Starfall

Recently I was reading reviews of different educational movies, and a mom mentioned a couple educational websites. I checked them out and found one, www.starfall.com to be an excellent kindergarten level resource. It has phonics games, stories, sight word activities, short movies that teach reading concepts, virtual books, songs, and math games.

I like how they have multiple ways of teaching/reinforcing the same lesson. For example, to teach phonics, there are beginning sound games, stories with those words, and "word machines." The math section includes addition, subtraction, geometry (shapes, patterns), and measurement. There are also a number of fun/thematic games for holidays, weather, calendar, etc. The presentation is simple and engaging with the activities divided up into levels and subjects for easy navigation.

While you have to pay an annual membership to have full access to the website, a lot of the material is free. There is also a link to an online store where you can buy actual books and activity materials that coordinate with the online material.

Career Woman

For a long time Lily wanted to be a construction "worker" who ran a crane. Then we visited a chocolate factory, and she learned that employees got unlimited free chocolate, and she found a new profession.

Then she decided she wanted to be a toy maker. ("And when we're all grown up and you don't have a job any more, Mom, you can come work with me" to which I replied, "I'm not sure if I can be a toymaker, Lily, it sounds a bit tricky." She thought about that a while and said, "Well, I can make the toys and you can put them in the boxes, that wouldn't be too hard, right?"

So today when she told me she wanted to be a policeman girl, I commented on how many jobs she wanted to do. She said, "Well, maybe I could be a worker on Sunday and a chocolate person on Monday and make the toys on Tuesday and just do a different job each day. What do you think of that?"

"Well, that might be a lot of school... but if you want to, that's fine."

"Oh, good!"

Two Clowns and a Cat

William found my face crayons this morning.

All Season Santa

The 80 degree weather today didn't stop William from dressing up in his santa suit and pulling a sled around the yard with the Christmas train in it practicing his "Ho, ho, ho!"

Y'all can pray I find my camera!

Teething

Lily was the best teether. You wouldn't even know she was teething, and suddenly, pop, a new tooth would appear. Unfortunately, Abigail is more like William, earning every tooth, and getting multiple teeth at the same time. She had a little break for a few months, but now she's getting molars. Ouch! I think we'll all be glad when this stage is behind us. =?

Milestone

Motherhood is a long-term project, and the progress is often so slow, it's hard to see. Yesterday I grinned, though, at what felt like a milestone. We went to the library, and when we left, both William and Lily had books in their hands, Thomas for William and Max and Ruby for Lily. They were more excited about the books than they were about the movies (which we had a few of too). They looked at them in the car, and when we got home, William proudly put each one on the bookshelf. Yay!

Hunter

Some dogs chase foxes. Some dogs chase squirrels. Some dogs chase birds. Some dogs chase mice. Our dog, the fearless Bingles, chases leaves. Today is windy, and he is in heaven. =) How I wish I could find my camera!

Breakfast Gear

This boy loves his goggles!

Tea with Abby

Abby's new favorite toy is the tea pot and spoon. She stirs and then pretends to sip from the spoon. What a little lady!

(No, I didn't find my camera; these are cell phone pics. Otherwise you'd be getting video!)

Lily the Dancer

After watching a video of a friend's daughter in a dance, Lily dressed up and did her own. She can't wait to start dancing class again!

A Couple Chuckles

I've lost my camera (again!), but here are a couple funnies from today:

"Look, Mom, it's Thomas!" William had drawn a full picture of Thomas the Tank on the side of our dirty van. Time for a run through the carwash!

"Oh, the indignity!" William quoted Gordon (the proud and proper train), deep voice and all. He was building a wall out of canned foods on the stove, and one of the containers kept falling over.

It's so fun that our boy can speak!