Ollie's Bargains

A trip to Ollie's yielded a $40 cartload of bargains...most to keep and some for gifts. Our favorites so far are the giant U.S. Map puzzle (the boys favorite) and the Janette Oke Animal Friends series (my favorite). The Animal Friends series is great for Elijah's reading level right now with short, simple chapters and colorful illustrations throughout. Each book is approximately 60 pgs. long and recommended for ages 7-10. Each story teaches a different character trait with an animal being the main character/narrator. These books were $1.99 each at Ollie's while CBD sells them for $5.99 each. WOW!!! I love a good bargain!!!

Dog House

The boys had the opportunity to paint bobble head dogs at their Keepers of the Faith program at church this past Sunday (yesterday). Their fascination with the dogs has lead to dreams of dog houses, dog names, dog toys, dog house accessories, etc. I decided to help them create a dog house and count this as our art project for the week. We used a cardboard box and cut and taped to the shape we wanted, then set up for painting. If you look closely, you can see their dogs sitting at the table patiently waiting for their new home to be created and decorated.

We created a removable portion of the roof so they could add more toys and "food" for the dogs as needed without reach into the doorway. They decided that the removable roof was also a great idea for sunny days so the dogs would not have to sit in the dark but could still be protected from the rain on wet days.

Luke's dog is named Spot.

Elijah's dog is named Jeffrey Digger.

Here's the finished dog house with Isaac and his special Ruff-ruff (aka dirty dog - he was seriously chewed on and loved and has turned a lovely shade of browny grey instead of the shiny grey of his original coat). Maybe we'll have to do a little unit on dogs or atleast read some great doggie stories!

Tchaikovsky

This month, I quickly switched gears for our composer study to learn about Tchaikovsky instead of Bach. Why??? FREE mini concert, that's why!!! Our local children's museum was hosting groups from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and members of the Rochester City Ballet to celebrate the upcoming performances of The Nutcracker. We listened to the String Quartet and the Brass Quintet play selections from the ballet. The musicians spent time talking about their instruments and story behind the ballet that related to the music they were performing. I was impressed with the musician's interest in the children and their willingness to explain in simple words about the music. For only having two interactions with the RPO (both in the past two months) I am very impressed.

It was neat to see the boys bopping their heads and "tum-ta-ta-ta-tum-tuming" with the music. In the week prior to the concert, we read The Nutcracker story and listened the music, so they were familiar with it before attending. While listening the first time, during a lively section, the boys battled with their swords and guns. I was thankful they sat politely during the concert.


Of course, some time was spent enjoying other activities around the museum, too. Although, the boys told their dad that it wasn't much fun because there were too many people visiting on Veteran's Day. We usually visit the mostly empty museum in the afternoon while everyone else is still in school and the afternoon nappers have gone home - he, he!

Spelled to Order

I'm always on the look out for new manipulatives to use with the boys and even though I have several letter type manipulatives, I couldn't pass up these inexpensive new "toys." I found them at the Dollar General for $1 per package. Each package contains 31 magnetic letters which includes an extra set of vowels. I appreciate that the vowels are distinguished by their red color making it easier for my 4 year old to find as he is learning short vowel sounds. I purchased 5 sets to have plenty of letters to share. My mancubs helped me punch out the letters from the sheets and immediately began playing.



After spelling his name, Luke ran over the the fridge and grabbed a few "foods" from our Vtech ABC Food Fun fridge magnet set. He set to work spelling some words.


Elijah, on the other hand, chose his words a little more carefully, being the hungry and growing boy that he is recently. After spelling his words, he asked me to come over and see what he wanted for breakfast. Easy enough to oblige!

These letters appear to be another inexpensive learning tool that will find many hours of enjoyment in our home.