School's Out

Today is the last day of school for our kids in Snohomish.  I am so glad!  We finished up our preschool year last Friday.  The kids were SO happy when they arrived this morning to discover that we were not going to the bus.  It's so great to relax.  (Plus- it's pouring.  Day 4?)  I am glad to have the rain because I can see and breath again.  No more puffy purple face in the mornings!  Whatever was bugging my allergies to the point of misery has been washed away or is wet enough to give me a break.  When the kids have free time, sometimes I will place a few items accordingly as a suggestion for an activity.  Above- I placed the cash register, a pile of books, a couple of grocery sacks and some receipts on a table.  They played book store for an hour. 

"Hi Mom!  Nuts?"  Chippy has been around a lot.  She is getting so bold and really isn't scared of us anymore.  She gets so close to my hand when I am feeding her that it's ME who's a bit worried.  

"I love you!  Pick me up and snuggle me."  I wish!

"I choose you. You are my favorite people." 

Friday we each turned our letter Z into a zebra.

See?

Song for today is from the soundtrack for the new movie 'The Fault In Our Stars'.  Not my kind of movie, but I have been pleased with all of the great soundtracks that have been presented lately thanks to the movies.  Kind of smooth and dreary- perfect for a rainy day.  

This song is called 'Boom Clap' by Charli XCX.

♥♥♥Happy Music Monday!♥♥♥

Baseball, Art Wall & A Baby On Board

No, I am not expecting.  I'll bet the amount of reads on the blog will sky rocket today!  My sister-in-law is expecting a baby and we heard the news yesterday.  I am so excited!!  The parents to be are over the moon and I just had to share.  (Adam's brother and his wife.)

Meanwhile, we learned a little bit about baseball yesterday.  Now- keep in mind, I have ZERO interest in sports.  I am probably not the best person to learn from, and while we only had very light weight plastic baseballs and the same kind of bat, the kids still had a fun time.

We took turns playing batter, catcher and pitcher.

It took some time to figure out the glove.

Ready!

This batter plays little league, so he did a great job and had lots of enthusiasm!

These girls were up in the tree house playing some sort of princess thing.  

They came down to cheer for the baseball hitting.  They both went home before they got a chance to bat.

This morning was the last day of the school year that requires lunch, so I packed my final three lunches.  I've been packing lunch all year.  The kids eat more that way, and they like what's in it.  I'm so ready for the relaxed schedule!  I will probably blog slightly less. 

So, what to do with the giant folders of school work that gets sent home at the end of each year?  Well, I look through it and save the art work if there is anything amazing.  This year Aiden came home with an abundance.  I could not part with it.  Be honest-- we can't save all of this stuff.  It would end up a large pile in the attic and eventually have to be thrown out.  Sort and toss.  

The art from Aiden's 2nd grade year was exceptional.  I hung it up in the playroom permanently. It also prompted me to sort through Ethan and Stephanie's art as well, and some of those were added to the wall.

I love children's art.

It made a great display on a blank wall that was supposed to have a mural painted on it.  I changed my mind about that mural, and it has been sitting blank for a few months.  This was perfect.

Beautiful!

Smudge had a table in his way during his afternoon nap.  He has been choosing this spot for a few days. 

He napped away while I was hanging art.

One of my favorites-  Ethan made this in 3rd grade.  It's been hanging in the dining room since then.

Praise the Lord God it is POURING outside!  We needed the rain,  My allergies have been knocking me over lately.  We were drenched from our walk to the bus this morning- even with umbrellas.  I am just so glad to see the rain, it doesn't even matter. 

♥♥♥Happy Friday!♥♥♥

Watercolor Z

We are learning the letter Z.  I think the perfect book to read for the letter Z is 'The Cat In The Hat Comes Back' by Dr. Seuss.  The cat comes back and lifts his hat to reveal all of the other cats, whose names are the letters of the alphabet.  The most important cat is cat Z, who possesses "Voom" in his hat, a force that can clean up the cat's mess. 

We decided to watercolor paint the letter Z.

When the kids are younger than 2 years old, I don't give them a cup with water.  I just spray the paints with a spray bottle of water to keep their paints moist.  This group can all handle a cup of water for rinsing the brush off between colors. 

Paint paint paint.

Paint paint paint.

They enjoyed the act of rinsing the brush.  It's nice when they get to the age that the whole paper isn't just a muddy mix of brown.

I don't use these often.  The cleanup part drives me crazy because I get a little obsessive about it.  (Wipe all of the water off underneath, wipe the paints themselves, lay them out to air dry all night.)

Look how beautiful the Z's are!  

The Z's were mighty suggestive of nap time.

Meanwhile, I purchased this at my own yard sale!  My mom had some stuff for sale.  I couldn't let someone else have this play tent.  It's large enough for all of the kids to cram themselves inside. 

♥♥♥Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

Free Day

We had a free day on Friday.  That means no group time, no art.  Just freedom.  The girls chose to dance it out.

The boys chose the D.S.

Out we all went!  (No D.S. allowed.)

There was some tree swinging.

Some tractor driving.

The kids watered their sunflower seeds.  We were productive, while not being productive.  Play time is so important!  We will be seeing a lot of free time soon- and I am anxiously awaiting it. 

When I think back to my childhood and what it felt like to be out of school for the summer, I think of long days with time to run and play.  It's doing NOTHING that makes summer break feel like summer.  That's my goal for the kids this summer.  We didn't plant pumpkins, but we are watching and caring for the ones that planted themselves for us.

♥♥♥Happy Music Monday!♥♥♥

Taking It Outside/ Visitor

All of our work took place outside yesterday.  My adorable little handsome pants nephew came for a visit!!  The kids thought it was so cute that he stood patiently in line waiting to go outside to the flower garden.  It was time to release the butterflies.♥  

Something of note:  the hair!  I couldn't get enough of running my hands through his luscious locks.   Nor could I stop grabbing him and planting kisses on his cheeks.  He's one year old. 

 We found some pretty flowers to release the butterflies near.

The kids enjoyed taking up all of my sister-in-law's time.  They like visitors.

We weren't sure whether or not the butterflies would exit on their own.

Taking a closer look!

This one stayed on the flower that was in the butterfly garden house.  

I was glad because the kids got a good final look at it!

They were great about not touching, and being careful not to step on them.  The rest of the butterflies flew away remarkably fast!

More smiles, cheeks and hair!

"Bye butterfly!

We moved to the back yard to plant some sunflower seeds.

The kids scooped their own potting soil into the cups, planted and watered their seed.

This is something we can work on and keep eyes on over the next week or so. 

Mammoth Sunflowers!

Going for a ride in Auntie's chair!

Smooch smooch smooch!!!

♥♥♥Happy Friday!♥♥♥