Category Archives: Mommy Approved

On the Tenth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me, A Great Time Making Snowmen with Her Class

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On the tenth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me, a great time making snowmen with her class. One of the benefits to teaching on the college level is having a winter break. An advantage to having a winter break is having the time to visit my daughter’s school.  I love crafting, so when I came across this cute sock snowman on Pinterest and saw that I already had most of the supplies, I know it was the perfect project for Quinn and her friends.

To streamline the process, I made sure to already have the snowmen (or snow women) ready for the children by purchasing white socks from the dollar tree and using Quinn’s clean socks that were way to small for her now. I filled the socks with rice down the bottom, tied them off with a rubber band and filled to stop with cotton stuffing. Then, I used sticker dots for the eyes and mouth and pom pom balls for the nose and little hat ball.

It was a quick yet fun project that all of the children enjoyed, as did I. Quinn and I even made some snowmen envelopes for their Christmas cards with snowmen stickers. I quickly printed out the pictures of  the class holding up their finished snow people, and enclosed them in the cards as well. We put them in a snowman bag containing holiday lollipops as a special treat for their hard work. I gave my daughter a bag with the same contents inside too. She and many of her friends were happily surprised thanked me for coming in to make snowmen with them.

Something I love about this time of the year is sharing joy and happiness with others. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the children in Quinn’s class and knowing that being there really made my daughter’s day is such an amazing feeling. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

All the best,

Tanya

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Fun Reading Christmas Books Right Before Sleep

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On the ninth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…fun reading Christmas books right before sleep. With the anticipation of Christmas building, Quinn and I decided that we’d check out some books about the holiday to read as her bedtime story everyday this week leading up to Christmas.

So far, we’ve read, Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama which is a wonderful story that demonstrates how a family celebrates both religious traditions. This is perfect because my daughter goes to a Jewish school and learns about Hanukkah. Grace at Christmas is a great story too about a little girl who lived with her mother and nana who was used to a certain Christmas traditions that would change this Christmas as a result of some visitors staying with them. A Very McStuffins Christmas is fun story involving Doc McStuffins from the cartoon, and The Day Santa Stopped Believing in Harold is a funny reversal tale of Santa not believing that Harold is who he says he is and staking out his house to make sure he’s the one asking for certain gifts.

The books remaining are Santa Claus and the Three Bears, Are You Grumpy, Santa? and the classic, The Night Before Christmas. I truly enjoy reading the Christmas stories  to my four year old possibly more than she enjoys hearing them.She even counts down how many books we have remaining knowing that we only have a few more days left until Christmas.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…A Gingerbread House Sweet Treat!

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On the eighth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…a gingerbread house sweet treat! “What do you want to make this year?” I asked my four year old. “A Shopkins gingerbread house just like last year!” For the past three years, one of our Christmas traditions and fun activities has been making a gingerbread house together.

This past weekend, we had a fun time working on it, and I was impressed with how much Quinn’s grown in her creativity and dexterity. We made a good team as I squirted on some of the frosting while she held the frame of the house together. Then she came up with her special color pattern of adding the candies after I helped with the design on the rooftop.

Of course, my sweet girl asked if she could have a few of the extra candy treats not used as part of her decoration. Then, it didn’t take long before she wanted to take a little bite to share with her daddy. With a chunk taken out of the rooftop, our Shopkins Gingerbread house is on display adding to our Christmas decorations and memories.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…A Sweet Smile Seeing the Letter Santa Sent

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On the seventh day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…a sweet smile seeing the letter Santa sent. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been eagerly checking the mail looking for a special read envelope that contained a letter from Santa. Yesterday, it finally arrived! When we went on a train ride with Santa on the Strasburg Railroad, and one of the activities was writing and mailing a letter to be delivered to the North Pole for Santa. He would then mail back a response.

Though my four year old is still learning to read, she quickly recognized her name and then saw the name and picture at the bottom. “It’s a letter from Santa, Mommy! Can you read it to me?” As I read the letter to her, and looked at her facial expression, her eyes lit up, and she said, “I can’t wait to show Daddy my letter from Santa when he gets home from work!”

I really love how the letter ended, “Quinn, remember to treat others kindly, and always try to do your best…” As I read this part, she shook her head in agreement and said, “Santa said the same thing you always say, Mommy.” “He sure did,” I responded.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Fun with Santa, Bert, Ernie and Abby

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On the fifth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…fun with Santa, Bert, Ernie and Abby. Since Quinn was one and a half, we started the tradition of going to Sesame Place to have some fun and enjoy the Christmas festivities,  and each year gets better and better. This makes our fourth year attending the Dine with Elmo and friends lunch, and there’s always a great selection of kid friendly food and tasty desserts that I surely couldn’t resist.

But what made this year extra special is that this is the first time that Santa, himself, joined the Sesame Place characters and went around to each table greeting the children and their families. He even invited Quinn to dance with him as the music played which really made her day. Even at my age, I would have loved to share the dance floor with Santa.

After lunch, we braved the cold and got on a few rides and the caught the Elmo the Musical Christmas show to warm up a little before ending our day with the Sesame Place Christmas parade. It was a fun-filled day, but what really made my day was when my little girl came running up to me smiling after getting off of a ride with her dad. Trying to catch her breath, she said, “Thank you, Mommy for taking me to Sesame Place for the Christmas lunch and activities!”

While I’m glad she demonstrated her gratitude, little did she know I really look forward to this even every year and am glad she’s been on her best behavior because I would have a hated to go without her…just kidding, of course!

All the best,

Tanya

 

 

Thankful for Precious Moments in Disguise: Turkey Day with My Little Girl!

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My four year old smiled saying, “I want to disguise my turkey as Princess Poppy!” Last week, my daughter’s preschool teacher assigned a special Thanksgiving project to the class: disguise the turkey who fears being eaten for Thanksgiving.  The instructions encouraged family involvement, which was fine by me, especially since I love doing crafts. We discussed exactly how Quinn wanted her turkey to look, rounded up the supplies, most that we already had since I am a crafter, and got to work!

It brought back memories of before Quinn was in preschool and was home with her father and me. We would do fun projects all the time. Though we still do them now, it is not as frequent as it once was. When we finished the project, Quinn said, “Thank you so much for helping me, Mommy!” Our turkey looks just like Poppy! She was so excited to show Princess Poppy, the turkey, to her teacher and friends and even asked me to take her picture once all of the disguised turkeys were on display.

Since I teach college courses, the last couple of months in the semester get hectic, and it is difficult to carve out the extra time to just do a fun activity and enjoy each other’s company. Even knowing that this is my first blog entry for this month is a reminder that time gets away from us all, so it’s moments like this that are so precious to me.  I am grateful to have Quinn in my life and am glad for this memorable moment in disguise.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

All the best,

Tanya

 

My Little Pumpkin at the Patch: Fun at Shadybrook Farm

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Though she struggled and let out a little grunt, my daughter’s eyes were filled with joy as she attempted to carry her huge pumpkin she selected with her daddy. After searching for about fifteen minutes or so, she beamed and said, “That’s the one I want!” It sure was a big one, much larger than the ones she’s selected in the past few years. Since Quinn was one years old we’ve been taking her to Shadybrook Farm to pick out a special pumpkin to decorate and to have a little autumn fun. It’s now a four year tradition we all look forward to doing, and yesterday was no different.

Even though there was major overcast and cloud coverage, the weather was perfect: not too cold and not too hot with the sun peeking through the clouds on occasion. We enjoyed the hayride, and this year Quinn eagerly navigated through the pumpkin patch with a pep in her step alongside her dad, nana and me not too far behind her. After selecting her pumpkin, we enjoyed some treats, did many of the activities and headed home ready to decorate our pumpkins.

Yes, we could have simply went to the local grocery store to get a pumpkin, but having this family tradition and experiencing family togetherness is definitely a better and far more memorable experience.

If you live in the Philadelphia area near or in Bucks County, I urge you to consider taking your family to Shadybrook Farm to not only pick your pumpkins but your apples too at a nominal fee. We actually paid half priced by bringing in non-perishable canned goods. There’s so much to do for children and adults of all ages. I’m sure you’ll have a great time just like my family does every year.

All the best,

Tanya

Derailing the “Train” for a Fun Journey with My Daughter

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Yesterday, my daughter and I, along with my sister and her daughter, had a fun-filled outing in downtown Philadelphia. We went to the Candytopia exhibit, had lunch and just walked around and explored. We tend to go on many fun outings. Sometimes we walk, but most times we drive. What made yesterday even more exciting was that we derailed our usual routine of driving and took the train.

Believe it or not, it was my six year old’s very first time taking the SEPTA regional rail train, with the exception of the Strausburg Railroad for train rides with Thomas the Tank Engine and with Santa. As we waited on the platform in the 30 degrees Fahrenheit weather, Quinn exclaimed, “I’m excited but a little nervous.” Then, she noticed the words on the ground in front of the yellow safety zone. “Watch the Gap,” she read. Then she took a few steps back and said, “I’m nervous because I don’t want to fall down on the tracks.” I reassured her that I’d hold her hand and that she’d be fine. When the train approached, she was beaming with excitement and asked to sit by the window.

I enjoyed sharing stories with her about when I would take the train to college, and I was reminded of when I was younger always loving to look out the window on the train and just observe people coming and going. She was amazed at how fast we were going and even observed how it was “speedier than the train ride with Santa.”

After enjoying our time downtown, we hurried back to our regional rail stop from Reading Terminal Market, and Quinn was eagerly looking forward to her train ride back home. Even though we were greeted by a sign that said our train was delayed by 18 minutes, she was a good sport and actually like the environment of just sitting on the bench and seeing people go by.

I remember always being on the bus and train when I was younger, especially since my mother did not drive, so it was not as big a deal for me. When I saw Quinn’s excitement, I realized that I need to occasionally derail my routine a bit. While it’s great to have the luxury of getting in a car and driving to our destination, I want Quinn to have the fun experiences she may not normally do. It helps to make her well-rounded and to even appreciate what she has. We both agreed that it would be nice to take the train downtown and to other places more often, and my plan is to make sure that happens.

All the best,

Tanya

Mommy’s Little Scientist: Never Too Young for STEM

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She put on her white lab coat and selected the experiment she wanted to conduct. I assisted her with arranging the items needed, and she then smiled and said, “I have to out on my science glasses for safety before we get started!” We first saw the “Learning Resources Primary Science Lab Activity Set (12 pieces)” in the Franklin Institute Gift Shop, and my four year old just had to have it. The price was $30, but upon checking through Amazon.com, I saw that I could get it for just $18.11. Though there were some tears shed and a fit or two had, I eventually convinced my daughter that it was better for us to order through Amazon so that we could save some money and have a little left over to get the lab coat too. 

Quinn loves doing projects, activities and games, especially STEM related ones. Though I have a Liberal Arts background, I too enjoy these projects and was just as eager for the package to arrive. The kit is for children as young as three, but I must say that some adults could benefit and have fun from these science experiments that are not all that time consuming and require items that most people already have in their household.

Though my little girl is not writing as yet, we were able to discuss what she thought would happen before starting a project. I even taught her the word: hypothesis. We enjoyed doing the primary color experiment together, and days later she still talks about the primary and secondary colors and how red and blue make purple. Quinn’s Nana thoroughly enjoyed doing the volcano experiment with her so much that they did it two times.

Some of the other experiments involve learning about how plants sprout from seeds, examining different insects and determining what sinks and floats, and we’re both looking forward to doing them too. I was so impressed by the twelve piece kit that I ordered the Learning Resources Primary Science Deluxe Lab Set, 45 Piece set so that we can do more experiments in the weeks to come.

These experiments remind me of how much I enjoyed going to science class in grade school and how I wish these at home kits existed when I was younger. Of course, there’s no absolute science to raising children and making sure they have a perfect childhood and have a solid foundation for learning, but I’m so grateful to be creating these memories with my daughter and hope they stay with her for years to come.

All the best,

Tanya