my inner preschool teacher

Xman will be 2 in January (sniff sniff) and while we've always had lots of learning time, singing, dancing, textures, outings etc etc - the preschool teacher in me says he needs just a little more structure to his day and much more fun, directed and focused activities :) so I got busy today and quickly did up fall/halloween themed activities focusing on sensory & language - This all started from a couple of posts from Jessica at SkrapnChat where she shared a link to Counting Coconuts a GREAT blog - with links to other great blogs! I'm a girl in love....
so my adventure started at home - surfing various websites, gathering a few simple ideas that I could do quickly - finding materials in my scrapbook cupboard and halloween decorations - I've gotten rid of a TON of crafting stuff over the last few years - and the hoarder in me is now grieving it all over again - guess what I'm starting again this week? yup - a craft tote - I promise to limit it to one tote or two ;) - but that's a post for another day! lol
next stop - the dollar store - to find small containers, spoons, a larger container, small, inexpensive halloween/fall stuff that would work in the various things I had planned. I spent $20 - but I bought a lot of 'basics' that will be used over and over again and not necessarily this week - like the containers and spoons etc., I also got sponges, fluffy chenille stems, a skeleton, magnets, yarn etc Then it was off to Michaels - all the halloween stuff is on sale - they had $2 grab bags out front - I sorta peeked into a few - found one with a bag of pinecones - perfect! (also in there were the glittered acorn foamies, the small pumpkin that's in the sensory tub, the cornucopia, the bird, the pear, decorative rocks that will be perfect when he's older, a large flower pick...the other bag had 1 leaf and 1 flower garland - awesome! I also got the adorable sponges, a bag of multicoloured feathers, pumpkin dish...I think the total was $19

So...on to what's on the shelf this week!

What's a sensory shelf without playdough!! I've always made my own playdough - it really is fantastic stuff - I can make whatever colour, scent or 'add-in'(like glitter) I want! HERE is the recipe- any food colouring will work, but the paste colours work best for deep vibrant colours - today I used liquid ones though, but had to use lots to get good colour going on - and kool-aid is great for adding intense colour and yummy smells -- so for this week we have orange with cinnamon, ginger and cloves - mmm - it's not for eating, but if Xman happens to eat some it will be ok I've given him cookie cutters to use with it - I'll likely be the one to use them - but there all kinds of language opportunities with kneading, rolling, patting, cutting, and the names of the shapes of course...it goes on and on - have I said how much I love playdough?? another great idea that I saw HERE at counting coconuts for older kids (ie don't put things in their mouths) is to give them a pumpkin cookie cutter and black beans to make jack o'lanterns - sooo cute! Even my big kids (10 and 12) were excited to see playdough and can't wait to dive into it!

Next this week is a Homemade I spy Jar

!

first I coloured some rice(purple, green and black)...instructions HERE....gathered some items - some small(buttons,beads, spider ring) , some big (flowers, die cuts, foamies, leaves )- since this is Xman's first experience I chose some really large things, and smaller ones - as he figures it out I'll put smaller stuff in - I've used a large jar for safety reasons, but it works really well in a water bottle as seen HERE

next -

a sensory and 'language' bucket that he can carry around and explore - the red 'puff' is a bird, the pear has glass beads all over it, a glittered acorn foamie, a cornucopia, a flower, a feather, fluffy chenille, the skeleton(body parts), and a rough scrubber -- he already knows that pears are for eating! lol great opportunity to learn how to pretend - and then pears can become great balls too! he was throwing it up and catching it - perfect size!

This weeks Sensory Tub - oatmeal as the base, leaves, a feather, some foamies (ghost, cats and pumpkins), some huge googly eyes(michaels), a few homemade pompoms, scented pinecones, spoons for digging, an egg cup...

He absolutely LOVED it! I'm glad I put oatmeal in for his first experience, the first thing he did was take a big 'ole moutful! lol but soon learned that it worked more like the sandbox than his food dish! I sat with him this time - Santa *will* be bringing a small table and chairs for Christmas and I have yet to set up our little learning area - until then I'll have to improvise

Water and Sponge play

soooo much fun! I found these adorable sponges at Michaels today (all of 79cents!), bottle from the dollar store (though I need one with smaller holes) and a baking sheet - $3 for hours of fun and learning! seems weird, but I'm using this as part of introducing potty training - the concept of wet and dry

Can't wait to play with all of this stuff the rest of the week and probably into next too - as my friend Tara said - not sure if Xman is having more fun playing or I'm having more fun making the stuff :)

I knew this was going to be a busy week/weekend - but it's turning out to be even busier than I expected!! ACK!first off, I've had my neighbours dd all week, as she's been sick :( yesterday Em had 2 friends over for a 'playdate' - it was supposed to be on Saturday morning, but a soccer tournament popped up so we switch it to afterschool yesterday - which was great, except that I lost my prep day! so I spent yesterday morning running around getting the 'things' I needed after music class and baking cookies, getting an activity ready etc - the purpose of the playdate in the first place was for the girls to make a movie as part of a project at school - it was really fun! until Kayin didn't come home from school - just when I was starting to worry a bit, another mom called, looking to see if her son was at my place - nope - then the girls piped up saying 'maybe they're at basketball' - so Fred runs down to the school - sure enough, they had basketball practice, but neglected to let us know the schedule - so the boys came to our house afterwards - so now I'm up to 6 kids in the house - and it's become chaos! we ordered pizza for dinner, the girls finished up what they were doing and I drove them all home!!!
but my favourite part of the week came next! We headed to Micheals....and Fred bought me a Cricut Create!!! I was, and still am, ESTATIC!! I can't believe he did it! It's *supposed* to be a Christmas present - but there's no freakin way I'm not using that puppy before Christmas!!! I noticed they were on sale and mentioned it to him..and voila! he said if it makes me happy, then it makes him happy - awwwww - he can be such a suck sometimes! lol
but then..we ended up in the ER last night with Xander :( his breathing sounded funny over the monitor, and we were joking saying that he snores just like dad - but I went to check on him before gonig to bed and he was struggling to get air in and starting to panic a bit - which was making it worse - I got him up and the barking cough started and his breathing wasn't getting any better - so off we went...this ER dept is fantastic!!! they were sooooo good to him and quick too - 2ishhrs from home to home!! They gave him meds that will work for 48hrs and help him to get a good nights sleep tonight and sent us home - the dr said that he would normally keep him for observation for a few hrs, but he checked him out thoroughly and asked us lots of questions and explained everything in detail and gave great instructions and sent us on our merry way - I want that dr!!! seriously - I've never had a dr give so much detail and explain things so well and be sooooo great with my kids! not that I don't love our dr too - but this guy just seemed to have that special 'it' factor with kids!
so today is Jammie Day! like I said earlier, its a PD day here and I have 2 extras until 1 - then Kayin has a bday party to go to - which was a last minute notice so I still need to go get a gift - ugh- I had planned to take them all out and do something 'cool' - but it's icky outside and I'm exhausted! so we're all still in jammies, hangin out, doing crafts and such :)
tonight Fred and I are supposed to go on a date - first time in a loooooong time that we'll be out of the house alone! I think it'll just be a movie - but that's fine. It better still happen though - he'll be worried about Xander the whole time - but I know he'll be ok - the meds will be in full gear, he'll be sleeping the whole time and we have a cell phone - it's all good!
tomorrow I'll need to clean! the place is upside down at the moment. then Kayin and I have plans with a friend of Ks and his foster mom - the plan was to go hiking, if the weather cooperates - we'll see.
Sunday - I'm doing NOTHING! and as much of it as I can!!!
I'm praying this next week is calm and smooth!!!

creative scrappers sketch 125!

so I decideed to play along with Creative Scrappers 125th sketch - it's definitely my 'go-to' site for sketches! I love it! I've been admiring the great reveals all week.

Here's the layout I did this morning - oh so close to being caught up in the kids school albums! yay!