2018, what a year! It has been a roller coaster ride of events and emotions, but I wouldn't change it. It taught me some important lessons and made me step back and re-evaluate where my time is spent.
For the first time in my life I am working part time. That is not easy for me as I have either worked multiple jobs or full time since my freshman year of high school. At first I fought God on this one. I didn't think it was right or that it should be this way. It took many rejections and words from a new friend made in my part time position to see that this is what this year is supposed to look like for our family. I am supposed to be stepping back and spending more time with my sweet girl and husband. We have had more movie nights, weekend adventures, and have eaten much healthier as I now have more time to focus on making healthy meals. It has not been an easy transition. There has been lots to figure out, but God has seen us through each moment.
Even though we made it through the roller coaster ride of 2018, I am hoping that 2019 is a little less crazy. Although if its not we will just pray and follow God's lead to make it through. With that said, I do have some goals for 2019 that I am hoping to accomplish.
1 - Cook three or more healthy meals a week. This sounds like it would be easy but for us it is not. I have done better the last few months but I need to up my game and hit the three a week mark. I tend to fail towards the end of the week because we have swim classes and game nights with family.So I am hoping that if I can get two healthy meals at the beginning of the week then I can focus on one towards the end of the week. Our little family can use left overs for the days in between.
2. Actually organize all my personal and professional files. You would think that this would be something that I already have done, but no. My files are a hot mess and really need to be organized to regain a measure of sanity.
3. Live in the moment. I want to spend more time focusing on the here and now, instead of worrying about the future and holding onto the past. I have been blessed with a beautiful life and I need to spend more time actually enjoying it and showing my daughter how to enjoy life as well.
I don't know that I will be successful with all of these because sometimes life just happens and you have to change your goals, but these are the goals I would like to attempt in 2019.
Here's to 2019....may your be full of adventure, love, and many blessings : )
Ashley
Monday, December 31, 2018
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Advent Adventure: Days 2-6
Today I will briefly walk through the next 5 days of the Advent packet, so that you can get an idea of what is coming. Throughout this post, if you click on any of the book titles you will be taken to that book on Amazon so you can purchase it if you choose to.
DAY 2
For day 2 the theme is Prince of Peace which is mentioned in the Scripture verse for the day, Isaiah 9:6. Once again since my daughter is not able to read yet, we will be doing a letter hunt in the scripture verse as we read it. This is just to get her engaged in the reading of the verse.
The story for day 2 is called The Best Thing About Christmas which you can get on Amazon or you can try the read aloud link in the packet. We will end our time by listening to the song "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
DAY 3
The theme for this day is Immanuel which is found in the verse for the day, Isaiah 7:14. We will continue to do a letter hunt with our little one, but you could also look for sight words with older ones or have them draw a picture to illustrate the verse.
The project for this day is actually the start of a two day project. For this day you will be making a wreath. We will most likely be making a handprint wreath, but there are other options in the packet. We just have a lot of fun tracing our hands : ) I will include a picture of our final product under day 4.
Once we have finished our wreath we will read the sweet story God Gave Us Christmas. There is a read aloud link in the packet for this story, but we prefer the actual book. We will finish our time listening to one of my favorite Christmas songs, "O Come All Ye Faithful."
DAY 4
The theme for day 4 is God's Son and is found in the theme verse 1 John 5:11. We will continue to do a letter hunt with our little one, but you could also look for sight words with older ones or have them draw a picture to illustrate the verse.
The activity for this day is to make the paper candles that attach to the wreath. I have provided information about each candle and the colors for each candle. Your church may use different colors or may have a candle mean something different. I just went off of what I found to be the most common in meanings through research and the colors that our church uses.
We will finish our time with the story Christmas Time: It's All About Jesus and the song "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." This story does not have a read aloud link available so you would need to use the actual book or read from a different nativity themed book that you already own.
DAY 5
Our theme for day 5 is hope and can be found in the verse Matthew 12: 221. Since we have already done several letter hunts with verses, we are going to take a break and create a picture to go with our word. We will make a colorful design to cover a standard sheet of copy paper and then we will use black marker to write the word HOPE in big letters in the middle.
Today's activity is similar to Day 3. We are making another handprint wreath. I promise I am not crazy and no its not because I couldn't come up with other ideas. I chose this because this will be a wreath that we hang up on one of the bedroom doors. I really like wreaths and how you can use them as a visual reminder of Jesus. Wreaths were traditionally made with evergreens, so the green of a wreath reminds you that God's love is everlasting. It is without end. The red of the berries that are usually found on leaves remind us of the sacrifice that God's own son made to save us from our sins. and the circle has no beginning and no end which reminds us that God is eternal.
After we finish our wreath, we will read the story Who is Coming to Our House?. I love this story and it is a good example of keeping hope. This story has a read aloud link in the packet that you could use. Once we have read our story we will listen to the song "For Unto Us a Child is Born."
DAY 6
Our theme for today is light and we read about it in our verse, John 12:36. We will continue to do a letter hunt with our little one, but you could also look for sight words with older ones or have them draw a picture to illustrate the verse.
The activity for today is to make a candle. In the packet I listed a few ways that you could make a candle. We will be going with option two where we make a paper candle using the template that is provided. There is a color by number candle sheet in the packet, and directions for a toilet paper roll candle. If you are craftier, and braver, than me you could definitely use this day to make an actual wax candle.
We will keep the candles with us as we read one of my favorite Christmas stories, The Night of the Las Posadas. This story is such a great reminder that our Light (Jesus) is always there with us and uses every situation to spread his word. This story also has a read aloud link in the packet. We will end by listening to the song "Joy to the World."
I hope you enjoy the next 5 days of time shared with your little ones focusing on the reason for this beautiful season.
Ashley
DAY 2
For day 2 the theme is Prince of Peace which is mentioned in the Scripture verse for the day, Isaiah 9:6. Once again since my daughter is not able to read yet, we will be doing a letter hunt in the scripture verse as we read it. This is just to get her engaged in the reading of the verse.
The activity for this day is to make Christmas cards. There are two templates in the packet or you can come up with your own. We will be doing a little of both. I won't lie. I may have used this day as my motivation to actually send out Christmas cards from our little family this year.
The story for day 2 is called The Best Thing About Christmas which you can get on Amazon or you can try the read aloud link in the packet. We will end our time by listening to the song "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
DAY 3
The theme for this day is Immanuel which is found in the verse for the day, Isaiah 7:14. We will continue to do a letter hunt with our little one, but you could also look for sight words with older ones or have them draw a picture to illustrate the verse.
The project for this day is actually the start of a two day project. For this day you will be making a wreath. We will most likely be making a handprint wreath, but there are other options in the packet. We just have a lot of fun tracing our hands : ) I will include a picture of our final product under day 4.
Once we have finished our wreath we will read the sweet story God Gave Us Christmas. There is a read aloud link in the packet for this story, but we prefer the actual book. We will finish our time listening to one of my favorite Christmas songs, "O Come All Ye Faithful."
DAY 4
The theme for day 4 is God's Son and is found in the theme verse 1 John 5:11. We will continue to do a letter hunt with our little one, but you could also look for sight words with older ones or have them draw a picture to illustrate the verse.
The activity for this day is to make the paper candles that attach to the wreath. I have provided information about each candle and the colors for each candle. Your church may use different colors or may have a candle mean something different. I just went off of what I found to be the most common in meanings through research and the colors that our church uses.
We will finish our time with the story Christmas Time: It's All About Jesus and the song "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." This story does not have a read aloud link available so you would need to use the actual book or read from a different nativity themed book that you already own.
DAY 5
Our theme for day 5 is hope and can be found in the verse Matthew 12: 221. Since we have already done several letter hunts with verses, we are going to take a break and create a picture to go with our word. We will make a colorful design to cover a standard sheet of copy paper and then we will use black marker to write the word HOPE in big letters in the middle.
Today's activity is similar to Day 3. We are making another handprint wreath. I promise I am not crazy and no its not because I couldn't come up with other ideas. I chose this because this will be a wreath that we hang up on one of the bedroom doors. I really like wreaths and how you can use them as a visual reminder of Jesus. Wreaths were traditionally made with evergreens, so the green of a wreath reminds you that God's love is everlasting. It is without end. The red of the berries that are usually found on leaves remind us of the sacrifice that God's own son made to save us from our sins. and the circle has no beginning and no end which reminds us that God is eternal.
After we finish our wreath, we will read the story Who is Coming to Our House?. I love this story and it is a good example of keeping hope. This story has a read aloud link in the packet that you could use. Once we have read our story we will listen to the song "For Unto Us a Child is Born."
DAY 6
Our theme for today is light and we read about it in our verse, John 12:36. We will continue to do a letter hunt with our little one, but you could also look for sight words with older ones or have them draw a picture to illustrate the verse.
The activity for today is to make a candle. In the packet I listed a few ways that you could make a candle. We will be going with option two where we make a paper candle using the template that is provided. There is a color by number candle sheet in the packet, and directions for a toilet paper roll candle. If you are craftier, and braver, than me you could definitely use this day to make an actual wax candle.
We will keep the candles with us as we read one of my favorite Christmas stories, The Night of the Las Posadas. This story is such a great reminder that our Light (Jesus) is always there with us and uses every situation to spread his word. This story also has a read aloud link in the packet. We will end by listening to the song "Joy to the World."
I hope you enjoy the next 5 days of time shared with your little ones focusing on the reason for this beautiful season.
Ashley
Friday, November 30, 2018
Advent Adventure: Day 1
It's here! December first is tomorrow! I know many of you are feeling the stress of the holidays because the to do lists seem to grow no matter how much you accomplish and there seems to be a never ending collection of events to attend during this month. Sometimes we let ourselves get to the point of being so overwhelmed that we heave a sigh of relief when the holidays have come to an end.
I am somewhere in the middle. I absolutely love this time of year, but I feel the stress that this month can bring. That is why I am making a point this year to take a little time each day to do a few small activities with my daughter to center our hearts and mind on the reason for the season. The activities come a from a packet that I created which can be found here. I will be walking through several days as a time here on the blog starting tomorrow so you can see what it consists of. With that being said, here is day 1 on our Advent Adventure.
Our focus verse for tomorrow is Isaiah 9:6 and the focus or theme is everlasting. We will use the verse card to read the verse, but since I have a preschooler I will have her color the alphabet letters we are working on to get her to focus on it as we talk about it.
Once we have finished our verse, we will move on to the activity for the day which is making an Advent paper chain. Each link of the chain has the day and a verse for the Christmas story that we will read each time we remove a link. I printed our pages off in red and green to make it a festive decoration for our daughter's room.
After we are finished with our paper chain we will move on to the story and the song. Surprisingly, What is Christmas? is not one of the many Christmas stories that we own, so we had to look on Amazon to find a copy. If you click on the book title, it will take you to the book on Amazon to purchase it. If you are not able to order the book, there is also a YouTube link in the packet to a read aloud of the story.
To finish up our study, we will listen to the wonderful Christmas song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
This is how we will begin our study of Advent. Tomorrow I will post the information for days 2-6.
Ashley
I am somewhere in the middle. I absolutely love this time of year, but I feel the stress that this month can bring. That is why I am making a point this year to take a little time each day to do a few small activities with my daughter to center our hearts and mind on the reason for the season. The activities come a from a packet that I created which can be found here. I will be walking through several days as a time here on the blog starting tomorrow so you can see what it consists of. With that being said, here is day 1 on our Advent Adventure.
Our focus verse for tomorrow is Isaiah 9:6 and the focus or theme is everlasting. We will use the verse card to read the verse, but since I have a preschooler I will have her color the alphabet letters we are working on to get her to focus on it as we talk about it.
Once we have finished our verse, we will move on to the activity for the day which is making an Advent paper chain. Each link of the chain has the day and a verse for the Christmas story that we will read each time we remove a link. I printed our pages off in red and green to make it a festive decoration for our daughter's room.
After we are finished with our paper chain we will move on to the story and the song. Surprisingly, What is Christmas? is not one of the many Christmas stories that we own, so we had to look on Amazon to find a copy. If you click on the book title, it will take you to the book on Amazon to purchase it. If you are not able to order the book, there is also a YouTube link in the packet to a read aloud of the story.
To finish up our study, we will listen to the wonderful Christmas song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
This is how we will begin our study of Advent. Tomorrow I will post the information for days 2-6.
Ashley
Monday, November 26, 2018
Embracing Advent
I love all things Christmas! It is my favorite time of year. The books, songs, decor, coffee flavors, and so much more are just so magical. One of those magical parts for me as a Christian is Advent. I have always enjoyed Advent with my students and family, but this year I decided I wanted to make it a more prominent part of our home life. I want to make sure that my daughter focuses on the real meaning for this beautiful season each day, even while being bombarded by everything else. I looked around for awhile to see if I could find something that would work for our family and be engaging to our little one, but all I could find that I liked were in pieces. I don't know about you, but for me, having things in pieces is not a good idea. I lose track of things. This is where my brain took off.
I decided that I would create my own Advent Adventure. I knew what I wanted and I worked to create all the components needed to make it meaningful, engaging, and have as much in one place as possible. I created a day by day packet so that we can focus on Advent daily. Each day has a theme, a scripture passage card, an activity, a story, and a song. I will be including links to song videos and story read alouds on you tube for as many books as I can. This will hopefully help you on those days when you may not have the story in your collection. This is something that can be done at home as a family or in the classroom with your students. Below you will see an image with a few of the things that you can find in this packet.
If you would like more information about this packet you can check out my stories on instagram or the video on my Facebook page.
Instagram: 1st_grade_jungle
Facebook: First Grade Jungle
I am so very excited to start this journey through Advent with my little one. It keep our hearts and our minds focused on the real meaning of the season and it gives us something special to do together each day.
An Advent Adventure
Ashley
I decided that I would create my own Advent Adventure. I knew what I wanted and I worked to create all the components needed to make it meaningful, engaging, and have as much in one place as possible. I created a day by day packet so that we can focus on Advent daily. Each day has a theme, a scripture passage card, an activity, a story, and a song. I will be including links to song videos and story read alouds on you tube for as many books as I can. This will hopefully help you on those days when you may not have the story in your collection. This is something that can be done at home as a family or in the classroom with your students. Below you will see an image with a few of the things that you can find in this packet.
If you would like more information about this packet you can check out my stories on instagram or the video on my Facebook page.
Instagram: 1st_grade_jungle
Facebook: First Grade Jungle
I am so very excited to start this journey through Advent with my little one. It keep our hearts and our minds focused on the real meaning of the season and it gives us something special to do together each day.
An Advent Adventure
Ashley
Monday, November 12, 2018
Princess Themed Preschool Activities
Hi Everyone,
Ok over the last couple of months I have found myself looking at my sweet girl through the eyes of a mom but also through the eyes of a teacher. The mom in me says she is perfect in every way and a beautiful blessing. The teacher in me sees all the other things and this is where my two worlds are colliding. I want to help her with the things she is struggling with, but I know that I she won't work with me unless I make it a little fun for her. So that brings me to what I wanted to share with you: princess themed preschool activities.
The last few months I have slowly been putting together little puzzles and activity pages with a princess theme to help my sweet girl practice those skills that she needs to have before she heads into kindergarten next August. She loves that everything has a princess, characters from a princess movie, or items from princess movies. It is making working with her fun for both of us. The first packet I put together has alphabet puzzles with upper and lower case letters, number puzzles with several different ways of showing the number, color puzzles, a fine motor practice sheet, and color coloring books. I also included the princess bingo game I made for her to play at home just because it is fun. Below you can see pictures of each of these items.
The second file I just created recently. This file has princess themed alphabet and number posters. The alphabet posters show the upper and lower case letters on the lines to show placement. They also have an image that has the sound that each letter makes. The number posters and 1-30 and show the number in a variety of ways. Below you can see a sample of what these look like.
With the alphabet posters, I printed them two ways. I printed them two to a page so that I can hang them on her bedroom door. We will point to letters and say what they are any time we enter or leave her room. The second way was six to a page. I did it this way so that I could hole punch them and put them on a ring. With them on a ring they can travel with me, which is perfect since we travel a lot over the next two months. The number posters are currently only printed six to a sheet so that they can be on a ring. I am not as focused on number recognition at the moment as I am letter recognition. Eventually I may print those larger so that they can be hung up somewhere in our house too.
These are just a few simple things that I have decided to use as a mom to help my daughter be ready for kindergarten. Links to both of the products can be found below if you would like to try them out. I am also working on a super hero themed set for little ones as well but that may not be available until after Christmas. We will see how the next few weeks go.
Princess Preschool Activities
Alphabet and Number Posters (Princess Themed)
Have a great day!
Ashley
Ok over the last couple of months I have found myself looking at my sweet girl through the eyes of a mom but also through the eyes of a teacher. The mom in me says she is perfect in every way and a beautiful blessing. The teacher in me sees all the other things and this is where my two worlds are colliding. I want to help her with the things she is struggling with, but I know that I she won't work with me unless I make it a little fun for her. So that brings me to what I wanted to share with you: princess themed preschool activities.
The last few months I have slowly been putting together little puzzles and activity pages with a princess theme to help my sweet girl practice those skills that she needs to have before she heads into kindergarten next August. She loves that everything has a princess, characters from a princess movie, or items from princess movies. It is making working with her fun for both of us. The first packet I put together has alphabet puzzles with upper and lower case letters, number puzzles with several different ways of showing the number, color puzzles, a fine motor practice sheet, and color coloring books. I also included the princess bingo game I made for her to play at home just because it is fun. Below you can see pictures of each of these items.
These are just a few simple things that I have decided to use as a mom to help my daughter be ready for kindergarten. Links to both of the products can be found below if you would like to try them out. I am also working on a super hero themed set for little ones as well but that may not be available until after Christmas. We will see how the next few weeks go.
Princess Preschool Activities
Alphabet and Number Posters (Princess Themed)
Have a great day!
Ashley
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Teaching the Creation Story - Preschool Style
I love teaching all things primary, but my favorite things to teach are Bible stories. There are so many amazing stories in the Bible and there are so many ways to teach them and integrate them into other subject areas.
This year I will be teaching Bible stories and their activities to my preschool age daughter. This is a first for me. We read Bible stories together but I have never put a focus on teaching it with fun activities and such before. I am excited to share these stories in a new way with her though.
The first story we focused on was the story of creation. I love this story, and there are so many activities that can be done along with this story. We chose to do two activities with this story. One worked on comprehension and some fine motor skills. The other worked on comprehension.
We began by reading the story from The Beginner's Bible. We read through it and talked about each day. I had her think of things that she notices for each day of creation to make it more personal to her. Then we began making our creation book.
The creation book had to be cut out and then we glued the pages onto colored construction paper. I then stapled the pages together to make it into a book. Once everything was cut, glued, and stapled we worked our way through the book coloring each page and reading the rhyme that went with it. Below you will see pictures of the process and some of the final pages.
The next time we talked about the creation story we read from The Beginner's Bible again and then we worked on mini days of creation puzzles. My daughter loves puzzles so this activity was a lot of fun for us to work on together and it was a fun way to review the story. Below you will see what some of these mini puzzles looked like.
Both of these activities came from a packet I created for my first graders several years ago. I just updated the file to include the preschooler friendly activities I used with my daughter. You can find these activities in my Days of Creation packet.
Ashley
This year I will be teaching Bible stories and their activities to my preschool age daughter. This is a first for me. We read Bible stories together but I have never put a focus on teaching it with fun activities and such before. I am excited to share these stories in a new way with her though.
The first story we focused on was the story of creation. I love this story, and there are so many activities that can be done along with this story. We chose to do two activities with this story. One worked on comprehension and some fine motor skills. The other worked on comprehension.
We began by reading the story from The Beginner's Bible. We read through it and talked about each day. I had her think of things that she notices for each day of creation to make it more personal to her. Then we began making our creation book.
The creation book had to be cut out and then we glued the pages onto colored construction paper. I then stapled the pages together to make it into a book. Once everything was cut, glued, and stapled we worked our way through the book coloring each page and reading the rhyme that went with it. Below you will see pictures of the process and some of the final pages.
The next time we talked about the creation story we read from The Beginner's Bible again and then we worked on mini days of creation puzzles. My daughter loves puzzles so this activity was a lot of fun for us to work on together and it was a fun way to review the story. Below you will see what some of these mini puzzles looked like.
Ashley
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Back to School
It's that time of year again. The back to school madness has
commenced. The never ending to do lists have been growing at a steady
rate and people are clogging the aisles of local stores trying to
fulfill the school supply lists for all of their little ones.
Normally I am right in the middle of this madness but this year is a little different for me. I am not teaching this year. I will be an aid in a kindergarten classroom part time. Its different but exciting. I will get to spend a lot more time with my little one before she heads off to kindergarten in a year which I am very excited about.
One of the things that my little one and I love to do together is create things. We also love to show her teachers as well as those I work with that we are thinking of them and are thankful for all they do. I want my daughter to grow up understanding how hard her teachers work to give her all she needs to be successful in her academics. So for her Meet the Teacher event we decided to create a little survival kit for all her preschool teachers. It was a lot of fun to make and perfect for small budgets. We were able to get all our supplies at Target and Dollar Tree. You can see how they turned out in the picture below.
My
little one also helped me put together a cute little gift for my new
kindergarten team that I am helping out this year. Those items we found
at Target.
The tags for both of these back to school gifts can be found in my Teacher Gift Tags Through the Year packet.
It was so much fun putting these together and it showed those teachers in our lives that we are thinking about them and thankful for all they do!!
Ashley
Normally I am right in the middle of this madness but this year is a little different for me. I am not teaching this year. I will be an aid in a kindergarten classroom part time. Its different but exciting. I will get to spend a lot more time with my little one before she heads off to kindergarten in a year which I am very excited about.
One of the things that my little one and I love to do together is create things. We also love to show her teachers as well as those I work with that we are thinking of them and are thankful for all they do. I want my daughter to grow up understanding how hard her teachers work to give her all she needs to be successful in her academics. So for her Meet the Teacher event we decided to create a little survival kit for all her preschool teachers. It was a lot of fun to make and perfect for small budgets. We were able to get all our supplies at Target and Dollar Tree. You can see how they turned out in the picture below.
It was so much fun putting these together and it showed those teachers in our lives that we are thinking about them and thankful for all they do!!
Ashley
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