Our Favorite Educational Shows for Preschoolers!

Sometimes it's just time for a show!!! 

For me this is when my son wakes up 2 hours early in the morning, and I've stayed up late working the night before. OR when I was exhausted when I was pregnant with my second! OR when I need to get the baby down for a nap, and she is having a hard time settling down OR make a phone call OR it's been raining for days OR .... well you get the picture -- sometimes it really helps! Here are some shows that won't give you any mom guilt! I want to feel good about my choices in screen time -- and I want you to have more options too! So, I've complied a list of some of my son's favorite shows or programs that I feel are educational and beneficial! Click on the titles below for the links!

Youtube Shows

We use the Chromecast and cast Youtube to our TV

Language + Math

Endless Alphabet, Numbers, Reader, Wordplay, and Endless Spanish (playlist) teaches spelling, numbers and phonics in a silly way that makes my little Marshall giggle and learn at the same time! This has hours of demo from the entire iPad app, but for FREE! FYI -The Endless Reader app is a free download, but you only get a few words for free. 

Socratica Kids (playlists) teaches how to write letters, phonics, seasons, science and reading -- and much more. What I like about Socratica is that it doesn't "baby" your child, but gives them lots of information to glean. It is like being in a classroom with an energetic teacher!

Phonics Songs (1 hr 30 min) is a phonics compilation that doesn't have any commercials, because it is one complete video.

Physical Education

Cosmic Kids Yoga (playlist) is yoga especially for engaging kids! It is taught in a fun story-telling way and includes stories like The Hungry Caterpillar, Frozen and more adventures! Marshall will do all of the positions on his own yoga mat -- it really keeps him moving! *uses the namaste greeting and a few references to "magic"

Workout for Kids (playlist) here are some of Marshall's favorite kid workouts!

Christian Teaching 

The Jesus Storybook Bible (playlist) select stories from the Jesus Storybook Bible curriculum, free for watching on Zondervan's channel. I've complied a playlist of the stories!

What's in the Bible (playlists) has fun puppets teaching and singing about the Bible!

Netflix Series

We use the Chromecast and cast Netflix to our TV

Little Einsteins teaches music, counting, composers and art terms as well as positive friendship values and problem solving. They are very sweet and encouraging to one another!

Super Why teaches little ones how to read, spell and rhyme and fosters a love of reading adventures!

Daniel Tiger does an amazing job teaching how to deal with everyday life as a preschooler! Learn how to calm down, share, deal with frustrations, make believe and develop interactive life-skills. 

LeapFrog has several episodes on Netflix -- teaching shapes, counting, phonics, numbers, alphabet while singing songs and building friendships and communication.  

Puffin Rock is a precious show with lovely UK accents that teaches about nature and friendship!

Those are some starters for you! Enjoy! xo

Linking up with #mamasharesmonday 

Comment below, because I'd love to know!

These are just some of our favorites shows, but I'd love to hear some of yours!

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Family Yearbooks!

FTC Disclosure -- This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated for the purchases made through them at no additional cost to you. Thank you in advance!

In the blur of life and technology, photos we snap can get stuck on your phone without having a chance to be printed and tangibly shared in the home. My favorite thing to do with photos is create photo books.

I've been making "yearbooks" since 2011. It is a great way to organize and share memories! I keep the 8x8 books on our bookshelf for guests to flip through when they visit

1. Upload - I use the Shutterfly app and website to upload photos throughout the year. Most of the time they have a time-stamp, so it is easy to tell what month they were taken.

2. Organize -Throughout the year I try and take time to work on pages and organize photos chronologically. There are lovely sample books to inspire!

3. Edit - As the photo book comes together, I add detail stickers, backgrounds and text. Often times I add a few extra pages so that it won't be as cluttered.

4. Wait for the Deal -  Once the year is complete I finish up the photo book and I wait for an amazing sale at Shutterfly! I FOLLOW Shutterfly on Facebook and email so that I will not miss some amazing deals. I also check the Retail-Me-Not for more deals! The deal I look for is a free 20 page 8x8 photo book (just pay for shipping and any extra pages). Don't forget to add your promo code!

5. Check GiftCardGranny for special deals on Shutterfly gift cards. Pay attention to % off, shipping cost, and timing. Shutterfly gift cards do expire, so double check when you are purchasing ahead of time! Click HERE to see what they have now!

6. Enjoy and Share - Shutterfly makes it easy to share your book socially even before you get your book mailed to you. But, what a fun day it is when the orange box comes! 

 I hope you enjoy looking back on the memories from 2013!

 

Click here to view this photo book larger

Start your own Shutterfly Photo Book today!

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These Days of Life

These moments are going fast and I'm holding on for dear life, and sanity. This life stage is hard and worth it. Mommy of two little kids. Ages 3 years and 5 months. I hope and pray that I am growing daily in patience and refinement. 

It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but that's not really my goal in life. Being a mom makes me pray, "Dear GOD, Please HELP!" throughout the entire day, call my mom in tears, laugh my head off, take deeeep breaths in front of the mirror and give myself pep-talks to hold on to any ounce of self-control I can grasp. I sing the goofiest songs I can think of, and read colorful storybooks all for these sweet moments, these wonderful people. 

 The rooms flow back and forth from play and meal and laundry zones, back to tidy, back to play, back to clean again ... ish. A cycle of living-rooms. I'm aiming to be faithful in the little things. Not giving up on cleaning up, only to have messy happen again. Life isn't boxes to check off a list anymore. It's about endurance and keeping-at-it. Not giving up.

Through it all there is so much goodness. I still read life-giving books, eat delicious meals and my husband gives me kisses and flowers. I get overwhelmed so often, but still sometimes just sit and listen to the rain, peace all by myself. The moments are there.

We go out for family dates to coffee shops, parks, road trips, beaches and museums, and though they may not always go "as planned" there are memories made. This is what their childhood is made out of -- love, through it all.

These are my people, they are gifts to me. God gave me more than I can handle, and I've learned to start asking for help. I will not be tempted to sin without a way of escape, as promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13, but I can't do this life by myself. I need the Lord Jesus, I need family and I need friends. In their kindness, they reach out and hold my hand to squeeze. We can do this, together.

I work hard to teach, to train. I want to do this thing the best I can. Teach my son and my daughter to play and respect -- to be gentle, and strong. These are the glimpses of sweet and simple joy. 

 
But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law - Galatians 5:22-23

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Listen for Your Soul

I rarely sit down to read a book. A lot of it is the state of interruption that I live in. This post is typed in two line increments because I chose to start typing right after I laid the littles down for a nap. . . and they often need my help again and again until finally they are asleep.  

I have shared before how much I enjoy listening. Music feeds my creativity and my sanity, audio broadcasts, such as the Focus on the Family App keep me grounded and educated, listening to the Bible gives me insight and attentiveness to the big picture and audio books have breathed in depth and encouragement. 

When I headed to one of my favorite websites, ChristianAudio.com, I was thrilled to find that a book I've been wanting to read was available as the free book of the month. 

You may have seen this video::

This couple both inspires and intrigues me. I cannot understand, but I seek the wisdom that they have within. Download the book Eight Twenty Eight here: http://christianaudio.com/free/ during the month of July! I pray you are blessed, I can't wait to listen alongside you.

Thank you Ian and Larissa Murphy, for sharing your journey with us.

This is not a sponsored post or anything :) I just wanted to share the love!

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Guess Who's Swimming?

After naps today, we decided to take a family dip in our backyard pool. So we slathered up with sunscreen and stepped into our swimsuits for a Sunday swim!

I decided that today would be the day for Ember to swim -- for the first time! She has a darling swimsuit that I'd picked up at "Thrift City". It didn't look like it had ever been worn. Ember sported her cute suit and her Lil Joey Cloth Diaper. I covered her head to toe with coconut oil as well as Honest Co Sunscreen to protect her soft sweet skin. 

She was a doll in the pool, a little otter! She laid back on my shoulder and kicked gently, belly up.It was the perfect evening for her to swim for the first time since her water birth! Tomorrow she will turn 4 months old, I can't believe it!

You know those "water babies" videos on YouTube that are so cool, but totally scary! As I held her I debated blowing air in her face and giving her a quick dip, but decided to wait and research more first. Have you ever tried it? Well, the funny thing is, at one point she sneezed, which flung her head down and splashed her entire face in the water! So she went under a bit after all and, of course, didn't breath in the water -- since she was sneezing air out! So funny :)

Now comes some more exciting news!

Marshall is SWIMMING! For real -- he has done little dips in the water, blown bubbles and has nervously gone under for a few kicks. Tonight, however, he was confident, and THRILLED with his new found skills! He didn't want to stop going from daddy to the steps and back again. "I did it!", "I blew bubbles, and kicked.", "I can do it all myself" he kept saying. Sometimes when he was underwater I could hear him humming -- he said he was singing Victorious! A song that Josh and our church recorded this year, one of his personal favorites!

I just had to take some video! After he got out we called both grandmas to tell them the BIG news!

The whole evening was very peaceful and relaxing. Little Ember never fussed or complained in the water. Marshall fell in love with swimming and was so proud of his new skills. Josh and I got to relax and enjoy our family!

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