Catchin' Toads

Friday night Charlotte was lucky enough to have a sleepover with her Whynot cousins.  She just loves spending time with those boys and was SO excited to go! Think dealing with a “are we there yet” mentality on the hour – almost every hour - for the last three days….ugh!  Anyway, Aunt Sancha is really good about planning special things for them to do when Charlotte sleeps over and Friday was no exception.  She went with an adventure/bug theme and the kids got their own pith hats, butterfly nets, small bug nets, critter keepers (see above) and glow in the dark bee/butterfly glasses.  I understand Uncle Erik took them on an expedition Saturday morning.  Those three had an awesome time together and Charlotte has been relating stories of their adventures that are so fantastical.  She sure has a huge imagination!

Lately Charlotte has been obsessed with the tiny baby toads we have in the front yard – hatched from the lake in our cul-de-sac.  Mostly she scares the poor things to death with her excited chasing {stomping} and yelling {screaming at the top of her lungs} at them.  It’s really kind of sad because she is so dejected when the toads run away and says “they don’t want to play with me”.  Oh, really?!?  I wonder why?!?

So, this afternoon I suggested to Charlotte that she catch a toad and put it in her critter keeper.  I’m so proud of her, she went right out and caught one and put it in the keeper all by herself.  Charlotte was not squeamish or put off at all and LOVED being able to watch the baby toad up close.  She even put it by her plate while she ate lunch....gross!

Adventures With Pip: Part Two

You may remember when we posted HERE about Charlotte’s preschool class mascot.  Each student takes their turn bringing Pip the Penguin home for a week’s worth of adventures.  When the week is over Pip and his journal are returned to class.  The student gets to present tales of his/her week (with pictures) to the class, then it’s the next students turn. 

It’s really great idea and Charlotte feels so important when it’s her turn to have Pip.  Her favorite part is being able to sleep with Ducky AND Pip each night!  Here are pictures of Charlotte’s visit with Pip this past week…

A Day At The Park

St. Patrick’s Day Decorations

I LOVE St. Patrick’s Day! 

Maybe it's because green tops the charts as one of my favorite colors or because I feel a long-lost connection to my Irish roots. Eitherway, I just love St. Patrick's Day.  So as part of my No Holiday Left Behind proclamation, I started working on a few St. Patrick’s Day decorations.

Shamrock Door “Wreath” – I took a Dollar Store tinsel shamrock, added a homemade banner (made in Publisher) laminated so that it would hold up outdoors and hung with an orange sparkly ribion I had on hand. 

Shadowbox Shamrocks – I started with an Ikea shadow box, purchased long ago for about $5 smackers, which was languishing in my garage. 

Added scrapbooking paper (also from my craft stash) and plastic glittered shamrocks I found and JoAnn’s for about $2.

Felt Chains: Count-Down To St. Patrick’s Day – These were made the same way I did the Valentine’s and Birthday banners.  All materials were on hand except the green hook and loop which I picked up at JoAnn’s for probably $2. 

Lucky Banner w/ Glittered Clothespins – I used Publisher to design the letters and then two shades of felt sewn together and pinked to create mini pennants – all of those materials I had on hand.  Then I found a set of medium sized natural clothespins at Walmart ($2) added glitter and ta-da!  I like it but think next year I will finish it off by sewing the penants onto patterned ribion and use the clothespins for “decoration”.  It needs to be more substantial.

I guess I should take credit for spray painting the pickle jar lids and filling them with plastic sparkled shamrocks and green “lucky” coins.  The various photos are ours and the word art from free online downloads.

Next year I’d like to print and frame more family pictures from past year’s celebrations.  Compared to Valentine’s Day these decorations are anemic but considering I started with nothing, it’s not bad!

Charlotte’s Preschool Birthday Celebration

Charlotte was adorable at her school birthday celebration this morning, wearing her special Birthday shirt and hat.  Charlotte beamed when her classmates and teachers sang Happy Birthday to her.  As requested VERY specifically by Charlotte, I brought vanilla cupcakes with light blue icing (decorated with a mini gingerbread cookie crown – made last night) to school for her special treat and the kids were so cute eating them. 

Today they were working on the letter “M” and, so, had mini M&Ms that some of the kids used to decorate their cupcakes. 

Her classmates gobbled up the cupcakes and then set about playing with a little extra sugar induced oomph!  The girls and I sat at a table and made caterpillars and “invitations” to their imaginary party.  We had so much fun sharing supplies and making messy art. 

I put together little goodie boxes for the kids to enjoy – no, they didn’t NEED favors (don’t tell Wayne) – but you know I can’t resist.  Since Charlotte is all about Cinderella this year I went with light blue toys and candy.  I hope they enjoy them!

I was so glad to be able to see Charlotte celebrate her birthday with her classmates.  She sure had a great day!  Happy 4^th Birthday Baby!

Happy 4th Birthday Jackson!

This afternoon the three of us headed out to help Jackson celebrate his 4^th birthday! 

Jackson and Charlotte have been fast friends since their first preschool class together, two years ago!  They have a little love fest going on which I think is SUPER sweet and Wayne thinks is…

A TERRIBLE GATEWAY RELATIONSHIP THAT ENDS WITH CHARLOTTE GETTING MARRIED AT SIX! 

HA, HA!  No, really...either way it’s funny for me!

The party was SO much fun for kids and parents alike.  The kids spent more of their time in a HUGE Toy Story themed bounce house and somehow roped Wayne into playing with them too. 

Jackson’s Mom, Jeanetta, is SUPER creative – just look at this AMAZING cake, don’t forget the adorable cupcakes too!  Let me assure you they were super yummy!  Thanks guys, we loved being included in Jackson’s big day!

Bee My Valentine

This morning Charlotte and I headed over to the Orlando Science Center for their Bee My Valentine Workshop. We LOVE their programs!

For this workshop, Charlotte made a butterfly snack – complete with a lesson on butterfly anatomy, listened to a lecture on bees and the honey making process – complete with honey taste test and a hands on “look” at honeycombs, made a love bug treat – and ate ALL the frosting “glue” to the other parents dismay!  She also made a bee “buzzer”, participated in a bee swarm parade and played all sorts of fun/educational games. 

We both had so much fun together.  Charlotte was silly and had me laughing all morning - I just LOVE spending time with her. 

It’s What’s For Dinner: Stuffed Shells...And Salad!

Equal Opportunity Holidays

The Chambers family goes FULL TILT for Halloween and Christmas!  But our not-so-little-one wants to know why we don’t “celebrate” other holidays.  Let’s face it – we really do like any reason to decorate, make a special meal and celebrate!  But – we don’t currently have much in the way of “lessor” holiday decorations.  Hummmm… 

This year I am going to make more of an effort to pull things together and make the holidays more special for our little family.  Mostly I want to try to work with what I already have – which is A LOT of crafty odds and ends – and scour the after holiday sales.  I don’t plan to “do it all” this year because I know this will be an ongoing project but I’m going to give it a good shot! 

I’ve already started gathering and crafting for Valentine’s Day, I have a feeling it’s going to be a lot of fun.   Keep up with our blog to see what I come up with…