We had a fun-filled Valentine's Day from beginning to end!!!! 

 More pictures to come...

Happy Valentine's Day

Attending the Maine State Ballet's Daddy Daughter Dance

 Bob and Grace attended the Maine State Ballet's Annual Daddy Daughter Dance last night.  I took these pictures of Grace and Daddy just before they left to go out for dinner before the dance.  Grace couldn't wait to dress up and surprise Daddy.  When Grace arrived home last night she danced and twirled her way into our house and told me about the special time she had with Daddy.  Watching Grace get ready for the dance and seeing how excited she was to go with her Daddy will be one of the sweetest memories that I will always hold on to of Bob and Grace.  

Special Time with Eve

Every Wednesday morning, Eve and I share some very special girl time together at the Children's Museum while Jack is in his theater class.  I love watching Eve's spirit shine through as she explores everything in the museum.  Oh, how I love this little sweet pea of mine!    

Grace Makes a Heart Doily Valentine Shirt for Eve

Grace made this adorable heart doily shirt for Eve this week.  To make this shirt, Grace first glued a heart shaped doily onto one of Eve's onesies.  Grace then mixed red and white fabric paint together until she came up with the perfect color.  Grace dabbed the paint into the holes of the doily using a sponge.  Once the paint dried she carefully removed the doily to reveal a sweet Valentine heart.  Grace can't wait to surprise Eve with this special shirt on Valentine's Day!  I'll post pictures of Eve wearing her special shirt next week.  

Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

   

T is for train.

T is for train and train tracks.

Jack really loved working on this letter.  Jack asked to make T look like a train track with a train on it - similar to the one in the book Freight Train by Donald Crews.  I especially love Jack's rainbow colored train wheels! 

P.S.  I must say that the speech-language pathologist in me is feeling a little guilty about this letter since the word train actually begins with the consonant blend tr- and not the t sound.  I thought I would make a note of this so that some day when Jack looks back at this post that I can tell him!  I have a feeling that my train loving Jack-a-roo won't mind too much that I let this one slip!   ;)       

Learning About Viscoelasticity by Making Bouncy Balls!

Grace and Jack made bouncy balls and through this experiment they learned that the balls they made, although they looked and felt like a solid, were actually not! Instead, their bouncy balls were something between a solid and a liquid called viscoelastic! They discovered that their bouncy balls eventually started flattening out when they were not touched.

Here is how Grace and Jack make their bouncy balls:

1) Mix 1/4 cup of white glue with a few drops of food coloring.

2) In a separate glass, dissolve 1 tablespoon of borax in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add 2 tablespoons of this mixture to the glue mixture and mix together. Grace and Jack played with this mixture for awhile before moving on to the next step.

3) Add a few drops of the extra borax mixture to the dough mixture made above and begin rolling it between your hands to form a ball. Continue rolling the ball until it is hard and dry enough so that if dropped, it bounces.

Here are some pictures of Grace and Jack making their bouncy balls...

I Spy Letter Bottle

Grace, Jack, Eve and I all worked together to make this I Spy letter bottle. We filled a bottle with rice that we colored red and placed the uppercase and lowercase letters that we have been working on creating over the past several weeks inside. Eve loves this I Spy bottle. She does a such a great job shaking it to find the hidden letters inside. Great job, Eve!

Groundhog Day: Spring is on its way in Maine!

Every year we make our own groundhogs on Groundhog Day. Our groundhogs did not see their shadows today. Hooray...spring is on it's way up here in Maine!

Grace, Jack and Eve couldn't wait to finish their breakfast and head into the art room to begin painting their groundhogs together. Groundhog Day has always been such an exciting day in our home. It's just as exciting as Christmas morning -- really and truly!

Jack was so excited when his groundhog emerged from its "burrow" and did not see its shadow! Jack can't wait for spring to arrive.

Eve was also very excited to bring her groundhog outside. She walked all around our yard with a big smile while carrying her groundhog!

Grace woke up this morning and declared that she was, "just TOO excited for Groundhog Day!" Grace also wished us all a very happy Groundhog Day first thing this morning. I love how enthusiastic and passionate Grace is about life - especially the little things.

Science Fun: Inflating a Balloon with Baking Soda & Vinegar

Grace and Jack love science and conducting science experiments. Yesterday, they mixed a solid (baking soda) and a liquid (vinegar) together inside of a bottle to create carbon dioxide gas. Once the chemical reaction started they quickly placed a balloon over the top of their bottles and magically watched the balloon inflate! Through this experiment, Grace and Jack learned that the carbon dioxide gas they created was heavier than the air in the bottle. The carbon dioxide gas pushed the air upward and into the balloon to inflate it!

Sledding

We had just enough snow left in the field across from our home to go sledding this past weekend. I have been having so much fun taking Grace, Jack and Eve sledding during the week and it was extra special having Bob with us over the weekend!