Our Saturday at Pineland Farms

Grace's First Preschool Performance!

Last Thursday evening Grace's preschool class performed the play Tikki Tikki Tembo based on the book by Arlene Mosel. The preschool class had been practicing and rehearsing the play for the past several weeks and we were all SO EXCITED to see the performance on Thursday. The class did such a terrific job and we are so proud of Grace and her friends! Here are some pictures from that special night of Grace performing and of Jack and Eve proudly watching their big sister!

It's Maddy's Birthday Today!

* birthday message by Grace on the fabric paper that she & Jack made *

We wish the happiest birthday to our dear Maddy, my beautiful Mom. My Mom amazes me each and every day with her generosity, creativity, compassion, caring ways and bright spirit. My wish is to be the kind of mother to my children that she has always been to me. Grace, Jack and Eve adore and admire their Maddy and how very blessed we all are to have her in our lives. Happy Birthday, Mom. We all love you so very much.

After the rain...

After being inside most of the day because of a rainstorm one day this week we were delighted to see the clouds part and the sunshine return in the afternoon. We went outside to go for a walk with one goal in mind -- to find the biggest rain/mud puddle we could to jump in and play. We accomplished our goal and it resulted in so many laughs that we will be doing this again (and again!) after all of our rainstorms. My thought is that childhood is meant to be fun and messy...and luckily children are washable!

Making Fabric Paper

Earlier this week Grace and Jack made fabric paper. First, they chose a piece of fabric and placed it on top of a large piece of plastic wrap. Next, they mixed together 1 part of white glue with 1.5 parts of water. Grace and Jack used this mixture to paint a thick layer of glue onto their fabric pieces. To make the fabric paper they cut up small pieces of scrapbook paper, construction paper and ribbon and placed these pieces randomly onto their fabric. Finally, Grace and Jack placed a sheet of white tissue paper on top. They painted a final layer of glue on top of the tissue paper. It took nearly 48 hours for the glue to completely dry and once it did they peeled off the plastic wrap and cut off the extra tissue paper. The end result was beautiful fabric paper to write or draw on!

This activity was a very big hit! Grace and Jack asked to make fabric paper every day this week.

Sweet baby Eve had a great time playing with a piece of the tissue paper while Grace and Jack made their fabric paper. Eve was fascinated by the crinkly sound the paper made whenever she touched it!

The Birthday Boy!

Grace, Jack, Eve and I had the best time getting ready for Bob's birthday, which was on Wednesday. The child crafting went undercover in preparation for Daddy's big day. Bob's cards, pictures, wrapping paper, gifts and birthday crowns were kept top secret until Wednesday! In this picture of Bob he is wearing one of the many crowns our children made for him. Happy Birthday, Bob -- you are the absolute best husband, father and person. We love you so much.

I'll be back tonight with some pictures from our busy week!

* birthday message by Grace *

Washing Board

Grace and Jack woke up one morning last week and asked to wash all of their lovies -- their Ellas, Monkeys and Lavenders. They used Eve's infant bathtub to soak their lovies. They had a great time using a washing board and a bar of soap to wash them. This brought about a big discussion about what life was like before electricity!

Grace worked so hard to wash all of the lovies. We hung them outside to dry to further demonstrate the complete process of washing without the use of electricity.

Jack had fun dipping that tiny spike in his hair right into the tub too!

Three Months Old!

Our sweetie pie Eve turned three months old last week. Some of Eve's favorite things are the following:

• Smiling
• Talking and sound play. Eve carries on long conversations with us. I have a feeling she is going to be a very big talker (just like her brother and sister)!
• Watching everything that Grace & Jack do
• Music, singing and dancing
• Animal books
• Tummy time
• Rolling
• Mirrors
• Sitting and standing --these are Eve's favorite positions to be in!
• A Sophie giraffe teething toy
• Satin!
• Bouncing on our large therapy ball

Homemade Dimensional Paint

Grace, Jack and Eve made their own puffy paint today. They mixed together 1 tablespoon of self-rising flour, 1 tablespoon of salt, some food coloring and added just enough water to make a paste consistency. They each used Q-tips to paint on cardboard. When the paintings were finished we put them in the microwave for 10-30 seconds and watched the paint magically rise before our eyes! This activity so much fun and it is definitely something that we will be doing again. Next time I'll be sure to get a picture of Eve painting. I was holding her on my lap today while she painted so I couldn't take her picture but she loved this activity too!

March...Out Like A Lamb!

The end of March did in fact go out like a lamb, however, it did not last long. Grace, Jack and Eve started making their lambs on the last day of March. They added the finishing touches to their lambs on Friday (April 1) in the middle of a Nor'easter that brought us 10+ inches of snow. Oh my. We hung the lambs on our door to gently remind Mother Nature that winter is indeed over! To make the lambs, Grace, Jack and Eve glued cotton balls onto paper plates. They later added legs, tails and googly eyes. Grace wrote her name and Jack & Eve's name to put onto the lambs.

This picture of Eve was taken on April 1 as Grace and Jack were finishing their lambs. We decided to pretend that the cotton balls were snowballs rather than wool from a sheep because of the heavy snow that was falling outside during the completion of this project!