Our Elf on the Shelf Ginger Week 2

Ginger has been pretty busy this week!!!  Here is a peek at what she has been up to...

 Just relaxing on the window

Since we didn't decorate our tree yet Ginger thought she would help out

 Lifting a weights made out of a candy cane and two large marshmallows.  You need to work out when your main diet is sugar based!!

 The girls got a treat of some homemade mini doughnuts to start off their morning.

 The coffee was all set up for us on this chilly morning

 Ginger reminded us of the true meaning for the season and decided to join our Nativity Set

Ginger was just zip lining through our kitchen.  She even left the girls some candy canes and Clara a candy cane made out of a Baby Mum-Mum cracker.  Ginger is the best!!!

A Very Minted Christmas

Every year I get excited to see all the fun designs that are available for our family Christmas card, even though I get a stomach ache thinking about actually taking the picture.  Hopefully Clara will be the ham that she usually is and everything will go nice and smoothly.

This year as I was looking for ideas for our card I noticed that Minted had a really great selection of fun designs for their Photo Christmas Cards.

Here are just a few of the fun designs that caught my eye as I was browsing their site.  I am planning on a playful card this year the girls are excited to wear their Christmas Pajamas, so these seemed like they would go really well with our theme.

Be sure to stop by Minted to see all the other things that they offer!

They have an variety of stationary, prints and children's room decor items too.  These items would make great gifts for any occasion.

**Disclosure: I will receive money off my next Minted purchase for writing this post to participate in Minted's holiday card promotion however these are my own unbiased opinions.

Elf On the Shelf Adventures Week 1

Ginger is back and she is having a lot of fun!!  Every morning the girls anxiously wait to go down and see where she is and what she has been up to and this week she has been pretty silly.

Day 2

Ginger decided she would be a leprechaun for the day.  She was also wearing the rainbow loom bracelet that Juliette made for her.  Which made Juliette so happy!!

Day 3

Ginger thinks driving a shoe train is a lot of fun!

Day 4

Ginger must be wishing for some snow.  She made us some cute snowflakes.

Day 5

It was a bubble bath kind of morning for Ginger.  I think she liked that the soap had her name in it!

Day 6

Ginger was really creative today! These play-doh containers led us to...

...a play doh GINGER!!!

After looking around again we finally found the real Ginger hanging out on top of the Kitchen cabinets.

Day 7

Ginger was so excited that we were going to decorate gingerbread houses that she decided to decorate her own.

Check back next week to see what else Ginger has been up to!!!!

Does an Elf on the Shelf visit your house if so what has your elf been up to?

Our Elf on the Shelf is BACK!!!!

Ginger, our The Elf on the Shelf made her first appearance right after Thanksgiving and the girls couldn't have been more excited.  She was waiting for them on top of the front door where Juliette spotted her the second we went downstairs for breakfast.

Throughout the day Juliette kept telling us that she cant wait to see where Ginger is tomorrow and I wonder what she is going to do tomorrow.  I love their excitement over her and the anticipation of what she will do next.

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf?  Where have you found your elf playing?

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Mixed Media Family Turkey Project

For school Emily had to create a turkey with her family.  We all worked together to decorate this turkey.  It was so much fun to get out our collection of collage materials and decide what would make a really cool looking turkey. 

A few weeks ago we had made some spin art in fall colors which worked perfectly for the turkey's feathers.  Then we used different dried beans and feathers as well as crayons, a band-aid, some felt, glitter glue and of course a googly eye!

Neighborhood Toy Store Day 2013!!!

                                                     

I Heart My Neighborhood Toy Store and I personally love finding quality unique toys that my children enjoy playing with that also stimulates their mind and imagination.  Big box stores do not always carry these high quality toys and I feel they often cater to "fad" toys that children outgrow quickly and are usually cheaply made.  At your local toy store you can find a wide selection of the best toys on the market that your children will really enjoy playing with.  In addition, shopping locally offers better customer service and is a great way to support your community!

November 9, 2013 is the 4th annual Neighborhood Toy Store Day.  Participating local stores will host in-store events for families (such as activities, craft projects, live performances and/or special discounts) to help kick off the holiday shopping season and celebrate the joy of shopping for toys!  This annual event is coordinated by the non-profit organization ASTRA, the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association.

You can find a participating toy store at Your Neighborhood Toy Store.

 Here are some of the quality toys you could find for sale at your neighborhood toy stores, that are all winners of ASTRA's Best Toy for Kids 2013:
 
Clara absolutly loves her Skwish Classic by Manhattan Toy.  This is an innovative wooden rattle that truly provides her with entertainment.  I have seen her push it, squish it, drop it toss it, shake it and reach for it when it gets away from her.  It definitely holds her attention and encourages grasping and reaching skills which is very important for a 6 month old!! 

 
 Bunny Peek A Boo by Smart Toys and Games, Inc. is a 3D puzzle made up of sturdy wooden blocks and a cute rabbit character.  Juliette and Emily loved solving these puzzles by choosing one of the cards and recreating the picture they see with the wooden pieces.  This game helps develop spatial perception skills.



 
RingStix Lite byRingStix System Enterprises LLC is variation of the game of catch.  Players pass the ring back and forth using two sticks that are available in a variety of colors.  this game can even be played independently.  The girls are really looking forward to testing this out once the weather is warmer. 

                                                       

www.yourneighborhoodtoystore.org

You can find ASTRA/ The Woohoo Factor on Facebook HERE

   and on Twitter (@TheWoohooFactor)

 

Disclosure: I was asked by Child's Play Communications to help spread the word of Neighborhood Toy Store day. I was not paid for this post but I was compensated with the toys I reviewed.

Here SHE is!!!

Our family was blessed with another beautiful baby girl!!! 

Clara Louise was born on May 2, 2013 and her big sisters at completely in love with her.  

Soda Bottle Easter Basket

Juliette made this adorable Easter Basket at school and I had to share it I thought it was so cute!

To make it they cut the top off of a soda bottle then covered the cut edge with duct tape so no little fingers would get cut.  The kids decorated the feet and head with crayons, a pom pom for the nose and foam stickers for the pink of the ears.  There are also pipe cleaners for the whiskers.  The arms are attached with a brad across the top on either side to make the handle, which can move back and forth.  Finally there is a white pom pom glued on the back for the cotton tail.

I don't have a template for the pieces but they are pretty simple you can use white construction paper and free hand the shape of the arms and feet.  The head is a simple circle with a little extra at the bottom so that it sticks up from the bottle.  Then you can get creative and make the ears any shape you want.

**If you try this I would love t hear about it send me a link to any pictures so I can see how they came out!!

How to Catch a Leprechaun ~ Leprechaun Trap Attempt #2

Last year we made our first Leprechaun Trap and the girls are even more determined to catch him this year.  Since he was able to eat his way out of the trap last year, the girls decided we needed something a bit sturdier and decided to use some boxes that we were going to recycle, string and some Plastic Gold Coins.

Emily and Juliette painted the boxes using rainbow colors in hopes of attracting the Leprechaun.  Then Daddy helped them rig up a pulley system over the chandelier with some string that was attached to gold coins.  When The Leprechaun picked up the gold coins we hoped the box would fall on top of him and trap him. 

The girls were all ready for bed and so excited  to see if the trap worked.

   We didn’t catch the Leprechaun, but he did leave us some chocolate coins and in his haste to escape he left his hat behind, which made the girls really happy.  The trickster also turned our milk green and the water in the potty green too.

Hopefully we have better luck catching that tricky leprechaun next year!!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!!!

Post-it's + Stack n Smile Photo Blocks = Learning Fun

We have had our set of Stack n Smile Photo Blocks for awhile now, and I always want to use them for learning activities, but never get around to filling their sides with "stuff."  I was putting together a game for Juliette and realized the cubes would work perfectly, but ahh I did not have the time to format a page on my word processing program with the letters I needed then cut them out and put them in the cubes.  That's when I realized POST-ITS !!!!  I was able to quickly write the letters on each post it and they were the perfect size to slide right into the pockets.  I am so excited for all the fun learning activities that we can now quickly put together. 

Letter and Number Sticker Matching

This is a simple activity to put together that helped Juliette recognize uppercase and lowercase letters.

First, I wrote all the letters of the alphabet in capitals on colored dot stickers. Then I wrote the lowercase letters on a plain piece of paper. I did these in a random order so Juliette really had to hunt for them. Finally, she used the stickers to cover the letter matches.

This was the perfect activity for my sticker loving preschooler!!! After she finished she said "another one, another one!!"

So next we did this with numbers and dots. She practiced counting the dots and covering them with the matching number.

Penguin Shapes

Juliette made this adorable penguin craft at school while working with squares, rectangles and circles. The body is a white paper plate and the eyes are white reinforcement stickers. Then they used white shiny paper cut into squares and rectangles for the ice. She was so proud of her penguin!!