Fun Party Idea

My friend Nancy hosted a Murder Mystery Party last night. I had been to one before a million years ago with my husband and I had forgotten how much fun they are. Last night it was all girls and we had a blast laughing at each other get into character. I was very impressed with how easy it was to use the game itself... Super easy to set-up and so much fun.

The one I attended was The Lethal Luau. Seen below at Amazon.


This mystery party game has everything you need, including printed invitations and placecards, full profiles of all the characters, dialogue for different scenes in the mystery and even recipes for an authentic Hawaiian meal! For 6 to 8 players . There is also a CD that you play at different times during the game to help you keep up with what has been revealed about the characters.

Nancy had tropical glasses for our drinks, seashells lining tables, hula skirts for us to wear, and some Jimmy playing in the background. She also made a nice spread of food. I felt like I was on vacation... I got to play Holly Day and I made the character have a Southern Accent... So it was fun to play a little with the role.

Amazon has so many of these games... Below are some of the titles that looked fun and that had good reviews. I suggest you read the reviews if you are having one of theses parties... The reviewers give many helpful tips and suggestions.

Blogging From My Front Yard...

Here I am sitting on my porch while my daughter picks up cherry blossoms from the ground for at least 30 minutes now. It's a "Keep Them Busy" post and I did not even know it. I know I haven't posted much lately... I have been busy with a few things and now I am trying to concentrate on getting my local Relay for Life Website to make some kick butt fundraising for ACS. If you want to donate or learn more, click here. I'll love you forever... not to mention you will support a great cause.

So did I tell ya my daughter is not napping anymore and I use to blog during her nap. I also have been morning the lack of her nap for a few weeks and feel I have finally excepted that she really is over the nap. I still don't get it since my son (six) will still take a nap if promised ice cream and a movie later. Oh well, I have a bunch of great unfinished posts with lots of ideas for summer fun with the kids underway, so keep checking!

A bear was seen in my neighborhood, as I look over my shoulder to make sure it is not coming up from the woods... and all of my neighbors have been buzzing about it on Facebook and well I get a little carried away with Facebook...

What else, Teaching Heart is busy this time of year with the sale of End of Year packets, CDROMS, and the popular end of year candybar wrapper... That is the best news!!!! God is good.

My clock is ticking and I wish it would tick faster... I am meeting three of my college pals for beers tonight! It is amazing, usually I see my college peeps about three times a year and in the last month we will have seen each other twice. Yeah, for us!

Anyhow, this is a totally random post about nothing... Although I will mention that the bucket contest will end on soon... So please hurry and get your bucket facebook and/or blog in before it is too late and you miss the chance to win and to fill a bucket! Thanks to those who have already participated...

CLICK TO LEARN ABOUT THE BUCKET CONTEST!!!

Learning Fun With Food

I am getting ready to present to a group of preschool parents where one of my "bestest" gal pals teaches preschool. :) I will be discussing Kindergarten Readiness and Learning Activities Parents can create at home. One of the things I love to share with PreK through second grade parents is using food to make learning fun. I always am using food with my own 3 and 6 year old. I used it in my classroom all the time to trick the kiddos into learning!!!

Let's set the scene: Summer will be here soon and there will be a few days where you will be inside with hungry kiddos. Maybe you are at the park and need a little break from running around. You hand out a package of rainbow goldfish or your child's favorite fruit snack... The kiddos eat it quickly and run off! You could have taken advantage of so much learning fun with that little pack of goldfish or fruit snacks! Sorting, counting, graphing, talking about less and more.... Did you realize how much learning can come out of snacking?

I want to share a few of the sheets I created to make snack learning an easy job for mommy and teacher...

Here you will see my Rainbow Gold Fish Sorting, Graphing, and even an Eating Game!!!! Feel free to print the pages out and use them with your kiddos and classroom.

Pepperidge Farm makes Goldfish Colors Baked Snack Crackers. – They come in a box or bag. The colors are red, orange, yellow, green, & purple. After reading the Rainbow Fish you could use the fish for many different activities. Give each student a baggie filled with fish. Have them count and sort the fish by colors. You may also wish to have them graph the fish they have in their baggie.

How about those fruit snacks... Here is a smiley face graph and sorting sheet for you to download. I found the smiley face fruit snacks at Walmart.

My daughter doesn't like to eat fruit snacks, but she loves to sort them and then give them to big brother to eat.

Pretty soon the summer marshmallows will be out... don't forget to grab a bag for this activity!!!

Weight Loss Inspiration

Still on track with my diet and exercise. Sometimes working hard means you need to be inspired. I thought I would share who and what inspires me to keep on the weight loss track.

I get inspired from watching the Biggest Loser and seeing how great the contestants are looking now-a-days. I really like Tara... I see a little bit of myself in her. She inspires me... She is like in the 190's now and I think she looks fabulous! I love her attitude and her drive to win.

I get inspired by the women at my gym. The really skinny ones that seem to always be at the gym. Some are even pregnant and can kick my butt big time in a Spin class or Step class. Yeah, they may have never been fat like me... but at least they work hard to stay thin. As much as I secretly hate them, they inspire me... especially when I stand behind them in class and they don't have to wear big shirts to cover up their muffin tops. I don't want to be as skinny as most of them... I just want to be healthy! I want to wear a pair of jeans with my shirt tucked in and no muffin top in sight!

I love the magazines (usually the health related ones) that have stories about how people lose weight... I love reading those articles!

Here are some stories online that have inspired me to stay on track.

Check out the Weight Loss Sucess Stories Blog

Check out these five stories of weight loss.

Mind Over Belly Once Rebecca learned to ask herself, "Which do I want more, the donut or to be thin?" Weight Watchers began working for her.

The Secret? Portion Control Lisa was appalled to see her doctor write the word "obese" across the top of her chart. It was then that she decided to try Weight Watchers.

Look, it's my virtual model.... aren't I cute????

Try the Weight Loss Model... It is free... You see me above. The first picture is me today and the 2nd one is me 20 pounds lighter and where I am wishing to be in July.

Well, I hope you found some weight loss inspiration in this post, if you were looking for it!

Bucket Contest Is Underway!

So glad to see so many people filling buckets by getting in on the Bucket Contest!!! You have lots of time to join the fun.. So get started filling some buckets today...

Although, I can't win this contest... I wanted to be part of the fun!!!

So here is my Bucket filling post!

There are so many people in my life that fill my bucket. From my parents and friends to my husband and kiddos, I am lucky to have so many people that fill my bucket daily...

My children are familiar with the terms in the book; bucket filler and bucket dipper. They give me kisses daily and remind me that they are being bucket fillers. Sometimes my son will call me a bucket dipper when I punish him for something he does wrong... Moms often have to dip into that bucket, it's a tough job! I know we are always hoping to fill a bucket when the time is right.

Just this AM, my daughter and son were playing with the marble run together. They did not notice I was watching and my son was being such a great big brother. My daughter kept taking away his marbles and he kept letting her although I could see he was frustrated... My daughter got up to do something else and gave my son a big hug and kiss and said, "good brother!" Then my son said, "I love you C!" My bucket was filled seeing them love each other. Then I began to think of Easter and how my children truly are drops in my bucket from God. God fills my bucket daily with the wonderful gifts of their lives!

Blogs I Challenge To Join in on the Fun:

Ramblings of a Crazy Women:
This is such a great blog. Right up my alley... Filled with lots of fun things to do with the little ones. The author is a stay at home mom of four kiddos and has this amazing blog. What a fun mom and preschool teacher! One of my favorite parts of the website is the Friday Showcase she hosts. She allows others to share a fun activity they have done with their kiddos over the week. I love seeing what people post at the Friday Showcase. Keep up the great sharing!

This Mom's Many Hats:

The owner of this blog happens to be a personal friend of mine... She is a great person and a super mom! I value her friendship and insight on things. I was so excited when she started blogging. I love reading all her posts. She also is a very talented jewelery maker... I highly recommend her creations.

Pre-K Pages Blog:
I feel like I know Vanna personally after years of visiting her site for ideas in my classroom and ideas at home with my kiddos. Her website is definitely one of the top ten in the k-3 world of sites. So many great ideas and resources. She started a blog awhile back. Check out her post The Secret. Vanna is a great teacher and I know she is filling her share of Pre-K buckets daily!!!!




Super Fun Mama:

I visit this site almost daily to see what neat ideas this Mama is working on with her kiddo! Mom blogs inspire me to be a better mommy and try to do more fun things with my children... It is great to see what other fun moms are doing. I really enjoy Super Fun Mama's reviews, ideas, and crafts! She is always fun to read!

I have to shout out to the blogs that mentioned Teaching Heart in their Bucket Filling Entry. Please check them out!

go here http://wendiatrandom.blogspot.com/
then surf this http://labelle6pack.blogspot.com/2009/04/fill-bucket.html
check out here too http://vannatx.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/bucket-contest/
why not look at http://jewelrymama.blogspot.com/2009/04/have-you-filled-bucket-today.html

Now if I nominated you, my hope is you will join in the fun and tell me on your blog about who fills your bucket. Also list at least three other blogs that you love and tell why you love them.... Then let those bloggers know you put some drops in their bucket. Invite your nominations to join in the fun at by reading these rules!!!! You could win a prize; but the award of filling others buckets will be a prize all on it's own!

Have You Filled a Bucket Contest

Before you know it the End of The School Year will be here. I have a good idea for a Teacher Appreciation gift that I wanted to share with you and offer as a contest too!

A must read book on my list is Have You Filled a Bucket Today. Through simple prose and vivid illustrations, this heartwarming book encourages positive behavior as children see how rewarding it is to express daily kindness, appreciation, and love. This book explains to children that we all carry an invisible bucket in which we keep our feelings about ourselves. When our buckets are full, we are happy; when they are empty, we are sad. It is important to know that we can fill our own bucket and so can others. We fill buckets by saying nice things to the people around us. We fill buckets by doing nice things for people.
Buy this book for your child’s teacher, wrap it up, and attach a note to the outside telling them that they have filled the bucket of your child. Click here for a FREE printable note. This is a Publisher file. You can modify the words to fit your child's needs.
Follow the link for FREE Bucket Filling Printables to create the resources below!!!eed Free Bucket illing Ideas and Printables? Go to:

http://www.teachingheart.net/bucket.html
ounced May 1, 2009

Go check out the blogs who have blogged this contest!!!

go here http://wendiatrandom.blogspot.com/

then surf this http://labelle6pack.blogspot.com/2009/04/fill-bucket.html

check out here toohttp://vannatx.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/bucket-contest/

why not look at http://jewelrymama.blogspot.com/2009/04/have-you-filled-bucket-today.html