Danny The Dragon “Meets Jimmy” ~ Book Review

I was so excited when I was contacted to review Danny The Dragon “Meets Jimmy,” by Tina Turbin. I don’t think it is any surprise that our family loves books and reading together. I get such a thrill out of reading and finding new books for our family to enjoy together and this book has become a new favorite in our house.

Danny The Dragon “Meet Jimmy” is the first book to be released in the Danny the Dragon series and we are absolutely hooked! This is an imaginative story of a cute traveling Dragon, named Danny and his little companion Skipper. In this book Jimmy and his family meet Danny the Dragon and his navigator Skipper. They spend time playing, eating and even having a sleepover. Emily and I both enjoyed the vivid colorful illustrations that go along with this story. Since we are currently working on teaching Emily manners I really appreciated how polite Danny The Dragon was throughout this book. We are looking forward to finding out more about Danny and where he came from in the future book in this series. It is no surprise that this book is a Best Book Award 2009 Finalist!!

In addition to the Children’s Book we were also sent the audio book DREAMS which was recently released at a large Sesame Street classical concert in Los Angeles. Emily loved listening to the story being read. She found the sound effects that accompanied the story very exciting! I really enjoyed the beautifully composed classical pieces that followed the first track which was Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy, read by Janis Welch. The author Tina Turbin helps many people in the allergy, celiac, autistic and gluten-free "world" and all the profits from this CD are being donated to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center.

You can find out more about Danny The Dragon and Tina Turbin’s Causes by visiting these websites:

• Danny The Dragon Website – All things Danny the Dragon
• Gluten Free Help – Website created by Tina Turbin to provide information about topics relating to celiac disease.
• Tina Turbin – Information about the author.

**Thank you to Tina Turbin and her assistant Rosie Newman for providing me with a copy of this book and cd in return for reviewing it. This review reflects my own personal opinion and experience with this book and CD.

stART ~ Rabbit’s Pajama Party

 

 

Welcome to stART! I hope that you will enjoy our story and art project and maybe even share your own too! The linky will be open all week.

This week we read Rabbit’s Pajama Party, by Stuart J. Murphy since Emily loves having sleepovers with her cousin.  She loved reading about what Rabbit and his friends did at their sleepover.  This is a cute rhyming book that talks about all of the fun things that happen when Rabbit has a sleep over party.  It is part of the MathStart Series of books and this book focuses on the concept of sequencing.  The book has a clear order of events that makes it very easy for talking about what these friends do first, next and last.

Since Emily is completely obsessed with cutting everything and anything out I really had no choice but to do another cutting activity for stART this week :0)

  I printed out a some clip art pictures that went along with some of the events in the story  and Emily got to work cutting them out.

As we read the story I laid out all the pictures that Emily had cut out and I had her figure out which picture matched what we just read about.  After the story she glued them onto a piece of construction paper.

Emily’s finished project.  We were able to use our story collage to retell the story using sequencing words, first, next, then, after that, and finally. 

Juliette’s First Music Class!!

Since Aunt Christina had the day off last Monday and was spending it with Emily I decided to take Juliette to music class all by herself. I loved that I was able to focus on singing and moving just with her. She is getting so big and able to do so much. I couldn’t believe how aware of the songs and even the beat she was.

Juliette had so much fun!!

These wave drums were definitely one of her favorites. She did a great job tapping on them.

She also joined right in with the big girls at the big drum too!

UPrinting Business Card Giveaway

UPrinting has graciously offered me the opportunity to giveaway 500 Business Cards to one of my readers and I couldn’t be more excited!

My mom and I were just talking about getting business cards printed for YummyFelts, so I know exactly what I will be doing with my Business Cards that I can print online, but what will you do with yours???

Business Cards are handy, versatile products that are not just for businesses! You can use it as blogger cards to promote your blog or Mommy Calling Cards (I really want a set of these too) to make sharing your info with other Mommies and Daddies super easy, since they are double sided you could easily include your information and any special information about your child such as allergies or any other special needs. No more scrambling for a pen and paper at the bottom of your bag!!

The Prize

The winner will get to choose 500 Business Cards Online from the following sizes: 2 x 3.5”, 2 x 3”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.5 x 3.5” (skinny card). They'll be printed on 14 pt gloss cardstock, 14 pt matte cardstock or 13 pt recycled uncoated cardstock with full color on both sides and shipped to you for free.

**Please not that this giveaway is only open to United States Residents

To Enter

Tell me how you would use 500 business cards from UPrinting.

Please include your e-mail so that I can contact you if you are the winner!

Additional Entries:

(Please leave a separate comment for each additional entry to be counted)

• Follow A Mommy’s Adventures publicly.
• Subscribe by email, using the gadget at the top of my right sidebar.
• Follow me on Twitter @Kme0310 and be sure to include your twitter name in your comment so I can follow you too :0)
• Become a fan of Yummy Felts on Facebook by either clicking the link or the fan box on the sidebar.
• Tweet about this giveaway using @Kme0310 in your tweet.
• Blog about this giveaway and include a link back to A Mommy’s Adventures. (This is worth 3 extra entries ~ leave a comment for each one)

I will select a winner using Random.org, so be sure you leave a separate comment for each entry

The winner will be announced here, and also e-mailed so please include your e-mail in each comment or enable it in blogger. The winner must respond within 48 hours or I will choose another winner.

Good Luck!!! This giveaway will be open until Tuesday March 2, 2010 midnight EST.

**Thank you to UPrinting for providing both me and the winner with a set of 500 business cards.**

Muffin Tin Monday

ORANGE

This week’s theme for Muffin Tin Monday was ORANGE and I had such a great time picking out all of Emily’s favorite foods for her Muffin Tin lunch (it turns out most of her favorite foods are orange!)

   

Top Row: Orange Juice in an Orange cup, Shredded cheddar cheese, Peaches

Bottom Row: Butternut Squash Soup, Macaroni and Cheese, Cheddar Gold Fish Crackers

TOTSchool

Our week in TOTSchool

Emily is 3 years old!!

This week we had our friends over for a Valentine’s Day Brunch and the Girls got to exchange Valentine’s Day Cards and Gifts with each other.   I couldn’t believe that I forgot to take pictures, but we all had a great time eating (Hash brown Casserole and Heart Shaped Waffles) and playing!

Emily sorted Conversation Hearts by colors.  This was a great color recognition and fine motor skills activity.

 

For our stART project we read Duck on a Bike by Davis Shannon and Emily made a Duck on a Bike.  This was a great activity for practicing coloring, cutting and gluing.

 Juliette is starting to pull herself up on everything.  I even found her standing up in her crib.  Emily enjoys helping me with her and keeping her occupied.  She is such a great big sister!!

Emily’s friend came over for a play date.  They had fun playing in our Valentine’s Sensory Tub.  They practiced sorting, scooping and pouring. The girls  had fun pretending to make cupcakes with play dough and silicone muffin tins that I picked up at the Target Dollar Spot!!

Juliette joined them for a fun Letter Cookie Snack.  Both girls loved finding the different letters.

We ended with some coloring!

Our favorite books from this week:

• Duck on a Bike ~ David Shannon
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom ~ Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert
• The Cat in the Hat ~ Dr. Seuss
• Fisher Price Let’s Go On a Class Trip Lift the Flap Book ~ Readers Digest

Check out the great things that others are doing with their children by clicking the buttons on the top of this page!!

stART ~ Duck on a Bike

 

Welcome to stART! I hope that you will enjoy our story and art project and maybe even share your own too! The linky will be open all week.

This week we read Duck on a Bike, by David Shannon.  This is a really cute book about a duck that decides to take a bike for a ride around the farm.  All the animals think duck is silly, but at the end you get to see how they really feel!

Since Emily has been enjoying cutting and coloring I thought it would be fun for her to make Duck on a bike.  I found a duck printable and a bike printable for her to color and cut out.

 

Emily colored in the bike and the duck.  She used red since the duck road a red bike in the book.

 

Emily cut out the duck and the bike all by herself.

Emily glued white feathers onto the duck and then glued everything onto a piece of construction paper.

 

Emily’s Duck on a Bike!!

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing…

…and a little singing too!!

Grandpa got Emily and Juliette EVERY Laurie Berkner CD for Christmas!  We have been listening to her CD’s regularly now and we all enjoy singing and dancing to her songs.  I love that the songs encourage Emily to get moving, they are so upbeat and exciting that you can’t help dancing and singing along.  

One day after listening to Fruit Salad Salsa in the car I couldn’t get it out of my head.  Of course the only cure for a song stuck in your head is to listen to it, so I brought the CD into the house and played it over and over and over again.  Emily and I danced around the living room laughing and giggling to the music! 

Check out Laurie Berkner’s Blog too!

What musician does your child enjoy listening to?

Happy Blogiversary To Me!!!

One year ago today I started started this blog.  

I am so thankful for all of the people that I have “met” through A Mommy’s Adventures.  When Juliette was in the hospital and I wasn’t able to post for almost a week, I was touched by all the kind e-mails checking in on me, offering prayers and making sure everything was ok.  It brought tears to my eyes to know that people that I have never met in real life cared and thought about me and my family.  I also totally understood it, because I find myself thinking about and praying for many of my blog friends during the day,  I noticed when someone wasn’t posting and worried about them too. 

I am so thankful for all of the ideas that we have shared that have benefited my entire family in so many ways.  I have gotten great ideas for activities to do with Emily and Juliette.  I have tasted some amazing recipes that people have shared (my husband is very thankful for those).  I have also found many wonderful and creative ideas for different traditions, that I hope will become a very special memory for our family. 

I am so thankful for the memories that I documented, ordinary things that I would probably never remember if it weren’t for the posts I wrote here.  One day Emily will be able to remember the different books and activities we did because of TOTSchool and stART projects and of course the yummy lunches we had because of Muffin Tin Monday :0)

Through A Mommy’s Adventures in just this first year I have found support and encouragement that I never could have imagined when I first started.  I can’t wait to see what this next year holds!

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog, comments or shares ideas and prays for us!

I Can Do It All By Myself!!

Emily decided that she could put her coat on all by herself and that she does not need my help anymore. I am very excited for this since it really helps in getting ready and out of the house a bit faster. The only problem was that I would find myself saying, “OK, Emily please get your coat on” only to realize it was hanging way up in the closet out of her reach. So to fix this little problem, my husband added these wonderful hooks on the inside of the coat closet. Now Emily can get her coat AND put it on all by herself!!!

I also love that she can put her coat away all by herself too :0)

Muffin Tin Monday

Red for Valentine’s Day Muffin Tin Meal!

This weeks theme for Muffin Tin Monday was Red and I couldn’t wait till Monday to have ours.  So we had fun celebrating Valentine’s Day with our Red Muffin Tin Lunch on Valentine’s Day!!!

Top Row: Strawberry Banana V-Fusion, Red Mini M&Ms, Strawberries

Bottom Row: Heart Layered Jell-O, Wagon wheel pasta and sauce, Tomatoes

When I saw these layered Jell-o hearts in my Family Fun magazine I knew I had to make it.  It was such a fun dessert to serve :0)

Emily LOVED her red muffin tin lunch

  

After lunch we did a Valentine’s Day color sorting activity that I found on the prekinders blog.

TOTSchool

 

Our week in TOTSchool

Emily turned 3 this week!!!

Emily loved doing these pre-writing activities that I printed and laminated from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Emily enjoyed making a heart collage.  I cut out hearts in all different colors and sizes for Emily to glue on a piece of paper.

  Emily also made a cut paper heart collage.  I wanted to use up some of the scraps in our scrap paper box and Emily enjoyed the cutting practice.

Emily enjoys hanging out with Juliette.  They both like to play with the toys in the living room.  Juliette is crawling all over to try to keep up with Emily.

 

Emily made a Heart Girl.  She had to accordion fold pieces of paper which was great fine motor skill practice.  I think it tested her patience too.  She stuck with it though and did all four strips!

Emily LOVED the blizzard that we had!!  She got to go outside in the snow and play with Daddy and Aunt Jaclyn.  This was the first time that she really got to play in a lot of snow.  Every other time it snowed she was either too little or sick.  She was thrilled to spend the afternoon sledding and making snow angels!

  For our stART project this week Emily made a party hat.  Her 3rd birthday was on Saturday and we have been enjoying the book If You Give a Pig a Party in preparation for her birthday.

 

Emily cut out circles to make her Love Bug project.  She has been enjoying cutting out shapes recently and I am excited to start more difficult cutting projects with her.

  We had Emily’s friends over to celebrate  her birthday.  Uncle Scott personalized drawstring backpacks with the girls names on them.  Then we decorated them with fabric markers.  I filled the bags ups with some treats as their goody bags.  I was so happy with how they came out and all the girls had such a great time.

The girls playing Ring Around the Rosie.

Our favorite books from this week:

• If You Give a Pig a Party ~ Laura Numeroff
• Toolbox Trouble ~ Christine Tagg and Bill Bolton
• 9 Fruits Alive ~ Mindy MacDonald
• Go Dog Go ~ P.D. Eastman

Check out the great things that others are doing with their children by clicking the buttons on the top of this page!!

Happy Third Birthday Emily!!

Oh my goodness, we had so much fun celebrating Emily’s 3rd Birthday.  I can’t believe how grown up she is, it seems like just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital.  Now she is her own little independent person.

We actually had 3 little celebrations, one with her friend, one with my family and one with my husbands family!!

 

Decorating drawstring backpacks

Pizza Party!!

I love this picture, she is in awe of her cupcakes!!

Emily’s finished backpack.

(My brother is awesome and personalized them with each child’s name in their favorite color!!)

Opening presents with Grandma and Grandpa

Daddy, Uncle Scott and Uncle Jonathan assembling the doll house!!

   

Our family all together on Emily’s 3rd Birthday!!