Yard Sale October 30, 2008

Inspired by some other friends liberating themselves of unneeded items, I spent the week going room to room and closet to closet examining our stuff. Turns out we had plenty to participate in our community yard sale. The kids helped in their rooms and the playroom. They assisted with placing price tags and putting everything out on display. It was really fun!

Sadie is quite the shopkeeper and loved every minute of it.

Once people started coming, Elijah favored building inside. He came out once or twice to cruise around on his wiggle car.

When business slowed, Sadie thought it time to set up her long-awaited lemonade stand. She sold four cups in strong winds of lemonade that she made from the basic ingredients. This yard sale was WAY more fun than the one I had pre-children and we made a little money for our New Hampshire trip!

Sleeping Beauty October 30, 2008

Another season of Casa Manana Children’s Theatre begins with a modern, revitalized rendition of the classic Sleeping Beauty. Complete with a cross-dressing host, hip fairies, and a capitalist monarch, this was a fun, unexpected, and very flashy version. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

We had a group of 44 attend the show!

Afterward, we went to the Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens for a picnic and some play in and around the rose gardens.

After lunch, the kids found a stream and most ended up with wet feet (at least as they played around the water. There were several nature walks and a few minutes when 10 of the little people stood inside the trunk of a gigantic tree. I forgot my camera in the car at the gardens. These pics courtesy of a friend- thanks! It was a beautiful day.

Slingshot Trial October 29, 2008

After reading Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears, we felt compelled to make a slingshot. Sadie would also like to plant a pear tree but one thing at a time. We made it according to Mr. Putter’s description of his own- stick shaped like a Y with the band of men’s underwear for the sling. He used a piece of leather for the setting but we went without. Maybe we need more elastic underwear… We were trying to sling whiffle balls but it’s not the most effective slingshot.

Errands and Errant Picnic October 29, 2008

Books to go back to the library, a few grocery items needed, and a completely unscheduled day = errands on bicycle! The kids love to ride in the (cramped) bike trailer bouncing up and down around the sidewalks of the suburbs. We went to the library to pop the books/media into the slot then doubled back to Target. Upon finishing our shopping and wandering toward the checkout, the kids notice a little partitioned container at the deli with cheese cubes, salami, grapes, and crackers. LUNCH! We picnic outside of Target on the bench.

No bags for us! All of our grocery items are stacked neatly in the back of the bike trailer. Sadie bought this gigantic ball with her leftover birthday money. It made getting to the Starbursts a little tricky on the way home. 8 miles on the bike, a fun picnic, and errands = check!

Parachute Play October 27, 2008

Elijah has picked up several of those little plastic parachute guys from treasure bins here or there. He is fascinated by them and loves to drop them over the balcony. Today I was notified that there would be parachuting by dolls using plastic shopping bags. These kids are so cool. So we rigged it up! Just tying the shopping bag handles to the arms didn’t work b/c not enough air could get past the dolls into the bag. We used string to tie the dolls’ arms to the handles. First we started by throwing them off of my bed. Not high enough. We went out the driveway and threw them off of the 6-foot step ladder.

Good. But they’re still coming down a little fast. How about some more height? Can you hear the giggles when I suggested taking the screen out of the second floor window?

This was SO much fun. The kids would try out different ways of bunching up the parachute and throwing their dolls out the window and I would hurl them back up through the window to them for them to throw again. At some point, Sadie came down and pulled out the colored mats from the garage to see if they could predict where their dolls would land.

The Motley King October 27, 2008

We are reminded quite often that Motley is still the best pet ever- despite the fact that he has chewed several toys. Thanks to Motley, the playroom floor is picked up regularly so as not to injure the curious little guy and to avoid any further toy damage. 

Elijah gives him bedtime pets every night and Sadie loves to help me clean his cage every week.

We had a tea party and invited Motley to eat off the good china. He’s a crazy little pet.

 

Jumping Beans! October 27, 2008

This whole experiment is stolen directly from the pages of the Power of Our People blog. Wait a minute- they’re the ones who gave us the beans, too. Call us posers if you will. These things are cool and downright weird all at the same time.

The appear to be seeds that, when exposed to heat and sound, hop and wiggle all over the place. Shortly after this picture was taken, 3 of them wound up on the floor (so much for the target game)! They spend large amounts of time in the cool, dark pantry as the sound of them rattling in the bowl became unnerving. So neat!

Visiting Daddy October 27, 2008

About once a week we’ve been keeping a lunch date with Daddy. Today we went to visit him at Fidelity which is the kids’ favorite place to lunch. Not so much for Daddy who likes to escape sometimes…

If you’ve got to work somewhere, this place is gorgeous. The camera is probably not the best idea on the grounds of an investment company who is VERY serious about security so I surreptitiously put it away.

We stopped on the way home to get a closer look at the longhorns. Okay, I did. The kids were yelling at me to get back in the car. I guess we’re Texans now- immune to the coolness of the longhorn.

Lego Star Wars is Pervasive October 27, 2008

While the initial novelty seems to have worn off, Lego Star Wars continues to be a source of entertainment and challenge for Elijah. He loves to engage Mama and Daddy in a board or two at least once a day. Chris and I are always amazed at his memory for the different boards and his ability to figure out the steps that need to be taken to master each section. Though he yells at me less, I’m not much better at this game now than when I started…

Not only has Lego Star Wars been a catapult into the world of Lego building, but there is also a newfound curiosity about robots. We spent this morning looking at robot videos on www.howstuffworks.com…reading books about robots from the library…

…making robots out of recyclables!

 

Art-Oriented October 27, 2008

Another project from the afore-mentioned fantastic art treasury book that has since been called back to the library. Here Sadie uses tissue paper to create her own Waterlilies a la Monet.

Our choice of tissue colors was limited to my closet collection but she like it all the better in pinks and purples.

Here she first folds the paper into 6 squares, uses crayons to draw concentric circles (or triangles and other random shapes) within each square, then paints over all with watercolor. Cool effect! Based on Wassily Kandinsky’s Colour Study: Squares with Concentric Circles.

Here she stands with part of the art wall. We had to expand it once she started doing full-length self portraits. The blonde is Sadie and the brunette is Mama.

This is our primary art wall. 4,000 coats of magnetic paint under the latex and we have a vaguely magnetic area to hang the kids’ artwork. It is so fun to stand before it and look at each piece. Each media, subject, and mood is so different.