Easter Eggs

Were they dyeing eggs....

or their hands?????

Sophie said they were giving the eggs "a bath".

Summer Learning

This summer we decided to focus on learning reading, writing, and numbers.  But we also wanted to include some fun stuff, so I added in learning about what it means to be in a family, some American Sign Language, and the different months of the year.

I'm keeping things simple at first.  Sometimes it's hard to remember who belongs to whom and who is married to whom when you're 4.

But as long as we know we're all part of God's family, that's all that really matters anyway!

The kitchen cabinets have become a place to display what we're learning.

Each month, this cabinet's display will change.  For July, we saluted zucchini, flowers, the American flag, popsicles, "cob on the corn", watermelon and fireworks.

Everyone gets their own cabinet to display current works of art.

Each child's creation is so precious to me!

I can see their different personalities in each pen stroke.

And now for a little signing!

The Mighty Power of Butcher Paper

Mothers everywhere, rejoice!  Approximately 30 minutes of semi-unsupervised time was spent creating this butcher paper masterpiece, and all it took was some paper, tape and markers.  Skin, hair and even teeth were stained by the end, but the dishwasher got unloaded, the laundry got folded and a cup of coffee was enjoyed while clipping coupons.  It's a win-win, blue teeth notwithstanding.

Bug drew Hannah in the grass with some bees on the flowers.  Nicely done, Bug.

And here we have Dee, a budding artist.  She dabbles in abstract art.

And, apparently, body art.

Bexy here is working hard on his experiment entitled "how hard can you scribble with a pen before the tip smashes in".  The results: not that hard at all!  Huh!  Interesting!  Let's try it again!

"Hey, that camera lens looks a little dull."

"I think it could use some color."

"Just a liiiiittle touch of burnt sienna, riiiiiiiight....there!"

Right now, Dee is thinking about the color she just applied to her lips. 

"The texture is uncomfortably sticky."

"Nothing like Lip Smacker.  Hmm.  Disappointing"

"In fact, it's rather upsetting! Somebody help me!"

But Bug is happy to be covered in it.

High five, brother.

October Crafts

Paper Plate Pumpkins

Missy at Two Little Monkeys did this easy, adorable paper plate pumpkin craft and I knew Bug would love it.

Using watercolor paints, Bug painted two paper plates orange.

I cut jack-o'-lantern faces out of black construction paper and Bug glued them on.

Here comes a curious bystander (who would be more accurately described as a curious bycrawler).

“Hmm. Let me see if I can destroy this” said the enormous baby.

I corralled the beast for this photo.

Spooky Bat!

Okay…why is this photo here. I’m sure I had a spectacularly quirky and witty thing to say about it, but it is now gone from my genius mind. How it would fit in to bat-craftdom is throwing me off. Well, let me tell you this: I love ribbon. So there.

Let’s do this batty thing.

First I cut two egg holders off of an egg carton.

Then Bug painted them black.

I cut out some batty parts from black construction paper. These are all the pieces.

Don’t be intimidated by my bat awesomeness. It takes a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology to get this good. My parents are so proud of their well-spent money and what their daughter has accomplished with it.

Then Bug glued the bat parts together—wings, head, red eyes (for spookiness) and fangs. Of course, fangs. Then the egg carton pieces get glued on for the nose. It adds a little dimension. It’s very biologically authentic, I assure you.

Okay, really! What is going on here?? But now you know. I love me some ribbon. It’s important to know all the facts about the people you’re friends with.

Marshmallow Ghosts

Didn’t we all make these in kindergarten? And our moms saved them in the Halloween box so the next year we had a petrified marshmallow ghost? But we were only 6 by then, so of course we tried to eat it? Mmmm. Crunchy. Just wanted to pass along this fascinating culinary tradition to my daughter.

Here’s everything we started with. Toy dog on the corner of the table is optional.

We found it best to cut the marshmallows in half.

We also found it helpful to eat copious amounts of the cylindrical little sugar puffs. Wait. Helpful for who?

You put the marshmallow in the center of a facial tissue.

Wrap it up. Tie it with string or twine.

Draw a ghostly face on it.

And there you have a friendly little Casper of your very own!

We made 5 for a very good reason: our ceiling fan has 5 blades. And there’s really nothing funnier to a 3 year old then 5 Kleenex clad marshmallows whirling around. Oh, and if I put the fan on high, Mr. Bat starts whipping around. Bug about loses her head laughing when that happens. When the tape holding one of the ghosts fails and the ghost flings off into outer-living room-space? Forget it. Bug’s on the ground rolling.

Easy crafts, easy laughs! What’s not to love?