Meet Our Two Newest Additions to Our Family: Cuddles & Hop! Plus a link to a Giveaway!

For some reason, shortly before or after I end up in the hospital, it generally ends up meaning that our boys get a new pet.

We got our dear pup that way, got our turtles that way, and now, we have two new little rabbit friends named Hop and Cuddles.

We had promised the boys that following my surgery, we would let them get bunnies.

However, we ended up getting them a little before my surgery, as they were available now.

We went to try to pick out the bunnies and the two that the boys selected are perfect!
The bunnies go well with the boys' personalities.
Little Bro's bunny, Hop, loves to be handled which works well, as Little Bro loves to hold her and pet her ears.
Little Bro selected a Netherlands Dwarf bunny and named her Hop.
Hop has similar strawberry-blondish coloring to Little Bro.

Then, Big Bro chose his bunny. He selected a little Mini Lop Dwarf, with salt and pepper coloring.
Big Bro's bunny, Cuddles,  is appropriately named, as she likes to cuddle, but she also loves to eat!

Both bunnies are so tiny and super soft.

The boys are very happy about their new pets.
They are working on various rabbit projects bunny themed lapbooks from Homeschool Share.

Source: homeschoolshare.com via Colleen on Pinterest

We also have started to read some fun bunny themed books that are customary at Easter time.
Big Bro has enjoyed reading two Beatrix Potter classics, The Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, to Little Bro.
We have also read The Runaway Bunny and The Golden Egg, both by Margaret Wise Brown.
So all in all, a very fun, bunny filled last few days!

Well, here are some photos of our little cuties!

Currently, we have a crate designed for rabbits that has a plastic floor and metal sides.
We also still had an old play yard first that we used to use when Dear Pup was a tiny puppy.
We have foam floor squares down to make it soft for both the boys and the bunnies when they are in there playing together. Dear Hubby plans on doing a hack on an old changing table we have stored in Little Bro's closet from way, way back in the diaper changing days. Dear Hubby plans to make it over to an awesome bunny play area and hutch! That is unless, of course, we are lucky enough to have the guys from the DIY Network pop by to come Crash our yard and lanai into an outdoor classroom and play area.

Now, here is a neat giveaway that has to do with stuffed bunnies!

It is through one of our family's favorite companies, Melissa & Doug! 
Today only, 3/26/2012, they are giving away a bunny to someone on their Facebook page. 
You need to check out their adorable bunnies and vote for your favorite: 
Blossom, Brenna, or Brambles.
Since Brambles looks just like Big Bro's real bunny rabbit, we voted for Brambles!

Source: melissaanddoug.com via Colleen on Pinterest

Source: melissaanddoug.com via Colleen on Pinterest

Source: melissaanddoug.com via Colleen on Pinterest

They are all adorable though...

Full disclosure:
Sunrise Learning Lab is not involved with organizing this stuffed bunny giveaway, but we thought that all Sunrise Learning Lab readers would love to know about this giveaway...
We have done some reviews for Melissa & Doug from time to time and just love their products!

Here's a link to the Melissa & Doug Facebook page that lists the bunny giveaway.

Do you think Brambles looks like Cuddles? Pretty spot on, huh?!?

Do you purchase Easter themed items, such as stuffed bunnies and such for Easter? 

Do you have pets in your home?

Do any family members like to work on furniture hacks for things such as homes for pets? 

If you have posts on your blog about your pets, or furniture hacks, we would love to pop by to see you and your blog. Please feel free to link up with any related posts. If you enter the Melissa & Doug Facebook contest and end up winning, please be sure to let us know here!


Happy Spring!

Sharks are Sharp!

Since Little Bro has been working on speech and articulation sounds, including digraphs TH and SH, and since Big Bro has been asking about sharks since visiting the Atlantic Ocean last week, we did a few activities this week on sharks.

Little Bro's sound work included distinguishing and pronouncing SH and TH words.
He worked on identifying and pronouncing words with the digraphs at the beginning of the words  (shark, sharp, ship, shoe, shirt, shell, shop, thorn, think, thumb, thimble, thermometer, thirteen, thin, thunder, and thick) as well as at the end of the words (dish, wash, wish, fish, mash, hush, with, teeth, depth, and bath).
For this speech and articulation work, we looked for words in stories and poems that we have read.
Then, he also used SH and TH digraph tubs from Lakeshore Learning to practice and distinguish these sounds. He enjoys spelling using the movable alphabet so he spelled out the words after sorting and practicing his articulation of the words.
When he completed this work, Little Bro did a scavenger hunt where he had to find household objects with either SH or TH in the name of the object. He loved this activity!
Little Bro did a memory game featuring sharks, he made a shark mini lapbook, and then, he and Big Bro played a shark board game together. 

Big Bro has been working on researching sharks.
He had a great time learning all about sharks!
We worked a bit together on how to cite sources and how to do fact checking.
We also looked at how the age of a resource can impact the accuracy of the information that it contains. For example, we had a very old book about sharks that said there are nearly 350 different types of sharks...well, that number has gone up substantially since this old book was written, as now, there are supposedly closer to 440. 
Big Bro read books, created a board game and lapbook, did nomenclature cards for both the internal and external parts of sharks, plus then he researched and graphed the lengths of various sharks.
He is going to complete a felt shark project hopefully tomorrow. Just have to get out the embroidery thread and felt for him before he can complete this work...and that probably sounds like an easy task to find two craft items, but they are elusive at the moment...think maybe some little leprechauns may have hidden them, as we could not find them today!!!

Here are some photos from their shark work this past week! Fun times!

A huge thanks to Homeschool Share for the great shark lapbook components. Thanks Ami and Lyn!
We all learned so much about sharks. 

Here, Big Bro's creating nomenclature cards for the external body parts of a shark. He used metallic marker and paint on the cards.

These language objects are from a kit from Lakeshore Learning.

Little Bro spelled the words using his movable alphabet in addition to sorting and articulating the words.

No idea as to why this photo of Little Bro is upside down...sometimes, my iPhone camera seems to have a mind of its own!

Little Bro's shark work

Little Bro's shark mini lapbook...

Big Bro is reading up and trying to decide which shark facts he would like to include in his work...

This is the back of Big Bro's shark book. It is not yet completed...

This is the interior of Big Bro's shark lap book. He still has a few more things to add to this lapbook.

Big Bro enjoyed creating this shark sizes bar graph!

This is the shark game created by Big Bro.

This is the chart that Big Bro is using as his Control of Error for his felt shark project.

What are you learning about in your school or homeschool?
Have you done any hand on projects lately?
What are your favorite resources for speech and articulation?
How about lapbooks?

Please feel free to share and then, I will check out your links and will pin them to either my Speech & Language board or my Lapbook / Notebook / Mini Project board on Pinterest.