S is for Sun & Star Wars

This week in Preschool we worked on the letter S. It was another fun week and it touches my heart that the kiddos really want to do school!!

• We read books from the library about the sun


• Practiced making S's in sand


• Minnie made an S with her feet


• Time outdoors enjoying the Sun


• Talked about the importance of the sun (seasons, gardens, vitamin D) 

S if for Sun - My Father's World Kindergarten 

• Sensory Experience - blindfold kids & have them experience life without the sun


• Painted Sun Pictures


• Talked about how Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12)


• Made Raisins (took over a week, but pretty cool!)

• Read Moonbear's Shadowby Frank Asch & talked about shadows. We drew with chalk on our driveway & saw how our shadows changed throughout the day. 


• Made Sundial 

S is for Star Wars

Goofy has never seen Star Wars, but he met the characters at Disney in May; ever since then he has talked about Star Wars. So when I saw Jolanthe had put together a Star Wars Preschool Pack I knew it would be a hit. Once again Homeschool Creations' Jolanthe has made a very impressive packet filled with lots of well done goodies: story with key words, what letter comes next, puppets, counting spaceships, pattering characters, prewritting skills, read/build/write, Letter trace pages (Yoda & Darth Vadar), measuring light sabers, building a book by gluing space ships next to/above/under, and more! Goofy did a great job reading the star wars book I found on Amazon & e had a great time doing all the seat work too. Minnie even traced on the line this week - I was shocked & thrilled!

Hope you have a "S" for sunny weekend,

Beth

S is for Sun & Star Wars

This week in Preschool we worked on the letter S. It was another fun week and it touches my heart that the kiddos really want to do school!!

• We read books from the library about the sun


• Practiced making S's in sand


• Minnie made an S with her feet


• Time outdoors enjoying the Sun


• Talked about the importance of the sun (seasons, gardens, vitamin D) 

S if for Sun - My Father's World Kindergarten 

• Sensory Experience - blindfold kids & have them experience life without the sun


• Painted Sun Pictures


• Talked about how Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12)


• Made Raisins (took over a week, but pretty cool!)

• Read Moonbear's Shadowby Frank Asch & talked about shadows. We drew with chalk on our driveway & saw how our shadows changed throughout the day. 


• Made Sundial 

S is for Star Wars

Goofy has never seen Star Wars, but he met the characters at Disney in May; ever since then he has talked about Star Wars. So when I saw Jolanthe had put together a Star Wars Preschool Pack I knew it would be a hit. Once again Homeschool Creations' Jolanthe has made a very impressive packet filled with lots of well done goodies: story with key words, what letter comes next, puppets, counting spaceships, pattering characters, prewritting skills, read/build/write, Letter trace pages (Yoda & Darth Vadar), measuring light sabers, building a book by gluing space ships next to/above/under, and more! Goofy did a great job reading the star wars book I found on Amazon & e had a great time doing all the seat work too. Minnie even traced on the line this week - I was shocked & thrilled!

Hope you have a "S" for sunny weekend,

Beth

S is for Sun & Star Wars

This week in Preschool we worked on the letter S. It was another fun week and it touches my heart that the kiddos really want to do school!!

• We read books from the library about the sun


• Practiced making S's in sand


• Minnie made an S with her feet


• Time outdoors enjoying the Sun


• Talked about the importance of the sun (seasons, gardens, vitamin D) 

S if for Sun - My Father's World Kindergarten 

• Sensory Experience - blindfold kids & have them experience life without the sun


• Painted Sun Pictures


• Talked about how Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12)


• Made Raisins (took over a week, but pretty cool!)

• Read Moonbear's Shadowby Frank Asch & talked about shadows. We drew with chalk on our driveway & saw how our shadows changed throughout the day. 


• Made Sundial 

S is for Star Wars

Goofy has never seen Star Wars, but he met the characters at Disney in May; ever since then he has talked about Star Wars. So when I saw Jolanthe had put together a Star Wars Preschool Pack I knew it would be a hit. Once again Homeschool Creations' Jolanthe has made a very impressive packet filled with lots of well done goodies: story with key words, what letter comes next, puppets, counting spaceships, pattering characters, prewritting skills, read/build/write, Letter trace pages (Yoda & Darth Vadar), measuring light sabers, building a book by gluing space ships next to/above/under, and more! Goofy did a great job reading the star wars book I found on Amazon & e had a great time doing all the seat work too. Minnie even traced on the line this week - I was shocked & thrilled!

Hope you have a "S" for sunny weekend,

Beth

Cookie Monster's Favorite!

I don't know about you, but as a kid I always admired the GIANT cookie cakes that Mrs. Field's had in their show cases. At $35-50 each it wasn't something we ever got, but they looked so pretty all decorated & sooooooo big! So it is no surprise that when my kiddos admired them - I decided I would make their cookie fantasy come true in our own kitchen.

Here is the recipe I used, but whatever your favorite cookie recipe is will do:

Cookie Cake

• 2 1/4 cups flour


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup butter, softened


• 3/4 cup granulated sugar


• 3/4 cup brown sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 large eggs


• 12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix butter & sugars together; add eggs. Mix in salt, baking powder and vanilla; add flour. Mix in chocolate chips. Grease large pizza/cake (12") or jelly roll pan. Scoop all of the cookie dough into pan & spread. Bake 20-25 minutes. You don't want to over cook it if you want it soft in the middle! It will set some when you pull it out of the oven. Let it cool.

Decorate with your favorite frosting. For cookie cakes I use:

• 16 oz powdered sugar


• 3 TAB meringue powder (you can buy it at Target & it makes the frosting much fluffier - try it!)


• 1/3 cup warm water


• food coloring (optional)

In bowl, mix all item at medium until blended. This frosting is nice because it isn't overly sweet & it sets up to be stiff. Use piping bags to decorate. I cute mine with a pizza cutter & serve in squares or pizza slices.

It is quick (quicker than scooping out 4 dozen cookies) and soft & delicious every time. Happy Baking!

Beth

Cookie Monster's Favorite!

I don't know about you, but as a kid I always admired the GIANT cookie cakes that Mrs. Field's had in their show cases. At $35-50 each it wasn't something we ever got, but they looked so pretty all decorated & sooooooo big! So it is no surprise that when my kiddos admired them - I decided I would make their cookie fantasy come true in our own kitchen.

Here is the recipe I used, but whatever your favorite cookie recipe is will do:

Cookie Cake

• 2 1/4 cups flour


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup butter, softened


• 3/4 cup granulated sugar


• 3/4 cup brown sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 large eggs


• 12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix butter & sugars together; add eggs. Mix in salt, baking powder and vanilla; add flour. Mix in chocolate chips. Grease large pizza/cake (12") or jelly roll pan. Scoop all of the cookie dough into pan & spread. Bake 20-25 minutes. You don't want to over cook it if you want it soft in the middle! It will set some when you pull it out of the oven. Let it cool.

Decorate with your favorite frosting. For cookie cakes I use:

• 16 oz powdered sugar


• 3 TAB meringue powder (you can buy it at Target & it makes the frosting much fluffier - try it!)


• 1/3 cup warm water


• food coloring (optional)

In bowl, mix all item at medium until blended. This frosting is nice because it isn't overly sweet & it sets up to be stiff. Use piping bags to decorate. I cute mine with a pizza cutter & serve in squares or pizza slices.

It is quick (quicker than scooping out 4 dozen cookies) and soft & delicious every time. Happy Baking!

Beth

Cookie Monster's Favorite!

I don't know about you, but as a kid I always admired the GIANT cookie cakes that Mrs. Field's had in their show cases. At $35-50 each it wasn't something we ever got, but they looked so pretty all decorated & sooooooo big! So it is no surprise that when my kiddos admired them - I decided I would make their cookie fantasy come true in our own kitchen.

Here is the recipe I used, but whatever your favorite cookie recipe is will do:

Cookie Cake

• 2 1/4 cups flour


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup butter, softened


• 3/4 cup granulated sugar


• 3/4 cup brown sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 large eggs


• 12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix butter & sugars together; add eggs. Mix in salt, baking powder and vanilla; add flour. Mix in chocolate chips. Grease large pizza/cake (12") or jelly roll pan. Scoop all of the cookie dough into pan & spread. Bake 20-25 minutes. You don't want to over cook it if you want it soft in the middle! It will set some when you pull it out of the oven. Let it cool.

Decorate with your favorite frosting. For cookie cakes I use:

• 16 oz powdered sugar


• 3 TAB meringue powder (you can buy it at Target & it makes the frosting much fluffier - try it!)


• 1/3 cup warm water


• food coloring (optional)

In bowl, mix all item at medium until blended. This frosting is nice because it isn't overly sweet & it sets up to be stiff. Use piping bags to decorate. I cute mine with a pizza cutter & serve in squares or pizza slices.

It is quick (quicker than scooping out 4 dozen cookies) and soft & delicious every time. Happy Baking!

Beth

Ode to a Bucket

You are probably thinking - she's really lost it now! She is writing about a bucket?!??! I know it sounds CRAZY - but follow me for a minute here.

A couple years back my husband put a bucket on his Christmas list. I thought he was nuts - what's so special about a bucket?!  But you know, for me, it wasn't really about the bucket. It was about loving my husband.

When  I said, "I do" to my husband I promised to love him - all of him! So when he has a passion, interest, or need I shouldn't glaze over and say, "Oh - that's nice." It's easy to love our spouses when everything is going well or it makes sense to us. It is easy for me to play tennis with him because I too enjoy it. I can understand he likes his yard to look nice, so I help where I can & give him the time he needs to make it something he is proud of.  But I didn't understand this bucket thing! So sad to say, but I glazed over and dismissed it.

Over the last couple years I have learned many reasons the bucket is useful. I have even learned to appreciate it myself.

• Carrying Firewood


• Building sandcastles


• Carrying Water


• Carrying sand toys to the beach


• Building forts out of Snow


• Disposing of animal pests


• Giving Tinkerbell somewhere to stand or lean on at the beach


• Somewhere to set the camera to get family an impromptu family picture


• and SO many more!

At times, my husband will say, 'See! I wasn't crazy to want the bucket!' How sad that he has to defend his interest or like to me! I should be his #1 fan from the get-go - no questions asked!  Next time - I will try to do better! 

Beth