Thursday's Thing to Do: Cereal Necklace

Honestly, is there anyone out there that has never had a cereal necklace or bracelet?

(if so, today is YOUR day!!!!) 

 

They were my favorite as a little girl. 

However, in that transition time between little girl and mom, I forgot about them....until today. 

I'm thinking about how fun it will be to do.  I bet my son would even like it because it's food...

as long as every piece of cereal is either blue or green since he's realized that pink is "ewwwww girlie" and pink, if touched, will give him the plague. 

 

If you've had amnesia and forgot about this simple fun, here are the tips on what you need and how to do it:

 

 

Cereal Necklace: 

(a.k.a. The Wearable Snack)

 

Cereal (multi-colored is extra fun, and the cereal should have holes in the middle.  If you have older kids, you could use cereal without holes and have them use a thread and needle---if you trust them with such weapons while sitting in close proximity.)

 

Yarn (cut in 3 foot sections) OR thin licorice ropes

 

Development: This a a great activity for preschool age kids to practive their fine motor skills as they string the cereal on the yarn.  You can also use this as an activity with learning colors, or practicing their sorting skills. 

 

Tips: With young children it can help to tape one end of the yarn onto the table while they string the cereal onto the other end, this way it doesn't fall off constantly.  When they're done, help them tie the ends together. 

 

***And please remember, necklaces can be choking hazards if they're climbing trees, etc. etc.  So, be wise.

 

Thursday's Things to Do: Printable Actitivities

I know there are a lot of websites out there to easily google and find what you'd like, but I thought I'd share one I recently found:

PrintActivities.com (yes this is a link)

I'm REALLY liking it.  It has activities, puzzles, dot-to-dot pages, coloring pages,.... you get the idea.  And I love how easily it's catagorized by THEMES.  And of course it's all FREE, which I always love.  :) 

 

Here's a little taste....

 

Let's say you read the story "The Three Little Pigs" today ...why not have a little extra fun and follow it with a little piggie and wolf maze such as this....

Anyway, just thought I'd share...

MOMents

Yesterday as our family was sitting semi-reverently in church, my five-year-old son abruptly said, "What's that smell!?"  he leaned toward me, sniffed, then he backed away from  me and said loudly, "Mom, it's YOU!"  Yep, I actually wore perfume...it's been ages since I've done that.  And obviously he wasn't so impressed....  I'm pretty sure what others within ear-range were thinking.  Slightly embarrassing.  My husband whisper-chuckled.  I sighed.  My son had his nose turned up like he'd just smelled a skunk...at least until his sister stole his crayon box.  Ahhh....MOMents

~Me, the Blog Author, mother of Two

Wednesday's WORD: I Use to Know A LOT

I knew A LOT about marriage and motherhood. 

And then I got married and became a mother and learned that I don't know much.

I've been working on a major project: Organize Everything! 

I may or may not have jumped into a disaster.  You see, I've pulled out all the files from the filing cabinet, every box of papers, folders, notebooks, file boxes, and every pile of things in the house (including in drawers, closets, ...you get the idea).  Some things are recent, and others have been hidden on purpose since we got got engaged almost a decade ago when I had to quickly move out of my college apartment and in with my parents to save money for a couple months, and then there are the boxes of things my mom found in the back of her closet that are "mine".  I think she saved every picture I ever drew.  You see, when I say EVERYTHING, I'm really meaning everything.  Oh yeah, and I also have lots of printed photos from back in the day before digital cameras.  I took all these things into one room, (it use to be where my son read books and played with legos...those activities have migrated temporarily to a different area of the house), and I've banished anyone from that room until my project of overcoming my unorganizedness is conquered.  You see, I use to be quite unorganized.  I married an organized man.  I've been learning from him.  I'm glad.  But now those piles are DRIVING ME CRAZY and I want to get it ALL done.  Thrown away, or put somewhere useful.  I'm sick of the hidden but not forgotten boxes.  I'm tired of moving them each time we've moved (though we're probably in this home for a while since we bought it).  I'm wanting to DE-CLUTTER, SIMPLIFY, ORGANIZE.  You get the idea. 

So, what does this have to do with what I use to know?  It seems totally unrelated doesn't it.  But it's not.  You see, before getting married, and before having kids, and while I was in school getting my awesome possum degree, I kept a lot of things that would help me be the-most-awesome-rockin-mother-EVER!!!  And when I was in school getting my degree I learned tons of great stuff.  And then I worked for a university teaching people how to teach kids and coming up with lessons for preschoolers.... I have a lot of stuff and learned a lot and I have PAPERS to prove it.  As I've been going through things I've been reminded of all I use to know.  If only I could remember all of it each day.  If I did, I'm sure I'd never become impatient with my kids because I'd understand exactly what stage of development they're in and about how long it lasts, how to communicate with them without conflict, how to teach self sufficiency with a perfect balance of obedience, and I'd have creatively fun ideas galore coming out my ears for every minute of the day and would never hear my son say "I'm bored!".  But I guess it doesn't work that way.  Everything I learned didn't stick.  I'm human.  I get tired.  I forget.  I try to remember.  And experience is a completely different kind of knowledge than the knowledge from notes I wrote during lectures in college.

So, I think I'll be okay with not "knowing" as much as I use to.  I'm having the chance to experience what I didn't have before but dreamed about.  And experience is better.  Experience gives hugs, kisses, and a homemade cardboard-box-fishtank gift for Mother's Day.  It doesn't get better than this! 

Experience is a knowledge of the heart. 

Wednesday's Word

"DO SMALL THINGS

WITH GREAT LOVE."

~Mother Theresa