Homebound Activities: Collages

One thing my four year old could do for hours is take a piece of card stock, glue and odds and ends around the house and make them into a work of art. I got this idea from a station we used to do in a classroom I worked in when I was in college. My daughter now goes to that school and they have continued the same activity.

This activity works for ages 2.5 & up. All I do us put out magazines, buttons, scrap paper, beads, ribbon, lace, jewels, stickers, confetti, glitter and natural materials ( leaves, sticks, flowers, etc.) then let them choose what they want to include. I try to separate myself from the process as much as possible. While she is doing her projects I have to exercise a lot of impulse control to let every result be her accomplishment and hers alone. I have come to terms this is her time and why would I want my own work reflected in her work? I see these times as an awesome opportunity to work on independent work and let their creativity flow.

In my daughters room I have made a wall filled with squares she made that she was proud of over the last two years. She is always proud of the work she does at one point I'd like to bring them to a frame shop to get them framed. Children make what they consider beautiful and if you surround them with their work they will continue to have that sense of accomplishment.

Introducing a Book of the Week

One of my very good friends, Alexis, works at the circulation desk at my local library and is always commenting on what neat books I find. I will be the first to admit I have a bit of an Minerva addiction. I started using Minerva a lot when daughter had a very difficult time transitioning -- this way I could get the books I wanted and all I had to do was go to the circulation desk. However, as time has gone by I have got to the point I stop by the library almost every day to pick-up different books that are available from different libraries. Alexis told me if I started a book of the week she would follow my book selections. I am on board with this idea since books are so important to me.

Adjustments Made to Introduction:

Reading the introduction to my blog I realized just how much has changed in my life over the last two years.

About Me:

I am a former pre-school teacher working at an elementary school in special education. I am from Bucksport/ Bangor that married a man from Milford/ Orono and had a child. With that said, we are well connected to the Bangor, Hampden Orono, Veazie, Old Town, Milford and Bradley events in their communities. My husband and I have the unique situation where we take turns and have shifts being with both of our children during the day  we work opposite shifts ( this makes for very little sleep with super little ones). We have a 18 month old boy and a four year old girl ( our four year old is in a pre-k program 2.5 hours a day). My husband has both during the day and I have them at night.

Why restart this blog?

The truth is I never wanted to stop, life got in the way. My family had to prioritize time and unfortunately the blog was one of those things that took a lot of time and effort. We had a very ill immediate family member ( one of our parents) we channelled all of our free time and energy toward. We wanted that person to know loved them and that time was for them. We do not regret a moment spent with them or would do anything differently aside from come up with more energy/ time to do more for that person. In the midst of this diagnosis I started a new job closer to home that was very different from what I had been doing despite many similarities on top of have two very young children. I am now in a somewhat better place time-wise looking to keep myself busy, I am attempting to make the most of late night nursing sessions by multitasking using the notebook a former professor encouraged me to keep on my night stand. I believe the relaunch of this blog will contribute toward a happiness project I have been working on off and on for some time now.


Almost Same Mission:

The ultimate outcome is spending the least amount for the most amount of fun. I would like to keep this a positive. As a forewarning I am not willing to spend copious amounts of money on anything, so I try to limit all outings to $15 or less for a family of three ( those are special occasions). I am aiming for posts 4 to 5 days a week on events and tips to keep your infants, toddlers and/or preschoolers entertained. I want families to be as happy as can be! I don't like the days when I go to bed and wonder was this a good day for them? I try to make every day a great day for both children !

Same Disclaimer:

I apologize ahead of time for poor grammar and the occasional misspelling. Also, I am an insufferable optimist and always look at the "flops" in life as a learning experience. Some of the things I may post are sheer opinion based on personal experiences in the past, you may have different experiences and that is okay too. Overall,I hope you enjoy and you find this helpful! Also, occasionally I follow up on an event and we show up to find the webpage was not up-to-date or the event was cancelled due to rain or unexpected events. So I am only passing along public information that I have to my access. Please don't get upset at the messenger. I try my hardest to keep up on the latest events, alas I am not perfect. I am a mere mother to two toddlers working 40 hours a week, have a little empathy.

Weekly Happenings: June 26th - July 1, 2017

Monday- 6/26/17

• Chick-Fil-A and The Briar Patch, Bangor
• Summer Kid's Club
• Storytime 
• Free Breakfast to the first 50 kids
• 9:30 to 11:00 
• Stillwater River, Orono
• Matis Yoga
• 4 P.m. to 5 P.m.
• $10 per child: Sibling cost $5
• Governor's Restaurant, all locations
• $3 burger basket
• Every Monday in June

Tuesday-6/27/17

• Discovery Museum
• Science Detectives
• 11 a.m.
• Maine Cloth Diaper Co., Bangor
• Sara'Sing Along
• 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. 
• free
• Bangor Public Library
• Story Pals
• Ages 4 to 12
• 4 to 6p.m.

Wednesday-6/28/17

• Discovery Museum
• Messy Art: Watercolor Pens
• 10:30 a.m.
• Winterport Memorial Library
• Summer Reading and goat petting
• 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Chick-Fil-A,Bangor 
• First Day of Summer
• 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. 
• Bangor Public Library 
• Summer Music Series: Jonee Earthquake Band
• 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Bangor Waterfront 
• Touch-a-truck
• 9:30 to 12:30
• Darlings Ice Cream Truck
• Nocturnem Draft Haus-Bangor
• Toddler Tap takeover
• 5-7 p.m.
• 
  

Thursday-6/29/17

• Discovery Museum
• Nature Time
• 11:00 a.m.
• Edythe Dyer Library- Hampden
• Chris Van Duesen Signing and reading
• 11:00 a.m.to 2:00 p.m.
• Bangor Public Library 
• Cupcake wars( Teens)

Friday-6/30/17

• Discovery Museum
• Ready Readers
• 10:15 a.m.
• Clay Play
• 11:00 a.m.
• Governor's Restaurant, all locations
• The Capital $3
• Every Friday in June

Saturday-6/31/17

• Fields Pond Nature Center - Holden
• Family Discovery Adventure: Butterfly Walk
• 1 p.m.
• Members family:$15
• Non-member family: $20
• Univeristy of Maine
• Emera Astronomy center and Jordan Space Planetarium 
• Dream to Fly
• 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
• Barrows Skidgel Legion Post 105- Newport
• Music and BBQ in the Park
• 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
• Discovery Museum
• Mystery event 
• 2:00 p.m. 
• Belfast Moosehead Railroad 
• Belfast Location
• 11 to Noon
• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 
• $14 adults
• $5 3 to 12
• Free for children 3 and under as long as they are not taking up a seat
• Look into a Brooks Preservation Society yearly membership!
• $40 for two adults and two children a year!
• Free regular train rides and 50% off special train rides
• 10% off gift shop items

Sunday-7/1/17-

• Keith Anderson Community Center - Orono
• The Boys Next Door Auditions STC
•  1p.m. to 6 p.m. 

Rachel's Pick of the Week: Peaks Kenny

Located in the town of Dover-Foxcroft is a great state park with a lake with an amazing view of Mt. Katahdin, campgrounds, a playground, running water and toilets. We enjoy this site for a number of reasons, one being a great green space for our toddler to run around and a nice sandy beach for her to enjoy. There is a life guard on duty with people to keep up the ground as well as park rangers there at all times. This is a dog friendly park and they even have a "dog beach area". You can BBQ  or pack a picnic lunch. The facilities are extremely clean and well kept -- you will want to bring bug spray despite the amazing dragonfly and frog population that tend to keep the pesky bugs at bay for the most part. There is a great stream that is cooler that runs into the lake on the side my daughter uses to catch frogs in with friends. I have always been able to find clay on the bottom of the lake and had find molding with it on shore as a kid. I will say the water bottom is rockier than usual, however we have keens that we use a water shoes so we were not phased. A friend and co-worker, notoriously known for finding flaws in my ambitious plans, has pointed out the public beach is free and has more sand. We are able to use a parks pass and get in for "free" so we choose to use the parks pass. Also, it's $13 a night for a camp site and $10 admission for two adult residents, a 3 year old and a baby. Considering how well everything is kept up I think it deserves great ratings. My only fear is how busy the park may get come mid-summer when summer camps take trips to the park ( you may want to ask a ranger if you have to pay to get in).

Homebound Activities: Yoga

I've been on a yoga kick with both my kids since the first was born. At first it was for me to do something other than walk with my first on my front and bond differently. However, this really helped with my older child and her coordination/ balance. I don't want to brag or anything, but her gross motor skills are fairly advanced and I'd like to think yoga helped. This is also a very calming and centering activity for us. Often times( since I am by no means a yoga instructor) we get out Mommy and Me yoga DVD's or now we get more into two sessions at my house were my older one helps with the younger ones "yoga turn" and then the older one has her own "turn". Minerva at your local library has access to all kinds of kids yoga books. One of our favorite books is "Good Morning Yoga: a pose-by-pose wake up story". The Illustrations are beautiful and the instructions are straightforward for the poses. Very fun to do in the morning!I have read these books out loud to my 4 and 5 year olds in my classroom and the language is very straight forward.

Weekly Happenings: June 19th- 25, 2017

Once again I apologize for falling off the wagon as far as this blog is concerned. I SWEAR every child that is friends with my daughter has had a birthday party in the last three weeks( anyone that knows us can attest to this).On top of late nights at work for trainings/ continuing education credits, graduations and parties we have been overwhelmed. As I have mentioned before occasionally I drop the ball putting family or work first considering this is really a tertiary activity/ a hobby of mine. With this said I have had time to pick up on some new stuff happening in the area, "some oldies, but goodies" and of course our weekly happenings I have been touching on.

The following town pools are now open/ will be this week:

Orono - 6/17 ( look into family pass!)
Beth Pancoe Pool- Banogr - 6/24
 Old Town Community Pool -6/24
Millinocket - 6/26
Brewer- 6/21



Monday- 6/19/17

• Briar Patch, Bangor
• Reading Rainbow:Pride Children's Story Time
• 4p.m.-5 p.m.
• Stillwater River, Orono
• Matis Yoga
• 4 P.m. to 5 P.m.
• $10 per child: Sibling cost $5
• Fort Point State Park, Stockton Springs
• Street Dance 
• Flash and the Drums
• 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. 
• Donations accepted
• Governor's Restaurant, all locations
• $3 burger basket
• Every Monday in June

Tuesday-6/20/17

• Discovery Museum
• Science Detectives
• 11 a.m.
• Briar Patch, Bangor
• 5th Annual Child's Book drive for Literacy Volunteers
• 8 a.m - 6 p.m.
• Governor's Restaurant, all locations
• $6.60 Lobster Rolls

Wednesday-6/21/17

• Discovery Museum
• Messy Art: Watercolor Pens
• 10:30 a.m.
• Winterport Memorial Library
• Summer Reading and goat petting
• 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Chick-Fil-A,Bangor 
• First Day of Summer
• 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. 
• Bangor Public Library 
• Summer Music Series: Hampden R&B
• 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Thursday-6/22/17

• Discovery Museum
• Nature Time
• 11:00 a.m.
• Bangor City Forest
• Orono Bog walk
• MOPS- play date ( religion based group)
• 9:30 a.m. - 11:30

Friday-6/23/17

• Discovery Museum
• Ready Readers
• 10:15 a.m.
• Clay Play
• 11:00 a.m.
• Governor's Restaurant, all locations
• The Capital $3
• Every Friday in June

Saturday-6/24/17

• Orland River Day 2017
• 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 
• Vendors, food and games 

• Belfast Area Children's Center 
• Touch-a-truck
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Dover-Foxcroft
• Maine Whoopie Pie Festival
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 
• Bangor Pride Parade and Festival
• 10 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.- Pride Parade on Main st.
• 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. - Festival in West Market Square
• 4 p.m. and on - after party
• Ellsworth Public Library
• Kick-off Summer Reading 
• 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

• Fields Pond Nature Center - Holden
• Family Discovery Adevntures 
• 1 p.m.
• Members family:$15
• Non-member family: $20
• Univeristy of Maine
• Emera Astronomy center and Jordan Space Planetarium 
• Dream to Fly
• 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
• Discovery Museum
• Mystery event 
• 2:00 p.m. 
• Belfast Moosehead Railroad 
• Belfast Location
• 11 to Noon
• 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 
• $14 adults
• $5 3 to 12
• Free for children 3 and under as long as they are not taking up a seat
• Look into a Brooks Preservation Society yearly membership!
• $40 for two adults and two children a year!
• Free regular train rides and 50% off special train rides
• 10% off gift shop items