Have a Counting Party

Are you trying to teach a little one about numbers and counting?  Why not throw a counting party? 

There is a Barney episode called "A Counting We Will Go" in which Barney and his friends throw a counting party.  My son wanted to watch the episode over and over again.  I was inspired to throw my own counting party for him.  My parents, mother-in-law, son, and daughter were the only guests, but we had a great time.  I plan to do it again when my daughter starts learning her numbers. 

To set up the party atmosphere, we decorated with balloons and put on crazy hats and beads.  We also got out the New Year's Eve noisemakers to make it more exciting.  You could even send out invitations to family members, decorate with streamers, and set out finger foods that can be easily counted (berries, grapes, and carrot sticks are healthy choices, but my son really liked the chocolate chips).

So what do you do at a counting party?  You can:

- sing songs about counting
   - The Ants Go Marching One by One (be sure to march around the house while you sing)
   - 99 Bottles of Pop on the Wall
   - Knick-Knack-Paddy-Whack
   - Roll Over (There Were Ten in the Bed)

- write out the numbers 1 to 10 on a big piece of poster board and let the kids color in the numbers

- count things like stuffed animals or toy cars

- read books that mention counting or numbers, such as
   - Ten Little Puppies by Marian Harris
   - 1 is One by Tasha Tudor
   - The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey (the puppies count themselves)
   - Baby's First 1-2-3 Book by Amy Barton

- recite the nursery rhymes "One Two, Buckle My Shoe..." and "Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed..."

- for older kids, play games involving counting and numbers, such as Hide-and-Seek or Hopscotch

Our counting party only lasted about an hour but we had a lot of fun.  Doing something out of the ordinary such as having a party makes learning exciting.  Let your imagination run wild and you too can create a fun learning atmosphere for your child!

How do you teach your kids to count?

The Osh Kosh- Complete!

In this post I told you about the Osh Kosh- the monster truck with a snow plow on it.  For the last 2 months my husband has spent every "free" moment rebuilding it.  It is finally ready for service.

To give you an idea of how big this thing really is, here's a picture of my son standing next to it:

He calls the truck the Gulf-11, which is what it was called when the Army used it.

The truck itself is taller than my house.  The plow is taller than me. 

This thing will push LOTS of snow.

Just for fun my husband had fake decals made.  He named the plow the Polar Expressway 19 Foot One-Way:

Now we just need a huge snowfall!

Anybody Home?

Christmas Tree Hunting

We get our Christmas trees from a National Forest that's about 1.5 hours away from our house.  We purchase permits for $10 a pop, and by cutting our trees we're helping to thin the forest.  It's a family tradition my in-laws started many years ago. 

Here are scenes from our tree hunting expedition.  We got a tree for my in-laws and a tree for my house.  Since my husband wasn't able to join us, I cut our tree.  And then the chain fell off the chainsaw.  Oops.



If you haven't gotten your tree yet, happy tree hunting to you!

It's Here!

Want to know what you can get for a trailer-load of junk plus a little cash?

An Osh Kosh!

What is an Osh Kosh?

It is a monster truck used to plow snow off huge areas.  That's the plow in the bed of the truck:

 This is my husband's new toy.  He arranged the trade, and he can't wait until the next heavy snowfall.

It needs a little repair work. 

This baby has seen a lot of service.   

Why do we need an Osh Kosh, you might ask?  Well, we run a small cat litter business.  We need the road cleared for trucks to come and go.  We have 10 miles of private road to maintain, plus another 13 miles that the county is supposed to maintain, but does not.

And because the men out here like new toys!

Simple Cookie Decorating Tip

I love to make sugar cookies once or twice a year, usually for Halloween, and always for Christmas.  I decorate them with icing, sprinkles, the works.  It's a tradition my mom started and I've carried into my adulthood. 

This week I made some Halloween-themed cookies.  While I was at the store a couple weeks ago, I spotted some black and orange decorating gel.  I purchased it on a whim.  This was the first time I used the gel, and I am so happy with how my cookies turned out:

Here's my new cookie decorating tip: outline your cookies!  Outlining the cookies with the gel really helped define their shape.  Compare the outlined cookies with the ones that aren't outlined, and you can see a distinction.  The outlined cookies really stand out.  It was also great for writing words on the cookies.  I love the little kitty that says "EEK!" 

From now on, I will always use decorating gel when I make my sugar cookies.

Special thanks to Bertha and Bambi for helping me decorate!

How do you decorate your cookies?