Another Year, Another Co-op Preschool!

I didn't manage to keep up with posting about last years co-op, but we had a great year!  If you are wondering what co-op preschool is, I wrote a bit about it here.

This year my oldest is in public preschool, so I focused my effort on coordinating at group for my youngest.  Being pregnant and a bit more realistic about the time commitment I wanted to make, I didn't publicize the group as I have in years past.  Lots of people have approached me with interest in participating, so I recruited some help with coordinating the group and we were quickly able to assemble a group of kids.

The newest Ladera Learners!

 I hosted our first class.

We set up our schedule very similar to previous years: 1 class/week 1-1.5 hours long.  Snacks, circle time, several activities, closing circle.

The kids did fantastic!

These little guys are only 1.75-2.25 years old and they did great!

Happy Face Snacks

An Engaged Circle time Group!

We reviewed our circle time board and read "Baby Be Kind"Baby Be Kind and "I Can Do It."From Head to Toe Board Book  Pretty amazing for our first circle time experience for most of these guys!

 We colored placemats with our names on them and laminated them!

For our sensory/science activity, we played with warm and cold homemade playdough.  I loved exploring the texture and temperatures with my little guy.  We even mixed the "red" (okay okay, it's pink I was out of red dye) and blue together for color exploration!

Finally, we completed our first day interviews!

It was a really great class and I am so excited to watch these kids grow and change.  With my oldest off at school, I have an even great appreciation for the opportunity I had to be so involved in his first formal learning environment.

My Five Favorite Kids Book

Reading is my favorite hobby, and so far, my kids are really loving it, too.  We read LOTS of kids books in this house (My guess would be a minimum of ten per day).  We read most books over and over again.  Some are certainly more preferable to me than others.  I thought I'd write a post about my 5 favorite kids books in hopes of generating some new ideas for favorite books!  I can't promise these are my absolute favorites, but they are up there for sure, so in no particular order:

1. Pout Pout Fish

I love Pout Pout Fish.  There are several great books in the series, but the original is my favorite.  It's a cute story about changing your attitude (which is a necessary daily conversation in a house full of toddlers!!)  In fact, 'bluuub' has become a colloquial method of expressing feelings in our house!

2. Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site.
I work on a construction site, so I wasn't surprised when I received two very special versions of this book from friends! (The board book version with a stuffie from Jen and a SIGNED copy from Sara!!) But I haven't enjoyed all of the construction books we've read.  This one has a beautiful and relaxing cadence, lovely artwork and adorable characters.  It's a nightly favorite of Alex!

3.  Little Blue Truck
A very cute reminder about friendship.  It's filled with animals sounds so it's been a big hit for a while here.  I love books with a message, and this one has several.


4. Snuggle Up Sleepy Ones

This was previously Colin's night time book, and we read it twice a day for several years.  It's now a struggle to convince him to let me read it, but it remains a favorite!  Cute pictures of animals settling in for the evening.  (Although you do have to get past a page where Roar rhymes with paws)

5. I love you as Much


Alex's night time book!  This is a cute night time story about all of the mommy animals saying I love you to the baby animals.  "I love you as much as a mother can love."

An Incredible Getaway Part 1

I was feeling a bit disenchanted about a month ago.  As a result of other trips that came up, our family vacation was postponed again this year.  I looked at my calendar and realized I hadn't had a real break from work since the baby was born.  We needed a vacation. The thought of researching and planning a trip and then flying with the kids was incredibly overwhelming....

And then I realized I'd always wanted to take the train!

The thought of spending 5+ hours on a train with two kids sounded way more fun that 5+ hours on a plane.  Plus, the pre-boarding and boarding process is faster on a train (way faster.  Like frighteningly fast.  Like better be close to a door because they aren't waiting for you fast.)

So I pulled up the Amtrak map and choose a destination.  My requirements were only that it be somewhere new and we not have to transfer trains.

Santa Barbra fit the bill.

I giddily called my husband to convince him.  He was significantly less excited than me, but acquiesced (although he did try to talk me down to one night.)  "No!  It takes me an entire day to just unwind, plus the hotel has a discount for three nights!"

So we were booked.  Three business class tickets to Santa Barbara on the Surf liner and three nights at the Harbor View Inn.  The hotel choice was a little more complicated then that.  I hate choosing a hotel without a recommendation. But my requirements were 1. Walking Distance to the Train Station. 2. Ocean view.  The Harbor View fit the bill and had pretty good reviews. It didn't have breakfast or suites, which are my preference when traveling with my kids, but this was an ADVENTURE.  So I booked it.

Two days before we left, I finally realized what I had undertaken. What if they hated it? What if the train gave them (or me!) motion sickness? What if we couldn't get two kids and our luggage on the train fast enough and they left us standing on the platform?  What if...

As always, I had a detailed packing list and I was even pickier than normal (I was only allowing us one suitcase, to maximize the chances that everyone got on the train successfully.

We traveled with:
1 mommy
1 daddy
2 toddlers
1 suitcase
1 single stroller
2 baby carriers
2 baby backpacks
1 backpack
1 purse.

If it sounds like a lot, you've never travelled with children.

We also encouraged the boys to help.

We arrived early and walked around the station, checked out the Amtrak office and talked to the very nice deputies.  Down town San Juan is one of our favorite hang outs, so it was nice to be launching from a familiar place.

Then the train arrived!  The conductor stepped out and said "Griffin Party?"  Ha! So I guess they weren't going to leave us after all!  We had Business class Seats and the Conductor had reserved a family table for us.  We got to our seats and started settling down.  That was worth the ticket price difference alone.

We rumbled off down the track.  The boys stared out the window for a few minutes before getting bored and needing some of the awesome train toys I had packed in their backpacks.  The conductor also gave Colin some tickets which he used to make a track for his new Engine.

We were in for the long haul, so I tried to space out treats and snacks and toys.  As expected, Colin was easy.  He happily played, colored, and chatted.  Alex was a little bit harder.  He climbed over the table, dumped things on the ground and was generally a bit of a nuisance.  18 months is one of my favorite ages for everything so far except traveling.  It's kind of a nightmare for traveling.  After having his glasses yanked off for the zillionth time Gavin looked at me seriously and said "You get him all the way home."

We pulled into Union Station where we picked up a new crew.  And wine!  They also delivered snack packs to our seat which were similar to the ones you can buy on airplanes.  Cookies, crackers, dried fruit, etc.  Then it was nap time... NOT!

Still, everyone settled down and I sat looking lovingly at my family while sipping a glass of wine and staring out the window into the graffiti strewn back alleys of Los Angeles (picturesque this leg was not, but it was fascinating)

As a Civil Engineer who builds grade separations, one of the things I quickly noticed was that north of LA Union Station there were significantly more at grade crossings (it was easy to tell because the train whistle, which I'd been excited waiting for at the onset of our trip was now blowing much more frequently).  Eventually the city gave way to rolling hills and eventually beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean.  I'd been worried we were on the wrong side of the train because we were on the east side headed into LA, but apparently the engines push into LA and pull out, so we were on the Ocean side for the short amount of time we traveled along the shore.

I was as anxious about getting off the train as I had been about getting on (okay, maybe a little less after 2 glasses of wine...) so we were at the doors probably a bit earlier than required, babies and luggage in hand.

We stepped off the train and onto the platform in beautiful Santa Barbara!

More about our beautiful vacation coming up next!  

One room Challenge week 3: Finishing up the big boy bed and room layout

It's week three of the big boy bed challenge!

Week 1

Week 2

Last week my goals were to:

• Finish Bed
• Draft Room Layout
• Find solution for art storage
• Reconfigure book and clothing storage

Regrading finishing the bed, I got some more paint on it and then I left my paint brushes, roller and paint open when I went to comfort a crying baby and forgot about them.  This put a damper on my progress!

Bed Painting 'workshop'

I also decided I wanted to do a top coat.  I have no idea if it will help the paint hold up or not, I mean I did sand and prime it, but it's way more work than I thought,  so it seemed some easy insurance that I did everything I could!!

I drafted a bunch of room layouts.  Then I realized I only painted one of the bunk bed rails and I'm not sure I"ll get another one painted and ready in time, so I went back to the drawing board with the side rail I had.  I think I've got it figured out, but because I'm an engineer and because my drawing was done with no scale, no straight edge and in my journal one night in bed I'm going to refrain from sharing it.

And I decided on a project for art storage.  Actually, I decided that I already have a solution for actual art storage in my house. (I'm pretty proud of it, too)

I decided what he really should have is a bulletin board.  But he's 2, and his little brother is 1, so anything with tacks, pins, or anything else sharp or easily chocked on what's realy going to work.  I spent an irordinate amount of time trying to make a board, but I can officially choke that up as a failure.  I chose some frames instead. :)

The final task this week was REALLY working on the hype.  Along with the big boy bed change is another major change; so long paci.  We've been talking about it for months already, but I really amped it up this week.  We'll see if the long prep time helps at all.

Next week:

Assemble Bed
Buy Bedding
Convince big guy he's a big guy
Update Frames

My new go-to pot luck recipe: Corn Dog Muffins

We had our neighborhood block party this weekend.  I searched through my recipes for something that was easy (I was helping to coordinate so didn't have a lot of time for cooking), portable (I have two toddlers, so I can only ever eat what I can hold in one hand at a party and finish quickly if necessary) and kid friendly.

I decided on Corn Dog Bites

I did not invent this recipe.  I remember finding it online once and it used to be in my cookbook.  The original recipe didn't use box mix and I liked it a lot.

But I was pressed for time, couldn't find the original recipe and figured I'd try the box.

They came out great!  Well, they came out good.

If you are wondering why I suggest cooking them for 14 minutes, see below:

Top plate cooking for 16 (ish) minutes because a baby needed my attention and I missed the 15 minute ding.

Bottom plate cooked for 12 minutes because I was gun shy.  Both were good, but I would have preferred exactly in the middle.  

At the potluck they seemed to go over well and there were only 4 left at the end of the night.  

One Room Challenge Week 2: Big Boy Bed.

One room Challenge!

Week 1: Introduction

The catalyst for this project was a crib tumble incident.  The most important component is a big boy bed.  Immediately following the fall, we put a rain on the crib, making it into a toddler bed.  But it's time for a big boy boy.

The day of 'the fall' I posted my sad story on facebook and one of my neighbors mentioned that it was time for grown up bedroom for her baby boy, so she had a bunk bed if I'd like it.  I had been planning to get a bunk bed that could be set up as two twin beds so it was perfect!!

I decided I would give the bed a fresh coat of paint, but those plans have been very slow coming, (aka it just sat in the garage for a long time) but that's the whole point of this challenge right??

As you might remember, all of my sons furniture is dark, so I needed a dark coat of paint.  I googled painting furniture a zillion times and convinced myself I didn't need to sand it.  I bought some awesome primer and paint and did a sample.  It immediately flaked and I could tell immediately that it wasn't going to hold up to being in a little boys room.  So I guess were sanding.

Sanding the bed wasn't too bad.  I used a belt sander I borrwed from a friend and then hand sanded the parts I couldn't reach with it.  Even with the sanding, I decided we better put on a coat of primer.  Than I thought, eh, might as well to do.  (Paint goes along way on furniture and there was a lot left!)

Now we are own to painting, although that will probably take a while as I want to make sure each coat cures and the color is dark so it will take a few coats.

As I mentioned, the bed is the biggest part of this project, but I started thinking about what else a 'big boy' might need in his room.

Our little big boy loves reading, so a good way to store and read books is critical.  I am also thinking a place to hang his art might be fun.  A good friend of mine put these awesome continuous creation art panels in her daughter's room, but I don't think I'm quite that brave yet!

I have a general rule of no loud toys in the bedrooms, so I'd like to stick with that, but since he's getting to be a bit bigger and enjoy some activities that are easier without baby brother, I think I'll move some of those into his room as well.   It's a bit of a delicate balance, however because anything in his room as the potential to end up everywhere in his room on less successful nap days.  Ease of clean up is certainly an important factor on what goes in.

I'm also going to move around his clothes and closet to match how he uses his room right now.

Goal for next week:

• Finish Bed
• Draft Room Layout
• Find solution for art storage
• Reconfigure book and clothing storage

Co op Preschool: 1st Field trip We Play Loud!

The conclusion of our "All about me" month of Co-op preschool was a field trip to a local indoor playground, "We Play Loud!"

The staff was great about coordinating with me and even gave me the option to book a field trip through their site. Afer I considered needing to to pay in advance, coordinate students, parents and siblings, and plan a lesson compelling enough to convince the kids to stop playing for a bit it seemed easier to just meet instead

I like this venue.  It's on the expensive side, but it's immaculately clean, safe, and age appropriate for our kids.   

It's been a good month!  We learned about our our names, our families, our friends, and our bodies.  We practiced sitting and eating together, taking turns, listening during circle time, recognizing letters, picking up and holding pencils, writing our names, cutting, gluing, painting, threading and cooperating. We explored new materials and for some, new foods.  Being our first month, we had some adjustments and settling in, but over all I think it was really successful and I'm excited to see the unique perspective that each host brings to class! 

Co-op Preschool: My body and clothes

We had a fantastic class today!

Arrival Free Play:  Having a few activities seems to help focus the group and it certainly makes clean up much easier for us when we are hosting.  Today we had trucks, coloring and play dough.

Snack Time:

Circle Time:  We are working to extend our circle time as our kids have a slightly longer attention span.

Intro

Book: Have You Seen by New Blue Socks?  This was a cute story with a nice rhythm to it.  It's amazing to listen to the kids answer questions about the book or relate it to their lives.  Our preschoolers are growing up!

Next, we played a fun game of "I Spy" where we identified different articles of clothing our friends were wearing.

We played head shoulders knees and toes.

Then we had an opportunity to practice our public speaking!  We did a show and tell with a favorite article of clothing!  Mr. Griffin asked each child what color their item was and where they put it on their body.

Activity 1: Paper Dolls.  This was a fun activity and for some of our kids is was their first time using scissors!  We colored our dolls and then cut them out (with help).  Finally we glued their clothes onto them.

Activity 2: Felt Man This was a great activity for practicing taking turns and cooperation.  We also talked about where each body part went.  When we were done putting it up, we took it back down again.

Shaving Cream sensory activity and drawing.  This is an activity I remember from early grade school and I thought the kids would love it.  I wanted to do it last year, but I was still worried our kids would eat it (one of our siblings still tried!)  It was a fun way to explore a new material and our tables are very clean now!

Closing Circle Time.

We had a great class!  Our hosting is over for the year, but I'm excited to see what our friends have to share with us in the coming months.

Co Op Preschool: Circle Time Board

One of the ideas we had to help organize our preschool circle time was a circle timeboard.  Since our preschool moves from house to house, we needed something easy to move and easy to use.

As I said, the main purpose of the board is to provide structure and familiarity to our circle time and it's done a great job of doing that.  During our first year we brain stormed what to include, and in the end our board looked like this:

Our board had the following sections:

1. The Alphabet

2. Number of the day

3. Month

4. Day of the week

5. Weather Wheel

6. Agenda

7. Birthdays

Our Circle board woked out really well last year.  One of our moms created it on a three section card board display board (like this one) It traveled dutifully from house to house, but by the end of class, it was looking a bit worse for wear.

So before we started up again this year, it was time for an update!

We never used the alphabet and the J and W had gone missing, so unfortunately our letters had to go.  Rather than replacing them, I thought it would be nice to have our name on the board.

We always meet on the same day of the week, and we didn't really focus on dates/months, so those sections didn't stay.  I added an erasable section for letter of the day and number of the day.  (I used my new laminator!).  I also laminated a sheet of paper to use as our "Agenda".

The weather wheel wa a huge hit, so I laminated the arrows that were kind of suffering and left it intact.  Living in beautiful Southern Califoria the wather is pretty much always sunny and warm/hot, but the kids love looking out the window and talking about the weather.  Whenever my son plays school (which he does pretty constantly when the preschool supplies are at our house!) the first thing he talks about is the weather.  It's pretty cute.

I love having a focal point for class.  I can see this idea being able to grow if we did decide to homeschool our kids.  In the meantime, it's a great way to have a consistant start to class while giving each parent room to be creative with their classes.