Happy Birthday, Jack

December 2, 2010

Happy Birthday

2 years old!

November 2010
1 year, 11 months old

October 2010
1 year, 10 months old

September 2010
1 year, 10 months old

August 2010

1 year, 8 months old

July 2010
1 year, 7 months

June 2010
1 year, 6 months old

May 2010
1 year, 5 months old

April 2010
1 year, 4 months old

March 2010
1 year, 3 months old

February 2010
1 year, 1 month old

January 2010
1 year, 1 month old

December 15, 2009
1 year old

June 2009
6 months old

December 2008
2 days old

The day our sweet Jack-a-roo was born...
December 15, 2008
10 pounds, 2 ounces ~ 19.5 inches
12:54 p.m.

Our Christmas Science Experiment Revealed!

Here is the result of our Christmas science experiment -- crystals. First, Grace and Jack shaped pipe cleaners into different shapes. To make the crystals Grace and Jack made a saturated solution of Borax: 3 tablespoons of Borax to every 1 cup of hot water. They poured the Borax solution into glass jars. Grace and Jack used food coloring to color several jars of the Borax solution in order to make colored crystals. We then attached a string to the pipe cleaner shapes and hung them in the jars of the Borax solution using craft sticks, which were placed on top of the jars. The jars were placed in a cool location overnight and the next morning we discovered beautiful crystals inside of the jars! Grace and Jack hung the crystals on our Christmas tree this morning and they are so sparkly.
Here are some of Grace and Jack's Borax crystals. The picture does not capture how truly sparkly they are. This was a fun experiment for Grace and Jack to learn about crystals and how they are formed! We also ended up with beautiful decorations for our Christmas tree.

I'm having some issues with uploading pictures tonight so I'll be back tomorrow to give it another try!

A Christmas Science Experiment

Today we used water, borax, pipe cleaners, glass jars, string, sticks and food coloring to conduct a Christmas decoration science experiment. The experiment/decorations will take a few days so we'll be sure to post pictures of the finished project on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Handmade Painted Ornaments

We enjoyed a full day at home today, which meant staying in our pajamas ALL DAY. Yeah! Grace and Jack had fun making ornaments for our Christmas tree this morning. To make these ornaments we first took the tops off of empty plastic Christmas balls. Grace and Jack each chose 2-3 paint colors and filled the inside their balls with paint using a funnel. The tops were placed back on the ornaments so Grace and Jack could shake and swirl the balls in order to spread the paint around inside.


Grace and Jack couldn't wait to hang their ornaments on our Christmas tree.

Here is one of Grace and Jack's finished ornaments that is hanging on our tree. I love how their ornaments resemble marbleized glass. They are so pretty!

Wordless Wednesday

Fork Print Christmas Trees!

Grace and Jack made Christmas trees today by dipping forks into green paint and pressing them onto paper cut out Christmas trees. The fork prints resemble pine needles. Later, Grace and Jack used glitter glue to decorate their trees using colorful poms!

The Nutcracker

Grace and I went to the Maine State Ballet's production of the Nutcracker yesterday afternoon. This was our second year attending the ballet together. I have always loved the Nutcracker -- there is something very magical about watching it. However, despite all of the beautiful things that were occurring on stage I couldn't take my eyes off of Grace as she took in all of the dancing, costumes, the set and the music. Grace's eyes sparkled with excitement and wonder throughout the entire performance and it was a joy for me to watch her.

Following the performance of the Nutcracker, Grace went to the front of the balcony to get a closer look of the stage. We sat up in the balcony again this year so that Grace could also watch the musicians perform during the ballet. We have been listening to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music all year so it was fascinating for Grace to watch a live performance of the music along with the dancing.

I was so looking forward to attending the Nutcracker with Grace again since we went last December. This is a holiday tradition that I can't wait to continue with both of my daughters every Christmastime for many, many years to come. Maybe next year I'll even be able to convince Bob to give up his afternoon of "man time" with our sweet Jack-a-roo and have them come with us too! :)

The First Snowfall of the Season

We woke up to a little snow on the ground this morning! We grabbed our hats and boots and headed outside for a few minutes to experience the first snowfall of the season.

Birthday Girl!

When Grace woke up on her birthday yesterday the first words we heard from her were, "I'm FOUR!" Grace thought it was very funny that Daddy called her "Four" all day instead of Grace! We went to music group in the morning and Grace was so excited that all of her music group friends sang Happy Birthday to her. We then had lunch with Daddy followed by some special birthday shopping and riding on an old fashioned carousel. It was a great day! Happy Birthday to our AMAZING Grace.

Happy Birthday Amazing Grace

December 2, 2010
Happy Birthday
4 years old!

December 2010

Almost 4 years old!

November 2010
3 years, 11 months old

October 2010

3 years, 10 months old

September 2010

3 years, 9 months old

August 2010
3 years, 8 months old

July 2010

3 years, 7 months old

June 2010

3 years, 6 months old

May 2010

3 years, 5 months old

April 2010

3 years, 4 months old

March 2010

3 years, 3 months old

February 2010
3 years, 2 months old

January 2010
3 years, 1 month old

December 2, 2009
3 years old

December 2, 2008
2 years old

December 2007
1 year old

June 2007
6 months old

It seems like yesterday...
December 2, 2006
The day our Amazing Grace was born
8 lbs., 13 oz.
4:09 a.m.