Five on Friday

{ONE} Crafts

A few weeks ago, I introduced a new website that I found where you can print out worksheets, crafts, and thousands of other things to work with your kids and help to stimulate learning. My hope is to share some of my finds {since there are so many great things out there} with you every week. I'm actually trying to incorporate this on a daily, and we are starting to have a fun little "school learning" routine.

Anywho, more on that later. About those worksheets and crafts. Here are my favorite for the week.

1.  9 ways to learn shapes {in a fun way!}
2. Understanding patterns, and following them {they have many different kinds}
3. Practicing fine motor skills
4. Sight word Bingo--- this is a favorite for Elli, and she loves to shout "bingo!" We kind of twisted the rules to make it work for just her {since we aren't playing it with others}. I say the words that are on her board, and she finds them and covers them out with the cut out doggy, kitty, or birds. It's a great way to recognize the different words!
5. Bat craft-- I followed the rules, then taped a popsicle stick on the back, and we used the stick to fly the bat around. I then googled information on bats {because, this mama here doesn't know little weird facts}, and found out fun things to share with E. Such as --- Bats are frugivores, and insectivores {majority eat fruit and insects}. They are also the only flying mammal! Fun huh. 
6. And lastly, most importantly, a quick and important article on preschool activities and boundaries. I have learned to step away and get frustrated, but I only learned that because I made my own mistakes and learned from them. You know, sometimes I wish we had a video camera watching us throughout the day, and when the kids are in bed, we watched it back. I bet many of us would cringe at how we, as parents, react sometimes. I know just replaying the internal video {and audio} camera in my head, I tend to cringe. But, that's the beauty of parenthood, it's never perfect and we grow through time and experiences.

{TWO} Pictures.

I know that no one else probably misses the pictures on this blog, but I know I do miss opening up this space and seeing my two little loves. Not to mention my family members that keep calling me asking..."Where are the pictures!" So pictures, here they are. Just a few.

{THREE} Cold.

Everyone in our house got it. It first started with E {I think I mentioned this last Friday. I went to work Friday and came home Saturday morning feeling like a truck ran over me. Had to call in sick Saturday and Sunday. Passed the cold on to my son, who then passed it to my husband. So we have all been battling a cold in this household, but are thankfully on the mend. 

Speaking of cold, it's been a cold on out there. It went from hott to cold. No in between. So actually it's been kind of nice being cooped up in the house with my family. Sometimes? It's nice not to be running around from one activity, play date, and commitment to the other. 

{FOUR} Goals.

I want to do something with this blog, these ideas that are brewing inside of me. I have discussed many things with my husband about starting something, but I just have not had the push yet to actually do it. Time has sort of gotten the best of me, and with so many other obligations pulling me in different directions, it's been hard for me invest any more of my time and energy on to a new project.

But I do. I have these dreams. These dreams of starting a website. These dreams of making a mom planner. These dreams and ideas.

I just hope that I push toward them, and not let other things get in the way. We shall see. I'm excited to share some of the ideas that I have.

{FIVE}

Ebates. Look, I'm not going to stop hasseling each and every one of you, until I know that you are all shopping through this site. It's free money and I just can't get past the idea of taking a second to go to that website and then shop through there so that you can get money back for the things you shop online for.

And look, Christmas is right around the corner, and I know all you homebodies like myself, with antsy children like myself, who can't ever go to a real store and prefer to shop online. So? Why not reward yourself.

Perks? Get a free $10 gift card {of your choice} after signing up and making your first purchase {wherever your heart so desires}. And then on top of that refer only two people and get a $50 bonus. Seriously, did I mention all of this is FREE.