I have in the past talked about bringing inside things out, and yesterday we brought some outside IN. "Can we DO that?" These tents are outside toys. They are pretty dirty, too. The kids don't mind a little dirt. It was pouring down rain and we wanted to have an imagination day, so out came the dress up clothes, and IN came the outside play tents.
Happy noise erupted. ♥
For two hours. ♥
I carried on, baking my way into the hearts of small children.
Peanut butter cookies, yum!
Smudge tricked me by hiding under the table and waiting for me to open the door to feed Chippy a peanut. He chased poor, fat little Chippy up the apple tree before we could bat an eye. As I am typing this, Smudge has his face practically plastered to the back door to watch Chippy move around the yard. We decided it would be best to start introducing Smudgie to the back yard so we don't lose him accidentally. I've been taking him out and he stays near me while exploring.
Happy Friday!♥ Please pray for Adam and I, we will be holding an all night youth group event tonight. We won't get to go to bed until tomorrow morning at about 9AM. ♥♥♥
Song for today is Indescribable by Chris Tomlin. Must play LOUD. ♪
We created paper plate sunshine yesterday. This time, we used a crayon to add some swirls onto the plate before we painted the plate. I think it looks more fiery, as the sun should look.
They made sure to paint all of the white. :)
We were happy that the rain held off for us to get some outside time in. Generally, we spend a lot of time outside. The Department of Early Learning makes us agree to allow at least 30 minutes of outside time each day. We spend much more than that outside. What a great time it is for the kids to explore the environment and just breath fresh air. On rainy days, we usually average about an hour and a half outside because of our bus stop walks. On nice sunny days, it's safe to say we are outside for at least 2 hours. (In increments.) Ethan got out his chalk scooter yesterday. When he pushes the back end of it down, the chalk draws lines where he has been.
This little guy decided he was going to mow the lines.
"Do you ever put the camera down?" No, not really. That doesn't mean any of my photos are high quality, either. Practice does not make perfect when it comes to me and photography, unfortunately.
Love these rubber boots. These are perfect Washington outdoor wear. Even though the rain wasn't falling, the yard is still a muddy mess.
The apple tree is waking up!
I had a walk by picking of the blooms on my one Hyacinth. So I moved it to a less accessible part of the garden. That is the risk of having a one year old in the yard. Garden death. Sigh. I need to just invest in some more Hyacinth. They are so fragrant and each year I treasure the one that I have. Happy Thursday!♥♥♥
Song for today is One Day by Matisyahu. Beautiful song- even more beautiful lyrics. ♪
While at the bus stop yesterday, we noticed blossoms on a tree that had suffered large limb breakage during our big snow storm over the winter. I couldn't help but collect some of them from the broken limb. They were on the ground. I think it is a cherry variety, but we know the tree as the cherry bomber. (It bombs the sidewalk every summer with slimy red fruit that we have to dodge while walking to the bus.)
Our apple tree isn't blossoming yet, so this was a great opportunity for the kids to get a good close up look at blossoms. We have been talking about Spring a lot lately.
Time for a blossoming tree project! This is a repeat offender, we make it every year.
The kids glued on the tree shape and added grass.
A little bit of science, here. They learned that red and white make pink.
Dip, dot..dip,,dot.. MMM, that makes me want a bowl of Dip N Dots ice cream. YUM.
They really took care when placing their blossoms. I tried to get the point across that blossoms grow on the branches only.
Doesn't the art wall look cheery? I'm loving it. Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥
Song for today is Set On You, by George Harrison. He was my childhood crush. ♫
A friend from church gifted me a stack of small chalkboards a couple of years ago. We use them for name writing. (Well, doodle scribbling, most of the time.) Yesterday we worked very hard on name recognition.
We attempted to recognize what our name looks like, saying the letters out loud. We have done this on paper, but it becomes more fun when we draw our name on the chalkboard. :)
The kids were tuckered out by the end of our grueling name session, so we got out some "listen and move" music. I tried to find a link for you to listen to it, but couldn't fine one. The music is lively, tells us to walk in the circle, march, slide, hop etc. the kids love it. I suppose I do, too. ♥ Even the littlest guy loves it.
Meanwhile, I am sliding into the finish line with my to-do list for the Department of Early Learning, thank you for the prayers! We had to come up with a philosophy statement and post it in our center. Here is what mine states, and I like the idea of that statement being my daily goal.
"I believe that a child will blossom when introduced to a secure and loving environment. Henle House is a play based learning center that allows children to learn and grow with the added benefit of stopping to smell the flowers and thanking God for His daily blessings. Being flexible with our learning schedule, based on individual needs and child directed questions and thoughts, it is my joy to be a part of your child's growth and development."
How does that sound to you? Just curious.
Aiden has pulled out two of his teeth over the last two days. The tooth fairy is going broke. ♥
Finally, I made some no-bake cookies that didn't remain a gooey sludge mess. I tried this recipe over at a friends beautiful blog- go check out Nadine's Nook! Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥
Song for today is Changed Forever by Toby Mac. I can relate to this song. ♫ So glad I am changed forever! This is my prayer for YOU. ♥
Worksheets can be very helpful. We are learning how to trace the lines of the star shape. Is there a child on this planet who does not know what the star shape is before we teach it to them? Anyway, we worked on some stuff Friday.
Sometimes the hardest thing for me to teach is the correct way to hold a crayon or pencil. Sometimes the kids come up with their own way of holding it. My handsome hubby holds his pencil funny, but it works for him. As long as the kids are not fisting the crayon, I feel like I have taught them something useful.
Something I have been trying hard to remember: allow the kids who can use scissors to actually use them.
This was a great sorting worksheet. Color, cut, sort and glue. They did a great job!
The sun was shining and it was time for the return of the rope chairs. Now- these chairs are usually off limits to the kids. Strictly grown ups only, but this one was bored and was the last one here. "Ok, let's get you up in it. Just this once." BEST CHAIRS EVER. Happy Monday!♥♥♥ The rain has returned.
Song for today is It's In The Rain by Enya. I used to dream of the Washington rain when I lived in Utah. In my dreams, it would just pour so hard it was coming back up off of the ground at least 4 or 5 inches. I always woke up happy because I felt like I had been home. ♥♫
Yesterday was the best day EVER. Each year around this time, my daughter Stephanie and I have a day together. Not just a regular day, but a shopping and girl fun day. We call it our mother daughter day. Time together to do as we please, eat what we want, play dress up and just enjoy each other. Two years in a row now, we have spent our day in Seattle. Seattle is the best city as far as I am concerned. It is so beautiful, so full of life, colors, noise, excitement, weird people and interesting nooks and crannies. We usually park at the Seattle Center and take the monorail down town. There is currently an Angry Bird on the Space Needle. Cool.
This year instead of heading to Pike Place Market, we explored new territory. We followed 5th Avenue and came across this shop, Anthropologie.
Inside, I found the BEST HUTCH EVER. For only $18,000.00, it can be mine. Once we build a room on onto our house just to house it.
People watching from the second floor. I could spend hours doing this. There is always someone talking to themselves. Highly entertaining.
Next noteworthy stop- the Seattle Public Library. What a place of beauty! It feels like a giant sunroom filled with secret passageways and long narrow corridors that lead us into a meandering maze of room after room and floor after floor of information, all accessible. Except for the fancy Seattle section, which was under lock and key until 1:00 PM, and we were not going to wait around for an hour to get in. Another time, though.
One of two tall slim escalators that carried us to the top.
A view from above into one of those secret number pad locked room. Is this where we access The Matrix?
Looking down from the top floor to the bottom floor. Those are bookshelves down there.
This place was my favorite stop of the day. There must have been 1000 computers. Definitely a must see in Seattle.
Next stop- The Fisherman's restaurant.
We were being entertained by the fact that the dock that the restaurant sits on was being disassembled right outside the window.
See that man out there on the wooden beam? He was roping a chain around the beam to have it hauled away by the crane. He is balancing on that beam, by the way, and everything around him was swaying with the current of the Puget Sound, directly below. I would've fallen in.
Hmmm, good to know.
Portal of the day, in Post Alley.
Steph hadn't ever seen the gum wall.
She added her own, with a smile. See it?
The sun was really warm, it felt so nice. We stopped to soak it up. Lucky for us, being in Seattle and surrounded by sky rises, this location in the photo had NO WIND. It was perfect.
Aaaah. ☼
We stopped at Macys specifically to see the Ladies Lounge. It's the largest women's restroom I have ever seen. We decided to try on some dresses that we couldn't afford. Steph fell in love with this one, I think it was $160.00ish.
I fell in love with this one, it was $135.00. At least I have this photo. :)
We have always wanted to play on a Tempurpedic mattress. So we did. (Push button) up.....up....down.......down...... These beds are so expensive- almost $4000.00. Neat though, and they do feel great! If you moms have a daughter, take a day out just for her. Happy Sunday!♥♥♥
Song for today is this street musician, sorry I don't know his name. I have seen him downtown before, but not yesterday. It's pretty fun, though. ♫
