Peas Please!

Yesterday, while we were sitting outside watching J & J play in the grass, K was quietly rummaging through the kitchen in search of a pre-dinner snack (we thought he was playing in family room).  Out of the back door running we hear his demanding whine, "Peas in a cup.... Paalease!".  Frozen peas, what a treat!?

He was so proud of his snack choice... I guess I can't complain either!

Lately he smells everything... He is telling us "Smells good!".

Frozen peas in a cup, coming right up!

First Day of Preschool

The preparations were made, the theme was selected, books, activities & songs were lined up... We were ready for the kids to show up for our home preschool.

Upon arrival, the kids began playing at the play centers right away!

You can tell who the builders of the group are!

Group picture with the lovely helper of the day.

and here are all the kids... It is going to be a fun class!

We had a great circle time, but no pictures were taken (I was busy teaching :)... They learned all about rain, rainbows and Noah's Arc.  Felt board learning, songs, stories, dressing up in rain gear and puddle jumping were just a few of the interactive activities included in circle time. 

Individual activity time: puzzles, themed play and other critical thinking activities for the kids to pick from.

Arts and crafts!  Beading pasta with a pipe cleaner and...

Painting 'fluffy clouds' with a mixture of glue and shaving cream and making a rainbow with more pasta beads.

Snack time!

Table time activities... Water play with sponges that were filled with water like clouds and then rained out with a squeeze.  Also spray bottles, measuring cups, slotted spoons, funnels, etc.  The water fun migrated outside and they cleaned all the outside toys, thanks kids! 

I think they liked the spray bottles the best :)...

I think we got a great start and I am excited about the weeks of preschool to come!

Colored Pasta

Yes, I know I am clogging up your dashboard with all my posts lately... I am just playing catch up and I am almost done for a little while.

Anyway, another preparation for preschool was to make colored pasta... It is great for so many crafts, fine motor skills, sorting, sensory play, etc.  I used small Ditalini pasta, which will be perfected for stringing on a pipe cleaner and gluing on to crafts.  I used large tub pasta called Rigatoni for sorting, making necklaces, etc.

This is the end result, such pretty colors.

To make it, all you do is put pasta in ziplock bags, add enough rubbing alcohol to make sure they all get a light coating and then add the desired amount of food coloring (a little for lighter colored pasta and more for more saturated colors), we used about 10 drops per bag.

I had a great helper to squeeze and count!

Then, you seal the bags, and let them soak in the mixure for a few hours and squish them around when you think of it to spread the color around. 

Drain the liquid, spread the pasta on baking sheets and let them dry overnight. 

What a treat

Mike's mom has some family famous popcorn balls that she makes for special occasions... Well, I guess the occasion doesn't always have to be that special because she surprised the boys with a platter full when she came over this past weekend.  They were devoured quickly and today Josh asked if we could make some and my response was "No, I don't know how to, that is Grandma's special recipe".  He then told me that we just had to add food coloring to the popcorn and smash them into a ball shape... I should have let him try it! 
Thanks grandma, we all enjoyed them! 

J could not keep his hands off them, I don't think he ever had anything that sweet!

They were speechless, they were in sugar heaven!

Another surprise!  A flower bouquet put together by her... The BIG flower in the middle is from her garden.

Thanks for the treats!

Would you like paper or plastic?

I enjoyed the home preschool (taught by a friend) that we put Josh in when he was 2 so much that I decided to start my own... All it takes is gathering some friends, coming up with a schedule, curriculum, activities, crafts and circle time fun and voila, we have a home preschool.  We now have a corner store fully equipped in the corner of our family room to serve as a play center. 

The boys helped decorate and name the store...

Various departments to organize the food

Do you like the canopy that I sewed together?

Josh is learning early math while having fun!

Everyday Life

A lot of my posts feature an exciting moment or an outing that we make, but most of our days are really spent at home enjoying the simple things.  Here is a photo sample of our everyday life this past month:

Most days are spent swimming in the backyard... With goggles of course!

Water table play is also a good choice, especially when there are bubbles added.

And if you are Kyle, you will decide that you just want to go for a soak in it... Especially on those really hot days!

Friend get-togethers and birthdays are still common place, just a little more rowdy!

And on those very few days that rain and thunder are threatening, the boys get themselves prepared for rain fun.

This summer we have spent more time at the isle painting...

And it is fun to watch big J show K the ropes of 'Big Boy Stuff'.  I was shocked how well Kyle just watched and I loved hearing Josh's tutorial on how to paint a pirate ship.

Well, I guess I spoke a little too soon about the watching part, we looked away for a minute and Kyle decided to face paint! 

Indoors, big J likes to build forts and hide... He reminds me of ET here.

Music time can channel that afternoon energy.  Dance parties and homemade instruments are the best!

Dress up is popular, that day they even go little J involved... They went to a costume birthday party!

Little J is fascinated with watching everything and LOVEs to watch dad do yard work from the window, he also drags the frog pull toy that he got from his cousins all around the house... It has become his favorite.

Cheers to the simple life of kids and the dog days of summer!

Balloon Season has started

Can you believe it is Sept?  I LOVE this part of the year... summer flowers, green grass, long evenings with long shadows, warm days, breezy nights, cozy crisp mornings and the anticipation of fall.  One way to tell that fall is getting closer is the early morning loud deep breath that you hear pouring out of the sky.  Hannah used to bark at it and the kids always run quickly to the window and try to spot the big colorful hot air balloon hoovering overhead. 

Hot air balloons are a big deal around here and if you are up early enough, you can usually spot a few of them in the sky on the weekends during this part of the year.  The 'Big' event of the Balloon Fiesta is a huge world wide gathering of balloonists and watchers.  It is only about a month away and that is when you know it is fall around here!

A couple of weeks ago, we had a balloon pass right over our backyard... I think it was heading a few blocks away to the local elementary school.  The kids were so excited!