Spring 2013...if you can call this weather Spring

It's been an interesting season here is Wisconsin.  Just when we think the weather is making a turn for the better, we get another cold spell.  Or even 16 inches of snow...that's what happened on May 2nd!  I think we are out of the woods when it comes to the snow storms, now if it could just warm up and stay that way for awhile!!  (Keep in mind these pictures are in chronological order!)

Riding around the house with their shades on.

Just a little snow left. We were so ready for some outside time! 

Relaxing with the magna-doodles

  No more snow and no more coats! Our annual visit to the S&S Sugar Bush to pick up our Maple Syrup and eat some delicious pancakes. 

Shorts and John Deere Tractors!

UGH!! 

At least the boys enjoyed it for a bit!

One lazy Saturday morning. :) When they wake up at their usual 6:00AM on the weekends we toss them in the middle of our bed and try to get another hour of sleep...this particular Saturday it actually worked!

The snow is gone again!

Golf cart rides at Grandpa's house. 

Mother's Day campfire 

More sandbox time 

And a few pictures from our family photo session...

So that's what we have been up to the past couple months. I have 7 more days of school and am looking forward to summer vacation with my boys! I'm hopeful that the weather will turn around for good so we can enjoy a lot of time outside. 

Have any fun summer plans?

~Anika

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.)

If you have more questions about our experience with Atypical Mycobacterium, please leave a comment or email me at thoner02k @ yahoo . com. 
~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