spring break 2017 pt 2

The rest of spring break was more relaxed. Pie at Brennon and Tam's on Pi day, special play times with the Kochers who were visiting from CO, some water play with nice weather, and a special ice cream date with Reese. Unfortunately, we ended the week with the a stomach bug that landed me in the ER, and went through the family through the next week. Lots of memories though!

 

     

spring break 2017 pt 1

We wanted Spring Break to be low key, but take advantage of the kids being out of school to see family and do some special things. The first day we took a day trip to the farm to celebrate Uncle Ken's 70th birthday. The kids got to do some of their favorite things like playing with puppies, jumping on hay bales, and playing a game that they made up with their cousins called "chicken rodeo," which is essentially chasing the chickens back into the coop. Even Uncle Ken got up on the hay bales at 70 years young! We were also able to see all the damage the wildfires did around Buffalo. It was amazing and scary to see how close it got to the farm. It still smelled smoky even though it had been over a week.

 

  

We then took a quick trip to Dallas. We stayed with Aunt Elaine and loved our time with her. We took Elle to the American Girl store as an early birthday present. Then in the afternoon we went to the Dallas arboritum. We spent all our time in the Children's Garden. It's such a beautiful place, and I love to go back to see the rest of the garden. The next day we spent the morning at Legoland and then headed home in the afternoon. The kids are all into legos so it was perfect for them right now. Todd loves Ninjago and the playplace was perfect for him. They had a couple or rides, one which all of us could ride. Reese could have spent all day going down the duplo slide. Other activities included a 4d movie, Star Wars lego room, lots of lego building stations, and lego cars for the bigger kids to drive. While more expensive than I would have liked we got a good experience.

    

 

    

 

    

 

elle turns 8!

Oh, Elle! How can you be eight?! This year has been a whirlwind. You have become such a kid. You are so independent now. We put a desk in your new room, and you seem so much bigger all of a sudden as you do your crafts, writing, or homework. You've spent most of the last year losing teeth, and driving us crazy with your ever changing tastes and preferences. You currently love origami, reading, American Girl things, Tsum Tsums, and legos. You outgrew your little bike and Daddy took you shopping for a new one. The fact that you picked the one that says mischief is funny, and yet somewhat true. You have continued to do gymnastics, but will start softball in June. You have been very supportive and helpful as we prepare for your baby brother. You are excited for him to get here and love to keep up with what size vegetable his growth can be compared to each month. You take care of, and get along well with Todd and Reese... most of the time. You definitely play more with Todd, but Reese has gotten big enough for you two to do a lot of girl things together. You have been working hard and rocking 2nd grade. You have developed a little bit of a competitive spirt when doing your timed math facts at school. You've mastered all the addition, and have started working on subtraction. You are still working your way through Hank the Cowdog with your daddy, and Todd has gotten big enough to start really following along too. We've been reading the American Girl books, and have read all of Kit, and almost the first book of Maryellen. You have lots of questions about the history and time periods for these girls. To help you and your siblings prepare for Sunday morning worship, we've been singing through the songs in the bulletin. You've enjoyed getting the song book out and looking up the songs. We go for the monthly Lego Builds at the Lego Store, and you have a enjoyed to doing this. It's been a good year learning about and doing activities with American Heritage Girls. You'll earn your first badges in May. You have enjoyed the campouts the most, but look who your Daddy is! It seems like we are entering a fun and new phase with you as you've matured. I pray we can give you the support and parenting you need as you're becoming the big kid. I look forward to spending time with you this next year exploring new things. We love you so much elle-m-n-o-p!

they said yes to the dress

Elle's first Easter was two weeks after she was born. She had to miss church because I was in the hospital for an appendectomy, but that's another story.

Chris took it upon himself though to get her first Easter dress and has done so ever since. He has also done this for Reese. He decided girls should always have one dress from their daddy. Last year they added to this tradition by making a shopping trip together to pick them out. Tonight they went shopping for this year's dresses. I hope this is a tradition that they cherish and hold special in their hearts. Tune in Easter Sunday for the finished look!

  

days with reese

This school year I've been able to spend M, W, and F mornings with just Reese. This has been a special time for us to play and just focus on her. Especially since she'll have her baby boy to contend with soon. She's actually a lot more into babies than Elle ever was and even put a doll up her shirt so she had a baby in her tummy too. She's a girlie girl, and loves shoes of all kinds and jewelry. She's a good helper with chores, and it's been nice to just have one to run errands with if we need. She's getting so big lately!         

a.r.t. In elle's class

Today I taught an art lesson to Elle's second grade class. They don't have an art teacher at Chisholm so they have a curriculum they use that's brings in parents 4 or 5 times a year to teach a lesson. The teachers then have a special plan time together. All of the lessons focus on an artist. Today I taught about Henri Matisse and we specifically focused on his painting "Goldfish."

 

I found this wonderful interactive website called Matisse for kids and was able to use this to introduce Matisse and what his artwork was famous for. Here's the link:  https://artbma.org/flash/F_conekids.swf

After learning that Matisse loved bright colors that are complementary, and patterns, line, and form the class made a goldfish of their own. We used tissue paper instead of paint. This helped to talk about how later in life Matisse had difficulty painting and would make collages with paper.

Then we finished up with color goldfish crackers for a snack!

The mom who was supposed to be my helper couldn't make it so I asked our sitter, Ally, to come and help. It's good practice for her since she's a teacher candidate at OC, and Elle loved having her come!

 

 

 

 

Reese found the lesson so entertaining!

It was a good experience overall, and I got to know some of her classmates better. Probably the funniest part was how many of Elle's friends came up to her and said how much Reese looks just like her.