Me & Marie Hugs and Kisses Giveaway

Wow, what an awesome suprise when Ashley of Me & Marie emailed me to say that I won the Hugs and Kisses Learning Pack in her Giveaway! Thank you Ashley!

I also got some goodies from her brand new online shop, I loved doing my shopping there! The site was super easy to navigate and best of all everything is instant downloads, no need to wait!
Be sure to visit to see all the goodies, plus she has a special now where everything is less 10%. I got the Yellow, Blue and Red Colour Learning Packs and we will be using them in Tot School next week - yeah!

My Dad - Post Hospital Update

Well, this post is long overdue. My dad was discharged from hospital last wednesday and he is resting at home. He is still very tired, but otherwise doing well. The lab results came back and the tumour was not malignant, but he will need to go for further treatment to make sure that the tumour does not return. I am just so thankful to our Lord and Saviour that he doesn't have cancer.

I want to thank all of you that have prayed, and that are still praying, for my dad. Your support has been awesome! I truly am so blessed to have so many friends that care for us. May God bless each and every one of you!

Muffin Tin Monday - ABC, 123

Happy Muffin Tin Monday All! New to MTM or do you want to join in? Visit Muffin Tin Mom!
We had the following:
A - Apples
B - Breakfst Ham
C - Cheese
1 - 1 piece of Banana
2 - 2 pieces of Rice Crackers
3 - 3 pieces of Rice Crakers

Little Mouse LOVES Rice Crackers and she ate most of the tin, I have to admit that the dogs also had some of it!

Tot School - Week 1 | 19 Months

Little Mouse is currently 19 Months old

We are slowely getting back into our Tot School routine, and I love it! I tried to stick to our curriculum as much as possible, but we didn't get to work on our My Body Lapbook yet, hopefully this week we will find time! We had loads of fun and enjoyed it so much, and I think that is what matters most. Not everyday was perfect, Little Mouse was not feeling so great, teething pains and her tummy was acting up a bit, but we did do some fun activities!

Open Ended Art and stART

We are busy making a colour wheel for Open Ended Art! I decided to do a collage type of Colour Wheel, we did the colours red, blue and yellow already and we will start with the secondary colours from this week on. I also tried to explain to her (as much as you can explain to a 19 month old) that you can have the same colour in different mediums, that is why I also decided on a collage.

We also did our stART project and made a little elephant! She just loves her little elephant and she played with it every day.


Letter A and Colours (Red, Blue and Yellow)

I downloaded some great fun activities from DLTK and Homeschool Creations (links at bottom of post) which we used for our letter A and colours activities.

We made this Awesome Apple - I printed it in black and white and had Little Mouse colour it in, but you can print it in colour as well.

Little Mouse also coloured in this letter A printable, I will use this for her file.

She also enjoyed this colour matching cards that I downloaded from Homeschool Creations, they are stunning! I showed her the cards once, and told her what was on each of them. Afterwards we played with them and I would ask her where the ladybug was for example and she would promptly show it to me! I was so proud!


Hopefully I can spend some more time this week on all of these themes. We are also doing parts of the body and she is so cute! Everytime I would ask her where her eyes are she would show them to me and then also poke a little finger in my eye to show me where mine are! She also discovered her belly button and loves to show it to me!

Our postcards from the postcard exchange are also beginning to arrive and both of us are so excited each time we receive one! I will keep these for her and then hopefully we can use them as homeschool tools one day and they will also make a great keepsake for her.

Resources

DLTK Letter A printable
DLTK Awesome Apple Printable Colour
DLTK Awesome Apple Black and White
Colour Matching Cards from Homeschool Creations

We read the following Afrikaans books:
Kleure Paradys (Gillian Leggat)
Die Kleure van die Reenboog (Hannatjie Hanekom, Ulla Schrueder, Ann Walton)
Bloudans (Nanette van Rooyen, Diek Grobler)
Het jy dalk my kat gewaar? (Eric Carle) ( Original title: Have you seen my cat?)

If you would like to join in on Tot School or see what others did, visit 1+1+1=1

Book Fan Friday - Have you seen my cat?

Cannot believe that it is friday already! We went to the library and saw this beautiful book by Eric Carle - not sure what the english title is, if anyone knows please let me know! ****Thanks Jenny for the correct title!**** It is about a little boy looking for his lost cat and he visits different countries seeing different cat species before finding his little cat at home. This was a huge hit in our house as Little Mouse loves animals, and the illustrations are so beautiful in true Eric Carle style!
If you want to see some more awesome books visit Three A's and a C.

Postcard Exchange Update 2

Yeah! We received a postcard today from Jamie and Dawson over at Momma's Playground! Little Mouse was so excited when I opened the postbox and this beautiful postcard was in it. She even took it with her for her morning nap! I had to rescue it from her cot!

Thank you so much!

If you want to join in on our postcard exchange please leave me a comment.

stART - A quiet night in

We read the Afrikaans version of A quiet night in by Jill Murphy. It is about an Elephant Mommy that plans a special birthday dinner for her hubby but of course things does not go to plan!

We made a little circus elephant to go along with the elephant theme. I cut a elephant from green construction paper and cut out a piece on it's back and placed some contact there. Little Mouse then sprinkled glitter on the contact and I sealed it with another piece of contact and added the ear. Now she has a little circus elephant with a shiny blanket on!
She played with it for at least 30minutes! My apologies for the quality of this pic, but she just would not sit still!

Want to join in the stART fun? Visit A Mommies Adventures.

Open Ended Art - Colour Wheel Project YELLOW

This week we continued with our Colour Wheel Project and we did the colour yellow. Throughout the week we discussed the three primary colours and I am really impressed with her colour recognition.

I gave her some yellow stickers, a yellow highlighter and a yellow crayon and this is what she made. I will post a pic soon of our Colour Wheel with the three primary colours!

If you want to learn more about Open Ended Art or if you want to join in on this project visit Mommies Little Artist.

Postcard Exchange Update 1

Yeah! Mouse received her first Postcard from California! Thank you Anna from Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns!

We were on our way to the library and stopped by the Post Office to collect our post and the postcard was waiting for us! So exciting! Little Mouse was so excited she held the postcard in her tiny little hand all the way to the Library and when we got out it had to come with.

Cannot wait for the others to arrive! Should you wish to join us in our Postcard Exchange please leave me a comment and we can exchange details.

Muffin Tin Monday - No Theme

Technically not a Muffin Tin, but Little Mouse LOVED it! This was the first time that she had Peanut Butter. I was so scared to give it to her, with her history of allergies, that I only decided to give it to her now. She really enjoyed it and almost finished her entire sandwich!

We went with a Winnie the Pooh theme. We had the Peanut Butter and Syrup Sandwich in a Winnie the Pooh bowl and we had some "honeypot" Vanilla yoghurts.

If you want to join in the Muffin Tin Fun visit Muffin Tin Mom.

Book Fan Friday - Something Else

I just love this little book Something Else by Kathryn Cave and Chris Riddell. It is about a little being that looks and acts totally different from the rest of the town's inhabitants. All the other inhabitants are normal animals, and this little guy does not fit in anywhere! One day another strange little creature shows up on his doorstep and Something Else must make the choice to either accept this new strange creature as his friend or if he should act like the rest of the animals and tell him to leave.

A beautiful story teaching little ones about acceptance and the beauty of being different. I can recommend this book to all mommies!

If you would like to join in on Book Fan Friday or see other great reads visit Three A's and a C.

Open Ended Art - Colour Wheel Project BLUE

We are still busy with our Colour Wheel project and this week we did the colour blue! Little Mouse made this part of the colour wheel with different shades of blue. I gave her squares of blue paper and a little piece of contact paper and she had so much fun sticking the paper onto the contact, she also lifted it off and started over and over again. She truly enjoyed this!

When she was done I placed another piece of contact over her artwork. As with the Red I will cut out our triangle later and paste it on our colour wheel!For more info on the Colour Wheel project or Open Ended Art visit Mommies Little Artist.

Tot School - Our Curriculum

I want to start planning our Tot School sessions a bit better. It feels as if I just "grabbed" themes last year and my planning was not that great around Tot School. Maybe that was a good thing - giving me an idea about time, planning, etc. I need to plan my day so carefully, running a business from home, starting homeschooling and doing all the housework myself requires LOADS of planning!

Well, this year I wanted to start of this week already, but with my Dad being sick that didn't happen. I just decided to sit down and plan our curriculum and start next week, that's it. No more excuses! This is what I am planning on doing for the rest of January. If you have any ideas, comments, suggestions please, please, please let me know!

Week 1: 18 - 22 January 2010
Open Ended Art (Colour Wheel Project - Yellow)
stART Project (don't know what book yet, will visit the library on Friday)
Lapbook on My Body (From a Journey through Learning)
Colours
Reading (at least 4 other books)
Felt Board - Colours
Art - Hand and Finger Print Art
Letter A


Week 2: 24 - 29 January 2010
Open Ended Art (Colour Wheel Project)
stART Project
Lapbook on My Body (From a Journey through Learning)
Colours
Reading
Felt Board - My Body
Art - Footprint Art
Letter A


Little Mouse is still a bit young to learn the colours of by heart, I only plan to introduce them to her and let her play with the different colours. Last year I only did Open Ended Art one day a week, this year I plan to give her time each day to explore and to create!

I will see if I can find books that supplement our Colours and My Body Themes at the Library - so difficult finding books in Afrikaans. Will post my list of books on Friday.

I would also love to start with Raising Rock Stars - any ideas on good Bible Study tools for 18 month olds?

This is what I plan to do, will add more details and all links to downloads and printables we used in my weekly posts.

If you have any suggestions please feel free to contact me, I would love to hear from you!

My Dad - Post Operation Update

The operation was 8 hours long, and he was still so sleepy when we saw him yesterday. The pain meds they gave him also made him sick. We went back at 19h00 and we saw him for about 5 minutes before the nursing staff asked us to leave, he was still very tired, but he spoke to us. The Doctors are very optimistic and they believe that the tumour was not malignant. They did sent it in for futher tests, but they are sure that it will not be cancer. He is a different person this morning, I haven't seen him yet, but he phoned my mom, and he sounds great.

I will see him again this evening, hopefully I can stay a bit longer and chat to him.

Thank you all for thinking of us, I truly appreciate it sooo much!

Sunshine Award - thank you Cassie!

I don't think that I can ever get tired of hearing that others like my blog! Thank you Cassie from Southern Domestic Goddess for the Sunshine Award! This is truly a honour that you thought of me!

I just chatted to a fellow blogging friend about what it means to us to be able to blog, and as I said to her, I never in my wildest dreams thought that blogging will mean so much to me. I love being able to express myself, to share with all you fabulous ladies out there and above all to learn from all of you!

All of you make a me a better mommy and person! May God bless you and keep you!

I give this award to all of you, because all of you bring sunshine into my life!

Beautiful Blogger Award

Wow! I am truly being spoilt with Blog Awards! Thanks Ruby from Growing Up Blackxican for awarding me the Beautiful Blogger award! Be sure to visit her blog, she is a ray of sunshine every day!

Here is 7 things about me:

1) We tried for almost 3 years to fall pregnant with Little Mouse
2) We are trying for baby no. 2
3) I am starting a strict diet on Monday (enough is enough!)
4) I still want to write a book one day
5) I love reading and cooking
6) I loved being pregnant, it was such a special time!
7) I believe that I am married to the most awesome husband ever!

Because I have been so spoilt with awards this past week I am passing on this award to anyone reading my blog and that I have not awarded yet! Go grab it, it's yours!

Me & Marie Baggie Games

Be sure to visit Me & Marie for some fabulous learning aids! She has a stunning etsy shop definately worth a visit. I totally fell in love with her calender set and will get one as soon as Mouse is a bit older, such a stunning tool to teach them about months, numbers, weeks, etc. There is also a hidden pattern, which is only revealed once the cards are placed togheter!

Be sure to pop over and visit her blog!

Need I say more?

Little Mouse discovered the Tupperware cupboard.....

Tortilla Cookies

I don't know what the real name for these super yummy, super easy cookies are, but they are fabulous!

What you need:

4 x Tortilla wraps, cut into shapes (the fist batch I made into star shapes, the second one I just cut into quarters)
Oil for frying
Castor Sugar
Cinnamon (ground)

Mix Castor Sugar and Cinnamon.
Fry the Tortilla shapes till golden brown, drain on some kitchen paper and sprinkle with the Castor sugar / Cinnamon mix.
Enjoy!!!

stART - Winnie the Pooh

When I was out Christmas shopping I found this cute little Winnie the Pooh book that was just absolutely perfect for stART! It is a colouring in book with a little story and stickers. I bought it for Mouse as a stocking filler and we got round to reading and enjoying it this week.

She really had so much fun with this!

She stuck all the stickers by herself, she looked so cute doing it as well!
She tried to peel of some of the stickers and move them to other pages, eventually this poor bird lossed it's head... Mouse was not impressed!

If you want to join in the fun of stART visit A Mommy's Adventures!

Open Ended Art - Colour Wheel Project RED

Shannon of Mommy's Little Artists had this absolutely awesome idea to let the kiddies make their very own colour wheel! This week it was the colour red.

I gave Mouse some red paint and paper and she enjoyed herself sooo much!

She looks just like a little monkey in this one! I will cut out the red pie shape and paste it on construction paper, just easier with her still being so young!

If you want to join in on this fun project visit Shannon's blog!

Happy Awards

My friend Jamie from Momma's Playground said that it is Award Season in Blogland and I tend to agree! Thanks Jamie for this award!

For this award, you are to list 10 things that make you happy, then tag another 10 people.

Ten Things That Make ME Happy:

1- My awesome husband and beautiful daughter
2- My wonderful family
3- The ocean
4- A clean house and ironing that is done! :)
5- My dogs
6- Baking
7- Doing fun things with Little Mouse and being able to stay at home with her!
8- Planning ( I love planning!!! Crazy, I know!)
9- Friends
10- My blog,being able to write and all the great friends I have made through my blog - thank you all for your wonderful support during this difficult time for me. I truly appreciate it! You ROCK!!!!!

If I have awarded you in the past then you are awarded again! I just cannot choose only 10 blogs!

The Sunshine Award

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers who's positivity and creativity inspires others in the blogword.

Thank you Amanda for awarding the Sunshine Award to me, you have no idea how much this means to me at this stage! Be sure to visit Amanda's blog Craft n Things for Children for some serious art inspiration! She also has two other blogs worth a visit: Handprint and Footprint Art & Keepsake Handprint Calendar.

The rules for accepting this award are:

• Put the logo on your blog.
• Pass the award on to 10 bloggers.
• Link the nominees within your post.
• Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

These 10 Ladies always put some Sunshine in my day!

1) Momma's Playground
2) Three A's and a C
3) Living with Fairies
4) Mommies Little Artists
5) Frugal Family Fun
6) Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn
7) No Time for Flashcards
8) Buttercream Barbie
9) Mind Games
10) Growing up Blackxican

There is so many other fantastic blogs that I enjoy soooo much, I wish I could award you all!

My Little Pony DVD

A while ago I entered a My Little Pony DVD Give away on Fun with Mama, and I won! Cannot believe it, I never ever win anything! Thank you Nadia! Little Mouse will really enjoy this!