Jackpot Frisbee

Lizzy hit the jackpot on one of those kiddie slot machine type games at Peter Piper Pizza last week. I think it was only her second try at it that night that she hit the jackpot and won 250 tickets. Yes, all the little kids there crowded around to watch as the machine made all kinds of loud noises and spewed out 250 tickets.

Even though she hit the jackpot 250 tickets plus the other 50 she had doesn't get you much in terms of prizes at Peter Piper. Lizzy picked the Frisbee, a boomerang, 3 pencils, 2 notepads, and a lollipop. That weekend Lizzy tried out her frisbee and boomerang it was lots of fun! I think Lizzy's starting out well here in Arizona...next stop the Casinos.

Release of the Butterflies

We released the butterflies at a nearby park a few days after they all had hatched. Lizzy learned about the butterfly cycle and they are actually doing this same project at her school so she already knows what to expect. The kids at her school are so excited. All five of our butterflies hatched and were released into the park.

Color Changing Carnations

As a science / Spring activity Lizzy and I picked up carnations at the grocery store to do the color changing carnations experiment. Lizzy cut all the carnations to put in colored water. I used 12 drops of food coloring but I think I should have used more to get a better result. The carnations "drank" the colored water and Lizzy could see this in the changing carnation petals. The yellow and green worked best for us for some reason. Try this simple experiment at home to teach how plants absorb water and learn about plant growth.

Dress Up and Dance

Lizzy took a dance class through the Gilbert Recreation Center. It was a dress up and dance class where each class they dressed up and learned beginner dance. Some of the dress up clothes included hula girl, princess, tap dancer, and fairy. It was a fun little class for Lizzy to take.

Spring Break and Spring Training Game

Lizzy was out of school this past week for Spring Break. Lizzy had lots of fun with her grandparents who came from Indiana to spend Spring Break with her. At the end of the week Lizzy got to go to her first Spring Training game here in Arizona to see the White Sox vs. Cubs game with her grandparents.

We Have a Butterfly

This morning our first painted lady butterfly hatched. It hasn't moved much but then I did see it open and close its wings just once. From the outside with its wings closed it looks like a moth and open it looks like a monarch butterfly. Lore Butterfly Garden Kit also makes kits for hatching ladybugs, and praying mantis that can be found on amazon.com. We found this kit to be fairly easy and a nice way to witness the butterfly life cycle.

Easter Baskets and More

Easter is this month and Lizzy's Disneyland birthday is in May so I have created some baskets for those occasions! These are the items in Lizzy's Easter Basket:

Several Swim Suits
Sunglasses
Dora Watch
Crocs
Tooth Paste and Toothbrush
Travel Size Games
Coin Purse filled with lots of Quarters for Quarter Machines
Plush Toy

I also saw a cool idea in family fun magazine this month to put puzzle pieces in the Easter eggs you use for the hunt. Your child can hunt for eggs then build the puzzle if they have all the eggs the puzzle will be complete if not they have to keep searching. I like this idea this year because Lizzy likes puzzles and too much candy can just be a problem. I think we will do the puzzle hunt this year and have a couple sweets in Lizzy's basket.

Some Items in Lizzy's Disney Birthday Baskets:

Disney T-Shirts/Outfits and PJs
Mickey Birthday Book
Mouse Ears
Autograph book and Pen
Minnie and Mickey Backpack
Mickey and Minnie Plush dolls
Disney hair clips
Disney Photo album
Minnie Tennis Shoes

We are not telling Lizzy about going to Disney until her actual birthday. We will surprise her at the hotel with these baskets, balloons, and a call from Mickey Mouse on her Birthday letting her know what she will be doing on her birthday! Birthday dinner at Disneyland later that day!

More Baggie Books - Letters

Lizzy has made another "baggie book". This time we made a letters book using letter stickers and magazines. Lizzy picked her letters then found pictures of words in magazines to cut out and paste on pages with the corresponding letters. This activity is great for learning letters and letter sounds as well as teaching children how words and letters are found in everyday environmental print making them more aware of their environment while building literacy skills.

If you didn't see the post about photo book for baby you just need Ziplock bags, construction paper, stapler, and tape to create this book. Your child will be so proud to have created their every own book. This activity encourages literacy and letter recognition.

Home Organization - "Spring Cleaning"

I have been up to lots of cleaning and organizing lately and that has inspired this post. Mike and I have our weekly cleaning "chores" that we share but there are other cleaning needs outside the weekly chores we have so I have created a sort of "spring cleaning box" it has cleaning tasks outside of out normal cleaning chores that we draw from on the weekend to do. For example this week I drew the clean the fridge/freezer card, and mike drew the clean the carpets/sofas card. Lizzy helped with the fridge but this will be great when Lizzy is older and can complete a cleaning task on her own. Also great for larger families where each child can draw a task each week. When that task card is completed it goes into the "completed" file and once all are completed then our deep clean spring clean is completed.

As you can see the "Cleaning box" has made it's home next to the home management binder, meal planner, and my new projects binder that has all the home or activities projects I hope to do.

 

While I already followed Martha Stewart's cleaning routines found here. I learned of this new "spring cleaning" method from athomewithnikki on youtube. I really enjoy her channel and love how creating these systems into your home can make life and your household run so much easier.

Photo Book for Baby

Lizzy had a couple of those "I love baby" soft cushioned page photo albums by sassy you can find at babies r us or amazon. While those are great for babies to have and see family photos in you can also make your own very easily. These books are meant for babies to see familiar faces and develop name/face recognition while in a soft book that is easy to wipe clean. We have been enjoying making our own baggie books using Ziplock bags. Using Ziplock bags, some fabric of your choice, photos, and some batting you can make your own photo book for baby very easily and inexpensively.