Big Energy-Little Learners...Can I do it all?

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Summers Eve Fire

Summer evenings are the perfect time for a fire. When the night cools off and the air is fresh you surround a fire pit with chairs and enjoy the view. Fires tend to bring on good conversation...because we unplug a little while we are entranced by the flames. This is a great bonding opportunity for the family. So stack up your fire wood grab some tinder and lite it up! When we have a fire we like to, first of all, take seflies! We usually do this while daddy makes the fire and the wood gets heated. Soon after it's time to eat. We like to have food cooked by the fire. So we usually do hot dogs and sometimes some roasted veggies. After food is done the kids are usually ready to be up and moving (before finishing their food) so we administer some games for them. Such as catch and racing This builds up their appetites again just in time for some s'mores! The sun is down and the fire is now our light as we roast marshmallows over the fire. A nigh

5 Month Photo Shoot

Each month we do a mini photo shoot of Baby Dragon. Our overall goal is to have a Dungeons and Dragons theme each month. I do have to admit that I am running out of ideas. We also made a character sheet for her that we update with new accomplishments and milestones each month. Month 5 we did Little Lady Majere (spin from Raistlin Majere from the DragonLance series) This turned out to be my favorite photo shoot so far. I love, love, love it! Set up for this shoot was easy. Props were also easy. Simply a black sheet, some crates, and books we had on hand because again, we are nerds, and a wand-from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. At first I didn't know how I was going to dress Baby Dragon but I knew I wanted her to be a red robed wizard. After thinking about it for awhile I remembered we had a red cape from halloween 4 years ago. I knew it would be perfect! I wrapped the robe around Baby Dragon handed her a wand and started snapping.

Dart Knockdown

Dart Knockdown! This activity is great for summer or winter. It can be played out doors or indoors. We did both. I honestly wasn't expecting to play indoors at any point but Little Dragon loved this set up so much he asked me to set it up all week. That meant during rain or during moments when he was the only boy outside, and I don't let the dragons play outside alone. The set up was easy and best of all cheap! I had all of the supplies needed on hand. Materials: nerf gun darts cups table/desk To set up you just put the cups in a pyramid and designate a place to stand to shoot, point blank would be cheating and not as fun. Then pull the trigger. It took a couple tries but Little Dragon got the hang of this game quickly. Doll Dragon tried a few times but didn't enjoy this activity as much. Little Dragon practiced hand eye coordination and by the end of the 1st day he was able to hit them all one r

6 Months

We have now reached the halfway mark. Halfway to a year. Halfway to the first birthday! I am also looking at it in reverse. It has been 6 months since I was in the hospital, since I was pregnant and bloated. It seemed to fly by! But we have captured countless moments on video and many more on camera so we won't forget these precious moments. There are a few milestones baby is reaching now but things are going to really start speeding up in the months to come! Speech The months leading up to this have given baby the tools and confidence to start trying to speak on their own. At this point in development you should be hearing two letter sounds such as 'ma, da, ba, etc.' You may have heard some of these sounds before the 6 month mark but baby probably has more understanding of what she is saying now. One way we have encouraged our daughter to not only say 'mama' and 'dada' but recognize its meaning is by refereing to ourselves in 3rd p

Christmas Tic-Tac-Toe

This is a fun easy game to play with the kids. I love this version because it is so big, it doesn't waste paper, it's quick, it's easy to store, and easy to clean up. The rules are standard tic-tac-toe rules no changes there. All you need is a flat surface and some holiday themed manipulatives for your 'x's and o's'. This year we made a board out of 1 piece of paper or a cardboard box. In the past we have used ribbon or yarn. I cut out my own holiday shapes from some foam I already had in the house. The kids love playing this game with daddy! Our Elf on the Shelf also played this game with some stuffed friends :) Merry Christmas! Thank you for reading liking, and sharing!

33 Elf on the Shelf Ideas

Once you have had your elf for a couple years ideas aren't so easy to come by because you have already done a lot of them. So here are some ideas of what we have done in the past and perhaps there are a few you haven't seen :) 1. Sitting on a decoration- This was one I did when I was really tired and didn't want to think of something fun or silly. But still cute! 2. Inside a paper towel roll on the counter- This one is great because then I can move him around without touching him to keep a good eye on the dragons through the day. 3. Spelling how many days are left with cereal- We always do a countdown the last week with the elf. Any cereal will work really. 4. Reaching for the star- A cute concept that includes the tree. 5. Iron man vs. Elf- The dragons were really into Disney Infinity this year so I had Iron man scorch Fizban. They thought it was funny! 6. Captured by the bear