VERY BUMMED

Well, I have to say I am very bummed due to the fact that my computer crashed this summer. In fact, they had to order a whole new motherboard to have it fixed. I have about 6 weeks of photos from projects and weekly themes accumulated on my camera. And at this point, it feels daunting to go back and explain them all.

I have always wanted to keep a journal of sorts to record our crafts and activities as Avery grows. This one unfortunately did not get to live up to my expectations. So, we will pick up where we left off. I might add photos here and there of fun things from the summer.

For the next couple weeks, before preschool starts, I have two themes that I am excited about - 1) the 5 senses, and 2) school time! Lots of fun things planned and hopefully my computer and camera hang in there :)

DINOSAUR WEEK!

It is DINOSAUR week! I can say that with all caps because I hear that with a
ROAR in my head :)

We have a very long dino book list this week. I couldn't help myself, I just kept finding great ones at the library! I am having a few problems with this post tho, maybe a few too many photos?

Oh my oh my oh DINOSAURS - by Sandra Boynton: I just love Sandra Boynton's books. They are fun, goofy, and I just love to read them.

Brontorina by James Howe: This is such a cute book and has a great message in it.

Dinosaurs Galore by Giles Andreae: A great bright and colorful book that has fun poems for each of the various dinosaurs (and it includes pronunciations!)

Detective Dinosaur Undercover by James Skofield: My son loves this book. It is a little goofy but we have been reading this book over and over again.

Have You Seen My Dinosaur by Jon Surgal: A fun rhyming book about a lil boy looking for his beloved dinosaur.

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland: A fun counting book about dinosaurs getting into trouble or into a bind - I like this one because it counts backwards!

Dinosaurs Dinosaurs by Byron Barton: A short and colorful book.

Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones by Byron Barton: My son loves this book, and starts repeating it around the house when he is playing. a fun short book about putting dinosaurs back together.

The Dinosaur Who Lived in My Backyard by B.G. Hennessy: A fun book with cute illustrations about a lil boy who used to have a dinosaur in his backyard.

Drumheller Dinosaur Dance by Robert Heidbreder: I was not quite sure how my son was going to like this book as it shows dinosaur bones coming to life, but he really liked it. I thought it was fun.

Digging Up Dinosaurs by Aliki: This book is a little long and has a few too many facts for my son's attention span, but it is great for showing the progression from live dinosaurs to bones and what/who it takes to put them back together again.

The Dinosaur Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta: This book is just that - an alphabet book with lots of dinosaur facts.

A T. Rex Named Sue by Natalie Lunis: A good book about the discovery of the T. Rex Sue and Sue Hendrickson

The Dino-Pedia: Just that, a huge book on everything dinosaur.

A New Week

Last week was Oceans Week - we got in a handful of fun activities, but my lil guy was just down and out with the crud. So, that leaves us with a handful of fun activities that will be left over for next time we do something with oceans, fish or water.

We went on a very mellow camping trip over the weekend, so I am a little behind with posting books and the first activity of the week - but will catch up soon!

Octopus Pretzel

For our cooking activity this week we created an octopus out of homemade pretzels. We had a lot of fun. I love this recipe, I have had since I first learned how to make it in kindergarten class. Yes, that is right, this is the same recipe that I learned how to make pretzels when I was five.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 C whole wheat flour
2 1/2 t sugar
2 1/2 t yeast
10 T finely shredded cheese
1 C warm water
(1 egg & salt for later)

Mix all the ingredients together until it forms a soft, but stiff dough - try not to over knead. Usually a bit of the four does not mix in and I use it on the counter for rolling.

Next roll out the dough into your desired shapes - we have tried it all: pretzels, balls, shapes, mini muffins and they all work great.

Once you have all the dough formed, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt.

Bake @ 425 degrees until golden brown (definitely want it brown otherwise it will be doughy)

One delicious treat!

Creative Play at it's Best!

Some of my absolute favorite moments with my son are during creative play - either when I am with him, or when he thinks I don't hear him!

Today, I know that what we are learning in ocean week is really sinking in and he is having a lot of fun with it.

After we made our peanut butter jar aquariums he told me to 'stop, stay right there'. Then I could hear his pitter patter of feet running around the house. Then he came up to me and said "Are you ready for your aquarium tour?". He handed me a ticket and took me on a tour of the aquarium in our house... none of the photos were staged by me. He had a ticket, fish, and an "X" marks the spot made with popsicle sticks at each station marking where we needed to stop.

The first stop: blue monster truck transporting the fish and the aquarium book in case we had any questions.

Next stop was to the bench at the front door - where he told me about the fish in detail... actually named what kind they were and what they like to eat. And to watch my fingers because some of them may pinch you.

And so on.... I will save you the other stations... there were about 5 of them.

He is such a cool kid!

Peanut Butter Jar Aquarium

We made mini aquariums out of an old peanut butter jar today.

The pictures didn't turn out too well - but we had fun.

We also dropped in an alkaseltzer to give the fish some fizz!

On a bummer note - our rubber fish did not float, so it was a little bit of a boring aquarium. And, if you try and make one with craft sand... it really makes a murky mess... I went with small craft marbles for the bottom.

Sick Kid

One sick kid = pause in creativity.

Poor guy has lil energy to do much of anything that includes concentration. But we did play ocean games today... just no pics or end products to show for it except fun play time.