Every Toddler Needs a Textbook

Way back in the last century when I was taking classes to become a teacher, I learned that a child loves to hear their own name.  Then earlier in this century when I was working on my Masters Degree, I learned that young children can learn things best by looking at pictures of themselves performing tasks...

On a side note (but not really) my sister in law has a huge family.  To teach her son all of his cousins, she made him a photo album with the photo and name of each cousin.

I combined these two ideas and came up with this:

The Big Book of Smiles

I was given a random photo album as a gift for my son's baby shower.  It kicked around in his closet for about 18 months before my sister in law asked for a picture for her book.  That request got me to thinking.  I could do something with that random album.  Making a cousins album wasn't necessary because my children didn't have enough cousins to fill up even 1/4 of that album.

I continued to think and decided to make an alphabet book.  Great!  an alphabet book.  Nope, it didn't fill enough pages.  Okay, the alphabet, numbers 1 - 20, colors, and shapes.  Still not full.  It was a big album!  Finally I decided upon the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, and opposites.  I needed 92 pictures to fill the album with eight extra pages of chapter titles and a table of contents.

Each page had a photo of my son doing something that matched the caption.  Each page used his name.  Then I decorated the album pages with coordinating stickers.  

Here is a page from the album I made for my son...

Alex loves to swim.  Swim begins with "S."   Alex points to his teeth.  Teeth begins with "T."

I called his book Alex's Big Book of Smiles.  He (and his sister) have loved it and loved it and loved it.  There has been so much love in fact that I have had to do a lot of taping and re-taping to repair all the love. 

My daughter kept asking when I was going to make a Big Book of Smiles for her.  I finally did.  In hindsight, I probably should have just bought a photo book instead of using an album and doing all of the work by hand, but it really turned out beautifully.  I may scan the pages of the books and get photo books made  that will be kept away from the love for posterity purposes.  We'll see...

Here is what you need to make your own Big Book of Smiles:

empty photo album with 100 pages, 92 photos, stickers

All this is great, but first you have to make a plan...

Go through mountains of photographs looking for just the right ones.

Yes, the box is filled with photos too! 

Make a list of all of the pages you will do in the book, and decide what your statements will be.  You will want to do this whether you are making a photo book or manually making an album like me.  

After going through that huge stack of pictures, I only had to stage 16 of the 92 total pictures.  There are a few reasons for this.  First, Chloe is nearly three so I have had a lot longer to take pictures of her.  And second, I always knew that I would be making this book so I took pictures along the way with this book in mind.  

Here is my scribbling as I decided on a picture and a statement for each page. 

I made a title page, a table of contents, and starting pages for each chapter on the computer.  I wanted the book to look and function like a real textbook.  I figure it is never too early to introduce the correct textbook form to my kiddos.  Also keep in mind what pages will face one another.  This is especially important when it comes to the opposites pages.  You want them to be in sets of two. 

After this, I got to work assembling the book.  This took a LONG time - much longer for this book than for the first.  It took bits of four days to finish everything.  I am sure that it was more difficult because with two kids who don't nap that want to sit on my lap all the time, I just had to work at a much slower pace.  It was all worth it though!

My messy kitchen table as I worked.  My daughter had just stepped away from her lunch.

 I made my own stickers for some of the items in the book.  I did the two digit numbers in fun fonts, color words in color, shape words, and the shapes themselves, as well as stickers of the opposite words.  I created a word document and then printed the document out on full sheet label paper.  I bought this package of label paper over 10 years ago when I began teaching.  I used it all the time and I am still finding uses for the few sheets I have left.  Every crafter should have a package of full sheet clear label paper!  It is one great gadget!

 

I LOVE full sheet label paper!!!

Here are some sample pages from Chloe's Big Book of Smiles.....

I used photos that had meaning for her, but I still used her name on every page. 

Notice the fun alphabet letters on each page.

Here you can see some of my homemade stickers. 

I didn't get a photo of an "opposites" page so here is a caption:

Chloe's hat is on.  (on the left page)  Chloe's hat is off.  On and off are opposite.  (on the right page)

The cover!

She loved her book once I finally finished it for her.  It had been a long four days.  I often heard throughout this process, "Are you done with my book of smiles?"  I was happy to finally say, "YES!"

She was so sweet to me when I gave it to her.  "Thank you for making this for me, Mama."  OOHHH!  You're welcome!!!

Seriously reading her Big Book of Smiles!

This is a great project for little ones.  My son still wants me to sit and look at his book with him.  I LOVE that!  

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Tidy Mom

Tatertots and Jello

OLE' - It's Dinnertime!

Some days are just busy!  Some days I don't have the brainpower to cook!  Some days are both!  Those are the days I turn to take-out my Crock Pot!

Living as I do in Arizona, I love Mexican food.  I often judge the quality of a restaurant by its shredded beef.  Shredded beef is a very versatile staple.  You can use it to complete lots of different meals: tacos, enchiladas, tamales, taco salad, nachos, whatever.  Here is my quick, no-fuss recipe for Green Chili Shredded Beef

Taco Salad made with Green Chili Shredded Beef

Green Chili Shredded Beef

• 3-5  pound chuck roast
• 1 large can whole green chilies
• salt, pepper, and other spices

Generously season the chuck roast with salt, pepper, and spices.  (See the below pictures for how I season.)  Place the roast in the crock pot.  Pour the can of whole green chilies over the roast.  Cook in the crock pot on High for 6 hours or until tender.  Shred the meat with two forks and serve.  Store leftovers in an airtight container. 

Serve with your favorite Mexican accompaniments!

A lot of juice will develop as a result of the cooking process.  Drain off most of it before serving or else you will have drippy beef.  (You can reserve it to make Green Chili French Dip sandwiches.)  Don't remove all of the juice because you want to have some reserved for storing leftovers or else your beef will be DRY!

Everything you need for a yummy meal!

Close-up of the spices: chopped onion, ground cumin, salt, black pepper, chili powder, coriander, garlic powder.

I season the bottom of the Crock Pot before I put in the roast.

I season the top of the roast after it goes into the Crock Pot. 

Use a large can of whole chilies.  The chilies will shred into the beef at the end of the cooking time.  It is unnecessary to pay more for chopped green chilies. 

Pour the whole chilies over the top of the seasoned roast. 

6 hours in the Crock Pot!

I have to wrap the lid of my Crock Pot with towels to help keep in the heat.  I think I have a wonky lid.  

I didn't get any pictures of the shredding process, (sorry) but here is what we ate with it!

My husband's taco salad.

My clown-face tostadas! 

I didn't realize how silly that picture looked until I looked at the developed photo.  Oh well, they tasted delicious!

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Up, Up & Away

My son has been talking about going to the Commemorative Air Force Museum for months.  He went with his Daddy for "Boy Time" a while back and has wanted to return ever since.  He took his Grandmama and Grandpapa there while they were visiting, and a great time was had by all.

The museum is located in two giant airplane hangars.  The first hangar has both airworthy and non-airworthy aircraft.  You can spot an airworthy craft by the oil pans placed underneath the engines. Much of the non-airworthy crafts are smaller and suspended from the ceilings.  Around the edges of the hangar you can find displays of uniforms, gear, and other paraphernalia that relate to the United States' involvement in international conflicts.

The second hangar is where all of the real work is done to restore the aircraft.  There are mechanics tinkering with old engines and museum members (usually veterans) who are full of great information about these amazing machines!

The hangars are not air conditioned so if you visit in the summer prepare for a HOT time!  Also, some of the airplanes leave in the summers for cooler climes.  Click here for the schedule.  You can even book rides on their B-17G bomber "The Sentimental Journey" or their B-25 bomber "Maid in the Shade." 

Here are some shots from our adventure:

A wall display

Each aircraft has an original name

Some names come with scantily clad art work.  Go "Miss Murphy!"

On the other side of the airplane she's a brunette.  (But I bet this side has more fun!)

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a (3/4 scale)

This is the Razor.  I had to ask my 5 year old!

F4N Phantom II (This one reminds my kids of "Big Jet."

 I took these photos of this plane that remind me of an antique car.  The chrome and woodwork are so beautiful!

The dashboard and flight controls

The propeller (You can see me in the reflection.)  Hi!

This was my daughter's favorite airplane.  Her legs are almost long enough to reach the pedals.

Watching the aircraft be maintained in the second hangar. 

Here is the bomber just after landing.

 To watch the bomber land, we had to wait in the shade.  It was an awesome sight!

 We had a great day at the museum.  Then we went and bought some pie!  Mmmmmmm, pie..........

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