Wordless Wednesday - Owen & Mr. Tickles

O has made a new friend, his name is Mr. Tickles....

I must say that the name fits him perfectly.  Luckily for us, if Mr. Tickles gets "lost" we have plenty more in a tree in our front yard.

This is just one more reason why I love Spring!

Wordless Wednesday - Sweet B

This is from Easter....and I LOVE this picture of my sweet Brynnleigh.  She looks so old here, but no, she's still 2.

The Fresh Beat Band Live In Concert

The Fresh Beat Band Live in Concert - the Landmark Theatre in Richmond, Dec. 10

The Fresh Beat Band, Nickelodeon's popular preschool music group and stars of the hit TV series of the same name, have added 50 cities by popular demand to their enormously successful 2012 tour. Kiki (Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer), Shout (Thomas Hobson), Marina (Tara Perry), and Twist (Jon Beavers) will perform The Fresh Beat Band hits from seasons one, two and three of the live-action music series that teaches preschoolers about music appreciation and how to express their feelings through movement, song and instrumental music. Fresh Beat Band Party packages, which include a meet and greet with The Fresh Beat Band will be available. Tickets go on sales Apr. 20th, go HERE to purchase.

 

Wordless Wednesday - Face Paint

For years I've tried to get O to have his face painted....and for years (because at 6, it really has been for years) he has said no....until the other day...at his end of season Upward Carnival.

At the end, as everyone was packing up, O decided he wanted to "watch" the face painters....which then led to him wanting it.  The problem...yeah, remember that packing up part?  I was so afraid that they were going to finish the girl they were working on (the girl who was 1 kid in front of him) and pack up.  The carnival was finished, they were cleaning the floor, and every other vendor was walking out.

The guy looked at me and said..."of course I can do it....can we do a this (some shape I had no clue) and can we do green?  (of course it was the color already in the machine).  At this point, O was already on the seat, grinning ear to ear with his eyes closed ready for the paint.  He didn't care what it looked like, or what color it was!

The guy was wonderful, patient and made O's night.  He had to get me to take a picture so he could show all his grandparents!

Of course this was 8pm, and within an hour of getting our super cool face paint we had to wash it off but it was worth every second of seeing that smile, and him asking me "does it still look okay?" every 5 seconds!

I'm sure now, we will have to go to all the places you have to pay to get your face painted....and I'll love every second of that too.

2 Little Train Junkies

That is correct, I do not have one, but two train junkies!  Luckily, I work and went to school in a train town so I know exactly where to take them!

This was Tuesday night...Troy brought the kids up to my work for us to go to dinner.  They loved it and got to see two trains during our meal.  Of course they cared less about the meal, they just wanted to see the trains!  I'm so glad I was able to catch this picture as we were leaving the restaurant.  It was with my phone, so I'm sorry it's grainy!

The following day, Wednesday, my parents let the kids ride the train up to Ashland to meet me for lunch.  They were so excited, I'm pretty sure they looked like this the entire train ride!!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a pic of them actually exiting the train, but did manage to snap these shots before we headed out to lunch.

If your kids are train junkies like mine, check to see if you have any local stops near your house.  We have 3 within 45 minutes of us, so it's so easy to get on at one stop and ride to the other.  It's a perfect length for little ones and not too expensive either!

Wordless Wednesday - THREE Little Monkeys

This past weekend Brynnleigh enjoyed seranading us with her new song she learned in school...

 

 

And all weekend, it remained Three Little Monkey's jumping on the bed!  We tried to get her to count down, but no, Three Little Monkeys it remained!  I myself loved every second of it.  Owen (6) really wanted her to count down as you can hear in the video!

 

While you are here make sure to enter my two giveaways that are still live HERE and HERE.

 



Janet's Planet Exploring Microgravity DVD Review & Giveaway

Owen and I were very excited for this review.  Owen loves science and really loves figuring out how everything works.  So this DVD was perfect for him! 

From Janet Ivey:

For the past decade, science education has been my passion and America's children have been my inspiration. It is incredible to see how excited children can become about the world around them when the information is presented in an accessible and fun way. That is the mission of Janet's Planet, and I look forward to continuing to support better science education in the years to come.

I put the DVD in, while Owen (6) was playing his 3DS and Brynnleigh (2) was playing with the iPad.  I did not say anything, just put it in and hit play.  This was the true test, can this educational but fun DVD pull them away from their precious video games.   Take a look for yourself...    

Oh yes, they were both engrossed!  Now I will say, that I do believe my kids may be a bit young for the entire lesson (just under 40 minutes) but they did enjoy it.  O was even telling me a few things about it later at dinner.  It is very education, but has fun things to draw their attention and help relate.  Owen's favorite part was the little alien, who just didn't get it!   Now this next picture...was not staged at all, (seriously it really wasn't, he was trying to figure it out, yet show me at the same time).  

This is a great DVD to put in while I am working on dinner or something else house related - it's fun, yet educational too and no worries of them seeing something I wouldn't want them to see/hear.  I would highly recommend this for anyone who home schools or any parents who want to help encourage the wonders of science. 

 I do think O was a bit too young to fully grasp the DVD (he just turned 6 last month) but he was old enough to grasp bits and pieces and stay somewhat engaged.  I love that they use actual pictures, real people, and cartoon images to help display the content.  Even if your child loses interest, it will quickly pull them back in.  

Janet's Planet has a great Website filled with even more information, pictures, games and much much more (oh, and a shop if you want to buy your own copy!).  You can also follow Janet's Planet on Facebook and Twitter!

 I am very excited to be able to giveaway an additional copy of this DVD to one lucky winner!  Even if you don't have kids, this is a great giveaway to win and donate to your local school or library!

a Rafflecopter giveaway     

 "Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."