As I have mentioned in the past, JSL is a picky eater. He does not like to eat breakfast, but prefers to drink it. We also have issues getting fruits and vegetables into his system. The other day at nursery school, I overheard another mother ask if her child had eaten cantaloupe for a snack. This mention of fruit for a snack perked my interest, so I asked about JSL. Sure enough he had eaten some.
Of course, with JSL, you never know if he will eat something on Monday and touch it again two days later. It’s a guessing game that we have not figured out. TechyDad received an Edible Arrangements for a project that he worked on recently.
Saturday night, we pulled the fruit out of the refrigerator and wondered if the boys would walk away or want to try item. NHL immediately dug into the fruit and loved the fun.
Within seconds of everyone digging into the fruit, JSL saw something he recognized within the fruit bouquet. Yes, he saw some cantaloupe. Not only did he take it off, he ate several pieces.
There must be something special about eating fruit off a stick. Hmmm….perhaps we should try this with some vegetables. What do you think?
Disclosure: TechyDad received this Edible Arrangements for a non-blogging related work project. It was a gift and we wanted to share what fun the boys had chowing down on fruit.
Bubbe and Grandpa are in town this weekend. Since we are not able to be with them for Thanksgiving, they came up to spend time with all of us. On the way here, they stopped in Queens to get some special treats. They knew that the two of you really like challah. They also asked if they could get you a special treat at Violet’s Bake Shop.
Daddy told them that it would be okay for a special occasion to get you cookies. When we were out at dinner Grandpa mentioned that you may want to only have half today and the other half tomorrow. We couldn’t imagine why until we opened up the box. This is what we saw.
The challah was also really, really, really big! Check it out next to Daddy’s head:
Who knows what other surprises there will be the rest of the weekend.
Love,
Mommy
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Holiday celebrations at school change from year to year. Thanksgiving seems to be a holiday that most classrooms at the elementary school level participate in one way or another.
In kindergarten, my son’s teacher asked people to send in an item that is special and represents our family. We brain stormed. In the end, my little pilgrim wanted us to send in Matzoh Balls.
In first grade, NHL’s teacher wanted to keep things simple. Everyone brought in things to share in a small afternoon party where they gave thanks.
For second grade at the old school, the second and third grade classes had a large feast together. It was filled with amazing smells and foods.
This year, NHL’s teacher has a huge Thanksgiving meal for the entire family to go to. They are learning about this part of history in Social Studies. I can not wait to see what we have next week.
This post is part of a Thanksgiving Flashback Sweepstakes brought to you by Coupons.com, a leader in printable coupons and coupon codes. To answer these questions and enter the Sweepstakes for $500, visit the Coupons.com Thanksgiving Flashback Sweepstakes page for details.
I was tagged for this contest. As part of entering, I have to tag three more bloggers. I tag TechyDad, Cathi from Simple Sojourns, and Debra from AFrugalFriend.
So to combine this with Aloha Friday my question for the week is:
What did you do in school for Thanksgiving, or what do your children do?
Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.
Saturday morning, I went out to get some errands done while the boys stayed home. First, I went to the craft store to get some yarn. After that, I wound up at another location to check out some Chanukah present ideas. While passing by the pharmacy area, something caught my eye. There were Angry Bird band-aids sitting on the shelf. I had never seen them before and thought the boys would adore them.
I have to admit, I have never played Angry Birds. Part of the reason is probably because the boys are so into it and I am not given any time. So, although I am quite familiar with this photo, I do not GET the game.
What I do get is that my boys, all three of them including TechyDad, love the game. They bond over it and have even gotten Papa into the act with his iPad.
Back to Saturday. When I got home, I told TechyDad that I bought something special for the boys. He saw the band-aids and took them out to show the boys. The boys were so excited and could not stop thanking me for buying them. Then, it got quiet as I put groceries away.
A few minutes later, a scream happened from the other room. It was one of the boys. Can you see where this is going? Yes, the boys were claiming left and right that they had injuries and boo-boos because they NEEDED an Angry Bird band-aid.
The boys eventually stopped “hurting” themselves to get one of the new prized items when we went out on some missions to explore a few new to us locations. Of course, it did not end there. Sunday morning, JSL screamed that he needed a band-aid because he had a boo-boo on his finger. We looked. Nothing there. A few moments later, he came back and declared it was killing him and he needed a band-aid now. The funny thing was that the finger location had changed. My theory is that he had a Mel Brooks inspired mole moment. If you watch his movies you will know what I am talking about.
So fess up, are you a fan of Angry Birds? Would love to know how these little critters have changed your lives since they became so popular.
It is no secret that I am a certified reading teacher. I may not be in the classroom right now, but I am always thinking about my own children and others. My oldest son craved to learn to read. When asked on the first day of kindergarten what his goal was, he said it was to read alone. In a short amount of time, he did this.
Fast forward to my youngest. JSL is suddenly beyond interested in learning to read and write. When we received a bounty of items to host a Leap Frog – “Learn, Create, & Share” Party, I knew there was something special here. We had a lot of Leap Frog items in the past, but everything in our package was new to us. Since our party, JSL has been focused on writing letters and trying to read on his own. At almost four and a half, I want to run with this literacy development.
There are so many ways to help children to read. The best early literacy learning comes from reading a lot and having others that model this behavior. JSL is lucky and has that with his big brother, TechyDad, and me. We all read a lot of different items and enjoy reading to him. Thanks to the LeapFrog Tag, JSL is now able to read alone.
With the Tag, kids are able to sound out words on the pages of the special books that are for use with the Tag. We were sent the LeapFrog Tag Learn to Read Phonics Book Series Short Vowels. I was very impressed with the content in them. They kept JSL’s interest and he was able to follow along, repeat what was said, and figure out what to do with little assistance. In this video, you will see how JSL can utilize the different features. Let’s ignore the fact that I distracted him, he skipped a page, and liked to repeat words.
In addition to being easy to transport and use, I love the variety of books offered for the LeapFrog Tag. There are a lot of picture book classics, Disney titles, books about super heroes, and more. In addition to this, there are items like the LeapFrog Tag Maps: World. This works with the tag pen and helps children to learn about the world map, cultures, and other items. There are even games to race around the world while homing in on your geography skills.
The Tag Reading system is very versatile and can grow with a child as they learn to read and practice increasing their fluency and comprehension. Not only are these wonderful gift items for a young child, but a set would be a fantastic teacher/classroom gift as well. Imagine the faces of children using these in a kindergarten or preschool classroom to gain confidence and self-esteem while learning to read.
Do you have a Tag Reader? If you do, I would love to know what books you recommend since Chanukah is coming and we will probably be getting some titles for JSL to enjoy.
What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Book Posts, and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.
Disclosure: As a long time LeapFrog supporter, I applied and was selected by Mom Select and LeapFrog to host a “Learn, Create, & Share” party. They provided me with all of the items shown above. The opinions are all mine and no other compensation was received. More coming soon about the LeapPad and helping kids to learn to write.