Spider Craft

Here is a fun craft we did this week. You will need:
Some sort of plastic lid. We used Folgers Coffee lids.
Yarn
Scissors
Hole Puncher
Plastic Spiders

First cut the center out of the plastic lid and use the hole puncher to punch holes all the way around the edge.Thread yarn through the holes to spin a web. Attach your spider!A really funny spider book we read before making this craft was Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin.

Linked to Showcase Friday at The Ramblings of a Crazy Lady.

Spider Math Mat Game

We started the letter "S" this week. We have been talking about spiders. Here is a fun math mat we are using. I printed the mat from this site.I picked up a bag of spider rings on clearance at Michaels for $.39 on Monday. They work perfect. I just cut the ring part off. Each child gets their own stack of spiders. You take turns rolling the dice and counting the number. Then you get that many spiders to place on the webs. Whoever fills up their mat first wins.

Drew , the Lion and the Crazy Emu

Friday is was so nice outside I decided to take the little boys to the Zoo. They always love going there and it may be our last trip of the year. It was great because there was hardly anyone there. This is the boys looking at the jellyfish tank. Usually this place is really crowded. We took our time walking around and the kids played at the new playground and we enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading back home.

Here are some pictures of Drew and a lion. This lion was laying up against the window and Brodie was totally freaked out by it. He didn't want to get anywhere near it. But Drew, he walked right up to the window and even tapped on the glass. He stood there munching on his Cheez-Its talking to it like it was just another kitty cat. I think they were both feeling a little down. Drew was sad because the giraffe display was gone. Blocked off due to construction going on and the lion was sad because he was stuck in his cage and couldn't get out to eat the giraffe. Here is a picture of the Emu I thought was going to attack us. Remember how I said it was great because there was nobody at the Zoo? Well this was a little scary. This Emu got spooked for some reason and ran right up behind us and was following us for a good 15 steps. I was getting really nervous because I didn't even have to reach my arm all the way out to touch it, it was that close. Finally I had the boys (which I had pulled in front of me to protect in case the bird got a little nasty) stop and not move. We all stood like statues for a few seconds and the bird slowly walked around us and moved back up onto the grass. Whew, that was one time I wish there was other people around. We could have gotten attacked by a deranged Emu and no one would have even known!

Owl Cookies

To go along with our Owl theme this week we made these cookies. Aren't they cute? I can't remember where I saw a picture of these. I know they used Hersey's kisses for the eyes and cashews for the beaks but I didn't have either of those. I did have M&M's and candy corn and it worked perfect!

Here is the recipe.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup Crisco
3 T milk
1 T vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

1. Heat oven to 375.
2. Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, Crisco, milk and vanilla in a large bowl and beat till well blended. Add egg and beat will mixed.
3. Combine flour baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix till blended.
4. Roll into balls and place 2 balls next to each other on cookies sheet and smash down.
5. Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes. Cool for 1-2 minutes on cookie sheet before removing. I added the M&M's and candy corn while the cookies where still warm.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Have You Met...

the newest editions to our family?? We have added 11 fish to the chaos. I got this tank at a garage sale over the Summer and we finally decided to take the plunge and fill it with fish. All the boys got to pick a fish (or two). We have had many evenings just sitting and watching them. We are really enjoying them.
The cat on the hand, is not quite so sure.

O is for Owls

This week we are talking about the letter "O". We rented many books from the library about owls. It is fun to learn new things along with the boys.We did this craft inspired by this blog. All you need is construction paper, glue, scissors, cotton balls and googly eyes. I used a white crayon to outline the owl and they filled it in with glue and applied the cotton balls. We also did this craft for our ABC book. I cut out all the shapes from construction paper and just directed the boys on how to glue it together. This was Brodie's. Next to his picture is his worksheet practicing his letter "O". He was so proud it too had to go up on the wall.For some fun owl printables you can go here and here.

Linked to Showcase Friday at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman and also to Learning Through Love at My Family, My Forever.

Fun in the Leaves

It's that time of year. All the leaves are falling off the trees and covering the ground. The boys have spent the last few days outside soaking up the last of the warmer days. I raked piles of leaves for them to play in. They slid, they wrestled, they jumped, they were boys...