She's Sitting!

Clarey's new trick is that she can sit up - unassisted - and play!

She loves to sit and play.


Until she gets tired. Then, she doesn't know how to lay down, so she cries.

Come on, Mom! I'm tired! I'm really, really done!

Finger Painting

Isn't it so much fun to finger paint? It really is outside. Especially when your mom has to leave you unsupervised for two minutes because your baby sister woke up from her nap. There are all kinds of things you can add to your finger paint then - leaves, sticks, birdseed. It's really neat to see how those things change the paint and how it feels on your fingers. Until you are tired of finger painting. Then it feels so good to have clean fingers - even if you are a boy.

Windows and Dry Erase Markers

It was so nice and so warm outside early this week, we just had to go out and play. Armed with a dry erase marker and a paper towel each, the boys spend a good half-hour drawing outside. While Levi was content to experiment and explore how the marker worked on the glass, Clayton drew pictures of a hairy eyeball and a very detailed map. The most interesting part for both of them was running inside to see their drawings from the reverse and to see how the picture changed when it's background was different, too.

Happy Valentines Day

http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2011/1/16/mollys-sketchbook-valentine-heart-barrettes.html

Emily sent me this link for adorable felt hearts. I couldn't resist making one for Clarey! And it inspired me for another project...more on that next week...Until then, Happy Valentines Day!!

Writing Letters and the Pony Express

Levi is a rider for the Pony Express delivering mail to his mailbox.

Since we mailed Valentine's this week, the kids were interested in delivering mail. We made mailboxes and wrote letters. We talked about what needs to be on an envelope so the letter gets to the right place. We were going to visit the Post Office until it got too snowy. Once we got our mailboxes made, finally!, Levi had lost interest and was playing cowboy. So we turned mail delivery into the Pony Express. He really loved that!

Clayton chose to make a green and camouflage mailbox and put it on his spaceship so, "it can go with him wherever he goes." We used oatmeal canisters, toilet paper rolls, construction paper and pipecleaners and lots of masking tape to make our mailboxes.

Clayton is writing a letter to Levi to mail.

Levi's mailbox has a letter waiting for him to open! (Because Clayton's mailbox was on his spaceship, Levi had to have his on his spaceship, too.)

Isn't this such a cute mailbox?! I got the directions for it on here: http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Mail-Box.html Thanks, Mom, for sending me the link!

Discovering a Rainbow

Some mornings, when the light shines in just right, the beveled glass of a mirror on our wall acts like a prism. Just like magic, a rainbow appears on our living room floor. The kids are fascinated by it. We look at the colors on the carpet and then we put a sheet of white paper down. We can clearly see all 7 colors. It's so cool.