We had a wonderful Halloween party today! The children really enjoyed showing their friends their costumes. If you are wondering, Leightyn was Doc McStuffin, Klayden was an old man, Owen was a fire fighter and Adelyn (not pictures as she was napping) was a Cabbage Patch doll. I meant to get a group picture of all of them together but I never got a chance in the chaos. We had a whole day filled with spooky silly games and yummy treats. It was a fun time!
1 Comment
The children made spiderwebs today by snapping paint onto paper using rubber bands. It makes a loud sound which was very exciting for some and a little out of the comfort zones for others. I was proud that everyone was at least willing to try it once. Here's Little Miss Adelyn making music by hitting these blocks together and squealing with happiness!
Brrr! We needed to bundle a little before going outside today. Becker and Klayden bravely rode the spinning tire swing for the first time and they both fell in love. It was so cute to hear them say "More spins". Adelyn was having a field day with the leaves. I don't have the heart to tell her that they will be gone soon. It was so wonderful to watch Owen and Leightyn's creativity flowing with just this simple giant Rubbermaid tub. It turned into a truck, train, boat, hiding spot, turtle shell, table, present, and pedestal for jumping off of. We've been working on letter F this week and today began our 'F is for Fish' art project. Here's Klayden having some fish stampin' fun. Owen took some relaxing time and put together a 24 piece puzzle almost entirely by himself! Way to go buddy!
Adelyn and Klayden had fun together in the swing this morning. Here Addie is showing him some love. Becker loves, loves, loves this train! It's the first thing he finds every morning and he finds a special spot for it every night.
It very well may be the last day without coats! We loved it and even enjoyed one last picnic on the deck. As if the roller coaster needed to go any faster, Becker felt adding some gas would give it some extra power. How creative! Adelyn found a perfect seat in the back of the Tonka truck. Owen was a little jealous and tried to join her. We had some nice weather today and took full advantage by having what will probably be our last picnic in the park for the year. It was relaxing to watch the ducks and geese in the pond while we ate and we had a wonderful discussion about migration.
The children were creative and made room for everyone on the teeter totter today. How could I not take a picture of that!? Owen and Adelyn were snuggling during indoor free time and again, how could I not take a picture!? Silly Klayden decided that this was the most comfortable position to listen to stories during circle time this afternoon and again, I couldn't miss the picture opportunity!
Becker had some fun today building with the snap blocks. He would build towers and then turn the table on to watch it spin, play music and fall over. He thought it was hilarious every time if fell over. Klayden was checking out some of our new dress up close. Here he has a viking helmet on but do not let him fool you, he's still a packer fan! Adelyn has been loving the leaves and going down the slide without very much help from me. She can be found all over the yard now and usually with at least 2 leavesin her hands.
We went on a walk to the "far" park today and found some construction action on the way. Of course we had to stop and watch for a bit! On the way home we stopped off at the "close" park too! Lucky ducks! It was a bit cold today so Adelyn wanted to stay where it was warm!
We sadly had to say goodbye to our good buddy, Jackson today. We wish him the best of luck at his new daycare with his new baby sister! We had a small celebration for Jackson after lunch and gave him a little going away gift to remember us by. We will miss you buddy!
Leightyn and Owen were pretty excited to check out our new Frozen Look-and-Find book this morning. I think they found just about everything in 10 minutes! We were all happy to get out and enjoy the weather today. Owen even did a jig! Now, whether or not it was a result of having to go potty or happiness over the nice weather is up for debate. The children had fun painting corn art this afternoon using bubble wrap. We'll be finishing them up early next week.
Leightyn and Owen opened up shop in the kitchen today, selling all sorts of neat stuff. They were great salespeople. Bargaining might be Leightyn's middle name! If you ask me, their prices were a bit high and I think some of their items were hot! Adelyn liked the Chunky handled wooden puzzles I pulled out for her today. The whole group enjoyed a game of spooky number matching after snack time. We are all getting very excited for Halloween!
There are so many activities you can do with gourds and these were just a few that the children came up with! We counted them as well as compared and contrasted them based on size, color, bumpiness, and weirdness. We decorated the daycare with them, played hide-and-seek with them, and hauled them around in trucks.
Not only does Adelyn like to sit in the strollers, but she loves sitting and hanging out in the baby craddle too. Silly girl! We started our morning off with board games. The children chose one of their favorites- Cariboo by Cranium, which practices color identification, number identification and counting in addition to working on following rules, turn taking and sportsmanship. Becker was quite the cook today, making me all sorts of yummy treats! He makes the best pizza in town! Adelyn has been experimenting with the thought that one object can hold another and that only smaller objects can go into bigger objects. She's been developing her fine motor skills and practicing filling and emptying various containers, buckets, and cups. In this picture she is realizing that the coin, although she can fit it into the piggy bank, will not fit into the cup she is holding.
Our morning was full of music! Adelyn, Becker, and Klayden enjoyed instruments this morning. Leightyn had some fun pushing around quadruplets today! She creatively put 2 up front and 2 in the carrier below and all 4 could see! We welcomed our new friend Brendan today! He made himself right at home and had a great time. We were all excited to have him and look forward to his occasional drop-ins! Adelyn is just the right size to fit into the doll strollers and adamantly believes that they are for her own personal use. I find her stuck in them often and laugh every time! Here is a photo of her caught in action!
During circle time we brainstormed words that began with D. One little friend said, "My Daddy starts with D!" in which two others replied with excitement, "Hey! My Daddy too! These guys are so cute and I love my job! During art time we worked on our 'D is for duck'. Owen, Here's a picture of the secret hideout...shhh, don't tell! Adelyn is really starting to take interest in dressing up. She was so happy to have this eye patch on! Mr. Becker is such a music man. He loves the tunes that play on the Laugh & Learn House radio.
We have some ground squirrels in our yard that are frantically fattening up for winter. The children have loved watching them run back and forth with cheeks full of nuts. It's nice to step back and look at the world (and even these pesky rodents) from the children's perspective. However, it makes me wonder when I became so grouchy about things like these cute critters.
We took full advantage of the nice weather why we still have it. Adelyn is becoming more independent and likes going down the slide with as little assistance as possible. Owen and Jack were by her side for big friend support. She's more confident with her walking too, making it easier to get around the yard. She loves hanging out in the play cottage. Becker is becoming braver on the slide and will go down sitting up on his bottom versus turning around and sliding on his belly. He's so proud-- with a big smile he'll shout for everyone to watch him. Those dimples of his are just too adorable! Klayden was a busy guy today and takes his mowing very seriously! I couldn't get a picture of him doing anything else. Silly Mr. Caleb went from grumpy, telling me not to take his photo to voluntarily posing and asking me to take his picture. Here he is, all smiley and peeking at me through the cottage door. I'm glad he changed his mind--it's a cute snapshot of him! D is our letter of the week and we read about dragons and began our 'D is for duck' artwork. We're still enjoying our fall theme, reading about and discussing the fall harvest. Creativity at it's best! Owen, Becker and Klayden designed this really neat castle (with a little of my muscle power when I heard yells of frustration). It included a King's throne, front door and even a bathroom. Princess Adelyn was well protected from the dragon in this fortress!
Owen and Leightyn have a new favorite hang out spot behind the highchair and cubbies. Here they are with a bunch of cuddly blankets playing in the fall sensory bin. Becker is a deep thinker and I love watching him take time and make complete sense of his surroundings. Here he spent several minutes pushing and pulling the animal beads on our activity block and identifying the trail that each animal took. My sweet Adelyn has found a new hangout spot of her own...in the bucket of letters. She's been very interested in climbing in and out all sorts of things...boxes, buckets, laundry baskets, chairs, and her car seat to name a few.
The children were very excited to celebrate Jackson's 4th birthday today! Thank you to his family for bringing in awesome cupcake cones. Everyone thought they were delicious. Happy Birthday Jackson! We ended our day with some leaf stamping fun.
Klayden was one tired little guy today! Here he is, amidst complete chaos, catching some Zs in the rocking chair! I love how the children travel around with the dolls and cell phones. Caleb prefers the football hold. Adelyn was excited about our elephant ball popper that I pulled out this afternoon. The older children and I had fun watching her figure out how it works and how to catch the balls. As you can see, we had some outside fun today! |