This picture was taken last summer.
growing & learning with him
Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog's FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.
By Deirdre
This picture was taken last summer.
By Deirdre
By Deirdre
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:
Chasing Marcus has a Tot School post on eggs that is really fun. I love her fly swatter activity. I would love her peg game.
I love Southern Savers. She saves me a lot of money at the grocery store. This week she posted about a fun game online on How Wheat Works that is worth checking out.
Little Llamas! is one of my new favorite sites. I love her Easter- Palooza. She did such wonderful Easter activities with her children. I really like the bread as the empty tomb activity.
Moments of Mommyhood made the cutest chick footprint as part of her Friday Book Project Ducklings Love post. I wish I wasn’t afraid to paint JDaniel’s feet.
Recipes I need to try:
justJenn has a great cupcake recipe for Whipped Cream Cupcakes.
Homemaking Helper has great recipes for leftover eggs on her Hard-Boiled Egg Recipes post. The stuffed cheese rolls look wonderful.
Posts I just loved:
Jenny Matlock posted a wonderful piece called On Easter Our Youngest Grand Sat On My Lap. I love her Alphabe- Thursday too.
By Deirdre
By Deirdre
By Deirdre
By Deirdre
On Sunday as we got in the car to go to my mothers-in-law 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!
By Deirdre
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
By Deirdre
By Deirdre
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.