[egg]citing stuff. . .5 great activities with plastic eggs!

1.  Name Hunt
Write one letter of your child's name on each egg. You can fill the inside with a treat of any kind.  After they find all of them, encourage them to spell their name using each of the eggs.  Then they can open up the eggs and enjoy the surprise! This was a great use of our afternoon because the weather was gorgeous, and the boys got to run wild and fancy free in the backyard!

Jax had fun just exploring the texture, rolling them around, sniffing them, and biting them (you have to taste or bite anything and everything between the ages of 3 and 12 months)! 

He can do this independently.  He's so proud!

No big deal for Christian. . .he was done in like 2 seconds (literally).

He LOVES holidays just as much as I do!  I know this is unrelated (well it kind of isn't), but check out this card that he made for me. . .

I love the spelling!  Even though I get a card at least once a week, this is definitely one of my favorites.  He tried to encompass all of his favorite holidays.  

2.  Secret Message
Write out a secret message on small sticky notes or index cards that have been cut apart.  Color coding the message will make it much faster and easier (if you're going to write several different messages).  Just can add a colored dot with a marker on the index cards if  you don't have any colored paper.  After all of the eggs are found, help your child read each of the words and reveal the secret messages!  Once again, another opportunity for little boys to run wild and crazy!  I look forward to trying this out this afternoon. . .another beautiful spring day!

3.  Egg Painting
Get some large aluminum pans from Dollar Tree.  Line the bottom of the pan with construction paper.  Add two or three eggs and a few blobs of paint.  Your child will love shaking the pan around to create a new masterpiece.  This is so easy even an almost 10 month old can do it (with a bit of assistance of course)!  Jax had a great time with this. . .it got a bit messy but that's o.k.  His creation turned out wonderfully.  The noise was fascinating to him, and he just had to touch the paint for himself.  That's egg-actly why we use crayola washable paint!

4.  "Egg"stremely Easy Math {facts}
Write out a few basic math facts with a sharpie on one side of the egg.  Mix up the sums on the other side of the egg.  The eggs can be twisted or turned, or for strengthening fingers (and fine motor skills) your child can practice pulling the egg apart and snapping it back into place.

5.  "Egg"stremely Easy Math {one to one correspondence}
Write a number on the outside of each egg.  Use jelly beans, m&m's, pom poms, or any small object that will fit inside.  Your child can practice counting the objects and placing the correct number of them inside each egg.

DIY Easter Basket {Cute & Simple}

One man's trash is another man's treasure. . .

Between my three little guys, we have a total of 10 magnificent teachers!  I love ALL of them, and I wish I could buy them a new car or a weekend vacation to Vegas.  However, that is pretty much impossible.  So I find other simple, less expensive ways to show my love and appreciation.  This is one of my favorite little gifts of the year.  It costs about $2.50 per teacher, and it's SO fast.  I don't have too much extra time on my hands these days so quick, easy, and inexpensive is my kind of project!

You'll need:  empty cans, duck tape, twine, and a drill




We don't normally have tons of empty cans around because most of the time I like to cook with fresh or frozen veggies, but when I make chili or soup we end up with tons of extra cans.  Save your cans!  You can use them in SO many ways.  This is just one way to upcycle them!  I am not opposed to buying gift bags, wrapping paper, or nice gift tins.  I just love the cute look and simplicity of using cans, especially when I need 10 of something!  All you have to do is clean out the cans, tear off the label, wrap it in the duck tape of your choice, add filling (grass,  tissue paper, or even newspaper), drill holes, and add twine.  Fill it up with favorite candy or treats, and there you have it!  I attached a simple note to our gifts that said, "to one of our favorite CHICKS."

Happy Belated Spring!

We've been celebrating springy things, bugs, eggs, Easter, and so much more here in the Perry household!  All of this has caused a great deal of excitement and wonder.  I love how little ones have a never ending quest to learn and explore.  My little guys never cease to amaze me.  I cannot tell you how many times I've heard "Oh my goodness, you have THREE boys?!?!?" while I'm shopping at the grocery store or running errands.  Truthfully my little ones do keep me on my toes and on the go.  They are ALWAYS hungry!!!  However, I love all of the hugs, kisses, compliments, and smiles that I get every day.  I am SO thankful for them.  Here we are at the Discovery Gardens during spring break.  I know the picture looks kinda crazy because of the sun, but a sweet little lady offered to take our picture so I just couldn't resist!  I love my handsome fellas!

This week I spent some time with some cute little kindergarteners and first graders.  We worked on creative writing, and here are a few things that we did.  We used the book "Roly-Poly Egg" with the first page.  After I read the book, the kids decorated their egg as fancy as possible.  Then we worked on describing how the egg looked and what their egg could do.  Easy-peasy!

For the second page, we talked about peeps for a little bit.  Some kids liked them, some didn't, and some had never seen them.  I promised to bring in some for those who had never seen them!

Even though they were sad that they weren't going to eat any peeps, they were pretty excited to do a little bit of artwork and creative writing.  I might try this with Christian and Solomon.  They haven't been exposed to peeps yet!  By the way, the adorable "peep" graphic is a freebie from Krista Wallden.  You can get a set of them in color or black and white here!

Egg Creative Writing

Peep Creative Writing

I am so excited about Easter this year.  Not because of a fancy new dress or a huge egg hunt, but because I love our church so much.  The children's ministry is phenomenal.  It is filled with ordinary people who truly care about the life and well being of children.  Christian is learning so many wonderful memory verses and bible stories.  I guess I'm not just excited that he's learning them and memorizing them, but I am beginning to see him apply some of the things that he has learned.  Last week on Palm Sunday he made this little craft.

I hope you have a wonderful Resurrection Sunday!  

Just a few "THINGS!"

The past few weeks have been crazy-fun!  We have been up to a little bit of everything!  This is one of my favorite little projects that we did.  I literally have my own "thing 1," "thing 2," and "thing 3."  I didn't make one for Jax.  He does great with footprint/paint projects, but his hands go straight for his mouth or his head. . .and there's paint everywhere!  I have snapped a zillion pictures of paintings, art projects, writing, and more which I'll share soon!

So now that Jax is 9 months old [actually about 9 1/2 months].  My sister (the Dr. of the family says. . .it takes 9 months to get all the weight on, give yourself at least 9 months to take it off).  I have come to the realization that any and ALL "baby weight" should be gone. . .here I am contemplating this fact as I stand in front of our full length mirror.  Babies do some major changes to your body.  Each time I have given birth within about 2 months I've been back into all of my regular clothes and back down to my pre-prego weight. . .but my body looks so incredibly different every time!  I have been drinking TONS of water, eating fresh fruit and veggies, and taking in lots of whole grains.  My biggest weaknesses is. . .candy!!! This month I've officially started working my core like crazy and using the elliptical like it's going out of style.  It's time to tone up for summer!  If you're a busy mom with a great tip for working out or staying fit, I'd love to hear from you!

I probably should not post this right after I mention toning up and staying fit, but we got the fries and St. Paddy's sauce last year.  The boys had a good time with it, and I'm looking forward to a blind taste test this year!