Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers

Ever try explaining the trinity to your children?  It's not easy, and I found a book that does just that.  It is called "Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers, The Trinity" by Joey Allen.  There are 2 others as well, both part of the "Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers" group of books - one is focused on "The Mission" and one is focused on "The Scripture".  These are important concepts for your children and these books do a great job of breaking difficult concepts down into a concept that is easy to understand.  Here is a pic of one of them:

Need a Dance Break?

Ok - we all need to let loose once in awhile - and your kids do too!  Every afternoon, my kids and I have an impromptu dance party.  Sometimes they are just a couple of minutes, and sometimes they go on for a bit.  We listen to channel 1826 a lot on fios, which is called "Kidz Only", and I'm pretty sure if you turn it on you'll find yourself wanting to dance too.  This is such a great to teach your kids to let loose and just have fun.  And - it's a great way to spending time together having fun!  My kids know that as soon as the music is on, the dance party has begun - it's adorable watching them get their groove on.  :)

"I Spy" Books

In addition to enjoying the I Spy computer games, we also love the "I Spy" books.  There are ones for younger children, and ones for older kids.  Here is one that I was reading with my 4 year old tonight, and he loves it:

Each page has the word and the picture to find in the picture next to it, like above.  It helps teach children to read, while also having fun!  :)  This is another one we bought from the book fair at school.

Pancakes with a little umph

My kids LOVE breakfast for dinner.  Last night we had a pancakes and bacon, and I added a little extra somethin for the pancakes.  I peeled and chopped 2 apples and 2 pears, put them in a pot with a little brown sugar, water, and cinammon, a little salt and cooked them for 20 minutes. So easy, and it was a delicious topping for the pancakes!  Plus we got a little fruit serving in there . . . :)  I'll add the recipe to the recipes tab in case you are interested.  Enjoy!

I Spy Spooky Mansion

One of the things that my kids and I like to do together (I should be embarrassed to admit this but I promise transparency!) is play hidden object computer games together.  I know it's kind of nerdy, but it's something that we both (either me and my 6 year old or me and my 4 year old) like to do and so it's a great way to spend time together.  They have several "I Spy" hidden object computer games (all of which we bought from the book order forms that come home from school).  One of them is I Spy Spooky Mansion (there really isn't anything spooky about it), and both my 4 and 6 year old love it.  It's great for the 4 year old who isn't a proficient reader yet because you can click on the name of the object and it will say it out loud.  There are 3 "versions" of the game and as you complete each one you can start a new one.  They are the same rooms but different clues you are finding.  As you go through the rooms in the house looking for objects and complete a room, you collect a clue for the end of the game.  When you have all of the clues collected then you start the final stage of each version.  These games are great for bad weather days or for a little quiet time in the middle of the day if they aren't napping or if you need a break.  :)

Paper Monsters

So I am kind of a sucker for books/magazines that have activities in them you can do with your children.  My latest purchase is called "365 Things to do with Paper and Cardboard" and I got it from my 6 year olds book order form.  Today we made paper monsters and they were fun because the kids can totally do it and they can design their very own monster.  Here is a pic of the ones we made today:

And here is a pic of the instructions - you can't see it all that well, but I need instructions illustrated because I am not very artistic so it may be helpful:

And here are some other monster ideas to get your creative juices going:

I'll add the instructions for how to make these to the "Kids in Art" tab!  Have fun!

Chocolate Walk in Carrollton

Last night I took my 4 year old to the Chocolate Walk in Carrollton.  He is an extreme lover of chocolate and I couldn't think of a better date with him!  I saw the signs when we were at Babes a few weekends ago and immediately added it to the calendar.  At this event all of the stores in downtown Carrollton have chocolate samples of some sort.  So we literally went into 10 - 15 stores and got free chocolate.  Guerin LOVED it.  I asked him if he was full  yet after about 7 stores and he said, "Nope!  I will never be full of chocolate!".  Carrollton does this event twice a year and if you have a child that loves chocolate you should take them.  So much fun and it's free!  :)