Week in Review #38: Dd is for Dora and Dollar Tree

Ah, another short week, but I think our trip to Atlanta makes up for it. ;) We had a good time and wish we had time to do all the other fun tourist stuff, but I think the baby panda was well worth the trip.The girls and I made it back home Tuesday afternoon.  I am thrilled to say the drive was very uneventful!  Plus, it's always nice to be home!

This was a idea that just popped into my head! Our current stove has no use for burner covers and they were perfect to prevent crayons and colored pencils from rolling on the floor. Love it!

The table obviously didn't stay looking so neat for long. :) Coloring has become a bit of a school warm-up, if you will.  The girls get focused on something instead of just diving head first into school.

On Wednesday I took the kids grocery shopping and made it out alive. It is definitely at the top of my list of things I truly dread doing. I incorporated Hannah's help more than before while Autumn stayed in the cart looking at books.  I saw an idea in a magazine about making a picture scavenger hunt with different items from your list, so I may give that a whirl next week. :)

I've been wanting to try out this workbox system I've been reading about on other blogs--you gather the following day's work and put it in a specified container(s).  I really wanted to get those plastic storage drawers but they are so expensive. I found these at the Dollar Tree! So excited!! The girls both wanted green even though they had prettier colors. :-p Each day I've been bringing their boxes to the table and they pick whatever they want to start with.  Hannah has her normal subjects (Bible, Reading, Math, Astronomy), and Autumn has her dry erase pages plus either a file folder game or her special scissors for some cutting practice.  This system is already working out beautifully.

Take a closer look at the letters. :) I completely forgot I had them. If nothing else it will help me actually learn the military alphabet without making it up as I go along. 

I'm linked up at the Weekly Wrap-Up.  Go there and check out other blogs! :)

And finally, some "D" crafts:

Duck

Dog--found these at the Dollar Tree. The girls just painted
and added the eyes. :)

Zoo Atlanta Trip

I can't even tell you how many times I have driven through Atlanta on my way to Hinesville when I lived there in 2004 and again in 2009.  I had never actually stopped to see the sites and do all the touristy things. We went this past weekend primarily for the zoo and to see the panda cub, Po.  OMG, he was so cute!!! It sure took us a minute to find the pandas.  I told my mom that Jack Black better be there in person after all the walking we did. :) I know he was there when they announced the name. That would have been cool to see that.

Our trip was last Friday through Sunday and included me, Hannah, Autumn, Meagan (my sister), Emma (my niece), my mom, her BFF Jonna, and Jonna's granddaughter, Marianne. While the trip was fun, I would also say it was pretty tiring with four kids ages 6 and under (even though there were four adults!).  Hannah, Autumn, and I traveled about 1000 miles total! We went up to Clarksville Thursday, left for Atlanta Friday, came back to Clarksville on Sunday, and drove back to Millington on Tuesday. Whew! It was a great trip, but always nice to be home.  Now enjoy our adventure!

lounging at the hotel

in the elevator getting ready to go to the zoo!

first stop--the flamingos!

the zoo had cute little parks!

Pumba! What's funny is the meerkats were
nearby! ;)

Po the panda cub!! He sure likes to climb!

Mama Panda trying to get him down...he sure
was a defiant little thing!

trying to get her child under control (we've
all be there!)

Having fun in the hotel pool!

Marianne jumping to her Nonnie

This is what I did...felt nice :)

Emma and Autumn lounging

Girls coloring while we wait for pizza...it wasn't as peaceful
as it looks!

Meagan took this pic...all the Cozbys' "grandbeauties" :)

Autumn is intrigued by the storm we had
Saturday evening

Watching cartoons and having pizza...chinese the first night
and pizza the second, oh yeah!

And then McDonald's when the girls and I headed
back to Millington! We won't be eating out for a while :-p

Totally Cute #3

I love me some fall decor! I got these little gems at the Dollar Tree for 50 cents a piece! So cute! They're not porcelain...I'm actually not sure what they're made of. Plaster? Something...anyway, Hannah already wants them displayed in her room but I'm feeling a little selfish. :-p 

This came from TJ Maxx for a whopping $12.99! I've been wanting to do something like this (again, thanks to Pinterest), so I was pretty excited. I just wish there were four clips so the girls could have equal room for their masterpieces, but I can just rotate.

Easy Peasy Paper Plate Panda

pic wouldn't act right...argh

paper plate
black felt
white felt
googly eyes
glue
pen

No directions necessary.  I even free-handed it in cutting the ears, eyes, and nose. :)

10 Bizarre Courses I Could Teach

I got this idea from Dishwater Dreams.  Pretty fun. :)

1. Aspartame Denial: A 2-liter of Diet Coke a day isn't that much, right?  Splenda is the "safe" sweetener right?  Everyone puts 4 in their coffee.

2. How to Say No: That's saying no to your kids.  Apparently some parents have a hard time with denying their kids, but I think I make it look quite easy.

3. Making Your Husband Smell Good Forever: Through couponing one thing I have created a good stockpile of is men's deodorant (we're talking $1 or less at final cost).  Ryan has gotten to the point that he gets annoyed when I put new deodorant in his cabinet in the bathroom.

4. Bear Surgery: Through both the girls I have repaired many a bear.  They wear them out!

5.  How to Cook Frozen Fries: Ryan says he wishes he could make fries like I do. *shrug*

6.  Getting Your Husband to Leave the Room: I turned on Little House on the Prairie and Ryan is quick to make his way to watch TV in our bedroom.  Fine with me, since he tends to offer his commentary on what ever I'm watching anyway.

7. The Life and Times of the Cereal Nazi: This is one of those things unfortunately passed on to me from my dad--no opening new "good" cereal until the opened stuff is eaten. Grrr. Never good when the opened cereal is cornflakes and the new is Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  :-p Now I am the same way since I know if the new stuff gets opened the old stuff will never get eaten.

8.  Nick Jr. Character Profiles: Knowledge of different Nick Jr. characters only comes from hearing the various shows in the background--I promise. ;)

9. Forcing Yourself to Not Spend Money: I am no Dave Ramsey by any means, but all you have to do is accidentally transfer money to your money market account making funds unavailable for at least 5 business days. Good times!

10. Dragging Out Laundry: If you only get to one load a day for a family of 4 or more then it will surely take a hot minute.

Belated Birthday in Clarksville

 

L-R: Grammie, Hannah, me, Autumn, my mom
(Grendy), my sister Meagan, Emma

 We went to Clarksville last weekend and celebrated Hannah's birthday with family. A great time was had by all.  Hannah's "big" gift was a Power Wheels jeep from my dad, and she went 4-wheeling all over the yard. :) It has a passenger seat so Emma, Autumn, and Marianne had to restrain themselves and remember the art of sharing. Hannah wanted a polar bear cake, but I still had the pan from last year!  Hannah is already talking about having a black bear birthday next year. Oy.

All the pics were taken by Hannah's Nonna (my mom's BFF).



My mom made a mini version of Hannah's favorite bear
to go with her new American Girl doll (which you can
see behind her).



Hannah and Marianne are giddy about something :)



pondering what she will do with her life now that she
has passed the half-decade mark.



The cake!



"I wish...a polar bear will be our next president and
focus on conservation!"



"Slow down, Hannah!"



Week in Review #27: The Countdown Begins!

 Is it too late to start a countdown until the last day of school?  ;)  Well, we have a mere 33 days! That's counting weekends since there are some Saturdays when the school mood strikes.

Monday was perfect zoo weather!  Peyton the Polar Bear got to be reunited Hannah while swimming. :) We can never get enough of those bears!  While Ryan was off Tuesday we did some unexpected spring cleaning, mostly in the the kids' room and the school room.  We purged a lot of toys and packed up clothes the girls have outgrown.  The trunk of Ryan's car filled quickly with stuff for the Goodwill!  There were no church activites on Wednesday because of Holy Week (a bit ironic, isn't it?). 

The girls watching Peyton
go for a dip

The books read this week were "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Are You My Mother?" Flipping through Hannah's phonics book I saw that the last few lessons include the ow/ou sounds and the sight words 'should', 'would', and 'could'.  Hannah's already learned those from reading actual books! Sheer awesomeness!

I started writing out the field trips we've done this year.  I'll put down the name of the place and underneath that I'll put the dates.  I'm up to 15 and I'm not even done yet! It's going to be a bit of a pain since I just recently got the idea to do this so I'm going to have go to go through the blog and see when we went to the library and the zoo. :-/

Until I was going through all my pics I did not realize I had
taken this! Love it!

Hannah is 6!!

As of yesterday morning at 3:34 AM, Hannah Jo Caulfield is 6 years old! Hard to believe since I myself remember being six. At my own birthday party we did make up, which I remember very well. :) Ryan and I took the girls to the zoo on Saturday and had presents and cake at home. A very simple celebration, but we are also celebrating with family this weekend in Clarksville. Hannah is requesting a polar bear cake this time.  She already had a panda cake last year, so at least I can use the same cake pan. :)

Some pics from Saturday: