A World of Color!

Eve had a great time this morning with this color matching activity, which uses paint sample cards.  To make this activity I gathered two sheets of a variety of paint sample cards from our local hardware store.  I cut the paint chips apart on one of the cards and glued each color on to a clothespin.  Eve matched the colors on the clothespins to the colors on the cards.  I love how this activity incorporates lots of vocabulary (e.g., shade, order, light, dark, pale, deep, similar) and that it is a fine motor activity too.    Eve's favorite part was learning the names of the colors on the cards after she matched them.  Eve thinks it is quite funny to say "pumpkin pleasure" instead of orange, "blueberry popover" for blue and "chickadee" for yellow!    

..and I think by now the people who work at our local hardware stores think that I'm either a very, very indecisive person or that I am constantly redecorating the rooms in our house!  I think they would be quite surprised to see their paint samples used this way.  :)

Grace & Jack Back at the Maine State Ballet!

Grace and Jack also started at the Maine State Ballet last week! They were both just as excited as Eve to begin dancing again. This year Grace is doing tap and jazz classes and Jack is doing tap and ballet. In our house Wednesdays are now referred to as "dance day." Eve has her class every Wednesday morning and Grace & Jack have theirs after school on Wednesdays. There is a flurry of dance bags, five different pairs of dance shoes, dance pants, leotards, tights and hair accessories to get ready that morning...it makes getting everyone ready and out the door on Wednesdays all the more exciting.  The first week of class for Grace and Jack was extremely busy so I was only able to capture these two quick pictures. Grace is pictured above.  She is in the middle and is wearing the sleeveless black leotard. Jack can be seen below through the window of Room #2. He is wearing a blue shirt. I hope to get more pictures of my two oldest dancers during their upcoming classes but I wanted to be sure to capture their first week of dance.

Monarch Caterpillars!

I took Grace, Jack and Eve apple picking over the weekend. I couldn't believe it when Grace found a monarch caterpillar munching on some milkweed leaves nearby one of the apple trees. A few minutes later we found a second caterpillar and shortly after that we found a third caterpillar crawling along on Eve's dress! In addition to our bag full of apples, we were delighted to bring home these three caterpillars with us too. We have been looking for monarch eggs, caterpillars and butterflies for the past two summers with little luck. We will be taking care of these caterpillars until they become butterflies...we are already planning a big butterfly release party once they emerge from their chrysalises!

More Pictures of Eve's Ballet Class...

Practicing how to curtsy at the end of class!

 

Eleven Years Ago Today...

 

My Littlest Ballerina!

I had the happiest girl in all the world with me this week! Eve had her first ballet class on Wednesday morning at the Maine State Ballet. Dancing is one of Eve's most favorite things! Eve was beyond excited to go to ballet class. This will be Eve's second year of taking ballet. In this picture Eve is the little girl wearing all pink. This year Eve chose her own leotard and wanted to be in pink from head to toe. For those of you who know my little Eve, you can imagine how very exciting it was for her to shop for her own leotard at a dance store! I'll be sure to post more pictures of Eve dancing soon.

Apple Picking

We went apple picking for the first time this season over the weekend!  

Happy Grandparent's Day!

Happy Grandparent's Day. We made these two "Jars of Happiness" and silhouette pictures especially for Memere & Pepere and Maddy & Poppy to honor them on Grandparent's Day today. Grace and Jack have such a special relationship with their grandparents. I feel exceptionally blessed to have them as my children's grandparents. Thank you so very much to Maddy & Poppy and Memere & Pepere, for all that you do for our family...you bring so much love and happiness to the lives of Grace, Jack and Eve and for that I am forever grateful. You are truly extra, extra special!

We thought it would be fun for Maddy & Poppy and Memere & Pepere to have their own "Jar of Happiness."  Whenever an extra laugh of smile is needed they can reach into their jar and take out a slip of paper to read...their is a special memory or thought written on each one from Grace, Jack and Eve.

Jack's First Missing Tooth!

A Beautiful Morning at Deering Oaks Park

 

 

Eve's Very Busy Day!

Yesterday was the first day of school for Grace and Jack.  This was also the first day that Eve and I spent together, just the two of us, and I wanted to document our time together in pictures.  In the picture above Eve is waving a final goodbye to her big sister and brother at their school.  A very bittersweet moment for both of us.

When we first arrived home Eve made a bead sun catcher by filling an E shaped cookie cutter with beads and covering them with glue.  Once it dries in a few days Eve can't wait to hang it in her window.

Eve enjoyed making a batch of homemade pink play dough!

 

Our letter of the day was 'E."  Eve loved writing her favorite letter in her letter workbook.

Eve made the letter 'E' using straws!

Eve practiced writing her name on our sand glitter tray.

 Calendar time!

 We loved reading lots and lots of books together.

After a quick outfit change, Eve went outside to harvest some tomatoes from our garden.

We biked down to Broadturn Farm, where we hiked on the trails behind the farm.

Eve found a very long stick on our hike that she carried with her the entire way!

Eve loved playing on this footbridge.

Eve stopped to play at the stream for awhile.

 Eve worked on building a fairy house.

Here are some of Eve's drawings and letter practice that she did yesterday. 

...and here is sweet Eve at the end of her very, very busy day!