The long awaited pictures from the Masquerade Ball!
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | 3 Comments
This post was a long time coming….but hopefully you feel its worth it :) I had to collect images from 2 of my cameras and from the cameras of my little sister and 2 other friends (hence the lack of continuity in file names).
We had a magical day with all our friends, please enjoy the video by clicking below. It will take some time to download for viewing, feel free to get a cup of tea while you wait, but if you can’t possibly wait to see the video you can also click below and scroll through the images used in the video.
Thanks for looking!
New pictures…
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | 1 Comment
I haven’t blogged in awhile because I want to post the pictures from Hannah’s birthday party back in September before it gets too buried. I hope to work on those today (they are all edited I just want to make a little music video for you all) but we’ll see. In the meantime here are some updated pictures of the kids that I took yesterday on our trip to the Children’s Museum of Tacoma. Elias really enjoyed finding a quiet spot to read, Bayus was all about doing the craft (gluing tissue papers into a construction paper cornicopia), and Hannah enjoyed catching bubbles.
How to have an art easel when you don’t have unlimited space…
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | 5 Comments
Bayus loves to paint, like really really loves to paint. Every time we are at a children’s museum he is at an art easel. Every time we go to the open art studio at the local Tacoma Art Museum, he gets comfortable with an art easel. I’ve been battling the desire to get him a painting easel with the practicality of not wanting to clutter up our space with more stuff. He’d want it out all the time and I wouldn’t, nor would I want to drag it in and out of a storage location several times a day.
As an answer to my desire for less clutter and my desire to let him have creative open space I came up with our own painting area- and he LOVES it! I went to a local office supply and bought 4 suction cup clips (there is a painting above the one showed that is hanging to dry- we used scotch tape until I bought the clips so technically this step is optional). I used a suction cup shower organizer (purchased at a local hardware store I think, I’ve had it for a few years as I used to use it with our large aqua doodle mat on the opposite side of this glass door) to hold 3 jelly jars of paint (lids can be purchased at your local grocer, do not fill paint jars just an inch will do for most three year olds)- instant painting ‘easel’!
I challenge you to not look at your sliding glass door as just a door but instead a great easy to clean wall :) We also use ours with the dry erase markers during ’school’ time and like I said previously we had a aqua doodle mat hanging on it from suction cup hooks. What do you do with your glass door?
Our new cubscout needs your help!
Saturday, October 4th, 2008 | 4 Comments
This year Elias is participating in a local homeschool cubscout group for the first time and so far…..HE LOVES IT! You should see the overflowing excitement in him everytime he puts on that uniform and heads to another meeting or outing. We’ve only been a part of the group for a month now but already he’s been able to do an over night at a local fire station (camping on the lawn) and he’s been able to go on a full campout with the group over a weekend (daddy and Uncle Haven went with). He has a small growing pile of badges for everything from leatherworking to fire safety and ‘leave no trace’ principles. This month the scouts sell popcorn to raise money for future events such as the pine car derby in January and camps.
If you’ve been looking for something yummy to munch or need some holiday gifts, we hope you will considering ordering some popcorn (or trail mix!) from our little cubscout! Just go to www.orderpopcorn.com and enter this code to support Elias’ efforts! TEPN105
Thanks so much!
Through the years with Hannah Banana!
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 | 5 Comments
Hannah is now SEVEN years old! Click the link below to watch a slide show I made of our happy years with our dear daughter 
Learning about ’scale’ mapping…
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment
We’ve been learning about the world, maps and globes- today we included the definition of ’scale’. The kids got to pick the object of their choice to determine the scale for thier maps of the room of their choice. They both helped me map out my bedroom using a pencil as the scale for the drawing then they went to work on their own maps. Elias chose a green ruler for map out the office and Hannah chose a hair brush to map out the bathroom. I think they did a fantastic job! (click on Elias’ map to see closer up, he drew the computers including the power cords)
It’s a Girl!
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 | No Comments
Remember that beautiful belly from a few weeks ago? Well more beauty has been born, its a girl and she is well loved by her doting mother and father (click the image to see it bigger, bubble gum cigar says ‘its a girl!’)
An unexpected visitor….
Thursday, September 4th, 2008 | 2 Comments
this morning Elias woke me up with excitement in his voice, ‘Momma, Mom, Mommy! There is a new bird in our yard!’ I got up and grabbed my camera to go see. When I looked at the bird I was shocked as it looked nothing like the little chickadees and robins that we’ve come accustomed to seeing in our yard- this birdie was ‘different’. Standing about a third of the size of our chickens, with thick stocky legs and feet (unlike a chickadee but more like chicken legs), intriguing markings and little desire to fly away- this bird was worth getting a picture of and finding our bird guide book. The bird book wasn’t entirely helpful other than telling us what it wasn’t, so I called in more help- I called my friend Val, the resident authority on all things nature. She listened to my discription and said her guess was grouse or pheasant. At that point it was just a short google search through images of each and related birds before I found our bird- the Chukar Partridge, national bird of Pakistan! Native to areas in Europe and Asia but now found many places around the globe this ground nesting bird has a favorite food, the weeds in our yard! Little Chukar seems quite interested in wanting to be in the coop with the chickens which makes me wonder if its possible that this bird came from a local neighbor (they are sometimes kept for their eggs aparently). I’ll decide later if I need to post ‘Found Chukar’ posters about the neighborhood, in the mean time he/she seems quite happy to eat our weeds and bed down in the bean bed near the chicken coop. The kids can now find Pakistan on the world map! *click on any of the images to see them bigger*
Feeling crafty…..
Thursday, September 4th, 2008 | No Comments
I’ve been sick in bed for the past few days and so the kids have been enjoying some extra free time to craft on their own, read books and play outside. They have been getting quite creative both indoors and out. Outside they have begun gathering materials in the yard and clearing an area behind the storage house/shed for their ‘clubhouse’. I’ve been overhearing lots of discussion on the clubhouse including future improvement plans, supply needs and secret handshakes. Inside they asked to needlefelt with me and came up with some amazing creations of their own (especially considering their age and it being their first time working with needlefelting). Elias made a tiger and Hannah made a brown squirrel to go with the gray squirrel I was making. Bayus ran and found nuts from the kitchen (almonds) and search for acorns in the backyard to feed the little squirrels. I learned how to needlefelt from a friend and amazing teacher and crafter named Hastings, the kit I used I ordered from a friend and owner of The Blue Ladybug. Needlefelting is done entirely with natural sheep wool, some undyed and some dyed. We’ve worked with wool before with wetfelting when the kids were about preschool age (they made wool balls) and they really enjoyed a picture book named ‘Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep’. I went ahead and reserved it at the library as a refresher for them on the wool process, plus its an adorable story and Bayus hasn’t heard it yet.
What happens when the kids get ‘quiet’….
Thursday, September 4th, 2008 | No Comments
Every once in awhile my kids get really ‘quiet’ and my mama antenae goes up and I must check on them. A few weeks ago Elias brought a robot book home from the library called ‘Cosmo and the Robot’ I declared a quiet time after our day of errands (including the library) and was awoken from my light nap from the sound of defining silence broken by the occassional sound of cardboard boxes being dragged down the hallway. I stepped quietly out of my room to spy on the action and found a full ‘robot factory’ going on in the kids room! I had to lay down the law about no paint in the bedrooms so their creations had to wait for their final pictures until this morning when I did allow painting to take place in the kitchen. Enjoy the pictures and remember to let your kids raid the recycle bin now and again- its always fun to see what their imaginations come up with with a little inspiration from a book!
