Bridlington

We finally took Lil Isaac to the beach! We met up with all of our church friends and had a great time! We went last year, but Isaac was just too little to enjoy the sand and sun! We went to Bridlington, a town on the eastern coast of England. English sea side towns definitely have a different feel than the tiny towns I visited on the Oregon coast growing up. Obviously, the buildings are much older...there aren't as many nooks and crannies to explore--just a wide open beach! I actually love both for different reasons. I love getting fish 'n' chips and donuts from the street shops in England, looking at the Victorian buildings that have seen better days but are still so beautiful. I love searching for  whole sand dollars, shells, chasing tiny crabs, stopping at fresh fruit stands (for raspberries or blackberries) and eating an elephant ear in Seaside when I visit all of my family's spots on the Oregon coast--AND eating fresh crab (of course)! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

Eric Carle

When I was a child I absolutely loved Eric Carle books. When I taught first grade, he was still my favorite children's book author and the inspiration for my favorite art project of the year. Now, I am a mother and my little boy's favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear...I guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree there!  I was looking at amazon.uk tonight and found that I MISSED the launching of a new Eric Carle book last fall. Has anyone read it? I just ordered it for Lil Isaac and me and I can't wait to get it!  I quit teaching when school ended in May 2011, I can't believe I am out of the loop already when it comes to new picture books!

Click here to watch a video of Eric Carle talking about this book! He is amazing!

I've been thinking a lot about teaching over the past few weeks. I absolutely LOVE staying home with my little boy-it's always been my dream to be a stay at home mom, but my husband and I have been considering the possibility of moving back to America and if we decide to go that route, I would definitely need to teach again at least until Isaac's business got going. When I was teaching, I loved the start of the school year--Fall is the best season! In first grade, we always started the year with our color unit. Colors and Eric Carle go so well together! We talked about warm and cool colors and how Eric Carle used the contrasts to make his creatures and animals come to life. After reading MANY of his books, and studying how he made his collages, the kids would follow his process, step by step. This took many days, but the outcome always amazed me! Here are a few pictures from some of my past groups of first graders. If you would like a lesson plan on the process we used, email me, I'd love to share but didn't want to take the time to type it out for family/friends not interested (really the only people that view my blog). :D I was just remembering and having a good time looking at the my students' lovely creations!

Summer in America-A LOT of firsts!

We just got back from spending about 7 weeks in America. We hadn't planned on staying that long...VERY sadly, we lost the baby girl I was carrying at 15 weeks. I'll write more about that another time. Baby Isaac and I spent a lot of time with my mom, oldest brother and his family. Before the miscarriage happened, we were able to visit my brother in Washington, D.C., my sister and nephews in Seattle and my auntie, uncle and cousins in Walla Walla. We even had lunch with two of my dearest friends in my hometown, Kennewick. Little Isaac had so much fun...he loves being the center of attention and he was kind of a star all summer. He swam for the first time and then swam MANY times, saw his first movie, ate his first Happy Meal and so much more! He has been my joy and comfort since losing the baby we were so excited about having.

Isaac before getting in Aunt Debbie's pool 

Isaac and Momma

In the baby pool at Uncle Stevie's

Isaac swimming with some of his favorite people, his cousins and uncle

A Day Trip to the North

A couple of Saturdays ago, there was a wonderful heat wave that hit England. We thought it would probably be our last chance to get out and enjoy the sun before the rainy fall weather took over! And we were right-the Monday that followed was rainy and windy! Anyway, when I was little, I read the series of books by James Herriot about his life as a veterinarian in North Yorkshire. I absolutely adored these books as a child-he described Yorkshire so beautifully, I could picture the green hills so perfectly.  I loved his stories about the people he met and the animals he helped--sometimes sad but usually funny. I read so many stories as a young girl about Yorkshire or by authors from Yorkshire--maybe I was always destined to come here. :) 

I love this book! AND the others that followed :) .

My baby and I in front of the REAL James Herriot's (Alfie Wight) home and office

My husband and baby with a car similar to the one James Herriot would have used

The gardens and home

Autumn Crafts for Kids

When I was teaching, I absolutely LOVED making art projects and crafts with my students. Fall is my favorite season--I love the feeling of change in the air, the vibrant colors, the crisp smoky smells, wearing sweaters and scarves, pumpkins and the excitement and anticipation of Halloween and Thanksgiving! The season inspires crafts! Here are just a few that my former first graders enjoyed creating.

Autumn Trees

This is a quick and easy project. First, I have the children choose a background color and then they do a quick watercolor wash. After it dries, I paint a thick layer of brown paint on their hand, wrist and arm. Then, the child firmly presses their hand and arm on paper (card stock or heavy construction paper works best). After the hand print dries, the children use their finger tips to paint on the leaves. I have also made this project by tracing the child's hand and arm on brown paper and I have had the children tear red, orange and yellow paper for the leaves--it just depended on the materials available and my mood! :)  To add a literacy link, I would have the kids write a sentence about fall and attach it to the bottom of their page.

Shiny/Crackling Leaves

This is another quick and easy project! I used a template and had the kids trace the leaf on to card stock and cut the shape out. Then, using just a drop of heavy, clear syrup (Karo is my favorite) and two or three drops of food coloring, the kids swirled and swooshed the syrup and food coloring all over the leaf shape, I always tell them to use only one or two fingers-just for easy behavior management and a quick clean up! It takes about 24 hours for the leaves to dry. Make sure to only use about a quarter sized drop of the syrup or they will never dry! :) Then, hang and enjoy! 

Fall Rainbow

The Fall Rainbow is obviously easy to make. Just collect varying colors of leaves, or better yet, have the KIDS find and collect them. Have the kids use lots of glue to stick them on to a large piece of paper and Voila! you will have a Fall Rainbow! :)

fall watercolors and poetry

The Beginning...

This is a picture of my husband and I when we were in the "engaged" stage. We met in September 2009, were engaged by January 2010 and married in March. We found out we were expecting in May of 2010, had our baby in January 2011 and moved back to England at the end of May-our lives have changed SO much in such a short amount of time. Looking at this picture reminds me of a very brief and exciting time when life was a little simpler!