Busy Teacher Mom

It is currently 11:26pm.  I am exhausted and wondering 'how did this happen exactly?'  Let's rewind:
2:15-all the students have left on the busses for home.
2:15-3:30 - return phone calls and emails, photocopy, lesson plan, mark, consult with other teachers
3:30 - head for home
3:40 - kiss kids and husband, pet dog - return phone calls and emails at home, sign field trip permission form
4:15 - get kids going on their chores, fold laundry, match socks and put away.  Assist daughter in cleaning up her 'I can do it myself messes'
4:45 - call my parents to chat while doing laundry-talk to my dad for a few minutes, mom will call back later
5:15 - visit with husband as he finishes up supper (thank goodness it is his night to cook)
5:30 - read with my kindergarten son and help him practice his words of the week
5:45 - supper - tacos!
6:10 - sit for a few minutes - chat with my daughter, catch up with my boys
6:30 - send the kids upstairs to pick up any messes and to put away their laundry
7:00 - answer phone, (my mom). Promise to call back later
7:02 - bedtime stories, cuddles and talk time with my kids
8:00- phone rings - chat with my mom and start marking math
8:40 - finish catching up - still marking math
10:00 - marking finished - takes notes on benchmark results and begin planning how to reteach math strategies
11:00 - go say goodnight to husband - in shock as I realize the clock says 11:03
11:05 - kiss husband goodnight - head upstairs, put on PJ's, brush teeth and get ready for bed.
11:26 - quick blog
11:41 - goodnight

Minnie Mouse Birthday Party!

My daughter was very clear about wanting a Minnie Mouse party for her birthday. This is the first year that she was inviting her little friends over for her birthday. So how in the world was I going to keep a group of 3 and 4 year olds busy indoors in January without spending a fortune? The last time I threw a party for a three year old, it was for my oldest child who has the good fortune of being born in July so everything was outdoors and in the sprinklers. January is not so cooperating. I decided to plan simple, classic activities. Knowing that at this age the parents stay helped too.

Setting the party scene

Pin the tail on the donkey is classic birthday party fun.  I have done many variations of this including pin the tooth on the T-Rex and put the clue on Blue.  This time it was Pin the Bow on Minnie Mouse.  I found a picture of Minnie online and started drawing on a sheet of poster paper.  I drew bows and cut them out at hockey practice one morning before the party.  Because the kids are young they had the option of playing or not playing, and being blindfolded or not. 

Minnie Mouse drawn by me for Pin the Bow on Minnie!

We wanted to put a few girly touches into the party.  I made three of these tissue paper flowers.  I put one up in the kitchen, one at the living room window and one on the hall light.  They are super cute and super easy to make.  Here's where I found the directions.  In fact my friend Krista loved them so much she asked me to show her how to do it and made a bunch for her daughter's princess party a couple of weeks later.

Giant Tissue Paper Flower

One thing I love about the dollar store is that it is easy to find party things.  I did find Minnie Mouse plates, napkins and cups.  I also bought a pink tablecloth, the tissue paper for the flowers, pink streamers and a few pieces of poster board.  I used the black and pink poster board for the Minnie "Toodles" on the window.

The food table

Candy Hunt for the treat bags

As far as activities went, I found these colour on bags to use as their treat bags.  I had them ready for the kids to colour as soon as they arrived.  I had also hidden candy treats all over the kitchen and living room for the kids to find - kind of like an Easter Egg hunt.  Once they found all the candy and put it in the bowl I split it evenly between the lot of them. 

Eat the doughnut off the string - no hands!

This activity was really cute and a lot of fun.  I had seen it on Pinterest as an outdoor game.  They had it as "The Doughnut Tree".  I adapted it for the indoors.  I secured a line of ribbon across the end of the room and tied doughnuts on strings to it.  We made sure the doughnuts were hanging at mouth level for the kids.  I also put a tablecloth on the floor to contain the crumbs.  The kids went away at trying to eat their doughnut without touching it.  What a hoot!

Fruit Loop Necklaces

We also went for the classic Froot Loop Necklace, which was a much quieter, but still fun activity.

Never underestimate the joy of putting out a bunch of balloons and putting on some dance music!

My husband thought I was nuts when I said one of the activities would be just letting the kids dance with balloons but it was probably the favorite activity of the day.  You just have to be prepared for a little craziness!

The Cake

Once these activities were done, we had the food (cheese pizza from Costco, some chips, fruit and veggies and apple juice), cake (homemade - check out the details here) and opened presents.  And that was it.  A successful 3 year old birthday party.  Kept it on budget and still a lot of fun!
 

One of those days

I've been having one of 'those days' - and then I saw this. It made me smile. Enjoy!

Snow Day Fun

My kids have a snow day today. Now that the snow has stopped they are having a blast building forts and sledding. As a new snow activity, I filled up their hockey water bottles with water and added some green food dye and away they went, drawing in the snow.

Drawing in the Snow

A Little Girl's Dress

Remember being a little girl in a dress? I don't wear dresses often anymore. But seeing my daughter get ready for the day brings back childhood memories of wearing dresses to church and parties...where it was the most fun feeling to just twirl around and around.   My daughter loves this.  And yesterday she discovered the joy of a hot air vent.  A little Marilyn Monroe moment at church.

My Daughter at Church

 

Piratey Things

My daughter went to a friend's birthday party yesterday.  Her friend James is a boy.  She got herself all dressed up and ready to go. She told her Daddy that she was a princess ready for a party. I told her that actually she was going to a pirate party. She wrinkled her nose and said, but that's for boys! 

My princess ready for a pirate party.

 Once I got her all sorted out, reminding her that James came to her party which was a Minnie Mouse girl party, she did go and had a great time.  She even got into "walking the plank" on the faux pirate ship that was there.
Our party hosts gave her a couple of pirate hats and swords for her to bring home to her brothers.  This of course ended up in an arguement of "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!" "No! I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!" To which the following conversation happened between my husband and I:
me- "one of you could be that other pirate, you know that guy..."
J-"you mean that pretty boy one?"
Me-"yeah, the elf from Lord of the Rings"
J-"I don't remember his name"
Me-"me neither, hey boys, one of you can be the elf pirate"
They didn't go for it.

Two Captain Jack Sparrows

 *Yes, I know now that the other pirate was Will Turner - thanks to my friends on Facebook for that reminder.

Captain Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swan?

 

Saturday Night Post

My poor blogs have been suffering from a case of "the busies".  Not them being busy, but me being busy and not posting.  I always have the greatest of intentions to post (trust me, you should see the back log of pictures of food waiting to go onto Whatcha' Eatin'?).  I also have a backlog of teaching successes to share with my teacher friends, parenting updates and even a few crafty bits to share on here.  Those great intentions are more and more sidelined by...well life really.  Living life with my family.  The time for blogging slips away as I teach 8 and 9 year olds how to multiply and use proper punctutation in their writing.  It goes as I go once again to cheer on my favorite 5 and 8 year old hockey stars.  It goes as I juggle all 3 kids attending 3 separate birthday parties at the same time.  It goes as 100 day and Valentines Day come and go and Winter Carnival begins its approach.  And when I do sit down I realize that book stack I bought with my Christmas money has barely been touched because the only time I have left in the day is a half hour to myself where a glass of wine and the Big Bang Theory is just so darn appealing.  And I look back and see the best times I've had blogging are in the summer and Christmas Breaks and mat leaves.  So my dear blogs, know that I do enjoy you and you are missed.  March Break is a couple of weeks away and we will catch up a bit then.