Three Little Ghosts

Once upon a time, there were three little ghosts. They lived on an island. It was Halloween and it was 7:00 at night. The little ghosts went trick-or-treating with their little ghost friends. Then it was 8:00 at night after they had gone to their friends' houses. Then they wanted to get home; they knew the way. They took the path with nut trees. They found paths. They all had coconut trees. They didn't know which way to go. So they tried to go back, but they only got more lost. It was then 9:00. They forgot which path lead home. Tree after tree after tree they got more lost. They were too lost, but then they found their way home! The End.

~ told by Will, age 7

*added note: I believe this is the first story he's told that didn't contain trains!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Oliver's Labels Discount Code!

A couple of weeks (ok... months) ago, I was contacted by Oliver's Labels to review their allergy labels (scroll down when you get there) and to also offer my readers a discount to their store.

Although they only show individual allergy designs, they offered to add more as necessary. I requested NO DAIRY, NO EGG, NO PEANUT with Witt's first and last name on it. And that is exactly what they gave me. Quickly. They have a 24 to 48 hour ship time!

The labels are waterproof! I've had one on Witt's plastic sippy cup for about two months now and it's still there... no fading or tearing off.

They also sent me a large bag tag with the same allergy design. I haven't attached this to a bag, but it came in very handy as a "necklace". Let me explain... We were attending a fellowship meal at my in-laws' church congregation and very few people there know about Witt's food allergies, so I strung a long string through the large tag and tied it around his neck. He happily wore it all day long.

The tag was a good conversation starter, but I realized that although people were noticing the tag and his name, they were not noticing the cute little designs indicating his food allergies. For this purpose, I would prefer to have just had "FOOD ALLERGIES!" written in place of his name (or above it). The designs are just too cute and were getting glanced over as decoration only.

I am really happy with their products and they have held up well for the couple of months we have used them. If you would like to purchase some labels of your own, Oliver's Labels is offering you 10% off! When checking out, just enter the coupon code "OLIVERSFRIENDS".

Unplugged Project: Change

I created some posters to help us get started with our mornings. Although I was the one that made these posters, the boys will be the ones using them and changing out the different options.

The first chart holds our options used to "fill in" the second chart. It has a full calendar with days, date, and months. The seasons are lined on the left side. Daily chores and weather options are below the pink calendar. Below that is a plastic envelope containing pictures for special days, ie Valentines Day, Birthdays, Independence Day, etc. On the bottom left are the different subjects Will is/will be learning about. (click to enlarge pictures)

We will gather each morning to change out the date, weather, and daily responsibility.

All of the options from the first chart are on velcro tabs and have a corresponding place on our second chart, the "Today" chart:

The pink section holds the day, month, date, year, and a spot if it is a special day. This is also where the season and today's weather will go. The blue section is like a vertical "clock". The times are listed down the side with our daily activities out to the side of the time. The flag is a reminder for us to say the Pledge of Allegiance. :) The Responsibilities section is a picture list of what we need to do each morning (get dressed, make bed, put clothes away, stretch, etc.) The extra Daily Chore will be placed over the sunshine on the bottom right hand corner.

As for the vertical clock, my plans are to show Will the subjects that need to be accomplished for the day and allow him to place them next to the times in which he wants to do them.

I am NOT keeping this as a rigid schedule, it's just a way for him to have some control over his school day and add some structure as well. When he completes the subject, he'll remove it from the vertical clock and place it back with the list. Once all of the subjects are back on the list, he will know his school day is complete and will be rewarded with some computer time. (He likes to watch Thomas the Train YouTube videos, play on pbskids.org, and watch shows through Netflix.)

Hopefully these charts will change our days from "extremely-relaxed-might-not-get-it-all-done" into "Hey-we-accomplished-everything-and-learned-a lot!"

For more Unplugged Projects on Change, visit Unplug Your Kids.