Comment Moderation

I've changed my blog settings again, so that you can comment on the blog now. I have it set so that I can publish (or not publish) the comments. Hopefully, this will keep the viagra spammers away :)

Covered from Head to Toe (almost)

I was so excited to recently find long sleeved swim shirts for my girls at a reasonable price (from Zuilly). I bought long sleeved swim shirts, skirts, and hats for them. We spend most of our time outside, so it's very important to keep these fair skinned girls covered as much as possible. Luckily, they don't mind at all (although O does occasionally ask if she can wear a one piece swim suit).

Buddha Board for Baby

We love the Laptop Buddha Board Black, but we've found out the hard way that if you use too much pressure the metal on a paintbrush will scratch the surface. Since E(1) is likely to mash a paint brush instead of using a light touch, I bought an aquadoodle pen (on clearance!) for her to use with the buddha board. It works great, and there's no cup of water to spill!

Mystery Bag

I introduced the Mystery Bag to E(1) this week. (The Mystery Bag is a bag full of well known objects...a ball, an elephant, a giraffe, an airplane, etc) I couldn't find the blindfold, so we put a silk over our heads while we reached into the bag to find objects.

After we find an object, we guess what it is before looking at it. We take turns taking objects out of the bag. This was a lot of fun!

A chicken!


A banana!

I'm looking forward to doing this activity with both of the girls.

I can't wait until summer (only 2 more weeks!) when I'll have both of my girls at home full-time. I'm planning to set up a Montessori shelf for O again, and she's been excitedly telling me which work she wants on it...knobbed cylinders, knobless cylinders, bead snake game, and a mama made version of the brown stair and pink tower.

Changing Settings

I've changed the settings of this blog so that it will not accept comments. I'm really tired of ridiculous viagra spam, and I'd rather not have any comments at all than deal with a hundred viagra comment spread throughout the blog. I hope that if I block the comments for a while, the spammers will find someone else to bother and I'll be able to allow comments again. If you have questions or comments you can email me at chasingcheerios@gmail.com. Thanks!

Sprinkler Fun

My girls had a fantastic time running in the water from the sprinkler earlier this week. They were hesitant at first because the water was cold (it's well water), but they got used to it and loved every minute of it. I loved sitting on the swing while watching them run, laugh, and play. I loved how they held hands to walk up to the water. Such sweet sisters!

Little Scrubbers

I gave the girls a pitcher of warm soapy water (at O(4)'s request), and the girls had a FANTASTIC time washing a baby doll stroller! This kept them busy for quite a while, and they eventually started scrubbing the floor. E(1) even cleaned a few cabinets when she came in the kitchen! I'm hoping I can make this a daily activity!

An O Quote

O(4), E, and I were sitting on my bed, and O was working on an embroidery sampler. She said "Mama, guess what?" I said "what?" and she said "Nothing is for sure whenever hope is gone." She really blows my mind on an almost daily basis :)

Making a Felt Board

I recently made a new felt board for the girls. We have a large felt board, but it's made of plywood, so it's heavy and cumbersome (and we keep it in the fireplace, so it's not very accessible). I wanted a fairly large felt board that was lightweight enough to hang on a wall using velcro (so that it's easily removeable).

To make this feltboard, you need 1 yard of felt, foam core board, and a hot glue gun and glue.

First, I laid the foam core board onto the felt and cut around it.


Then, I just glued the felt to the back of the foam core board using the hot glue. I put about a two inch strip of hot glue on at a time and pulled the felt onto it tightly. I thought about taking a picture of this process, but it was impossible since I don't have 3 hands :)

Here is our finished felt board. It turned out exactly as I envisioned it (that rarely happpens)!


I put a piece of sticky backed velcro on the back of the felt board and the wardrobe, and now we have an easily removeable felt board. E(1) and I have enjoyed using it during our morning "school" time.

Playing in the Rain

We planned to spend Tuesday morning on the beach since O(4) and I have Spring Break this week, but it rained all day. After hanging out in the house for a while, O asked if she and E could put on their boots and play in the rain. I've let them jump in puddles several times, but I've never let them actually go outside while it's raining to play. However, it was not thundering or lightening, so out we went!

The girls had a fantastic time running around, dancing, and singing in the rain..."If all the raindrops were butterscotch and gumdrops, Oh what a rain that would be..." They spent some time standing in a puddle and exploring all around the puddle. Then we went to our front yard and played on the swingset and slide for a while. It was so much fun, and I'm sure they'll be begging to go out and play next time it rains (we are VERY strict about going inside the minute we hear thunder, and I emphasized to the girls that we were only outside in the rain because there was no thunder or lightening).

Dyed Paper Towel Art

We had a lot of fun dyeing eggs last Friday...

but we had even more fun folding and dyeing paper towels!

The girls had SO much fun (and I did too!), and we were proud of our finished paper towels! After the paper towels dried, the girls folded them and handed them out for people to use as napkins on Easter Sunday. They were very proud and excited about this!!!

Decoupaged Easter Eggs

My mom decoupaged these Easter eggs using Leggs pantyhose eggs, fabric, ric rac, and mod podge more than 35 years ago, and I love them! We've talked about making updated versions for the past few years, but it still hasn't happened...maybe next year.

This is my favorite one.

My mom bought each of the girls a set of huge, plastic Easter eggs from Hobby Lobby last year, and we're hoping to eventually decoupage them using either paper or fabric.

We used the HUGE eggs to change our Easter morning tradition a little bit this year...we usually have a treasure hunt that eventually leads to an Easter basket full of goodies. This year I hid a bunch of small eggs around the room, and 2 large eggs (for each girl) on the futon. The Easter bunny filled the largest egg with goodies for the whole family (chocolate and card games). I'm really, really, really trying to cut back on all of the "stuff" that I give the girls, but it's SO hard because I love toys and children's books even more than they do. This year both girls got swim shirts and shorts (I prefer for them to wear swim shirts and shorts rather than traditional style bathing suits unless they are swimming in an indoor pool...I like them to be covered as much as possible!). O(4) was estatic to open her egg to find a Kit Mini Doll (American Girl),and E(1) was very happy to find a "peebo" classic wooden hippo in her egg. They also got several Schleich animals that I bought at deep discounts from Target. I love the schelich animals since they can play with them on the beach and in the bathtub. Fun times!

Model Magic Birds' Nests

O(4) and E(1) had a bag of Model Magic in their April Fun Box, and we used it to make birds' nests a few weeks ago. The girls loved squishing and shaping the model magic.


We collected twigs before we opened our model magic, and we planned to put the twigs into the nests. However, O didn't like how that looked, so she buried a few twigs within her the walls of her nest.

We left the nests on the porch to dry overnight, and it poured down rain. They got wet, but were ok. We had leftover Model Magic, so we rolled it out and made handprints. Model Magic handprints are SO much better than plaster of paris handprints!

Notes to a New Teacher

My cousin, Anne, recently wrote and posted "Notes to a New Teacher" on facebook, and I found it very inspiring. Anne teaches 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts and Reading. "Notes to a New Teacher" is a portion of a letter Anne wrote to give to her intern on her last day of student teaching, and she gave me permission to post it on this blog. I hope you will read "Notes to a New Teacher" and will find it as inspiring as I did!



The following is a portion of a letter that I will be giving to my intern tomorrow on her last day of student teaching. She has been phenomenal!

As you know, there is much more to teaching than just writing a good lesson plan and reporting grades to the parents. These are those things that I want to make sure you don’t leave your student teaching without having heard at least once.

1.Tell kids you love them as much as you can. You might be the only one saying it.
2.Teach what you care about. If it doesn’t move you, it’s probably not going to move the students.
3.Parents are sending you their very best so treat their child that way.
4.As teachers we are planters, not harvesters. Just because you don't get to reap the fruit of your efforts doesn't mean that your effort was wasted!
5.You teach children before you teach standards.
6.Different does not mean wrong. This applies to your teaching, your kids’ products, your colleagues’ opinions . . . you get the picture.
7.Don’t get angry with kids who don’t have supplies. Their parents might have had to choose between food or pencils.
8.Always have a back-up plan.
9.Technology fails . . . frequently. Be prepared for that failure, and the technology will work beautifully.
10.Your kids are amazing teachers. Take time to learn from them. They know lots of amazing stuff that they want/need to share.
11.Don't ever let a 12-year old make you cry or intimidate you.
12.Say yes when you can.
13.Giving a middle school student a 0 for a homework grade means nothing compared to losing recess time to complete that homework.
14.Having a good lunch will make your afternoon go better.
15.Arguing with a kid will make you look foolish and usually end badly.
16.Even though a middle school kid’s body is large, there is still a child inside.
17.Your textbook is not the curriculum.
18.It’s okay to have days when you let students answer the questions at the end of the chapter.
19. Master the art of reading aloud and kids will LOVE you.
20. Even if you’re not a “game person,” learn at least one good game that kids will love.
21.Eating in class is not a crime.
22.Keep food in a drawer for that kid who needs something to eat. There will be many of them.
23.Sometimes kneeling next to a child’s desk and having a few quiet words with a child will be your most effective moments of the day.
24.Get to know your colleagues – those down the hall as well as those online. These people are powerful and knowledgeable and will likely become family to you.
25.Lock the door of your classroom if you arrive really early or stay late. It’s just common sense.
26.Always place your teacher desk in a corner where you cannot be seen from the door - so you can have a few quiet moments if needed.
27.Having a good attitude is contagious and will spread to those around you.
28.Never meet with an angry parent without an administrator or counselor with you.
29.Always be nice - especially to the cafeteria ladies, your custodian, the computer repair people, the librarians and to that kid in the hall who’s having a terrible day.
30. Read lots of children’s and young adult lit so you can put good books in the hands of kids quickly.
31.Some things are meant to be said over the phone or face-to-face but never written down in an email.
32.Read emails repeatedly before sending them to parents. The tone you intend might not be conveyed.
33.Kids who are quiet and polite in first period are likely to be loud and obnoxious after lunch.
34.You can get fired easily over handling money and children. Keep your hands away from both as much as possible.
35.Some kids need a hug, so master the art of the one-arm hug – especially with middle school boys.
36.A bug or mouse in your classroom can make a middle school boy cry and ruin your entire teaching for the day.
37.A little humor goes a long way.
38.Don’t let kids get away without saying the pledge in the morning. There are soldiers risking their lives to preserve the right for these kids to say the pledge.
39.Kids need to hear it AND see it AND do it if you really want them to learn it.
40.Let kids move as much as possible.
41.Advance your degree as quickly as possible to get yourself in the highest pay scale quickly.
42.Get your National Board Certification as soon as possible – even if the state is not offering a stipend. It’s worth it. Believe me, I would do it all over again even without the stipend.
43. Open a 401K soon and aggressively save for retirement. You can get a loan for a house, but you can’t get a loan for retirement.
44.Take advantage of your summers. Try not to work and use them as a time to renew yourself.
45.Don’t complain about your job. The community doesn’t want to hear it, and it gives teachers a bad rap. Besides, it’s the greatest job in the world.
46.Make yourself valuable to your principal – especially in difficult economic times.
47.Solve problems that you see happening in your school rather than whining about them.
48.Whether you like it or not, you will be seen as a role model. If you don’t want to live like one, choose another career.
49. Make wise decisions in your private life so that your professional life will run smoothly.
50.As much as you might dread calling a parent, afterwards you always feel better and wonder why you didn't do it sooner.
51.Take pride in your school. If you see a piece of trash in the hall, pick it up.
52.Get to school early to get your thoughts straight before the students come in.
53.If you grade everything your kids write, then they are not writing enough.
54.If you need to confront a boy about an issue, speak side-by-side with him rather than face-to-face.
55.If you need a boy to do something quickly, make it a race and you will be shocked at how quickly it will get done.
56.Kids crave structure and they want to know what to expect from you. Be stricter and more structured than you need to be and it will pay off in the end
57.Whenever you’re weighing an important decision, the answer should ALWAYS be whatever is in the best interest of the child.
58.During the moment of silence, ask God for his Grace, and He will walk you through your day.

Wet Felted Easter Eggs

The girls, my mom, and I wet felted Easter eggs about a month ago. I still haven't taken a picture of the finished eggs, which is why I haven't posted about this yet. I just realized that I needed to write this post before Easter, so I apologize that I don't have pics of the finished products!

To wet felt Easter eggs you need the following items: plastic, wooden, or styrofoam eggs, wool roving (I bought our wool roving from Hobby Lobby), warm water, and liquid dish soap.

First, we wrapped our eggs in wool roving. Then we dipped our eggs in a bowl of warm, soapy water. We squished the eggs and shaped them with our hands while they were in the water.






After the eggs were well covered with the wool and it seemed somewhat felted, we rolled the eggs on a cooling rack. After they were well felted, we left them to dry. This was a fun and simple activity!




Both girls LOVED this activity!