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Showing posts with label printables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label printables. Show all posts

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Today I thought I would share some of my thoughts. This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with a Sunday Brunch the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I attended a family wedding on Saturday, and we figured we would celebrate as a family while I was there so I wouldn't have to make the drive again. I have to say it felt so good to realize that I had a week without any real demands or plans. I feel like I am able to relax this week and it is wonderful! I bought some premarinaded turkey tips to have with some mashed potatoes and stuffing. However, Hazel is eating at a friend's house so it may just be Steve and myself. 


I have been reflecting on how grateful I am for my blessings. I am very happy that Hazel seems very happy with her school and social life. I am happy we realized something was wrong with our little kitty, Fidget, and got him to the animal hospital in time for the threads to be removed without having damage. I am grateful for my job, my family and our pets. There are so many things to be grateful for in my life. As I was thinking about the holiday, I always wonder why we bring it back to the pilgrims and Native Americans of Plymouth. At the time there were other colonists on the East coast, so the pilgrims were not the first Europeans in these parts. 



Sarah Josepha Hale is the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving still. She was a devout Christian and thought the entire country should celebrate Thanksgiving as one. Some states had their own Thanksgiving days previously. Although she was from New England, I wonder if she truly meant Thanksgiving to be a day to remember the myth of the pilgrims and Wampanoag celebrating back in 1600s. I also wonder why we focus so much on Plymouth. At the time there were other colonies already in the United States. The Mayflower itself was off course for where it was to land in America. One of the big things the pilgrims did was establish the Mayflower Compact which carried over to setting up the government of the United States many years later. I truly believe the idea of Thanksgiving should not be about remembering the history that has been distorted over the years, but rather a time to reflect on what each of us is thankful for this year. It is a time to gather with family and friends and enjoy each other's company. It is a time to personally reflect on your own gratitude. Whether you are religious or not, it does not matter as each of us has something to be thankful for. 


So I hope today you will take time to reflect on your own life and consider giving thanks for all the blessings in it. With a day to myself, I know I will be doing just that.


I know that I am grateful for my family and friends, my job, our pets, our lives,... I am also thankful for my inner peace that I have found lately, and the friendships Hazel has. There are so many wonderful things to be thankful for and it is so important for us to remember them and give them thanks! Over the years I have shared many books, crafts, and fun facts related to Thanksgiving in case you are looking for something to do today. 



Pirate & Penguin -- Picture Book Review & Giveaway with Free Printable Match Game and Penguin Craft Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I will receive a small stipend for this review. I am working with Page Street Kids and The Children's Book Review to be part of this virtual book tour. All opinions are my own.

Do you know the difference between a penguin and a parrot? Do you know the similarities? Today's book is a fun book about an old pirate who thinks a penguin is a parrot. It is Pirate & Penguin by Mike Allegra and illustrated by Jenn Harney. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8. Be sure to scroll down for the craft round-up and giveaway!

My Love for You Is Like a Garden with Free Printable Match Game and Flower Craft Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Flying Cardinal Press for this blog tour post. I will receive a small stipend for posting my review.

Spring is in the air! I see the tips of our daffodils, tulips and irises poking out of the soil between the mounds of snow. Spring is my favorite season. I love watching the world come back to life. I saw my first robin last week, so I know the warmer weather will be here soon. That means it is time to think about my garden. Today I am sharing a beautiful book comparing love to a garden. I made a match game with the beautiful illustrations and have a round-up of flower and garden crafts as well as a giveaway!! It is fun post! The book is called My Love for You Is Like a Garden by Laura Smetana. 

Geometric Origami Project -- Origami Bunny Balloon Tutorial with Geometry Terms

 


In geometry class we have been talking about the special segments in triangles. It is the perfect time to introduce my origami project. To start I shared a tutorial with them making an origami bunny balloon. I use terms from our lessons like median, midsegment, angle bisector and more throughout the tutorial. The kids make one with me in class. Then I give them my assignment. The kids enjoyed spending the class trying different origami projects. You can watch my tutorial here. I love that I am making an origami bunny balloon when lunar new year is going on and it is the year of the rabbit in Chinese Horoscope. 

Dollhouse Scaling Project -- Geometry Class Project

 


This weekend I found a mini-room box kit on clearance at a craft store. I picked it up and thought it would be great for my classroom when I teach ratios, similarity and scaling. It is 1/24-scale which is also known as 1/2 scale. The 1/24 scale means that for every 24 inches (or 2 feet) an object is in real life, the miniature will have 1-inch. All the dollhouses I have worked with previously have been 1/12 scale or sometimes called 1:1 scale. It is for every 12 inches (or 1 foot) a real-life object is the miniature will measure 1 inch. The kit was easy to put together though I did mess up the wallpaper on one piece.

It's All About Love -- God's Love

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Valentine's Day is coming quickly. How do you celebrate it? We just exchange cards and sometimes I do something special with Hazel. Steve's birthday is right before it, so it seems a bit silly to celebrate them both so close together. As I was thinking about Valentine's Day, I thought of some activities to do with different ages of kids. The activities go with today's board book, so I'm going to share them all together. First the book. It is God's Love Is Like Sunshine by Sarah Parker Rubio and illustrated by Dream Chen. It is recommended for ages 1 to 4.

Celebrating Becoming a Teenager

 


I cannot believe it!! Hazel turned 13 last month!! Thirteen is such a big year. It is often when kids become young adults, as well as of course, they become a teenager! This year I wanted it to be extra special for Hazel. I came up with the theme of butterfly for her party. I told her it was because she is transforming into a teenager/young adult. She liked the idea of butterfly but did not like my reasoning. I began searching for 13th birthday ideas. I have a Pinterest Board for it if you want different ideas! I saw a printable that says "You have been loved for 13 Years..." I saw some on Etsy as well as some free ones, but I wanted to personalize it a bit. I had planned on having it printed as a poster and hanging it on her door for when she woke up, but that plan changed. Click on it to get a pdf so you can print it out at home.

Peaceful on Purpose

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Have you ever read a book that moves you and changes your life almost instantly? The book I am sharing is one of those books. It was so moving to me that I told Hazel and Steve that they need to read this book. All three of us tend to be anxious people and after this past year there is a lot to be anxious about. This book is perfect for anyone who feels anxious, stressed or worried. The book is Peaceful on Purpose by Joel Osteen. 

Printable DIY Advent Calendars and Week 1--Hope

 


Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is always my favorite time of the year. I love the preparation building up to Christmas. It always seems like such a happy time to me. The lights are hung and trees get decorated. People seem a bit more bright and giving. This year even Advent is looking different. We are not physically in church yet, so there isn't the beautiful organ music of Advent songs. But even with Covid the meaning of Advent and Christmas remains. Jesus was born to save us from our sins. To celebrate Advent I created three printable "Advent Calendars". Now we have a beautiful wooden Advent calendar that I need to fill each year. I decided to use one of these in our Advent calendar and one in her lunch box (at least the days she will be in school). The first ones I have to share are the names of Jesus. I made two versions. The first is a small and plain one with the different names in different colors and fonts. 

Weird But True: Halloween -- Fun Facts about Halloween with free printable

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Can you believe October starts tomorrow? October has been a bit of a dreaded month in our house. Since a young age Hazel has hated the scary and gory Halloween decorations and costumes. It got so bad I couldn't take her into stores with me in October. Last year she decided she no longer wanted to trick-or-treat. She use to love dressing up for trick-or-treating but now is getting older and not caring. Little does she know that there was a time where Halloween decorations included cupids to encourage romance. In fact Halloween was associated with love and romance. Yes, this is one of the weird facts I learned from National Geographic Kids Weird But True: Halloween by Julie Beer and Michelle Harris. 

New Year Traditions from Around the World


How do you celebrate New Year's? Most of the people I know go to a party or celebrate with their family at home, but have you ever looked at what some of the traditions are from around the world? There are some interesting ones.

Christmas Fun -- a Merry Monday Review

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Well today I am going to share our final Merry Monday review. I have saved some great ones for the end. Is your child counting the days until Christmas? I know Hazel is. She is so excited and anxious for the holidays. Today's products and free printable games will be perfect to help calm her a bit or at least distract her. Our first book is Christmas Paper Play by Lydia Crook. 

An Advent Table to Help Focus Us on Christ This Season


Every Christmas I see all the commercialism around. I mean Hallmark begins putting out ornaments in July. It is a bit crazy. I always like to create ways to keep our focus on the religious side of the holiday. After all we are celebrating the coming of Jesus, our Savior. Over the years we have gathered some great resources. One of our favorites are the four family storybooks for Advent we have reviewed (Jotham, Tabitha, Bartholomew and Ishtar). Each of these stories tell the nativity story from kids point of view. One is a shepherd and another is the son of one of the magi and so forth. The stories intertwine with each other and make the Advent stories quite an adventure. Hazel loves to reread them each year.

Oriental Trading's Fun365 --a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these items in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Have you discovered Oriental Trading's Fun365?  It is a site that has different craft projects and articles. There are choices of Party Ideas, Craft Ideas, Wedding Ideas, and Classroom Ideas. I was inspired by ideas from the Craft Ideas and Party Ideas. I had so much fun exploring the many ideas there. I let Hazel look and help me pick what we would try. In the Party Ideas section there is a Rainbow Party and one of the crafts is a DIY Rainbow Coin Purse. Instead of doing the coin purse we used DIY Totes. (See current available totes here.)I asked Hazel to paint a rainbow on one for me. She wanted to use the Pearlized Acrylic Paint (available paint). Then she wanted to do a heart rainbow, but hers turned out more like a circle. She also did a square but wanted to use the pink on it.  I did a heart one for her as well as a star and an H. 

Cheap Doll Finds -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these items in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. All printables are free but for personal use only. If you would like to share them, please use a link back to this post.

I have not done a cheap doll find post in awhile, but I decided it was time. One of my favorite places to look is Oriental Trading. They have so much for parties and crafts and if you are creative you can find some great items that work for dolls. I always start by searching "miniature" or "mini". I will admit Hazel and I have been checking things out for awhile since she is planning on having an American Girl themed birthday party this year. It was going to be a Beforever themed party until she got Saige as a hand-me-down. For the birthday party we knew we wanted to get the Mini Neon Tote Bags, so we will start with these. Hazel set up the scene as her dolls having a slumber party. The tote bags work for the girls to bring her things for the night. At Hazel's party they will be for the dolls to bring home their favors (and we are planning on getting the matching Neon Tote Bags for the girls). 

Free Fall Lunchbox Notes Religious and Non-Religious

Can you believe autumn starts tomorrow? I always like to include a note in Hazel's lunchbox (and one in her snack bag), so I made some with autumn themes. I also made some religious (Christian) and some non-religious so you can pick and choose. 


Religious Chapter Books

Disclosure: I was sent these books free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Hazel loves to read!! At times I cannot get her nose out of a book. She is into mysteries right now, but we have been really enjoying some Christian themed chapter books. Today we are going to share some of them with you. We shared the first book in the Chime Travelers Series with you previously. It is written by Lisa M. Hendey and illustrated by Jenn Bower. Today we will share the other four books in the series. This fun series is about twins who somehow are able to travel through time to meet and learn from various saints. They know it has something to do with the bells at their church, but cannot figure out how to make it happen or how to travel together. 

I Am Devotional Book Review & Game

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

We had a very fun weekend celebrating the United States' birthday. Hazel and I went to my parents at Cape Cod and got to see the fireworks, a parade and we went to a powwow. Plus we had time for swimming, mini golf and the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis. Then it was time to come home and get ready for work. Now I finally have a few minutes to share with you a wonderful new devotional for kids. It is I Am Devotional: 100 Devotions About the Names of God by Diane Stortz and illustrated by Diane Le Feyer. 

Books for Earth Day

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Saturday is Earth Day and to get ready for it, we have been having fun with many different books that go along with the Earth Day theme. I started sharing some on butterflies with you last night. Today we have many more on different themes. We will start with 23 Ways to be an Eco Hero by Isabel Thomas. 

Books for Black History Month

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

One of Hazel's favorite things is to learn about history and people. This month we have been enjoying four books from Candlewick Press that are perfect for Black History Month. They have also donated some of the amazing prizes for the Black History Month Series & Giveaway. (Have you entered yet?) One of the books in the prize pack includes Voice of Freedom illustrated by Ekua Holmes. Ekua illustrated a poetry book, Out of Wonder, by Kwame Alexander coming out in March. The books I am reviewing today I will in order of time for the history timeline. We will start with The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom by Bettye Stroud and illustrated by Erin Susanne Bennett.