G is for Goldilocks

We have reached the end of our alphabet project. We started this project long before I had a blog, so most of our letter projects have not been posted. The letter "G" has been out there, waiting for the right idea to come along, and finally we decided on Goldilocks.

I cut the letter "G" out of a paper plate and R painted it.If you haven't noticed before, R loves to wear her bathing suit (or "bathing soup" as she calls it). You would think we live in Hawaii (that would be nice). We live in Massachusetts, and it is not warm.

While we waited for the paint to dry, we read two different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.


The Three Bears by Paul Galdone: This is the classic tale, or at least I thought it was until I read the reviews on Amazon. There are a lot of complaints about the bears not being referred to as Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear in this book. They are Great Big Bear, Middle-Sized Bear, and Little Wee Bear. I thought it was strange when I read the book, but it never crossed my mind that it was an attempt at political correctness. The reviewers seem to think it is just that. I don't know if it is, but my children saw the bears and immediately thought of them as a family with a father, mother, and baby. Maybe they would see the bears differently if they had a different type of family. Anyway, I think people get worked up over the silliest things. Does it really matter what we call the bears?

R told me this book had to be read while wearing sunglasses.

Goldilocks and The Three Martians by Stu Smith: Goldilocks is fed up with chores and homework so she decides to build a spaceship and blasts off to Mars for an adventure. This is a fun twist on the classic story, and there are even bears and porridge in the story. Also, the martians are a family and are referred to as Papa, Mama, and Baby. We spent a little time comparing this book to the original story. R and C both enjoyed this activity.

R made this Goldilocks "G" almost entirely by herself. She grabbed a piece of pink paper and decided to cut out a dress. Then she cut some yellow yarn and made hair. I tied the ribbon for her, but that is all I did. She drew the face and the hand. I loved how proud she was when she finished.


Now that we have finished the uppercase letters, we are going to focus on lowercase letters for a while. R already knows all of the uppercase and lowercase letters, but she really enjoys the alphabet project and she is only three so I think it is a great review of the alphabet.

Halloween Cookie Cutters

We have not made Halloween sugar cookies with our pumpkin, bat, and ghost cookie cutters this year, but we have put the cookie cutters to good use.


C places the cookie cutters on paper and traces around them. Then he fills in the details to create his Halloween masterpiece. He loves to draw, and the cookie cutters help him add cool details to his art.


This work is great for developing hand strength, concentration, fine motor skills, and control of a pencil/writing utensil.

Most importantly, C thinks this is a lot of fun!

*I recently saw this activity posted at My Montessori Journey.

Wall Art, Nursery Decor, and More!

I recently discovered CSN Baby.com. Are you familiar with this site? They have everything from lamps to wall art to rugs and more. They have a great selection of nursery decor, so if you are in the market, check out their site.

CSN Baby.com is sending me these beautiful removable wall art tulips to review so stay tuned to hear what I think of this product!

Green Eggs and Ham

I couldn't resist taking this photo. Kelly really enjoyed listening to R read Green Eggs and Ham.

Top Five Friday #4 - Mom's wish list

This week I am going to tell you what is on my top five wish list. A wish list for Mom? Who ever heard of such a thing? Anyway, we are in the process of buying a new house (which also means new furniture) so my husband and I are not spending money on each other for Christmas. We really don't NEED anything so why spend more money on material items, right? So, this is just a list of things that I would LOVE to have someday. A mom can dream, right? You are probably going to laugh at my list because I really don't care about fancy cars (love my minivan) or jewelry. I just LOVE to be pampered.

1. A day at the spa: I love facials and pedicures. They are so rejuvenating. I would also love to try one of those hot stone massages someday.

2. Really nice bedding to go on my new organic mattress. I want my bed to look pretty, and MOST IMPORTANTLY feel really good. I can't ever bring myself to spend money on expensive bedding but I really want it! Bring on the luxurious sheets, comforter, and pillows please!

3. iRobot Scooba: this little robot will wash my floors for me! I can set it to wash my floors while I am at the spa! Is there anything better than that?

4. A night out with my husband. I love going out to my favorite restaurant for dinner with my husband.

5. Theater tickets: I don't care what the show is (although Wicked and Rent are both shows I have wanted to see for a while), and I don't care who I go with (my husband is not a fan of theater so I don't see the need to make him suffer), but I LOVE to sit in a theater and watch a musical or play. This is one of my favorite things to do. AND, while I am at the theater, the Scooba can wash my floors!

What do you think of my list? Would any of these things be on your wish list?

If you would like to share a top five list, please link up here. Your list does not have to be a wish list like mine, it can include any five things that you happen to love right now!

Open-ended art and a few stinky ghosts!

This is R's open-ended art for the week:The theme was black and white. C was not interested in the open-ended portion of our art time.

R and C both decided that black paper with white paint calls for a few ghosts. C, surprisingly, decided to make ghosts. I was surprised only because I did not think he would want his feet painted. I think it was the overwhelming desire to create some cool ghosts!

I love painting their feet for craft projects!
Here is R in her bathing suit; she loves wearing it. It's funny.


She stuck on some googly eyes and drew mouths. I love her ghosts.

C used a lot of googly eyes to make his picture extra spooky. He also drew a vampire bat (if you don't know how much he loves vampire bats, then you have not been reading my blog) in the upper right corner and stuck on a few stickers. His picture is cute and spooky all in one!



To see more open-ended art, visit Mommies Wise Little Bookworms.

Pumpkin Art

C, R, and I had a lot of fun painting pumpkins. I invited T to join us, but his response was, "Do I have to?" He is twelve. Enough said.

Here are some photos of us creating pumpkin art:




This is the pumpkin I painted:
A cloud on one side, the sun on the other, with a rainbow in the middle. My husband asked me if I was in third grade. Third graders have much more artistic ability than I do. I was just trying to paint something the kids would like.

This is one of C's favorite creations:
Here is one of R's favorite creations:
Do you paint or carve your Halloween pumpkins?