Friday Funny...

 There is never a dull moment in our house.....

Not with these clowns in the house!!!

Art Lessons #2: 2D versus 3D

So how exactly do you teach a child about 2D objects and 3D objects?  Explaining to them how a square shape can become a cube is more difficult than it sounds! But I want to talk about light and shading at some point... and so we are taking tiny baby steps!  It really makes me think how to communicate "art" fundamentals in little people language!

We started out this art lesson with a shape review!  I just love that we have a white board wall... I drew shapes and we looked around the room to find them!  I read an article this week about teaching kids about art (because I am a nerd like that!) and an important thing for them is OBSERVATION! It is easy to teach them to observe their world!  Point out shapes in your house... or as you are on a walk... shapes are everywhere! The more you talk with them about what you are doing or make observations about how things are made... the more curious they will be and the more they will observe!

 After our review, I figured the best place to start would be making a good mess!!!

 I pulled out the good old shaving cream to help us practice drawing our shapes... 

Rhett is a super drawer already and so I am gearing most of the lessons to him!

The rest of the kiddos like to get messy along the way! Especially Eden! Silly girl...

 In the shaving cream we learned how to draw a cube... I was attempting to show them how you can make an object look 3D... on a 2D surface. Oh yeah... I'm sure they got that one!

 

 After our mess we made 3D marshmallow art!

 Their projects were amazing pieces of art... that got gobbled up quite quickly!

 I had some food coloring markers for them to color on faces!

 Even the littlest guy made the cutest 3D art!

 Eden's art!

 Another project from Ethan!

 Aksel was the marshmallow genius!  Look at his project!  He was so focused!!!

I'm really look forward to Thursday mornings!  I love planing projects and seeing these sweet kids having fun and learning to be creative!  My mind is already swimming with ideas for next week!

Life on the Mommy Treadmill

This morning as I was doing my morning "jog" on my treadmill... I couldn't help but think about how much being a Momma is like living on a treadmill! No matter how hard you run -- you don't really go anywhere... or so it feels!  I finish folding a load of laundry and put it away only to turn around and find a whole new pile waiting for me! We sort through toys and put them all away -- only to come back moments later to find all the toys spread out ALL over the floor! I do dishes and get the kitchen clean so that I have room to make dinner... and so goes the cycle!  

Seriously?

 There are certain times I want to throw my hand up in the way and say, "SERIOUSLY!!!"  

Yesterday I spent the morning changing bedding and doing laundry... I had to smile when I came in during Ethan's rest time to find him sprawled over his bed, sound asleep, and soaking wet!  Yes, he made it through all 5 layers of CLEAN bedding!

Ethan's victory dance for completing his "reading" video game!

 In discipline -- we deal with the same issues day after day... being consistent and PATIENT is crazy hard! Some days I ask, "Are we getting anywhere?" 

 But then I see their little faces, I put away those 2 T clothes that don't fit anymore, and hear something cute come out of their mouths... (like this morning Ethan explained to me how to use a parachute... he even used the word "rip cord"... how exactly does he KNOW this... and WHY does he know this???) And I realized... it is worth it!

Can you see that puddle splash????

There will always be an unending chore list... 

there will always be 

dirty dishes, 

messy rooms, and 

piles of laundry... 

But I know there will always be another adventure around the next corner...

How Micah does weight training...

 And precious moments I don't want to miss!

Caught in thought...

And I've been told the time I have on this Momma Treadmill doesn't last forever... but somedays I just want to cry and exclaim (as my funny friend use to dramatically say) "Take me out Coach! I'm tired!"

And so this morning I took a deep breath... asked God for strength... and started my day...

It's been a good one! 

"Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:30-31

A Spring Morning...

 This morning felt like SPRING!  It was gorgeous!!!! 

Our friend Kasie, spent the morning with us and after we had made coffee we ventured outside to enjoy the sunshine!  The kids were in pure kid form...

 Ethan discovered that if he filled up his plastic eggs and threw them -- they turned into water bombs!  Needless to say it took mere moments to get plastic eggs all over our yard...

 The kids begged me to pull out the hose and set up the sprinkler... but we live in Montana it could snow tomorrow... as a matter of fact is was hailing moments ago and now it is thundering and pouring rain as I type! So I'm not ready to pack away the winter things and declare it SPRING!  Because it is Spring merely on the calendar in these northern parts... But at least we got to "pretend" this morning!

  Of course we ate our lunch outside!  I could help but get excited about our summer!

We have sooooooooooo much to look forward to!

New Spring Tradition!

 

Ever since Ethan was born we have talked about family traditions and how we want to celebrate events and holidays through out the year!  Easter is a day set aside to remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:14 says, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." The resurrection is something we want to CELEBRATE! We want Easter to be a special day ... and yet there are so many FUN traditional things to do around that "day"...

 So last year I had the idea of dying eggs the first day of spring instead the day before Easter!!!

 I don't want to sound silly or extreme, 

but I do want to keep sacred that which we hold dear to our hearts. 

 The kids had a blast coloring the eggs...

 I think colored eggs are so much fun!

 It was fun talking about colors and wondering what the eggs would look like if you put them in different colors or mixed colors!

This kept them super busy for more than an hour... hum we might do this on a regular basis!!!

They used their blankets as blindfolds... so funny!

 This afternoon we had an egg hunt.  While the kids were resting we filled 70 eggs with trail mix, stickers and candy and hid them all over the house!  I bought them some buckets and we surprised them with them when they got up!

 It was so much fun!

 70 eggs is A LOT! But it only took them a few minutes to find them all!

 After all the eggs were found we sorted through them... the kids filled their tummies with the most sugary items... which was perfectly fine!!!

 I watched the sugar-high come over Ethan... and I knew we needed to get outside!!!

 So after the a good deal of sugar was eaten...

And a few wrestling matches had taken place... we rode to the park for our first picnic dinner of the year... it was fun to just be together - to celebrate... and to get in a good game of tackle soccer!

It was a good day and an excellent way to welcome the spring!!!

Cute Kiddos

Here are a few new pics of my kiddos!

I think these two kiddos are pretty cute!

 Happy Friday to you all...