Best Swings ever at Christmas Tree farm

 

We enjoyed a picnic and did everything this farm had to offer. Swings everywhere! Sometimes the kids were 8 feet high. Tree cutting $65, wreath making $6, free marshmallow roasting, free tractor rides.
Here are the directions  off Highway 1 25 miles north of Santa Cruz RSV TREES 
FUN for the whole family!

After school Lego Story Starter

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I have been teaching a LEGO story starter class for the fall semester. It has been a lot of fun and challenging. I have 23 students 1st grade through 4th grade. I have them for 1 hour 15 min. Lego story starter is a  hit with the students. They come from a long day of school directly into my classroom and very enthusiastically ready to build. Lego Story Starter comes with cirriculum but I found that it was very difficult to teach the program and build all that lego wanted you to to do in my short time frame.  As the kids got used to the program I made up my own themes. Some of the themes were: favorite activity over summer break, something that represents our school, favorite Bible story, favorite movie, favorite book, Thanksgiving, name etc.
I set up my hour like this: first the kids came in and we talked about what the theme for today.
Then I had kids start building and others on the computers working on the pictures from the previous week and turning them into comics.
The students would build their scenes and then I would take a picture of it. They would then go to the computer and type their comic from last week. After they were finished with both projects they would be able to free build.
Getting the kids to type over build was a bit difficult... they preferred to play.
Lego Story Starter is a wonderful program for fun creative learning experience. It takes a bit of time to get children familiar with the comic program. Once kids get used to the idea of building and telling their stories the process becomes less work and more fun..
The students loved the attention of getting a picture of their project. They would even ask during free build if I could take a picture of their work.

 We did LEGO's idea of the 2 knight and Princess story and the kids worked in groups of three and told their story in 3 scenes. This was a good week of lots of team work and fun. The next week the kids turned their scenes into a comic. It was difficult having 3 kids work on a single computer. The students were very proud of the out come.

**There are over 1,000 pieces in each box. I had 5 boxes in my classroom. Leave plenty of time for breaking down, cleaning the floor and organizing pieces into correct spot.
Clean up was difficult at times....

 I would teach this class again.

Thomas the Train Birthday Cake

Thomas the train birthday cakes can be difficult and elaborate. Here is a simple, fast and super cute cake.
You need:
cupcakes and frosting
Oreo cookies
Graham Crakers
Toy train
An adorable Birthday boy :)


Make sure you have extra frosting for the "glue." Simply make the oreos the wheels and the graham cracker on top for the box car. Load the boxcar up with cupcakes and there you got it an easy and super cute train cake.

rainbow loom: teenage mutant ninja turtle, red angry bird, & starburst bracelets

My son's friend showed us this and I was determined to make it for him.

It is definitetly a hard pattern to complete! But the outcome is cool and my son was thrilled!

I bought my kids 1200 rubber bands and they went thru them in two days. At first there were rubber band all over the house and I thought I made a big mistake. by the next day every rubber band was used up and made into bracelets on their wrists. Its addicting and fun to watch little people at work making bracelet after bracelet with different patterns.

Cheap places for rubber bands: Sally's Beauty Supply $1.70 for 400

These bands are very tight and they don't give much.

Best place to buy is Joann's because you can use a coupon: $2.60 for 1000 bands

My daughter came up with a good idea for c clips just use a broken rubber band and tie it together. 

So no need for C Clips!!!

The starburst turns out beautiful and is fun and challenging to make.

Pulling off the bracelet is the moment you find out if you did it correctly or not!

After you watch the video a couple of times you just need to know the code:

connect the two middle ones

over 2 green

up 4 green, purple, crossover purple, purple, green, crossover green

Up 2 green, double black, green, purple, double white

Up 2 green, double black, 2 green, 2 purple, 2 green

Repeat this on the other side.

Add 3 purple links for mask tie on side pin

Add double white diagonal

twist green crossover at top

green , purple purple,green, green, green, green, 

twist green

figure 8 green on bottom pegs

purple purple

green green 

green green

For the Angry Bird you can copy the directions for the turtle one:

With a bit of tweaking

Add the eyebrows and the beak and there you have it!

Why Accelerated Reader should be in every classroom

  I have two kids that did not take off in reading until 2nd grade. Yes, they both knew how to decode and "read." But they didn't posses the joy or know how of sitting down with their favorite book and reading away. 

This picture is my son at the library reading a Froggy book to a real parakeet on a leash. It was a highlight of his week and he struggled through that book. The parakeet owner sat for about 20 minutes and listened kindly to my son get through that book. The program was at our local library called Reading to Furry Friends.

He was going into 2nd grade and boy was I nervous. The first day of school he came home and was embarrassed that he tested into AR at 1.6.  I reassured him that he was OK and that he shouldn't get discouraged but keep plugging along.

Well the class had an AR chart and goals and all that and my beginner reader figured out how to read as many little books as he could and pull out his IPAD from his desk and test away. He was determined to stay at the top of the class with the most points even though his reading level was at the bottom. 

I was impressed with his enthusiasm  and determination. About 3 weeks into school his teacher had him try A Magic Treehouse chapter book and boy was that magical! He entered into the world of chapter books and can not stop! My son who probably read 3 books the whole summer reads like crazy! Only 4 months into 2nd grade and he has read and tested on 78 books!

Why I like Accelerated Reader:

Teachers, Parents and kids know exactly where they stand when it comes to their reading comprehension. Typically it is a program that helps the student make goals and complete them. In my son's situation he figured out how to be competitive towards the class. It definitely worked for him.

Whenever my son or daughter takes a test I am emailed the results. I love getting those emails and having a peak into his life at school. 

If you pay for a private school make sure you get one with AR.

If the school  you go to does not have AR start talking to the administration on why your school needs it. I was previously a 3rd grade teacher and it is such a benefit to the teacher, parent, and student. 

We were on a family vacation a few weekend ago and my son wanted a new chapter book at Target directly across from the toy section. At that moment I felt like I was in Mom Heaven all my dreams for my son succeeding were starting to come true. Now the book was Diary of a Whimpy Kid...which could turn him into a smart aleck but hey we will deal with that later. He loves to read!!!!!

Succulent Wreath DIY

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I made this video with my little helper. Just a cute tutorial on how to make a succulent wreath.
Get a bag of moss for $3 at home depot
A wire wreath frame for $2.50 at Michaels
A thing of wire for $1.95
The moss makes about 3 wreaths.
Succulents from your garden, friends, or home depot. :)

Just a side note if you want to hang it up immediately get flower pins.

If no pins it needs to lay flat for 6 weeks for roots to form.

Football Diaper Cake

I have had 4 kids in the last 9 years and I never received a diaper cake.  And then I meant a friend who makes diaper cakes so I made her one for her baby shower. I think she has received 5! A guitar, a football cake, quad/motorcycle, a 4 tier tower w/monkeys etc. She isn't going to need to buy diapers for a long time!
I found lots of info on the web on how to make the diaper cakes. I really didn't even know they were so popular. I chose to make it so the the diapers were in a pinwheel. You simply use two sizes of pans and a rubber band to keep it snug and then decorate it. I used fleece to wrap around it and I got a cute football outfit and hat for the topper. I put the lil jammie football outfit inside the hat and it turned out super cute.

Diaper cake directions

Halloween Candy sorting to the next level

Well with four kids we got a lot of candy! Really, we only did 5 streets! The kids sorted all there candy and then I had a great idea to make pictures with the candy. I did the rainbow first and then the circle while they were in bed. They were pretty shocked in the morning and just wanted to stare at all the candy. I'm trying to think up another picture before we take all this candy out of the house!

Corn Maze, Giant Pumpkin, Beautiful Sunflowers, Hay Maze, Pool of Corn

For me the month of October means you switch the park for the patch.

This month we visited a Pumpkin Patch in Livermore, CA called G&M Farms.
They have a lot of fun  to do but the best thing there is free and that is a pool filled with corn. This pool is about two feet deep and is large enough for 50 kids on a busy day. I even got in and wiggled my toes. It is fun to bury the kids and everyone is screaming and laughing. My youngest daughter said if it was candy corn she would eat it!

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The next awesome patch called Borchard Farms that we checked out was in Salinas CA with GIANT sized pumpkins.

It was far off the free way in a beautiful farming area.

Another great thing about this patch was you could do the Corn Maze for $4 a person.

The patch is really quite amazing because of the size of  these pumpkins. 

And of coarse there is Avila Valley Barn.

Free Hay rides,

Pick a pumpkin on a vine,

The best hay maze that I got lost in for 10 min

farm animals to feed

roasted corn

SUNFLOWERS

Free Photo Collage from Walgreens, free Shutterfly book 8x8

Mom this is for u:

Free Walgreens 8x10 collage

Get those halloween costumes pics printed for free.

Go to walgreens and enter BOOCOLLAGE at check out

Make sure you choose instore pick up

It expires NOV. 2

Genevieve this is for u:

20-Page 8"x8" Shutterfly Hardcover Photo Book $8

Ikea via Shutterfly.com offers a 20-Page 8"x8" Shutterfly Hardcover Photo Book for Free when you follow the instructions below. Shipping is $7.99. Offer ends 11/04/2013. Thanks yeulife

1. Click here
2. Sign into your Shutterfly account
3. Promotion will be then added to your account
4. Click here and select "Make your Book"
5. Choose the 8x8 Hardcover Photo Book
6. Follow the prompts to create your book
   • Order your photo book by 12/04/2013
7. Total should be $0 + $8 shipping

Carving pumpkins Minions, Kapernick, BBQ grill, Cinderella Carriage, Pumpkin pie for smarties

I went to a friends Pumpkin party where the prizes were great like a MAC BOOK PRO  etc. So as you can see the effort for a perfectly carved pumpkin to grab the judges attention was in full speed. Everyone had exactly 2 hours to carve.. And these are the outcomes:

Kapernick Pumpkin go 49ers!
This one placed.

Carved pumpkin inside pumpkin
This one placed

Mummy

BBQ Grill Weber style
PVC pipe tin foil
Painted the pumkin black
Sterno inside for flam
Grilling pumkins
Won First place Mac BOOK PRO!!!!

Face carved with marshmallows used for teeth.

Silohouette  of baby
Host said he would  have chosen this as first place
I kissed up to the wrong person..
This was mine of coarse.

Despicable Me Minion

Despicable Me Minion

Cinderella carriage with props.
But the best prop of all was a 7 week old baby girl dressed in a cinderella contest
sitting very briefly inside the carriage.
This won 2nd place

Pumpkin Pie
This is for all the smartie pants out there
This one placed

Pirate Ship and pirate.
Very creative

Baseball Pumpkin
This one was pretty amazing because the entire pumpkin skin was shaven.
This one placed too.

Such a fun night already planning for next year.... When prizes are big people will go all out!

Baby Boy in Pumpkin

I stuffed all my kids in pumpkins and watermelons. The pictures are hilarious the experience is chaotic and very memorable. Tying to convince a young baby that it is not too cold or slimy.

This is my last try at an Anne Geddes picture and it turned out perfect.

Just carve out a big hole for body and two leg holes and it works great. baby was 10 months old.

Baby with a Broken Leg :(

It's been a year since my baby broke his leg. It was a horrible experience. So glad we made it through.
Did you know a common way for babies to brake their legs is my going down a slide on parents laps. When I was a little kid I saw a baby with two casts... It was a slide injury. I always was super careful as a babysitter with slides..
Well my 22 month old was running through the house with his 6 year old brother chasing him. He fell off the step from the kitchen to the living room and brother fell on top of him. I went to help a screaming baby and tried to get him to stand and he wouldn't!
So took him to ER and they couldn't find a brake, but put him in a soft cast because it was the weekend.

Came back two days later and got a full leg cast. It was explained as a Toddler Fracture... come back in ten days and we should see healing on the x-ray.
I was heart broken to see my once crazy active baby not be able to move. But it lasted for about 3 days... And then he became a master at the butt scoot. We took him to the beach and triple bagged his cast and he had fun digging.
10 days later the doctor was right you could see the line in his X-ray showing healing where it hurt so he had to get another cast.
He was in a cast for 6 weeks and then a walking boot for 2 weeks and then he was free. It seemed like forever at the time but it passed by quickly.

If you find yourself in the same predicament make sure you side with caution too. I hated that cast and if I could've I would taken it off ASAP but I know we had the best of care. My son had a limp for about 5 days and he walks perfectly.


He was on the "injured list" for the 49ers for halloween. Lots of laughs and well wishes.

I made his soft helmet  Directions Here

Brother and sister soccer games were difficult.
I put a soccer sock to protect the toes and cast
and this is what he got.
Poor Guy



The walking boot was great because baths are back in the
routine!

We did lots of sponge baths, took a shower only once. :( It was too difficult to hold him and not get water in his cast... The sink worked out a bit....

We have the funniest videos of him dancing with a diaper and cast.

Tea Light Candle holders for indoor Succulent Planters

This is my latest addition to my little succulent world. I put this on my entry table and I absolutely love it. It has 11 little plants in a cast iron holder. So if you have an old tea light candle holder this is a perfect way to repurpose as a beautiful planter. 

Barnes & Noble LEGO Master Builder Academy

We went to the free LEGO class at Barnes & Noble. You had to RSVP and there were spots for 25 children. I was surprised by the size of package for free. A LEGO pack with 150 pieces to learn special robot building skills. The class was an hour long and all the kids built their own robot without directions. My kids were thrilled and they spent the next few days building robot after robot. :) Thank you Barnes and Noble for a fun event!

Free LEGO events are all over this area. 

Check this site Celebrate-family

It has EVERY deal in the Bay Area, story times, special events etc..