TWO!

Today my baby boys turned 2!  What a wild and crazy 2 years it has been!  We had a Dump Truck / Digger themed party yesterday.  I didn't put nearly as much time into the decorations and details as I did for their 1st birthday when we had a Dr. Seuss party, but here is what I did do...

Made a wreath for the front door...Caution Tape wrapped around a wreath form and orange cardstock for the sign 

 We had a couple sawhorses that we added a barricade stripe to.  One was on the front deck and this one is in the entry way.

Yellow and black cardstock and my cricut made this sign quick and easy to put together.  To make the black line around each sign, I just cut a square of cardstock slightly smaller and traced it carefully with a black Sharpie marker.

I added some balloons to the light fixture chain over the kitchen island, along with a twirly decoration I bought on amazon.com.

A couple CAUTION signs hung in various places

The food set up was my favorite!  We used Tonka Dump Trucks to hold the forks and spoons.  There are "DIG IN" signs hanging from the door pulls...

We put bags of chips in one giant dump truck...

 Then there was dessert!!  My fabulous Aunt make the cake along with the "dirt pile" which was rice krispie treats mounded up and covered with chocolate (and gummy worms, of course!)

 The 2 small dump trucks on the dirt pile and this big dump truck were filled with "Dirt Dessert"!  (AKA pudding, OREO crumbs and gummy worms...YUM!) 

We put the candles in the little dump trucks,  

 and after we sang, they got to dig in with their loader forks! 

We had a blast celebrating with our family and friends - even though we were slightly crowded in our house!  We are so blessed by these two little (or should I say BIG) dudes!

~Anika

"Welcome Baby" card

Since when do I get to post something to my blog two days in a row?  I know, I can't believe it either!  But, I just finished this baby card and the boys were still napping, so I decided to play around with the Manual settings on my camera and try to get a decent picture of it.  And after a few attempts, I *think* I got one...and the boys are still asleep so I figured I'd get it posted quick!

And, how about a cute picture from bath time the other night??

I think this was taken just seconds before I got attacked by their crazy splashing!  I guess that's one way to get the bathroom floor clean! :)

Thanks for stopping by!
~Anika

Preschool Project: Jj is for Jellyfish

I love how technology is continually changing the way I teach. A few years ago our classrooms were equipped with SMART Boards and now I'm not sure how I taught without one. And now that everyone is sharing and pinning amazing ideas online, I'm not sure how I planned lessons and projects without Pinterest!

Last summer, I found these adorable jellyfish on Pinterest.

Source: scrapbooksetc.com via Anika on Pinterest

I knew I had to make them with my preschoolers during our Letter Jj week, BUT everyone knows a teacher's budget is small; there was no way I could afford to buy enough ric rac and fancy ribbon for 37 jellyfish. Time to brainstorm a cheap alternative...

Enter the plastic bag!

I flattened the bag and cut off the bottom seam.

Then I re-flattened the bag and folded it in half, then in half again. 

I cut the folded bag into 3 squares.

I cut the squares into circles.

Then I held the layers together tightly and cut a spiral all the way to the middle.  If you have a good sharp scissors, the layers hold together better making it easier to hold onto and cut.

Separate the layers and Ta-da! Awesome jellyfish "guts" for free!  

This is everything I was able to cut from one bag.  It would be enough for 2-3 jellyfish, depending on how full you want the guts.  And here is the final product...

To complete the jellyfish, I was lucky enough to have a pretty decent stash of ribbon, and some great parents who donated some as well, to use for the ribbons around the outside of the jellyfish. And the bowls were only a few dollars at Target. So we were able to make our jellyfish for super cheap! I think they are adorable with the white Target bags, but I'm planning to save up colored plastic bags for when we do this next year!

We followed the rest of the directions as stated here on the scrapbooks etc. blog.  The preschoolers were able to paint their own bowl, glue the ribbon along the rim of the bowl and add the googly eyes.  Then I threaded the fishing line and they helped me add the strands of plastic bag.  They look so fun hanging in our hallway and classroom!

Have you come across any projects that you have been able to modify so they were cheaper to make?  

Thanks for stopping by!
~Anika

Atypical Mycobacterial Infection: One year post surgery

In some ways the past year has flown by and I feel like we were just checking into the hospital for Ezra's surgery with anxious stomachs.  In other ways, it seems like SO long ago.  Ezra was a only 9 month old baby then.  Now he's a walking, running, climbing, talking, eating-on-his-own toddler!

Here we are in prep-op on surgery day - 1/27/2012

We are so thankful everyday that his surgery and recovery went so smoothly!  We will never forget how blessed we are to live with modern medicine and to live so close to such amazing Children's hospitals - had we not been satisfied with the first doctor we saw, there would have been at least 3 other places we could have went all within an hour of our house.

(He napped while the doc was prepping him.)

Ezra has healed up well.  His incision scar is barely visible - even if you are looking for it.  The red spot left on his skin from where the infection was shrunk from the size of a Quarter to the size of a Pea.  It seems to continue to shrink bit by bit each month.  His doctor said that if it stops shrinking he could remove that small section of skin, but I think we will give it a little more time to heal on it own.

The only way I can get a picture of it these days is while he's asleep.

Ezra also developed Frey's Syndrome from the surgery.  (He gets a red area on his cheek when he eats acidic foods, such as fruit.)  Not much is known about Frey's because it's so rare.  We aren't sure if he will have this for a few years or the rest of his life, but I don't think the area seems to get as red as it used to.  So maybe it will just go away!  It's nothing that hurts him though so we will just wait and see!

Here's his best "cheese face" for you!

So thankful that both boys have been very healthy over the past year...one ear infection each and pink eye for Ashton was all we had to deal with since the crazy, how-on-earth-did-my-baby-develop-that, Atypical Mycobacterial Infection!

(You can read about his diagnosis here, his hospital stay and initial recovery here, and his 6 month post-op update here.)

~Anika

Preschool Project: Elmer Elephants

We have been in Christmas Project Making Mode at school, but I have a non-Christmas project to share with you today.

Have you read the book Elmer?  If not, Elmer the Elephant is not "ordinary elephant color", he is patchwork.  After reading the story that went along with our "Letter Ee Week", we used paper plates to make brightly colored and patterned elephants.  

First the students colored designs on their plates (each student needed 2) then they used watercolor paints over the top of the crayon for a fun effect!  They also followed these steps for the elephants trunk.  (I found the pattern in an old activity book, but you could draw your own or look online for a picture that would work.)

Once they were dry, we cut one paper plate in half and stapled it on either side of the other plate as ears.  Then we glued the trunk and eyes on.

I thought they turned out great and we got lots of comments on them from parents and other people who visited our school.  Definitely a project we will do again next year for Letter Ee!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

~Anika

Preschool Project: Marble Painted Jack-o-Lanterns

Wow!  After 7 weeks, I finally feel like things are settling down just a tiny bit at school.  Most of my crafting happens at school these days and it's of the "preschool project" variety, I've decided that I might as well start blogging about those things, or I probably won't get to blog at all!

So today, I want to share a fun and quick Halloween project we made at school this month.  

Marble Painted Jack-o-Lanterns

Have you marble painted before?  If not, you are totally missing out!  I took pictures of the process, but they all have students in them so I can't use them on my blog.  However, it's fairly simple.  

Here's what you need:

Shallow box or lid big enough to hold your paper (I used the lid from a box of paper, it had about 3" sides.)

8-15 Marbles

Orange Tempera Paint

Plastic Cup

Plastic Spoon

Construction Paper (White, Black and Tan)

Masking Tape

Scissors

Glue

Here's what you do:

Make a small ring of masking tape, attach it to the center of a piece of white construction paper and then stick it down inside the box

Put some orange paint in the plastic cup and add the marbles to the cup

Stir them with the spoon until they are coated well

Dump them out into the corner of the box with the paper

Gently tilt and shake the box to make the marbles roll across the paper

When you like the design, dump the marbles back into the cup and pull the paper out

Once the paint is dry, cut the paper into a pumpkin shape

Cut Jack-o-Lantern features and a stem from the black and tan paper

Attach with glue and you're done!

If you are making a classroom bulletin board, a title such as "We've just rolled in from the Pumpkin Patch" ties in with the rolling marbles. (Clever, huh?! Ha! If you think of something better leave me a comment.)

My students loved making these and keep asking when they can marble paint again.  So I guess I've have to figure out a few more marble painting projects this year!  Hope you have been making some fun Halloween projects of your own!

And, since I haven't posted a picture of my boys lately, here they are!  18 months old and enjoying a beautiful fall evening on their new John Deere tractors that Grandpa Steve got them!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Anika

My Classroom Transformation: Part 4

Settle in, this gets long! I'm going to try and get through the rest of the room in one post, then I'll another post sometime with some of my organizational tips and such.

After the fabric on the ceiling post, I showed you the doorway wall.  Now I'm going to move to the back wall.  It took me awhile to accept the back wall as the "back" of the room - when I was a student in this room, it was the front.  But when the SMART Board was added to the room, it was put on the back wall for many logistical reasons, thus turning that into the front of the classroom.  Not ideal for the way I would really like the layout of the room to be, but I'm pretty sure they aren't willing to move the projector, SMART Board, wiring, internet hook-ups, etc... for me, so I have made it work!

So here we go, with the back of the room.

If you remember from the "Before" Pictures, this orange alphabet bulletin board used to be a chalkboard.  (You can still see a sliver of it on the far right.)  To transform it into a bulletin board, I bought 1/2 inch insulating sheathing (this stuff), cut it to size and attached it to the chalkboard using small strips of velcro.  When I taught Kindergarten, I had a Word Wall and I really wanted something similar for Preschool, so I use this as an "Object Wall" for learning beginning wounds of words.  Throughout the year, we attach objects under the letters...a marker will go under the Mm and a crayon will go under the Cc.  Students also bring pictures from magazines and catalogs in to attach to the wall.  The desk is for a student teacher that will be joining us during 2nd Quarter.

There is also a rolling toy box (another project I had my dad make) with wooden blocks and a shelving unit (another dad project) with various toys and puzzles.

I have created a divider for the library using my filing cabinets - they are set back to back against the wall), the "Book Nook" (yet another dad project!) and a wooden cabinet.  This filing cabinet hold my reading, math and seasonal files.  The students get to use the Book Nook for reading during choice time or if they finish a project early.  The curtains are held up with a tension rod and the bottom cushion is a 5" piece of foam that I covered in fleece (it's super comfy!)  The wooden cabinet holds games, puzzles, and manipulatives that we use during Centers.   

Next up is the Library! I LOVE my Classroom Library, probably because I have spent many hours putting it together over the years.  The filing cabinet in the back is filled with more books, the top 2 drawers are organized by category and the bottom 2 are organized by month.  The rug was $19 at ShopKo one year as part of their Dorm Room collection and it's held up great.

 This giant Open Faced book shelf cost me $5!  I was walking past a Hallmark store that was going out of business one day and they had a section of their card displays on the sidewalk with a $5 sign on it.  I ran in and bought one, had a coworker help me haul it to my car, and got my dad to put legs on it for me!  It's positioned back to back with the Book Nook.  On top of the Book Nook, I have an Under-the-Bed Storage Box that I use for Bulletin Board Boarders and Letters and other miscellaneous things.  The bins on top of the filing cabinets are from Wal-Mart and they hold extra crayons, markers, glue sticks, etc.

The majority of the books are in these bins.  All of the white bins are actually Ice Cube containers that I bought at Target.  They work great from primary aged books because some of them are so big!  The books are sorted into categories and have a colored sticker on the spine so the students are able to get them back in the correct bin.  The bins are labeled using a colored sticker and the same Self Adhesive Business Card Holders I used on the bins I talked about the other day.  That red bin on the top by the window is the Book Hospital; if a student finds a book that needs repair they can just put it in there.  We call the round pillows "Reading Spots" and students can use them to read anywhere in the room when they finish their work early. (I bought them at Lakeshore.) I love to buy stuffed animals at Kohl's from their "Kohl's Cares for Kids.  That's where the Pig, Mouse and Moose came from.  They are only $5 a piece and are so soft!

This year, I added a bunch of lanterns and pompoms to this corner just for fun! :)

Still with me??  We are onto the Window Wall.  Half of the Library is on the right side of this wall.  The middle section holds some toys (the blocks, semi truck, Lincoln Logs, the barn, etc.)

Then we have the Writing Center.  It's stocked with markers, crayons, scissors, glue, paper, and stencils for the students to use during Choice Time.  This year, I added the wrapping paper to the back panel of the shelves (Thanks, Pinterest!)

The next set of built in shelves hold the curriculum I need for Centers.  I also added wrapping paper to the back panels of these shelves.  (Found all the wrapping paper at Target.)  The blue organizers on the top are from Lakeshore and I added colored buttons to them so I know what belongs in each one. 

This corner shelf is kind of a mess, but I promise I will have it all organized once we get the year started.  It hold curriculum, assessment materials, catalogs, and lots of other things.  (I think I'll do another post to share how I stay organized and make planning a cinch!)  I painted that bookshelf orange last year, it was the same old dingy cream color the rest of the room used to be.

And onto the Front Wall!  Not much to this space...storage on the left, sink, Calendar, SMART Board (not sure how I taught without one!) and my desk .

Rather than having a second computer cart, I just keep my computer on my desk.  Like the other desks in the room, the front of mine is pushed against the wall to save space.  I use the Yellow Bulletin Board to hang up all the pictures and projects the students make for me. (They love that!)

My two classroom rules are above the SMART Board: Be Kind and Follow Directions. The Daily Schedule is listed on the right and the calendar is on the left.  The storage drawers on the floor hold the other calendar pieces, CDs, and games we use during our Opening Meeting. 

These last four pictures are centered on the corners so you can get an idea of what the middle of the room looks like...

I love having that Kidney Table right behind my desk.  I can just turn my chair around to teach my center or work with small groups.

I still need to add the Chair Pockets I made to the chairs, so check back for that!

So there it is!  Sorry that got so long and thanks for sticking with me if you made it all the way through!  Again, if you have questions or want more details about anything in my room, let me know. 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Anika