Science & Shapes

We got the science kit out again yesterday.  I am loving this.  Each small experiment only takes a few minutes.  That is just right for preschoolers.  Instant gratification.

We created "dancing water".  Two small scoops of citric acid and two small scoops of baking soda added to water will create carbon dioxide.  Fizzy water!

We read through the list of supplies that we needed and the instructions to make sure we were ready. 

He wasn't eating it, as the photo suggests.  The kids helped with the scooping.

The scoops went into one cup, some water in the other.

She poured the water into the mixture.

It immediately began to "dance".  It was fizzy and loud, sounded like a soda when being poured.

This was such a fast project, but still interesting for them! 

To fill the rest of our table time, we completed a shape review worksheet. 

They located the shapes and colored them. 

♥♥♥Happy Thursday!♥♥♥

Beautiful Winter Morning & Loud Music

The lake was beautiful this morning, painted in a wintry pink sunrise.  It was a very cold walk to the bus stop.  We looked for frozen spider webs, but didn't see any this time. (Strange.)

While we often dread the task of dragging ourselves to the bus in the cold morning, it can turn into a positive, quickly.  The birds are everywhere, it's neat to watch large flocks of crows flying above us.  There are some die hard fisherman at the lake every morning.  I'm always glad to have had an early morning walk.

Yesterday we practiced tracing the letter Jj.  Exciting, right?  I can't believe how young some of these kids are, and here they are looking like 1st graders.

Look how wonderfully he wrote his name!

Thank you for the prayers for the kids yesterday!  Please continue praying if you think about it.  While several are back this morning, another has fallen. 

We finished our tracing so fast that I felt like we needed something else to do, so we got out the note cards and paper clips for a little bit of fine motor practice.

It can be a challenge for kids who haven't used a paper clip.  The idea is to place one along each drawn line.  

They all did a great job!

I had a side kick, baby Zuko.  He is so skittish, but when he chooses to be bold, he is VERY bold and walks right underneath my feet.  I had to try not to step on him for over an hour while he trailed my every move.

Now playing at Henle House:  "Over The Hills And Far Away" by Nightwish.  Glorious Nightwish, who I am so glad I got to see live in Seattle right before they fired Tarja, the lead singer, for being a diva.   Turn it UP.

♥♥♥Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

Say A Prayer For The Kids

We are in the middle of a really bad flu season.   It's hard to know what is the flu, and what is just ordinary illness.  Henle House kids have been fighting it for what seems like an eternity, and we just really need to say a prayer for the kids! 

It's been a roller coaster.  They feel better, they get sick again, full force.  They pass it around.  I bleach everything, open the doors, hand sanitize and wash hands... repeat.  What we are seeing is fever, severe lingering cough, runny noses and tiredness. 

Please pray that the kids will all beat this horribleness and that we can move forward in good health!  I am thanking God that I have not come down with it myself.  

♥♥♥Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥

Winter Snowglobe/Seahawks/American Sniper

Last Thursday we created some winter scene snowglobes.  Doesn't it look beautiful? 

We began by gluing the globe onto the base.  They glued trees into the globe.  

The kids painted some snow into their globe using a Q-Tip.

Paint...paint...paint..

I can't believe that I didn't take a photo of the art wall.  The globes all turned out wonderful!  A simple project to celebrate winter, even though our winter feels like early Spring at times. 

Meanwhile- how about the Seahawks vs. Packers game?  You would not believe the wide range of emotions and the amount of times we turned the t.v. off, and back on.  I cannot believe the Seahawks won-- the Packers really played well.  My brother works for a printing company in Seattle and was up all night printing T-Shirts for all of us to buy!  I'm in the market for a new shirt.  

Another note: Adam and I went to see 'American Sniper' last night.  Talk about a wide range of emotions!!  It was a very good movie, (how do you rate someone's personal experience?) but a warning- it was really hard to watch at times.  War is brutal, and the movie didn't sugar coat anything. 

So after an intense Seahawks game, we saw an intense movie and now I'm pretty sure I need a massage to work the kinks out of my shoulders. 

♥♥♥Happy Monday!♥♥♥

Goofing Off Is Necessary

We felt like goofing off.  We got out the dress up and I thought it would be fun to try to take an "ussie", as my teenager always corrects me when I call it a "selfie".  It took a while because I am still trying to figure out the new camera. 

Forgot to look at the lens..  Where were the rest of us?

Wait.. what?

Well, there are some of them.

Foggy day today.. and feeling a bit sideways.

Do you think I was driving her crazy?  (On the left.. her expression made me laugh out loud this morning.)

On to the next bit of Tom-Foolery.  The good old "run and slide."  These floors are a wonderland for kids in socks.  

I'm telling you- sometimes it is the most useless parts of our days that make them stand out. 

Chippy was here for quite a while yesterday!  She ate the entire cob of corn and then came to ask for peanuts.

Hooray for a camera that has a powerful zoom!  I didn't even have to open the back door to get this shot. 

♥♥♥Happy Friday!♥♥♥

Rectangle Paper Blocks

We are working on noticing the rectangle shape around us.  The kids have noticed the doors, some books, rugs, windows and paper towels.  I thought it might be fun to have a free art day, but to supply them with only rectangle shapes and markers.  The kids are great at building with blocks, and they had blank faces when I told them that they could create anything out of the rectangles.  I "built" two houses on the table to show them what I meant.  It was the same as blocks. 

They got busy!  I provided them with rectangles of many colors and sizes.

I encouraged them to "build" a bit on the paper before they begin to glue.  This way they could try to envision something and move pieces around until they were ready to secure them.

 When they were ready, they glued.  After that, I let them have free reign of the markers.  

 Is there anything better than a face drawn by a child?  I should have them printed up on some business cards.  She created a bridge at the office, with drawings on the bridge for the fish.

It was busy, and the table was full of excited sharing and chatter. 

At the little red table, the kids enjoyed playing with the wooden puzzles.   Even four year olds love to play with these toys geared towards much younger children.  They don't see these puzzles all of the time.  I love the little red table. It's like my secret weapon, called "distraction". 

Meanwhile, my beautiful mom brought this plant over for me.  It's a Christmas Cactus that has been grown from starts off of my Great Grandmother's plant and passed down through generations of the family.  Needless to say- I AM TERRIFIED that I will kill it.  Houseplants do not survive in our house.  I am able to keep gardens outside, but every indoor plant has died.  She ensured me that I couldn't possibly kill it-- I sure hope not!! It's neat to have a plant with a family history.  I also have some bluebells outside from the same Great Grandmother's garden. 

Here she is, my Great Grandma Inez Ventoza.  She is holding my big brother.

♥♥♥Happy Thursday!♥♥♥