Lego Party

Happy 4th Birthday MJ

Wow I can't believe my little guy is growing so quickly. My wonderful little boy always has a smile to share.  He adores tractors (wants to grow up to be a farmer), and is always building something.  He has a great imagination and is full of energy!

MJ's actual birthday celebration

On MJ's actual birthday he woke up to a great surprise of Lego, including motors, and gears to go along with it.  After playing Lego for a while we joined my mom, sister and her children at a playground/splash park for the afternoon.  We had a wonderful time.  For dinner MJ chose Ikea.  He loved his new robot sweater, he even makes the buttons do things.

We had toyed with the idea of doing a construction theme for his birthday, but then he became Lego obsessed so here we are with an awesome Lego theme for my 4 year olds birthday!!!

Lego party decorations

There were so many ideas on Pintrest.  I used some Lego colouring pages to help me out.  In the goody bags were some Lego type blocks I found at the dollar store.

Lego party food

The food was mostly appetizers and platters,  I used some organizing bins as trays along with Mega Block cutlery holder.  McDonalds Lego cups worked our great for drinks.

Lego Party activities

For the activities the children mostly played in the yard and on the trampoline.  I wrote a story about a Lego farmer and his friends building things.  Then the children went off on a scavenger hunt around the property for Mega Blocks, then build a unique creation with them.  Later we also played pass the parcel (the prize was Lego type candy).  As you can see the cake was mini loafs pieced together.

We had a wonderful time and are so thankful for everyone coming to spend the afternoon with us.  The generous gifts were much loved.  And now they boys are finally (hopefully) asleep.

Our Alphabet Adventures A-D

This year TJ asked me to teach him his alphabet.  Now, he already can recognize the letters and can write most of them just from life, playing, stories, media, asking questions and trying it out.  We hadn't yet taken time to formally teach the alphabet though.  In traditional Waldorf schools children would be doing this in grade one when they are around age 7, but being at home and knowing this particular child I felt he was ready now at age 6 for the formal intro.

Modelling letter A, TJ and MJ's chalk practice.

We are taking the summer to really engage with each letter, the sounds and how it looks.  Both boys are participating, MJ is working on recognition.  He is now finding letters all over the place, even making his own from sticks and things.

Mommy's chalk drawing for letter B, drawing letters in the sand

We are using Earth Schooling along with Fairy Mail.  For each letter of the alphabet we have some poems and form the letter in the air while reciting it.  We do lots of movement and yoga for each letter, form the letter using found objects and model each letter.  There are stories that correspond to each letter and we also draw pictures of object that start with the letter.  Sign language is included along with lots of writing practice.  Every few days TJ adds a new page to create his own alphabet book.

TJ's best C, using our bodies to make the letter C

In the fall when his curriculum brings up the alphabet letters again we will be focusing on writing the lowercase letters that he finds more difficult at this point.  We'll also work on reading and his artwork for the book he is making.  It'll be a year in the making but one I know he'll treasure.

Letter practice in a workbook, using wand to draw letters and recite poems, Big boy lost his first tooth!

End of May activities

We have been very busy recently.  The weather has been great for getting outside, exploring and having fun.  Of course blogging gets set aside most days for office work, lesson planing, and being out with the boys.

The boys have been using scraps of wood left over from our shed project to build their own wild creations.  TJ made a garage, bench and bike jump.  Not sure what MJ's things are.  They also used the wood to make dams while playing with the hose.

TJ participated in his very first literature fair.  He created a folder project on the book "Curious George" then shared with with a group of homeschooler s.  He was very well spoken and learned a lot!

Mommy has a also had a little time to be crafty.  I have decided to close down my online crafting business to focus on our family, homeschooling and running the office for our electrical/fire protection company.  I was able to manage a few last projects.  I made myself a shirt, a fully reversible doll carrier, and a large quilt made of baby receiving blanket.

TJ's been getting more brave and adventurous.  He is usually on wheels of some sort.  His bike, scooter and skateboard are all getting lots of use.  MJ always has some Lego creation in his hands, or bed.  He is getting more confident on his bicycle too.

 We were so excited to attend a really fun event call "Touch-a-truck".  The fair ground was litterally covered in dozens of different trucks, tractors, etc.  Children got to climb inside and ask questions.  My boys had huge smiles as they tried out every truck they could find.

Hurray we have a shed!!!  I know it needs a door, but finally all our toys and gardening equipment is off the lawn and into this lovely shed that daddy built.  The boys had fun "helping" too.

Stay tuned as we start our adventure with the alphabet.  Over the next the next three months we will be learning, drawing, writing, creating and exploring each letter of the alphabet.

Dairy Farm trip and more

This has been another busy week here for us.  There was lots of rain, so lake Jackson came back ( the huge puddle at the end of the driveway).  The boys were out on their bikes, playing in puddles and having a great time! 

 We also talked a lot about plants.  Our stories, songs and verses centred around plants all week.  The boys have been growing and caring for our seedlings.  They showed me the parts of a plant, we used plasticine to model a plant as it grows from seed to flower.  TJ did a great job during our drawing lesson to draw our story and add some colour to the background.  I think MJ made a robot???

Another day we had an impromptu science lesson.  TJ drew and labelled the parts of  a flower, then taught his younger brother.  We measured all our seedlings and recorded this on a chart.  Next TJ created a bar graph to show the different heights of our plants.  HE realized that the graph was easier to show information clearly.

 At the end of the week we joined a local homeschool group on a tour of a small family run dairy farm. First we got to visit the milking barn and learn all about how the cows are cared for and milked.  Next the children got to explore the equipment and tractors!  Finally they played a game to guess what different farm tools were used for.  We ended with a snack of milk and cheese.  My boys had a wonderful time.

On the weekend we went to a pirate and princess party for their cousin.  Ariel and Pirate Pete both came to the party to tell stories and do some activities with the kids.  It was a lot of fun.  The boys were really cute and loved dressing up.

Next week we will be doing a very short unit on Curious George because we signed TJ up to participate in a literature fair.  It will be our first homeschool event of this sort and he is so into it.  We have already learned about where Africa is on the map, and done a comparison of our forest to a rain forest.... well you'll have to hear about the rest next time.

Dog Birthday Party

Oh Pintrest I had way to much fun planing this party!! For TJ's 6th birthday party he decided on a dog theme.  Here are lots of pictures of the decorations and activities.  But first I'd like to thank all our family and friends who came to share in this special day to make it lots of fun.  Your gifts were so generous and thoughtful.  We will always treasure the memories made together today.

First up was the adoption centre.  Each child selected their very own puppy to adopt and make a birth certificate.  I made the cute little felt dogs myself.  The puppy adoption papers are free from Chickabug

Next up was the pet care vet centre to make sure the little puppies were well taken care of.  For this we pulled out our doctor kits.  A Dog agility obstacle course was made from our balance beams, logs and hula hoops.

In lue of gifts we asked guests to bring donations for the local animal shelter.  Of course grandparents and some family brought gifts for the birthday boy, but friends we happy to bring a toy for puppies in need.  (okay I know I spelled donations wrong on the sign but I didn't want to reprint it, and I knew that only my dad would notice.  He did).  All our balls were gathered together to play fetch.  And Pin the bone on the dog was great fun for everyone!

I knew that crafts would be well received by this group.  Pipe cleaners and beads quickly turned into a collar and leash.  Recycled boxes decorated with paper and stickers made perfect doggy beds, complete with scrap fabric blankets.  Not show in our trampoline.  It was popular obviously =)

Fun signs and decoration make all the difference.  My aunt had found adorable napkins that I forgot to photograph.  They had paw prints on them and say "wipe your paws".  You could also make a sign to put next to your napkins and cuttlery.  I also forgot to get a sign that hung above to food table which reads "Kibbles and Bits".  Dog looking balloons were all over the house.  We found a fun centre piece from the local craft store, and made our own doggy tic-tac-toe boards for the tables (even adults can play games too).

Snacks are so fun to do.  The top left shows soft tortillas, brushed with butter and sprinkled with cinamon-sugar, then baked to be a crispy treat.  top right are bone and dog sugar cookies.  Bottom left are Scooby snacks that my aunt found in the US.  We served those in dog bowls with a stuffed puppy trying to eat some.  The cake was made from one round and two oval shapes.  One oval was cut in half to make the ears.  TJ helped with the decorating and both boys happily licked all the extra icing!  I used an interesting healthy recipe that is gluten, sugar and dairy free.  Usually the cake comes out great.  Not sure what happened, I think my blender is slowly dying but is was slightly crumbly today...

Although the party was mostly for TJ, we certainly can't forget about Daddy whose birthday is only a few days later.  So we sang for both of these wonderful guy and wished them a very Happy Birthday!!

Here is a link to my Pintrest board if you want more Puppy Party ideas.

Happy 6th Birthday TJ

I can not believe how time flies.  Could it really have been 6 years ago that my wonderful son entered the world and changed my whole life?  Wow!!  We are so blessed to have a creative, active, loving fabulous boy so share each day with.  I am so proud of my TJ.

 

This morning my little man woke to a fun table setting with his birthday crown and a felt cake.  We celebrated the day with waffles and "ice cream".  Of course being dairy free our ice cream is made by blending frozen bananas and some berries in the food processor.  It comes out like soft serve and tastes great!

 TJ and I spent some special cuddly time together before MJ woke for his delicious treat of a breakfast too.  TJ was also in for another amazing surprise.  When I asked him to check on the weather he opened the door to find a new bicycle!!

MJ loved his waffles and banana berry "ice cream"

 So we spent the morning at a playground.  I knew of one that had a small quiet skate board area.  TJ rode and rode like the wind.  He met a new friend and they played for over an hour!  MJ took his trike and also watched some construction trucks.

Our afternoon was spent setting up for a family party the next day (okay mommy did the work while the boys played outside and watched neighbours do yard work).  The boys watched Finding Nemo while I did a lot of baking.  For dinner TJ insisted on Turtle Jacks.  The wait was rather long and it was very late by the time we ate.  TJ was a bit overwhelmed by everything so we left quickly.  We came home and the boys wanted to ride again.  Finally convinced them into bed...

Sleep well my big boy.  Tomorrow is another celebration day....

Puddles, Gardens and such

This week has rained off and on a bit.  The boys enjoyed splashing in the puddles and riding their bikes.  They have been watching Daddy on his motor cycle and have been pretending to ride theirs.  MJ's trike is sometimes a motorcycle, snowblower, snowmobile... He also has a larger bike but still loves his small trike.  We also went to the playground (and got sun burnt!).

We tweaked our schedule a little and try to solidify our rhythm.  So far things are going well.  I'm hoping to start planing for next year.  I pan to add more into our formal school time.  This week during drawing time we focused on filling in the whole page.  We first drew the sky, grass and dirt making sure to fill in the whole page.  Next we layered on some plants with lots of detail.  MJ drew his first flower!  and TJ added lots of details and colours.

As much as possible we have been working on the gardens.  We cleaned up from the winter ice storm, cleared out the gardens and prepared our garden plot at home.  My boys are incredibly hard workers.  Okay TJ is while MJ enjoys riding on the tractor and playing lego as he watches us work.  It is refreshing to see the spring flowers finally blossom.  There are tiny sprouts at our garden plot up the street, and we have a lot of plants anxiously waiting for warmer weather so they can get into the ground.

Finally a sneak peek at handiwork...  TJ has been working on finger knitting some garlands to decorate for his birthday.  He is also making me a Mother's Day gift (we need to get that done).  I am almost finished a lovely quilt for my niece made of her old receiving blankets.  I also decided to treat myself to some new books.  I can't wait to make some new clothes for the family.

Well that has been our week.  Next time I'll be sharing all about my incredible son and his 6th birthday!!!  We are both totally excited.