SMMART HOLIDAY

Thank you for reading SMMARTideas this year...Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to you!

Check in next year for more SMMART ideas!

SMMART READING: CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD

I LOVE reading about cultures all over the world...and especially how different countries celebrate their holidays.

Every day in December, this "Christmas Around the World" cultural holiday calendar, from the December 2009 Friend Magazine, describes a holiday tradition from another culture.

Your child can help you read the words or point out letters as you read a tradition every day. As you read about a country's tradition, your child matches a picture to the described event. Tape the picture onto the calendar each day and by Christmas, you and your child will have made 25 cultural discoveries.

My little girl wanted to play the "game" all in one sitting...and we've played it several times since this month.

I thought it would be fun to recreate many of these world-wide traditions with my children. One night we could eat a traditional Liberian holiday dinner or bisquits, rice and beef. Another night we could make little clay lamps and learn about the Indian holiday tradition...or eat our version of traditional holiday cake with strawberries and whipped cream.

Laminate this Christmas Calendar. Cut out the little square pictures and laminate those too. Now you have an international Christmas Tradition Calendar that you can reuse every year.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=622926a816c25210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

SMMART ART: SPARKLING ICE ORNAMENTS

Glittering ice ornaments can adorn your bare bushes outside. This is a twist on the SMMART ice art activity.

Help your child collect small waterproof items of interest around the house and outside. You can be holiday festive and collect red berries and twigs of evergreen. You can even include bird seed for a natural and usable ornament.

Some things that will work well are glitter, small toys, colored yarn, twigs, leaves and small pebbles. Your child can help you cut up the string or ribbon into small pieces. Help your child fill up a bundt cake pan, plastic bowl, ice cube tray, or any other type of mold with water. If you have little holiday plastic ice or chocolate molds, those would work GREAT!

Sprinkle the waterproof trinkets all over the water. Let your child stir up the treasures in the water. Many items will sink to the bottom, but when the mold freezes, those items will show nicely on top of the ice.

Cut a long piece of yarn and fold it in half. Rest the ends of the string inside the mold, so they'll freeze and you'll have a hanger for your ice ornament. Tape down the string onto the side of the mold to ensure that they stay put.

Place the water molds on a cookie sheet and pop into the freezer until completely firm.

Unmold the ice ornaments and hang around your trees, on your deck or outside your window for festive holiday shimmer.

SMMART GIVEAWAY MASTERMIND TOYS WINNER

(Claimed)

Congratulations to:

Mami2jcn said...

The Lego Brickmaster Pirates look good.

mami2jcn at gmail dot com

November 25, 2009 7:04 AM

Be sure to contact me and send your mailing address to, SMMARTideas@hotmail.com before midnight tonight (Dec. 3) to claim your prize. If you don't contact me by midnight, another winner will be posted.

SMMART GIVEAWAY: MASTERMIND TOYS

Mastermind Toys has generously donated a Leap Frog "Text & Learn" to a lucky SMMART ideas reader. Mastermind toys has been in the business of encouraging young minds since 1984.

"At MasterminldToys.com we are all about carrying good toys; a good toy is well-made and high quality, has great play value, is educational, something that mom and dad can appreciate, and above all else...is FUN! We feel our toys make great gifts, and we have free gift wrapping and personalized gift tags to make gift-giving that much easier!"

-Daniel Levy (Marketing and Store Operations of Mastermind Toys)

The Leap Frog "Text & Learn" uses the QWERTY keypad, so your child will become familiar with the order of the keys necessary for typing and developing computer skills. This learning toy hosts 3 learning levels (letters, games and pretend browser) and 6 games. This handheld toy will be an awesome learning tool for your child!

*To enter this giveaway,you have four entry opportunities:

1) Go to the Mastermind Toy site and drop me a comment (with your name) and tell me about which Mastermind toy you would wish to gift this Christmas. (http://www.mastermindtoys.com/)

2) Become a member of Mastermind's Facebook page (separate comment- "name:Facebook member").

3) Follow Mastermind Toys on Twitter at "Mastermindtoys" (separate comment).

4) Sign up to receive the eUpdates from the Mastermind Newsletter (separate comment).

This giveaway is open to those living in the U.S. and Canada. The winner will be chosen randomly and winner's name will be posted on this site Thursday, December 3rd, 2009. The winner needs to e-mail their mailing address to me by Midnight, December 3rd, or another winner's name will be posted. Good Luck!

(Here is a brief rundown of why people should get involved with Mastermind Toys online:

-eUpdate subscribers, Facebook fans and Twitter followers have access to special toy promotions that can't be found on the regular website.

-Use Facebook and Twitter to ask questions about their toys or specials, or even to help you find the perfect gift for your child, (they'll make suggestions if you're having trouble deciding!).

-Upload photos of your kid's Lego, K'Nex or arts and craft masterpiece on our Facebook page to share with other fans.)


You should check out the great toys and gifts at Mastermind Toys. Their Gift Guide highlights near 400 toys that are sure to bring sheer Christmas joy!

SMMART MUSIC: THANKSGIVING TURKEY RHYTHM

Pilgrims, Wampanoag, Turkey and Tryptophan...

Here are a few fun activities for your little ones while you're busy baking the apple, pecan and pumpkin pies!

TURKEY RHYTHM SHAKER:

Help your child trace his hand on festive colored cardstock or construction paper. Make about 6-8 hands. Help him cut out his hand tracings and set them aside.

Set out a few Thanksgiving colors of paint and let your child paint the back of a paper plate. Help your child think about things that he's thankful for and encourage him to paint pictures of these things. Your child could color with crayons or markers, if preferred.

Fold the paper plate in half and have your children count as he drops in several pieces of dried corn, beans or rice. Your child can tell you something he's grateful for, for every corn kernal he drops into the paper plate. Place the traced and cut-out hands into the edge of the folded paper plate to look like turkey tail feathers.

Staple the two paper plate edges together and place masking tape over the pointy ends of the staples.

Now you have a turkey shaker.

NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN DRUM:

You'll need an empty cylindrical container...like an oatmeal cylinder, or a yogurt or cottage cheese container.

Wrap paper around the outside and secure it on the container with tape.

Let your child decorate the paper with markers, stickers, crayons or paint.

Cut out two felt circles that are slightly bigger than the top and bottom of your container.

Punch holes (1 inch apart) around the edge of the felt. Try to have the same number of holes in each circle. Be sure that the holes are not on the very edge, or else they will not be able to hold the tight yarn and rip.

Place one felt circle under the cylinder and one on top. Weave a piece of yarn from the top to the bottom felt circle, weaving through every other hole. You may wish to start the weaving pattern and then let your child help you finish. Tape the end of the yarn for easier threading.

Now you have a simulated Native American Drum for your child to keep the beat to the following songs and poem.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♪♪♫

Now, let your little one shake his turkey to the beat of a fun Thanksgiving song! Practice shaking to the rhythm as you sing or recite. You can count out the beat first before you begin singing/reciting.

Have you heard this cute little song and poem from

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/pumpkinsongs.htm?

In this song, you can shake/beat to a 1-2-3 rhythm or just the 2-3 (duh, dum) beats. ("Have you" is an upbeat, so start shaking on "ever" for the first beat.)

"Pumpkin Song" (3 Beats)
(tune: Have you ever seen a lassie?)

Have you ever seen a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin,
Have you ever seen a pumpkin, that grows on a vine?
A round one, a tall one, a fat one, a small one.
Have you ever seen a pumpkin, that grows on a vine?

Recite this poem and have your child shake to the beat. When you say the words bobble-bobble or gobble-gobble, shake the turkey rapidly.

"Funny Turkey" (2 beats)

The turkey is a funny bird
Its head goes bobble-bobble;
And all he knows is just one word...
And that is GOBBLE-GOBBLE!
Now, try this little song...sung to the tune of "Christmas is Coming".

"Thanksgiving is Coming" (4 Beats)

Thanksgiving is coming,
The Turkey's getting fat.
Put a turkey feather in your pilgrim hat!
If you haven't got a feather, than a dried corn husk will do.
If you haven't got a dried corn husk,
Than God Bless You!

God Bless You!

SMMART ideas video segment link

Check out the SMMART ideas Thanksgiving Video Segment on the "Good Things Utah" site...
It won't be posted on their site very long...so get on over there!

http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/gtu/featured_on/story/Kids-Thanksgiving-turkey-rhythm/C5TgPYctuUKa0e7w4VVUAQ.cspx

SMMART TOY REVIEWS

Mastermind Toys offers a wide variety of fun, educational and exciting toys for this holiday season.

My four month old was sitting in her papasan chair and fussing a little as I was preparing dinner. Then, I put the Lamaze Garden Bug Foot and Wrist Rattle Set on her little feet and wrists. I was hopeful, but not sure that this would do the trick, since she has a yellow duck wrist rattle that hasn't captured her full attention lately...and since she was already fussing, I figured that if these Garden Bug rattles soothed her, then they really would be great!

Well, well, well! Her little eyes widened as she observed the rattles' bright colors and she was instantly interested in lifting her legs up so she could grab her newfound Buggie friends.

What we Like:

-She loved the vivid, bright colors of the little Garden Bug Rattles

-I could tell when she grabbed a Buggie wing and heard the crinkles, she was wondering where that sound came from. It's nice that the Lamaze Garden Bug Foot and Wrist Ratttle not only rattles, but the wings crinckle.

-The Lamaze Garden Bug Foot and Wrist Rattles kept my little one entertained until dinner was on the table...she really does enjoy them!

Now, the Kiddieland Learn N Play Activity Box was a big hit among my older daughters. The 2 year old's attention was captured for quite some time....and it's no wonder why. The Activity Box is LOADED with things to do, music, lights, "bells and whistles". The bright colors were attractive and there were so many activities on each of the six sides of the activity cube.

What we Like:

-So many activities...sure, there are activities on all 6 sides, but there are even multiple activities on each individual side! You can twist, turn, push, pull, and roll...watch blinking lights and play with a pretend CD.

-The Learn N Play Actiity Box does a nice job of playing a variety of musical pieces, as well as varying the style of music (jazz, circus). I love that the Activity Box showcases Classical Music and Nursery Rhyme tunes.

-The activities are easy to figure out, so a child can play on her own and doesn't need a parent helping her to know what to do for each activity.

...Now, the Leap Frog Text and Learn...

For a 4 year-old child who has never used a handheld, the learning curve was a little slow. This toy is suggested for 3+ years of age. She needed to be shown how to use the directional keypad, how to jump from games to letter play and text mode. But, once she was shown a few basics, she was able to play with the Text and Learn by herself. She did enjoy learning this new skill and liked playing with the Text and Learn.

What we Like:

-On "Letter" mode, the Text and Learn sounds out the letter that your child pushes. This is a good review of letter sounds. The little on screen puppy helps to animate the example word starting with that lettter.

-My four year old really enjoyed the two games on this handheld, 'The Map Game' and 'The Bubble Game' that nurtured the use of the QWERTY keyboard and incorporated shape recognition.

Possible improvements:
-This toy could use more game options. Really, the only "games" it has are in letter mode when you push a letter and hear the sound it makes and a word that starts with the sound, the 'Map Game' (maneuver to find shapes) and the 'Bubble Game' (Press the letter shown in the bubble to pop it before it leaves the screen) in game mode, watching the puppy dance to music and free form texting the puppy in text mode.

-Text Mode asks if you want to write a text to the puppy...This requires parental support to help spell the message correctly. My daughter played around in this mode for a bit, but there wasn't much exciting to keep her in text mode. Text mode needs guidance, such as asking the child to fill in letters of words or asking the child to sound out a letter and push the correct letter (QWERTY keyboard practice)

The Leap Frog Text and Learn's 'Letter mode' is great for any child learning or reviewing their letters. If it had more games, it would be a great improvement!

SMMART MUSIC on "GOOD THINGS UTAH"

THANKSGIVING DAY

I am excited to present SMMART Music Thanksgiving Ideas on "Good Things Utah", abc4 after the Macy's Day Parade.

Yes! I'll be presenting on THANKSGIVING DAY! Gobble, Gobble!

Actually they are pre-recording on the prior Tuesday, so I will be at home Thanksgiving Day, putting the finishing touches on the orange-cranberry sauce before the big feast.

Be sure to stay tuned to abc4 and pick up a few SMMART Music ideas to keep the little ones entertained on Thanksgiving Day!

SMMART MUSIC: THANKSGIVING SONGS/POEMS

I thought I'd share a few little ditties with you so you can sing and recite these with your children before the big turkey day!

Pumpkin Song
(tune: Have you ever seen a lassie?)
Have you ever seen a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin,
Have you ever seen a pumpkin, that grows on a vine?
A round one, a tall one, a fat one, a small one.
Have you ever seen a pumpkin, that grows on a vine?

Mr. Turkey
(tune of "Frere Jacque")
Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey
Run away, Run away
If you don't be careful
You will be a mouthful
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day

Funny Turkey Poem
The turkey is a funny bird
Its head goes bobble-bobble;
And all he knows is just one word...
And that is GOBBLE-GOBBLE!

(http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/pumpkinsongs.htm)

Try this little song out:

Thanksgiving is Coming
Thanksgiving is Coming,
The turkey's getting fat!
Put a turkey feather in your Pilgrim hat.
If you haven't got a feather, than a dried corn husk will do.
If you haven't got a dried corn husk,
Than God Bless You!
God Bless You!

SMMART READING: READING SCHEDULES

So, when do you set the time aside to read with your kids? I am wondering what your schedules usually include, and what triggers help you to make sure you are reading with your children.

An automatic trigger in our family is that we read books before naps and before bedtime. When we get a new load of library books, we also read scattered throughout the day since we want to explore the new books and see what stories lie inside.

I also like to switch up the books that we keep in the car. New books make for semi-quiet car rides.

We keep a basket of seasonal books on the floor beside each bed...I update the books each season/holiday/birthday time so that they're easy to grab and we know just where those special books are so we can easily read them in anticipation of a special day.

I often lay a book out on my child's bed for her to find while she's playing in her room.

Any other ideas?

KUED's 17th Annual SALT LAKE CITY READING PARTY

If you live around the Salt Lake City area, I thought you'd like to know about the KUED Reading Party to be held in January.

From Nov.4- Nov. 27, preschoolers to 5th graders are asked to fill out a reading time chart and log their hours onto kued.org (click on PBS Kids Club), or go to www.kued.org/reading.

You can print out the reading log here:
http://www.kued.org/misc/pdfs/outreach/readingMarathon/09_rm_reading_log_eng.pdf

I'm going to request the afternoon party-hope to see you there!

SMMART SCIENCE: RICE CRISP GHOSTS

BOO!

Why do toasted rice crispies SNAP, CRACKLE and POP?

"When Kellogg's* Rice Krispies are toasted the cooked and dried rice "berries" expand their size (puff) to many times their normal size. Since the weight of the rice berry and its material mass remains nearly the same, the rice material is stretched to form very thin walls of the Rice Krispies structure. This is much like a very thin glass crystal. When subjected to a change in heat, a severe "stress" is set up and the thin wall fractures - creating a Snap, Crackle and Pop!
This happens in the cereal bowl when cold milk (i.e. heat stress) is poured in the Rice Krispies and presto SNAP! CRACKLE! POP! The sounds are made by the uneven absorption of milk by the cereal bubbles." (http://www.kelloggs.ca/whoweare/scp.htm)
Pour your child a bowl of crisp rice cereal and let her listen to the little rice "berries" after you pour a little cold milk on them. Observe how the toasted rice "crystal" cavities fill with milk.
Now for the experimenting...Set up a few bowls of dry cereal and a few cups of different liquids. Let your child pour the different liquids onto the dry bowls of toasted rice.
Do the rice "berries" make the same amount of sound when you pour a different type of liquid on them?

Try warm water, cold water, soda, warm milk and cold milk. Talk about your observations with your child.

After eating a bowl of toasted rice cereal, we made RICE KRISP GHOSTS:
Whip up a batch of "Rice Krispie Treats":

-Melt 1/4 cup butter

-Add 10oz marshmallows and mix around in the butter. Put back in microwave for about a minute so the marshmallows are melty
-Stir together to help melt the marshmallows down.
-Add 8 cups of toasted rice cereal and stir mixture all together until rice cereal is mixed in well.

-Pour mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape the mixture into a ghost form...like a hay stack.

-Sit the mound onto another sheet of plastic wrap and smoosh the bottom of the mixture to flatten the bottom.

-Refrigerate to allow mixture to harden.
-Melt white chocolate chips in microwave. Remove chocolate and stir till smooth. Use a spatula to smooth chocolate over the toasted rice/marshmallow mounds.

-Refrigerate till chocolate hardens.

-Use a little melted white chocolate as "glue" to secure two black chocolate chips onto the ghosts as eyes.

These make fun little Halloween gift treats for your friends (wrap in celophane and tie with pretty black and orange ribbon!)

YUMMY!

SMMART ART: HALLOWEEN HATS

Roxanne, a producer for "Good Things Utah", pulled me aside the last time I was on set. She showed me these DARLING Halloween Hats that she cut out of paper plates! She is quite the talent, but I made patterns of her work that I'll gladly e-mail to you if you'd like them (SMMARTideas (at) Hotmail.com).

Roxanne said to be sure to use the cheap, thin paper plates. Fold the paper plate in half. First begin cutting along the trim in a semi-circle until you almost come to the end...and you can begin to cut out the shape you want. Make sure that the shape is connected to the outer rim somehow.

You can draw the pattern onto the plate for your child to cut out, or you can cut it out for him. Then let your child decorate his hat with crayons, paint, stickers, jewels, feathers, and glitter.

Roxanne said that these hats are great for any holiday and animals make great shapes for these hats too!

SMMART MATH: HALLOWEEN MATH

Ahhh,...so soon will our children be running from door to door in an effort to amass huge amounts of sugary treats...

I say: "Let's make them earn their candy!!!" It's amazing how these little outstretched hands and wide eyes are so motivated to learn at the very moment that you hand out their daily ration of goodies. Here are a couple of ways to capitalize on the candy situation:

“EARN YOUR CANDY” ACTIVITIES:

Have your child count the number of pieces he receives from you each day.

Practice addition-You can hand him three pieces and then one more and ask “Three + one equals…?”

Sort the candy by color, chewy vs hard, into piles of similar candies…

Create a bar graph by taping wrappers onto a piece of cardboard (number of candies vs. types) I like this idea because your child sees how much candy she is consuming...and kids LOVE to glue things! If nothing else, consider keeping the wrappers from all that they eat each day and leave them on the counter or in a bowl, so they (and you) are aware of how much candy they really are eating each day.

Count the amount of candy (in the whole stash, or just the allotted amount each day)… have your child write down the number of pieces to practice number writing. (Your child can trace the numbers you write down if they don’t know how to form the numbers on their own.)

Write numbers 1-10 on a piece of paper. You can let your child draw/paint little pumpkins on small paper plates and then label them 1-10. Have your child place the correct number of candies onto each number.Group candy into 2s, 5s or 10s and count by 2s…

PUMPKIN COUNTDOWN

“Is it Halloween yet? How many days till Halloween?”

Show your child a calendar and count the number of days until Halloween. Cut out that number of little pumpkins. Have your child draw a picture of himself dressed in his Halloween costume. Tape the little pumpkins over the picture that your child drew. Now each morning, let your child remove one pumpkin from the picture.

On Halloween day, your child will see his picture of himself dressed in his Halloween costume and he’ll know that it’s the big day!

SMMART PUMPKIN MATH

This activity will help familiarize your child with measurement, weight and geometry.

Let your child wrap a piece of yarn around the circumference of the pumpkin. Explain to your child that the circumference is the measurement around a circle. Cut the yarn the size of the circumference and lay it flat to measure it with your child. Be sure to use the terms “inches” or “centimeters” with your child.

Tie a pencil onto one end of a piece of yarn. Let your child (estimate) measure the radius of the pumpkin with the yarn, with the pencil resting on the stem and cut the yarn to size. Hold the cut end of the yarn in the middle of a piece of paper with your finger. Have your child pull the yarn tight and draw a circle around the middle point.

Now, let your child squeeze glue onto the drawn circle. Glue down the circumference piece of yarn onto the circle your child drew and see if it roughly lines up. Help your child draw the radius and diameter of the circle, or lay down pieces of yarn representing the diameter and radius. Ask your child to name each part of the circle you have discussed.

Let your child weigh the pumpkin on a scale and write down the number if she is able to do so. Weigh a small pumpkin and weigh a large pumpkin. Which pumpkin weighs more? Be sure to use the word “Pounds” (lb.) with your child. Have your child weigh himself…how many pumpkins would it take to weight what your child weighs?

You can count the pumpkin seeds by 2s and 5s, or gather into groups of 10 to count them up by 10s.

Let me know if you come up with any other fun Halloween Math ideas!

SMMART HALLOWEEN MATH ideas

ideas from today's SMMART Halloween Math segment on "Good Things Utah" will be posted on Sunday...so check in next week! (You can also check out the GTU website where they're posted the day of the segment.)

Also, be sure to enter the "Wild Things" Giveaway on Tuesday, October 13th for an awesome gift pack (Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are book, 2 tics to Megaplex Theatres IMAX pajama party for "Where the Wild Things Are" movie, 4 tics to Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient History).

Enter at http://Giveawaytoday.blogspot.com Winner will be announced at midnight.

Thanks so much and be sure to pass on this site to other moms who would like to check out Science, Math, Music, Art, and Reading activities that I post weekly on my site.

SMMART "WILD THINGS" GIVEAWAY @
http://giveawaytoday.blogspot.com

SMMART ideas will be featured on http://giveawaytoday.blogspot.com/ on October 13th. Hopefully more moms, grandmas, care-givers and teachers will be introduced to SMMART ideas!

Go to http://giveawaytoday.blogspot.com/ on October 13th to win a "WILD THINGS" gift-pack GIVEAWAY!

A few local businesses have been nice enough to donate these great gifts:

*Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is being donated by a darling children’s bookstore in Tooele, UT called The Purple Cow Bookstore.(http://purplecowbookstore.blogspot.com/)

The Purple Cow Bookstore is having a fun, WILD RUMPUS on October 16th at their store: 992 N. Main St. Tooele, UT (435) 882-9805. They'll be reading the book, and there will be wild thing activities to enjoy!

*Larry H. Miller’s Megaplex Theatres has donated two tickets to attend their PAJAMA PARTY for “Where the Wild Things Are” ($18 value/each ticket)!

On October 17th at 9:00am, guests are invited to attend a breakfast in their pajamas and they'll participate in a reading of Sendak's book and watch the movie in 2D IMAX! The pajama party will be full of fun, giveaways and prizes! (If you can't make the party-you can still get two tickets to the movie!) (http://www.megaplextheatres.com/) (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Megaplex-Movie-Theaters-and-Jordan-Commons/49252845147)

Nov.7th, Megaplex theatres will host a pajama party for the upcoming Disney's "Christmas Carol", starring Jim Carey.

*Thanksgiving Point has donated a family-four-pack of tickets to their Museum of Ancient Life where you can check out some ancient “wild things” that used to roam the earth.(http://www.thanksgivingpoint.com/)

Thanks to our awesome sponsors!

So...head over to http://giveawaytoday.blogspot.com/ for your chance to win!!!!!

Lisa

SMMART READING: LETTER STARTS

Summer is winding down in the northern hemisphere...sigh. Enjoy these last few weeks of playground fun weather!

Throughout the day as you come across familiar words and objects, stop to ask your child what letter a certain word starts with.

You could ask your child what letter her name starts with: “Daniela, what letter does Daniela start with? D-D-D-Daniela”. Emphasize the letter sound that the word begins with.

This activity can be fun to do on a swing outside. Pull your child towards you and ask her the letter start of a word before you let her go.

"Swing...S-S-S...Swing. What letter does Swing start with?"

When she answers correctly, or you help her and tell her the correct answer, reward her by giving her a big push on the swing.

Lisa

SMMART BLOG DESIGN

I am trying to figure out a few things about blog design...and tinkering around with a few things. I wish I was a master at HTML...but alas. I am learning a lot by googling and searching out ways to redesign this blog. I am sort of a do-it-yourselfer in many ways...but in many ways I will seek out professional help if I get in over my head.

http://www.aprilshowersblogdesign.com/ is not helping my do-it-yourself side. I was on a friend's blog and IT WAS SOOOO CUTE! I had to ask her who designed it, and she led me to April, a 24 year old NBC intern-by day/blog designer-by night. She does some really nice work and this week she's offering 50% off of her prices when you blog about her. She's teamed up with an 18 year old graphic designer and they're doing amazing things together (So young, so talented. Kind of reminds me of when I was first married and learning to ski...slowly...and these little 4 year olds were whizzing by me-without poles!) ... AGHHHHHH .... What do I do?

...I know what I'm going to do...I'm going to keep trying to figure out a few things and give it a go on my own....and then perhaps crawl over to April.

I am trying to get at least the beginning of the design up and ready before October 13th, when I'm on GTU.

Deadlines, deadlines.

Lisa

SMMART...AND KREATIV!

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Room Mom 101 @ www.room-mom101.blogspot.com was nice enough to think of me and pass on the Kreativ Blogger Award...in July. She actually awarded me this honor the very day that I was in the hospital giving birth to our third daughter! Now that I'm chasing after three little cutie-pie girls, I've sort of been feeling like a chicken with her head cut off...not able to keep up on anything...praying for patience...and loving the feel of pillow fluff under my tired head. So, I'm a little late in accepting this award, but THANKS SO MUCH!!!!

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So, here are the rules for this award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.

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"If I am unable to assume the duties associated with this title"...It's because I'm face down asleep in a bowl of cheerios (my breakfast, lunch and dinner lately)...but I digress:

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7 things about me:

1. I am half Hawaiian and half German. My father grew up on the Big Island (where most of our family lives...and on Oahu too) and left after college when he joined the Air Force. He is a handsome, dark, poly-looking man...and I am the most caucasian looking Hawaiian you've ever seen, while my siblings pulled the natural tans from the gene pool...oh well. OH, and yes...I hula!

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2. My favorite flavor of ice cream is Breyers Vanilla Bean- Love it! Love it! and yes, I loved it a little too much during my recent pregnancy!

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3. I always remember loving Science. Some of my first memories are doing all of the "extra credit" activities in our science book in 5th grade (digging around for rolly pollys, recreating Pangea from continent and island shapes, diagraming the inner core of the earth). I had an AWESOME science teacher in 7th and 8th grade that nurtured that love and brought science to life! Thanks, Mrs. Keefe!

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4. When I was in 4th grade my family lived on the beach in Cocoa Beach, FL. Every time Cape Canavral would launch a space shuttle, the whole school would go out into the grassy field and we'd all be lined up in our classes and watch the shuttle blast into the air and then drop it's boosters. That was sooooo cool! We need to get back there to show our kiddos and eat space ice cream.

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5. I speak Czech. "Ano, mluvim Cesky!" I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 19 months in the Czech Republic, Prague Mission. (My husband and I have been able to visit Europe and our mission a couple of times since.)

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6. I studied Molecular Biology/Chemistry minor in college...but sometimes wish I had studied nursing or pharmacy...there's always tomorrow!

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7....and the 7th "thing" about me is...my favorite thing to do in the kitchen is create over the top desserts that are asthetically pleasing and make you want to take a picture (that is...when I have the energy to do so and I'm not in this cheerio rut!)

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Okay, so let me introduce you to my 7 Kreativ Blogger nominees:

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1. http://www.skiptomylou.org/

2. http://thislittleproject.blogspot.com/

3. http://porterpreschool.blogspot.com/

4. http://lets-explore.net/blog/

5. http://teachkidsart.blogspot.com

6. http://www.notimeforflashcards.com

7. http://oodlesofart.blogspot.com/

7.5. http://deepspacesparkle.blogspot.com/

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So, check out these fun sites...and enjoy!

Lisa

SMMART MATH ideas on "GOOD THINGS UTAH"

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Watch "Good Things Utah", abc4 at 10:00am on October 13th

I'll be presenting fun SMMART Halloween Math ideas!

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Also...on October 13th, stop by

www.giveawaytoday.blogspot.com

where I'll be featured and giving away a fun SMMARTidea giveaway!

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Lisa

SMMART ART: BREAD BUGS

I thought a smmart way to spend our summer would be to fill our summer weeks with different themes. This week has been all about insects. Boy, have I learned a lot! (Like, did you know that lady bugs are actually called Ladybird Beetles and turn onto their backs to excrete a smelly ooze from their legs when birds and predators come threatening?)

Early this morning I thawed out a few balls of frozen roll dough (or you can whip up a batch of dough from scratch) and shortly after breakfast the dough was thawed enough for us to sculpt our masterpieces.

We made sure to talk about an insect's head, thorax, abdomen...as we secured the six legs and wings to the insect's thorax.


Our littlest helper even placed the 7 ladybug spots onto her little bug.

Then, into the oven...Brush with melted butter...and Voila!


A yummy snack. The girls really liked pulling off the wings, legs, spots, antenae...and eating those separately as they dipped each bite into cream cheese or a little butter.

Oh the possibilities...what other bread sculptures we could make to go along with our weekly themes.

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Lisa

A Quick Trip to Bear Lake...But I'll post again next week!