And the Diagnosis Is....

So my illness has a name....

I went to my regular doctor and lo and behold- I have had the swine flu all along. If I had only been properly diagnosed at that "other" clinic, I could have been back to normal....

I feel the worst for my baby! Her birthday party has to be canceled, poor thing!!!

Returning to Normalcy

I have quite a bit to catch up on....
First, the winners of the giveaways are Paige and Julie- I notified them already about their prizes and they are both really excited! Thanks to all who entered!

Secondly, as most of you know I have been really sick. The kind of sick where you puke your guts out, can't sit up, living on saltines..... My wonderful husband took me to the doctor (with a 2 year old, keep in mind) where we sat and waited for 3 hours. I was so nauseous I couldn't even sit up in a chair- instead I was sprawled out on the floor. And my little Boo was just crying to go home- she was a trooper though and finally we were sent home knowing that some labwork had been ordered and I should know the extent of my suffering in a few days. A few days went by and I hadn't heard anything (and was still sick) so I called them... they said they were backed up and to call again tomorrow. I did just that and got the same response. Only this time, I got a phone call a few hours later to hear this piece of cheery news:

Your labwork wasn't ordered. If you are still sick, come back in and we will do it again.

I was kind on the phone, but in my head I was thinking how the heck do you FORGET to order labwork! Don't you remember me- the patient that was lying in a heap on your office floor! Didn't you think it would be some type of priority? When all is said and done, and i am back to my healthy ways, I will sit back and get a good chuckle from this story and think that Canadian health care really isn't that bad after all :) And I also got to thinking- we need some "Mommy's Sick Survival Kits". Anyone want to help make 'em?
Anyway, in the midst of my suffering, I received this wonderful gift from Katey Jades. Isn't it the cutest basket ever?? My husband opened up the box and showed it to me and I was overcome with emotion. It made me feel like although I haven't been the best party planner and teacher to my daughter due to my illness, that she will at least have an adorable trick or treating basket. And sometimes these small things can make a world of difference. Thanks Katey Jades- for giving me something that my daughter will love!
Not sure what our week in posting will be- please understand that I have to take one day at a time and can't run faster than i have strength!
happy LIVING!

SICK

taking some sick days.....
threw up all night last night, and feeling very queasy today
will post more when i am feeling better

My Faith Monday

Hello!! Welcome to our first official post of the new curriculum designed by Eva and myself! Today is My Faith Monday- a day we focus our tot's learning on things of a religious nature.

My daughter and I are learning about The Creation this week. I have our "learning" broken into three parts.

• First, our morning scripture study will be to read the story of the creation found in the bible. (It will take all of 2 minutes maybe???) After breakfast and we are ready for the day, we will continue with the following activities:

• We are going to start our lesson by learning the song “My Heavenly Father Loves Me” (Children’s Songbook, 228–29)and then coloring a small book.
  

Whenever I hear the song of a bird (cup hand to ear)
Or look at the blue, blue sky, (look up, pretending to shade eyes with hand)
Whenever I feel the rain on my face (touch fingertips to face)
Or the wind as it rushes by, (wave hands back and forth)
Whenever I touch a velvet rose (cup hands together)
Or walk by our lilac tree, (use two fingers to “walk” up other arm)
I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world (raise hands in circle above head)
Heavenly Father created for me. (point to self)

-taken from the Nursery Manual Lesson: Jesus Christ Created the World For Me

After singing the song, we will color a small book on the creation(here or here) and talk a little about how God made the world.

• When Daddy gets home later Monday night, we are going to do the following activity found on lds.about.com for our Family Home Evening(this is time we spend all together as a family learning):

"Explain that the creation of the Earth is recorded in Genesis and place the Number One in front of you. Read and discuss Genesis 1:1-5. Allow children to color one half of the Number One with a black crayon to represent darkness.

Place the Number Two in front of you. Read and discuss Genesis 1:6-8. Have children color the Number Two blue. Next have them glue cotton onto clouds to make them fluffy. Glue clouds onto the Number Two.

Place the Number Three in front of you. Read and discuss Genesis 1:9-13. Have children color the Number Three green. Next have them glue plants, grass, leaves, and small seeds (mustard, celery, poppy) onto it.

Place the Number Four in front of you. Read and discuss Genesis 1:14-19. Have children color half of the Number Four sky blue and the other half black. Color the moon yellow. Have them glue the sun, stars, and moon onto the Number Four.

Place the Number Five in front of you. Read and discuss Genesis 1:20-23. Have children color the top half of the Number Five sky blue and the bottom half dark blue. Glue fish and birds in appropriate spots.

Place the Number Six in front of you. Read and discuss Genesis 1:24-31 Have children color the Number Six green. Glue animals on. Have children draw Adam and Eve on seperate paper. Glue them on the top of the Number Six.

Place the Number Seven in front of you. Read and discuss Genesis 2:1-3. Have children color the Number Seven any color they desire and glue Sabbath pictures onto it.

I LOVE this idea with one minor modification based on my Boo's age:

I am going to place the clipart with the stars, moon, animals, crayons, etc in an envelope titled "Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ made..." I will have my daughter pull out the clipart and we will make a "creation collage". If we have extra time, we will watch this old school Creation Video online.

There you have it!!! Our first "My Faith Monday" post!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY TO TEACH YOUR LITTLE ONES ABOUT YOUR FAITH??

Happy Teaching and don't forget to link up!

Kadey Jades Boutique Discount

AUGH!!! I almost forget to tell you guys!!! Because of our two Halloween giveaways for a trick or treat basket and Piggy Paint, Kadey Jades is offering you a 10% discount code: just type in disc10. This discount won't last forever- so hurry and make your purchases now!!!

Our Week in Learning

We have had a busy week of learning!! I wanted to do a little trial run with our new daily themes before we opened it up to the blogging world. This week was a great success- I accomplished all the learning objectives I had planned, I didn't spend a lot of time each day on the structured learning, and all the learning activities we did were varied and designed with her in mind!

My Faith Monday

preopener: marched around the room while singing the chorus to "Follow the Prophet". My Boo kept saying "sing again" and we did- again, and again, and again.... (she was having fun while learning a primary song!) She will ask me now to sing "Sollow the proset" - she can't say her f sound very well....
BRIEF lesson: looked at picture of the first presidency- learned their names (she sorta knows them already, we just cemented the learning a bit more) Then we colored the P page in our ABC's of Church Coloring Book. While we were coloring (yes, I LOVE to color too!) we talked about the prophet and how we follow him.

The whole entire "My Faith Monday" experience lasted about 10 minutes- but it was educational, religious, together time! I added in a daily scripture story. Every day this week we talked about three prophets in the scriptures. It is has been a great way for us to start our mornings!



Tumbling Tuesday

With my preview week's theme being Halloween, I wanted to do some fun and active games with my tot. I listed a whole bunch (found on our wiki) but we ended up only having time for two. We did a Ghostbusters scarves activity- which was very good for my Boo since she is learning how to catch. We also did a fun "Spider Dance" activity- taken from my good ole Itty Bitty Bookworm Curriculum!

Wednesday's Words

No words this week: I was still deciding on how I would approach these lessons with my soon to be two year old. Eva had a great idea to do 5 focus words each week, and I think I will pick out three to work with my little one (to start with- who knows, she may pick up on these words faster than I think!) I have a special red folder- outside pocket will be the weekly word activity we will be working on, and the inside pockets will store previous weeks activities- one side for english, one side Spanish.

Tea Time & Rhyme Thursday

My favorite weekly activity so far... word of warning, sipping "tea" (we used water) while reading books may not work... my daughter was more interested in drinking than reading! And yes, we had puddles of water everywhere (luckily not on any books). Maybe when she's older.... :)
We read The Biggest Pumpkin Ever (book on tape), Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Little Miss Muffet (book suggestions from Itty Bitty Bookworm). We ended up spending a good thirty minutes reading!

After reading the books, we did some art projects that went along with the stories. These pictures will be Halloween gifts for grandparents, Boo's birth mom, and of course mommy and daddy!

Our weekly "rhyme"s were Itsy Bitsy Spider, 5 Little Pumpkins, and Halloweens Coming Soon. I downloaded these from Kididdles- a great website with TONS of nursery rhymes and songs. I have made a folder to store these sheets as we learn them each week (she has a couple we have done in the past- like the ABC song and Baa Baa Black Sheep)

File Folder Friday

I made two games for my daughter this week: a Halloween sorting (big, medium, small) and a Pumpkin Alphabet. My daughter knows all her uppercase and some lowercase letters, and I want to continue to work on that 'cuz she LOVES her ABC's!!! I hope to add some simple counting file folder games to do for fun as well.

I will store her file folder games in a small tote, and after we have done our weekly game she can go back and pick past games to review.

SO....
McLinky will hopefully be up and running for next Monday's post- so if you plan on doing anything to educate your child in your faith, link up!! And that goes for the rest of our daily themes- if you think that diving into doing all 5 themes is too much, remember that you can pick and choose what themes work for you!

Happy Teaching!

Halloween Giveaways from Katey Jades Boutique: Holiday Piggy Paint

It is time for a very special holiday review and giveaway! I am just tickled pink to tell you more about some fabulous products available at Katey Jades Boutique. I was ecstatic to be the recipient of two free sets: one for me to review, one for a lucky blogger out there!

Halloween Piggy Paint: "Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun"

Our next Halloween giveaway is a gift pack of Piggy Paint from my new favorite boutique! If you have not heard of this product, let me fill you in... Piggy Paint is nailpolish for kids! It is non-toxic, hypoallergenic, and best of all... low odor! No more of that strong, abrasive smell. Below is a history of Piggy Paint in the founder's own words (taken from her website)

"My name is Melanie Hurley, founder of Piggy Paint. I am a stay-at-home mom with two very fancy little girls, ages 2 and 4, who love to have their fingernails painted. I've always hated the thought of my kiddos putting their hands in their mouths after I painted their nails with traditional kid polishes. Not only did the ingestion of the chemicals worry me, but the smell nearly left me light-headed after painting two sets of fingernails and toenails.

One day while we were painting nails over a foam plate, my daughter dropped a glob of her solvent-based polish onto the plate. Shortly after, the paint began to bubble and "ate" through the plate. I looked in dismay at the hole in the plate and decided to test all of her other "kid" polishes on the foam. Within minutes, ALL of the solvent-based polishes began to bubble and eventually left big holes in the plate. From that day on, I decided that any flammable substance that could eat through foam was unacceptable for my children's fingernails, which would inevitably end up in their mouths.

My quest was on, and Piggy Paint was born. As you may have guessed, our polish is NOT flammable and sits beautifully on the unaffected foam. We hope you enjoy this water-based polish that is specially formulated of natural ingredients. Finally, a kid-friendly polish without the accompanying drawbacks of traditional polishes. It is free of formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, biphenyl A, ethyl acetate and acetone... and made in the USA!"

Piggy Paint has a widespread following- even among the stars! Piggy Paint made it's Hollywood debut at Tori Spelling's daughters birthday party this past June. And it was a big success among parents and the kids!

my little Boo after painting her nails- it was great mommy/daughter bonding! Nail polish dried quickly, letting her go run and play with ease.

What I love about Piggy Paint:

1. What is there not to LOVE!! I think the most important thing for me is that it is more safe for the little ones than any other nail polish I have seen. I love that it was created by a mom with safety in mind.
   
2. Being able to do some "girl bonding" with my little girl. Isn't that what life is all about?
   
3. The lack of "nailpolish smell". It's not 100% odorless- but you will notice a difference right away. It makes painting nails a lot more appealing.
   
4. The nail polish comes in a variety of fun and vibrant colors. And I like how they have grouped some polishes together into gift packs- there is even a Jingle Nail Rock set for Christmas- perfect for a stocking stuffer.

WANT TO WIN IT? HERE'S HOW!!!
I am really excited to give one of you this Halloween set of piggy paint !
Leave a comment and tell me what girl bonding activity you love to do with your little girl. Make sure to include an email address so I can get a hold of you!

You might be wondering, can I have extra entries??? Why of course!!!

• head on over to Katey Jades Boutique- tell me what item you just absolutely LOVE that is just for girls
  
• If you follow The Home Teacher using Google Friend, give yourself one extra entry!
  
• If you subscribe to The Home Teacher using feedburner, google reader, or any other RSS reader, give yourself one extra entry!
• If you post about the giveaway (please include the link), give yourself one extra entry!
• and for every time you add something new to The Home Teacher WIKI, give yourself an extra entry! If you add 10 new ideas, you can get 10 extra entries!!! There is no limit!!
  

Good Luck!!! Contest ends 12:00 noon (mountain time) on October 21, 2009. Winner will be announced later that day. I want you to have this item at least a week before Halloween so you can enjoy your Halloween Piggy Paint!
Don't forget to enter our other Halloween giveaway!!
Happy Teaching!

Halloween Giveaways from Katey Jades Boutique: Trick or Treating Basket

It is time for a very special holiday review and giveaway! I am just tickled pink to tell you more about some fabulous products available at Katey Jades Boutique.

Halloween Trick or Treating Basket
Our first Halloween giveaway is for this adorable, fabric basket. It can be used not only for trick or treating, but as a festive table display, a learning basket (go on a halloween hunt- searching for black and orange items and place in basket, or a tote for an autumn nature walk or a treat carrier for your next Halloween party), it even works great as a special fall picnic basket!
My favorite idea- store in your Halloween DVDs and/or books until Halloween night!

What I love about this basket:

1. It is lightweight with no sharp edges- my little one right now is fascinated with baskets and totes and I love that this is tot-proof!
   
2. Can I just say it is SO adorable??? I love the jumbo orange buttons and the material is perfect for the Halloween season! The handle is nice and wide- perfect for little hands.
   
3. This basket is sturdy, yet soft enough to snuggle with. (I worry about stuff like that- with a daughter like mine who runs constantly- I want to make sure that if she falls down while holding a basket she won't get hurt)
   
4. When your kids are all grown up, this basket can easily substitute as holiday decor! I imagine it as a nice table centerpiece OR use it to store some halloween books/toys for when the grandkids come over.
   

WANT TO WIN IT? HERE'S HOW!!!
I am really excited to give one of you this trick or treat/ candy basket !
Leave a comment and tell me what your kiddo is going to be this Halloween. Make sure to include an email address so I can get a hold of you!

You might be wondering, can I have extra entries??? Why of course!!!

• head on over to Katey Jades Boutique- tell me what item you just absolutely LOVE
• If you follow The Home Teacher using Google Friend, give yourself one extra entry!
  
• If you subscribe to The Home Teacher using feedburner, google reader, or any other RSS reader, give yourself one extra entry!
• If you post about the giveaway (please include the link), give yourself one extra entry!
• and for every time you add something new to The Home Teacher WIKI, give yourself an extra entry! If you add 10 new ideas, you can get 10 extra entries!!! There is no limit!!
  

Good Luck!!! Contest ends 12:00 noon (mountain time) on October 21, 2009. Winner will be announced later that day. I want you to have this item at least a week before Halloween so you can do some fun learning basket games with it!

Happy Teaching!

Party in your Tummy

Do you have a pIcky eater? Try this video out- my tot loves it...



I was able to convince her to eat better with this tactic. I would just tell her that the the food item really wants to go to the party in her tummy. Lately, however, her response has been...
"No, party in MOMMY's tummy."

New Curriculum Plans Coming Soon

I have been very fortunate as a blogger. I have learned a lot, made a record of my teaching ideas, but most importantly, I have met some really cool people along the way. One such pal is Eva from Handmade Beginnings. She shared the same enthusiasm back when we did our alphabet in July and now we have collaborated again to bring you some plans for the rest of the year as well as some simple daily teaching themes. Eva is an incredible teacher and planner and together this is what we have come up with:

• last two weeks of October- weather, autumn
• first three weeks of November- feelings, gratitude, saying thank you & other manners
• last week of November- self concept
• December- five senses

To help us teach our curriculum goals, we came up with the following daily themes:


Let me go more into detail:
MY FAITH MONDAY

This is the day we teach our religious beliefs to our tots through art, music, scriptures, and activities. Both Eva and I agree that it is important for us to share our beliefs to our little ones.
This will work really well with our weekly family home evenings Monday nights. I have started a "My Faith Monday" wikipage with an outline of my religious plans for the rest of the year. You will notice that I have planned a weekly scripture story, FHE lesson, nursery lesson(thats for my tot) as well as related art and music.
TUMBLING TUESDAY

Tuesday is all about movement! Whether its learning rules of a sport, playing a good ole game of tag, or dancing to music- our Tumbling Tuesday is designed with the large-motor skills in mind! This was important to me because of how active my tot is- she LOVES to run, jump, and climb and I wanted to have set time for her each week where we could play and learn together. Our wikipage has the weekly themes on the left hand side and some movement lessons, games, and activities that correlate!
WEDNESDAY'S WORDS

As teachers and concerned care-givers, we know the importance of building a solid language at an early age. Wednesday's goal is to give our little ones some word work with increasing vocabulary based on our weekly themes as well as adding a foreign language. I will be teaching Spanish to my tot, while Eva is working on French. I will add actual word building work to my little one's Wednesday routine when she is a bit older.
The Wednesday wikipage will have the vocabulary lists as well as second language words that we will work on during the week. I hope to add a fun teaching activity each week as well (matching english/spanish flashcards, etc)
TEA TIME AND RHYME THURSDAY

This has to be one of my favorites! Imagine spending a cozy morning with your tot reading books, sipping "tea" and discussing favorite parts of the book (or story elements, connections, questions about the story, etc) Add in a weekly nursery rhyme and voila! Our Thursday curriculum is born! The books will most likely be related to the theme, and I will sneak in some Itty Bitty Bookworm books and activities as well. If your child is older, you could come up with rhyming words at your tea party.
The Thursday wikipage has our weekly theme, corresponding books, and a weekly "rhyme".
FILE FOLDER FRIDAY

This is the day for file folder fun! Eva has done this one in the past and we both feel like it's time to try it again. Our file folder games will most likely go with our weekly theme, but of course this is a great time to review any concept your tot is learning as well. I want to do some ABC and 123 games w/my tot on a weekly basis to keep up and expand her knowledge of these concepts.
Our Friday wikipage will list our file folder games. I have added columns for ABC and 123 games.

You might be wondering-
Are you still doing Itty Bitty Bookworm? The answer is a loud and clear YES. Just like any good teacher, I am supplementing with curriculum that is completely designed for my daughter. Itty Bitty Bookworm has some great lesson ideas and printables- I am very fortunate to use it!
Why are all the Wikipages on separate days? For your convenience.... perhaps you want to do "Tumbling Tuesday" and "File Folder Friday". Instead of looking at the entire curriculum, you can view just the days you want to participate.


Again- our daily themes are there to help and inspire the teacher in us all!
Happy Teaching!

Jumpstart: Read for the Record!

Just a reminder that today is read for the record day! Take the time to celebrate the JOY of reading with your little one- we all know not only about the importance of reading in furthering education, but the journeys we take while engrossed in a good book. SHARE that love of reading with your kiddos today!!!
This is an international campaign- people pledging all over the world to read the same book on the same day. This years book pick? The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Once you have read it, visit this site for a great list of printable extension activities! (you may need to scroll down a bit on this page)

Happy Reading and Teaching!!

October's Menu

Thanks to the Menu Planning Made Simple Post, I created our whole monthly menu in a snap!I wasn't going to plan anything for Wednesdays, since it is the "Wild Card" day- but then I thought we should have a back-up plan just in case I am stumped about what to make! And you might have noticed that I added pediasure to our dinner on the 31st- between trick-or-treating and birthday cake I know my little one will need some nutrition!!!
Enjoy!
Happy....Eating! :)

Step 2 Motorcycle Winner

And the winner is....Congratulations to Raising a Happy Child who left this comment:

Anna's favorite toy? Her stuffed kitty Periwinkle - they are inseparable.

Thank you all who entered- more giveaways to come SOON so stay tuned!!!
Happy Teaching!

Menu Planning Made Simple

I have always struggled creating weekly menus. It's not that I don't like the concept- I think planning ahead of time is essential in staying on top of things. I just always seem to draw a blank on what to prepare. I looked at what I had written down for the coming week- spaghetti, hawaiin haystacks, soup & sandwiches, crock pot stew.... where I then had an organizational idea. Instead of creating dinner menus day to day, why not create 7 daily food themes (one for each day of the week) and then jot down lists of possible dinners.
For example, we eat a lot of Italian food. It seems like we eat spaghetti at least twice a week- and that gets old after awhile. So I created "Italian Thursday". I then wrote down all the Italian food that I love, and voila! I have a month's worth of Thursdays all planned! Seriously, menu planning became so much easier after I decided to create menu lists instead!
Here is our week in food: Crock Pot Sunday, Multi-Cultural Monday, Try Something New Tuesday, Wild Card Wednesday, Italian Thursday, Friday's Favorites, Soup and Sandwiches Saturday.

Roast/potatoes, stew, soups, anything made in a crock pot!

There is SO many dinner ideas in this category! Enchiladas, tacos, ham fried rice, orange chicken, burritos, sushi, etc!!!
This is a day that I felt was important for my little family. I get stuck in the routine of making the same things over and over again- and I want my daughter to experience new foods (so she won't be a picky eater like her momma!) This will be the day where I open up the good ole recipe book and try something new! And if we like it- I can add it to our Friday's Favorite list!I have playgroup Wed- not a lot of cooking time. This will be the day where we might finish off some leftovers, or do something crazy like breakfast for dinner. (I love breakfast for dinner and I can see us doing this a lot- crepes, french toast, waffles, omelets, YUMMY!)
Love this day! I can serve up spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, fettuccine, panini, risotto, ravioli... there is 7 weeks of different Italian foods write there! No more spaghetti twice a week!
This is where I can put down ANYTHING that I know my family loves to eat! Chili and corn bread, hawaiin haystacks, pizza, chicken pot pie, chicken caesar salad, etcThis day will be dedicated to soups and/or sandwiches! Nothing like a bowl of soup on a brisk autumn day!

What I like about this plan is that it makes sense in my plan-a-holic brain. I always know what to expect for dinner on any given day, and if I am struggling for a menu item- I simply look at our theme and google for ideas! I just like that this provides some structure for planning a menu.

I dare you to try this and see how much easier planning a menu really is!

Happy EATING!!!

October Holiday Calendar

Some of you requested this, so here it is! October's Holiday Calendar. I included a list of just some of the month long observances- wow, there is a lot! This is a fun month! Again- a big thanks to Tara for creating the blank calendars. Check out her organization post- she has some great ideas!

Happy Teaching!

Alphabet Quiet Kit

My daughter is LOVING the ABC's. I compiled a few of our different alphabet activities into a quiet kit for church that I thought I would share with you!

When you see the scissors - that indicates an activity or a great website with ideas to download for you to make!


The Basics:
a bag just for Sunday
accordion folder to store each of the activities


Alphabet Quiet Kit

• alphabet flashcards- we found some for really cheap at a going out of business sale, and I know that dollar stores sell them as well. I also made her set with x-rays for our letter x day.
  
• alphabet movement cards- there is a movement activity that goes along with each letter of the alphabet!
• mini abc books- i found these used for a steal of a deal-i am missing letter k, but i have plans to make my own

• abc's of church coloring book- feel free to download here!

Enjoy! Happy Teaching! Please share any other alphabet quite kit ideas! I love learning from you all!!! (Now isn't that the sign of a true teacher- one who loves learning!!