Making our own Farmer's Market

Our most recent Kiwi Crate was one of my favorite to date, so I thought I'd share...

The theme was Farmer's Market, and the first activity was to create aprons.  They included fabric crayons, aprons, and a couple stencils.  I  have never used fabric crayons, but I really liked how easy they were for the girls to use.  All I had to do when they were finished was iron over them (according to the enclosed directions) and now they are permanent.    Love 'em.  As you can tell, even Lily had no problem writing on the fabric.

The second part of the project was to lace together fruits and vegetables and stuff them with cotton balls.  Then, they had money to punch out and they could set up their own Farmer's Market to play.

They had a terrible time, can't you tell!?  :)

(I love that they made price tags- that is soooo Abby)

Spinning in your Spiderweb

We checked out a new play structure at a local park yesterday and the girls loved it.  I saw it while Lily and I were at the park for a preschool field trip, and just knew that we were going to have to make a special trip.

From a distance, it looks like a giant spider web.  I couldn't tell if it was rope or plastic/metal.  Turns out it was rope, which made it all the trickier because it was wiggly.  Abby loves to climb and LOVED it.  Lily was pretty content to swing for most of the time, but we finally got her to try it and she did pretty well too (she just needs longer arms and legs to really "get" it).

My turn to share books...

My small group is starting a new book and I'm really looking forward to it.  It's by Liz Curtis Higgs, the same author as the Bad Girls of the Bible book series.  I have only read the introduction so far, but it looks so good.  Click here for more info if you are interested in it.

I also read one of the most buzzed about books lately, Gone Girl.  That is one Cuh-razy book.  Good,  but, Cuh-razy.  

Any recommendations for me?

Our favorite girl books right now

Around our house, we definitely have lots of books, and we definitely have our favorites.  Abby is now reading chapter books and we also read some chapter books together. 

I thought I'd share some of our favorites, in case you have a young girl and you're looking for a new book and you haven't discovered these yet.  They are all series, so there are multiple books of all of them.  Most of them are about a second grade reading level.

Ivy and Bean:  They are ornery and fun.  Ivy is very quiet and Bean isn't.  They make quite a pair.

Kylie Jean is a very new find.  As in a week old for us.  Abby and I happened upon it at the library and she loves it.  I have already put a hold on two more.  We've reserved Singing Queen and Dancing Queen next, I think.

Most parents know A to Z Mysteries, so this one is much more well known; and girls AND boys love them.  They are for sure one of Abby's favorites.  She always gets one at her school's library.  They are about a group of smart kids that solve mysteries.  The titles are things like X-ed out X-ray and Zombie Zone (Abby has read those two).  The author is Ron Roy.

What do your kids like to read?

A Second Grade Mexican Celebration!

Today was the culmination of a unit that Abby's class has been working on about Mexico, and boy, was she excited.  It was the Mexican Celebration!

You can tell I have lost my blogging mojo, because I hardly took any pictures.  Nonetheless, it was very fun.  The class was divided into groups and each group was in charge of a "shop" at the market that they needed to set up when we got outside to our location (the outdoor shelter).  Once they were set up, their teacher, Mrs. E, had them all close their eyes and talked them through an airplane ride and landing and being transported to an outdoor market.

First on the agenda was a Mexican Hat Dance.  It was great.  Then, we headed into the Market and the kids shopped.  All of the shops were selling handmade creations (by them):  maracas (Abby's group), tissue paper flowers, mosaics, a cup game, and pinch pots.

Next, they got to sample Mexican cuisine provided by the parents.  I brought in tamales, but there were many things to sample.  The funniest thing was that among all the moms there, and many of us are active PTO moms that know each other, we all thought everyone else would send in chips and salsa so we didn't do that, and then NO ONE sent in chips and salsa!  Isn't that funny?  We decided maybe that was better because that might have been all they would have eaten if we had it, but this way they tried more.  I was excited because my tamales (which weren't homemade, but still new to me) were a hit.  

The big finale was pinatas.  One for the boys and one for the girls.  :)

So far second grade has been very good to Abby.