Seed Sprout Necklaces!

Grace and Jack made these seed necklaces this morning. They provide just enough moisture and warmth to sprout a seed!

To make these seed sprout necklaces we first chose a large plastic bag for Grace and a smaller one for Jack. We moistened cotton balls with water, added several sunflower seeds to each cotton ball and gently placed them inside of the bags. Next, we closed the bags, hole punched a hole, and threaded ribbon and small tag through each one. Once Grace and Jack's necklaces have roots their seeds will be ready to transplant!

There's Nothing Better Than A Good Book!

Teaching Tiles -- Reading Readiness Kit

I had this Reading Readiness kit on my Christmas wish list for Grace because she was ready for more advanced phonological awareness skill practice. Memere & Pepere purchased the kit for Grace last Christmas and we have been having such fun with it ever since! The kit provides Grace with a hands-on approach to develop reading skills. Grace loves the large tiles, her work tray, and all of the activity cards. Grace has mastered all of skills targeted in the kit including: matching upper and lowercase letters, sequencing letters a-z, matching opposites, matching rhyming pictures, matching pictures with the same beginning sounds, matching beginning-letter sounds, and beginning word formation. Grace is able to read so many words now and she has a true understanding of letters, sounds, and words. I am amazed each and every day by how quickly Grace learns and how well she reads!

Butterfly Day!

Yesterday was a very big day for us. It was butterfly day. Over the past several weeks Grace and Jack have watched their five caterpillars eat and grow, form chrysalises, and emerge as five very beautiful butterflies. Last Friday we were so very excited to see all five butterflies appear from their chrysalises. Grace and Jack took excellent care of their butterflies inside a butterfly net over the weekend. They hand picked flowers and soaked them in sugar water to feed the butterflies. We decided that yesterday would be the perfect day to release our butterflies outside. We dedicated June 8, 2009 as butterfly release day! Grace, Jack, and I prepared all day long for this big event. We hand painted shirts, made several butterfly crafts, read butterfly books, and dressed up for our butterfly party! When the time came to unzip the butterfly net to set the butterflies free we were all so excited. Four out of the five butterflies flew up into the air and landed high up on a tree in our yard. Then something quite amazing happened. The fifth butterfly flew out of its butterfly net and landed on Grace's back! This was a perfect ending to our beautiful butterfly day.

Butterfly Celebration Shirts

Grace and Jack each made a special butterfly shirt to wear during the release of our butterflies. Jack used his feet to create beautiful butterfly wings. Jack loved having Grace paint his feet orange. Grace and I later stamped the word "butterfly" and "Jack" onto his shirt.Grace loved using her letter stamps and ink pad to stamp the word "butterfly" and "Grace" onto her shirt. Grace also painted her hands purple to make butterfly wings.Grace and Jack wore their handmade shirts during our butterfly release party. I am saving these shirts as a special reminder of our exciting day!

Beautiful Butterflies

Jack and Grace celebrated butterfly day by making these these coffee filter butterflies using watercolor paint. Their butterflies turned out beautifully!

A Butterfly Breakfast!

Grace started off butterfly day by eating butterfly toast. Grace was very excited to see her toast transform into a "beautiful butterfly!" I used O cereal for the butterfly eyes and strawberries for the antennae. From then on our day was filled with all things butterfly!

Portland's Old Port Festival

We had a great day today! We went to Portland's annual Old Port Festival. Every year the beautiful downtown section of Portland called the Old Port closes down its streets for this festival. Grace and Jack enjoyed everything about the Festival from the music and entertainment to the large crowds of people! The highlight of the Festival this year was the parade that kicked off the Festival. In the picture above of Grace she is waiting so patiently for the parade to begin. Parades are one of Grace's favorite things right now. Grace loves all the energy of parades. Jack loved his very first Old Port Festival too. He was, as always, full of smiles all day long! The Old Port Festival is a yearly tradition for our family and it is something we all look forward to each year to begin our summer fun.

A Beautiful Day at Maine Wildlife Park with Pepere and Memere

Jack had a great time riding along with Pepere as we visited the animals today. Jack felt right at home with Pepere as he learned about our furry friends in Gray.
Grace introduced Memere to all of her animal friends at the Animal Park. Grace tries above to get the woodchuck to do "good listening." Unfotunately, the woodchuck was very busy building a new burrow.
Memere carried Jack around much of the animal park today. Jack really enjoys himself at the animal park as it has many of his favorite things - his family, animals, and tall trees with leaves blowing in the wind.
Gracie wound down her wonderful day with a ride from Pepere out of the animal park. We all had such a wonderful day together. Thank you, Pepere and Memere, for the great memories!

Grace & Jack's Spring Nest!

Spring is the season of renewal, and what better way to celebrate it than with a lovely little eco-friendly bird nest! We were inspired to build a bird nest of our own because a little bird has chosen a space above the front door of our home to build her nest! This morning Grace and Jack became little birds and went outside to gather materials to build a nest of their own! Jack was such a big helper in gathering handfuls of grass, which was the foundation for our bird's nest. Grace chose a beautiful selection of ferns, leaves, sticks, flowers, and moss.To make our birds nest Grace took a bowl and traced two circles onto a paper grocery bag. Next, we cut out the circle tracings just a bit larger. Grace painted the inside of each circle with a mixture of water and glue. We put the sticky sides of the circles together and while still wet, placed them inside the bowl that we used for the tracings and pushed them firmly into place. Next, Grace & Jack worked together to press their grass, moss, leaves, sticks, flowers, and ferns into the paper nest shell. Once the glue dried we removed the nest from the bowl. I am going to display Grace and Jack's beautiful nest on our window ledge to celebrate the last few weeks of spring and to welcome the baby birds that are about to arrive above our front door any day now!

Spray Paint!

While Jack was napping this morning Grace poured some purple paint into a spray bottle, added water, and shook it up. As Grace was preparing her spray bottle I taped one long piece of paper outside on our porch and another long piece on the floor. Grace had SO MUCH FUN spray painting ~ she couldn't stop laughing the entire time! An added bonus is that this is a great hand strengthening activity. I can't wait to hear more Gracie girl giggles when we spray paint again this afternoon using a different color. I'm sure Jack-a-roo will get a big kick out of watching Grace too!

Little Music Notes

Gracie girl singing!We love Thursdays because it's music group day! Whenever I ask Grace what her favorite activity is she always says it's music group. Grace knows every song from music group and she is always singing! I am certain that music group is Jack's favorite activity too. Jack recognizes all of the songs. Whenever he hears a music group song he kicks his feet, waves his hands, smiles, and giggles. Before we left for group this morning Grace, Jack, and I enjoyed some playtime outside on our yard. Grace and Jack wore their very special music note shirts today to show Pauline (our music group instructor). Thank you so much to Maddy for making these wonderful shirts. They were a big hit today! Music is such a huge part of our life and I love how Grace and Jack's shirts express their great love of music.

Loving The Great Outdoors

Jack loves being outside. The picture of Jack seen above was taken yesterday at the park. It was so special for me to watch Jack laying on the blanket while wiggling and giggling as he watched the leaves blow above him on the large oak tree. Jack always lights up the moment we step through the door to go outside. Every morning Jack, Grace, and I go on a nature walk together. We have been enjoying every moment of the warmer spring weather since winter here lasts so long. Jack loves touching leaves and pine needles, feeling the wind blow against him, listening to the birds, watching the waves on the lake, and standing in the cool grass. I hope to fill the remainder of our springtime and the upcoming summer months with many, many outdoor adventures for Jack and Grace.

Grace's Homemade Chalk

Grace's homemade sidewalk chalk turned out great. Grace took her handmade chalk mixture out of the molds this morning to reveal lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) as well as brightly colored elephants. Grace was so excited to use her chalk to draw on her easel this morning before we left for story time at the library. Grace is even more excited to use her chalk outside on our deck and patio later today. It's going to be a fun-filled and very colorful afternoon here!

Grace's Half Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Amazing Grace's 2 1/2 birthday by spreading a blanket under a large oak tree at the park and enjoying all of the beautiful sights and discoveries that a park has to offer. Grace & Jack had a delightful time laying on the blanket together and watching the leaves blow on the oak tree. Grace loved describing all that she saw in the clouds and Jack loved listening to all that Grace had to say! We had great fun watching the ducks in the pond, going for a long walk to find flowers, and playing in the grass. We also enjoyed a leisurely picnic lunch together. I can't believe that Grace is 2 1/2 years old. I continue to be amazed by Grace each and every day. She has such a love of life and a love of learning. Grace is such a bright, happy, curious, thoughtful, kind, and loving little girl who brings such unbelievable joy and happiness to my life and to the lives of all those that know our beautiful Gracie girl.

2 1/2 Years Old Today

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk!

While Jack-a-roo was napping this morning, Grace made sidewalk chalk! Grace mixed together one cup of plaster of paris with one cup of water and powdered tempera paint.One the desired color was achieved using the powered tempera paint, Grace scooped her chalk mixture into plastic jungle animal molds. Grace is letting her chalk dry overnight and she can't wait to use the chalk on our deck, porch, and easel later this week. I'll be sure to post pictures!

L is for Lobster!

Jack and Grace made these Maine lobsters this morning using their hand and footprints. This is a perfect painting project for children living in Maine! After painting the palms of her hands, Grace decided that she wanted to become a lobster so she continued painting all the way up both of her arms. I've been calling Grace my "Little Lobster" all day and she thinks this is so very funny!
Grace helped paint Jack's feet and hands. Jack couldn't have been any more excited to watch Grace paint his hands and feet a bright red lobster color!

Jack loves painting just as much as Grace does and I think he'll soon be wanting to paint all the way up his arms too. Thank goodness for washable paint! :)