Luken's fabulous artwork!!!!!

In the paperwork we picked up at Kindergarten orientation recently, there are some suggestions for activities to do with your children over the summer, and one such suggestion is to read a book to your child, and then have them draw a picture about the story. I thought this might be fun, and something to fill up a little time.

I picked "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises" as our first subject. It's a fun book, and the kids had fun imitating all the silly noises.

I had no idea what to expect from the kids as far as the drawings were concerned. I set them up at the table, and went over to the computer to check emails while they worked. Luken asked me how to spell a few words, and I obliged. Soon, he said he was done, so I went to see what he had come up with, and I must say, I was MIGHTY impressed!!




I figured he would just write a bunch of words, and that would be it. He has never really expressed much artistic interest, and so I was quite excited at the details and colors he used in this piece!!

On the left is a cow, for MOO.
In the middle is a bee, for BUZZ. I love that he used black and yellow stripes, and red for wings. And he pointed out that there is a brown stinger on the tush! :D
On the right is a butterfly for WHISPER!
It was all from memory - he didn't ask any questions, or look through the book while drawing.
Did I mention I was impressed??? :D
It really is probably the first drawing he has done that wasn't full of octopuses or light sabers.

Here is Keeley's creation! :) I just realized this could very well be Mr. Brown!


C'mon... comment back about how brilliant my children are!! :D

Rainy Day Entertainment

So, what do you do when it's summer in Texas, but it's raining cats and dogs? Dig through the craft bin and see what looks good!

Monday, it was Magic Rocks. I believe I had picked these up as a possible activity after Luken's hernia surgery in March, but never got around to it. I figured it would kill some time!



While I got things set up, the kiddos did some drawings...


First step was to arrange the rock pellet thingies on the bottom of the tank.




Next, we added water to the toxic goop that you are not supposed to touch.


Stir it up!




After pouring it in, it was time to watch the rocks grow!!


It said to wait 6 hours after the first batch, though the box said they'd be grown within a couple of hours!!!


Getting started...


About an hour later, we had something to look at!


Later that day, we added the second batch of rocks, which are supposedly the ones that will REALLY grow.






And, the final product. It got kind of messy at the end. Oh, well. It was sort of fun. Something to do on a rainy day. Probably not to be repeated, ha!!

Tea-hee!

So, I finally ran across this little ceramic polka-dotted tea set I had wanted to get for Keeley on her birthday, and picked it up for the kiddos. :)

The other morning, Luken decided to have a little tea party with his Lovey and Soft Stripey (octopus) before Keeley woke up!



In case you didn't know, an octopus' mouth is underneath, so Stripey had to be seated like this!


Lovey thinks her tea is delicious!


Soon, Keeley was awake, and they began to play all together.








Keeley's baby, "Garden," gets to join in on the fun!

I don't have the foggiest idea where the name came from, but it's a step up from "Baby," so I'm just going with it! :D

Tea for Mommy!


Cheers!!

Beautiful Girls!!

I have a new friend, Nina, who moved here from Germany with her family just a few weeks ago. They have a daughter, Hailey, who is the same age as Keeley. Nina and I met through a local moms' internet forum a few months ago, and have been getting to know each other through email ever since.

Now that they are finally here, we can play!!

Here are some photos of our gorgeous little girls playing in the yard! :)









Luken was there, too, but apparently very tired after a busy weekend, and just draped himself all over his Daddy. :D


























And you know it was fun when your friends cry when it's time to go home! :P

Leggo my Lego!!

Time for ME to get some old toys out of the attic from my childhood and share them with the kids! Legos!

First Todd brought them in, and we got the box cleaned off and took out the tiniest pieces to store until we see that the others are being well-cared for (and not stepped on by the big people!)


Luken surveying the stash.


The clean-up took longer than he would have liked, so he decided to chill out for a bit.


Keeley soon joined him!


At long last.... time to PLAY!










Lucky kiddos, don't you think?? :D