So Grateful!

I can't even begin to tell you how EXCITED I am about this! Jeremy's mom, Dawn, saw that I was doing preschool with Courtney, and said she had some stuff from when she used to do daycare/preschool, and asked if I wanted any of it. I was expecting maybe a folder or two of worksheets, some songs ideas, coloring pages, etc. THIS is what i got!!!


That box of folders has EVERYTHING in it! All the holidays, seasons, months, shapes, colors, counting, math, reading, alphabet letters, seriously...everything. Worksheets and activities and crafts for every subject. Plus it has over 40 empty folders in the back which is PERFECT for the book up in the top left hand corner. This book has over 40 games.... You laminate the folders and the pieces and it all goes together so each folder is a game....

This is one of the games... you laminate the bodies onto the inside of the folder, then laminate the other pieces... heads, hats, etc and keep them seperate in a baggy... Then the child can mix and match to make different characters. This particular game takes 2 folders...for 16 different heads and bodies. And there's over 40 of these games, colors, seasons, counting, numbers, letters, sounds, rhyming, everything. This book is my main project right now, to get everything colored, cut, and laminated. Courtney is going to LOVE THIS!!!! It'll be great for sacrament meeting, too. nice quiet games to keep us both entertained ; ) ...(the whole book is like brand new since Dawn would make copies, then use the copies instead of pulling it out of the book)


Then there's the big fat craft books and art books, which is great. It has kid recipes as well, so Courtney can help me make her snacks : ) And there's thousands of stickers up there, too! Just everything imaginable that you could possibly want for preschool. All this stuff ranges from her Age 2 now up through elementary school. We are set : )

A MILLION thanks to Dawn, you are the greatest! We are so so appreciative and excited and grateful for our new preschool treasures.

PreSchool

I've been working on preschool stuff with Courtney for a while now, and it's always been that stuff is scattered through the house, stories are upstairs, painting stuff is in the kitchen, computer stuff downstairs, who knows where the crayons went, and what happened to the puzzles? So after reading my friend Andrea's blog (she does homeschooling with her kids and has an AMAZING blog http://allaboutentertainingkids.blogspot.com) I was inspired to get everything put together in ONE PLACE so we're not chasing around the house looking for stuff. The only plausible place for this was her play room, so I made it work. Introducing the Playroom/PreSchool Room!


I cleared out this cupboard that was storing old toys (which are now in the closet) and dedicated it to our preschool supplies. On the top shelf we have coloring/painting books and stickers, crayons, and a big tub of snacks (graham crackers, gummy fruit snacks, animal crackers, etc)
Next shelf down is art supplies: glitter, glitter glue, paints, paintbrushes, art pads, and play dough.
The shelf under is alphabet blocks and building blocks. The next shelf being all her "educational books" counting, colors, shapes, opposites, etc.
The last shelf is for her puzzles.


At the dollar store I found these two posters for the alphabet and for numbers and counting. The table and chairs is where we sit and do projects and such.

Katy got Courtney a Dora calendar, so I hung that up on the wall, and we do Days of The Week each morning and find what day it is.

And here's my happy little preschooler : )
For anyone looking for a GREAT preschool site, www.starfall.com is AWESOME! We start each morning of school learning the alphabet letters, writing a letter, and putting together a gingerbread man and a jackolantern. Courtney LOVES it and is learning so much from it, it's amazing.

My Little Artist

Who needs paper when you have nails that need done?

Think I could sell this in some gallery for thousands of dollars? : )

If you could sleep anywhere....

If you could sleep anywhere, where would it be? Courtney chooses the kitchen counter. : )

Courtney's January Funnies

(Talking to her Polly Pocket Doll)
"You're a pain in the butt, you little Bean Dip!"

(Licking the beater)
"Yummy! What's your special ingredient, Mommy?"

(Laying her head on my chest)
"Hey, you feel soft just like a pillow!"

(After she made a mess of all her toys)
"Mommy, it's kinda messy in here. You should clean up a little."

(I gave her some marshmallows)
"Gracias!"

(Crying in her crib)
"Mommy, I'm whining and boobing and crying. ...Babies like to cry, but I'm a big girl!"

(Looking out the window with Jeremy)
Courtney- "There's pinecones up in that tree!"
Jeremy- "yep."
Courtney- "Ruger hanged them up there with his teeth!"

(Telling me a story)
"There are skunks EVERYWHERE! We better hide behind a moo cow...Oh NO! The moo cow went away! The skunks live in their house just down the road. By the railroad. We better look out for the moo cow...we better sneak up behind the house...*GASP* Let's sneak up behind the horsie! I saw a horsie under the table with a moo cow (snapping piece of folded paper shut) I CAUGHT THE HORSIE!! Let's sneak up on a moo pig! (Waving crazy straw) Go away skunks! Don't bother me! I'm squooshing you!..... Hey Mom....whatchya writing?"

(Eating lunch at the table with me, examining my face)
"Something's not right here. Hmmm.... something's not right here. Your eyes are in the same place, and your nose is in the same place, and your lips are in the same place, but something's not right here...."

(Grabbing my nose)
"Got your nose!" ...then proceeds to pretend to swallow it, and burps.

(Telling Jeremy the same story over and over during dinner)
"....and Ruger knocked me over, and I fell in the snow, and got snow in my face....yah, and Ruger, he knocked me over! and I fell in the snow, and I got snow in my face...."
me- "Courtney, are you going to eat your dinner?"
Courtney- "No, I'm telling Daddy a story because he likes this story!"

(Sitting on my lap, looking at Craigslist)
me- "Hey, that's cute!"
Courtney- "Yah, that is cute. You could probably buy that pink kitchen for me for ten bucks!"

(playing in play room, Jeremy zipping his sweatshirt up and down fast)
Courtney- "Hey, you stop doing that."
Jeremy- "Why?"
Courtney- "Because I'm getting tired of it!"

Playing Catch Up

Play Date
This is Courtney's friend, Isa. Her mom, Megan and I have been best friends since we were in diapers. Now our little girls are best friends, and they look JUST like we did when we were their age! We had a play date this morning, and they had the best time playing together : )

Catching up on Christmas
These pictures are actually backwards since that's how I downloaded them, so we ended the day at Jeremy's mom's house.



The middle of the day was spent at my mom's house. This picture was too funny not to post (look at Doug's face!)


We joke that my parents' driveway looks like a used car lot when we all get together.


We woke up Christmas morning around 8:30 and opened presents in our living room. Courtney was super excited that Santa came!


On Christmas Eve, Courtney left Santa a note and some fudge, and we couldn't forget the reindeer, who were also hungry, so we left them carrots.



Shoveling Snow
Here's Courtney helping Daddy shovel the driveway. And I just barely now accidentally deleted the picture of the two of them shoveling together, and I don't know how to repost it without it going to the top of the post, so you'll just have to use your imagination. It was cute!


Painting Bathrooms
And here's Courtney helping Daddy paint the bathroom. What a good little helper!