ROCKin' Penguin Counters!

These penguin counters make me smile. I can't wait to use them the week after next when we begin our penguin unit! I have a few ideas for how to use these little guys:

1. Use them as counters to help with penguin addition and subtraction word problems.
2. Use them to "push" the sounds in words with Elkonin Boxes {or Elkonin ice cubes!}
3. Write small numbers on the flat side (or back side) of each penguin. Have the kids draw 2 out of a bag, then write addition sentences with the numbers.
4. Use them for game pieces!


How to make your very own ROCKin' Penguins:

1. Go to Hobby Lobby. {Tip: Go ONLY to the section with the vase fillers. If you go anywhere else, you'll spend ridiculous amounts of money, like me.}
2. Find the vase fillers, or glass gems/marbles. They have a many different and fun colors, but of course, you'll want black ones for your penguins.
3. You will need 3 fine-tip paint markers in white, orange, and black.
4. Draw on the eyes and belly using the white marker. Let them dry.
5. Draw on the beak and feet using the orange marker. You should also be able to add the black dots for the middle of each eye.

Enjoy your adorable baby ROCKin' penguins! {Teacher friends, please fill me in on how you use these guys or plan to use them in your room! I'd love some more ideas!}

Contraction Cupcakes

For as long as I have been teaching, I've wanted to send home take home activity bags, and this is the first year I have tried it! I want the activities in each bag to be a meaningful and fun way to practice and review skills we are learning in first grade! One of the first activities I put in a take home bag this year was the Contraction Cupcake puzzle. The kids had to match the two words found on the icing to the correct contraction found on the bottom part of the cupcake!

Winners galore

Well I think we can safely say that our first ever blog hop went well.  I know that everyone is waiting for the winners so here they are:

Card category (£15 gift voucher from One Stop Card Crafts) - 72. Amanda
Gift category (Promarkers from Letraset) - 7. Ruthie
Bloghop (Dovecraft Gift Set) - 11. Made by Mandy
Follower candy (digi stamp from Squiggle Stamps) - 479. NikkiNix

Donna's winner (Greeting Farm 'Hugh' stamp) - Stefeni
Alison's winner (3 digis from Hope Jacare)- lindyloos
Amy's winner (5 digis from The Stamping Boutique) - Vicky
Kitty's winner (Pink Cat Studio 'Billy' Stamp sheet) - Ribena ruby
Kym's winner (5 digis from Prairie Fairy) - Suzi
Mandy's winner (Lil' Frog die from Peachy Keen Stamps) - StickyVickyCrafts
Patricia's winner (3 digis from Fresh Brewed Designs) - Shelly
Sarah's winner (6x6 Paper Pad from Bunny Zoe Crafts) - Laney
Viv's winner (Happy Bird die from Peachy Keen Stamps)- Marisa
Shirley's winner (4 digis from Meljen Designs)  - Monika Reeck

Congratulations to all our winners and a big Thank You to all our generous sponsors.  Can the winner's email cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk to collect prizes.  If the prize is a physical one then please provide your name and address, otherwise just visit the sponsor and let me have your digi choices.  All our sponsors have their shop links in our sidebar.

I'll be back tomorrow with our Top 3's.

"Must be Santa, Santa Claus!"

T'was the week before Christmas, and all that was on the minds of my first graders was...SANTA! Since Santa was on their minds anyway, I thought it might be fun to create a descriptive word poster of Santa and all the things that are important about him. And as if the Santa excitement wasn't enough, we were very happy to also find out that Santa dropped off a special elf for our class named Scout. I was a little worried he'd make too much mischief, but he turned out to be a very nice little elf who liked to play with pattern blocks and write with our letter magnets! Since elves are pretty important little guys too, every first grade class at our school made these adorable elf glyphs found on mathwire.com:

Family Time ~ Merry Christmas!

Over the next two weeks the plan is to
H.I.B.E.R.N.A.T.E.

And to
C.E.L.E.B.R.A.T.E.

We have the most Wonderful
R.E.A.S.O.N.

HE came to live ~
in our place.

HE came to die ~
that we might be set free.

"For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life."

~ John 3:16 ~

May the LORD be the focus
of all your celebrating.
And may HE set you free indeed!

"For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

~ Isaiah 9:6 ~


Blessings to each of you ~
Merry CHRISTmas from our home to yours.
Many Blessings for 2011!

In His Love,
Camille


P.S.
I *love* to hear from you ~
If you should choose to leave a comment,
please do not be alarmed at the length of time it
takes for me to post it.
My plan, Lord-willing,
is to be *offline* for the next two weeks,
and to post again early in the New Year.
I will look forward to catching up with all of you then!

Unclaimed prizes

I've just realised that the prizes for a couple challenges have not been claimed.  To refresh your memories they were:

Challenge 22 sponsored by Digital Delights won by Linda

Challenge 23 sponsored by Hope Jacare won by Christine Craig

Girls, please email me on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk so that I can sort out your prizes.  If the prizes have not been claimed by midnight (GMT) on Sunday 19 December 2010 then I'll redraw them on Monday when we're doing all the other draws.

There's still time to enter our challenges and bloghop so take a look here and have a go.

Roll a Christmas Tree

There are so many versions of this fun dice game, but I am loving this cute Christmas Tree graphic I found at Lettering Delights! To play the game, each player will need the Christmas Tree mat, 2 dice, and see through counters or small Christmas erasers to use as markers. The first player rolls the dice and adds them together, then they cover that number on the mat with a marker. If they roll the same number again, they lose a turn. The players continue to take turns until someone has all the "ornaments" on their Christmas Tree!

Download Roll a Christmas Tree!

Decadent and EASY!

Have you ever heard of a "pudding cake"?

Oh Y.U.M!

This was my
All. Time. Favourite.
dessert growing up ~
Little did I know it was SO easy to make!

It's great to whip up for those unexpected guests
or for your own family on an ordinary night
to make it extra special.

Dish up some
L.O.V.E.

Your family will thank you...
ask me how I know. ;-)

Served warm straight from the oven with (or without)
a dollop of ice cream, it's ~

D.R.E.A.M.Y.

While it is baking the pudding forms
underneath and the cake rises to the top ~

OH. DEAR. ME!

~ Brownie Pudding Cake ~
Adapted from
"Better Homes and Gardens ~ New Cookbook"

~Cake Ingredients ~

1 cup Flour
3/4 cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 cup Milk
2 Tbsp Oil (I use Olive Oil)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Chopped Nuts (Walnuts or Pecans) ~
may be omitted


~ Sauce Ingredients ~

3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1 3/4 cup Freshly boiled Water

(*I like LOTS of sauce...if you are like me,
you might want to adjust the sauce amounts
as below)

1 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
2 1/3 cup Freshly boiled Water


~ Method ~

Measure first 5 ingredients into bowl.
Mix together with a wire whisk.
In separate bowl, mix together the milk,
oil, and vanilla.
Mix the wet ingredients into the
dry, and mix until smooth.
Stir in the nuts (if desired).

Spread into greased casserole dish (8x8) ~
use a larger pan if you are increasing the sauce.
This batter is VERY thick and difficult to spread...
that's normal.

Mix together the brown sugar and cocoa powder
for the sauce and sprinkle over the cake batter.
Pour hot water over all.

Bake at 350* F for 35 to 45 minutes ~
watch closely after the 30 minute mark to be sure you
don't burn it!

You can test the cake with a toothpick ~
it should come out clean.
The cake rises to the top and looks like it's
cracked and the pudding bubbles underneath.

I hope you like it as much as we do!
Just be forewarned...it is very
C.H.O.C.O.L.A.T.E.Y.
Wonderful!

Blessings,
Camille

How do you like your hot chocolate?

We enjoyed a wonderful Polar Express Day! We watched the movie in our P.J.'s and snuggled with our favorite stuffed toys, we even enjoyed some delicious hot chocolate! After enjoying our chocolately treat, the kids decorated a mug to show how they like their hot chocolate. Some like it without any toppings, but others liked it with just marshmallows, and some liked it with just chocolate chips. Most of us liked our hot chocolate with marshmallows and chocolate chips! (I'm not surprised!) Yum.

Christmas Trees For Sale!

Christmas Trees for Sale! This creative writing activity is one of my favorites. The kids imagine a special and magical Christmas tree that they will try to get others to buy. They have to describe what is unique about their tree and how much they would charge for it. The tree ideas this year were very imaginative! We had a Rock and Roll Tree, a Candy Cane Making Tree, a Drilling Tree (to drill holes in your yard), a Decorating Tree that decorates the house for Christmas, a Wishing Tree that grants wishes, an Elf Tree (comes with FREE elves!), a Flying and Disappearing Tree, and even a Protecting Tree (tells on those bad guys trying to take the presents!). Most of the first graders charged about a dollar for their trees, while some were $28.99. One tree was pretty expensive--9 trillion dollars!

Deck the Halls!

Come on in!
Would you like a mug of hot cocoa
or hot apple cider?
Sit by the fire and I will
be right there. :)

I *love* candles ~
so warm and welcoming.
This candle is at the top of the stairs
as you enter our home.

The table candle ~
cheery and fun!

I just had to include a photo of the
upstairs bathroom ~
there are candles in there too.
Maybe I should tell you why.

My story about candles goes like this ~
A precious Aunt who has a *way* of making everything
beautiful, had us over to visit one evening long ago.

There were candles
E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E.

It made such an impression on me!
I have not been the same ever since.
No matter how you decorate ~
fancy or simple...
Candles lit throughout the home will
make it very welcoming and cozy.

Enjoy these precious days as we remember the
Saviour's first coming.
HE is the Real Reason we celebrate!
I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit ~
come again soon!

Blessings,
Camille

Once Again...

I give thanks.
Once again...
It's a weekly habit.

A blessing.

Would you join us?
In a private journal,
on your blog,
or both?
I'd be thrilled if you would.

If you should choose to record your thanks,
I'm sure you will find it to be a blessing too...
give it a try?

Joining in this Monday with Ann.
Maybe next week you will be on her list too?

1023. Little hands that want to help

1024. The children decorated the tree and
I didn't rearrange it afterwards...
P.R.O.G.R.E.S.S.

1025. A gift from a blogging friend far away ~
Thank you Linda!

1026. A *system* for wet outdoor clothes,
and a *mud room* to close the door on!

1027. A Dad who makes things for me ~
these are to cover the space around our dishwasher...
THANK YOU Dad! :)

1028. A *problem* such as this to fix ~
Do you recall that we live in an older home?
It didn't have a dishwasher originally,
so a cupboard was removed by a previous owner to
accomodate one...they *hacked* out a space and
hung a bit of baseboard to hide the gap. :-/
Thankfully, my Dad is brilliant with his hands ~
he has been a great blessing to us around here! :)

1029. That I had the time to paint and
install these pieces and it worked!

1030. The dishwasher passes all the tests I put it through ~
Yippee...Yahoo!!

Christmas Around the World

Last week our class "traveled" the world to learn about Christmas traditions in other countries! As we traveled, we took in some of the sights, and we created a scrapbook page to remind us of all that we learned along the way. We began our trip by going to Hawaii! We read this adorable book (that just so happened to be written and illustrated by a first grader--very cool):



We thought it was pretty funny that Santa decided to vacation in Hawaii, and we decided to pretend to be Santa and write postcards back to the North Pole. Here is a fun one:





Feliz Navidad! We also visited Mexico and learned the Legend of the Poinsettia:


Buon Natale! We loved touring Italy! We learned about La Bafana and we took "photos" at some of the famous landmarks!

Baking Anyone?

I am not panicking.
I am not worried.
Even though I have not done

A.N.Y.

of the *required* baking for
CHRISTmas.

We are remembering the
REAL Reason
of this precious season
with our children each evening
during our Jesse Tree Devotionals.

We have decorated the tree.
We have (almost) cleaned the house.
We are shopping and wrapping
and enjoying.

B.U.T.

No baking has been done.
Are you in this same boat?
Or am I alone?

If you want a little inspiration...
the following links will get you to some of
our favourite recipes.

ENJOY!

And remember...
less can really be more!
R.E.A.L.L.Y.

And through it all,
Remember HIM!

If you only have time to bake *just one batch* of something...
I would H.I.G.H.L.Y. recommend

Whipped Shortbread!!

A family favourite and a tradition from my childhood days...
they literally melt in your mouth!

Caramel Corn
is
W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L.
as a teacher gift or for neighbours...
be sure to save some for your family too! :)


Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
are perfect for the
chocolate people on your list.

Gingersnaps...
F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S!


My Dad always requests Chocolate Log Roll for his
birthday...three days before Christmas.
We plan to have it this year once again ~
it's a tradition!

Another cake that makes its way into our celebrations
is Flourless Chocolate Cake ~
Oh. Dear. Me!
Need I say more?


HAPPY BAKING!!!

Warm CHRISTmas Blessings,
Camille

Challenge 24 - Winner and Top 3

So, another really great challenge finished.  I'd like to thank Nikki over at Bunny Zoe's Crafts for sponsoring us and if you haven't visited her wonderful shop, why not take a look now?

Our winner, picked using random.org is

Sol'ka.  Congratulations, please email cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk and I'll get you in touch with Nikki for your prize.

Our top 3 are

37 - Lovely Linda

41 - Nana Vic

97 - Mervi

Congratulations to you all, grab our Top 3 badge from the sidebar and add it to your own.  Don't forget there's still time to enter our current Christmas challenges and join us on our bloghop.  We've got plenty of prizes up for grabs and lots of ideas for you to look at.

Climbing the Walls

Recently, we had the opportunity to
go on a field trip with other local
homeschool families to an
indoor rock climbing gym.

What an experience!

The children were all harnessed properly
by *real* rock climbers
in *real* gear.

They were prepped on the
*how to's* and the
*do not's* ~
and then they were set loose to climb!
Each child that opted to climb higher than
12 feet was linked to an instructor
by a rope through their harness.

Would I like to see my boys,
or Emma, for that matter,
do this for real...out in the *wild*?

No.

But this *seemed* safe.
And it was Fun!

This Mum truly hopes with all her heart that
her children don't get bitten by this bug!

Here's Austin at the tippy top of one of the walls...
see the instructor waaay below holding the ropes?

Fraser at the top of the *beginner's* wall...
it was a gradual slope.

Calvin...going straight up!

Fraser *free-climbing*...
they were allowed to climb without the ropes
up to 12 feet off the floor.

This wall required a little muscle...
it sloped backward ~ Austin really had to grip with
his fingers and toes to climb it!

Emma getting a ride!

Fraser ~ smile for Mummy! :)

Emma repelling back down ~ Wheee!

A serious climber...

Austin and Calvin doing a little *free-climbing*...

Notice that there are no photos of me?
LOL!

I kept my feet firmly planted on the ground
and enjoyed it very much.

Thankful this Monday for many things ~
some of which are listed below.

#1001 to #1022 on my list of endless gifts...the list of endless thanks ~

~ Homeschool families to do fun outings with

~ That most of the things I worry about never come to pass

~ That the children get to do field trips together!

~ New experiences for our family

~ Reading "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens aloud to the children...
and them asking me to "please, read just a little bit more!"

~ Slowly, but surely, getting things done

~ Most of the family is better from our recent illness

~ Howie is no longer needing to be in bed (sickest he's been in years)!

~ Howie is gaining back the weight he lost...
he didn't need to lose any!

~ For dry and clear roads for our recent journey South for a
Christmas gathering with family

~ For the border guard waving us through without requiring us to pay duty

~ For cheaper gas to fill up just before coming back into Canada

~ For a day of rest

~ For sweet Soren
(my cousin's one year old baby boy...adorable)

~ That Soren reached for me and gave me a BIG hug...
wonderful!

~ Aunts and cousins and a Grandpa who value family times

~ Clear skies and fresh snow on the mountains

~ Getting to the bottom of the laundry pile

~ Getting to the bottom of the ironing pile

~ Sorting out clothes to give away

~ New clothes to put away

~ Provisions...God is so good!