Afterschool Snack

 When was the last time you made Ants on a Log?  :)  I must say that it has been a very long time for us, but it is something that you can let your kids make all by themselves (which is my favorite part).  Well, I did cut the celery up, though.

 Kelsey was napping when Sadie came home from school, but my sweet little momma's boy was wide awake!! 

Oh, I just can't get enough of that smile!

 Don't forget to add your ants!!

You really can't beat a healthy snack that your kids can have fun making.  Although, I have to be honest and say that without the enormous load of peanut butter....my kids hate celery.  And when Kelsey woke up, we still had a few left and all she did was eat the raisins and peanut butter.  Sadie later said, "I don't think I like the celery part."  Hey, I tried, right?

Foam Shapes

 I found these in the dollar spot section at Target today!!!  They were just what I was looking for (without really knowing that I wanted them, haha).  No, really!  I have so many fun little odds and ends for Sadie, but not really anything special for Kelsey.  Then these popped up!  ---all the exclamation points let people know how excited I am. 

 Don't they look wonderful?

With the help of my husbands empty protein container, we have a great way to store them.  Plus, Kelsey thought it was perfect....so you know it is.

 They fit in the tub so perfectly!  I had bought 4 bags.  She really does love them.

 The girls sat at their special little table and stayed there for quite some time.  I wanted to use them to teach Kelsey about different ways to group them.  Lately, I have really been thinking about toy purchases, and (since my kids have plenty of random toys) I wanted to get them toys that educate them as well as provide me with the opportunity to teach them.  Don't get me wrong, I am all for unstructured play and my favorite thing for my girls to do is just pretend, but like I said....I was hoping to have just a little more learning in the midst of it all.

 First, we grouped them by shape.  Kelsey was pretty stuck on those circles.

and of course we took the time to count each one.

 I encouraged Sadie to use the blocks too and help her sister find many uses for them.  Which later led to them building towers and a block wall to separate their space. 

 Next, we got all the yellow shapes together.  Kelsey wanted to line them up perfectly.

all that concentration is so adorable!

yes, that IS laundry that needs to be put away....tomorrow.  haha

The girls were sharing (another awesome thing to ATTEMPT to instill in a 2 and 4 year-old).
I think I will have to use these shapes with Sadie and play a pattern game!  I am very happy with my $4 purchase.  It was a cheap, but well thought out. 


I have to say that I am so grateful that I can stay home with my kids.  I truly cherish every moment with them, and there is NO place I would rather be.  I learn more from them, then they learn from me.  Every SAHM has rough days, but it is all worth it.

Ding-Dong!

The hubby has been working late recently, but today was one of the days that he was able to come home at a "normal" time.  So we decided to do something fun together.  The other day, I bought several boxes of Ding-Dongs and decided to play a little ding-dong ditch with our kids.  You can find the printable label HERE.

We did get caught once.  Can you believe he walked right out the front door when we were pulling up?  Whatever happened to using the garage door?  sheesh!

 It was a lot of fun!  Of course, we let the girls come out and help.  They said we were "tricking" our friends.  And...I guess we kind of are.

We are hoping to do this to a few families every week for a couple weeks.  Hopefully we can!