Name Bubbles-Product Review

 

I have used these wonderful products for a little over three years now.  I like how you can pick your different color, font, character, type of label, etc.  They are very versatile.  
The laundry ones are probably my favorite.  I have washed items many times and still have not lost a single one.  I have them on the boys coats, blankets, and hats.
I also have used the dishwasher ones and they still are on the cup or lid of a bowl after many washes.

MIA...yes I know...

Where have the last several months gone to?  I guess I could say keeping up with these adventurous boys while Nathan has been gone a lot lately would be where the time has gone.  Well here are a few fun things that have done this last week with dad.  Wipe boxes are great entertainment!!

Baby Buddy Closet Organizers-Product Review

My husband would tell you that sometimes I am too organized.  I got these lovely  Baby Buddy Closet Organizers when our oldest who is now 4 was born.  I wanted a way for us to know what size was what without going through and looking at labels.  They are great because they come with stickers from newborn up to size 7.

I now have them in all 3 of my boys closets plus the newest place our laundry room.  The ones in the laundry room are such a blessing because it makes it easier to take clothes and return them to the correct closet.  I don't have to look at sizes twice this way.   

You can now find them at several stores and online.

VBS 2012-Amazing Wonders Aviation

Well I love thinking about VBS crafts each year.  It's exciting to try and link the craft to what they are talking about during Bible Story time.  Pinterest has been fun to search and try to get some neat ideas from as well.  But my favorite thing I have found so far was a boarding pass.


I took this idea and ran with it.  I didn't want to just hand out a piece of paper so I took the time to make something that might make it home and get put on the refrigerator instead of immediately in the trash.


I made airplanes from craft sticks, clothes pins, magnets, spray paint and hot glue.  I went through the closet at church and found some stuff but then I used my time wisely and bought colored craft sticks to make the project go a little faster.  I hung the clothespins on hangers outside and sprayed painted away.  While the clothes pins were drying I hot glued the magnets on the colored craft sticks.  Here is a picture of the end result.  I wanted to add a back wing but ran out of time and energy.  

http://www.ayleebits.com/2006/06/10/diy-boarding-pass-save-the-date/

The boarding pass was kind of like a save the date for a wedding reminder.  I also made a QR Code on it to link to the church website where people can find out more information about our upcoming VBS.

http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/

Here is a picture of the boarding pass!!


















Everyone really liked them and thought they turned out really neat!!  Look forward to finding more great ideas!

Adventures of Preschool at Home

I LOVE to organize stuff!!!  This is probably one of the things that drives my husband CRAZY about me.  It first started at home but then carried over to my classroom and back home.  Now that I am a stay at home mommy and teacher at home I have been thankful that many of my teaching supplies are organized and easy to find with 3 busy boys!

Our classroom in our basement!!

Garment Rack

Calendar Pocket Chart on Garment Rack

Alphabet on Tree Pocket Chart

I got the Days of the Week and Months of the Year from my friend.

Your probably wondering why a garment rack in your classroom.  Well it works great for all kinds of reasons!!  I don't have the wall space or bulletin boards like I did in my classroom.  I had this in my classroom but I'm not using it for the same thing now.  It has become our moveable calendar, alphabet chart, number chart, days of the week, months of the year and misc things.  


I also have a basket on the bottom for books and then a stack of magazines laying across the two bars.

Util-A-Mat Reversible Floor Mats

Our basement gets kind of cold and we had these great mats that my husband bought to use to work out on but wasn't using anymore.  Our school area is tile so I thought adding the mats to our area would make it a little warmer and give us some cushion under our feet and bottoms.




Plastic Chairs

I found these at Wal-Mart at the end of the summer season a few years ago.  They were cheap but have worked great and clean up easy.














Wood Table






Nobody at church wanted this jewel of a table anymore to use in their classroom so it made the trip to my house and has been a very sturdy table for us to use.  Plus it was FREE!!






Daily Bins

I wanted a spot for all the items that we would need for each day.  I found these bins at Target in the $1 and $2.50 section.  I used my Cricut to cut out the days of the week to put on the side.  Here is a link to  similar ones from Really Good Stuff. 





Plastic Trays
I love these trays.  They work great for all kinds of different activities.  The ones I have came from Oriental Trading Company several years ago but I have linked you to ones that are very similar here.  


Book Bins

When I first started teaching I would go to Wal-Mart during their Back To School Supply Sale and got the empty 2 pocket folder boxes that they would just throw away when all the folders had been bought.  They were very sturdy and lasted for six years of teaching and then a move to the preschool at church for three years.  I finally broke down and bought what I thought to be enough bins from Target in their $1.00 and $2.50 section at the front of the store.  I linked you to ones that Really Good Stuff offers that are very similar to the ones I have.

Book Labels

A close up of a bin

I have a bin for each month of the year and many other categories.  All the books that are in that bin have a label on the front of it that matches the label on the front of the bin.  It makes it easy to know where to put the book back when finished with it.  I made some of my own labels but used some from the Meacham's website too.








Organization Station Pocket Chart

I loved using this in my classroom!!  Each child had their own pocket to put their work in and it made it very easy to grade all of their work and know what was missing.  Well I finally found a way to use it at home.  To organize all my stickers!!!  Each month has its own pocket.  The label coordinates with the labels that our on my books.






Shoe Organizer

I wish I would have bought a clear one but I wanted to get the project done.  It has been great to keep all kinds of little things organized in it....buttons, paint brushes, glue sticks, brass fasteners, roll magnetics, wiggly eyes, metal rings, pipe cleaners, feathers.....

Sump Pump....

When we moved into our house 9 years ago the basement was not finished.  As we designed the layout of the basement we had to work around a few things that were down there like the plumbing for the bathroom, hot water tank, sump pump, etc. We finished the basement but just recently got the top done for this corner bench.  I wanted this area to be usable since it was going to be in the living room area.   Hiding underneath is storage and our sump pump.  


With all the rain that we have had these last few days it is nice to hear the sump pump working too.  


The boys love to look at books on this bench and play I spy with the pictures hanging on the wall.  We have different pillows and blankets that the boys love to lay down on when using the bench.


I have different types of containers, sensory table items, etc stored in the cedar bins underneath.

"Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take it heart what is written in it, because the time is near"  Revelation 1:3

Hand me downs....

Hand me downs with three boys...I'm beginning to wonder what it going to be able to be passed down.


It has finally happened at our house were some of the pants my oldest son has been wearing either will get handed down as play clothes or turned into shorts or turned into something else.  He loves to slide on the floor like he is playing baseball all the time.  I kept telling him that he was going to get holes in this pants and finally it started happening in not just in his jeans but his wind pants and dress pants for church.  
I was talking about it one day with someone at church and they gave me the idea for the jeans to buy patches and iron them on the inside before they start wearing them to give it extra support.  So I cleaned out the two older boys dress drawers and got their jeans and headed to the basement.
I turned the iron on and got the rest of my supplies...patches, scissors and a ruler.  I used the ruler to measure how far up the jeans the hole was starting to be or already was.  Here are some pictures.

These 7 pair of jeans took me about 10 minutes total.  Hopefully it will work and I will be able to pass down ALL of them and still have some that are nice looking.










"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."  Hebrews 13:16