Scholastic April Review - A Butterfly is Patient

As soon as we turned to the first page of this beautifully illustrated book, my kids and I were oohing and aahing.  For two years, we lived within minutes of a gorgeous butterfly house and fell in love with these amazing fluttering creatures. I thought we knew quite a bit about butterflies, but as we read this book together, we learned several new facts and were introduced to many new species! 

Did you know that the largest butterfly in the world has a wingspan of up to one foot and the smallest’s is less than one third of an inch? Or that caterpillars eat poisonous plants so that they become poisonous as adults to protect themselves from predators? We had no idea! Along with these fun facts, we enjoyed reading the names printed around the colorful butterflies as well like Southern Dogface, Great Purple Hairstreak, Ruddy Daggerwing, and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – just to name a few. We also loved how the author perfectly described these insects – creative, helpful, protective, and even magical.

My eight-year-old daughter says that she thinks this is a very interesting story for anyone who loves butterflies. What a spectacular springtime picture book!

 (Taken at our favorite butterfly house - spring 2011)

 
For more April book reviews, visit the Book Box Daily page at Scholastic.com!

*I am a member of Scholastic's Mom and Dad Squad and received a free copy of this book in exchange for my and my kiddos' honest review!

Last Sunday Afternoon...

This was the year that we finally got a little creative with our Valentines and spent last Sunday afternoon creating Tootsie Pop super heroes (thanks to Pinterest)...

and friendly foam owls (thanks to Michaels)...

and sharing the connection between the two with my kiddos.

"Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?"

"Well, let's see. One. Two. Three." 

CRUNCH!!!

Abby thought it was pretty darn funny that ol' Mom was able to recite a commercial from SO long ago. 

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

The world may never know. 

Sometimes I even surprise myself.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses...

I have A LOT of them.

Honestly, facebook has become like a mini-blog for posting all the cute kiddo pics and everyday happenings - if only I could bring them all over here, I'd be all caught up!

Between going back to school part time as a Learning Support teacher (did I happen to mention that?), kiddo activities and appointments, an insane work schedule for the hubby, writing Scholastic book reviews, managing B kids social media, and collaborating with my amazing artist brother on a super secret children's book series idea (hoping to submit soon!), I have been swamped! I didn't even mention laundry and errands and housework and teaching dance....yep, more excuses. 

In the meantime, I am still posting "teach it simple" ideas and pics on twitter - @teachitsimple2. Check out our Punxsutawney Pudding Cups we made for Groundhog Day (idea from FamilyFun)! I swear, I couldn't stop eating those peanut butter chips - oh my goodness!

Time Flies When You're Having Summer Fun!

It was really not intentional.

However, it seems that between the end of the school year craziness, dance recital week, a trip to VA to see the family, playdates, pool parties, my boy's 6th birthday, keeping up with my freelance writing, and just everyday life, my poor blog has been abandoned. So for the handful of friends/readers who pop over every once in awhile, please accept my apologies. :-)

At the rate this summer is passing by, I have at least managed to post on facebook and in tweets (thanks to my phone with which I have a love/hate relationship). Something is better than nothing, right?

 I am hoping to carve out some time to catch up and document some of this summer fun (and post a few slumber party highlights - yes, I did survive. You may have been wondering - haha!). In the meantime, I've been posting fun stuff for little ones on the B Kids facebook/twitter/google + pages and commenting over at GoldfishSmiles.com.  But if you'd like to see snippets of what we've been up to - you can find me on twitter @teachitsimple2. In fact, I just posted a pic of Noah's Lego Ninjago birthday cake that the kids helped me make. I ran with Family Fun's Ninjas in Training cake idea. (Thanks, Family Fun!) It was a BIG hit, and I discovered a new favorite (and somewhat addictive) treat in the process - pretzels and icing! yum!

Hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July and are having loads of summer fun!

Who Would Have Thought?

When Abby wanted to invite all of the girls in her class to her first sleepover birthday party, I figured that there was NO WAY that all of them would come - five or six tops.

Nine girls have RSVPed.

Nine!

And a maybe...plus Abby makes a possible eleven.

Eleven!

Wow. 

Must have been the invites...

(Yep! Abby and I stayed up a bit past her bedtime making these last week to hand out at school. They really only took about an hour to make, but we got a late start.  Idea from the super cute American Girl Snooze-a-Palooza Slumber Party book.)

Or it could be the fact that no one has invited every single girl to a birthday party all year - let alone a spa night/SLEEPOVER. 

Yes, I am crazy.

Wish me luck!

"It's 4:44! Make a Wish!"

...exclaimed my cute boy just a few minutes ago.

I am absolutely sure that he wished for another Skylander. (I tell ya, those marketing people knew what they were doing with that whole product line. Geez...)

Not too long ago, as the kids and I were driving along somewhere (Girl Scouts maybe?), I noticed the clock read 5:55 and told the kids to make a wish!

They were completely fascinated with the whole idea that you can make wish whenever the numbers on a clock are all the same digit.

11:11, 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 5:55 -

"That's SIX wishes a day, Mom!"

Good thing they never remember to wear those digital watches that Gramma and Papa got them for Christmas!

Guest Post: Teacher Appreciation Week

I love teacher appreciation week. I think it's awesome for the kids to have a chance to think about the things their teachers do for them and express their appreciation for all of those things.

Between the kids, there are six teachers/aides. This year we tried to focus on some inexpensive ways to give to the teachers. Each day there's a theme. These are the first two:

Fruit/Flower Day:
Rather than giving traditional fruit or flowers, the kids drew pictures of flowers on cardstock and signed their names on the back. Then we cut them out and used self-laminating sticky sheets to laminate them. Now their teachers have a pretty bookmark that they can keep.

Gift Card Day:
Instead of doing monetary gift cards, we decided to do gift certificates for a free car wash. We put our phone number and when the teachers need a car wash, the kids and I will go and wash their car for them. The kids are SO excited about this one. What kid doesn't love to play with a water hose and soap suds?

*Jenny is a mom of five, makes the best banana cream pie I've ever tasted, and is WAY more creative than she gives herself credit for. Thanks for posting, Jen! - Kelli