Random and Miscellaneous Happenings January 31, 2009

There are many random happenings that have photographs (and many that don’t and never get blogged) that pile up and don’t get their own post. So this is a clean-up post of some of those.

On a lovely day the kids painted their own pots and planted some flower seeds.

Sadie has signed up for a semester of drama class at Casa Manana! She is thrilled and thoroughly enjoyed her first class (taught by one of the Casa actresses whom we have seen so often in their fabulous productions).

The kids have been requesting books from the Ft. Worth library network and having them held at the local library. Most recently these include Star Wars books (guess who) and fairy books (guess who).

Elijah has been playing around on Visible Body. It’s a really cool site!

Thanks to Sid the Science Kid, we spent some time estimating how many rubber balls were in a jar and then kicked it up a notch with some Kix cereal. Their best guesses were pretty close!

Sadie makes a mean fruit salad.

We got another load of books from the library. In it are two math books using M&Ms. Candy and numbers- what could be better? We sorted, grouped, and added single and double digit numbers… I mean M&Ms. A fun snack was had by all.

The Alamo January 31, 2009

We attended yet another wonderful Casa Manana production- The Alamo! The kids found it a little difficult to follow but I found it fascinating and learned quite a bit about Texas history. Above they play with their friends as we wait for showtime.

One of our famous seated and waiting pictures.

Bear Creek Jaunt January 31, 2009

We have cold days (40s usually) and then we have days like this. We spent much of it playing at Bear Creek Park.

The kids rode scooters and wiggle cars on the mile long path to the playground occasionally stopping for water,

to describe the drainage path during heavy rains,

to inspect the new retaining wall that will help to contain the water, prevent erosion, and preserve the path during the heavy rains of spring,

 

and to inspect local flora.

There was a lengthy and wondrous time spent playing at the playground.

Elijah brought his Patriots helmet and football so we ran some patterns, did some end zone dancing, and yelled, “I’m open!” a lot. 

Coloring Contest January 27, 2009

Sadie entered a local coloring contest. The directions were to create a picture of your pet and provide a description (help from parent allowed). Sadie decided to draw Motley, the guinea pig. The likeness is uncanny.  She then dictated the description to me which is as follows:

Motley is a guinea pig. He says, “wheet, wheet” and likes to be patted. He is light brown, dark brown, and white with a little black. He has very long hair that trails behind him.

YouTube! January 27, 2009

We have been surfing YouTube lately dancing to videos of “I like to move it” which is Sadie’s song du jour, watching videos of hampsters doing tricks and running on wheels at breakneck speed, and checking out homemade videos of LEGO characters re-enacting Star Wars scenes endlessly to feed Elijah’s burn for both Star Wars and Legos. We may just make our own!

Elijah has several Lego Star Wars pictures that Mema gave him to decorate his bedroom. Here he puts them each in frames. We spent the day rearranging his room and are waiting for the big poster that he ordered online to arrive.

Fun with Friends January 27, 2009

Our friends Declan, Liam, and Alistair came over to play. Declan had made swords, daggers, and boomerangs for them to use as they searched for treasure around the kingdom (there was a map and everything). 

We took the adventure to the playground and there was, indeed, some playground play. It’s hard to resist that drainage area, though, and the kids were soon tracking birds through mud prints, skimming/throwing rocks, and generally mucking around.

Celebrating Change January 27, 2009

There was a festive, hopeful atmosphere at the Parent home on Inauguration Day. We sat together and watched Barack Obama’s Inauguration speech, etc. and were thrilled at the prospect of positive change for our country and the world.

Of course, there were snacks.

Mama broke out stars and stripes and the kids made their own flags based loosely on the American flag.

Left: Sadie’s flag             Right: Elijah’s flag

Observations in Nature January 27, 2009

Sadie is obsessed with describing, identifying, and categorizing things in nature. She has been working tirelessly on the leaf book that she  made in California and has added many varieties of Texas leaves to her book. She then went through and described each leaf as I wrote down her descriptions next to them. We sought out a book online from the Ft. Worth Public Library and went to a local branch to pick it up so that we could use it to identify these local leaf varieties.

On an icy Texas day, Sadie once again got the bug to bird watch. We suited up and went hunting with the camera. The ambient lighting was poor, the birds in question skittish, and the photographer chilly but we managed to get a few pics to identify what types of birds were crazy enough to be out in this weather.

Sadie sneaks up on a group of birds in the garden to get a closer look.

We uploaded the photos to the laptop when we came indoors and used the zoom function to get a closer look at their coloring. We have an abundance of House Sparrows out today (lingering near the feeder in hopes that we’ll fill it…) and a pair of Mourning Doves.

She is now busying herself with identifying every bird in the book according to sex with her new knowledge of these symbols.

A Day of Service January 23, 2009

The day before our new president was inaugurated, he asked that Martin Luther King, Jr. day be observed as a day of service. The kids decided they would like to take the morning to participate in one of their favorite activities- community clean-up!

We didn’t have to go far. We started with the end of our street. Texas winds and curbside trash pick-up are a bad combination. We did great and had fun. 3 garbage bags and 1 1/2 bags of recycling later and our street was virtually as good as new.

Then we headed for the drainage area to “muck.” 

We love mucking!

The Fort Worth Stock Show January 23, 2009

Yes, that’s a real sign… Giggle. Giggle.

One of the many beautiful animals we saw that day.

Sadie and Elijah admire local children’s artwork on display.

Where does milk come from? What better place to talk about calving and milk production?

There’s always time for cuddles and tickles.

Elijah thanks a farmer for bubbles.

Sadie thanks a farmer for crayons.

The kids check out several stations where they touch various grains, look at where they are grown, and view products in which they are used.

An interactive area that depicts a community and shows various ways to conserve water. Sadie loved pushing the buttons. Elijah was mesmerized with the audio descriptions and would follow along with pictures as they lit up.

We spent quite a chunk of time marveling at the pigeons. The kids requested pictures of many. They were very beautiful and we were intrigued by their beauty, skills, and awards.