A little something fun to start off your week!

Maybe they should change the quote "dance like no one is watching" to dance like you are three. Enjoy!





On another note, I have finally gotten around to writing and posting my fall house tour. You should really go check that out.

Shopping guide: Growin' up in God's Word

My family is Christian. I grew up in church and so did my husband. So, you can imagine it's important to us that our daughter be raised in church as well.  Unfortunately, our church attendance as of late has not been as good as it should be. We are working to get back on track.

I have been faithfully reading devotions, reading my Bible and been more actively praying daily since June. I am not bragging about this, just stating it here to keep me accountable. A lot of things have happened in my life this year, and most of those things were a huge wake-up call for me. A lot of bad things happened this year, but some good things happened, too.

I'll talk more about the good and bad later, but I want to use this time to blog about some books we purchased for our daughter. My little girl is 3. Some of the books and materials we have purchased for her are a bit mature for her at the moment, but will be perfect in a few short years.

She has a toddler Bible. It is a board book, and she loves the pictures and Bible stories within it. She carries this Bible to church with her.  It's actually recommended for ages 2-4 and I purchased it for about $10 from Wal-Mart. It's perfect for her now, but when she turns four next summer, I'd like to get her one that's a little more mature. I haven't done much shopping around yet, so I'm not sure what we might get.

A few years ago, my librarian uncle gave Emorie a Books-A-Million gift card for Christmas. My kiddo is not short on books, for which I am grateful! We went together so she could choose something. We got some age-appropriate story books, and we also picked up this one-year children's Bible story book. It's a little too mature for her, but I've found if you explain the story to her, she understands it. Also, if we read a story she is already familiar with, she understands it just fine. 

Right now, you can buy this for less than $10 on Amazon. 

We have a book sale that comes to our school about every other month. They usually have some really nice things for low prices. I've often bought Christmas gifts from them. This past February, I found a copy of The Love Dare One-Year Devotional for Couples, which I quickly bought for me and the hubs to peruse. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the children's one-year devotional book, Jesus Calling.  I realize this is a bit too mature for my girl now, but in a few years, it will be perfect. Currently, you can get the book for $10.30 on Amazon. I think I paid $12 for it. I am so excited about reading this with her someday soon. 

Do any of you have some recommendations for Bible story books and kids' Bibles? I'd love to hear about them. 

Mama School

Some of you have commented or asked about mine and Emorie's "Mama School." If you don't know what I'm talking about, she and I have been working together on some early math and literacy skills on the days she doesn't go to daycare. We've also thrown a little arts and crafts, sensory play and pre-school appropriate science for good measure. I tried to start working with her in writing letters, but she isn't quite ready. We're working on some pre-handwriting activities I found on Pinterest instead.

We've always read to Emorie and have talked to her since she was in utero. I believe this is what led to her speech development- she has a large vocabulary and her pediatrician says she is above average in her speaking skills.

Ever the teacher and ever the worrywart, I was really stressing her not being ready for preschool. Turns out I needn't worry- Emorie is a fast learner and picks up on new concepts quickly. She also has a heck of a memory. I was never concerned about her literacy skills, but I did notice while she has memorized the numbers 1 through 20 in order, she really wasn't "counting." She would keep calling numbers after there were no more numbers to count. I struggled with math as a child and didn't want the same for her. I decided to work hard with her this summer not only in early math skills, but also in letter recognition and letter sounds. She is doing well.

Some skills we've practiced this summer are sorting, colors and shapes, comparisons (like big versus little and different shapes), patterns, letter sounds, letter recognition, matching upper case letters to lower case letters, and she has learned how to spell her name. We've also learned about water and weather, different sounds, hot and cold, butterflies and frogs, and textures.

I didn't spend tons of money on this, either. I have a pretty nice stash of arts and crafts supplies due to teaching Sunday School.

I also have a few things left over from teaching elementary school, such as the root viewer and the bug boxes. These colorful counters came from the dollar spot at Target when I was teaching second grade. My silly girl is using them to sort by color.

We use these wooden magnetic letters to spell words and talk about letters and letter sounds. I bought them from Dollar Tree when I was in grad school. 

 I've also been able to use several books, puzzles, related toys, and games from Emorie's playroom.

These things are fantastic! I bought them from Books Are Fun, this company that sells books at our school. 

This really neat travel Memory game contains different pages that you slide into the back. There are lots of different pages, and they've all been useful this summer. 

           I did go purchase a few workbooks from Dollar General for $1 each. I bought this one, one for colors and shapes, and one for the alphabet.

I also found countless ideas for teaching preschoolers and sensory play on Pinterest and parenting blogs. Some great sources are The Artful Parent, Modern Parents, Messy Kids, and Growing a Jeweled Rose. Have fun, and thanks for reading!

Shopping guide: Disney's Frozen

My three year old daughter is obsessed with the Disney movie Frozen.  In addition to having a Frozen-themed party for her birthday, we also have several Frozen books and toys at our home. She even has Frozen themed underoos. Some of these items were given to her for her birthday. Since I know this movie is hugely popular and there are plenty of other little girls who love it just as much as mine, I thought I'd share.

My girl absolutely loves coloring and painting, so the coloring book and paint kits were both big hits for her. 

She also received the read along book for her birthday- this one is neat because it includes an audio CD so she can follow along. Elsa's Icy Magic  is actually two books in one. The other side is a book told from Anna's point of view, called Anna's Act of True Love.  It follows the storyline of the movie, but from Anna's point of view. All of these books are directly based on the film and all of them are available at Wal-Mart. 

We have a few Frozen themed toys as well. My kiddo loves Barbies, and has received several Barbies as prizes for using the potty. She specifically asked for these two Frozen princess dolls. 

Disney Frozen Sparkle Anna of Arendelle Doll- $12.99

Disney Frozen Sparkle Elsa Doll- $12.99

There are also Prince Haans and Kristoff  dolls available. 

We don't have any Frozen plush, but you can find plush Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Haans, Olaf, and a very cute plush version of Sven. I almost want to buy Sven just for the cuteness. 

There are some very nice Frozen princess costumes on Amazon and I've seen some at Wal-Mart and Target, too. I don't remember how much the ones at Target were, but the Wal-Mart costumes were $15. They don't come in toddler sizes, but I think the size 4 would fit my three-year-old. 

Due to the musical nature of this movie, there are so many neat musical toys available. 

There are also a number of games and puzzles available. I'd buy her the Memory game, but she already has two Memory games. 

 

If you're wanting to spend a little more money on a big present (we buy one big present and some smaller presents for both birthdays and Christmas), here are some great options. We don't personally buy a lot of big toys because we don't want to clutter up the playroom. We also don't usually spend a lot on toys as she outgrows or loses interest in them. These playsets are really neat. 

 

If you're birthday shopping for a little Frozen fan, I hope I have given you some good ideas. Thanks for reading!