month of t

the month of november was filled with many t activities, which was our letter of the month.

introducing the letter t:
our usual 1st craft/activity to familiarize emma with the letter t.

triangle hunt:
we looked for triangles in everyday objects such as the roof of houses or when i make her toast cut in half to make two triangles.  emma also made triangles with her colored markers, which was an impromptu activity she initiated on her own (yay!).

t foods:
we had toast with cinnamon and sugar or jelly, plenty of tea (i had planned on throwing a tea party but  did not have enough time to fit it in), turkey, and tacos topped with tomatoes.

toes:

we counted her toes, and my toes, and gibson's toes and came to the conclusion that people have ten toes.  i also trimmed her toenails then proceeded to paint them a nice shade of red.  she loves getting her nails "done" and is very careful to wait until they're completely dry before doing anything too active.

telephone:
we talked to ibu on the phone, and emma used her play kitchen telephone to talk to all of her friends.

telescope:
we used our telescope to look outside at the far away trees and houses, and tried to find some birds and squirrels up in the tree tops and telephone wires.

thanks:
during dinner time, we took turns sharing 3 things we were thankful for as a family.  we also memorized psalm 118:1 from the bible: give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.

tutu time:
emma had a number of occasions during the month of november to twist, tip-toe and turn to music in her red tutu.  i also had fun doing the same...but, sadly, no tutu for me.

tickles:
tickles for emma, tickles for gibson, tickles for daddy, tickles, tickles, tickles all around!

tooth and toothbrush:
emma brushes her teeth twice a day.  we took extra time this month to discuss why it's important to brush our teeth.

trace:
we went outside and traced our hands, our feet, mommy's body, emma's body, and other various objects with chalk.  i also gave her some tracing paper and showed her how you can trace pictures with it.  she liked the idea, but wasn't really into doing it a whole lot (probably because it was a little too tedious for her).

 tree:
we observed during our walks that most of the trees have no leaves anymore compared to what he had seen in october.  she also enjoyed "climbing" a few trees along our walking route.

tree-hugger:

thumb:
we made thumbprint cookies filled with jelly.  emma's favorite part was making little holes in the dough balls with her thumb.  and of course, we can't forget one of daddy's old band name, "thumb."  emma made sure to point out the big red thumb on daddy's shirt (the band's logo...creative, eh?).

t books:
tom's tail
albuquerque turkey
fun facts about turtles
ekor siapa ini (means who's tail is this in indonesian)
all aboard a true train story
the remarkable riderless tricycle

twister:
a fun-filled game that got the whole family involved (mom and dad had to do some pre-game stretches).

tail:
if my car had been more cooperative, i would have taken the kids to the nature center to look at some of the animals and their different types of tails.  but instead, we talked about the types of tails different animals have (bushy, long, short, skinny, etc.).  then we proceeded to compare and contrast blue's tail with other animal tails such as squirrels, pigs, cows, and lions.

turkey:
we made a turkey out of leaves and a pine cone.  we found the leaves in our backyard and the pine cone was found from one of our walks around the neighborhood.  i really liked how it turned out and its use of simple, easy to acquire materials.

thanksgiving:
we celebrated thanksgiving with a wonderful feast shared with family. as you can see, emma comes from a long line of women who love to chew on turkey bones, chicken bones, t-bones, beef rib bones (much like her mommy, and her auntie astrid, and her ibu...).

tyler:
and of course, the month of t would not be complete without big brother tyler.

i had planned on a couple more crafts to go along with some of the activities above, but time was not on our side.  fortunately, i plan on repeating the letters again after we go through them all the first time so what ever i don't get to in this round maybe i'll get to next time around.

we will be taking a break for the month of december, though i'll be sure and share some of our christmas related activites.

until january 2010!