Deirdre, Author at JDaniel4s Mom

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+.

He Hunted! He Found! He was Thrilled!

March 28, 2010 By Deirdre

JDaniel went to an egg hunt at a friend’s house and had a blast. He ran around collecting eggs as fast as he could. The other children hadn’t been practicing as we have. JDaniel looked like a professional egg hunter. The other children could have cared less.

My friend gave them each bucket to carry and filled the eggs with toys, jelly beans, and stickers. All the children were happy.

Practice Egg Hunt signature

Yoplait YoPlus “Better for You” Gift Pack Giveaway

March 25, 2010 By Deirdre

We love yogurt at my house. With the weather getting warmer I will need to make sure that if yogurt is going to be on the picnic lunch I bring for lunch that the lunch box stays cool. I was given the opportunity to offer you an opportunity to try Yoplait YoPlus Yogurt and have a great way to take it on picnics. The Yoplait YoPlus “better-for-you” gift pack which includes a coupon for a 4-pack of Yoplait YoPlus yogurt, on-the-go lunch container with utensils, an insulated lunch bag, and a pedometer. The pedometer will be great for counting all the steps you take all day while chasing your children, doing yard work, or any other activities in your life.

Here’s how to win a gift pack:

*Tell me your favorite Yoplait product. (1 entry)

For extra entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry.

*Tell me your favorite Yoplait recipe. (1 entry)

*Write about this giveaway with a link back to it on Facebook or another social network site. (1 entry)

*Enter another giveaway that I am hosting. (1 entry for each giveaway you enter)

*Leave a comment on a non-giveaway blog post. (1 entry)

*Follow my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you now follow or that you already do. (1 entry)

*Twitter about this giveaway with a link back, you must also be following me on Twitter. Copy and paste: YoplaitBetterforYou@JDaniel4’sMom(1 entry per day)

*Subscribe to my blog. Leave me a comment saying that you have subscribed or that you already do. (1 entry)

*Add me to your blog roll. Please leave a link to your site. (2 entries)

*Add my button to your blog. Please leave a link to your site. (2 entries)

This giveaway begins March 25th and ends April 7th.

That is 10 ways to win. The winner will be chosen by using the random number generator at http://www.random.org/. )

Disclosure: I received a gift pack that was provided to me by Yoplait YoPlus through My Blog Spark. It was donated to a charity. My BlogSpark will provide the winner of this giveaway a package. The views of this product were my own.

Jamas Just Around JDaniel’s Ankles

March 25, 2010 By Deirdre

On Sunday morning I left JDaniel in the living room reading a book in his sleeper suit so that I could get ready for church. I knew my husband was in the kitchen and would be moving to the living room to be with JDaniel. Within minutes of getting into the bathroom I heard the pitter patter of little feet and squeals of laughter. I looked out of the bathroom to find JDaniel running round the bedroom with only a diaper on. I called out to my husband to see if JDaniel was running away from being changed for church. “No,” my husband called back, “JDaniel has unzipped his jamas, taken his arms out of the sleeves, and has been running around with the feet still in the sleeper suit.” He had apparently been tripping and falling in this state before my husband had removed the pajamas. Now JDaniel was running around the first floor of the house laughing like a banshee in a diaper. Who knew he had learned to take his jamas off?

Signs of Spring Fingerplays

March 23, 2010 By Deirdre

See, See, See

See, see, see (shade eyes with hands)

Three birds are in a tree (hold up three fingers)

One can chirp (point to thumb)

And one can sing (point to index finger)

One is just a tiny thing. (point to middle finger, then rockbaby bird in arms)
See, See, See Three birds are in a tree (hold up three fingers)

Look, look, look (shade eyes)

Three ducks are in a brook (hold up three fingers)

One is white, and one is brown. One is swimming upside down (point to a finger each time)

Look, look, look Three ducks are in a brook. (hold up three fingers)

Taken from Spring Time Theme

Bunny in the Ground

Here is a bunny with ears so funny (make bunny ears)

And here is his hole in the ground (make a circle with fingers)

When a noise he hears (put hand to ear)

He pricks up his ears, (hold bunny ears up straight)

And he jumps in his hole in the ground! (make hole with one hand and stick finger in it)

Spring Training- Getting Ready For Egg Hunts

March 23, 2010 By Deirdre

We started spring training for egg hunts last week by searching for some of JDaniel’s plastic balls around the second floor of the house. I gave him a plastic basket to collect them in and carefully explained what he needed to do. He had trouble at first finding them even if they were in plain sight. He needed guidance to know what part of the room to look in and once he was there what furniture it was on. After two days of playing find the ball inside, we moved outdoors. He really seemed to be able to find the balls quickly and loved placing them in the basket. When I tried to play find the ball with him over the weekend he was not interested. Yesterday he started playing the game by himself. JDaniel hides the eggs and then finds them. I guess he understood and enjoyed it more than I thought.

I Need a Lifeguard in the Bathtub!

March 18, 2010 By Deirdre

SITS is holding a Back to Blogging Event this week. Each day bloggers are asked to select a particular thing to share. Today the we were at to share a blog entry title we were proud of. I like many of my titles, but this one is attached to a fun post too.

JDaniel has been sitting in a tub seat for over a year. He really loves it now. When I first put him in it, he cried and cried. Now that he is a chunky two year old, he doesn’t fit in the tub seat well. He also fusses about the toys that are out of his reach.

I decided that he needed to try and sit in tub on his own. Well, he didn’t want to be in the tub without the seat. He cried and cried about being in the tub. The first night I just took him out and told him we would try again in a day or two. The second time he was placed in the tub he was still fussing. I was frustrated about the crying about the tub and the fact I had forgotten to bring a diaper into the bathroom with me. I called down the steps to my husband and asked him to come watch JDaniel while I got a diaper. He came up stairs right a way. I left him trying to calm JDaniel down. When I returned all I could see was JDaniel sitting in the tub and no husband. We have glass doors that slide to close the tub off when you are using the shower. The front door was open to bathe Daniel and the back door was shut. I looked around the front door to the back on the tub and there my husband was squatting with his pants rolled up. It was the funniest thing to see. JDaniel has been talking about it all day. “Daddy in tub! Daddy in tub!” he says.

Later that night I asked him where he came up with the idea. He commented that he did the same thing when we first used the tub seat. I had forgotten that’s what JDaniel would need.

Seeing Green at the Grocery Store- St. Patrick’s Day Activity

March 17, 2010 By Deirdre

I picked up these paint chips at my local Lowe’s store. I love that they have a window you can use to see an object behind the paint chip and see if it matches. The little window made it a great tool to take to the grocery store and look for green foods. JDaniel loves to have something to do while sitting in the cart. This activity was a lot of fun.

St. Patrick's Day Grocery Store Color Hunt - Acorn Squash

Sometimes I would hand JDaniel the item to test.

St. Patrick's Day Grocery Store Color Hunt - Broccoli Sometimes I would hold the card up to the food and have him tell me if it matched.

We looked like we were having so much fun another mother of a two-year-old mentioned she would like to try this activity with her child.

A Wee Little Man Came Visiting

March 16, 2010 By Deirdre

A little man came to visit my house weeks ago and has been waiting for JDaniel and me to show him the town. Flat Stanley came with the snow in the middle of February and due to a lot of things happening in my family he sat quietly and waited for us to work on his project.

On Friday JDaniel and I took him to down to Greenville to see the Liberty Bridge and Falls Park. We all stayed dry and really enjoyed checking out the bridge and the falls.

Can you tell I let JDaniel do most of the coloring?

We still have something things to do for him before he heads home to New Hampshire, but at least he got to see some of our town.

St. Patrick’s Day Finger Plays

March 15, 2010 By Deirdre

Leprechaun Fingerplay

Leprechaun, leprechaun,
Hiding in the hay. (Hide pointer finger under opposite hand.)
Leprechaun, leprechaun,
Don’t you run away. (Hop pointer finger around.)
Leprechaun, leprechaun,
Let’s go out and play. (Hop both pointer fingers together.)
Leprechaun, leprechaun,
It’s St. Patrick’s Day! (Dance pointer fingers up and down.)

This Little Leprechaun

This little leprechaun slid down the rainbow, (Point to thumb.)
This little leprechaun stayed home. (Point to index finger.)
This little leprechaun picked a shamrock, (Point to middle finger.)
This little leprechaun found some gold. (Point to ring finger.)
This little leprechaun cried, “See if you can catch me,” (Point to little finger.)
As he ran home. (Wiggle little finger.)

Taken from http://www.preschooleducation.com/spatrick.shtml

Hands On Thank You Notes

March 11, 2010 By Deirdre

Kids can use a hand print instead of signing their name on their thank you notes.

My sister Michelle used to have her children’s hand traced at the bottom of their thank you notes. It was a great alternative to having them scribble all over the card. Yesterday afternoon I finally sat down to write thank you notes for all of JDaniel’s wonderful birthday gifts. Last night after dinner we sat down to do his hand tracings. He loved that he was getting to leave a handprint on the cards that were going out to thank his friends and family. JDaniel was very patient as I traced his hand over and over again.