Christmas Decorations: Decorating the Tree!

       Our place is kinda small and our furniture is kinda not... so there's not much room for a tree. So, we decided to get a little one to keep in the living room. We got a little tree and some pretty decorations, but we didn't have a tree stand. So, we used a metal coffee can and some rocks to hold the tree up and we were good to go! Since the coffee can looked boring, we decided to use some construction paper to make it more festive!  It turned out great! The boys keep saying how beautiful our tree is. :-)  This week we're gonna work on some more decorations too! :-)

Snow Adventure: Trip to Leadville

   We took a drive to the mountains to check out the snow and some new areas and we decided to go to Leadville, which is the city with the highest elevation! We found some awesome snow to play in of course! The scenery was beautiful and we had a great trip! Here are some pictures of our little journey. :-)

Art: Name Mosaics!

     It's somehow been a week since I posted last, though it doesn't seem like it's been that long. Oops! Anyway, today we made name mosaics! I got a posterboard and cut it in 1/4's. Then I wrote each of their names on one of the pieces and that part was ready! Next I got out our big bag of torn/cut paper (the boys LOVED cutting paper when they first got their scissors...so we have a large supply...haha), and some glue and we were good to go. I showed them each with one piece what we were doing, and off they went! They did a great job and now we have a cool new decoration for their room! Here's the link to where the idea came from: http://rainbowswithinreach.blogspot.com/2014/01/reading-begins-with-childs-name.html .

Sledding!

     Yesterday was the last day of our "weekend", and it snowed and was frigid the last few days... so as soon as the sun came out we had to go sledding!! I googled sledding hills since we had no idea where to go, and we ended up finding a nice one! The boys had an absolute blast! Andrew and I did too! (Though I was much less happy when I realized how hard I'd been clenching my jaw going down the hill....ouch... ). Here's some pictures of the fun since it's back to work today after our weekly library trip! :-)

Fall Sight Words Tree!

     Since it's been a bit too long since Halloween for those decorations to still be ok to keep up, I looked around for something we could make for fall that they could learn a bit at the same time. Then, I stumbled on this blog/idea: http://kindergartenfreckleteacher.blogspot.com/2011/11/fall-sight-word-trees.html  . It seemed like a great idea to make something we could put up, and they could review their sight words! I cut out the tree trunks and leaves ahead of time so that they could just put everything together. They glued down the tree trunks, then chose 10 of their sight words, wrote one on each leaf, and pasted them around on the tree. I had to make sure they had leaves facing both directions when they wrote their words otherwise it may have been interesting... but they turned out great! Love it!

Painting!

    Every time the boys do ABC Mouse, there are printables at the end of each section. I have them color or do whatever the printable is the next time they do ABC Mouse while the other kid is doing the computer work part. I usually only make them do 2-3 a day, so if there happens to be extra, I save them and every once in a while we do painting time! I had 6 saved up this time so they do those today. Apparently today was lets make everything colorful day! Haha! They did a good job though, and it gives them more practice using their hands and making art at the same time!

Halloween Crafts Part 2: Footprint Ghosts and Colorful Jack-O-Lanterns!

       Since the boys decided the house needed more decorations, I went back to Pinterest and found two more things we could try. The first thing we worked on was the Colorful Jack-O-Lanterns! Here is where I found the idea: http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/47751/halloween-art-project. First we got out some coffee filters, drew on them however they wanted with markers, then sprayed them with water so the colors spread. After we let it dry, We just taped them to the back of some Jack-O-Lantern faces I cut out and voila! Super cute pumpkin!
     Next, we made our Footprint Ghosts! I didn't have white paint, so I figured in the spirit of Halloween, we'd just go with orange! Well... I didn't remember until I was getting everything set up that when I bought paint, I only bought big bottles of the primary colors figuring I could just mix up any other color I need. Well... when I had that plan... apparently I forgot my serious lack of artistic talent,,, and no matter how hard I tried... orange turned out too red, but close enough... lol.  Here's the link for this one: http://www.craftymorning.com/footprint-ghost-craft-kids/. Anyway, I mixed up the paint, put it in a metal tin, put down a paper and made our footprints! Once they dried I outlined them and drew faces on them and we had some awesome ghosts! Now our house, (I think anyway) is decorated and ready for Halloween! :-)