Fall at the Farm

Dish Garden Inspiration

I’ve always wanted to try making a little dish garden, or a terrarium planter. Instead, I bought one today at our farmer’s market. This one fits my décor very well. I think that’s a little goat in there and I prefer something else but he’s cute too! If I find something else, I can replace him. Maybe I’ll try making one someday – here’s directions from Martha Stewart on how to make a dish garden:  http://www.marthastewart.com/869996/how-make-dish-garden

Apple Tasting in Preschool & Printable

Yesterday we tasted different kinds and colors of apples. Trying new foods can be hard for kids so this is a no pressure situation for kids to try something new.  I am trying to encourage healthy eating with a little nutrition education through fun tastings like this or the pepper tasting we did earlier this summer.

I usually buy Gala apples so when I went to the store, I picked out Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith since they are different colors. I gave them each a slice of the first one. We talked about it and they marked their sheets with a smiley or sad face. Then we went on to the next kind so we were all “on the same page”. The boys really liked coloring in their charts.

I limited the crayon colors to make it a little easier to choose the correct color for the coloring section on the bottom. Seasonal and very fun!  Even the little guy who is missing his two front teeth can eat apples.

When I serve apple slices, I never peel them. Some kids eat it all and some leave the peel. Other ways I serve apples for child care:

• applesauce, homemade or purchased
• Pumpkin Apple Bread
• Baked apples: peel, cut into small chunks. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Cover and microwave until soft.
• Simple cinnamon apple snack

Download a copy of the printable here

PRINTABLE APPLE TASTE TEST & COLORING PAGE

More apple activities

Apple Prints

What We’re Doing Today

1.  I finally “invested” in beans for the sensory bin. They can be quite expensive for such a large amount, but $20 later, and we’re set for a long time. They will last for years.

2.  New Books: We love Scholastic! For September the books I ordered mostly focus on alphabet, foods, community helpers and support diversity.

3. Today we’re going to try Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp and Golden Delicious Apples. A free printable will be posted tomorrow!

Organizing Curriculum

I use the Mother Goose Time Curriculum in my day care. Each month a subscription box arrives and it needs to be sorted through and prepped. Finally I think I’ve come up with a good way to organize it.

I found this 10-drawer cart (on clearance for $28 – sometimes I’ve seen them for about $70, like at Michael’s – good thing to use a 40% off coupon on!) I labeled the drawers with vinyl cut on my Silhouette.

When the box comes, I open the bags and prep the kits (punch out pieces, tape/lace/fold, laminate, etc.) and put them in the drawers by day. I put two weeks in Mon-Fri and then put another pack in under those for the following two weeks. I can put anything else in the drawers I want to use on those days as well. A basket on top holds anything too big to go in the drawers and extra supplies.

I also make an activity calendar each month so I know what days we’re doing way and add in other things I want to do.

This is working great and saves me a lot of time each day!

10 Years Ago

I have a 10 year old! Time seems to go fast and yet, a lot has changed. I’m not really sad that he’s getting older because he’s so much fun and having him this age if great too. Now, I am kinda sad I’m this old…

Birthdays are big around here and since he’s the youngest (of 3) grandchildren on my side of the family and the only one on Damon’s side, he’s quite celebrated.

Today before school: what would I be without him?

We celebrated with G & G R in August. Gramma made a strawberry Pokémon cake, as requested.

G & G R took him shopping and let him pick out his own presents. He was excited to get them the day of his party!

Last Sunday we celebrated at my parents’ house with my brother (his birthday is also today!) and sister and families. Mom made fish & we had this yummy raspberry filled cake.

Dinner and cake last Sunday at G & G H’s. Then presents!

1. Packer sweatshirt (and shirt) 2. Bucky shirt! 3. Lego sticker book, 4. DS game & Lego cases, 5. Beyblades 6. Galaxy Player –like an iPod. He wasn’t sure what it was!

Brett took treats to share with his class today and we’ll do something together as a family tonight, like we do most nights! Most likely we’ll let Brett decide on dinner and maybe we can have a fire tonight.

Wordless Wednesday|Morning Glories

Letter Ff My Five Fingers {printable}

As we focus on some basics, we did this one which covers, Letter Ff, #5 and some colors. Plus it doubles as a keepsake for parents since it has little fingerprints.

We traced the child’s actual hand, used paint to make fingerprints on each finger and then labeled the fingers with 1-5 circle stickers.

I made a printable page that could be used multiple ways. Use it to:

• simply color
• make a handprint inside the hand outline
• add fingerprints as shown

Printable

Left

Right

Preschool Basics: Circle Painting with Cups

We’re focusing on some basics, like the circle shape. We painted circles with cup rims. The plastic cups worked better since the small paper ones were easy to squish the sides in and the circles looked more oval. Ovals are circles too!

Find the Beauty in Fall with Miracle-Gro

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts Miracle-Gro for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Summer is coming to an end and it's certainly starting to feel like fall. As the seasons change, the summer colors fade and fall colors arrive. By using Miracle-Gro gardens can be kept attractive and colorful into autumn.
I'm not ready to let go of my flowers so this fall I'd like to add color to our front step with some pretty planters with fall blooms. I love the bright green pot and the flowering kale combination.

I could paint up some fun planters like these:

Maybe a color blocked set of pots to match my door?

I'm loving the purple and yellow combination in this planter!

Of course you can't go wrong with orange!

I'm thinking of using mums and pansies in the pots for great color this fall.

Using Miracle-Gro Potting Mix  is ideal for flower pots as it continously releases plant food for up to 6 months and the rich, organic materials help improve drainage and air flow.
Find beauty in the Fall with Fall gardening
For in-ground plantings this fall, use Miracle-Gro Flower/Vegetable Garden Soil

Liquafeed makes feeding plants as easy as watering. It feeds plants through leaves and roots and can be used with all flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs.

For Planting trees and shrubs, try Garden Soil/Tree Shrub Soil:

It feeds up to 3 months with Miracle-Gro Continuous Release Plant food. Perfect for roses too!

Tree Spikes provide blanced feeding for all deciduous trees and shrubs.
Like Miracle-Grow on Facebook:  Miracle-Gro Facebook page to meet up with fellow gardeners and share your stories & projects!
Have a beautiful colorful fall!

Recent Instagrams

Here are some of my recent Instagram pictures, not in any order.

1.  Morning glories are blooming   2. Homemade salsa  3. Last day of slip n side fun

1. Home after a weekend away.   2. Stormy napping in the middle of day care   3. Our first time at CherryBerry!

1. Daylily in the morning   2. Dear Photograph book     3.  Rose Bouquet

1. Riding the skateboard down the driveway    2. My two babies    3.  Now the wagon!

Here’s something you can do with your Instagram pics! I designed a Casetagram cell phone cover with my Instagram pictures for my phone. You can design your own at Casetagram. I am impressed at how well it’s made. It’s a slim, hard shell, snap on case. The pictures are printed on it – they are not stickers. I love it! Designed just for an Instagram junkie like me. *Only thing I don’t like is that it ships from Singapore…