Tide Gives Back With Loads of Hope

Won't you join me in supporting such a worthy cause:

Tide Loads of Hope helps in the aftermath of a natural disaster by providing clean clothes and a sense of comfort to families in need. Partnering with Feeding America, we travel to disaster affected neighborhoods with the Tide Loads of Hope truck or vans, our free mobile laundry service.

Tide Loads of Hope truck:
32 high-effiency washers and dryers stationed on the truck
Can do 300 wash and dry cycles a day -equal to one year's worth of laundry for a single family
Will wash about 9,000 loads of laundry over a four-week period
Leveraged during massive disasters where electricity is unavailable in the region

Tide Loads of Hope vans:
In partnership with a local laundromat, the Tide Loads of Hope vans provide free laundry service at the same load rate as the trucks
Leveraged during disasters where neighboring communities still have a source of electricity

To date, Tide Loads of Hope has washed more than 35,000 loads of laundry for over 20,000 families. Most importantly, the Tide Loads of Hope program means we're equipped to take action whenever and wherever there is a need in our country.

Tide Loads of Hope Vintage Tees:

Tide Loads of Hope can also be supported through the purchase of a Tide Vintage Tee. All profits go to support families affected by disaster.

You can purchase by clicking on Tide Vintage Tee.

Where it all started

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the need for clean clothing became critical, and Tide found a way to help. So in November 2005, the Tide Loads of Hope truck headed to Camp Hope in the Metairie, LA area and cleaned over 10,000 loads of laundry. The spirit of this first venture informs and inspires everything Tide Loads of Hope program does.

To Read more go to Tide Loads of Hope

Preschool Fine Motor Skills: Sensory Tub

Fine motor development is essential to a young child being able to do so many things in his or her future. Some of those activities include using scissors, weilding a writing utensil, and even playing an instrument. There are many excercises to help develop finger muscles and finely tune that "pincer grasp".


We worked on fine motor today by playing with our Sensory Tub. (Which is just a shoe box sized plastic tub with something the kids can feel and touch with their hands - in our case, rice.) I try not to use food in art, but this rice has been in the cupboard for a while, so we used it today. I put miniature erasers in the rice (WARNING: not for children under 3!!), gave the kids tongs (manipulating those is what helps strengthen muscles) to hunt for them and they loved it. And when they were done, they plunged their hands into the rice for some touchy feely goodness!

Other great fine motor skills from around the web:
Folder Weaving with Yarn
Teaching Tiny Tots: Ladybug Sensory Tub
Kids Love Learning

Playing with playdough, clothespins, lacing cards, lacing beads, or transfering one object from one place to another are just some of the other simple ways you can incorporate fine motor development into your everyday play!

Muffin Tin Monday

Happy Monday everyone! I am back from a weekend women's retreat with my church and I have to tell you I had so much fun! I have not let down and let out like that in a long time and it felt great. And to top it off, I am ready to get back to life with the family (usually, I don't want to go home after a weekend away). So Denise, Penny, Susan, Kam, Rebecca, and Gail-thank you for making me feel so loved!

Welcome to everyone who is visiting from No Time For Flashcards. Allie is an amazing mom and former preschool teacher who featured me yesterday on her blog's weekly Sunday Spotlight. I am honored that she would include me and humbled at her kind words! Thanks Allie! If you have a moment, go check out her wonderful blog!

And now on to the Muffin Tin Monday goodness!



No theme today, just a simple and tasty meal in a muffin tin! (Ritz crackers, Sausage, ranch dip, carrots, apples, mozzarella cheese.)

Did you do A Muffin Tin Meal with your kids this week? Share it with us! All you have to do is leave a comment here and tell me the URL of your blog post and I will include the link. If you don't have a blog, no worries! Upload it to the Flickr Muffin Tin Meals group and leave me a comment with the photo URL. No photos this week, I'll pick it back up next week. Click on the link to be redirected to their blog and Muffin Tin Monday post!

Muffin Tin Mamas:

Muses of Megret

Fun With The Kiddos (First time, go say hi!)

Funny Days With Mommy and Maddie

A Mommy's Adventures

The Home Teacher

Malia Li'i Kula

On A Whimm

Charlie's Blog (first time, go say hi!)

Mother is Not Concerned

The Forest Room

Just For Fun

Jewelry Lady

The Sound You Hear Is Living

Adventures Of A Flake

Hey, I'm Just The Nanny

No Need For The Sunday Paper

Today's links...

Simple Mom: How to be frugal and still keep it simple. An excellent article for anyone who wants to do just that.

Chica And Jo: Found via One Crafty Place, craft an Spring Bonnet for Easter.

The Snail's Trail: "Yo-Yo" Painting. My kids did this last fall in their preschool class and I have been dying to know how it was done! I loved the bright colors she used too!

Laptop Lunches: Bentos, American Style. I seriously, could scan the photo gallery all afternoon long!

Cake Wreks: Looking at horrible cake mistakes has me in stitches I laugh so hard!

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Scripture For Today:

1 Peter 1:6-9

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Make A Roadway With Painters Tape And A Sharpie

We could have made it smaller, but my two kidlets kept saying "No, make it bigger Mommy!" So I did. We marked off several roads, highways and thruways with blue painters tape (found at your local hardware store or even Walmart).

We then drew "lanes" with a black Sharpie (As pictured below).

We brought out all of our cars (and even some airplanes) and some shoe boxes to act as buildings and had a wonderful time recreating a busy city scene. To make this simple activity "print rich", I printed up some common street/traffic signs here in the US, laminated them and gave them to the kids to disburse around the "streets".

Even with a few "divets" in the road, a fun time was had by all!

Alphabet Match Up - A Literacy Activity

Yesterday, I posted about the importance of promoting literacy and language in young children. Here is a fantastic activity to encourage Letter Recognition/Alphabet Indentification.

Using velcro dots, I mounted flashcards (found at the dollar store - I bought two sets) on a large piece of cardboard. I put a velcro dot on the bottom front of each letter card. I made a bag/open box out of cardstock and mounted it to the lower right corner of the cardboard. This held the second set of letters (with velcro dots on the top back of each card). The kids drew from the bag and matched what they found to the letters on the board.

A close up shot of the bag with the second set of letters...

How to Promote Literacy and Language in Young Children

(photo via playful librarian)

Literacy...It's such a stiff "educational" word. However, when it comes to young children, literacy and it's partner, language, are important to a child's success later in life. I'm not a huge fan of Wikipedia...I find a majority of the information found there (mostly pop-culture related) to be completely subjective. However, I do find the article I found there on literacy to be very well written and informative on the teaching of literacy. Check it out, if you have a moment.

I'll be the first one to raise my hand and say "Yes, I want my children to read and write and communicate well." Don't we all want that as parents? And, depending on how my children progress in this area naturally, I want to do everything within my power as a parent to encourage (not pressure) them as they learn these key skills. I am not looking to necessarily teach them how to read and write. It is just kind of evolving into that. My daughter already shows signs of readiness when it comes to reading and I want to meet her where she's at in the best possible way I can.

So, the questions I keep (almost every day) asking myself are "What can I do? How can I encourage her and promote not only literacy and language, but a love of learning as well?"

Here's what I have come up with. Don't feel pressured to do any of this. It's just some tips and ideas I want to share.

10 Ways to Promote Literacy and Language:

1. Exposure. If the number one rule in real estate is location, then the number one rule in promoting literacy and language is exposure. Expose your child to the printed and written word often and in great quantity. Talk to them often. Start as early as you can. Read to them every day. Have books around. Take them to the library. Talk to them, even when they are babies. When I was pregnant with my first child, I remember hearing my good friend talk to her newborn about what he was going to wear, when it was time to take a bath. Now, did the baby understand what she was saying? No. She was establishing good habits and modeling language and exposing him to words and speech at a very early age. And if you already do all that, then great! But, if you are like me, then there's always room for improvement.

2. Surround them with a "print rich" environment. This goes hand in hand with exposure, but is a little more specific in it's intent. Find ways to bring words into everyday life. Make it fun! Try and have a good amount of books in the house and read them. And if you can't afford many books, your local library is an excellent resource-use it! Some public libraries offer toddler story times for ages as young as one year and many libraries have toy/play areas to create an enticing environment for young children. Talk about the words you see out and about at the drive-thru, at the gas station, at the grocery store. Don't leave out words on things just because you think they can't read them. How will they know what words are (and their meaning) unless you teach them?

3. Write With Your Child. Model how to write correctly. Write notes to your child and read them together. Make up stories together where they dictate and you write it down. Have them draw a picture to go along with each story. Even if they just scribble nonsense on a piece of paper, you are still exposing them to the concept which encourages readiness to write.

4. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk to them as often as you can about a variety of subjects. Use descriptive words. (For instance, it's not just a truck, but a sanitation truck). Talk to them about the things you do at home, school, and familiar places. Talk out idioms or familiar sayings with them. Talk to them over dinner. The family dinner is the best place for talking in my opinion. They are relaxed and in a familiar and comfortable environment and ready to share about their world!

5. Listen to Your Child. Listening is as important as speaking when it comes to literacy and language. Teaching our children to listen by modeling it through example helps them later on. Through listening they will learn patience and be ready for phonics and comprehension.

6. Teach Your Child How to Handle Books. Show your child that books are special. When reading, explain that we read left to right and top to bottom. Show him the spine of the book and describe it's function (It holds up the pages and tells us the title and author). If he understand how books work ( that they are for reading, not for throwing or ripping), he is more likely to be engaged when you are reading to him. If you introduce this early, say when they are infants and toddlers, be sure to revisit this later on when their comprehension level is higher.:)

7. Have Writing Materials Available and Accessible. Having writing materials "at the ready" encourages children to reach for them every day. A simple way to have materials always available is to create a "writing center" or "writing box". Fill it with pens, pencils, crayons, paper, envelopes, and even stamps with words on them! If you are worried about the possibility of little hands creating masterpieces on your walls, use Color Wonder markers and art supplies.

8. Sing To/With Your Child. Songs help children in a myriad of ways. Not the least of which, at an early age, is the introduction of language in a fun and entertaining way. And believe me, your children don't care if you are off tune, they just love that you sing to them! And if you don't want to sing to them, buy music with words and play it for them often. And when singing to your wee one, do it in a variety of places like the park, the bath, when playing or on a walk, etc. Singing is also a great way to help pass the time in line at the grocery store or at an amusement park.

9. Be Yourself. Do what works for you. Teaching literacy and language to children doesn't have to resemble school. It can be done virtually anywhere and at anytime (except when they're sleeping of course). If you love to cook with your kids, bring out the recipe card, read it and show your child how a recipe card works, explaining measurements, etc. If your child is in to art, incorporate the written word and the letters of the alphabet into some of your projects. If they like to play with cars and trucks, create road and traffic signs to go along with their beloved vehicles.

10. Play Games and Do Activities. I will be sharing with you some literacy and language activities in upcoming posts, but wanted to suggest a few things to get you started. For instance, read poems, mother goose stories, rhymes, and finger plays. Rhyming plays with words and phonetic sounds and encourages kids to listen to sounds and introduces them to the idea that sounds put together in a particular way make words. Science experiments are a great way to incorporate literacy and language into an activity. I use the three D's. Describe, Discuss, Document. Ask them to describe what they think will happen, and what is happening. Discuss the end result and document the finding in a journal or observation report.

...Coming up soon, Alphabet Match Up Game!

Muffin Tin Monday - Theme: Rainbow

(fish crackers, banana, green grapes, celery, corn tortilla chips, strawberry yogurt with sprinkles)

Thanks for joining me on this fine Monday! I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend, and if you didn't, well...That's okay too! Hopefully Muffin Tin Monday will cheer you up! We had an outstanding turnout last Monday for out Green/St. Patrick's Day theme. We were even featured on The Crafty Crow! Thanks Cassi! A huge thank you to everyone who participated and to everyone who stopped by Her Cup Overfloweth. It was a treat to see what everyone did last week!

Did you serve a meal to your kids in a muffin tin this week? Was it Rainbow themed? Did you post about it? Please share it with us! All you have to do is leave a comment (or email me) on this post with the URL of you muffin tin post (not just your blog-but the permalink) and I will post it up here. If you would be so kind as to link back to Her Cup Overfloweth, it would be much appreciated. I am close to using Mr. Linky in the near future, but I like putting up the photos too, so we'll see! On to the Muffin Tin Madness!

Muffin Tin Mamas:

Muses of Megret

Blue Eyed Blessings

Funny Days With Mommy and Maddie

My 4 Sweetums

The Sound You Hear is Living

Just For Fun

Adventures of a Flake

The Forest Room

Hey, I'm Just The Nanny

World of Whimm

Fancy That

The Home Teacher (new to MTM, go say Hi!)

Annie's Alphabet

Mother is Not Concerned(New to MTM, go say Hi!)

A Bit of This and That

School In 'R Home

Malia Li'i Kula(New to MTM, go say Hi!)

Graceful Creative

Homeschool In the Rose Garden

(New to MTM, Go say Hi!)

Cutsforth Family

No Need For The Sunday Paper

Don't forget! Tomorrow is Muffin Tin Monday!

Without much ado, here are this weeks links (who needs the Sunday paper, right?)

I Blame My Mother: She is the host of the weekly blog carnival Kid Friendly Friday and she also put together a comprehensive list of memes and blog carnivals from around the mommy blogoshpere. Now I have a "one-stop-shop" I fI feel like participating in one other than my own Muffin Tin Monday

Tripping Around the Sun: A fantastic tip for freezing and thawing ground beef (via Works For Me Wednesdays). I just may have to try this!

From Disney Entertainment Online: A Photo Collage Tissue Box Cover. It helps to look at something so cute when you are taking care of those sniffles.

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Scripture for Today:

Proverbs 2

1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
16 It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
18 For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Photo Friday

He melts my heart...

Where Else Can You Find Me On The Web?

Aside from the occasional (and oh so kind) link to a post here are HCO, you can find me at The San Diego Mommy Spot! I am beyond proud to be a part of this fine group of mommies/bloggers. I am their new Events Coordinator and contribute on a semi-regular basis. So, if you have a moment, stop on over and say hi! Even if you don't live in the Greater San Diego Area, there are some great posts/ideas that I'm sure you'll love. Sugar just posted about a great mommy/daughter "date" idea that is so fun!

Early Learning Science: Playdough Volcano

I'll be the first to admit I am a little hesitant to teach science to my children. After all, a D in High School Chemistry does not a good Science Teacher make! Nevertheless, I decided to reserach some fun age appropriate science projects for the kids and I to do together. Here's one that the kids loved, participated in, asked to do several times in one day!



Before you begin, gather your supplies and set-up your work space:

-empty baby food jar or tiny vase
-playdough (for making a mini-volcano)
-Vinegar (We used 2-3 tbsp each time we made the volcano errupt)
-Baking soda (We used 1 Tbsp per erruption)
-food coloring (optional, but does provide a wow factor)
-A tray with a lip on it to prevent spilling

What this activity is teaching:
Cause and Effect, Chemical Reactions, Fine Motor Skills (when you let them assist you)

Directions:

1. Set your tray down on your work space (ours was our kitchen counter). Place the baby food jar in the middle of the tray. Mould playdough around the jar to form a little volcano (As Shown in the photo below.





2. Add the Vinegar first. I kind of guestimated how much-about half of the jar. Ask your kids what they think might happen when you add each ingredient.




3. Add several drops of food coloring (more is more and lots of color really makes it contrast and visually pop).


4. Add 1 tablespoon Baking Soda to the jar.





5. Watch it "expode"! The kids loved it! Lots of gasps and laughter! Be prepared to do it several times!

Have Fun With Your Man This March!

photo by jasonpearce

Coach and I have a 3 year running tradition...Enjoying the NCAA's March Madness together by filling in a bracket and engaging in a little friendly competition between the two of us.

During our first few years of marriage, March would roll around and I would dread the seeming endless hours of basketball. I knew nothing of the teams or the how's and why's of college basketball. I did however, know one thing. If I wanted to spend time with him over those few days and enjoy more than a few grunts and cursory nods (and a few "you're blocking the TV's"), I needed to find a way to make it fun for me too. Thus, our yearly competition was born! To be honest, I still don't fully understand the divisions and the seeding of the teams. But that's what I have him for and it gives the two of us more to talk about! I do understand the game of basketball and love to watch with Coach and cheer on my "picks".

So...Want to suprise your guy this March by joining in this madness they call NCAA basketball? Head over to to CBS March Madness Central. Print two brackets (one for you and one for him), fill 'em out, and start watching this Thursday on your local CBS station or even online!

Don't know what teams to pick to advance to each round? That's okay, if your husband loves basketball, I'm sure he would love to impart his wisdom to you. If you want to suprise him with your picks, go check out CBS' "Bracketology" for tips to great picks!

Muffin Tin Monday Color Theme: Green/St Patrick's Day

For Some Reason My Sunday Links post, No Need For The Sunday Paper, that was scheduled for yesterday was having issues publishing. So, If you missed it, click the above link above or scroll down the page. There are some really great links this week!

Now, on to the Muffin Tin Meal goodness!

Muffin Tin Monday is a weekly blog gathering (here at HCO) of mommies who serve one meal a week (or more:) ) in a muffin tin! We post submissions (here) every Monday and enjoy sharing and encouraging each other as parents. To submit your muffin tin, just leave me a comment or email with your blog post's URL. If you don't have a blog, post it to the Muffin Tin Meals Flickr Group. We try and do themes several times a month - so come join us! And remember, as always, you can be as basic or as detailed as you want!

(Celery Stalks, Cucumber Sticks, Green Peppers, Lime Wedges -with a dash of sugar, Ranch Dressing, Guacamole and Chips)

Simple. Green. Fresh. And Yummy. Well, to me at least...the kids not so much. I think I had too many foods in there that we don't normally eat (Guacamole and Cucumbers). Oh well, there's always next week! Now it's your turn! What Muffin Tin Meal did you make for your kids this week? Don't forget to leave me the direct link to the post in your comment or email.

Muffin Tin Mamas:

Muses Of Megret

Funny Days With Mommy and Maddie

My 4 Sweetums

The Forest Room (First Time, go say hi!)

The Sound You Hear Is...Living

On A Whimm

It's a Wild Life (Scott and Christie)

Graceful Creative ( First time, go say hi!)

Mind Games

Blue Eyed Blessings

A Bit of This and That

My Little Gems

Hey, I'm Just the Nanny

Annie's Alphabet

Casa Camacho

Non-Themed Muffin Tin Meals:

Life is a Journey, Not a Destination