June Curriculum Week One

I have decided to start kindergarden and preschool for my son and daughter this week. This is what we are doing this week:

Sensory Box for June (this will be listed later on this week): Beach/Ocean

Bible: The creation story. We are reading the story as well as using a magnet set I purchased from So Simple So Sweet. Memory verse Gen.1:1.



Kindergarden

Reading: He will continue reinforcing his reading skills by reading the Hooked on Phonics readers. We are also trying to memorize the first five sight words.

Math: He has started Singapore Math Earlybird Kindergarden Mathematics. He is currently reviewing writing his numbers.

Science: Our science is very laid back, but J is so interested in science that as long as he is interested I am going to continue with it. This month we are studying tornadoes. We are going to do an "experiment on tornadoes" that I found in Usborne 100 Science Experiments (this is a great book made for preschool and elementary school kids) I have checked out several books from the library about volcanoes:

National Geographic Readers (this is a level 1 reader) Storms by Miriam Busch Goin

Eyewitness Books Hurricane and Tornao by Jack Challoner

Tornadoes by Mari Schuh

Preschool

I never found a whole cirriculum I love for preschool so I am picking different ideas from several cirriculum and ideas I have found.

We are starting with the letter A and we are reinforcing the letter A this week. In addition to reading books focused on the letter A we are also doing other activities about the letter A, since she is a very hands-on learner:

Shaving cream letters (Put some shaving cream in a gallon size freezer bag, make sure it is completely closed! Have the child trace the letter with their fingers- I have done this on the table as well, but it is messy and not fun to clean-up!)

Dot letters- we purchased Do-A-Dot Rainbow art set and the worksheet from Confessions of a Homeschooler. She also has a lot of great letter worksheets.

Play Doh letters- she will be molding the letter A out of Play Doh

Letter bags- This is a great idea I got from my sister. She printed off the letter (both upper and lower case) and then laminated them and filled a freezer bag with items that start with that letter. (This will be the topic of an upcoming post).

I was not compensated by So Simple So Sweet to mention the shop in this post. I previously reviewed the shop, but the set I have mentioned I purchased from her.

Hansel and Gretel Shop Giveaway Ends Tomorrow!

Don't forget to enter the Hansel and Gretel Shop paperdoll giveaway. It ends tomorrow, click here to enter!

Lil Bundle of Joy Review and Giveaway

Lil Bundle of Joy is an Etsy shop run by Malissa, a mom of twin three year old girls and a newborn baby boy. She makes and sells adorable owl themed baby toys as well as other baby necessities.

Her plush animals are adorable! She makes her owls in two sizes small and large. The larger owls in a larger size which measures 6" x 6" and they come in a variety of colors and patterns.

Plushie Baby Girl Owl- Flora

Hoppy the Baby Bunny

Malissa also makes fun crinkle toys with ribbons. The owls have ribbon wings and feet.Her owl crinkle toy was also featured on Etsy's blog in their post about children's travel toys.

Friendly Owl Crinkle Toy

Tiny Crinkle Toy- Shark Attack

The shop also carries other baby necessities including burp cloths, blankets, bibs, travel diaper pouches and changing pads.

Perfect Travel Diaper Pouch- Safari Animals

Five Piece Fresh Flower Onesie Bouquet for baby girl

Set of Three Burp Cloths Farm Friends

Ultra Soft Friendly Owl Lovey Blanket- Blue Frost Owls

Fun and Functional Baby Bib Baby Girl

I was sent two products from Lil Bundle of Joy a large owl plushie and a baby owl plushie rattle. I opened up the package and immediately saw how adorable they were! They are so soft and great for little kids. The plushie rattle has a ribbon loop that a baby ring link toy will fit through. This way you can attach the toy to a carseat or a stroller so the baby will not drop it out.

The owl plushie is adorable and would make a perfect lovie for a little one!

My son and I both loved the products Malissa sent us. They are adorable and I would recommend them!

Buy It! You can purchase items from Lil Bundle of Joy on Etsy. Now through you can receive 15% off your purchase with the discount code DOTCOM15.

Win It! Malissa is giving away to one winner a small owl plushie and a crinkle toy of the winner's choice! To win you must be a U.S. resident. Giveaway ends Thursday, June 9th, 2011. Winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator. Once notified the winner will have 48 hours to email me with their address or a new winner will be chosen.

Mandatory:

You must be a follower of Too Blessed to be Stressed and visit Lil Bundle of Joy and tell me what your favorite item is in your comment. (This is worth one entry total)

Extra Entries: (Please leave a separate comment for each entry or you will not get credit for additional entries)

Like Lil Bundle of Joy on Facebook

Like Too Blessed to be Stressed on Facebook

Post about this giveaway on Facebook (please leave the link)

Post about this giveaway on your blog (please leave the link)

Follow Owl Let you Know

I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own. I was provided with the stated products for my review.

Garden Update May 2011

My roses have started to really take off in the last few days. I am so excited because they are gorgeous! Tulips are my favorite flower but the bloming season is so short and roses are great because they have a much longer blooming season. I cut them back before the spring and now one of them has at least twenty five flowers that will be out this week!

My son has also been growing a plant of his own. His lima bean plant is doing terrific!

So Simple So Sweet Discount Code Ending Soon!

Just a reminder that the 10% off discount code (use sosimple10) for So Simple So Sweet ends Thursday. I have already placed another order for two finger puppet sets and I cannot wait to recieve them!

Congratulations to my Babies!

Congratulations to my J and my princess for their fabulous accomplishments this weekend. My smart and sweet boy graduated from preschool. He remembered his lines and is now on the road to kindergarden! My beautiful princess performed in her first ballet recital. She was awesome! I am so happy for you and you make your Mommy so proud! I love you both!

Winner of the So Simple So Sweet Giveaway

Congratulations to the winner of the So Simple So Sweet finger puppet giveaway. The winner is...

#3 Nana Kat who said...
I like Too Blessed to be Stressed on FB

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who entered!!

Happy Anniversary to my Hubby!

Happy 6th anniversary to my husband. I miss you while you are away! Thank you for these past 7 years of being together and the three wonderful children we have.

I love you!!

Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to our giveaway winners:

KC Capes winner

pridelandmama said...
my boys would absolutely love the batman cape. I am a follower

Bellas Inspiration winner

Sherrie said...
GFC follower (shay)

I'm not sure what the name of the bedding set but it's pink and blue and features a princess, dress, frog, carriage, and puppies! My granddaughter would love it!

Hansel and Gretel Shop Review and Giveaway

Hansel and Gretel Shop is an Etsy shop. It is owned by Stephanie. She sells paper dolls, chore charts, dinosaur books and family tree books. She loves creating things and the name of her shop comes from her German heritage.

Her paper dolls are 10 1/2 inches tall and come with ten dresses in different colors and patterns. She sells several different doll and dress styles. The dresses attach to the doll with heavy duty velcro and all pieces are laminated.

Stephanie also makes Family Scrapbook Albums. Each book contains fourteen pages and is ready for you to add your own pictures!



Her Dino books are adorable and contain seven pages and thirteen laminated dinosaurs that attach with strong velcro.



The Chore charts that Stephanie makes include 24 different chores and ten stars to add to the chart when the child completes the chore. They attach with velcro so you can change the chores for the child. The charts come in boy or girl colors.




I was sent two different paper doll sets for my review. I loved these dolls! The are very durable (which is really important for my three year old daughter, who is not gentle with anything!) They are also very easy to use. She was able to take the dresses off and put a new one on by herself, which is really important to me since she is easily frustrated and whines if something is too hard. I think that these sets would make perfect travel toys and a great idea to take to a doctors appointment. We really like our paperdoll sets and would highly recommend them!

Elsie Rose Paper Doll

Myra Paper Doll Set

Buy It! You can purchase items from Hansel and Gretel Shop on Etsy.

Win It! Stephanie is giving away a paperdoll set to one lucky follower! Winner must be a resident of the U.S. Giveaway ends Wednesday, June 1, 2011. Winner will be selected via Random Number Generator. Once the winner is notified they will have 48 hours to email me with their address or another winner will be selected.

Mandatory:

You must be a follower of Too Blessed to be Stressed and visit Hansel and Gretel Shop on Etsy and tell me your favorite item in your comment (this is worth one entry, please leave only one comment)

Extra Entries (each is worth one entry, please leave a seperate comment for each entry):

Like Too Blessed to be Stressed on Facebook

Like Hansel and Gretel Shop on Facebook

Post about this giveaway on Facebook (please leave the link)

Post about this giveaway on your blog (please leave the link)

All opinions on this post are my own. I was not compensated for this post. I was sent the stated product for my review.

Fun Cars Activity

I was at Wal-Mart the other day and happened upon some new Cars marshmellows. I realized that I could use them for an inexpensive kids activity that my kids would love (and would occupy them for a half hour!) The only supplies you need are marshmellows, black and yellow construction paper and glue. The only prep I did was cut small rectangular pieces out of the yellow construction paper and then the kids glued the lines onto the black construction paper for the road.


The marshmellows come in four different shapes: an orange cone, blue Sally, red Lightning McQueen and brown Mater.

This is my daughters road- she ate all her marshmallows (even the ones with glue, don't worry it was non-toxic!)


This is my son's he went crazy with the yellow lines, but was having fun!

Our Craziness and Guest Blogger Opportunities

Our house is totally crazy! My husband moved away last Sunday for his new job and left me with my two sons (ages 4 1/2 and 15 months) and our daughter (3). Our house is currently up for sale (and I am praying that it sells quick so our life can go back to normal soon!) So in the meantime I am still going to be blogging but may not have as many new posts (my goal is to still have 3-4 new posts a week). I am still planning on running giveaways, but only one new one a week instead of three new giveaways every two weeks. Once the house sells I won't have to worry about keeping the house spotless which is impossible with three kids under 5 and will hopefully hae more time!. In the meantime if you are a blogger and would be interested in writing a guest post on fun kid activities, food allergy friendly topics or recipes, time management strategies, or kid friendly recipes please email me at jandrmom2009 at gmail dot com.

Bellas Inspiration and So Simple So Sweet Giveaways Ending Soon!

Don't forget to enter the Bellas Inspiration giveaway which ends Tuesday night. Click here to enter to win a doll bedding set!

The So Simple So Sweet giveaway ends Thursday. Click here to enter to win a finger puppet set!

Good Luck!

Sassy Scribblers Review and Giveaway

**If you previously entered this giveaway, please re-enter. Blogger lost the original post and all comments. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Sassy Scribblers is an Etsy shop run by Jeannie. Jeannie is a mom of two girls, who test out out her products! She sells sidewalk chalk scribblers, crayon scribblers and mini chalkboards. She has over 100 molds so if you do not see it in her store she probably can make it for you! Her sidewalk chalk it great for a fun spring and summer activity and her products also make fabulous party favors!

Her chalk is all washable and comes in several colors and many designs for both boys and girls.

Princess Wand Chalk

Choo Choo Train Chalk

Western Cowboy Chalk

Rock Star Chalk

Her crayons are made with Crayola crayons and she can make any design she carries in chalk in crayons.

Flip Flops Crayons

Ladybugs Crayons

She also sells mini chalkboard sets.

Heart Chalkboard

Robot Spaceman Chalkboard

I was sent three sets of sidewalk chalk scribblers: Under the Sea, Zoo Animals and Puzzle pieces. When I received the chalk I was very impressed, every piece was individually bubble wrapped and packaged to keep the chalk from breaking. My kids saw the package and immediately were so excited. Unfortunately, it was raining and we could not go outside and play!

Part of our masterpiece!

Zoo Animals Set

Puzzles Pieces

Under the Sea

When we finally had good weather I took the kids outside to play with the chalk (I was relieved because I was able to get my stir crazy kids out!) They loved the chalk, and had a great time (and I did too!) I had a hard time getting them to put the chalk away. We all loved Sassy Scribblers chalk and would definitely recommend it!

Buy It! You can purchase items from Sassy Scribblers on Etsy.

Win It! Jeannie is giving away an Under the Sea chalk scribblers set! To enter you must be a U.S. Resident. This giveaway ends on Saturday, May 28, 2011. Winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator and once they are notified they must respond with their contact information within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. If a separate entry is not left you will not receive credit for additional entries.

Mandatory:

To enter you must be a follower of Too Blessed to be Stressed and visit Sassy Scribblers Etsy site and tell me which item is your favorite (you must do both and this is worth one entry total).

Extra Entries:

Like Sassy Scribblers on Facebook

Like Too Blessed to be Stressed on Facebook

Post about this giveaway on your blog (please leave the link in your comment)

Post about this giveaway on your Facebook page (please leave the link in your comment)

All opinions in this post are my own. I was not compensated for this post. I received the stated products for review.

Sassy Scribblers post will be back soon!

Blogger has been having issues the last couple of days and all posts that have been created from Wednesday evening through this morning have disappeared. They are saying that they should be restored soon (if you would like to read their explaination you cna find it here). I have tried to re-post the Sassy Scribblers giveaway, however all they have restored from the original post is a few pictures and about three sentences of text (which is frustrating since it was a couple hours of work!) I apologize for any inconvience and if it is not restored soon I will re-write the post from scratch and re-post.

KC Capes Ending Tonight!

Don't forget to enter the KC Capes giveaway that ends tonight. To enter click here.

My Homemade I-Spy Bags

I discovered I-Spy bags almost a year ago. As soon as I saw them I knew my children would love them! I decided to make my three children and my two nephews and niece an I-Spy bag for Christmas. They are wonderful for car rides or doctors appointments to keep a child occupied.

Supplies:
Scraps of material (my bags are 4.5" x 4.5")
Poly Pellets (these can be purchased online or at Michaels)
Clear vinyl (you can purchase this at material stores or Wal-Mart)
Small findings (whatever you find around your house or Hobby Lobby sells a bag of "Grandmas Grab Bag" by Dress It Up in their scrapbooking section)


Cut your material (make sure you fold the material in half so- you will have two 4.5 x 4.5 squares, with one side shared for both squares, so you only have to sew three sides instead of four). Cut out a square piece of material of one of the squares (my window is 3.5" x 2.75"). Cut the vinyl about a quarter inch bigger than each side of the opening. Sew the vinyl into the window. Turn the fabric inside out and sew all the sides together, but leave a small hole so you can turn it to the right side and so you can fill it. Pull the fabric through the hole so it is right side out and then fill your bag with Poly Pellets and the findings (I have 20 findings in each of my bags). Sew the hole together. I am a novice when it comes to sewing (I know enough to be dangerous!). If you don't want to go to the trouble of making your own I-Spy bag, there are a lot of crafters selling them on Etsy!