June 2009 Childcare Guide PREORDERS

Preorders are now open for the JUNE 2009 NATURAL CHILDCARE GUIDE! I have some final touches to put on it but it should be finished up soon. If you order now, you will recieve it as soon as its done.

Week One, June

Summer Roses, Faithfulness

Week Two, June

Fireflies, Optimism

Week Three, June

The Sun (Summer Solstice), Letting Go

Week Four, June

The Frog, Persistence

http://www.littleacornlearning.com/

Memorial Day Parade

This past weekend we went to our town's annual Memorial Day Parade...
It was supposed to rain but luckily it held out until it was over!

The marchers threw out candy and made my lollipop girl VERY happy :)

Bree found a permanent place on Daddy's head... she's hard to keep still and entertained so it worked out better this way.

Keira and I:

My three little girls... :)

Father Chip on his motorcycle.. yes this is our priest - showing us that you can be cool and love God :)

St. Joe's Cheerleading squad. Keira will join them next year when the girls go to Catholic school :)

Such a fun tradition - we sit in the same spot each year :)

Until next year...

The Bee, Community

The buzzing bee gives honey sweet

To every little neighbor;

Then thanks to her we all repeat,

For her unceasing labor.

This past week our theme was The Bee, Community at Little Acorn Learning. I made each child a little felted Bumblee Bee. Maia played with hers all day bringing it from flower to flower outside.

Then we each made our very own Beeswax Candle to bring home.

The weather was SO nice out all week. We played outside so much and brought out our water table for the first time this year.
We also ate lunch on the deck :)

Next week our theme is The Caterpillar, Transformation. We received our caterpillars in the mail already for our butterfly hatchery. Everyone is so excited! I've always wanted to do one and finally got around to ordering them. More photos to come...

The Little Acorn

THE LITTLE ACORN
By Lucy Wheelock

It was a little acorn that hung on the bough of a tree. It had a tender green cup and a beautifully carved saucer to hold it. The mother oak fed it with sweet sap every day, the birds sang good-night songs above it, and the wind rocked it gently to and fro. The oak leaves made a soft green shade above it, so the sun could not shine too warm on its green cover, and it was as happy as an acorn could be.

There were many other acorns on the tree, and I am sure the mother often whispered loving words to all her babies.

The summer days were so bright and pleasant that the acorn never thought of anything but sunshine and an occasional shower to wash the dust off the leaves.
But you know that summer ends and the autumn days come. The green cup of the acorn turned to a brown cup, and it was well that it grew stiffer and harder, for the cold winds began to blow.
The leaves turned from green to golden brown, and some of them were whisked away by the rough wind. The little acorn began to grow uneasy.

"Isn't life all summer?" it said.
"No," whispered the mother oak, "the cold days come and the leaves must go and the acorns too. I must soon lose my babies."
" Oh! I could never leave this kind bough," said the frightened acorn. "I should be lost and forgotten if I were to fall."

So it tried to cling all the closer to its bough; but at last it was alone there. The leaves were blown away, and some of them had made a blanket for the brown acorns lying on the ground.

One night the tree whispered this message to the lonely acorn: "This tree is only your home for a time. This is not your true life. Your brown shell is only the cover for a living plant, which can never be set free until the hard shell drops away, and that can never happen until you are buried in the ground and wait for the spring to call you into life. So let go, little acorn, and fall to the ground, and some day you will wake to a new and glorious life."

The acorn listened and believed, for was not the tree its sheltering mother? So it bade her farewell, and, loosing its hold, dropped to the ground.

Then, indeed, it seemed as if the acorn were lost. That night a high wind blew and covered it deep under a heap of oak leaves. The next day a cold rain washed the leaves closer together, and trickling streams from the hillside swept some earth over them. The acorn was buried. "But I shall wake again," it said, and so it fell asleep. It might have been cold; but the frost fairies wove a soft, white snow blanket to cover it, and so it was kept warm.

If you had walked through the woods that winter, you would have said the acorn was gone, but then you could not have seen the life slumbering within the brown cover. But spring came and called to all the sleeping things underground to waken and come forth. The acorn heard and tried to move, but the brown shell held it fast. Some raindrops trickled through the ground to moisten the shell, and one day the pushing life within was set free. The brown shell was of no more use and was lost in the ground, but the young plant was to live. It heard voices calling it upward. It must arise. "A new and glorious life," the mother oak had said.

"I must arise," the acorn said, and up the living plant came, up to the world of sunshine and beauty. It looked around. There was the same green moss in the woods, the same singing brook.
"And I shall live and grow," it said.
"Yes," called the mother oak, "you are now an oak tree. This is your real life."

And the tiny oak tree was glad and tried to stretch higher towards the sun.

Be Happy Today

"Do not dwell in the future,
Do not dream of the past,
But live now, in the present,
Trusting the present will last.

Today is your day to be happy,
Tomorrow may never come;
Then drink of life's joys sweetest,
Of the future let lips be dumb.

The castles you're building may tumble,
The love that you trust may wane;
Then keep in the present living,
And live not today in vain.

Tis hard not to trust tomorrow,
Or another day that may dawn;
'Tis hard to look back with sorrow
On the yesterdays that have gone.

But such is life's great lesson,
Or at least I've found it so,
And the only way is keep trying
To make "good" each day as you go."

Stained Glass Turtles

Today we worked on a turtle craft from my May Childcare Guide.

Stained Glass Turtles

Supplies Needed:
Tissue Paper of all Colors
Contact Paper
Scissors
Yarn or Ribbon
Hole Punch
Black Marker

Cut contact paper in the shape of a turtle. Have children tear small pieces of tissue paper and stick to the contact paper to create a stained glass effect. Eyes can be added with a black marker. Hang these in the window so the light can shine through.

A Slug!!!

Our Veggie Garden

On Mother's Day I wanted to spend time together getting our garden up and running :) We met my mom and aunt for brunch and then spent the rest of the day working in the yard. This year we are trying Square Foot Gardening and I hope we have good results!

Brian built the 4x4 boxes for me and we worked together to mix the soil. What a job that was! But we got it done :)

As we filled in our boxes the girls helped to smooth the dirt out.

Then we got all of our vegetables (and fruit this year!) in the soil. We have watermelon, eggplant, bush beans, zucchini, peas, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach and we saved space for our pumpkin seeds! The girls want to grown their own Jack-O-Lanterns this year... we'll see if it all works out as planned!

Happy Gardening!

Welcome Maura Olivia!!!

I have a brand new beautiful baby niece! Maura Olivia came to the world on May 8th

Mommy and Baby are doing GREAT!

Pressed Flower Bookmarks

Today we made our Mommy's beautiful bookmarks for Mother's Day!

First we used watercolor paints to paint our bookmark base.

Then we took the flowers we picked from Tuesday that we put inside a big book and glued them onto our bookmark.

Afterwards, we put transparent contact paper over our bookmark to cover them good.

We also made cards using stamps to go along with our presents.Happy Mother's Day!!!

Scott is Back!!!

Did he even ever leave? It sure doesn't seem like it!

The children all remembered him and he seemed to recall our routines and circle time :). He had an amazing day. He's such a sweet boy and he even went potty two times!!!!

LOL Scott put this hat on like this by himself and I caught him as he was walking around the daycare room:

Outside time in the light rain was the most fun by far... they played pirates and find the bunnies (they like to take my two ceramic garden rabbits and play with them)..

Scott was on the constant hunt for our cats. He loves them and got SOOOO excited each time one came near by.

Bree was using binoculars to see "bugs". We turned the logs over and took a peek..

Sandbox fun!

Scott and Stoli checking out our new square foot garden boxes. Getting ready to add the soil and plants soon :)

The Little Acorn Crew...

Our books from the library based on our weekly theme in my childcare guide - May Day, Dancing. The children have really loved the books we've read so far. In the background you can see our little Maypole blackboard drawing.

We had a great day! Hope you did too.