Cricut Envy

Michael and Ava got a wonderful surprise in the mail today. Ava's godfather (my cousin) sent Halloween cards to the children. They were homemade by his wonderful girlfriend who does amazing things with her Cricut cutting machine. (Thank you both!)

I have a Cricut. I use mine for very boring things like cutting out circles and squares for art projects. She uses hers and makes the most beautiful cards. See - here's the proof. Two super cool Halloween cards. My kids are so lucky.

The Weekly Review: Week 31

Website of the Week:

I love, love, love Play at Home Mom. I find the creative ideas inspiring. Since finding the blog a week or so ago I've done at least 5 activities from the site with the kids including making our own light boxes (post to come when they are complete), making textured paper to paint, and playing with glow sticks in the bathtub in a darkened room.

Weekly Victory over Procrastination

For weeks now (I kid you not, at least 5 weeks) I have been saying to my husband, "We need to start planning Michael's birthday party." This week I realized there was less than a month left and I finally set something up and sent out invitations. I'm excited. It should be fun. It is so hard to believe that nearly four years have passed since he became part of our lives and we became parents. Crazy stuff.

Weekly Summation

This week has been a week of contrasts for me. On one hand, I have been inspired to be more creative with the children building one or two extra activities into their days rather than simply running on autopilot. The activities are fun, help time move more quickly, and keep everyone active, engaged, and happy. Definitely a success and worth the energy I put into them.

On the other hand, I've been inexplicably grumpy at the same time. And everything else has gone down the drain. I haven't done any more busy book pages, I haven't returned an overdue library book, I haven't done this week's meal plan/shopping (a bit late now), and the house is an absolute mess. I think I'll blame the change of seasons, colder weather, earlier dusk, and week-long rainfall.

This Week's Pleasant Surprise

Michael caught a cold this week. For once, the early croupy cough and slight wheeze did not land us at the doctor's office or in the emergency room. The cold appears to be on the mild end of the spectrum. Now, if only saying that "out loud" so to speak doesn't jinx us...

The Weekly Ava

Ava is growing up before my eyes. I know, I know. They all do. That hardly makes her unique. But still... She's leaving the toddler behind and turning into a young preschooler at blinding speed. And she mimics her brother. It is simultaneously cute and annoying depending on which behavior she is choosing to imitate. Good manners - cute. The fake laugh - a little cute and annoying. Head butting mommy from behind and thinking it's funny - definitely not so cute.

Michael this Week

Michael has been a bit manic all week. He's been sick. Just a little, but sick nonetheless. Usually when he's sick he is calmer than usual, eats less than usual, and sleeps more. This week his appetite has been mostly typical, he's skipped every other nap, and when he is up he's running circles around the house - literally. This child prefers building with legos to going outside. This week he can't stay still. He sits for a few minutes then jumps up and runs off the extra energy. It's strange. I'm not sure what to make of it.

Easy Word Family Practice Cards (or articulation practice cards)

I saw this simple idea for making word family practice cards and instantly wanted to make some for Michael. All you need is some sample paint cards (one per word family) and some cardstock.

Take the paint cards and write a letter that makes a word when combined with that family on each paint color. Cut a small piece of cardstock and write the word family on the cardstock. Cut a small square out of the cardstock so that the letters on the paint cards will show through when you place the word family card on top of them. I also wrote the word family on the back of each paint card so Michael can match the paint card to the corresponding word family card.

I made all four of these in 20 minutes or so. When I was finished I called Michael over and he read 27 words all by himself. It was fun. He liked this better than the word family eggs I made a while back because the cards are easier to use.

I started simple because Michael is just starting out, but you could easily use more complicated families (-ill, -ake, -oy, etc.) and include blends on the paint cards to increase the difficulty of the activity.

Teachers could use this as a phonics center activity. SLPs could use this to work on final consonants because you could choose a family with a final consonant you are targeting. You could also target an initial sound by putting different word endings on the paint card and making the initial sound you are targeting on the cardstock. You get the bonus of working on reading and articulation at the same time. These won't work for speech practice with Ava because she's too young for reading, but for elementary students it would be great.