Ocean Unit pt.2

So, I am back with the second part of the Unit. I hope you all enjoyed part one!
What would this unit be without a sensory bin? I still have procrastinated on buying more of a box looking bin so I have been using a big mixing bowl. I bought some home decor sand from Walmart, some sea shells and threw in some sand toys and some ocean animals. So simple, but SO FUN! Colton played with this numerous times in the week and i was able to make dinner without stumbling on little trains and cars! Woo hoo!

I love his little hands discovering.

I love the Dollar Tree. My little family makes a stop every few weeks. The one near our house is AWESOME! Big, clean, and organized is how I love it! Well on our last trip there I was searching for some things for the Ocean Unit. I found a cute ceramic dolphin. The bathrooms in our house are both in a beachy type of theme and feel. I thought it would look adorable sitting in Colton's bathroom. He had so much fun painting and concentrated so hard. I also gave him some sea shells to paint as well and he thoroughly enjoyed it. 

 Another fun craft we worked on this week was an octopus! I don't know what it is about the animal that Colton enjoys so much but he really does. I found an awesome craft but for the life of me I can't find what site I found it on. Take a toilet paper tube and set it off to the side, choose a piece of construction paper. Colton chose a light blue. I measured the tube on the paper and then drew eight lines for the tentacles. I taped it around the tube and cut the lines. I then took a pencil and rolled each one of the sectioned lines around the pencil. In our craft closet there are a few jars of fun foam shapes and Colton chose one for each tentacle. Hobby Lobby many moons ago when we were there had neon googly eyes and Colton chose two and glued them on. I then gave the octopus a smiley face.

 There was a day this week I decided to move the sensory bin to the side and create some sink fun. I filled one side up with some water and in the other sink I made sure to clog it so in case he decided to get a little crazy nothing would go bye bye down the drain. I put some things from his bin and let him go to town. I got to sit and rest for a bit and get a few things done around the house.

Do you see that HUGE sting ray in the sink? That was once little! I bought two of them from Walmart for $1 each and I must say they were so worth it!

before

after

At All Kids Network I found a fun craft for the summer. Ice cream! I printed off the templates, let Colton color them up and then glued them to a piece of construction paper. I also thought, how about some sprinkles? I took some purple glitter and gave some to Colton to decorate his ice cream and of course a red pom pom to the top for a cherry affect!

That finishes the Ocean Unit! I hope you take the time and do a few of these crafts or ideas with your kids. Colton enjoyed it quite a bit. Our next unit is no where near as big but will be fun....I hope!

Ocean Unit pt.1

This week I decided to not workout because either I wasn't feeling well or was too tired. Instead, I focused on teaching Colton. I decided on an Ocean/summer unit.
I found some fun worksheets at All Kids Network I must say this site is definitely my new favorite for fun printables. While there, I also noticed there are craft ideas for the matching theme! Genius! of course we had to do a few as well.
To start the week we painted using hands and a foot. 1st you paint the child's foot red and place it on the paper upside down. Then both hands red and place them above the foot. You wait until it dries and connect the hands with the foot with a marker. Add some eyes and some little arms/legs off the foot.

and there you have a lobster! (lower left)

As you see in the picture above there are two more finished crafts. The painted paper plate fish I also found on the website I mentioned earlier. Two paper plates are needed. You cut out a wide triangle out of one of the plates to resemble a mouth. The other plate cut out a figure resembling a mouth. Paint in whatever colors you choose. I let Colton decide what colors he wanted. of course what is a fish without a googly eye? We had to glue one on as well.

Colton working hard on his fishy

The other craft in the picture was found at  Ramblings of a Crazy Woman. I decided to do the coffee filter fish. Of course we had to do two. We have so many of them and two is Colton's favorite number. We colored them with markers and then sprayed them with water. While waiting for them to dry Colton played and I cut out the eyes, scales, and tails for the fish. I used some scrap paper. Now that they are finished, I will be putting them in the craft room windows.
Another fun craft we did was found at the All Kids Network. Using yellow and orange construction paper I traced and cut out Colton's hands. I grabbed a paper plate and free handed the inner circle on a piece of yellow paper as well. Then I placed the glue all around the plate and Colton glued. I had him do orange hands then yellow on top. After we used all the hands, we glued the circle in the middle. Then I took googly eyes and had Colton glue them down and with a sharpie I helped Colton draw a smiley face.

we sure do love sunshine! Can anyone tell me what Summer is without sunshine?

I hope you enjoyed all our fun crafts! If you haven't noticed this is only part one of our Ocean week! So stop on by tomorrow! I will try to post while Colton naps, but I can't make promises because I have an OB appointment! I will also update how the appointment went as well! Have a terrific day!

Updates in Pictures!

Life has been chaotic. Between being pregnant, being a mom to a two year old, and a wife to a soldier who acts like he is 7 sometimes is a hard one. Sleeping, being lazy,feeling exhausted, and even nauseated has had me down for a while. Colton is taking to me being pregnant well. I don't believe he really understands. He kisses my belly and says, "hi baby." I must say my heart melts when he says that and shows affection. Here is an update on what we have been doing lately using pictures!

A few weeks ago we moved the coffee table away and laid down blankets and pillows. Had a pillow fight,shared popcorn,watched a movie,and colored!

No more sippys unless out and about! 

Another fun night we had...helping mommy make Oatmeal raisin cookies from scratch!

Enjoying his 1st shaved ice at the fair!

1st ever pony ride and such a natural!

swimming in the public pool near our house! He is such a water baby!

CRAVINGS!

When I was pregnant with Colton the ONLY thing I craved and HAD to have was Banana peppers. BUT by the JAR! Yes, I know very strange and weird. We grocery shop every two weeks. Well, I would load up on like four jars of them. YUMM...hahahaha yeah not so much anymore. Subway was a must have with EXTRA banana peppers. One night I was out of them and asked the husband to have subway get a cup and fill it up with them and I didn't care how much extra it cost!

Well, this pregnancy is WAY different. I crave oranges and sweets. Orange juice, oranges...YUM!! Chocolate chip cookies, Oreo fudge creams, ooey-gooey chips ahoy..list goes on but its mainly cookies I want. With cookies i like soft yummy deliciousness. Those Oreo fudge creams are nothing but AMAZING! I have to give them a 10! So go out and buy them!! Totally worth the money!

My husband has been awesome with these cookie and orange cravings, he has gone to the store at 8:30pm to load up on yummy cookies I see on commercials. When I was pregnant with Colton he never did that; well at night anyways.

However, I am working out. Doing Zumba twice a week and Jillian Michaels 30 Day shred three times a week. I feel craving cookies does nothing for me. I pretty much work out for nothing. Being plus size, has been a struggle for me and being pregnant having cravings like these..upsets me sometimes. BUT those cookies taste SO good!
What have you craved or are craving while pregnant? I'd love to hear your stories!