the best journey takes you home
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The Best Journey Takes You Home {Printable} (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit of a home body. Going home after a vacation, going home for the holidays, going home after a long day at school or work. I have yet to find anything that replaces that special, familiar, comforting feeling of returning home. I want my boys to have that same feeling. I cannot wait to see what life has in store for each of them. I know they’ll go out into the world, have many experiences and adventures. But as a mother, I want nothing more than to create an atmosphere in my home that invites them to return again and again.

garage door heart attack
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Garage Door Heart Attack (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

I heard about a garage door heart attack many years ago from Alisa Bangerter on Studio 5 (a local lifestyle show here in Utah). She had a whole list of fun valentine activities for the family. This particular activity really caught my attention because it was like nothing I’d ever tried before. I had done a heart attack on a front door and bedroom door before, but never hanging from a garage door. I did it for my husband that Valentine’s Day, and it was a big success! This is the perfect activity to do for husbands/dads on Valentine’s Day because they’re usually the ones coming home at the end of the day, and opening the garage. And when they do, they’re greeted with a cheery assortment of dangling hearts with love messages on them. So fun!!

snow globe art project
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Snow Globe Art Project For Kids (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

Happy New Year OSSS readers! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. I’m so excited to on board for another year here at Or So She Says. I love spending time with all of you once a month, and cannot wait to see what the new year has in store.
Today, I have a simple winter art activity you can do with your kiddos. My boys have been making this whimsical snow globe art project for years now, and for some reason I’ve never posted them before. I’m a bit of a snowflake fanatic, and so I try to squeeze in as many snowflake activities (check out our beautiful symmetrical snowflake art here) during the wintery month of January as I can.
The fun part about this art project is that each globe can be as individual as the creator. The globes are kind of like snowflakes themselves- no two are ever exactly alike. And they are incredibly easy to make!

Kids’ Thanksgiving Table Decor – Lots of Printables (she: Brooke)
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Kids’ Thanksgiving Table Decor – Lots of Printables (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

Happy gratitude month everyone! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. It has been an eventful few weeks here at our house. We welcomed baby boy number four at the end of October, and brought him home to a houseful of the stomach flu. Luckily, it passed him by, but hit everyone else. We’re very grateful to have that long week behind us!
I’ll have more on our newest addition at the end of the post, but for now I have some fun ideas for your kids’ table decor for Thanksgiving. I’ve always been drawn to beautiful table scapes! I love how elegant you can make a Thanksgiving table, but the teacher in me also loves any excuse to decorate for the kids! Here are just a few of my latest favorite ideas for setting up the perfect Thanksgiving table for the little ones:

Pumpkin Carving Party Ideas {With 3 FREE Printables} (she: Brooke)
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Pumpkin Carving Party Ideas {With 3 FREE Printables} (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

Happy October to you all! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. This is easily my favorite time of year! And while baby boy number four will be here in a matter of weeks, I’m still trying to squeeze in any Halloween crafting, baking, and partying that I can. We have our other three boys’ birthdays this week, so we’re in full party-mode around our house. I’m just hoping this little guy waits until after the big party to make his arrival. My four-year-old was very cordial five years ago, and waited until the day after my twins’ birthday to make his entrance into the world, so I’m crossing my fingers that will happen again (at LEAST the day after all the birthdays, even a few days later would be better!).
Today I have some fun pumpkin carving party ideas, and FREE printables to share with you. My dad’s side of the family has a fun pumpkin carving party every year, and we’ve only been able to make it a few times. I wish we could make it more often because we have the best time! Since we don’t make it to the family carving parties very often, I’ve decided it’s high time to start our own little jack-o-lantern making party. Here are a few of the ideas I’ve come up with for our party:

ABC activities
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ABC Activities for Your Pre-Preschooler

ByBrooke

Hello, hello! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. How are you all? Finally settling into your school routines? My twins just finished their third week of school, and my preschooler began Thursday, so we’re definitely into the school routine at our house. I do have to say it’s a bit strange not having a little one around all day (although that will be changing in about six weeks when baby boy number four arrives). I miss doing fun and simple educational activities with my youngest. We still do things here and there, but with school and other activities keeping us busy, we don’t have a lot of free time to do some of the activities we used to.
And considering baby number four hasn’t even been born yet, it will be a while before I need to pull out my ABC activites again. But before I put them away for too long, I thought it would be fun to share them with you. Some of these activities date back to my first grade teaching days, and some are ones I’ve discovered recently in this technology-filled world of ours. My boys always loved doing these at home before their preschool years. We only have ever done one year of preschool with our boys because I love doing things like this at home for FREE! I promise if you do just one of these a day (along with reading) with your three-year-old, he/she will be more than ready preschool, and much more. So, let’s get started!

back to school mad libs
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Back to School Mad Libs Round Up (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

Hello, hello! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots here with you today. I’m always so excited to spend time here with Mariel and her readers! And I’m always so excited about this time of year. Fall (my favorite season) is on the way, back to school time is just around the corner, and this year it will mean baby boy number four in October for our family. So many fun things to look forward to.
I like to try and add a few new activities to our countdown each year, just to mix things up a bit for my boys. In July, our family took a big road trip from Utah to Arkansas. I packed up a ton of activities to keep my boys busy during the 23 hour (one way!) drive. And ya know what? The big book of Mad Libs was their favorite! It was mine too, actually. I love how my four-year-old already knows that a noun is a person place, or thing (thank you, Mad Libs). And we all get a kick out of how funny our stories turn out. My twins laugh and laugh and laugh over them!
So, I thought I’d see if I could round up a few back to school Mad Libs to add to our countdown this year. They are the perfect way to add a bit of light-hearted humor to what can be a kind of scary first day.

children's book and activity
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Children’s Book and Activity… A House Is a House for Me (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

Hey, Or So She Says readers! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. How was your 4th of July weekend? Fun, and festive, I hope!
I’m sure if you’re not sick of hearing it by now, you might be soon, but I pulled this children’s book and activity from my first grade teaching files. I’ve been wanting to share it for quite some time, and finally have gotten around to it. It’s the perfect activity for a lazy (or bored) summer day, and you can actually add to it all summer long!
This is the book you’ll need. It’s called A House is a House for Me (click here to listen to it on YouTube). Have you heard of it? If not, it’s one you need to add to your collection as soon as possible. It talks about all of the different houses in our world. A hill is a house for an ant, a web is a home for a spider, the sea is a house for a whale, a husk is a home for a corn cob, etc. So many clever ideas in this book! It makes your children (and you!) realize how many things house things in our world.

father's day treat
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Easy Father’s Day Treat {Mustache & Tie Edition} (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

Hello everyone! How are you all? It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. Are you in the full-swing of summer vacation mode? We sure are, and I’m loving every minute of it! My four-year-old, and I, are thrilled to have my twins home all day. It’s so fun to plan different activities, or just spend some relaxing playtime at home. I’m just hoping all of our summer vacation weeks go this smoothly!
So, today’s post. I was in my favorite local scrapbook store (Pebbles in My Pocket) a few weeks ago, and they had this adorable Father’s Day treat put together. Mustaches are everywhere these days, aren’t they? And while my husband doesn’t have a mustache, and I don’t know that ties are his favorite, I absolutely loved how they dressed up a simple bag of candy (which my husband does love).

favorite garden books for kids
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Favorite Garden Books for Kids (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

Hey! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. Summertime means garden time for our family. My husband and I both grew up in families that planted a garden every summer (which I am very grateful for!). I guess you can say it’s in our blood. Do you garden? I don’t want to spend this entire post on a gardening soap box, but I can’t tell you the number of benefits that come from having your own garden. My boys (and myself) have learned work, patience, you reap what you sow, the miracle of a tiny seed, the beauty of nature, enjoying the fruits of your labor, living off the land, being self-sufficient, and much, much more. It’s work, but magical!

Okay, enough of my gardening soap box! What I’d really like to share today are some of our favorite garden books for kids. I can’t say I really plan out themes for my boys all summer long, but I do like to build upon what we’re already doing. I love having great books to go along with the summer activities we do. And let me tell you, gardening takes the whole summer. Not all day, every day, but once again, you reap what you sow.

Fun Easter Egg Spelling Scramble for #Easter morning. www.orsoshesays.com #games
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Easter Egg Word Scramble – A Spelling Game for Kids! (she: Brooke)

ByBrooke

Happy spring Or So She Says readers! It’s Brooke again and I’m happy to be visiting you today from Blissful Roots. Don’t you love this beautiful, refreshing time of year? It’s one of my favorite seasons. Come to think of it, I say that at the beginning of every season, and then by the end of some seasons I’m complaining a bit. But never with spring! Spring could last forever in my book!
Today I have a fun, easy educational holiday game for you to do- an Easter egg word scramble.
When I taught first grade, we did a lot of great activities for our literacy centers. This was always a hit with my students during the weeks leading up to Easter. When I taught, we didn’t use Easter words, we used our spelling and/or high frequency words, but since Easter is just around the corner I think Easter words are perfect for this activity!