Online Stories for Toddlers

I try to read with the little princess everyday. It's a part of our bedtime routine. Sometimes when she stays up later than usual we quickly say prayers and skip the book. At that point, she is not into reading a book. A friend of mine posted on FB a while back(yes Gomez if you're reading this I'm talking about you) that her hubby told her not to call b/c their son is watching youtube on the phone. I found it wildly hilarious and then I thought to myself what the heck is a 1yr old watching on youtube. So... I opened youtube and began to explore. Then I thought guh duh!! He's watching the same stories I read to little princess. So, I called little princess over and we started to watch. At this point she wasn't watching TV yet. We just started letting her watch TV late this fall. Anywho... I started looking for my favorite books. I'll share the videos that I like below. I have to say, the one wierd thing was when you've sang a song a million times or read a book and then you hear it read differently. It totally throws me off. :) I hope you and your little tots enjoy the book videos.

50 Below

 

Love you forever

 



Pete the Cat

I also have a double bonus for you. :) I mentioned above about letting little princess watch TV. The only shows we let her watch are Barney, Sesame Street, and Mickey Mouse Club. She really isn't a fan of Sesame Street yet. But she LOVES Barney because of all the singing and dancing. And she really doesn't care for Mickey Mouse Club she just likes the Hotdog song. So pretty much she just likes to watch Barney and that's fine with me. She even holds on to me and rocks side to side to the I love you song. And... gives hugs and kisses on the right part. SO STINKIN CUTE! I found the songs on youtube and they play over and over again. On the Hotdog song she waves buy to Mickey each time at the end of the song, starts to whine b/c she knows it's over, and then gets excited when she sees it's starting over. Kinda funny

Barney I Love You Song 15 times back to back

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hot Dog song 5X back to back

Enjoy!

 

P.S.

I big puffy heart Robert Munsch!!

 



DIY Gift Ideas

I'm sure if half the world is like my other half you haven't got a single gift yet. Well, before you go out in the madness I have a couple ideas for you.
1. Pedicure in a Jar

This was oober quick, easy, and cheap. I got all the items inside the jar from the travel section. So every item was less than $1. The nail polish was even $1. The brand was Fergie so I figured it had to be halfway decent. I used a little drawing tool in Word to make a label and tada all done.

 

 

2. Vanilla Olive Oil Sugar Scrub

 

 

I originally got this idea for a scrub from Amber at WillsCasa. Her entire DIY Christmas series is AMAZING and will make you feel like a slacker. Be warned :)This was one of her easier DIY if you are sewing challenged like myself. But, no fear if Santa brings me that sewing machine. Amber promises to help me step my DIY skills up to her level .(Amber if you are reading this remember boystown 101, accept the compliment my friend you are amazing) Anywho, I only had Olive Oil and Dark Brown sugar. I did a little reading and figured that could work all the same. Once again this was oober easy and quick. I literally had everything in my pantry. So, the cost of this was practically free except the two bucks I paid for the jar. I didn't follow a recipe. I just used a ratio. I did 2 parts sugar to one part oil. I also used 1 tablespoon of vanilla. The Olive oil smell was pretty strong. But, the Dark Brown sugar smell was the most potent of all so no worries. It smelled amazing by the end of the week when we gave it to her teacher.

 

3. Something for the toddlers

 

 

Layla's class did a book exchange but I also got small gifts for each kiddo. It was about $3.00 per kiddo. I found the oober cute little stocking totes in the dollar bin at Target. They had tons. Next, I got each little friend a train ornament and a teething toy. I put both of those in the stocking and did I little monogram initial with glitter glue from my craft stash.

 

That's all folks!

P.S.

I did my first Black Friday to get myself an awesome Cannon Rebel. I literally got the very last one :) I must say it takes beautiful pictures!!!

QR Codes In the Classroom

The last post I made I mentioned I was going to try QR Codes in the classroom. Well, I tried it and my kids LOVED it. I just took the textbook pulled out the important info from the chapter and made a QR code from it. I placed them around the room and the kids had to find them and scan them.

After they finished all the scans they had to color code their notes. I had them code by if the fact told about the tribes region, way of life, government, or a fun fact. Sorry, I totally didn't realize this picture was upside down.

After we finished doing 2 tribes we compared them using a venn diagram foldable. My principal did a walk through while I taught this lesson. He said it was perfect! I was glad but honestly I was secretly hoping he caught one of my QR code lessons. I knew he would think it was super cool. The kids did a good job on the foldables.

I decided to share my codes with you all. I hope your kiddos enjoy or that this has given you an idea :) Enjoy! I'm sharing these ideas with other teachers here and here.

Happy 30th Birthday Mr. Hubs

This post is a little late but better late than never right. Mr.Hubs turned 30 at the beginning of the month. I wanted to do something special. I know when it was little princess' birthday I talked about traditions. We decided to do a birthday lunch. But, school has started for me and I had to work that day. So, I started thinking what could I do that no matter the month or day of the week and it could still be tradition. And...what could I do that Mr. Spouse could duplicate it totally on his own when my birthday rolled around. I originally thought of a donut tower. But that idea was quickly tossed out b/c I already knew getting up early for fresh donuts and be on time to work wasn't gonna happen! So then cinnamon rolls popped in my head. I know making them from scratch would be best but it wasn't realistic for my little family. Mr. Spouse could not do that when my bday rolled around. So it was decided cinnamon roll tower using Grands Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls.

Birthday Cinnamon rolls
1 can of Grands Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls
Sprinkles
candles

Bake your rolls according to the package. I took mine out about 2 minutes before the max bake time. They will continue to cook on the hot cookie sheet once you take them out. This will ensure that your rolls are light and fluffy not hard as a rock.

Once they have cooled off just a wee bit spread them with the yummy icing that is included. I then stacked them to resemble a tower. I did four on the bottom and one on top. Next, dash on sprinkles of your choice. Lastly, add the candles on the very top.

Light the candles and call for the lucky birthday person!

Sing happy birthday and enjoy! I literally made this in between getting ready in the morning. It was quick and easy. I woke up about 20 minutes earlier than usual.

 

I also planned a surprise party for him that weekend. He had no idea. He walked in the door, heard surprise, and walked right back out the house. haha :) I just wanted to share his cake. It came out pretty cute. I will say it looked a lot better than it tasted. I know how to make cakes yummy but I can't exactly make them pretty so I had to hire a baker.

It was the game of life with all his accomplishments so far. :)

On another note, when I logged in to create this post I saw that I had over 2200 views. Just 18 little post (this makes 19) and that many views. I don't even know if that's alot. I'm not up to date on the average views per post for a new blogger. Anywhoo....I figured people must be a little intrigued. I've had a couple comments asking about the followers tab. I was a little chicken at first about doing that. But the reality is the number of followers doesn't matter, if people are lurking and enjoying it that's fine too. :) But, if you're lurking and you want to follow go right ahead! I'm doing my first Social Studies QR code lesson this week. If it goes well I'll upload the file and share :)

Sharing this idea here:
sixsistersstuff
iheartnaptime
chefintraining
skiptomylou
Cheerios and Lattes



October Dinner Menu Ideas

**UPDATE** I've added a follower button if you would like to come out and follow in the open :)

 

First off I just wanted to say, I'm oober excited about that new little button to the right! I guess the stats aren't lying, people are actually reading my little blog. Okay, menus...now I know it's almost halfway through the month at this point. Well, I had tons of food left over from last month. In fact I just went to the store on Monday. I've decided 20 meals a month is to much for my little family. We either eat a lot of left overs or go out to eat way more than I originally thought. It's probably a combination of both. The reason I say that is that the past two months we've had a ton of food left over. So much so that the only meat I had to buy this month was chicken. This month I think I planned like 12 meals or something. Ok now on with the food! It's Fall, well kinda...so I have tons of soups this month!

Pot roast
Chicken and Dumplings I made the chicken and dumplings this week. It made ALOT!!! We've eaten about 5 or 6 bowls and there is still a ton. I did add celery for flavoring and a 1/4 cup of coke.
Chili
Potato soup
Pepperoni Pizza Burgers
Chicken tortilla soup
Ground Beef stew
Taco soup
Skillet porkchop w/fried potatoes
Italian porkchops
Homemade meatballs and pasta
Fried fish-sorry no recipe here, Mr. Hubs just whipps that up when he wants fried food

Dessert Ideas
lowfat pumpkin muffins
pumpkin roll bars (love this idea)
cookie cake

Sharing this list on these wonderful blogs
skiptomylou.org
iheartnaptime.net
thisweekfordinner.com
sixsistersstuff.com
orgjunkie.com
scrapsoflife

Social Studies Stations

**UPDATE** I've added a follower button if you would like to come out and follow in the open :)

I'm loving my job. But I will admit, I can't let go of the other subjects so easily. I decided to try out stations in Social Studies. I mean if you can have them for Reading, Science, and Math then why not Social Studies right?!?!? Also, for the last four years my Fridays have always been laid back. We always assessed for each subject on Friday at my other school. I taught 2nd grade and it was the way we made sure we actually had paper pencil grades. I want my laid back Fridays back. :) So we've tried stations out twice and it went well both times. Well...it went well with 4 out of 5 blocks. So one unlucky group has only done stations one time. We have 4 stations and we spend about 7-8 minutes at each station. I set the timer and when it beeps they rotate. I split the desk into 4 groups and lay all the materials at for each group on the desk. The only thing they take around with them is a pencil and a dry erase marker. I'll walk you through each station. 
Station 1: Vocabulary Review

I create a vocabulary crossword. I use words we've covered throughout the week. The clues are the definitions. That's it! Easy enough and the kids like to do it.

Station 2: Social Studies Problem Solving

I use vocabulary that we've covered to review math skills. I've heard the math teacher say they need practice with subtracting. I place four problems out on the table and white boards. The markers travel with them. They divide the board into a four square and show their work. That way whenever I get to that station I can look over all their work.

Station 3: Making Words

This is probably my favorite station. I'm just a ELA girl at heart. I take a word that we've covered and they have to make as many words with it as they can. The word has to have at least 3 letters and can't be a proper noun. The only reason I made that rule is b/c originally they just kept trying to spell each others names. It's fun to watch them problem solve and try trail and error. The writing teacher has said spelling sight words is an issue so hopefully this will help a little...eventually.

Station 4: Number of the Day

This really has nothing to do with Social Studies. Before my I start my lesson with each block every day I have to do a math review warm up. So this is just a little added math practice. I found these for free here. Well that's all I have for now. I am sharing these ideas with other teachers here and here.

Currently....

**UPDATE** I've added a follower button if you would like to come out and follow in the open :)

**I'm editing this post a little to link up with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade.

Sorry y'all, long time no post. I can't really say I have an excuse. I've been oober tired and for good reason but just TMI for blog land. Anywho, I thought I'd post a random post of the things currently flowing through my mind. This is super long and makes up for the recent neglect. :)

Currently, I'm loving the little kid Ragu commercials. Mr. Spouse pointed them out to me and honestly at first I was a little shocked. But, I got over it and now it makes me chuckle big time. This is my favorite one.

Currently, I'm loving me some Maroon 5. Mr. Spouse did not know who they were and I about fell over. I had to make him listen to their Pandora station. I'm so loving the beat of this song. So catchy. Sorry about the ad but trust me the song is awesome and Adam is pretty good eye candy too. It's worth the wait. :)

 

Currently, loving my friends so much! About 2 years ago when I got engaged I thought my world was over. My "friends" were just being not supportive at all. It was like the wedding was a chore. I didn't even have a single bridal party person at my bachelorette. This was oober hard for me. If you know me well, you know I give 1000% trying to please others and keep everyone happy. I never ask for anything in return. But then... my "co-workers" came along and reassured me and showed me what real friendship was all about. This summer I actually thought to myself I can't believe I'm almost 30 and just experiencing the bliss of true friendship.People that give just as much as me and w/o thinking about it. I love these gals. :) The only thing that blows is that we all took new jobs so we don't get to see each other every day.

 

Currently, I'm loving my new school. It is so laid back. Totally, the polar opposite of my old school. I mean the principal has really high expectations. But, he has such a genuine passion for children that it softens the blow. Y'all he called working with kids his ministry. I'm in love...

 

Currently, I'm into watching Iyanla: Fix My Life. It comes on OWN. I told Mr. Spouse I should probably sign my family up for that show. We would triple her ratings. I know everyone says that about their family. But really once again if you know me well you know I always win this category hands down. I decided I didn't care enough at the moment to fix it so I won't contact her just yet. :)

 

Currently, hating mosquitoes with a passion. I know hate is a strong word but seriously they are pissing me off! They keep getting into my house. I think me and baby girl have at least 10 bites b/t the two of us. I'm praying they are good bites. There have been lots of cases of West Nile in our metroplex. I told Mr. Spouse if I see the mosquito camping out here I'm going to kill the shit  crap out of it. He pointed out there was only one way to kill them. HA!

 

Currently, I'm noticing my husband is a hoarder. He brings home all kinds of things his well off clients don't want anymore. I have 2 jet skis in my garage, a golf cart behind my back house in the back yard, about 2 grill things, and a box of Christmas lights in the foyer. Oh and the furniture in our master bedroom is way to big for our house but came from someones storage and was brand new. Oh and how could I forget my super eye sore TV. I have a 70 inch TV sitting in my living room. I hate that too. It takes up SO much space. Someone wanted a new one so my hubs happily snatched up their one. I told him one day I'm going to call the mission and it will all be gone when he gets home.

 

Now, with that said I will say every once in a while he brings home something I like. I noticed this little baby in the corner one day last week.

It's super awesome! It's so maneuvers greatly! Also, it's cordless. You just keep it on the charger until you're ready for it. It also has a little detachable handheld mini vacuum too. It is so light! I grabbed it to clean up little princess' dinner mess. But, I got all carried away and couldn't stop vacuuming.

 

Currently, I'm laughing every time I see this floating around pinterest. It is totally my life. Now all my friends have kids or are trying to have kids. I tried shoppings at Charolette Russe and had to go up to sizes than my normal size b/c I have birthing hips now. And..I don't know about the hangover part. I don't drink enough to know if it's true. I think at this point if I did drink that much I would be in big trouble w/Mr. Hubs. He did his time with those days. :)

 

 

Well, that's all folks. I promise I'll post again soon. This weekend to be exact. :)