We've Been Slimed!

Brooke finally got to put together her lunch that she has planned!
Chelsea's was I LOVE MY MUMMY!
and
Brooke's is YOU'VE BEEN SLIMED!

Before the kids could come to lunch they all had to be SLIMED!

The slime food was GREEN Mac and Cheese....
GREEN grapes...
and (suppose) to be ...GREEN jello with warms....
But...
I thought I had lime jello, so I didn't buy any....oops!
Lucky for me, she is a kind and loving daughter and never said one unkind word to me!

She made a special GREEN slush and added some eyeballs....too fun!

Everyone made their best SLIME face!

I can't ever pass up on sibling love!

She made two different kinds of SLIME for the kids to play with!

They were surprised to find out that after playing with SLIME...they could eat SLIME!

Everyone made SLIME blobs...

Turning them into the cutest ever SLIME pictures!

End of the Day!!!!
SLIME BATH!!!!!!

Delicious Pumpkin Bread Pudding!

Here is a divine recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding!

5 Large croissants, cubed
1 cup half an half
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
caramel ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350

In large bowl cube croissants
In medium bowl whisk together half and half, pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
Pour over croissants....let sit 30 min.
Put mixture into 8x8 greased pan.
Bake 30-40 min.
Cool 5-10 min.
Heat up the caramel ice cream topping....
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and warmed caramel ice cream topping!
ENJOY!!!!

Preschool / Kindergarten Pumpkin Fun!!!!

We have had a great week of Pumpkin Fun!
Above...the kids listed all the things that they thought described pumpkins!

I left them individual notes in their workbooks!

The decorated pumpkin muffins...into jack-o-lanterns!

Luke made his pumpkins into sight words...that he is struggling with...then he placed them in different rooms...so that each room had it's own name...the "this" room!

We read :
Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden
and the kids practiced the cycle of life for a pumpkin!
(I found these cards on montessoriforeveryone.com)

They measured the different pumpkins with yarn!

Then checked to see which one was longer and which one was shorter!

Made pumpkin number lines!

I loved this...it was surprisingly difficult for Annika, whose 4!?
She would grab a face out of a bag and them duplicate it on her own pumpkin!
I got my faces from Mailbox Magazine...but they would be very easy to make with some orange paper and black sharpie!

Math practice for Luke...
We would toss the pumpkins in the bowl and keep track of how many each got..
I think it worked better to have him, just throw them and keep track of his hits and misses....
3 misses+ 2 makes = 5
1 miss + 4 makes= 5
It was fun to see that the total was always 5...and we practiced with different amounts on different days...to help him grasp addition...it was very successful and fun for him!

Pumpkin Love!

The kids made little pumpkin bags for a new family we met...with 5 kids...all about the same age as ours! =)

We kept it simple...each bag got three orange candies..and green tissue!

The Real Deal!

After putting forth a full day of BIRTHDAY FUN!
Luke informed me that he was saving his"real" birthday for when daddy was home!

We finally got the REAL DEAL....He has officially celebrated his birthday!!!

I never mind celebrating birthdays...twice...or more!!!!

TO ALL MOMS!!!!

Do you have those moments...when you realize that you have forgotten to feed your kids?

Or worse....when you find out your daughters arm has been broken for a week???

These are moments when I just stop and cry!

In the middle of chaotic life....it is easy for moms to feel like they are failing!
There is no handbook, and how could there be...with each and every kids being so uniquely different???

A few months back....my oldest, Brooke, brought me a list of things that she was going to do....when she was a mom!
As I read over the list, I was very impressed....she had so many GREAT ideas!
I told her I would like to implement most of these into our home!
She immediately answered:
"NO"
I asked her ..."Why would her kids like these rules, if she wouldn't like them?"

"Well, Mom, I like you just like you are! Your my mom and I love you! I don't want you to change. I don't want you to be me. My kids are going to love me as their mom...but you are my mom, and your PERFECT!"

To All MOMS!
Your doing a great job!
Don't compare yourselves to others!
Your PERFECT just the way you are!!!!

GOOD BYE NEIGHBORS!

We will miss our neighbors...they have been our family for 10 years!

We took them a 7-up, with a balloon, and a note ....
The 7 reasons we will miss you as a neighbor!

The kids came up with the list of 7 reasons...it was fun to read what they appreciated from each neighbor! =)

Messages from the Zoo!!!

My first time to see a Cheetah...in person!
I was in AWE....How would it be to be the FASTEST animal living...FOREVER!!!!!
In our world of records...someone comes along and beats you...but not in the world of animals!
THE CHEETAH HAS and as far as I can see, WILL ALWAYS BE ....THE FASTEST ANIMAL!

I obviously come from a competitive running background....(comes from...not one now! ;) )
Because I loved these guys!
My kids had to pull me away!

If your son asks to see ELEPHANTS.
Before marking it off the list...make sure you know if he wants to see ASIAN ELEPHANTS or AFRICAN ELEPHANTS!
We still have African Elephants on the list!

Luke: "Mom are you BIGGER than an elephant...or is an elephant BIGGER than you?"
Me: "What do you think?"
Luke: "I think your BIGGER!"

=)

Why would anyone pass up on a stoller ride around the zoo???

Brooke can push an ELEPHANT!!!

While in Minnesota we met some friends who have spent years in Africa!
Luke who loves animals was curious to what the most dangerous animal was?
She told us that the Hippo is responsible for more human deaths than the lion!
How could that be...the lion is the king?
Luke has not been able to understand this...it has been bothering him ever since.
He has been on a HUGE mission to see a HIPPO!

Luke: "Oh! Now I understand! The Hippo swallows you whole!"

Mummy activities....preschool!

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling my kids....is watching the older ones take delight in the younger ones learning!
Chelsea added some preschool activities to her Mummies Theme!

MUMMY WRITING!

MUMMY MATCHING

WHAT'S IN YOUR MUMMIES TUMMY?!

Celebrating the BIG 6!

Luke turns 6!!!!
He started his morning with a run through streamers!

Placed through out the house were Luke signs!

Brooke spent the entire night before preparing a treasure hunt for Luke!
She informed him....that all his presents were missing...and that they needed to find them!
The kids had so much fun looking for Luke's presents!

He got lots of fun thought out gifts...but his favorite was his ABC game hand made by Brooke!

Dressed in I'm 6 Today...we headed out to find 2 of the 3 animals Luke wants to see....

The Hippo!

Elephants!

Now I just need Rhinos...and his list is complete...until he makes another one!

Dad's out of town so we are saving the "real" celebration for when he is able to share it with us...so we are waiting for cake and ice cream.
Instead we went to frozen yogurt!

Where Luke decided to pay for 6 people's yogurt....since he was 6!

They only catch was that they had to take a picture with him!

Everyone was HUGE troopers...and this was the greatest end to a fantastic day!

Does he look proud or what?