Groundhog Day

 Kate's little foot and hands make this groundhog popping up to let us know that he has seen his shadow and we will have six more weeks of winter.  That's no surprise since it's snowing like crazy outside, certainly no signs of spring around here.

The Grinch

Dinner with the Grinch at Ma Raffa's is a Christmas tradition for us.  He's a little creepy looking, but this man does a fantastic job.

All of the children gather around and listen to him tell his story.

The lighting in there is terrible for pictures.

On the way to the restaurant, Kate was crying; she had no desire at all to see the Grinch.  It didn't help that she was tired.  When she first saw him, she was nervous, but she did fine overall.  I told her she didn't have to take a picture with him or get too close.  She did enjoy listening to his story.  I think Reagan was three the first year we went to this dinner, and I remember her being very nervous too. Understandably so, the Grinch is scary!

Tyler and Collin were there, but they did not want their pictures taken.  Maybe next year.

I love the Grinch, so of course we did a few fun activities.

I gave the kids packs of "Grinch Pills".

Kate made a Grinch handprint.

I baked and decorated some Grinch inspired cookies.

And the girls made Grinch dust.  They scooped sugar into bags and added blue and yellow food coloring; then they mixed it all together.  On Christmas Eve, we will sprinkle it in the yard to keep the Grinch away.  

There were so many Grinch activities that I wanted to do, but we ran out of time.  That's okay though, I'm saving them for next year!

The Mayflower

Kate's Turkeys

Paper plate turkey

T is for turkey

Shape turkey

Handprint sun catcher glittery turkey

 Pumpkin pie play dough turkeys

 Handprint turkeys

Kate helped me make these pretzel rod turkey treats.

Phew!  I think we've made enough turkeys for Thanksgiving already!

Autumn Crafts (and a few random things)

Kate made a few autumn crafts and a treat for everyone to enjoy.

I painted Kate's hand and forearm brown and then placed it on white paper to make a tree.

Then I painted her hand red, orange, and yellow (separately of course) to complete her autumn handprint tree.

 She added some fallen leaves with different paint brushes and her fingers.

 While it dried, we read a few books about autumn leaves.

Kate helped me make these applesauce puffs.  Everyone enjoyed them.

Look at Kate's sleeve in the above picture, right in the paint!

She enjoyed making this pumpkin.  It's fun to do crafts with her that I remember doing with Collin and Reagan!

Kate sorted acorns into three piles, nuts without caps, nuts with caps, and caps only.

We have been going to the Barrington Library for story hour on Thursday mornings.  Kate enjoys the story hour (this week the theme was squirrels!!), but she loves visiting the guinea pig there; his name is Rudy.  I love the way she has her hands in the above picture, so sweet.

Three is such a fun age.  Kate is funny and silly and loving, and for now, she still thinks I am the best person in the world.  Kate is such a joy to be with, and she loves learning.  She is always asking for homework or projects, and we really enjoy doing them together.

Acorns and Squirrels

 Kate made handprint acorns.

 I drew an acorn and ripped up a paper bag for Kate to glue onto the paper.  She tried to rip some of the pieces herself, but grocery bags are very strong and not easy for little hands to rip!

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game is super cute.  We have played it many times this week.  It's a great game to teach young children colors, number recognition (only 1 and 2), strategy (which color acorns do you need), and fine motor skills (squeezing the squirrel grabber to pick up acorns), plus it is well made and quick to play.

I helped Kate make acorn treats using Hershey's Kisses, chocolate chips, and Nutter Butter bites. 

While out on a walk, Kate found many acorns and placed them in her felt autumn pail.

We will spend some time over the next few days counting the acorns, but so far she has just enjoyed playing with and examining them.

A Squirrel's Tale is definitely Kate's favorite book out of this bunch because it comes with a little squirrel that you slip through slots on each page - super cute!