Fancy Nancy Spa Day-- For Mom

The girls found our Fancy Nancy Spa Day book and planned a whole spa day for me .  It was so sweet.  Here are my little spa helpers.  

Reading about how to plan a spa day while I soak my feet. 

The girls sat me down and put my feet in a nice foot soak. 

While my feet soaked, they also rubbed lotion on my hands in a little massage.  Kolbe wanted lotion on his hands too.  

I got a banana and honey face mask....

Kolbe wanted in on the foot bath action.  

They made me a peanut butter rice cake (gluten free!- they know their mama).  

I had to choose a fun nail color....

Here is Kayla listing off the options to me  :)

She painted my nails a lovely lavender (Fancy Nancy's favorite color, duh!)

And then I got a makeover.  

I'd say they did a phenomenal job on the lipstick and hair, wouldn't you say? 

 

They gave me a refreshing La Crouix at the spa too.  :)

Final product (after I fixed that lipstick just a teeeeny bit)!

They told me about a million times how beautiful I was.  

Thank you, girls, for making your mama feel so loved and special.  

You are such sweet-hearted gals.  

And so FANCY!

Letter "S" projects

We have been busy bees this summer doing all sorts of things-but it has slowed our progress on our alphabet book.  We started letter S with Saint Sebastian sometime in June I believe, and we've only just finished the last of our "S" projects to finish this letter off and make way for letter "T".

1. Sun and Stars in the Sky

The girls had lots of fun with this one.  First step was working on coloring skills.  They grabbed all sorts of blue hued crayons to cover the page in blue sky. We added a little purple to the side that will be "nighttime".  For the older kiddo, you can have them cut out the rectangles for the sun and stars and the circle for the sun.  Then they go to town gluing their sun and stars on the page. 

2. A Snowman in Summer!

 

Cut out some shapes, draw an outline of a sandy beach area and some water and sky.  Like the last project, there is lots of coloring to start and then glue on the different shapes and pieces.  The girls drew crayon sunshines in case you weren't sure it was, in fact, SUMMER!  :)  This project was (or course) a hit because it has Olaf.  Who doesn't love Olaf?  Now, do YOU want to build a snowman?

3. Tissue Paper Snake

Draw the outline on the paper, let them tear up tissue paper and glue.  Easy and cute.  My 3 year old sort-of covered the snake's eyes, but it gives it the appearance of being even more sneaky don't you think?

4. Saxophone

 

I cut out the s-shaped saxophones and the girls glued them on the paper.  Next we read a library book about music and musicians and we paid special attention to the page with the saxophone player.  The 3 year old isn't really drawing people yet, so my 5 year old totally did that part for her.  But drawing people is a great skill for the kids to practice as they grow and develop.  It's rather neat to see all the details she puts in.

5. Toilet paper roll Sunflowers

 

Use toilet paper rolls (squeeze the edges to make the petal shape instead of a circle) to stamp yellow "petals" around a painted black circle.  Use a paintbrush to fill in the petals with color and also to add a stem and some leaves.  

5 year old

She needed no assistance other than verbal direction

3 year old

She needed assistance with each step and had a hard time stamping the petals in a circle around the black circle she painted.  I helped with that step and then directed her to paint yellow inside the petals and add a stem, which she did on her own for a neat 3 year old finished product.  

1 year old

I started out a black circle for her and she took the brush and added flare.  I had to do the actual stamping of the petals for the flower, though she did enjoy stamping all around the page on her own.  I tried having her paint in the petals, but she mostly just added more yellow to the page in various places and when I gave her the green, she did the same.  Very abstract, but still quite cool, I thought, and she got to have fun with paint.  

Summer Reading list idea

I am always a bit bored with the summer reading programs put on by our local libraries.  I mean, I love that they are getting kids reading, but I always wish there was a little more direction for kids than "Read this many hours or X amount of books".  I get that it's pretty tough to get kids to read, but maybe that's because we rarely make it any fun nor do we introduce them to a variety of literature or take time to explore and discuss it with them.

Our girls are young, but each of them has a FUN summer reading list that I developed. We are only a few days into it and there's already a need to head back to the library to get more books because are so excited to read (be read to at this point).  The best part is that I have not even mentioned the fact that they will get a prize of any kind yet.  They are just excited about the books and putting check marks on their chart!

I am realizing that I should have put even more books on here for my (almost) 5 year old.  She is eating it all up.  Perhaps I will make another small one once this is completed.  She doesn't know about the prize anyway...

We are making it simple and she can get a mini-prize (AKA a fruit snack) for every horizontal "tic-tac-toe" and then there will be a grand prize for the completed "blackout". 

* Note: You could give a prize for every "tic-tac-toe/BINGO" horizontal, vertical, and diagonal, but I personally think it's unnecessary and might take away from the excitement they get about actually reading and move the focus to prizes, prizes, PRIZES! 

This is the summer reading chart for our 3 year old.  Our 1 year old has one too with 9 squares,
 but more nursery rhymes, books about babies, and less books total than this one for our 3 year old.

You may have noticed the "book extension" in the lists above.  That can be a little craft/outing/activity that somehow relates to one of the books you read.  So if you read a book about butterflies, perhaps you might go for a walk and look for butterflies or visit a butterfly house or color/paint a picture of a butterfly. 

Below is a list of categories that you could use to develop your own summer reading challenge for your kid(s).  Our 5 year old has a love affair with ballet, so we were sure to include that theme on her list.  Be sure to find ways to bring your child's unique interests into the summer reading, but not allow them to take over, so that they still get a variety.  

Book categories/themes:

* ABC's                     * Numbers/counting                   *Colors

*Animals                    *Dance/sports/recreation            *Music

* Nature (some that are JUST pictures are ok, too; just spend time looking and discuss what they see)

* Art/artists                *Books in the same series           *Rhyming books

*Nursery rhymes        *Chapter books                         *Poetry

* Humor/funny           *Saints and Biographies              *Bible stories

*Historical fiction        *Mystery                                   *Non-fiction

*About a favorite character (i.e. Winnie the Pooh or Fancy Nancy or Nate the Great...)

*Time period              *Math concepts (i.e. time, fractions etc)

Making these reading challenges inspired ME too, so I made up a simple Summer Reading challenge for myself too.  I've already begun and I have been so glad that I challenged myself to make more time for reading (for me!) again.  It's wonderful.

My summer reading list

• 1 Historical fiction book
• 1 book recommended by a friend
• Read a chapter of one of the Gospels each day
• 1 Classic
• 1 Non-fiction book
• 1 book about a Saint
• 1 book of poetry

Any book recommendations that would fit into any of our categories?

Please share your favorites with us

and let's READ!

Clare's Costly Cookie- a book review

*disclaimer- I was given this book to review.  All opinions are my own.

Clare’s Costly Cookie by Julie Kelly is a chapter book generally intended for readers ages 7-11, I think.   It is about a young girl who deals with various life situations that may not be exact matches to your own life, but are general enough that anyone can relate, even the adults in the family!  In each chapter, Clare learns and puts into practice how to develop a prayer life.  She speaks to Jesus honestly and as a child, telling him random tidbits of her day as well as sharing troubles she faces.  She talks to Jesus about common problems like fighting with her brothers and sisters, her difficulty sitting still at Mass on Sunday, and her struggle to obey her parents at times.  The book also draws upon the lives of the Saints as Clare learns about various Saints and applies their example to lessons she is learning. 

 The book can easily be applied for older or younger children as well.  The book could be read and discussed as a family with the situations being applied to each member.   Our household is made up of very young children, so I chose a different approach when reading the book with my girls.  We try for a chapter every couple days.  The chapters aren't long, but it takes times to stop and discuss vocabulary and ask questions so that the girls understand how it applies to their own lives too.  I have also come up with a little activity or craft for most chapters to help the girls internalize the concepts more at this age. 

Let me give you a few examples.  In the first chapter of the book, Clare gets really angry with her brother.  The story talks about her heart being like an ice cube when she’s angry, but God’s love can melt it and make it feel warm again.  We put an ice cube in a glass and thought of someone who we were having a hard time getting along with.  As the ice cube melted, we tried to think of as many nice things about that person as we could.  When we were done with our list, the ice cube was nearly melted, but not quite so we said a few Hail Marys for them until the ice cube was all melted.  We thought the ice cube might remind us to think nice thoughts and pray for someone who we are angry with to melt the icy anger in our hearts and help us learn how to love better. 

In several chapters, Clare learns about the Eucharist.  It can be a tough topic for adults, so it’s certainly not an easy one for kids either, but I loved the way the author breaks down the teachings to be manageable for a child.  In addition to the descriptions and Bible verses to discuss, we added our own personal  reflections and activities. We made the chalice and host below to commemorate the Last Supper this year (See blog post here for more details)  We also implemented an idea from the book to make special invitations for the kids to visit The King at adoration.  Another easy idea to help the kids understand about what a gift the Eucharist is, is to write thank you letters/prayers to Jesus.  For older kids who can receive the Eucharist it could be used after communion during the time of silent reflection.

   

My favorite chapter was the one that addressed the Rosary.  In it, the author has Clare learn that praying the Rosary is like taking Mary's hand and walking through the life of Jesus, remembering all that he did and said with her. It painted a wonderful picture in my mind and was a fun way to teach the girls about what a precious gift and weapon the Rosary is.  We did the project below to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and revisited it when we read the chapter in Clare's Costly Cookie about this beautiful prayer. See previous post with Our Lady of the Rosary craft.

My daughters love to read this book and try to silently listen to Jesus talk to them in their own hearts.  It would be a great book to read during Advent or Lent to better prepare our hearts, but the concepts addressed in the book are appropriate for any and every time of year.

The book is available at several websites online if you would like to purchase a copy for your child, godchild, grandchild, or a friend.  Find Clare's Costly Cookie at the following sites:

Sacred Heart Books and Gifts

Seton Home

Cathoic Heritage Curricula

Holy Heroes

My only critique is that I wish the Table of Contents listed the main concept being taught for each of the chapters as well as the chapter title to make it easier to look up specific topics for review later.

Be sure to bake up a batch of delicious chocolate chip cookies and sit down and dive into this book with your family.

N projects - Nest

Here is the project.  Below are directions for how we did it. Have fun!!

The girls LOVED everything about this project.  We got some inspiration from a long time favorite of mine and a recent favorite of Kayla and Elise's, The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman .

Elise "reads" the book to herself like this: "I love my ness, I love my ness!"  And when it comes to the part where Mr. Bird thinks that the big, fat cat ate Mrs. Bird, she reads in this ridiculous little sad voice.  "Oh no!  The fat cat ate Mrs. Bird!" (fake crying sounds)

So we made our own nests for a letter N project.  First we had to gather materials for our nest like Mr. and Mrs. Bird.  We went outside and found things like leaves, clover flowers, and grass.  Inside we found construction paper scraps and pieces of old rubberband.  

Next, I made a simple outline like this

I took the picture before I realized that I didn't write NEST

Third, add glue to the nest

Then, add all the fun pieces you gathered.

Last, I made a simple bird from construction paper.  The girls helped me glue and came up with ideas for various hats the birds should wear.  

And here are the finished products!

the ham

look at those eyes.  wow.

Henri Matisse inspired art

Henri Matisse lived and painted in Paris.  Later in his life when he was already a noted artist, he moved to Nice (that's pronounced Neece) in France, a place where he found much inspiration.

Matisse was excellent with colors and in some of his favorite pieces he used paper cutouts to "sculpt" (as he said) pictures.

A Bird or Two is a book about Henri Matisse

some examples of Matisse's paper cutouts.  In the Fancy Nancy book,
if you look closely you can see she is making a butterfly out of
construction paper cut outs.  (This inspired our butterfly pictures later in this post)

We attempted our own versions of Matisse's art style using paper that Kayla and Elise painted previously.  I helped Kayla and Elise cut (and tear) the paper into smaller pieces and they glued them onto a new paper to form their own pictures.

As you can see, Elise's picture is really just a bunch of pretty cutouts
pasted on the paper in no particular order or fashion. 

I was highly impressed with Kayla's finished product.  She did this completely ON HER OWN.  She made herself and a flower.

Impressive, no?

Our next pieces of artwork were inspired by our Fancy Nancy-Aspiring Artist book.  Fancy Nancy was, of course, inspired by Henri Matisse for her butterfly project, and so in turn, were we.

This time we cut out the pieces of the butterfly and painted them and then glued them onto another paper for a lovely finished product.

 

Kayla's piece
Notice she tried out some dots and stripes

Elise's piece
Kayla filled in a bit since Elise left about half of it white, so I guess it's really only half hers.