy Track
listen  8. Nice 'N' CleanChromeo1:50$0.89Buy Track
listen  9. Try It, You'll Like ItYo Gabba Gabba!1:48$0.89Buy Track
listen10. Lovely, Love My FamilyThe Roots2:05$0.89Buy Track
listen11. Don't Be AfraidYo Gabba Gabba!1:12$0.89Buy Track
listen12. Just Because It's Different Doesn't Mean ScaryI'm From Barcelona1:43$0.89Buy Track
listen13. BubblesYo Gabba Gabba!1:47$0.89Buy Track
listen14. Brush Brush BrushOf Montreal1:32$0.89Buy Track
listen15. Nice & EasyYo Gabba Gabba!1:46$0.89Buy Track
listen16. Hey, Won't Somebody Come And PlayThe Little Ones1:38$0.89Buy Track
listen17. Go Crazy RemixWeird Science2:01$0.89Buy Track
listen18. You Can't Always Get What You WantYo Dazzler1:53$0.89Buy Track
listen19. Bedtime LullabyMark Kozelek1:35$0.89Buy Track
listen20. Goodbye SongYo Gabba Gabba!2:22$0.89Buy Track
listen21. Closing Theme



 1. Name Game (Yo Gabba Gabba!)Listen
. All My Friends Are Insects (Weezer)Listen
3. Freeze Tag (Yo Gabba Gabba!)Listen
4. Time To Go Outdoors (Hot Hot Heat)Listen
5. Hold Still (Yo Gabba Gabba!)Listen
6. Smile For the Camera (Datarock)Listen
7. All My Friends Are Different (Yo Gabba Gabba!)Listen
8. Hi Five (Yo Gabba Gabba!)
9. Art is Everywhere (MGMT)Listen
10. I Love Bugs (Yo Gabba Gabba!)Listen
11. Pool Party (The Aquabats)Listen
12. Big or Small (Yo Gabba Gabba!)
13. Momma Loves Baby (Solange)Listen
14. Hugs Are Fun (Yo Gabba Gabba!)
15. Beautiful Day (Jimmy Eat World)Listen
16. We Can Use Our Imagination (Yo Gabba Gabba!)
17. That's My Family (Apples in Stereo)Listen
18. I'm A Robot (Yo Gabba Gabba!)
19. Happy Birthday (The Ting Tings)Listen
20. Don't Be Afraid/It's Ok (Yo Gabba Gabba!)Listen
21. Goodbye Song (Yo Gabba Gabba! featuring Jack Black)Listen