.: March 2013

March 30, 2013

Oviparous animals part 2

One of my favorite spring time units that I did in the classroom was oviparous animals.
I find it so fascinating and so did the kids.

You can read about what I did in the classroom in the past here!

When I went to Pinterest to find some more, new oviparous activities I was shocked to see how much my blog post about this subject was pinned!

Thanks for all the love. It seriously made my day.

I showed Nick - and he didn't get it. (Boys!!)

I hope you have been able to use it in your classroom as well!

Here are some new ideas I found on the subject!

(1)

I've used this poem in the past with my kids for our daily fluency practice.

I had written it as an anchor chart.

But I love the way Mrs. Williamson made it all cute!

I would totally print this out for my kids to have their own copy or include in their fluency folders.

(2)

I always do a class oviparous animal sort.

I found a cute freebie here from Khrys Bosland's TPT for the kids to have their own sort.

Might be a great station or independent practice activity!

(3)

I love this little rhyming writing activity from What the Teacher Wants!

(4)

I love Apples and ABC's ideas for the life cycle of a chicken!

(5)

I love this Thinking Map for oviparous animals from Jodi Waltman.

(6)

I love these station ideas from Peace Love and Kindergarten!

Do you do anything fun or unique when studying oviparous animals?

I'd love to hear/see your ideas as well!

March 29, 2013

Operation Easter Basket

Today I'm linking up with The Good Life for her Easter Basket Blog Hop!

I love, love, love the personalized Easter baskets from Pottery Barn Kids.

But until I'm working again, I can't seem to spend that $ on a basket.

So I found these similar ones from Michael's.

You know I love myself some gingham!

And I of course love that they match.

Reagan's Basket

Bubble Bath Minis (Target), Jake Plush (Target), Veggie Tales Pirate Movie (Michael's), Painting Kit (Michael's), Magnifying Glass (Michael's), 2 Jake and the Neverland Pirate Books (Michael's), Peter Pan Book (Target), Chocolate Bunny (Target), Wind Dancer (Michael's)

Harper's Basket

Easter Bunny Ears (Target), Alice in Wonderland Book (Target), Easter Board Book (Barnes and Noble), Pat the Bunny Plush (Barnes and Noble), Pat the Bunny Book (Barnes and Noble), Barney's Egg-celent Adventure Movie (Michael's) , Teether (Target), Baby Toothbrush/Paste (Target)

Hudson's Basket

Spot Plush (Barnes and Noble), Where's Spot Book (Barnes and Noble), Bunny Book (Barnes and Noble), Bunny Ears (Target), Pocoyo Movie (Michael's), Baby Toothbrush/Paste (Target), Teether (Target)

Want to look back and see what the Easter Bunny brought Reagan in year's past?

Reagan's 1st Easter

(Reagan was 1 week old)

Reagan's 2nd Easter

(1 year old)

We were packing/moving and I couldn't find his basket- so I got a bucket!

Reagan's 3rd Easter

(2 years old)

Holy candy Mama! What was ~~Momma~~ that silly bunny thinking?!

Last year's basket

(3 year's old)

What kind of goodies is the Easter Bunny bringing your little ones?

March 27, 2013

From One Mom To Another...

Today I'm so happy to be writing over at The Vintage Apple for her Thursday series, From One Mom to Another. She contacted me to interview about all things "mommy" for her blog. I was so touched that she asked me. If you haven't checked out her series, please do so! I've loved reading about other moms! Thanks Michelle!

If you have any questions for me - remember you can ask them on my Ask Me Anything Post!

I will be answering the questions next week!

Happy 6 Months Harper and Hudson!

Today the twins turn 6 months old!

I can't believe they are half way to 1 year old.

I haven't taken the twins 6 month chair pictures yet and their 6 month well check isn't for another couple of weeks. So today I will leave you with my new favorite photo of the twinkies.

It's a framer for sure.

Don't you think?

Ha Ha.

Gotta love it!

Seriously.

How does this kid look so handsome even mid-spit up?

Okay- for some of the other shots that afternoon....

Ps- Do you have any teacher? mom? twin? random? questions for me?

The post for the Ask Me Anything is still open!

Thanks to those who have participated!

March 26, 2013

Reagan's Disney Recap

Before I recap Reagan's Disneyland vacation I want to

1) Remind you to check out Monday's post and have you leave me questions.

I had over 100 people read the post yesterday and only 8 of you commented! Come on friends! Show the love! Anything you've wanted to ask me?! 2) Thank those 8 of you who commented! Most of you were people who I don't think had ever commented before! Thank you for taking the time to ask!

Okay- onto the big Disney trip.

Reagan seriously had the.best.time.

It's hard to get too much information out of him because his mind moves like a bee- buzzing around each topic! But after grilling my parents I heard lots of details of the trip.

The Plane/Flying

Reagan had a great first time on a plane. He was a big boy and wasn't scared at all.

He sat by my Mom flying over to CA and by his cousin Sadie flying back.

How cute is this picture?

My parents with the 3 eldest grand-kids.

Such wonderful grandparents!

Reagan practicing the security check with the TSA guy.

Love the TSA guy's smile!

Whoo hoo! First flight!

The Hotel

They stayed at the Disneyland Hotel- love it! Reagan shared a bed each night with his cousin Sadie. She really looks out for him and he sure loves her. They were pretty much only in the hotel room for sleeping each night. No day naps for this guys! They stayed at the parks all day.

Resting/cuddling with Papa after the flight in.

Cousins ready to explore Downtown Disney after the flight.

(Thanks for sending the lanyard and pins for him Joc!)

Exploring the hotel.

Disneyland

Because they stayed at the hotel they had early entrance to the park every day. As you read last week, I had made them a travel itinerary of the rides and the order in which to hit them. I thought Reagan would primarily love and want to be in Fantasy Land or Toon Town but turns out this kid was braver than I thought. His favorites in this park were Splash Mountain, the Matterhorn, The Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean. I guess they rode most all of the rides and many of them twice.

Star Wars Jedi Training

I read online about the Star Wars Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland.

Although Reagan (and myself) have never seen Star Wars, I knew my niece and nephew are big fans. So I looked up the tips and tricks on how to get chosen to be in the show. And it worked!

This is not a video of our kids (not sure if Mom filmed it or not). But I found it on You-Tube. Check it out to see what the show looks like- pretty cool!

Here is my Mom saving the area by the blue line while Dad took all the kids on a ride.

Here are the kids with the signs I made for them to hold.

And my mom got them matching red shirts to wear for the show.

And it all worked - our kids got chosen first!

Reagan participated in the training, but when it came time to fight Darth Vader, he decided not to. I don't blame him. He's pretty scary!

California Adventures

Reagan loved CA this trip. They did tons of new things that we didn't do last year so I think it was a like a completely different park for him. His favorites were Goofy's Flying School, Jumping Jellyfish, and all of Cars Land. He loved it all but can't stop talking about California Screaming. He can't wait to try it next time. (His cousins went on it lots and he so badly wants to be them!) He's even been playing it in the backyard. Too funny. The family loved the World of Color show (minus Reagan- he fell asleep!)

Reagan and Papa waiting for the Aladdin show.

The kids with Mimi.

Toy Story ride.

This kid loves to wave.

Waiting for Mater's ride.

Sweet cousins.

Lightening McQueen!

Bug's Life

Randoms

Turns out my Dad was the king of Fast Passes (he needs to teach me his tricks) because I completely suck at making the most with them. So everyone was hooked up on their favorite rides. Towards the end of the first day Reagan wanted to be held and carried - thus killing my parents' backs. So the next few days they rented a stroller which ended up being a life saver. I guess even the bigger cousins took turns sitting in it for a break! My parents brought a suitcase full of food and snacks but they ended up eating every meal in the parks. The first meal was a character dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. So fun! Reagan was most excited to eat at Flo's Cafe (this kid loves Cars). But turns out the food didn't seem that appealing to anyone in the group, so they checked it out and left. There were a few things that I had really wanted them to see and do but because they were so ride-crazy they passed. Totally fine. Just means we will have to go back again! :)

Amy requested a Reagan interview.

So here you go!

Ps- sorry in advance for the little tantrum he has half way through.

PPS- I have since found out the ride he is trying to think of is the Matterhorn.

Thanks for a great trip Mimi and Papa.
The kids are soooo lucky to have you!

March 25, 2013

Ask Me Anything

I've seen a lot of blogs do "Ask Me Anything" posts and I've always thought it was so fun to get to know the blogger a little better.

I thought this week I'd play along and let you guys ask me any questions you might have.

School questions?

Twin questions?

Mommy questions?

Book questions?

Random questions?

Anything!

Maybe I will even try my first ever vlog with my answers!

So go ahead.

Fire away!
(Hopefully this isn't a total bust and I actually get some questions!
With over 600 followers, hopefully some of you will ask me things!)

March 22, 2013

IPhone Photo Dump

It's been awhile since I upload pictures from my phone.

Enjoy! This' month's photo dump may be one of my faves!

How happy is this guy?

Those eyes!

Tummy Time

Don't they look like they are in trouble?

Reagan (left) and Hudson (right) in the same shirt.

Reagan was 10 months old, Hudson was 5 months

Our caterpillars arrived!

Holding Hands!

I was getting ready to shower and had the babies on my bed. I gave them a ton of toys to keep them occupied. I checked on them and saw that they could have cared less about the toys. They just wanted each other!