Learning To Be A Butterfly While You Are A Caterpillar

JDaniel is still learning so much about everything in his world. He would love to fly freely and explore the world on his own terms much like a butterfly. There are times during the day that we need to crawl like a caterpillar through the lessons needed to grow into a beautiful butterfly. They are not always his favorite times of the day. Some lessons require time outs while others are teachable moments, learning from books or building on skills he has already acquired. These times can be frustrating for both of us. Learning isn’t always easy. Sometimes the same lessons need to be crawled through over and over again. Not all these times are tough. During some caterpillar times, JDaniel and I rejoice in lessons learned and concepts understood with loud cheers and flitting around the room.

Some day he will fly freely into the world. I hope he will remember the lessons he learned from his caterpillar moments.

Personalized Cloth Blocks, Numbered Bean Bags or Item Under $10 from Spotted Whale

JDaniel and I have been working on numbers and movement activities lately. When I came across this great set of numbered bean bags from Spotted Whale, my mind started reeling with all the activities that we could do. I bet you can come up with a lot too. This great set of bean bags comes with its own cloth bag.

You may visit Spotted Whale’s Etsy store and find you love her crayon rolls, blocks, or totes. Spotted Whale has generous donated a $10 gift card for this giveaway. You are going to have a hard time deciding what you like best.

How to win?

*Go to Spotted Whale’s shop and tell me what you like best. ( 1 entry)

For extra entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry.

* Visit her shop and tell me something you learned about Spotted Whale owner or her shop. (1 entry)

*Write about this giveaway with a link back to it on Facebook or another social network site. (1 entry per social network)

*Enter another giveaway that I am hosting. (1 entry for each giveaway your enter)

*Leave comment on non-giveaway blog post. (1 entry)

*Follow my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you now follow or that you already do. (1 entry)

*Follow me on Twitter. (2 entries)

*Twitter about this giveaway with a link back. Copy and paste: $10GCtoSpottedWhale@JDaniel4’sMom(1 entry per day)

*Subscribe to my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you have subscribed or that you already do. (1 entry)

*Add me to your blog roll. Please leave a link to your site.(2 entries)

*Add my button to your blog. Please leave a link to your site.(2 entries)

*Buy anything from Spotted Whale and come back and leave a comment saying you did. (10 entries)

That is 12 ways to win. The winner will be chosen by using the random number generator at http://www.random.org/. )

This giveaway begins April 7th and ends April 16th.

Wordless Wednesday- Looking At Butterfly Books

Butterfly Fingerplay and Song

Roly-Poly Caterpillar

Roly-poly caterpillar (wiggle right pointer finger)

Into a corner crept, (place right pointer finger in left cupped hand)

Spun around himself a blanket (spin around)

Then for a long time slept. (place head on folded hands)

Roly-poly caterpillar (wiggle right pointer finger)

Wakening by and by, ("stretch" right pointer finger)

Found himself with beautiful wingsChanged to a butterfly. (flutter arms like wings)

Oh Butterfly!

Sung to: "Oh Christmas Tree"

Oh, butterfly, Oh, butterflyHow I love your colors.

Oh, butterfly, Oh, butterflyHow I love your colors.

You fly so high and beautiful,Your so soft and gentle.

Oh, butterfly, Oh, butterfly,How I love your colors.

Pollen! Pollen! Go Away! JDaniel wants to go out and play!

On Sunday as we got in the car to go to my mother in-laws in Georgia JDaniel must have touched a little of the green pollen that coated my husband’s car. He started rubbing his eyes within minutes of getting in the car. I washed his hands and face with Cetaphil to clean them off. (I carry small bottles on Cetaphil in his diaper bag.) He continued to rub his face and cry, “Eyes hurt.” I sit in the backseat with him when we go on road trips. It was breaking my heart to see him in pain. So, I did what I thought was best. I took him illegally out of his car seat and held him. Yes, he should have stayed in his seat. Did he stop rubbing? Yes, he wrapped his arms around me, put his head on my shoulder, and rubbed only every so often.

He was fine traveling in the car around Augusta. JDaniel started rubbing his neck on the way back home last night. This morning he woke up with a rash on his face and puffy eyes. I gave him a bath and thankfully had lotion left from an allergic reaction to grass last summer along with his daily dose of Claritin. The dermatologist can see him tomorrow. I hope we get a good rain soon. Until we do we will be playing inside.

Are you having trouble with pollen now?

I know we need pollen and butterflies and bees love it. Right now I just want it to go away!

Muffin Tin Monday- Butterfly Themed Tin

We are reading books and doing activities based on butterflies this week. JDaniel’s tin had a homemade chicken finger caterpillar and a cheese sandwich butterfly in the first row. The second row contained sweet foods that might attract a butterfly. The cups contain grapes, yogurt (JDaniel would call it nectar of the God.), and sweet corn with lima beans. The corn and limas weren’t sweet enough for JDaniel. My little butterfly flew past them.

London Confidential: Asking for Trouble and Through Thick and Thin Review and Giveaway

I have tended to read books that will help me be a better mom or that are about moms lately. When I was asked to read two of the London Confidential books I thought they would be light fluffy teen reading. Both Asking for Trouble and Through Thick and Thin by Sandra Byrd are very quick reads. They both deal with real problems teens and well all people struggle with. How do I make friends in a new place? How do I adjust to new culture? How do I grow in my relationship with God? Savannah “ Savvy” Smith and her family have to learn how to answer each of these questions as they search for a church, new friends, and new ways to use the talents God gave them when they move to England . I love that this is a family that prays about the issues they face. They argue and disagree too. The praying that the family does greatly outweighs the arguing. Savvy is also someone who searches the scripture for God’s wisdom and truths.

The books don’t just focus on Savvy’s family, but her relationships with her peers at school. It is hard to not have a table of friends to sit with. When Savvy joins the newspaper, she finally has a table of people to sit with. It takes awhile to make friends. Father Christmas and God really help her with the growing friends and a new understanding of her life. These are really fun books.

Here is what Sandra Byrd says about her series:

What are some of the biggest struggles for teen girls today? What do you hope teen girls will take away from the series?

Truly, as Eccelsiastes says, there is nothing new under the sun. The issues that young women had when I was growing up are the same ones that my daughter has. Who am I? How can I make a difference? Where do I fit in? Am I loved? Why are people hurtful? While they may have different formats, for example, the internet, texting, or movies, the issues remain essentially the same.

But that's good news! That means that we women have walked these paths and have hopefully found our way. It enables us to be Girl Guides, the British world for Girl Scouts, in a physical, emotional, and spiritual sense. Just as we're instructed to do in Titus 2. We can do this in person, or we can do it by buying a good book to pass along to our daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and friends.

You say books can bring mothers and daughters together. How?

Books provide a non-threatening, impersonal forum for mothers and daughters to discuss issues. A mother can ask questions like, "What do you think of her choices? Is that a temptation kids at your school face? Do kids act that way in your school? Is the way these girls acting normal? Do you think those girls should be allowed to date?" That way you're not pointing to or calling our your daughter's behavior, specifically, but you're allowing her to express what her world is like. Just be sure not to offer a correction or comment to her every response!

Would you love to read them or know someone who would love to read them?

There are eleven ways to win.

You need to:

* Visit the author's website and tell me something that you learned. (1 entry)

For extra entries:

*Leave a comment about who you give them to . (1 entry)

*View the London Confidential video on YouTube and tell me something you learn. ( 1 entry)

*Write about this giveaway with a link back to it on Facebook or another social network site. (1 entry)

*Enter another giveaway that I am hosting. (1 entry for each giveaway you enter)

*Leave comment on non-giveaway blog post. (1 entry)

*Follow my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you now follow or that you already do. (1 entry)

*Follow me on Twitter.

*Subscribe to my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you have subscribed or that you already do. (1 entry)

*Add me to your blog roll. Please leave a link to your site.(2 entries)

*Add my button to your blog. Please leave a link to your site.(2 entries)

The winner will be chosen by using the random number generator at http://www.random.org/. )

This giveaway begins April 4th and ends April 14th.

Disclaimer: I was sent copies of Asking for Trouble and Through Thick and Thin to review as part of the London Confidential Blog Tour. I am passing them on to one of you.

Easter Quotes

And he departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here. ~St Augustine

He takes men out of time and makes them feel eternity. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Picture taken from Flikr.com.

Great Posts I Came Across This Week- April 3

Each week I travel around the internet visiting blogs. Here are a few posts that I loved, learned from, or gave me great ideas:

Here are some child related posts:

Picky Apple has a great way to paint using a salad spinner in her Tot School post this week.

Tired, Need Sleep linked to an article called 50 Best Blog for Early Childhood. She is one of the top blogs listed. There are many reason why I would agree.

Teach Mama has a post on What You Need From Your Local Yard Sales. It includes a cheat sheet in a PDF you can take with you to yard sales.

Sweatheart Moments has a great post on Fun Family Traditions for Easter.

Little Hands, Big Work has Fun Sidewalk Games. I really like the circle game.

Counting Coconuts has an Easter sensory tub that I would love to have made for JDaniel.

Fun Easter Post:

Dawns Daily Life has really funny Easter comics on a post called Easter Humor and Joy. The chocolate bunny ones are my favorite.

Here is a post that made me think:

A Blonde Walks Into A Blog wrote an amazing post called This Thing Called Love.

12 Ways to Learn Using Plastic Easter Eggs

1.You can place a toy in a stack of eggs and search for the one with the prize.

2. You can put a capital letter on one end of an egg and its lower case letter on the other. Break them open, mix them up, and have your child search for the match. I did eggs with matching capital letters for JDaniel.

3. You can put together a set of toys or pictures and have your child put them in the egg that has the beginning letter on it.

4. You can put a number on one end of the egg and a set of corresponding dots on the other end. They can then match the tops and bottoms or place the correct number of objects in the egg.

5. You can mix up the colors of the tops and bottoms then have your child match the colors correctly.

6. You can make maracas with whole grain circular cereal. Just watch that is doesn’t come apart and become a bowl for a snack.

7. You can put objects in the eggs and have the children match the sounds like Activity Mom did this week.

8.You can put them in a plastic spoon and try to carry them around the house.

9. You can sort them by colors.



10. You can use them like cupcake liners for Muffin Tin Monday.

11. You can make a nest with blocks; fill it with eggs, place in a toy bird, and talk about signs of spring.

12. You can read the list of 50 Uses for Plastic Easter Eggs found of Geeky Housewife’s blog.

Friday Fill-Ins #170

Friday Fill-Ins is a meme. You are given incomplete sentences to fill-in. This week I just went with what came first to my mind.

1. All you need is love of God and family with a great night’s sleep.

2. My toddler fills me with laughter.

3. Each generation, as it grows up, has different challenges to tackle.

4. People who don’t indicate before they make a turn is something I have a hard time dealing with.

5. A trip to the beach this summer is what I need.

6. You give to others and you get back many blessings.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching a movie with my husband, tomorrow my plans include going to an egg hunt and Sunday, I want to spend Easter at my mother in-laws!

Kate and One Special Egg

My mom loves to tell the story of my sister Kate and her one special egg. Mom and Kate were at an Easter egg hunt that featured one special golden egg. For some reason my mom decided that egg was going to be theirs. Kate must have been about two and at this hunt two year olds were allowed to have their moms accompany them on their hunt for eggs. My mom spotted the golden egg in the field and tried to guide Kate to the egg. Kate had another plan. She had noticed a plastic egg sitting in the grass that she really wanted. Once she reached the egg she had been focused on, she sat down and started playing with it. My mom could still see the golden egg out of the corner of her eye. She really wanted to go over and pick it up for Kate, but decided not to. If Kate had the one special egg she wanted, that would have to be enough.

The way my mom tells the story I don’t think she has fully gotten over Kate’s deciding not to go for the golden egg. I hope that I will let JDaniel find and appreciate the things he enjoys and not pushing him to go for my golden egg dreams.