tot school & help needed!

Noah is 20 months old.

I debated not to even worry with posting this week for Tot School. We've adjusted back to our regular routine after our Disney vacation just fine, but we haven't really gotten back into the groove with Tot School just yet. I'm hoping to get back to our usual routine starting tomorrow.

We didn't do anything specifically planned, but there was lots of fun with playdough! We reviewed colors & matching and worked on shapes with it, and had some imaginative play making foods too.

Noah played LOTS with his MegaBlocks and Duplos this week too. He loves to build "BIG uns" and then "cash it":)

He has also reunited his love affair with our old Guitar Hero controller. John Mayer and Elvis concerts must be played daily so Noah can jam:)

Sorry all of those pictures were from the same day, but we have seriously and officially reached the terrible twos! Noah has been fiercely defiant the past four or five days, totally disobeying even the simplest things and throwing MAJOR fits when he doesn't get his way. While I know this is to be expected at this age, his independent streak has started to worry me because he is rebelling against safety precautions (like holding hands in public, staying out of the street, etc). I've prayed and prayed for God's guidance, and I'm hoping someone out there can offer some seasoned parenting wisdom on how to not suppress Noah's needs for independence while helping him learn obedience and keeping him safe. Thanks in advance for the help:)

My apologizes for such a poor Tot School post, but we'll be back to our regular activities next week...Lord willing Noah behaves!

See what others are up to in Tot School and share your own ideas at 1+1+1=1!

we're home!

We drug back into NC on Wednesday afternoon after a very full week of fun at Disney World:) I'll spare you the majority of the 582 pictures I took...but here are a few of my favorite memories from the trip!

Jammin' with a street band in Animal Kingdom..

Swimming at the resort..

Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area in Hollywood Studios..

Meeting all the characters:)

Noah was SO excited to meet each and every character there! I was so happy that he wasn't afraid of them....to our surprise, he just loved and kissed on all of them:)

Breakfast at Chef Mickey's with all of Noah's favorites:)

My favorite meal of the week....Le Cellier Steakhouse in Canada at Epcot. SOO yummy:)

My second favorite meal of the week....San Angel Inn in Mexico at Epcot:)

Dinner at T-Rex in Downtown Disney...my vote for coolest atmosphere:)

Since our FAVORITE RIDE EVER (Rockin' Rollercoaster in Hollywood Studios) was closed for refurbishment after we were only able to ride it ONCE, mine and Jimmy's favorite ride of the week was Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin...Noah's very favorite ride of the week:)

Kilamingaro Safari (sorry for spelling!) at Animal Kingdom..

Festival of the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom..

Spectromagic Parade at Magic Kingdom..

Wishes fireworks show at Magic Kingdom..

Noah's FIRST haircut! Rex, the barber, was amazing with Noah and was so clever to keep him occupied with the stickers:)

Showing off his new big boy haircut!

My favorite family shot of the week:)

Hope you had a lovely week last week too! We're all still resting back up, so I'll see ya when I see ya:)

tot school - letter o

Noah is 19 months old.

Letter Oo

Oo is for octopus & ocean!

We've had a fun week learning about the ocean & the animals that live in it...especially the octopus:)

Noah really enjoyed all of the printables this week! He even asked to do some on his own, so you know they were a real hit. They came from Confessions of a Homeschooler and the Ocean Tot Book from 1+1+1=1.

I continue to be impressed with his patterning skills...I think I need to move onto something harder for him.

He did really well with all of them, though. I think his favorite was the number cards. He loves playing with the mini paperclips:)

Our books for the week were:

Squishy Turtle & Friends

Rainbow Fish

We made just two art projects this week because we ran out of glue and I kept forgetting to get more...oops!

We made his letter page and a toilet paper roll octopus (not my original idea, but I've seen it several places). He was SUPER proud of both of these projects!

Noah enjoyed playing with his ocean puzzles, especially the magnetic "fishing" puzzle:)

It was also VERY warm here this week, so we spent several days outside and playing in the water.

While he played a bit with the ocean animals I put in his play sink, he most liked dumping the water over his head:)

This was my favorite picture from the week!

That's about all for this week...I kept it light because I've been finishing up my nursing finals and (more importantly!) packing for Disney! We won't be here next week for tot school, but we'll have LOTS of pictures from our trip when we return. Enjoy your next couple of weeks, and a (late) happy mother's day to you all:)

Share what you're up to in Tot School and see other's ideas at 1+1+1=1!

disney days

We are officially into the single digits in the countdown to our Disney trip:) We are all about to die with excitement! To get me even more in the mood (like I need any help!), I thought I'd share some of the details of our trip just in case you may be planning on visiting Disney World in the future or are just curious what we will be doing. If not, sorry...I feel the need to share so I don't spontaneously combust:)

Our trip - May 13-19

We chose this time to hopefully miss the summer vacation crowds. Ideally we would have gone earlier (like end of April), but with my nursing school, I can't take time off. We're leaving the night after I finish finals, so this is the earliest we could go. I hoping its a good time!

Oh, and it is my, Jimmy (husband), Noah, and my mom going on this trip. We are beyond excited for Noah's first visit...we know he won't remember it, but we will:) Also, my mom has graciously offered to watch Noah for us when we want to do rides and stuff own our own, so Jimmy and I are excited to have a little alone time as well.

Our travel plan - driving our own cars all the way

We opted not to fly for 1)the expense, 2)no car rental, and 3)we can bring more stuff there & back. We'll be traveling down in the middle of the night so Noah will sleep and traveling back right after lunch so he will nap for at least part of the trip (pray that this will work!). Yes, we'll have to pay to park each day we visit the parks, but we're willing to do that for the convenience of no rental car, no waiting on the Disney bus system, and no having to lug Noah's carseat around.

Our resort - Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort

*photo from allears.net

We chose to stay on the resort for several reasons (convenience, extra magic hours, etc), but we didn't want to spend a fortune, so we chose a moderate tier resort. We've heard wonderful things about this resort from many different people, so we're super excited about it!

Meals

We chose to purchase the dining plan this trip, and that is something we are super excited about! Jimmy and I were very unprepared when we visited Disney for our honeymoon (we waited to make reservations when we got here), so we really researched our options and decided to go with the plan so we could eat everywhere we wanted and not worry as much about the price. We also made our reservations WAY in advance. Here are our plans for meals:

• May 13 - Dinner @ Coral Reef Restaurant (in Epcot)
• May 14 - Dinner @ San Angel Inn (in Epcot)
• May 15 - Dinner @ Boma (in Animal Kingdom Lodge)
• May 16 - Breakfast @ Chef Mickey's (in Contemporary Resort); Dinner @ SciFi Dine In Theater (in Hollywood Studios)
• May 17 - Dinner @ Le Cellier (in Epcot)
• May 18 - Dinner @ Sanaa (in Animal Kingdom Lodge)
• May 19 - Lunch @ T-Rex Cafe (in Downtown Disney...NOT ON DINING PLAN!)

We're planning on having breakfast in our room, using our quick service credits for lunch, and using snack credits whenever. We'll also have to purchase Noah kid's meals, but they are very reasonably priced.

Extra Stuff

*I'll spare you the plans on which park we'll be visiting each day. I'll just say that we do have the park hopper option on our tickets, and plan on doing one park in the morning and one in the evening. Typically, the evening park coincides with our dinner reservations, but we just prefer to switch it up halfway through the day like that.

*One other fun thing we'll be doing our first day is getting Noah's first haircut at the Mainstreet Barbershop in the Magic Kingdom. They make it all very special (with "first ears" and a certificate and such), so that's something I'm personally very excited to do.

*Otherwise, we plan on taking it easy that week:) I'm not so crazy that I plan the order of the rides or anything, but we already know which attractions, which shows, and which parades and such that are at the top of our list. That is one benefit to having been before...you know what to expect, what you want to do again, and what to skip this time around.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away:) I'm certainly no expert, but I've spent LOTS of time planning and researching this trip because I enjoy it and I want this to be an extra special one since it will be Noah's first time there. You know I'll have a million pictures and stories to share when we return too!

tot school - letter f

Noah is 19 months old.

Ff is for Farm

We kept it kind of light again this week since my semester in nursing school is winding down, but we still had fun learning about farms and farm animals!

First, Noah made his letter page. He did the gluing, and it was a good opportunity to talk about shapes as well with the barn. He loved making the fingerprint animals, and even though they don't really look like their supposed to, it was good to talk about their colors and what sounds they made.

I made a bingo board of farm animals for Noah to work with. We didn't really play the actual game, but it was great reinforcement on what the real animals look like and what sounds they make. I knew Noah knew all of his animal sounds, but I didn't realize he didn't know what many of the animals actually looked like! He knows all of the animals on the board now though:)

Otherwise, Noah played with his many farm-themed toys throughout the week. The megabloks farm set has long been a favorite..

He also loves the leapfrog fridge magnet set...especially the songs it sings:)

We also worked some more with his Kumon sticker/gluing workbook. He has moved onto the gluing exercises now...

We did a couple of vegetable pages, and the horse page. He did so well with the horse!

Other activities Noah did that I didn't get pictures of were:

*Read our many farm books...including Barnyard Dance, Moo Baa LaLaLa!, Farm Babies (no link...it is by Charles Reasoner), John Deere Farm 123, Touch & Feel Tractor, and Old MacDonald Had a Farm

*Watched our Brainy Baby Animals dvd

*Did Starfall letter Ff

That's all for our week! My exams start next week, but I'm planning on a regular week of tot school. And if you haven't noticed our Disney countdown...its down to 10 day!!! Woohoo! I'm hoping to do a short tot school week with all Disney themed activities the week we leave (just fyi).

Share your own ideas and see what others are doing for tot school at 1+1+1=1!