Book Giveaway and Blog Hop

We are doing it again!  Giving away children's books.  The Blog Ambassadors and I are teaming up and giving away 3 to 4 books each.  So follow the links at the end of this post to enter to win all of the giveaways!

I am giving away four books: Chimidyue, There's a Cow in My House, My Dad the Tuk Tuk Driver and Beatriz, Banana and the Very Big Hat.  These books are all published by Experience Early Learning, here in the USA.

Chimidyue came in our Mother Goose Time theme Rainforest Adventure.

You can see my boys telling the folktale of Chimidyue using the Storytelling Set if you click here.

"Chimidyue's story is from the Takuna trive in South America.  The Takuna live in the upper Amazon River area.  They have a rich tradition of storytelling.  The tale of Chimidyue is unique because it features a female as the main character."  (As described in the back of the book)

 Chimidyue is a little girl, who one day, followed a big beautiful blue morpho butterfly into the rainforest.

While she was there she heard and saw things that seemed scary at first.  One of the sounds she heard ended up being a woodpecker and she asked the woodpecker for help.  The woodpecker said "No! Why should I make time for you? Your people cut down the trees and stole my home.  I'm much too busy building a new place to live."

Chimidyue continues to hear this complaint from the other animals she meets in the rainforest until eventually she finds her way back home with the help of the blue morpho butterfly once again.  Now back to her village she has learned an important lesson, to care for the rainforest. 

Beatriz, Bananas, and the Very Big Hat came in the My Amazing Body theme.  In this theme we learned all about our bodies as well as the things we wear, like hats on our heads.  So this book could most definitely be incorporated into a similar theme you might be covering at home or even a jungle theme.  But Beatriz, Bananas, and the Very Big Hat is also a counting book.  It focuses on the number 11.  10 + 1 = 11.  You can see how Mother Goose Time had us incorporate a fun song, with the number 11 and this book by clicking here.



Beatriz is a little girl who weaves a hat so she doesn't get lost in the jungle.  Everyone loves her hat, so she decides to weave 10 more.  She is so tired she falls asleep and the monkeys take her hats.

She has a hard time figuring out how to get the hats back.  But soon figures out a way to trick the monkeys to get them back, all 11 of them.

The next book is a classic, There's a Cow in My House.  It's pretty clear by the title what the book is about.

There is a cow in the house doing silly things.

 Even climbing in the poor kids bed. 

This book is also a song and the words and music are printed in the back of the book.

This book went along with our Down on the Farm theme.  You can see it in action with the curriculum here.

The last book that you could win is called My dad the Tuk Tuk Driver.  This is a book from the perspective of a little boy from Cambodia.  He tells the reader about his Dad, who drives a Tuk Tuk.

 You get to learn and see just what a Tuk Tuk is and what a Tuk Tuk driver in Cambodia does everyday.

 You even get to search for the Tuk Tuk amongst the busy streets. 

This book came along with the theme of Me and My Family.  It is such a great book to teach about family but also to open your children's eyes and broaden their view of the world. 

The great thing about this book is that it was written by a non profit organization called Asian Hope. Their mission statement is at the back of the book.

"Asian Hope exists to protect, educate and empower children in Cambodia through its many holistic programs.  Asian hope believes that education is the key to rising above extreme poverty, lack of resources and child trafficking.  Through three formal schools, Village Development Programs and Higher Education and Leadership Preparation Program, Asian Hope gives thousands of children and families the power to influence Cambodia for generations to come."

When you read this book to your children you don't only get a great story but you get to tell them about the wonderful work Asian Hope is doing.  It's a win win.

Speaking of winning.  Make sure to enter your name in the raffle below.

Entry-Form

Here are the links to the other Blog Ambassador Blogs.

An InLinkz Link-up

If you want to get your hands on any of these books you can head on over to Amazon where these books are now sold. 

Our Badge Chart

I can't remember when I came up with this idea exactly.  I just remember being fed up with a certain behavior and I wanted to figure out a way to reward positively for the right behavior.

The idea at first, was that Lachlan would get a badge at the end of the day.  When Daddy came home from work, he would ask if Lachlan had listened well and ask if he had gone to time out at all that day.  I wanted Daddy to be involved in the reward process.  This worked great for the first day or two, but then we started to forget.  The badge was also so delayed and separate from the good behavior that it really didn't matter much at that point.

The Badges

So it evolved.  They each now have a badge jar out in our living room.  The third jar holds all the badges that are up for grabs.  When we see them act out a good behavior, we ask them to put a badge in their jar.  This is great, because they immediately get a reward. 

The badge jars in the living room.

Each of my sons have their own behavior that they get rewarded for.  Peter get's a badge for listening because, well, he's not that great of a listener.

Lachlan get's a badge for controlling his anger.  He has always been quick to get frustrated and angry.  I remember when he was tiny, the doctor asked if he could stack blocks.  He was checking to see if Lachlan had met a developmental marker.  I thought, hmm, no he can't because when he stacks more than one, if it falls over, he get's so mad he crashes the rest down.  Poor guy, wants to get everything just right.  He struggled with taking instruction from Mommy, for this same reason.  He thought he should already know everything and was upset that he didn't get it right.  This proved to be especially problematic since we homeschool.  So he also earns a badge for taking instruction. 

This will be their third time filling up the chart, and this time around, we are adding 'going to bed with out Daddy' to the badge earning list.

Somewhat unintentionally, we have used it as a negative consequence to bad behavior.  If they don't listen or don't control their anger, a badge can be taken away.  For this reason, I will give them a badge each morning, that way it is their goal to keep their badge as well as earn more. Even though taking away a badge works, I really try to keep this a positive reward system.

As they head off to bed each night, we take their badges from the jars and put them in the badge chart.  This way, at the end of their day, they can see how many they have earned and also see how close they have come to filling up the chart.

The badge chart.

When the whole chart is full, we get to go do something fun as a family. 

As we were driving home from the 3D movie they earned tonight, it dawned on me that their are a few more big time perks to this set up and their reward.  First off, they are each earning the badges separately, but all the badges go into the same chart.  This means, that they, as a family, are working together towards the reward.  Also, the reward is enjoyed together, as a family.  The reward is not an object, but an experience.  (Big positive for my house, as I do not need anymore stuff.)  It's also most likely an experience we would do and pay for anyhow, but when done as a reward, makes it that much sweeter.  Their first reward earned was a trip to an awesome pool with a water slide and all sorts of fun.

So let me break down the parts. The 'badge chart' is a pocket chart.  We got ours from a friend who picked it up second hand.  But these things are used everyday in classrooms across America and can be purchased at any school supply store and I am sure can be ordered through Amazon.
Sure enough, I was able to find one on Amazon.

I guess it's a 100 board pocket chart.  At first it was just Lachlan earning badges and we didn't want it to take forever for him to earn his reward, so we folded the pocket chart in half and stapled it along the edges.  So there are only 50 exposed pockets to fill. I might add another row or two to make it 60 or 70 pockets to fill now that 2 boys are contributing to the chart.

The badges are simply poster board cut up into squares.  I had the boys help me add the stickers to the squares to turn them into badges.  We used stickers from an awesome Melissa & Doug set we happened to have.  But of course you can buy stickers of your childs favorite things and make the badges meaningful to them. 

Peter's 1 to 2 Photo Book

I started a tradition when Lachlan was born of making photo books of each year of their life.  Two actually, for the first year, since they change so much, then 1 per year there after.  It's a great tradition, but I am nervous about keeping up. 

I have a file on my computer for each year of their life.  So right now I have one called Lachlan 4 to 5 and Peter 2 to 3.  I used to copy my favorite photos each time I uploaded photos and paste them into this file.  Now that I am taking pictures almost daily for this blog and using a different editing program, I haven't kept up.  I am still working on getting finished up with those files before I start their new ones now that they are 5 and 3.

Once I finish the file, I upload it to Shutterfly and get started on my book.  It takes a while because I am kind of picky.  But I think I need to start worrying more about just getting the photos on the page.  

I just ordered Peter's book from 1 to 2 and here it is.  

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Children's Handkerchief

My husband's relatives all live over in Australia.  His lovely Aunt Adele always thinks of us on special occasions and sends some awesome little treasures.  It's always fun to see what she finds.  One of my favorite is a cute little ceramic scoop she got us that resides in our sugar to use for coffee and tea.

However, for Lachlan's birthday she sent a birthday card and you could tell it was stuffed with something.  When Lachlan opened it, inside were two adorable children's handkerchiefs.

I have never seen anything like this here in the states.  Just the plain white Grandpa ones.  Lachlan's nose happened to be running a bit and we have been working with him on the proper way to pick boogers.  So I immediately tucked one into his pocket and told him if he needed to pick a booger, to grab the hankie and use it for picking.

Sorry, I suppose some might find this topic gross.  But seriously, boogers are a fact of life.  You have to get to them somehow, might as well just teach them how to do it the sanitary way. 

A week later, it started to snow.  I mean lots of snow.  We got an accumulation of about 10 inches which is unheard of here in Oregon.  Well you know what happens when you are playing outside in the cold, your nose runs.  So I tucked one of these in my pocket and had it handy to catch noses.

I am sure this is not as sanitary as the throw away kind of kleenex, but the fact that it can stay in their pocket, ready to go, is very helpful. 

Immediately I started thinking about where I might be able to get some more.  Amazon was my first guess.  They have a lot of pretty floral ones for girls.  But these were the only ones I could find so far for boys.

The benefit of having a fun pattern is that they might be more likely to hold onto it.  But I bet you could buy some of the grandpa ones, all white, and get some fabric paint (as long as it's soft) to paint their names on or silly patterns.

I also imagine, you could make these pretty easy, the trick would be finding the right kind of fabric.  Since I am fabric illiterate, that's not the job for me.  

The next place I thought of looking was Etsy.  They have tons of vintage children's handkerchiefs.  So this apparently is not a new thing, just like cloth diapers, maybe the trend will come back around.  But I did find these super cute Monster Swipers made by Frank & Me right here in my home state, Bend Oregon.  Super cute idea, I might have to place an order or 2.
(Neither of the above links work anymore, I tried to find Frank & Me on Etsy and had no luck, maybe she closed down her business? Or maybe it's just taking off in other areas.  I did find her on Facebook, link here.)

The photo of the math hankies is an affiliate link from Amazon.  If you follow it and make a purchase, I get a percentage of the sale.  How much?  I couldn't tell you.  Never have made a penny, but it's worth a shot.  

What are you going to do with 3 boys?

Buy a wrestling mat.

No really, buy a wrestling mat.

It is inevitable that after telling whomever it is I come across that I have boy #3 on the way, they will ask me, wow, what are you going to do with 3 boys?

This has always been my answer.  At first everyone laughs, ha funny joke.  Then I say again, no, really, I do want a wrestling mat.

Not that I want to encourage aggression.  But I need to face the fact that I have 3 boys.  Well almost.  They are amazing and loving little men that give me hugs, rub my growing baby belly and tell me that they love me.  Then the next second they are climbing as high as they can on our furniture so they can be a super hero and jump off.

I can only imagine that as they get older the heights will get higher and their muscles will get stronger.  They will continue to have a need for danger and risk.  I have heard of families with 3 boys where one or more have ended up with broken bones from wrestling.  I might as well see if I can find a slightly safer way to do what boys do.  That, and establish some basic rules.  I think I might actually look up the official wrestling rules and hang them in my house.

I am sure this mat will also be used for tumbling, as that is a favorite activity these days as well. 

One day, a few weeks ago, I ran into a long time family friend.  She raised 2 boys and then a had a surprise little girl that is now 16.  I told her that our 3rd boy was on the way and she again asked what everyone asks.  What are you going to do with 3 boys?  I responded in my usual way and after I said, no, really, I want to buy a wresting mat, she looked at me and said "you know, I think I have one you could have."  Her daughter had gotten into gymnastics and she had bought her a tumbling mat but it had been sitting in their basement for a while, unused.  She needed to check with her daughter to make sure her daughter didn't mind if she gave it away.  Danielle said it was okay.  So, yay!  Today we got our wrestling mat. 

I cleared the floor of all the toys, laid it out and it seemed the boys instinctively knew what to do.  I guess I did help them a little, guidance more than anything.

In this video Lachlan and Peter had been transforming from boys to dinosaurs.  Peter didn't want to be a dinosaur anymore.  So they were just boys for a while, they wrestled and then did some flips.  This is 1 minute of the 20 plus they played on it when I first laid it out.

So Karen and Danielle, I must say, Thank you!  This mat will help them burn off a lot of energy.  For that I am so grateful.  It might even save us from a few emergency room visits.  We shall see. 

The Magiscope

The Magiscope is a microscope.

Why are you writing about a microscope Tracy, you have a 4 and a half year old and a 2 and a half year old.  Microscopes are for older kids.  Not this one!

A friend of mine told me about this microscope and I have been hooked ever since.  I am proud to say, we bought a used one off of EBay for the boys for Christmas.  The story of this microscope is just amazing.  If you have a moment, I encourage you to read it for yourself.  For now, I will give you a brief synopsis.

A young and very smart boy named Dennis Brock got kicked out of High School at 16.  I guess the teachers didn't like that he only came now and then to class.  I am guessing he just wasn't challenged enough because later in his life he became a microscope repair man and soon the inventor of this great microscope.  He studied and repaired microscopes for years.  One day he had the thought that he could probably build something better than what he had been fixing.  He decided that the niche in the market that was missing a good quality product was a microscope for children.  Here is a quote from the About Us page of the Magiscope website:
"What they needed was an instrument designed for kids. What was required was something they could use on their own without supervision to view whatever caught their eye. Parents, teachers and children have always been afraid of microscopes and had rarely seen a quality image. Most importantly, it had to work without cords, mirrors, batteries or any conventional light source. This would be the real prize to reach for – no light source and no breakable parts. The ultimate tool would have only one moving part and need only room light without adjustment on clear or opaque objects."

I have been writing back and forth with Jennifer, Dennis' wife.  I wrote them to get some advice on what accessories I should get to go along with the Magiscope and I just had to share with them my excitement.  She has been so helpful, teaching me the terminology and giving me some pointers for kids my age. Like making "looking scopes" out of toilet paper rolls to get them used to looking through something with one eye.  Lachlan takes pictures while looking through the eye piece of the camera, so he should be good but Peter has tried this only occasionally.  So between now and Christmas I really want to work on this with him.  I would not want him to just simply be frustrated with his new present.

I covered our toilet paper rolls with bright colored paper and then let him pick out stickers to put on the outside.  I asked him to look through it and he put it up to his eye but didn't close the other.  So I placed my hand over his other eye and then he took over.  Now I just need to incorporate play with the looking scope through out the day.

Some features you should know about.  The Magiscope is indestructible.  However, if something by chance breaks, they will fix it as part of the lifetime warranty.  Also, the scope part comes off of the stand.  Your kids can take this out in the backyard, or on a walk or on a camping trip and use it to look closely at what ever they choose! The world is their Petri dish.  Dennis was also successful with his hope of using natural light.  There is a Lumarod that brings in the natural light to the base where you would place your specimen when using the scope on the stand.  No batteries!  No plugs!

If you weren't sold already on this product then let me tell you this.  It is the only American microscope, American made.  They have had the same foundry, machinist and painter for 25 years.  This is a great example of the America we all love.  

Jennifer was kind enough to send along photos taken through the lens of one of their Magiscopes.  Taken by none other than Dennis Brock, inventor of the Magiscope.  

A Micro Mollusk on a penny.  photo by Dennis Brock

Lettuce that went to seed.  photo by Dennis Brock

Spider face. photo by Dennis Brock

I can only imagine the world will seem so much bigger to my boys as they discover and explore it in every detail, from big things to things so very, very small.  I have always wanted to establish a love of learning for my boys, I can't think of a better tool.

So maybe add one of these scopes to your Christmas list this year.  Head on over to Magiscope and check them out.

I have not gotten anything from Magiscope for saying these things.  I simply like to tell my friends about amazing products.
 

This Should Be About Pumpkin Carving

Every time I see the pictures of the boys carving pumpkins I think I need to write a post about that.  This morning as I think back to that day I can't help but think not about the pumpkin carving but about my husband, whom I am so thankful for.  Hopefully I can cover both in this post.

The local pumpkin patch that we normally go to is not open this year.  There is another one but you have to pay to get in and it is a bit of a drive.  Every weekend for quite a while my husband has been working on painting the house, so we can't get away for a long afternoon at a pumpkin patch.  We hope to make a trip to a pumpkin patch at some point before October is over but wanted to get started on our pumpkins now.  We thought for now, we would just go to our local grocery store.

We needed to pick up some other things while we were there, so we gathered our list.  Then I noticed, it's 5 and we are all hungry, not a good time to go to the grocery store.  This is when my husband came up with a super simple and super fun idea.  Let's pick up a pizza and have a pizza picnic in the van before we go to the store.  We have a mini van but we (as in he) takes out the two middle seats and so it is open in the middle.  I can't tell you how nice this is, that I can get the kids safe and inside the van as well as myself as I get them buckled in.  If I need more seats for some reason, I just let him know and he puts them back (just one more reason I am thankful.)

So we picked up a cheap pepperoni pizza from Figaro's, the only pizza the boys actually eat.  We drove to the middle of the parking lot of the grocery store, unbuckled sat in the middle of the van and ate our pizza.  It was cool because we got to people watch, but more than anything it was just unusual and fun to be together as a family, squeezed inside our little van eating pizza.  Jeff was really thrilled by the experience and so was I.  I don't think this would have been something his family could do because each meal had to be formal.  I bet this sort of impromptu outing will be one to stand out in the boys memory, or maybe not, because I do hope their lives are full of things like this.

Next we picked out our pumpkins then went inside to gather a few other items for our list.  It was so fun to go grocery shopping as a family.  It really was another fun part of the night.

When we got home, we put the food away and got right to work on the pumpkins.  The boys did really well with scooping the gunk out this year.  Jeff helps them out by first taking a spoon and scraping around the outside real quick.  He just separates the gunk from the side but leaves it all in there for them to scoop out on their own.  Another great idea by Jeff.

I had seen this idea on I Can Teach My Child, to use golf tees and a toy hammer to pound the tees into the pumpkin.   I immediately new my boys would love this.  I showed Jeff and he was game.  Another reason why I am thankful for him, not all husbands would get on board with all these different ideas.  On the blog she just had her kids pound the tees where ever on the pumpkin they wanted which gave the pumpkin a star effect.  I told the kids we were going to make an S for our last name.  So I drew an S and put dots along the S for them to line the tees up on for pounding.  They took turns lining up and pounding in the tees.  When we were almost all done I realized I should probably get some pictures so I had Jeff grab the camera.

I started pushing in the tees a little bit so they didn't have to be held in place and Peter could just pound away with out fear of squishing Mommies fingers or his own fingers.   When we were all done, Peter really enjoyed grabbing all the tees and putting them back in the holes.

I posted one of these pictures on Facebook and a friend made the comment "I love seeing all the things you do with your children."  This same weekend, Jeff at one point said "I love finding random rocks around the house."  Simple statement or so it seems.  I LOVE that my husband said this.  It's proof that we have the same heart when it comes to our children.  You see, when we bought our house we had river rock everywhere.  We didn't really like it but hey, it's there.  Now most of it is in the front yard and with out fail when we go out front to get in and out of the car or for any reason, the boys have to stop and pick up a treasured rock.  The treasured rock ends up in their pockets or their curious little hands and carried inside.  Inevitability we will find rocks everywhere around the house.  In bed, in the bathroom, on the floor, window sill and most commonly, the washing machine.  The rocks are then placed by me, up somewhere high to be taken back outside at some point.  This of course could be seen as annoying, but my husband sees it as a blessing.  Knowing that the little hands of his precious boys brought this treasure inside and placed it there at some point through out their day.

I guess what I am saying is, with out the love and support of my husband, I don't think we would do nearly as much cool stuff as we do.  My children are blessed with an amazing Father.

Now back to the pumpkin carving.  Each boy then got to pick out a face to carve on their pumpkin.  We don't do scary Halloween, I hate scary Halloween.  Lachlan wanted his face to match his pumpkin costume.  He is dressing as a super cute pumpkin this year.  So we got out the costume and Jeff carved out the face.

Next it was Peter's turn.  What a great opportunity to talk shapes!  Peter, what shape eyes do you want for your face, square, circles or triangles?  "Triangles, no I want squares."   What shape nose do you want? "Circle."  How about a smile?  How many teeth should he have? "Three."  Jeff did the carving, but instructed by Peter.  It is quite the cute pumpkin.  On the back side of the pumpkin I drew an L on Lachlan's, with dots for him to hammer.  We ran out of time to do the P on Peter's but will do it sometime before Halloween.  I still have the tees and hammer out.   

So here are our cute pumpkins to greet our guests and make us smile when we come home.  The boys thought they were pretty awesome.