Happy Easter

We had a fun week making several Easter crafts.  We went on a long walk earlier this week to look for signs of spring.  While we were on our spring walk we also looked for rocks that would be perfect to paint into baby chicks.  Cheep, cheep, cheep!

 Grace's handprint bunny card

 Jack's handprint bunny card

Eve's handprint bunny card

Our Easter eggs!

I will be posting pictures of Grace, Jack and Eve coloring their eggs next week

I surprised Grace at school on Friday with her snack packed inside of Easter eggs!

Handprint Bunnies

We have had a fun week getting ready for Easter.  Every year we make bunny handprint cards for our family for Easter.  Here are some pictures of Grace, Jack and Eve painting their hands!

Art Walk

Every evening at Grace's school this week is an Art Walk.  The Art Walk is designed to celebrate the art work created by all of the students in the school.  Families are invited to view the art pieces, which are displayed on the walls up and down the hallways.  Each child in the school chose one piece of their art to display.

Grace couldn't wait to get home from school yesterday afternoon, eat dinner and then go back to school to take us on the Art Walk.  Grace wanted to get dressed up for this occasion so she changed from her school clothes into her butterfly Easter dress and plaid sneakers...oh, how I love these children of mine!   :)

Here is Grace describing how she chose warm colors for her abstract art piece and the painting and stamping technique that she used. 

Here is Grace's masterpiece!  

This was such a special evening for me.  I love the arts and I am so thankful that my children do too.  

Making 3D Shape Models with Marshmallows & Toothpicks!

Jack loves to analyze objects, figure out how they are made, take them apart and put them back together again.  I knew that he would love this activity of using marshmallows and toothpicks to create and build sculptures.  This activity also served as a great geometry lesson - learning what shapes provide the most support.  Once our marshmallows become stale/harder we plan on constructing the tallest tower that we can using these materials.  Lots of fun learning today!  Eve also had fun with this activity.  It was great fine motor activity practice for her to push toothpicks into the marshmallows and create different geometric shapes.  

Cut, cut!

Eve has such great fine motor skills.  One of her favorite things to do is to cut with scissors. This is excellent work for her tiny hand muscles!  Eve knows exactly how to hold the scissors and she loves cutting up paint samples.

Bringing a Little Bit of Spring Indoors!

Since our ground is still covered with snow we decided that we must definitely bring a little bit of spring indoors!  As we were planting our seeds I kept hearing my children say how much they love the smell of the soil because it reminds them so much of being outside in springtime.  Since our Maine spring is not quite yet ready for some outside spring activities I asked Grace, Jack and Eve if they each wanted a bowl of their own soil to play with indoors and they all responded with an enthusiastic "Oh, yes please!"  Grace, Jack and Eve had one of the best times playing and imagining with their bowls of soil.  They sat playing together for over an hour.  I loved listening to the ways the used their soil...for planting seeds, imagining they were bakers making mud pies and even pretending that it was sap which they made into "maple syrup!"  It was so much fun.  What I especially love about this activity is how simple it was.  It allowed Grace, Jack and Eve to create and imagine so many different things and get dirty too!

Eve

Jack

 Grace

 Jack

Later, Eve brought her dishes to the sink where she continued to play.  When I asked her what she was doing with all of her dishes and spoons she said, "Experiments, Mommy."   :)

Click here to read an article called Let Your Kids Get Dirty!

Growing Wheat Grass Inside Eggshells

Every year around Easter time  we enjoy planting wheat grass seeds inside of  white egg shells.  We love watching the grass seeds grow and it serves as a beautiful reminder of spring!

Our Week...

We have had quite the week.  All three of my children have been sick.  It all started last week with colds.  One cold turned into an ear infection which has since turned into walking pneumonia.  We also have a case of the croup and in the words of our pediatrician (whom we have seen a total of four times (!!!) over the past week) "one really bad sinus infection."  Yesterday all three of my children were seen by our pediatrician during the same visit - this was a first for our family!

Although it is officially spring, we received a big snowstorm on Tuesday, which brought us nearly a foot of new snow.  It has also been very cold.  Despite the less than springlike conditions outside we decided to make the inside of our home feel like spring this week by planting some seeds and playing with dirt....studies have proven that playing with dirt boosts a child's immune system and at this point I'm willing to try anything!!!    ;)   Pictures coming soon.

  

Sewing with Maddy

We were so delighted to have Maddy visit us last month during February vacation week.  The highlight of the week for Grace, Jack and Eve was the that time they spent sewing with Maddy.  This is something that all of my children look forward to every time Maddy comes to visit and it is a special bond that they all share together!  It is very sweet.      

Celebrating Read Across America Day

On March 2 we celebrated Read Across America day with millions of other children across the country.  Every year we honor Dr. Seuss's birthday and participate in Read Across America Day by choosing to read our favorite Dr. Seuss books.  Jack and Grace chose The Cat in the Hat and as you can see Eve was very excited to read Green Eggs and Ham!

"The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."  ~Dr. Seuss~

"Today you are you!  That is truer than true!  There is no one alive more you-er than you!"  ~Dr. Seuss~

"

 "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"  ~Dr. Seuss~

"From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere!"  ~Dr. .Seuss~ 

"Today was good.  Today was fun.  Tomorrow is another one."  ~Dr. Seuss~

I will end with one of my favorite quotes: 

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."  ~Anna Quindlen~