First 100-Piece Puzzle

First Sewing Lesson

Big Ducky burst at the seam, so Rickey showed Gerrick how to sew him back together.

Monkey House Upgrades

Gerrick has added a few upgrades to his monkey house made of straws & connectors. He used his Magnetix set to build a generator so that it could have electricity.  He also added walls, a roof and chimney, and a Christmas wreathe on the front door. Of course this "monkey house" is exactly what our family room decor has been lacking!

Really Cool (aka Dangerous) Toys

In addition to an Iron-Monger action figure and a stack of fabric quarters, Uncle Coco & Aunt Melissa gave Gerrick an indoor trampoline for Christmas--perfect for using up excess energy!


Rick's cousin Larry gave Gerrick a pair of carpet skates; he loves using them as carpet skis!

Getting Acquainted with Clay

Santa brought 25 lbs of red clay, textured rollers, and clay hammers. Want to come over for a clay-date?

Christmas Morning Highlights--2008

The long-requested pirate ship (to battle the one Santa brought last year):


The mini remote-control monster truck:


The sock monkey:


Gerrick's gifts for Mama:


Gerrick's gifts for Daddy:


Straws and connectors:


We hope you've had a Merry Christmas!

Have a Merry Christmas!

(click on image to enlarge)

Don't Forget the Reindeer!

We hear they like dry oatmeal and sugar. Gerrick made a batch of reindeer snack using red and green sugar and is planning to set it on the back porch before going to bed. :)

Nutcracker Puppets

Gerrick enjoys looking at the assortment of decorative Nutcrackers whenever we go to Target, etc. This morning he wanted the picture of the Nutcracker on the back of my sheet of stamps. Only a couple of the stamps have been used, so I came up with an alternative. I found this image (click here), printed two on cardstock, and we colored them with watercolor pencils. Gerrick chose not to use water on his. My suggestion was that we make them into tree ornaments. He had a much better idea--stick puppets! While we colored and painted, we listened to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. Click here if you'd like to listen, too.

Happy Birthday, Nana!

When I suggested Gerrick paint some flowers for Nana, he said that he couldn't do it. He is so particular in thinking things have to look "perfect." I showed him Picasso's Evening Flowers to prove to him that all art doesn't have to be realism. This was just the inspiration he seemed to need.

Tall Tale Circus

Today the three of us went to the Main Nashville Public Library to see the Tall Tale Circus. We met Pecos Bill, John Henry, Calamity Jane, Johnny Appleseed, and Babe the Big Blue Ox.





After watching the show and checking out more books, we stopped in the Courtyard Gallery where we looked at the Happy Holidays Remembered exhibit--black and white photography of Nashville during the holidays and other memorabilia of the '50's and '60's.

Nature Walk

Today we went on a nature walk in the woods behind our house. We saw a lot of beautiful moss, lichen, and fungi; a couple of slugs; deer prints and droppings--but no deer. We see the deer, as well as turkeys, from our house almost daily. Gerrick was convinced that if we just stayed out there long enough we would see them up close.

(click on image to enlarge)

Penguins

After listening to me read the chapter book Mr. Popper's Penguins, Gerrick decided he'd like to learn more about penguins. We checked out a pile of penguin books from the library and have learned quite a bit about these birds. Today I helped him with some activities for his science journal.

First, he drew a penguin following instructions found here.





Next he sorted cut-outs of animals that eat penguins and that penguins eat and glued them in the appropriate section of this food chain found here.



Later, we reviewed where penguins live and completed this map activity found here and here.

Think!--Art Challenge

(click on image to enlarge)

Make a piece of art using the following materials: 2 rulers, 2 paperclips, 1 piece of paper, 3 colored markers, 1 cup of paint, 2 straws, crayons. You may not touch the paper, the markers, the paint, or the crayons with your hands.

We started at the table with the things he could touch placed on the left. He began by picking up some paint with a straw and trying to blow it on the paper. It didn't work, so he began dabbing the paint on the paper. He then told me he needed to use his feet, so I moved all the materials to the kitchen floor. He painted with the straw and the paper clip a little longer. Then he had me take a cap off a marker and place it between his feet. He tried drawing this way, but found it was hard to keep the paper from moving around. He then had me place a crayon between his toes. He held the paper with one foot while he drew with the other. He then tried blowing the paint once more. This time it worked better because he got a lot more paint on the end of the straw. He then decided to "camouflage" the paper clip that was on the paper by painting it with the straw. He drug the paper clip around with the straw, spreading the paint. He then used a ruler to spread more paint. Finally, he decided he wanted to use a crayon again but seemed stuck on what to do. I asked him, "How can you hold the crayon without touching it?" He picked up a paper clip, asked me to hold the crayon, and pushed the clip down over the crayon. He held the crayon by the paper clip. He couldn't apply enough pressure to really get the crayon to show up well, so he dipped it in paint and applied paint with the crayon. I was surprised at how well he manipulated the materials in this Think! challenge. :)

Curly Monster

For this week's unplugged project, Gerrick made a curly monster. It has an exoskeleton, and its hair can "grow".

Rudolph Cookies

Today we had family visit from out of town, including my nephew who is almost three. We made Rudolph cookies from Nutter Butters, white cookie icing, chocolate chips, twist pretzels, and red M&M's. This was an easy activity that I found in the latest issue of Family Fun magazine.

Candy Cane Pretzel Treats

Thanks to Restoration Place for this idea; the recipe is so simple. We substituted Candy Cane Kisses in the place of Hugs, and they are delicious!

Salt Painting

...closely examining the dried salt painting he made earlier. I love to walk into a room and find him doing something like this. :)

Experimenting with Watercolors, Salt...and Milk

I set some things on the table while Gerrick was having a cereal snack this afternoon: watercolors, small bowl of salt, glass of water, paper, assorted brushes. The salt was new for him. He finished eating and moved around the table. I thought he'd make some beautiful paintings, but he had other things in mind. I had to bite my tongue when he pulled over his bowl of milk (remember, he was having cereal). Milk in the paint? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAhh!

I can't believe it, but I actually took 50 pictures of this little activity. Thank goodness for digital cameras! It's so hard to step back and let him experiment without intervening. I think snapping pictures helps me keep my mouth closed, allowing him to do his own thinking.

After 30 minutes of experimentation, he said, "Oh, I didn't know there was paper." :)

click to enlarge

Today's Playhouse

...building the house.


...nap time--I love the upper level bedroom for the dolls. :)


...snack time.

JELL-O Jigglers

Making jigglers was fun, but I think his favorite part was playing with the left-over Jell-o...

Recycled Magazine Tree

Thanks to The Crafty Crow for sharing this idea. You can find a tutorial for the tree here.

For the tree, all you need is a magazine and hands capable of folding. I've never done any paper folding activities with Gerrick, and this served as a good introduction. He got a little bored with it and wanted me to finish it up about half way through, but he did learn how to fold a straight edge. :) This would be the perfect project to do during wait times in an airport or hospital or for older kids during car rides.

He insisted we add a star to the top. I used a 6" square cut from the magazine cover and we followed these instructions to make it.