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Showing posts from January, 2016

j is for jungle (year 2, week 21)

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This week, I'm defining "jungle" as rain forest.  Specifically, we're looking at the Amazon rain forest and the continent of South America.  Or, we would have, if we weren't in the middle of a move. Printables: - making teen numbers -   food of the rain forest - safari rain forest toob 3-part cards Ideas: - coffee bean transfer -  rain forest cookies - rain forest in a jar - pour and scoop coffee beans - swamp sensory bin - tasting coconut - sorting toob rain forest animals - crawling through vines - tot tray ideas - rain bottle - measuring snakes - rain forest animals - 50 animals of South America - tree frog math beans Follow In Our Pond's board "j is for jungle" on Pinterest.

Show Me Your Neighborhood- Rural Idaho, USA

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I'm so excited to be part of The Piri-Piri Lexicon's "Show Me Your Neighborhood" blog link-up!  Bloggers from around the world are writing about what life looks like in their own small part of the earth.  So neat!  I'm especially excited about the homeschooling possibilities as we learn about geography and cultures in the future. Rules- you must include these pictures: - a playground/play area - a local mode of transport - a typical house/building - a street nearby - a school/nursery/ or other educational facility - a market/supermarket/shopping outlet A Play Area in Rural Idaho Our towns and cities have plastic playground equipment, but kids in the rural parts of Idaho have to make their own fun.  In the summer, my kids love to ride bikes in the driveway, run their toy trucks in the dirt, and swim in the lake.  It's wintertime, now, so their play area looks like this: The snow mountain was created by our snow blower.  Every time my husband

Link-Up Parties I Attend

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Since joining Twitter last week, I've been introduced to lots of new link-up parties.  Instead of posting them on each post, I'm going to list them here. {Monday} {Tuesday} {Wednesday} {Thursday} {Friday} {Saturday} {Sunday} {Monthly}

8 Moving Tips You Haven't Read Yet

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I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest planning the organization and design of our new house and reading everyone else's tips for moving.  Over and over, I've read about purging unwanted belongings, labeling boxes by room, and packing room by room.  I thought that all the moving tips had been blogged, and then I discovered a few more. 1- PACK WHAT RELAXES YOU LAST.   We've all read the moving tip that says you should leave some toys unpacked to entertain the kids, but I have yet to read a blog that gives me permission to leave out some of my own favorites.  I'm a crafter, so I need my craft supplies to be packed last (and even some to be left out and never packed).  For my sanity, I need to know that I can have an idea and start making it without too much waiting time.  Not being able to craft makes me anxious.  A bit of knitting or some random glue gun craft relaxes me and makes the whole move less stressful.  I don't know what relaxes you or makes

w is for winter (year 2, week 20)

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We're buried in a winter wonderland!  Still trying to get moved.  We have most of our homeschool supplies packed away but this week's unit was a perfect opportunity for some sensory bin time. Printables: marshmallow counting file folder game snow globe roll and cover land, sea, and air arctic animal sort sorting types of extreme weather winter preschool pack winter clothes match game 3-part cards for the Safari Arctic toob snowman pasta snowflake counting snowman preschool pack snowman learning packs snow learning pack winter wonderland preschool pack Frozen preschool pack Ideas: ice melting experiment snowflake slime tonging snow balls make snowflakes  (and experiment) how much water is in snow experiment footprints in the play dough snow frozen salt writing tray snowman breakfast snowstorm in a bottle  frozen bubbles ice "magic" tricks expanding (frozen) liquids experiment sugar cube building borax snowflakes sensory snow    Fol

The Whole Ocean Printable

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Picture from Pixar Wikia I saved my favorite Finding Nemo printable for last.  The story (as you know) is about a Dad swimming the ocean and facing the odds to find his son.  I want this printable to remind the kids of our love for them.  To download, click here . Finding Nemo Printables Fish Are Friends Keep Swimming The Whole Ocean

Knit Swimsuit (archived post)

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This post (from my former blog "A Yarn About Knitting") was first published on Oct. 21, 2009. I just completed my first real article of clothing [edited: since beginning knitting in 2005] and my first piece of clothing for a doll.  This pink and black beach set was knit with love out of acrylic super soft yarn.  Please feel free to replicate and improve it.  I'm not addicted to doll knitting [editted: no kidding- I just found over twenty doll outfits that I have knit over the years].  Perhaps when I get all the items on my Christmas to-do list done, I can try some sweaters, bath robes, pants sets, and even footie pajamas [edited: all for dolls].  I'm pretty excited. The Suit: I started the swimsuit at the bottom, knitting it in two pieces on size 2 needles.  Once past the legs, I joined the two pieces and knit in the round (92 stitches) until the piece was about five inches long (about an inch under the doll's arms).  I cast off the back and began shaping t

Keep Swimming Printable

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I'm pretty sure that the world doesn't really need another "Just Keep Swimming" printable.  I made this one to match the other ones in my Finding Nemo bathroom series.  To download, click here . Finding Nemo Printables Fish Are Friends Keep Swimming The Whole Ocean

What To Do When the Family is Sick

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I've been working on my "home management binder" recently and wanted to share a printable I made to go in it.  It's called "When the Family is Sick" and lists several tips that I've picked up from mom's of large families on the internet.  I'm going to stick it in the binder so I can refer to it as needed.  I don't know about you, but my first reaction to several sick family member is panic.  I'm hoping that this list will help me stay calm and check off items. In our kitchen cupboard, I have a plastic bin labeled "sick box," which contains all the things I'd want to have on hand in case of sickness.  Our box includes flu meds, rehydration packets, crackers, lollipops, and jello.  I periodically go through the box and clean out expired things. So far, we haven't needed to use it, but I love knowing that it's sitting ready in case we do require it. You can download the printable here.