Summer Highlight #1

One of the things we really focused on this summer was art. I bought a home based art class pdf file online at pineapplepaintbrush.com. We did a lot of it and the kids had a blast painting, learning about colors, lines and textures, and different paintings and artists. Peter is really fascinated with Vincent Van Gough (who isn't?) and loves Starry Night. I also have our rendition of a Jackson Pollock painting on an old sheet of ours hanging downstairs as a makeshift drape. We had a lot of fun and I hope you'll indulge me with all of these pictures.


We read some great books too. While we talked about colors, we read Mouse Paint; Shapes - The Dot and It Looked Like Spilt Milk; and Lines - Harold's Purple Crayon. I also succored into buying several "Touch the Art" books by Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo. I loved them. Some better than others, but the kids have really enjoyed looking through them.

This was a lot of fun, and thanks Jeff for letting us use your nice easel!

They're working hard on their masterpieces!




This is our Jackson Pollock masterpiece. It was soo fun to watch the kids just spill the paint out wherever they wanted. I would highly recommend this art project. Plus, it was a great way to get rid of my old paints I didn't want any more.

Okay, and I admit, I even got into it. And it was really fun, okay?

Learning about texture through Bubble Art! The kids loved this one as well. It made me a little nervous though. Those bubbles can still make fairly large puddles of muck, but how could I resist this face?

Oh, I even let Kimball try this art project. Not a good idea. He wasn't sure whether to blow or suck the straw. Needless to say, in 2 minutes there was a blue mouth and a call to poison control. Don't worry, watercolors are non-toxic. Whew.

This was a fun part of our summer, and we look forward to learning more about art and artists. I'm just not sure what to do with the piles of artwork I've got still lingering in my kitchen.

Kindergarten Graduation

Our wonderful school does a great Kindergarten Graduation. I know, I know, Peter has already started 1st grade, but I'm reminiscing, so bare with me. Here is a great picture of him.

Isn't he cute? They made those great hats, and stood on the stage and sang some classic songs. I loved hearing them sing a jazzy tune of "Humpty Dumpty" and when these kids sang "I'm Proud to Be an American" and the Star Spangled Banner, I nearly cried. I'm so proud of Peter and all he is learning. Congratulations!
I'll try to get some clips we took with our camera of them singing for Grammy and Poppy, but our computer is too slow, so I can't do it at home.

Our Past Time

A few shots at what the kids like to do during their free time. Now when you come over you can appreciate how clean the house is, no matter how dirty it looks. It could be worse!

When Kimball's not stuffing the toaster with spice packets, he's dragging it around like a pull toy. Needless to say, afterwards, I've got a lot of sweeping of toast crumbs. Funny kid!

Favorite thing for the kids to do while I'm cooking? Play in the food bins. Will anyone ever eat my house again? I only let them play in the foods that take at least 45 minutes to cook. At least they're entertained and I can get some dinner made. Yikes, now you know my secrets. I'm a desperate Mom sometimes.

I've got to watch this girl close. The paper doesn't stand a chance when she's got her skin to paint. I think she painted and washed her arm off at least 3 different times. At least she's an outside the box thinker, aye?

Easter

Now that we're entering Autumn, I thought I'd share a thing or two about our Spring. We've had a lot of fun these past 6 to 8 months, and it's too bad I haven't been willing to find the time to blog about them until now. These Easter pictures were sooooo cute, I had to post them. First, there's the preparation - decorating Easter eggs. It makes me very nervous to watch the kiddos wrecklessly drop their eggs into the dye - big splashes, broken eggs, stained tables, etc., etc., etc. Somehow though, it's still fun to watch, because they are sooo excited!


Another special treat.....our friends bought baby chicks this year. My kids loved holding these little guys.


We had a great time Easter-egg hunting and playing with basket toys. Kimball figured out the power of a good marshmallow chick, and boy did he hussel when he found out what was inside those plastic eggs. He held his own just fine this year, yes sireeeee!
We had an Easter egg hunt at our house with a couple friends. Thanks again Becca for the pictures!



Why aren't there any pictures of Peter and his friends? Because they were running tooooo fast! As kids get older, these hunts are all about getting to the next egg before the other guys. Okay, so it wasn't that intense of an egg hunt. There were plenty of eggs to go around.

Maybe you didn't get a good enough shot of how many this kids is holding. I've blocked out of my memory how we managed to get these away from him, but it sure made a great couple photos!

Elsie got fingernail polish in her basket. She was pretty excited!


Peter wanted a green light saber like Yoda's for Easter. Him and his dad had a lot of fun out on the lawn fighting. I was too afraid - Peter takes these light saber fights pretty serious!

Catch up Post #1 (Exciting title, huh!)

Wow! These past couple weeks have been SOOO busy and SOOO fun! They will have to take a couple posts to right about....or maybe just a really really long post. Either way, I hope you have a few minutes because I'm feeling a blog binge coming on suddenly.
I suppose I'll start from the beginning...how about March 15th, when I actually had to "go" to work. Now don't get excited, it was a whopping 3-hour job total, taking 2 days, but it was a bit exciting getting back into my dusty college text books and studying for a bit again. My major professor from when I was getting my masters asked me to sub for her class that week while she went to a conference. Frankly, I'm suprised she asked because, well, I am......rusty. BUT I was very excited and said sure! However, I was not planning that poor Kimball would be sick and feverish the very same week. It was awfully hard to leave him, but my wonderfully sweet friend, Becca, was very gracious and still agreed to watch ALL 3 of my kids. Naturally I was running late, because I had a hard time leaving Kimball. My Superman and awfully sweet and thoughtful husband called me while I was still driving to campus, and realized I wasn't going to make it on time. Well, you can't be late when you are teaching a CLASS! What was I going to do? Since he works at the university as well, he told me to just drop the car off as close to the building as I could, and he would park my car and take care of everything. What would I do without him?? I ran to the class and made it just in time (forgetting the quizzes in the car, which Mike ran up to me later as well!). However, I had no idea how to project the powerpoint on the wall. I was very nervous, and I had 30 students staring at me, flailing. Luckily, the right person walked in at the right time and helped me out. Whew. It was a rocky start, but it all worked out and the actual lecture went okay (at least, if you ask me), and not too many students fell asleep along the way.
On Thursday I taught a lab, along with a TA. The morning went much smoother. I was a TA for the lab several years back in the day, so this was fun. It's always fun to look at different sections in microscopes and explain what's there. I may be a geek, but plants can be very exciting at times - they are so versatile! Something I strive to be better at.
Sarah, I'm sure you'll do great with your new job, but I was sure glad this was only a one week committment!
Oh, Thursday was also St. Patricks Day! I love St. Patties, because my kids get soooo excited about green eggs, green shirts, and finding treasures. I didn't get into it as much this year because there were OTHER things, naturally, but it was still fun! My kids had a blast at their friend's house - finding a treasure from a leprachaun and everything. Here are some pics she took:






I hear they had a lot of fun, and I was glad.

Getting to church

We now have 1:00 church, which is much easier to get all the kids ready for on time, or so you'd think. However, there always seems to be a hang-up right as we're ready to leave. Can you figure out what it was?


Maybe you need a better view:

Sigh. Will I ever win? Will it ever be as simple and easy as walking out the door? Oh well, at least she was fully clothed, and at least Kimball was too cute. I couldn't resist taking a picture of him as well.

Elsie's Birthday

What a day Friday was! Elsie turned three, had a great birthday, AND Peter had his "Beary Special Me" Day where Mom and Dad got to spend 1/2 an hour in his class and do favorite 'Peter' things. To sum it up, it was an exhausting and wonderfully delightful day and I think I'm finally about recovered.
We'll start with Peter and end on Elsie, since she's the one with all the pictures. Mike and I went to Peter's class with a game, some informal info to share about Peter, How to Train Your Dragon Cupcakes, and a slide show. Immediately when we got there, we realized our slide show wouldn't work. Thank goodness Mike was there, because he ran back home and fixed everything, then came back half-way through the presentation. He's our designated family Super Hero. The cupcakes and slide show of Peter were big hits. The kids were soo excited about the sweets, and laughed over some of the great shots of Peter. To sum it up, Peter was completely Full of Love. I could tell he was bursting with importance, and frankly, I was too. I'm pretty proud to be a mother of such a great kid, and Mike and I loved talking about him.
Elsie woke up to find the kitchen decorated, and her chair at the table covered in streamers. She kept saying, "Thanks, Mom!" We sang Happy Birthday to her, and she received several phone calls from aunts and Grammy throughout the day, that by the evening, she was catching on to being center of attention. For her birthday dinner she wanted hot dogs, chips, and carrots. I haven't seen my kids eat so much for dinner in a LONG time. They loved it!
After dinner we opened presents. She loved all the My Little Ponies from Grandma, as well as the Pillow Pet from Mom and Dad. I have NO CLUE why those Pillow Pets are so popular, but Elsie wanted one, and we were a bit desperate for a gift, so we succumbed.

I'm not exactly sure why she needed a bandaid on her forehead right before we got the camera out, but it was her birthday.
For her cake she wanted "A Dora and Boots cake, with a rainbow". Gulp. I'm not much of an artist, especially when it comes to frosting as a medium. So, when I pointed out some Dora cupcakes at the store, Elsie decided those would do if I made her a chocolate cake as well. Whew, it was a deal. So, for dessert we had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream. She was so excited, and of coarse, I had no complaints.



I asked her if she wanted to invite a friend and their family over. At first she said, "No, just my family." Then she said she wanted her cousin Eden to come (who lives 2.5 hours away). When I told her Eden couldn't make it, she wondered if Stephanie could come, "because she's my friend!" she said. Actually, Stephanie is my friend, but Stephanie does adore little Elsie, and apparently Elsie feels that kinship. So, Stephanie, Jeff, and their son Eli (who is Peter's friend) came over, along with Grandma and Grandpa, and had cake and ice cream. We also watched a slide show of Elsers. It was great, and Elsie got very wound up with all the attention.
When it was all over, we were all ready to go to bed, except Elsie. Somehow, she managed to stay awake until 11:00, and was up by 6 the following morning. That girl's spunk can wear me out!
Some Favorites of Elsie's:
-Favorite food - meat and chocolate. However, I can usually get her to eat anything if it has something on it that resembles "sprinkles". Bread with seeds on it and raspberry jam are some examples.
-Favorite game - BusyTown and Yahtzee Jr. (we play these each several time a day)
-Favorite toy - she recently told me it's the phone with no eyes. This cracks me up! Whenever she's explaining a toy to me, she has to let me know if it has eyes or not. Elsie has a great imagination, and she's very creative. She was fixing her toothbrush the other morning, and all the sudden got very excited and exclaimed, "MOM! I made a chocolate chip!" Ever since then she has to put the toothpaste on herself and make some sort of design with it. When it doesn't come out the way she wants it, look out! She is a lot of fun, and we love everything about her!