B is for BEAR!

The alphabet...oh my...the alphabet. Twenty-six letters to form all communication. Little Miss is on the road of learning it and I am on the road of learning how to teach it. I have a new respect for teachers. I have always respected those in the profession, but now hold them in even higher respect. Teaching is not easy.

We have already worked with the letter A but I failed to take any photos while we practiced it. I, generally, fail at snagging photos while I am focused on my children. But 'B', I was more on top of things. But will admit, not a single one was edited for this post. First step for me was Googling pages for tracing the letter B. I found these two printables in the images that fit with what I wanted to teach. Little Miss did a great job completing them.

After we traced and wrote words on our dry ease board we headed into crafting. My daughter's favorite part of learning. I had no real plan or idea what we should make. The krafty part of my brain started spinning. I pulled out brown paper, pink paper, glue, safety scissors, google eyes, and a black small pom-pom. I thought about the parts of a bear and cut out crude shapes for those parts.

These really are only a fast attempt at crafting a bear. You can switch any of the colors to suit your own little crafter. Little Miss likes pink and brown. In the above picture, the parts are not glued down yet, I wanted to make sure I made them small enough to fit on the paper. I handed the glue stick over and watched the little creative mind work.

She was so happy to have the control of the glue and of the project. I did not tell her where the parts went, just what part of the bear they were.When she finished with the bear, she decided, "girly bear's have bows." I cut out a quick pink bow to make the girl bear complete.

The moment it was finished, we used "sticky tape" to hang it up on the wall by the dinner table. She loves to see it hung there and was so happy to show Daddy at dinner time.

It is not much, but it was enough for her. Please, feel free to use this idea when teaching the Letter B to a child. The BEAR craft, krafted me through a moment of life's kraziness.

♥Kelly

Vacation...relaxing away from home.

Hi! I went quiet. And to be honest, I am so glad. I was really tired, stressed, and run down. A break, a serious break was needed.

I have enjoyed a zoo in Madison, parks, family time, playing at my parents home, and more. Mostly unplugged from the internet and being in the moment of time with my children and family members.

I have had the honor and privilege to watch my Mom work with both of my children. And see them flourish into excited learners!

She has encouraged Little Miss to write, and Little Monster to play and talk. 

We celebrated 4th of July with family and enjoyed beautiful weather. My husband and I failed to see the evenings fireworks display due to an accident at the near by park.

Our Little Monster fell off a park slide and gained a buckle break on his left wrist. He was a champ, barely crying, but acted far from normal. So off we went to the ER. He is recovering nicely and is due to have his blue cast off later on today.

And we have been excited to watch and learn about Grandma's(Mom's) caterpillar turning into a moth or butterfly. We are not sure which it will be as we found him in the backyard.

And lastly for now, we celebrated Little Miss' 4th birthday. She is grew up so fast. Her smile gets brighter everyday and she cheers this Momma's heart daily. We had cake and presents on the Saturday before her birthday with just Papa, Grandma, brother, and I. Then, we went out to Chucky Cheese for lunch the next afternoon.

Surprisingly, she had the honor to meet the main mouse and take a few photographs. He even handed out free tickets, to which, she was able to get the swirly straw she wanted. A very exciting and fun birthday, exactly what a 4 years needs.

Vacation...yes, it has been busy and almost a month long. But it has been refreshing, enjoyable, fun, and blessed. I still more to do on my list before I head home next week, not sure if I'll time to share the goings ons but I will update you when I return home for sure. Happy summer!

♥Kelly

Little House of Crafting helps NaNoWriMo

November is just a day away!! Did you know that November is National Novel Writing month? I didn't until I met Toni of Little House of Crafting. She is an avid reader, writer and supporter of writing for all ages. She is setting forth to help others know more about writing. I hand over my blog for her to tell you a little bit more! Welcome Toni!! 

November is National Novel Writing Month!

Little House of Crafting is celebrating National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, by helping to raise money for The Offices of Letters and Light. The Offices of Letters and Light organizes events where children and adults engage in  the creative endeavor of creative writing. Events consist of NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo Young Writer's Program and Camp NaNoWriMo, during which NaNoWriMo can be completed in the summer months as well.

The NaNoWriMo challenge is to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of the month the member is participating in. That averages out to about 1,667 words per day. The writer is not alone in this challenge! Once signed up with a free username and password, NaNoWriMo members can customize their profile page, upload a novel cover, post an excerpt from their novel and much more! NaNoWriMo has a fantastic forum where members can join a regional forum with other writers in their community to attend a kick-off party, attend write-ins and attend the Thank God It's Over (TGIO) party at the end of the month. NaNoWriMo also enables you to have writing buddies so you can keep track of how your new friends are doing on their novels. You can read more about NaNoWriMo, or make a direct donation to NaNoWriMo here.

Little House of Crafting's Keep Calm and Write On pinback button was created to encourage the continuation of writing as a whole and in honor of NaNoWriMo. 50% of the sale price of this clip will be donated to The Offices of Letters and Light on December 1st in Little House of Crafting's name. The design is also available in magnet form for no additional charge!

The Keep Calm and Write On pinback button is professionally printed and made in the Little House of Crafting studio in Southeastern Michigan. The pinback buttons have already been made and will typically ship the next day! Creation of the magnets will take 1 business day prior to shipping.

This pinback button is great to wear on a lanyard, purse, bag or shirt. The magnets are secured by hand to the back of the button after the pin has been removed. The magnets are very strong and can hold up to 8 pieces of paper. You can purchase the clip in Keep Calm and Write On pinback button in Little House of Crafting's Storenvy shop.

Toni Conn, the owner of Little House of Crafting, will be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, as she has continually since 2007. Find out more about her novel and her progress here.

There is still time to help out Little House of Crafting with her cause to help out The Offices of Letters and Light -  stop by and purchase the pinback button or the magnet to help fund the month of literary abandon! Thanks!

♥Kelly