The "BOOGY MONSTER"!!

YIKES! I haven't blogged in awhile and things have changed on blogger. It's going to take me a bit to get used to it. I have a bunch more pictures and topics to blog about, but my time is really limited having 3 little ones at home (one of them being an infant who is still nursing). One of the topics I'd love to blog more about is the "schooling" we're doing at home. It's not officially homeschooling at this point, but it's been fun to do some structured things with the boys. This week the book we were reading was "Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans. It just so happened that on Thursday we were scheduled to talk about health (in the story Madeline gets her appendix taken out) and Micah also came down with a bad cold. It was a great opportunity to talk about hygiene as cold and flu season is just around the corner. Here is the visual lesson we did on spreading germs. The original lesson plan used cooking spray and glitter, but I didn't have glitter and I wasn't able to get out to buy it seeing as I had a crabby and sick child at home. So, I borrowed some green washable finger paint from my neighbor and I think it worked just the same. I put some clean objects on a tray.

Then I put GERMS (green finger paint) all over Jackson's hands. I figured Micah already had germs on his that he could keep for himself.

I had Micah leave the room and had Jackson touch several of the items. Micah then came back in and had to tell me which items had germs on them. I then asked Micah to pick up one of the objects with "germs" on it. He refused. (Perhaps that means he grasped the lesson a little). I picked up one of the objects to show how the germs then got on my hands.

We read a couple of books: "Germs Are Not For Sharing" by Elizabeth Verdick. There were a couple of other books on health that I found at our local library as well. We've also checked out this great book in the past: "Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo" by E.S. Redmond We colored signs to hang in the bathroom. The first one tells when to wash your hands and the other one tells you how to wash them.

Then later this week I found a project on Pinterst that we like to call "Boogy Monster Boxes" basically it's a discard box for used tissues with "boogies" in them. The boys had a blast, but ended up just wanting to play with the box instead of using it for it's intended purpose. Oh well.

Micah demonstrated how to use it once and then just played with it. :)

If only you could hear him saying "I LOVE BOOGIES!!!" in his monster voice.

Well ... gotta go feed the kiddos lunch and attend to my sick little baby. I'm hoping when they're all healthy again I'll have a few minutes to post some of the other fun things we've been up to lately.

Library Cooking

I KNOW I just posted a blog with baking in it, but we had so much fun doing this I thought I'd post it anyway.

We LOVE going to the library regularly and every once in awhile we'll get a book that has a recipe at the end. This week we got "Wild Boars Cook" by Meg Rosoff and Illustrated by Sophie Blackall and there's a Massive Cookie recipe at the end, so we decided to make it.



















Cooking with Jackson has been a GREAT way to teach him the importance of following instructions and it's just plain FUN!

However, between the cupcakes and the massive cookie I could get myself into some major caloric trouble!!!

Here are a few other books that we've read that have recipes at the end. We didn't make all of the recipes, but I still hope you enjoy the books as much as we did!

20 Children's Books

Jackson and I LOVE going to the library and Santa Maria just got a brand new library this past summer so we have been VERY spoiled. We go to the library at least once a week to check out half a dozen books at one time. Of course, we read them all in one day and continue to read them over and over again throughout the week. WE LOVE BOOKS! So, we decided to put together a list of books that we thought were worth checking out again. This is mostly a list of library books, so it does not include any of the books we own (with the exception of the Bible Stories and Curious George) and therefore there are some classics that did not make this list. It was hard to decide on only 20 books and of course I have two boys so most of these are boyish books, but I think they'd still be fun for girls too. Anyway, I hope you enjoy our list and get a chance to check them out at your local library some time! "But you don't have to take my word for it!" (Sorry. Just had to slip that Reading Rainbow flashback in there!)





"365 Bible Stories for Young Hearts"
We bought this book for Jackson when he was VERY little. Colin and I love this book because it has a concise Bible story every day, but it doesn't water down the true Bible stories ... yes it even includes stories like Jezebel getting eaten by dogs. It also includes some interpretation of the Bible stories, but for the most part they are just telling the stories from the Bible.





"The Complete Adventures of Curious George" by Margaret and H.A. Rey
One of Jackson's all time favorite books. Of course you have to look past some of the cultural norms of the 1950s like George smoking a pipe before he goes to bed, but it's a classic and every kid can relate to being curious and sometimes a little too curious.





"Digger Man" By Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha
This book is a part of a series of books by Andrea Zimmerman. A cute story about a boy who imagines what it would be like and what he would do if he had a digger. We read this when I was pregnant with Micah and it sparked conversations about what it would be like to be a big brother as well.




"Hot Air: The Mostly True Story of the First Hot Air Balloon Ride" by Marjorie Priceman
A very fun tale of the first hot air balloon ride in France. There are actually very few words in this book except for the very beginning and end of this book which makes it fun for the imagination. I love at the end of the book the brief history of the actual invention of the hot air balloon.








"Can You See What I See Trucks and Cars" by Walter Wick
A great eye spy book for young readers. Jackson could look at this one for HOURS ... luckily we checked it out when he was potty training and it was small enough for him to hold while he was on the potty.







"C is for Caboose: Riding the Rail from A to Z"
A great book for parent and child with fun railroad trivia and historical photographs.









"Walter the Farting Dog" by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray Illustrated by Audrey Coleman
My mom actually introduced Jackson to this book. It's a very whimsical book about a gassy dog and how one can turn a problem into a solution.







"Mother, Mother, I Want Another" by Maria Polushkin Robbins Illustrated by Jon Goodell
A cute bedtime story dedicated to Moms! Gotta love these stories!












"A Vistor For Bear" by Bonny Becker Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
A wonderful story about friendship! We love that it uses words like "impossible, intolerable, insufferable." The characters are very memorable ... Jackson and I have played Mouse and Bear many times since we've read this book.










"Together" by Jane Simmons
Two dogs become best friends despite their differences. Great message!









"The Three Silly Billies" by Margie Palatini Illustrated by Barry Moser
A spin on the traditional "Three Billy Goats Gruff" that includes Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk and several other classic stories. The goats are a bunch of surfer dudes ... fun!











"Llama Llama Red Pajama" by Anna Dewdney
One of my favorite books. It has a fun cantar and rhyme and a great message for bedtime. My favorite line is when the mama says, "Llama, Llama what a tizzy! Don't you know you're mama's busy?"











"Truck Driver Tom" by Monica Wellington
This book's story is just mediocre, but the pictures are really fun. It combines photos with drawings and is sort of like an eye spy book as well.












"Don't Forget I Love You" by Miriam Moss Illustrated by Anna Currey
Another Mommy story about a little bear dawdling on his way to school and even though Mom's in a hurry she's never too busy to say "I love you."










"Mind Your Manners B.B. Wolf" by Judy Sierra Illustrated by J. Otto Seibold
An after the happily ever after story about the big bad wolf going to a tea party at the library and how he makes up a song to remember his manners. So fun! I love trying to make up a melody for the songs in these types of books! Uncle Josh read this one to Jackson and came up with a great tune ... too bad I can't remember it!










"I Stink" by Kate and Jim McMullan
A book about a garbage truck filled with lots of onomatopoeias and the words are also illustrated. For example, the word "crushed" looks crushed. It's very fun and I found it was a great way to get Jackson to get interested in learning how to read words. This book is one in a series of books. We also checked out: "I'm Mighty" about a tug boat and "I'm Dirty" about a digger!
































"Every Friday" by Dan Yaccarino One of Colin's favorite books about a dad taking his son out for breakfast every Friday and the rituals they experience on their walk to the diner.












"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" by Mo Willems
A fun book that breaks the fourth wall (if I may use theatre terms) and talks to the reader. It's the reader's responsibility to keep the pigeon from driving the bus NO MATTER WHAT the pigeon says. This is one in a series of books as well: "Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!" "The Pigeon Loves Things That Go!" "The Pigeon Has Feelings To!" "The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!" "The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!"











"Falling For Rapunzel" by Leah Wilcox and Lydia Monks
We mostly like this take off of the traditional Rapunzel story because it has underware in it ... just read it ... you'll love it!











"Why Do You Cry?" by Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise
A little boy is turning five and doesn't want any cry babies at his party. He invites only his friends who don't cry ... well ...you'll see what happens when you read it ... moms make sure you remember a tissue ... it's very sweet.









"Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm" by Jerdine Nolen and Mark Buehner
A very imaginative book ... I'll admit that it's a little strange in parts, BUT very imaginative ... AND there is a hidden cow, chicken, pig, cat and dinosaur on every page even the cover and back of the book.