Black Bean Bowl of "B" Objects

One of E(2)'s favorite "B" activities was playing with her bowl of black beans filled with "B" objects. She loved playing with the objects, especially the babies and bears.

She wanted to wear the tiny boots and put them on her toes.

She wanted to ride on the tiny bike, and asked me to hold it up for her while she pretended to sit on it. Such a silly girl!

She had fun finding the different objects as I requested them.


She LOVED finding the objects and matching them to a picture (I took a picture of all of the objects on a white sheet of paper and then printed and laminated it).



I have a feeling the black bean bowl may stay around a long time after we are finished with our "B" weeks!

Matching Tree Bark

E(2) and I have had a great time touching and talking about the bark on all of the different trees in our yard during our "B" weeks! E was very interested in the bark, and I was inspired by Playful Learning (which I was sent to review about a month ago) to put together a bark matching activity.

To prepare this activity, I took pictures of the bark of 4 trees in our front yard. I printed them on photo paper and laminated them. I gave each of the girls one picture at a time and told them to match them to the trees. They took off running to find their matches, and they had SO much fun!

This is a wonderful activity that really got the girls interested in learning more about the trees in our yard. As they matched the trees, we talked about the names of the trees. Last week when we were touching the bark, E picked up a pinecone and said "This pinecone! It goes with pine tree!"

As I'm writing this post, I'm thinking of more tree and bark related activities :) I love spending time outside with the girls and try to have them outside for hours each day, so activities like this one are perfect for us!

Sorting Gummy Bears

E(2) received a bag of gummy bears in her ABC Fun Pack, and she was SO excited about them! At first, she called them Yogi Bear (we went to a Yogi Bear Campground in May, and she's loved Yogi ever since), and I thought that she might not know it was candy. That was wishful thinking because she soon informed me that "It's candy! I eat it and it tastes dood (good)!"

I laid out 3 different colors of construction paper and gave her a small bowl of gummy bears. I told her to sort the bears by color. I thought about demonstrating the activity to her, but decided to wait and see what she would do. She knew exactly what to do and immediately got to work. She LOVED this activity especially since she got to eat a couple of gummy bears after she finished!

Cultural Exchange Packages

Our cultural exchange packages are rolling in (I had them all shipped to my mom's address, and she brought them to me today)...so far we have packages from New Zealand, Singapore, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. I've only opened the one from NZ, and it is AMAZING! Ours does not measure up, so I have some work to do! (Yes, I am super slack, and we have not sent ours yet!)

Cheerios Bird Feeders

E(2) and I made bird feeders for "B" week! We had fun putting Cheerios onto pipe cleaners and then then hanging them in the trees.

E ate more Cheerios than she put on the pipe cleaners, and when O(5) got home from school, she pretended to be a bird and ate all of the Cheerios off of a feeder! Silly girl.

This is E's first time making these bird feeders, but it's an activity that we do every couple of years.

Painting with Balloons

Since last week and this week are "B" weeks, we are doing lots of activities that start with the letter "B." Last week, the girls had lots of fun painting with balloons!

I blew up several balloons (and saw stars...they were NOT easy to blow up) for each girl, and put paint in several flat containers. (I usually cut the tops off of take-out containers to use as paint trays, and they worked perfectly for this activity).

O(5) really enjoyed seeing the prints that she could make with her balloon. While E(5) preferred to paint with a mostly deflated balloon.




E discovered the joy of having blue hands!

Luckily, the paint was washable!


Here's one of their creations.


Our next "B" art activity was "painting" with bubbles...I put watercolor paint in 3 small bottles of bubbles. Then I blew bubbles while the girls ran around with pieces of white cardstock to catch the bubbles. The theory was that when the bubbles popped, they would make a pretty and colorful print...wrong. The girls had fun catching the bubbles for about a minute, and the bubbles didn't leave behind any prints...just a couple of barely visible drops. Oh, well. They loved the idea of it, and it was a valuable lesson that things don't always turn out how we plan and that's ok.

A Mailbox for the Girls

We recently put up a full sized mail box for the girls near our front steps, and they LOVE it!!!

O(5) checks it almost every time she walks by it, and when there is something in there, she screams with excitement! It's like Christmas (but she's really much more excited than I've ever seen her on Christmas morning!) every time! I don't want the excitement to wear off, so I only put things in there every few days.

Today, I put a box of Teddy Grahams in the mailbox (since it's "B" week, and we're reading We're Going on a Bear Hunt with BFIAR). Both girls were thrilled, and it was so much more exciting than me just getting the Teddy Grahams out of the pantry for a snack.

Giveaway UPDATE with Pics and BONUS Giveaway!

Just in case you missed the addition to my giveaway post, I wanted to let you know that I've added pics of the items up for giveaway. Also, Cherilynn was so excited by the response to her shop that she's offered another set (winner's choice) for giveaway!!! So, if you didn't comment because you don't have a size 6 girl, go on over and leave a comment now! The additional items are a mob cap and apron set OR a Paul Revere shirt (can be made in sizes 4 to 10). The apron/cap set OR Paul Revere shirt will not be shipped until after November 1. Have a look!

"Old Time" Dress Review AND a Giveaway!!! UPDATE with Pics AND a Bonus Giveaway!

My O(5) LOVES to play dress-up more than anything in the world. She loves to dress in "old time" clothes and actually spends most of her time (at home) wearing "dress-ups" of some sort.

So, for her 5th birthday, my bought a gorgeous colonial style dress for O to wear while on our family vacation to Colonial Williamsburg. O LOVES her dress and wears it often. She has a matching dress for her Kaya (American Girl) doll, and it is just adorable.

Since I don't like to show my children's faces on this public blog, taking pics that do the dress justice was a little difficult. I did my best, and here they are...

The pocketbook and mob cap came with the dress (she bought the straw hat in Williamsburg with her birthday money). O wears the mob cap EVERY night to sleep (in order to be like Mary and Laura Ingalls who wore nightcaps to sleep)...it is adorable.






Along with the dress, Cherilynn from Ashley's Attic sent a couple of buttons to start O's button collection. O LOVES collecting buttons, and she was thrilled with the buttons that started her collection.

Both of our girls will be receiving pioneer nightgowns for themselves and their dolls for Christmas. I can't wait to see their faces when they open them...I think these nightgowns will probably be their favorite Christmas gifts!


Cherilynn is generously offering a giveaway as a part of this review.

To enter the giveaway, go to Cherilynn's Etsy shop, Ashley's Attic. Come back to Chasing Cheerios and leave a comment telling me which item in her shop is your favorite. The winner will win a beautiful pioneer dress with an apron and bonnet for a little girl (size 6). A winning number will be randomly drawn on Friday, Sept 30, so please leave your comment by then!

Here are few of my favorite things from Ashley's Attic...
this Victorian nightgown is gorgeous! O would LOVE to have this, but I'm pretty sure I'd never get her out of it! This Little House on the Prairie dress is beautiful! I also love this pioneer dress! The wonderful thing about these nightgowns and dresses is that they are heirloom quality. After my girls grow out of them, I plan to save them for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren!

Cherilynn sent pics of the dress for the giveaway AND she's offering a 2nd item for a 2nd winner!!! Here they are...


This dress is a size 6.




This Paul Revere shirt can be made in sizes 4 to 10.


A mob cap and apron


I will choose the 2 winners on Friday, Sept 30.