Introduction to chapter books

The Magic Treehouse series was suggested to me by a friend as a good introduction to chapter books. We started borrowing them from the library a couple months ago, and we have not been disappointed! Each book has an illustration every 3 or 4 pages, teaches the child about a new place or time, and uses fairly simple language. John (5) has latched right on to them, and Daniel (3) will sometimes listen in but can't quite hang with them yet. What books do your kids like to read?


Photo courtesy of Yard Sale Mommy

Gift idea: homemade bookmarks

One of my favorite gifts to help the kids make for friends or family is bookmarks. Bookmarks are something people can use, don't clutter up your house and can remind the recipient of your child each time they read. A great gift for grandparents who don't need any more "things."


Start by cutting out the desired size of bookmarks.

Grocery list pad printout

I recently started keeping this grocery list pad on my fridge and have loved it. These are super easy to make! I took the file into Kinko's, had them do it all: print, cut and glue the top. All for just a few dollars. Then I stuck a magnet to the back. If you're interested, here's the file:



Happy shopping!

And the winner of the grocery list pad is...



Eliza! Congrats :) You'll be receiving your very own grocery list pad in the mail early next week.

Make your own Oobleck

Check out this week's giveaway here!

Ever read this book? We love Dr. Seuss, and this one's a classic. We've borrowed it a few times from the library, and this time around decided to make an afternoon of it and make our own oobleck after reading it.

The art basket

Check out this week's giveaway here!

I found this basket a few months ago at Bed, Bath & Beyond and have absolutely loved it! I think it's supposed to be for picnic supplies, but we use it for the kids art stuff... paper, crayons, markers, colored pencils, scissors, stencils, small notebooks, stickers, glue and water color paints. When the kids want to color or draw all I have to do is set this on the table and they can choose whatever they want to use. Everything is in one place and is easily accessible. Ahhh, how I love to feel organized :)

Chalk village

Check out this week's giveaway here!

One of my favorite things to do with the kids is draw a chalk village for their cars. It's like Sim City all over again. We get to decide where the neighborhood is, the grocery store, park, airport, school, library, fire station, lake, police station, and whatever else we feel like throwing in there. And perfect for all of their ages. John can help draw the houses, and Dan and Joe drive the cars on our streets. Then when we're done, we can leave our village there to play with later. At least until the rain comes!

Grocery list pad GIVEAWAY!

This giveaway is now closed. To see who the winner was or to get the file to make your own grocery list pad, go here.

A grocery list pad that you can stick on to your fridge... a must-have for staying organized and not forgetting anything you need at the store! As I was making one of these for me I thought I might as well make an extra to share. Each pad has 50 sheets so will last about a year (if you use one each week). I love having this on my fridge where I see it all the time. I most often realize I need something while I'm cooking, so with this pad I can quickly write it down so I don't forget.



To enter the giveaway you must:
Be a follower of this blog and leave a comment on the blog (required)
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Entries must be in by Thursday night! Winner will be chosen Friday.



Good luck!